Classical Chinese poetry in English
Understand Chinese poetry, one line at a time.
For English-speaking readers curious about Chinese poetry. Explore the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and English translation together. Start with twelve guided readings, then test what you remember.
Chinese originals use traditional characters by default. Switch to simplified characters in the poem reader.
Before the bed, I watch the moonlight.
I wonder if it is frost on the ground.
I lift my head toward the moon above the mountains.
I lower my head and think of home.
English translation by PoemWell.
Read the full annotationThree ways in
Characters, lines, parallelism, and why Mandarin tone marks are not the pattern of a Tang poem.
Start with a poetRead Li Bai through moonlight, friendship, and the different turns a poem can take.
Follow one imageThe moon as home, as company, and as the thing two people can still share.
Poems on the desk
Browse all poems →A little context goes a long way
Explore the reading guides →Start with Su Shi’s actual Mid-Autumn lyric, then compare five other Chinese moon poems with English translations, pinyin, and notes on distance and companionship.
Chinese Mountain Poems: Ways of Seeing a LandscapeExplore Chinese mountain poems in English with pinyin: Wang Wei’s inhabited stillness, Li Bai’s companionship and waterfalls, and Su Shi’s changing viewpoints.
Chinese Poems about Friendship and FarewellChinese friendship poems with pinyin and English translations. Compare a farewell cup, a song, reassurance, a message home, and a promised return.
Chinese Poems about Homesickness: Family, Music, and DistanceRead five Chinese poems about missing home and being away, with English translations and pinyin. Follow imagined family gatherings, flute music, rain, and river nights.
Chinese Poems about Rain: Welcome, Waiting, and FarewellChinese rain poems with English translations and pinyin. Compare spring growth, a delayed reunion, a farewell, rising water, and West Lake in changing weather.
Chinese Poems through the Four SeasonsA seasonal reading path through Chinese poetry with English translations and pinyin: spring rain, lotus gathering, autumn arguments, and a snowy river.