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Zhēng Yuè Shí Wǔ YèThe Fifteenth Night of the First Month 正月十五夜

Su Weidao (苏味道, also known as Su Wei-tao)｜Early Tang｜five-character regulated verse

Su Weidao on the Lantern Festival night, "fire trees and silver flowers".

Original Chinese text with pinyin

火树银花合
huǒ shù yín huā hé

星桥铁锁开
xīng qiáo tiě suǒ kāi

暗尘随马去
àn chén suí mǎ qù

明月逐人来
míng yuè zhú rén lái

Simplified characters; traditional title: 正月十五夜. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.

Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.

Fiery trees and silver flowers join;

the star bridge's iron locks are opened.

Dark dust follows the horses as they go;

the bright moon follows people as they come.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

火树银花合 · huǒ shù yín huā hé — Fiery trees and silver flowers join;

星桥铁锁开 · xīng qiáo tiě suǒ kāi — the star bridge's iron locks are opened.

暗尘随马去 · àn chén suí mǎ qù — Dark dust follows the horses as they go;

明月逐人来 · míng yuè zhú rén lái — the bright moon follows people as they come.

Su Weidao on the Lantern Festival night, "fire trees and silver flowers". The scene stays with you.

Su Weidao on the Lantern Festival night, "fire trees and silver flowers".

Su Weidao was ranked among the Early Tang Four Friends of Letters.

Lifetime: 648–705. Other famous works: The Fifteenth Night of the First Month (正月十五夜).