Huichong’s Spring River Scene
惠崇春江晚景·其一
Huìchóng chūn jiāng wǎn jǐng · qí yī
Also called 惠崇春江曉景.
A painted river scene leads beyond visible flowers and ducks to warmth felt in the water. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation.
Read the poem
Read the original and its translation together. Open a line’s word meanings for a closer look.
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.
Word meanings — Line 1
- 竹外 zhú wài beyond bamboo
- 桃花 táo huā peach blossoms
- 三兩枝 sān liǎng zhī a few branches
Word meanings — Line 2
- 春江 chūn jiāng spring river
- 水暖 shuǐ nuǎn water warm
- 鴨 yā ducks
- 先知 xiān zhī know first
Word meanings — Line 3
- 蔞蒿 lóu hāo louhao herb
- 滿地 mǎn dì cover the ground
- 蘆芽 lú yá reed shoots
- 短 duǎn short
Word meanings — Line 4
- 正是 zhèng shì just is
- 河豚 hé tún pufferfish
- 欲上 yù shàng about to swim upstream
- 時 shí time
English translation by PoemWell.
Read the whole poem
Original
竹外桃花三兩枝，
春江水暖鴨先知。
蔞蒿滿地蘆芽短，
正是河豚欲上時。
Translation
Beyond the bamboo, two or three branches of peach blossom;
the ducks know first that the spring river has warmed.
Louhao covers the ground; the reed shoots are short.
It is just the time when pufferfish are about to swim upstream.
Try it from memory
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.
-
Line 1 · What does the marked word mean?
竹外桃花三兩枝，
Pronunciation hint
zhú wài
Reveal meaning and translation
竹外 — beyond bamboo
Beyond the bamboo, two or three branches of peach blossom;
-
Line 3 · What does the marked word mean?
蔞蒿滿地蘆芽短，
Pronunciation hint
lóu hāo
Reveal meaning and translation
蔞蒿 — louhao herb
Louhao covers the ground; the reed shoots are short.
-
Line 4 · What does the marked word mean?
正是河豚欲上時。
Pronunciation hint
zhèng shì
Reveal meaning and translation
正是 — just is
It is just the time when pufferfish are about to swim upstream.
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 →Self-check at your own pace. No score or progress is saved. Open only the answers you want included when printing.
Line-by-line notes
Lines 1–2 · What the ducks know first
竹外 places the peach blossoms beyond the bamboo. 三兩 is an approximate handful, “two or three,” enough to suggest early bloom. 水暖 gives the river a quality that a painted view can only suggest. Ducks swimming in it can feel the warmth, so 先知 lets the poem imagine knowledge through touch.
Lines 3–4 · From shoots to a season
蔞蒿 is a waterside herb. The translation keeps Louhao as its name. 蘆芽 are reed shoots, still 短, short. Those stages of growth make 正是, “it is just the time,” feel like an inference. 欲上 anticipates pufferfish about to move upstream. The poem can imagine that movement even if the painted fish are out of sight. The linked title uses 晚景, an evening scene, and the work also circulates with the 曉景 title.
Form and tone
The seven-character quatrain pivots on 知, knowing. A still picture becomes warmth, seasonal timing, and anticipated movement. 枝, 知, and 時 occupy the rhyme positions, linking branches, perception, and time.
See the quatrain guide for the form. Pinyin gives modern Mandarin pronunciation; no unverified historical tone grid is supplied.
Historical context
Huichong is the painter named in the title. The poem is transmitted under titles using 晚景 or 曉景; this page follows the linked 晚景 title and identifies the first piece. Its added sensations demonstrate how a poem can respond to an image without merely listing its objects.
Continue with Su Shi or the nature shelf.
Sources
Chinese text compared with 惠崇春江晚景·其一, public transcription on Wikisource. Punctuation is editorial; the English translation and reading notes 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
Su Shi. “Huichong’s Spring River Scene” (惠崇春江晚景·其一). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .
https://poemwell.org/poems/huichongs-spring-river-scene
Credit the poet for the Chinese original and PoemWell for this translation and commentary. Use the permanent page link above; source editions are listed separately.