PoemWell A reading desk for classical Chinese poetry
Menu

Juéjù

Jueju

絕句

What a jueju is: a four-line Chinese poem, five or seven characters to the line, and the difference between a regulated quatrain and an ancient-style one.

A jueju is a quatrain. Four lines, each of five characters or each of seven. 絕 is “to cut off.” The useful picture is a poem that stops. It is the shortest of the forms Tang poets treated as standard, and it is the one English readers usually meet first, because the famous beginner poems are four lines long.

Two kinds that share the name

People say “jueju” for two different technical things.

A regulated quatrain (律絕) follows the patterns of recent-style verse. In the usual pattern, the even lines share a level-tone rhyme, and the first line may join them. Historical level and oblique categories form linked and contrasting line patterns. Allowable variations depend on the whole line and its ending; “odd positions are free” is not a reliable rule by itself.

An ancient-style quatrain (古絕) has the four-line shape and does not keep that law. The rhyme may be oblique. The grid may be loose. It is still a jueju in ordinary speech, and it is not a lüshi.

The shelf includes both kinds. Three familiar examples of ancient-style quatrains are:

They are quatrains. They are not exhibits of the strict grid. We file them here because the shelf a reader is looking for is “the four-line poem,” and then we say what kind.

What a strict one looks like

On the Stork Tower, commonly attributed to Wang Zhihuan, is a quatrain in the regulated pattern. Its full reading page includes a translation, notes, and the alternative attribution to Zhu Bin recorded in the source. The Chinese, followed here by a brief paraphrase, shows the grid:

白日依山盡，黃河入海流。欲窮千里目，更上一層樓。

The sun goes behind the mountains, the Yellow River runs to the sea, and the climber is told to go one story higher if he wants to see farther.

In rhyme-book categories the tones are:

  1. 仄仄平平仄
  2. 平平仄仄平 (rhyme)
  3. 仄平平仄仄 (the first syllable stands where a level tone is typical; that substitution is allowed)
  4. 仄仄仄平平 (rhyme)

流 and 樓 are level-tone rhymes. 白, 日, 入, 欲, 目, and 一 are entering tones, so they count as oblique even though Mandarin has rearranged their pitch. This is the pattern Quiet Night Thought is not.

How the four lines tend to move

A jueju often turns at the third line. The first couplet sets a scene. The third line changes the angle. The fourth lands. Spring Dawn’s question is a landing. Deer Enclosure’s light on the moss is a landing. You can notice the turn without forcing the poem to mean more than it says. The warning is in How to read classical Chinese poetry.

The eight-line sibling is the lüshi. Ancient-style poems that are longer than four lines, such as Drinking Alone beneath the Moon, are gushi. A lyric such as Shui Diao Ge Tou is ci, and the line count is the tune’s business.

Updated

Poems in this hub

Li Bai Quiet Night Thought 靜夜思 Li Bai’s four-line night poem, with the traditional text, Mandarin pinyin, a word-by-word gloss, and an English translation written for PoemWell. Meng Haoran Spring Dawn 春曉 Meng Haoran’s Spring Dawn: birdsong, a night of wind and rain, and a question about fallen flowers, with gloss and an original English translation. Wang Wei Deer Enclosure 鹿柴 Wang Wei’s quatrain from the Wangchuan poems: an empty mountain, a voice, and late light on the moss, with gloss and a new English translation. Bai Juyi A Question for Liu Nineteen 問劉十九 Bai Juyi’s invitation to a friend before the snow: traditional Chinese, pinyin, a word-by-word gloss, original English translation, and close reading. Wang Wei Sending Yuan Er to Anxi 送元二使安西 Wang Wei’s farewell to Yuan Er, with Chinese text, pinyin, and English notes on the last cup, fresh willows, Yang Pass, and the prospect of leaving old friends. Li Bai Yellow Crane Tower Farewell 黃鶴樓送孟浩然之廣陵 Li Bai sees Meng Haoran off toward Yangzhou: Chinese text, pinyin, gloss, original English translation, and notes on the disappearing sail and text variants. Li Bai Sitting Alone on Jingting Mountain 獨坐敬亭山 Li Bai’s Jingting Mountain poem in Chinese, pinyin, and English: departing birds and cloud leave a solitary sitter and a mountain looking at one another. Li Bai Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu 望廬山瀑布（二首其二） Li Bai’s Mount Lu waterfall in Chinese, pinyin, and English: follow the distant hanging stream into a flying current and an imagined river from heaven. Li Bai To Wang Lun 贈汪倫 Li Bai’s To Wang Lun in Chinese, pinyin, and English: how a song from the shore interrupts departure and the depth of Peach Blossom Pool measures friendship. Wang Wei Red Beans 相思 Wang Wei’s red beans become a token of longing in twenty characters: Chinese, pinyin, word gloss, an original English translation, and textual notes. Wang Wei Bamboo Grove 竹里館 A qin, a long call, and moonlight enter Wang Wei’s solitary bamboo grove. Read the Chinese with pinyin, character glosses, original translation, and notes. Wang Wei Farewell in the Mountains 山中送別 Wang Wei closes a gate after a friend leaves, then asks about next spring. Chinese, pinyin, word gloss, original translation, and notes on the final question. Meng Haoran Mooring on the Jiande River 宿建德江 Meng Haoran’s Jiande River quatrain in Chinese and English, with pinyin and notes on a traveler’s sorrow, the low sky, and a moon that seems close. Du Fu Two Yellow Orioles 絕句（兩個黃鸝鳴翠柳） Du Fu sets birds, snow, and distant boats within two balanced couplets. Chinese, pinyin, word gloss, original English translation, and a close reading. Du Fu Long Spring Days 絕句（遲日江山麗） Long spring days, soft mud, flying swallows, and sleeping ducks in Du Fu’s quatrain, with Chinese, pinyin, a character gloss, original translation, and notes. Bai Juyi Peach Blossoms at Dalin Temple 大林寺桃花 Bai Juyi finds spring flowering where he thought it had vanished: Chinese, pinyin, word gloss, an original English translation, and notes on the poem’s turn. Su Shi Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple 題西林壁 Su Shi’s West Forest Temple quatrain, with pinyin and English notes on changing views of Mount Lu and why being inside the mountain limits the observer. Bai Juyi On the Pool: A Child in a Boat 池上二絕（其二） A child tries to keep a lotus-gathering trip secret, but the duckweed preserves the route. Read the original Chinese with pinyin, word meanings, an original English translation, and notes. Bai Juyi Song of the River at Dusk 暮江吟 Sunset divides the river into colors; night brings a crescent moon and pearl-like dew. Read the original Chinese with pinyin, word meanings, an original English translation, and notes. Bai Juyi Snow at Night 夜雪 A cold quilt, bright windows, and the snap of bamboo reveal snow to someone indoors. Read the original Chinese with pinyin, word meanings, an original English translation, and notes. Bai Juyi Cherishing the Peonies: I 惜牡丹花二首（其一） Only two peony branches remain; fear of tomorrow’s wind sends their admirer out with a light. Read the original Chinese with pinyin, word meanings, an original English translation, and notes. Bai Juyi A Question for the Huai River 問淮水 A weary pursuer of reputation and advantage asks why the river, too, can never rest. Read the original Chinese with pinyin, word meanings, an original English translation, and notes. Bai Juyi Parting at the Southern Bank 南浦別 An autumn farewell ends with a painful request: go safely, but do not turn back again. Read the original Chinese with pinyin, word meanings, an original English translation, and notes. Bai Juyi Yiai Temple 遺愛寺 Playing with stones, seeking flowers, and listening to water make an unhurried temple visit. Read the original Chinese with pinyin, word meanings, an original English translation, and notes.