Self-inscription for a Painting of Me at Jinshan Temple
- Poetry of Su Shi

《自题金山画像》
Self-inscription for a Painting of Me at Jinshan Temple by Su Shi
中文原文( Chinese )

心似已灰之木，身如不系之舟。

问汝平生功业，黄州惠州儋州。

English Translation

My heart is like a tree burned down to ash.

My body is a floating boat fully detached.

If you wish to know the life strokes I wrote,

Just go to Huangzhou, Huizhou ’n Danzhou.

This short poem is an improvisational writing when Dongpo saw a painting of him by the famous artist Gonglin (李龙眠, 字公麟). It's a long sigh of deep despair towards his unfulfilled ambition for his country. A strong sadness and self-ridicule are woven together in the 24 simple words, but every word seems to have the power to leave you dewy-eyed if you know his story.

- Last updated: 2024-10-15 11:18:58
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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.

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