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Tiān BǎoHeaven Protects You 天保
A Book of Songs blessing: "like the moon growing full, like the sun rising".
Original Chinese text with pinyin
如月之恒
rú yuè zhī héng
如日之升
rú rì zhī shēng
如南山之寿
rú nán shān zhī shòu
不骞不崩
bù qiān bù bēng
如松柏之茂
rú sōng bǎi zhī mào
无不尔或承
wú bù ěr huò chéng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 天保. 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.
English translation
Like the moon at its full,
like the sun rising,
like the long life of the southern hills,
never waning, never falling,
like the lushness of pines and cypresses —
may all of this be yours.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
A Book of Songs blessing: "like the moon growing full, like the sun rising". The scene stays with you.
Background
A Book of Songs blessing: "like the moon growing full, like the sun rising".
Key words
- 如月 rú yuè
- like the moon
- 之恒 zhī héng
- Zhiheng — a person's name in the poem
- 如日 rú rì
- like the sun
About the poet: Book of Songs
The Book of Songs (Shijing) is the oldest anthology of Chinese poetry, compiling ritual hymns and folk songs from the Zhou dynasty.
Lifetime: c. 11th–6th c. BCE. Other famous works: The Quince (木瓜); The Ospreys Cry (关雎); Reeds (蒹葭); The Banks of the Qi (淇奥); On the South Hill (南山有台); The Deer Cry (鹿鸣); Heaven Protects You (天保); The Peach Tree Is Young (桃夭).
More by Book of Songs
- The Quince木瓜
- The Ospreys Cry关雎
- Reeds蒹葭
- The Banks of the Qi淇奥
- On the South Hill南山有台
- The Deer Cry鹿鸣
- The Peach Tree Is Young桃夭