In this post, we are going to learn another Chinese tang poem by a very famous poet and politician Wang, Wei.
Wang, Wei was a very talented person. He was good at a lot of fields including music, drawing and writing etc.
By the way, if we praise a talented person who is specially good at arts, we will use a phrase like this: 诗书琴画 ( shī shū qín huà ),无所不精 ( wú suǒ bù jīng ).
诗: poetry,书: calligraphy, 琴: musical instruments, 画: painting. 无:no, none, 所: all, 不: not, 精:good.
In this poem “A House in the Bamboo” (竹里馆) ( zhú lǐ guǎn ), Wang, Wei described a beautiful and peaceful scene with just 20 characters.
At the beginning, the poem mentioned where he was: 独坐幽篁里 ( dú zuò yōu huáng lǐ ) . 独: alone, 坐: sit, 幽篁: bamboo forest, 里:in.
What was he doing? 弹琴复长啸 ( tán qín fù cháng xiào ). 弹琴: play musical insrument, 复: accompany, 长: long, 啸: whistling.
The poet seemed to be very happy and enjoyed the alone moment. 深林人不知 ( shēn lín rén bú zhī ),明月来相照 ( míng yuè lái xiānɡ zhào )。
深: deep, 林: forest, woods,人: people, 不: not, 知: know. 明: bright, 月:moon, 来:come, 相: each other, 照: to shine.
Once you know the meaning of this poem, do you fall in love with it?
A great poem is also a beautiful picture. In this sense, no wonder this poem is popular all the time.
Now let’s read this poem together and appreciate its beauty. Enjoy your learning.