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Chú Zhōu Xī JiànWest Stream at Chuzhou 滁州西涧
Wei Yingwu's empty ferry boat drifting in the evening rain.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
独怜幽草涧边生
dú lián yōu cǎo jiàn biān shēng
上有黄鹂深树鸣
shàng yǒu huáng lí shēn shù míng
春潮带雨晚来急
chūn cháo dài yǔ wǎn lái jí
野渡无人舟自横
yě dù wú rén zhōu zì héng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 滁州西澗.
English translation
I love the hidden grasses by the stream;
Above, an oriole sings deep in the trees.
Spring tide with rain runs urgent toward night;
At the wild ferry, empty—the boat turns as it please.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The poet chooses the overlooked grasses over the showy oriole — a quiet statement of taste. The last couplet is one of the most painted scenes in Chinese art: rain-swollen water, a ferry with no ferryman, the boat swinging sideways in the current. It suggests idleness, freedom and perhaps a talent left unused, but without saying any of this.
Background
Written around 783 while Wei Yingwu was prefect of Chuzhou (in today's Anhui).
Key words
- 幽草 yōu cǎo
- hidden, secluded grasses
- 黄鹂 huáng lí
- oriole
- 野渡 yě dù
- a country ferry crossing
About the poet: Wei Yingwu
Wei Yingwu was a palace guard in his youth who later became a thoughtful provincial governor. His landscape poems, often linked with those of Wang Wei and Meng Haoran, are calm, clear and gently melancholy.
Lifetime: c. 737–792. Other famous works: West Stream at Chuzhou (滁州西涧); An Autumn Night, for Qiu (秋夜寄丘员外).