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Tang Dynasty Jueju Zhang Ji

A Mountain House

山家

Shān Jiā

A six-character quatrain makes Zhang Ji's mountain household audible through spring water, midday hens, tea roasting, and grain drying.

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About the text and pronunciation

The simplified view changes character forms, not the edition. Notes and sources retain the cited text.

The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.

Word by word, in the order of the line. A gloss is a crib. It is not the translation.

01

板橋人渡泉聲，

bǎn qiáo rén dù quán shēng

A person crosses the plank bridge, over the sound of spring water.

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 板 bǎn plank
  2. 橋 qiáo bridge
  3. 人 rén people
  4. 渡 dù cross
  5. 泉 quán spring
  6. 聲 shēng sound
02

茅檐日午雞鳴。

máo yán rì wǔ jī míng

By the thatched eaves, chickens call at noon.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 茅 máo thatch
  2. 檐 yán eaves
  3. 日 rì sun
  4. 午 wǔ noon
  5. 雞 jī chickens
  6. 鳴 míng call
03

莫嗔焙茶煙暗，

mò chēn bèi chá yān àn

Do not complain that tea-roasting smoke makes things dark;

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 莫 mò do not
  2. 嗔 chēn resent
  3. 焙 bèi roast
  4. 茶 chá tea
  5. 煙 yān smoke
  6. 暗 àn dark
04

卻喜曬穀天晴。

què xǐ shài gǔ tiān qíng

be glad of clear weather for drying the grain.

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 卻 què instead
  2. 喜 xǐ rejoice
  3. 曬 shài sun-dry
  4. 穀 gǔ grain
  5. 天 tiān sky
  6. 晴 qíng clear

English translation by PoemWell.

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Original

板橋人渡泉聲，

茅檐日午雞鳴。

莫嗔焙茶煙暗，

卻喜曬穀天晴。

Translation

A person crosses the plank bridge, over the sound of spring water.

By the thatched eaves, chickens call at noon.

Do not complain that tea-roasting smoke makes things dark;

be glad of clear weather for drying the grain.

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After reading, recall the underlined word or phrase in each line. Say its meaning before opening the answer. These prompts use the text edition printed above.

  1. Line 1 · What does the marked word mean?

    板橋人渡泉聲，

    Pronunciation hint

    dù

    Reveal meaning and translation

    渡 — cross

    A person crosses the plank bridge, over the sound of spring water.

  2. Line 3 · What does the marked word mean?

    莫嗔焙茶煙暗，

    Pronunciation hint

    chá

    Reveal meaning and translation

    茶 — tea

    Do not complain that tea-roasting smoke makes things dark;

  3. Line 4 · What does the marked word mean?

    卻喜曬穀天晴。

    Pronunciation hint

    gǔ

    Reveal meaning and translation

    穀 — grain

    be glad of clear weather for drying the grain.

One more question: what changes?

Compare the opening and closing lines. What changes in the scene, the speaker’s attention, or the feeling? Choose a Chinese word as evidence, then compare your reading with the notes. More than one answer may be reasonable.

Line-by-line notes →

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Line-by-line notes

Lines 1–2 · Sounds around the house

板橋, 人渡, and 泉聲 put the crossing, the person, and the spring water into the same short line. English “over” clarifies the bridge's relation to the sounding water. The next line takes the ear under thatched eaves to a chicken's call. 日午 names noon and places the sound in the middle of the household's day.

Lines 3–4 · How to read smoke and sunshine

焙茶 means heating tea to roast or dry it. 煙暗 gives that work its visible cost, smoke darkening the scene. 曬穀 describes another kind of drying, grain spread in the sunlight. 天晴 makes clear weather valuable for what it lets the household do. 莫嗔 and 卻喜 answer each other as instructions to a visitor. The English “do not complain” and “be glad” follow that move from first impression to a judgment informed by the work.

Form and tone

This is a six-character quatrain, less common than the five- and seven-character examples in this collection. Its opening lines are compressed scenes; its closing lines are balanced instructions about what to resent and what to welcome. No unverified historical tone grid is supplied.

Historical context

Zhang Ji makes this nature poem a scene of work rather than an empty retreat. The grain and tea matter because somebody must prepare them. The final turn lets a visitor learn how the household values the same smoke and sunshine that might first seem merely picturesque.

Sources

Chinese text follows the main readings of Quan Tang shi, juan 242, Zhang Ji (張繼). 却 is normalized to 卻 where it occurs. Punctuation is editorial. English translations and annotations are original to PoemWell.

English translation, gloss, and notes by PoemWell. The translation is original to this site.

The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.

Updated .

Cite this reading

Zhang Ji. “A Mountain House” (山家). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/a-mountain-house-zhang-ji

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