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Tang Dynasty Jueju Zhang Xu

Boating on Clear Stream

清谿泛舟

Qīng xī fàn zhōu

A weary traveler reaches toward moonlight on a stream in Zhang Xu’s brief poem of an unexpectedly abundant evening.

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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

旅人倚征棹，

lǚ rén yǐ zhēng zhào

The traveler leans against his journey's oar;

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 旅 lǚ traveling
  2. 人 rén person
  3. 倚 yǐ leans on
  4. 征 zhēng journey
  5. 棹 zhào oar
02

薄暮起勞歌。

bó mù qǐ láo gē

at dusk he raises a song of weariness.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 薄 bó near
  2. 暮 mù dusk
  3. 起 qǐ raises
  4. 勞 láo weary
  5. 歌 gē song
03

笑攬清谿月，

xiào lǎn qīng xī yuè

Smiling, I reach for the clear stream's moon—

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 笑 xiào smiling
  2. 攬 lǎn gather
  3. 清 qīng clear
  4. 谿 xī stream
  5. 月 yuè moon
04

清輝不厭多。

qīng huī bú yàn duō

there can never be too much of this pure light.

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 清 qīng clear
  2. 輝 huī radiance
  3. 不 bú not
  4. 厭 yàn tire of
  5. 多 duō much

English translation by PoemWell.

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Original

旅人倚征棹，

薄暮起勞歌。

笑攬清谿月，

清輝不厭多。

Translation

The traveler leans against his journey's oar;

at dusk he raises a song of weariness.

Smiling, I reach for the clear stream's moon—

there can never be too much of this pure light.

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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?

    旅人倚征棹，

    Pronunciation hint

    yǐ

    Reveal meaning and translation

    倚 — leans on

    The traveler leans against his journey's oar;

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

    笑攬清谿月，

    Pronunciation hint

    qīng

    Reveal meaning and translation

    清 — clear

    Smiling, I reach for the clear stream's moon—

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

    清輝不厭多。

    Pronunciation hint

    bú

    Reveal meaning and translation

    不 — not

    there can never be too much of this pure light.

One more question: what changes?

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Line-by-line notes

Lines 1–2 · A traveler resting against the oar

旅人 identifies the person through being on the road. 倚 gives the weary body something to lean on, and 征棹 makes that support the very tool of the journey. 薄暮 puts the pause near dusk. 起勞歌 raises a song marked by effort or weariness from this resting posture.

Lines 3–4 · Reaching for a reflection

笑 changes the manner of the traveler before the scene changes in any other way. 攬 is an active reach to gather something, and 清谿月 places its object in the clear stream. The gesture can be imagined as reaching toward the moon's reflection. The English shifts to “I” here to give the gesture the immediacy of the person making it. 不厭多 answers the tired song with a pleasure the traveler can keep taking in. 清輝 makes that abundance the brightness of the light.

Form and tone

The five-character jueju rhymes 歌 and 多. Its change is carried by the opening verbs of the last pair, 笑 and the reaching 攬, rather than by a new location. Modern Mandarin pronunciation is supplied without a historical level/oblique grid.

Historical context

Zhang Xu puts the moon within a traveler's reach as an imaginative act. Compare Mooring on the Jiande River, where a clear river simply makes the moon near, and Drinking Alone beneath the Moon, where a speaker openly invents lunar company.

Sources

《全唐詩》, juan 117, checked in the Wikisource transcription. The main reading is followed; variant graphs 爲、却 are normalized to 為、卻. Punctuation is editorial.

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 Xu. “Boating on Clear Stream” (清谿泛舟). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/boating-on-clear-stream

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