The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature vernacular fiction novels that arose during the Tang 唐and Song 宋 dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. Li bai, was a Chinese poet acclaimed from his own day to the present as a genius and romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to the new levels.

Much of his works are reflected in his poetry: places which he visited, his own dream-like imaginations, current events, friends whom he saw off on journeys to distant locations, and so on. Today we are going to study one of Li’s great works : 送友人sòng yǒu rén Seeing off a friend.

送友人

sòng yǒu rén

青山橫北郭，

qīng shān héng běi guō,

Green mountains stretching beyond the northern wall;

白水绕东城。

bái shuǐ rào dōngchéng.

Clear water flows around the East side of the Capital.

此地一为別，

cǐdì yī wèi bié,

We are here to farewell;

孤蓬萬里征。

gū péng wàn li zhēng.

A lone dandelion on a flying thousand miles journey.

浮云游子意，

fúyún yóuzǐ yì,

Walking just like the clouds are wandering in the sky,

落日故人情。

luòrì gùrén qíng.

The feelings of friendship are just like the sunset.

挥手自茲去，

huīshǒu zì zī qù,

We wave as we leave this place;

蕭蕭班馬鳴。

xiāoxiāo bān mǎ míng.

The horse that the friend was riding whining distantly, as it seems unable to bear to leave.

Notes

The second line 东城 means the Eastern part of the Capital City during the era of dynasty.

孤蓬gū péng in the fourth line refers to dandelions flying freely in the wind.

蕭蕭xiāoxiāo in Classical poetry often refers to the sound of animals.

Chinese poems play a great role in Chinese history and Chinese literature. As you can see from one of the Li Bai’s works above, Chinese literature are really amazing especially the poems. These poems can describe that poet’s feeling, nature with just a few words and also the events during that era. AlsoChinese poems are studied at Chinese schools like how Westerners studied the Shakespeare’s works. Therefore, it is always a good idea to know some of Chinese famous poems too.