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Shān Jū Qiū MíngAutumn Evening in the Mountains 山居秋暝
Wang Wei's moonlit evening after autumn rain.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
空山新雨后
kōng shān xīn yǔ hòu
天气晚来秋
tiān qì wǎn lái qiū
明月松间照
míng yuè sōng jiān zhào
清泉石上流
qīng quán shí shàng liú
竹喧归浣女
zhú xuān guī huàn nǚ
莲动下渔舟
lián dòng xià yú zhōu
随意春芳歇
suí yì chūn fāng xiē
王孙自可留
wáng sūn zì kě liú
Simplified characters; traditional title: 山居秋暝.
English translation
In empty hills after a new rain,
The air of evening turns to autumn.
Bright moon shines through the pines;
Clear spring water runs over the stones.
Bamboo stirs—washerwomen coming home;
Lotus moves—a fishing boat goes down.
Let spring fragrance fade as it will;
A noble guest may still remain.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The middle couplets are flawless parallels. Moon and spring, pines and stones give a still, clear scene; then sound and movement — rustling bamboo, stirring lotus — announce people before we see them. The final couplet reverses an old poem that urged a prince to return from the wilderness: Wang Wei says the mountains are perfectly fine to stay in, even after spring is gone.
Background
Written at Wang Wei's Wangchuan estate. It is among the most perfect examples of the Tang regulated poem.
Key words
- 暝 míng
- dusk, evening
- 浣女 huàn nǚ
- women washing clothes
- 王孙 wáng sūn
- a noble young man
About the poet: Wang Wei
Wang Wei was a poet, painter, musician and court official. A devout Buddhist, he wrote spare, luminous landscape verse; later critics said there is "a painting in his poems and a poem in his paintings." He is sometimes called the "Buddha of Poetry."
Lifetime: c. 699–761. Other famous works: Miscellaneous Poem (You Have Come from Home) (杂诗); Farewell (Dismounting to Drink) (送别); Autumn Evening in the Mountains (山居秋暝); Longing (相思); Deer Park (鹿柴); Bamboo Grove Retreat (竹里馆); Farewell to Yuan the Second on His Mission to Anxi (送元二使安西); Thinking of My Brothers on the Double Ninth (九月九日忆山东兄弟); Birdsong in the Ravine (鸟鸣涧); Joys of the Countryside (田园乐); Floating on the Han River (汉江临泛); In the Mountains (山中); Farewell in the Mountains (山中送别); Long Rain at Wangchuan (积雨辋川庄作); Magnolia Bank (辛夷坞); Seeing Off Shen Zifu (送沈子福之江东); Reply to Vice-Prefect Zhang (酬张少府); A Quiet Matter (书事); Song of Youth (少年行); My Retreat at Zhongnan (终南别业); Seeing Off Prefect Li of Zizhou (送梓州李使君).
Names from this poem
More by Wang Wei
- Farewell to Yuan Er on His Mission to Anxi送元二使安西
- Deer Park鹿柴
- Bamboo Grove Retreat竹里馆
- Thinking of My Brothers on the Double Ninth九月九日忆山东兄弟
- Farewell (Dismounting to Drink)送别
- Longing相思
- Miscellaneous Poem (You Have Come from Home)杂诗
- Birdsong in the Ravine鸟鸣涧