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Huì Chóng Chūn Jiāng Wǎn JǐngSpring River at Dusk 惠崇春江晚景
Su Shi on a painting: in early spring the ducks are first to feel the water warm.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
竹外桃花三两枝
zhú wài táo huā sān liǎng zhī
春江水暖鸭先知
chūn jiāng shuǐ nuǎn yā xiān zhī
蒌蒿满地芦芽短
lóu hāo mǎn dì lú yá duǎn
正是河豚欲上时
zhèng shì hé tún yù shàng shí
Simplified characters; traditional title: 惠崇春江晚景.
English translation
Beyond the bamboo, two or three sprays of peach blossom;
the ducks are first to know the spring river has warmed.
Wormwood covers the ground, reed shoots are short —
just the season when the puffer fish swim upstream.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Outside the bamboo, two or three peach blossoms. Ducks know first that spring river water has warmed. The painting's season becomes touch and temperature.
Background
Su Shi on a painting: in early spring the ducks are first to feel the water warm.
Key words
- 惠崇 huì chóng
- Huichong — a monk-painter
- 鸭先知 yā xiān zhī
- the ducks know first (that spring water is warm)
- 芦芽 lú yá
- reed shoots
About the poet: Su Shi
Su Shi, better known as Su Dongpo, was a poet, essayist, painter, calligrapher and official — the great all-rounder of the Song dynasty. Repeatedly exiled, he met hardship with humor and philosophy, and made the ci (song lyric) a vehicle for grand themes.
Lifetime: 1037–1101. Other famous works: Prelude to Water Melody (When Will the Moon Be Clear?) (水调歌头); Spring Night (春夜); Remembering the Past at Red Cliff (念奴娇·赤壁怀古); Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple (题西林壁); Drinking at West Lake: First Sun, Then Rain (饮湖上初晴后雨); Red Cliff Rhapsody (赤壁赋); Gazing South from Chaoran Terrace (望江南); Drunk at Lake View Tower (六月二十七日望湖楼醉书); Spring River at Dusk (惠崇春江晚景); Crabapple (海棠); Silk-Washing Stream (浣溪沙); Silk-Washing Stream: Dragon Boat Festival (浣溪沙); Eating Lychees (食荔枝); On the Road to Xincheng (新城道中); Calming the Waves (定风波); For Liu Jingwen (赠刘景文).
More by Su Shi
- Spring Night春夜
- Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple题西林壁
- Drinking at West Lake: First Sun, Then Rain饮湖上初晴后雨
- Prelude to Water Melody (When Will the Moon Be Clear?)水调歌头
- Remembering the Past at Red Cliff念奴娇·赤壁怀古
- Gazing South from Chaoran Terrace望江南
- Drunk at Lake View Tower六月二十七日望湖楼醉书
- Crabapple海棠