Popular Poems That Chinese Kids Know

In China, there are few famous poems that every child is expected to memorize. Parents will usually beckon over their child and ask them to recite the poems, and teachers at school will test children on these poems as part of class.

The funny thing about these Chinese poems is that they may not make sense to the average Chinese learner. These poems are often writing in an archaic style of Chinese writing. It's like how Shakespeare would sound to English speakers. However, these poems will help students learn how Chinese characters interact with one another, and are also a great way to practice many different tone combinations.

If you are learning Chinese, these poems are a fantastic lens into Chinese culture through the ages, and a great way to practice memorization and speech in Mandarin Chinese.

Seven Pace Song

· Seven Pace Song

Boiling beans burns the beanstalk,

Beans inside the pan cry:

We're both grown from one root,

Why so fast to boil each other?

An Ode to the Goose

· An Ode to the Goose

Goose, goose, goose,

You bend your neck towards the sky and sing.

Your white feathers float on the emerald water,

Your red feet push the clear waves.

Toiling Farmers

· Toiling Farmers

Farmers weeding at noon,

Sweat down the field soon.

Who knows food on a tray

Thanks to their toiling day?

Thoughts in the Silent Night

· Thoughts in the Silent Night

So bright a gleam on the foot of my bed --

Could there have been a frost already?

Lifting myself to look, I found that it was moonlight.

Sinking back again, I thought suddenly of home.

A Spring Morning

· A Spring Morning

I awake light-hearted this morning of spring,

Everywhere round me the singing of birds --

But now I remember the night, the storm,

And I wonder how many blossoms were broken.

List of Chinese poets

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