Farewell to the Old Year
- Poetry of Su Shi
故人适千里，临别尚迟迟。
人行犹可复，岁行那可追。
问岁安所之？远在天一涯。
已逐东流水，赴海归无时。
东邻酒初熟，西舍彘亦肥。
且为一日欢，慰此穷年悲。
勿嗟旧岁别，行与新岁辞。
去去勿回顾，还君老与衰。
When an old friend is to go far away, Long, long will he linger before he parts.
Though gone away, he may come back some day.
Where can we find the old year once it departs?
May I ask whither the old year has passed?
At the end of the earth it leaves no track.
It is gone with the water flowing fast To the East Sea and will never come back.
Wine is warmed by our neighbors on the east And the pork of those on the west is fat.
I'd like to have one happy day at least So that the lean year may not be grieved at.
Do not sigh for the departing old year!
Soon we shall say goodbye to New Year's Day.
Do not look back but let them disappear.
Man will grow old and his powers decay.
By Su Shi
- Why Chinese poems is so special?
- The most distinctive features of Chinese poetry are: concision- many poems are only four lines, and few are much longer than eight; ambiguity- number, tense and parts of speech are often undetermined, creating particularly rich interpretative possibilities; and structure- most poems follow quite strict formal patterns which have beauty in themselves as well as highlighting meaningful contrasts.
- How to read a Chinese poem?
- Like an English poem, but more so. Everything is there for a reason, so try to find that reason. Think about all the possible connotations, and be aware of the different possibilities of number and tense. Look for contrasts: within lines, between the lines of each couplet and between successive couplets. Above all, don't worry about what the poet meant- find your meaning.
List of Chinese poets
Pre-Qin Poetry
Han poetry
Ban Gu Cao Cao Cao Zhi Cao Pi Cai Wenji Kong Rong Liu Bang Liu Che Qin Jia Ruan Ji Su Wu Wang Can Xiang Yu Xu Gan Zhang Heng AnonymousSix Dynasties Poetry
Tao Yuanming Zhang HuaTang poetry
Bai Juyi Bao Junhui Cen Shen Chen Zi'ang Cui Hao Chang Jian Cui Tu Chen Tao Du Fu Du Mu Du Shenyan Dai Shulun Du Xunhe Du Qiuniang Gao Shi Gu Kuang Gao Pian Han Yu He Zhizhang Han Hong Huangfu Ran Han Wo Huang Chao Jia Dao Jiaoran Jin Changzu Li Bai (Li Po) Li He Li Shangyin Liu Yuxi Liu Zongyuan Luo Binwang Li Qi Liu Changqing Lu Lun Li Shen Li Yu Li Qiao Li Yi Liu Fangping Liu Zhongyong Li Ye Meng Haoran Meng Jiao Ma Dai Pei Di Qian Qi Quan Deyu Sikong Shu Song Zhiwen Shen Quanqi Shangguan Wan'er Xuanzong of Tang Wang Bo Wang Changling Wang Wei Wang Zhihuan Wei Yingwu Wen Tingyun Wang Han Wei Zhuang Wang Wan Xue Tao Xu Hun Xu Hui Yuan Zhen Yu Xuanji Yu Shinan Yuan Jie Zhang Jiuling Zhang Ji Zhang Hu Zhang Zhihe Zu Yong Zhang Xu Zhu Qingyu Zheng Tian Zhang Bi Zhang RuoxuSong Poetry
Cai Xiang Chao Chongzhi Fan Chengda Fan Zhongyan Huang Tingjian He Zhu Kou Zhun Jiang Kui Lu You Li Qingzhao Liu Yong Mei Yaochen Ouyang Xiu Pan Lang Qin Guan Qian Weiyan Su Shi Su Zhe Song Qi Wang Anshi Wen Tianxiang Weng Juan Xin Qiji Yang Wanli Yue Fei Yan Jidao Yan Shu Ye Shaoweng Zeng Gong Zhang Xian Zhou Bangyan Zhu Shuzhen Zhu Xi Zhou DunyiYuan poetry
Bai Pu Guan Hanqing Ma Zhiyuan Xu Zaisi Yang WeizhenMing poetry
Chen Jiru Tang Yin Tang Xianzu Xu Wei Yu Qian Yang ShenQing poetry
Cao Xueqin He Shuangqing Nalan Xingde Pu Songling Tsangyang Gyatso Wang Guowei Yuan Mei Zheng Xie Zhao Yi