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Tang Dynasty Jueju Wen Tingyun

Lament of the Jade Zither

瑤瑟怨

Yáo sè yuàn

A luxurious bed offers no rest beneath a clear night sky. Follow the movement from indoor cold to passing geese and moonlight beyond the sleepless room.

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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.

01

冰簟銀牀夢不成，

bīng diàn yín chuáng mèng bù chéng

On the icy mat of a silver bed, no dream comes;

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 冰 bīng icy
  2. 簟 diàn bamboo mat
  3. 銀 yín silver
  4. 牀 chuáng bed
  5. 夢 mèng dream
  6. 不 bù not
  7. 成 chéng forms
02

碧天如水夜雲輕。

bì tiān rú shuǐ yè yún qīng

the blue sky is like water, the night clouds thin.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 碧 bì blue
  2. 天 tiān sky
  3. 如 rú like
  4. 水 shuǐ water
  5. 夜 yè night
  6. 雲 yún clouds
  7. 輕 qīng light
03

雁聲遠過瀟湘去，

yàn shēng yuǎn guò xiāo xiāng qù

The cries of geese pass far away toward Xiao and Xiang;

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 雁 yàn geese
  2. 聲 shēng cries
  3. 遠 yuǎn far
  4. 過 guò pass
  5. 瀟 xiāo Xiao
  6. 湘 xiāng Xiang
  7. 去 qù go
04

十二樓中月自明。

shí èr lóu zhōng yuè zì míng

among the twelve towers, the moon shines on its own.

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 十 shí ten
  2. 二 èr two
  3. 樓 lóu towers
  4. 中 zhōng within
  5. 月 yuè moon
  6. 自 zì on its own
  7. 明 míng shines

English translation by PoemWell.

Read the whole poem

Original

冰簟銀牀夢不成，

碧天如水夜雲輕。

雁聲遠過瀟湘去，

十二樓中月自明。

Translation

On the icy mat of a silver bed, no dream comes;

the blue sky is like water, the night clouds thin.

The cries of geese pass far away toward Xiao and Xiang;

among the twelve towers, the moon shines on its own.

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.

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

    冰簟銀牀夢不成，

    Pronunciation hint

    chuáng

    Reveal meaning and translation

    牀 — bed

    On the icy mat of a silver bed, no dream comes;

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

    雁聲遠過瀟湘去，

    Pronunciation hint

    guò

    Reveal meaning and translation

    過 — pass

    The cries of geese pass far away toward Xiao and Xiang;

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

    十二樓中月自明。

    Pronunciation hint

    zhōng

    Reveal meaning and translation

    中 — within

    among the twelve towers, the moon shines on its own.

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 · From the mat to the sky

冰簟 gives the mat the felt coldness of ice, and 銀牀 supplies the silver bed. The richness of the objects and the discomfort of lying on them occur together. 夢不成 leaves open whether sleep will not come or a hoped-for dream fails to take shape. The next line lifts the eye to the blue sky, which 如水 compares to water. The lightness of the clouds gives the larger space something of the clarity and cold of the first.

Lines 3–4 · Sound leaves while light stays

雁聲 is the cry of geese, and the line tracks that sound as it goes far away toward Xiao and Xiang. The last line puts the moon among the twelve towers. 十二樓 is an elevated, conventional image that can suggest sumptuous or otherworldly buildings. 自 gives the moon's brightness an independence the English renders as “on its own.” The zither is named in the title. The sound that actually passes through the verse is the sound of geese, and the light outlasts it.

Form and tone

This seven-character quatrain proceeds from bed to sky to departing sound to persistent light. Each line enlarges the setting while leaving the sleepless person implicit. The final 自 holds the moon apart from the human disappointment introduced in the first line.

See jueju for the larger formal pattern. Pinyin gives modern Mandarin pronunciation; a historical level/oblique grid is not inferred from those modern tones.

Historical context

Wen Tingyun’s ornate imagery is often associated with love and separation. Here the person, their absent companion, and the exact occasion remain unnamed. Reading the scene as a dramatic lyric preserves that openness better than supplying an undocumented affair from the poet’s biography.

Continue with Wen Tingyun and the love reading path. Compare Autumn Evening and Dreaming of the South: Washed and Combed using the reading connections below.

Sources

瑤瑟怨 — Chinese text. Checked against the linked Wikisource transcription. The displayed traditional text follows this reading. Punctuation and line breaks are editorial. Translation, glosses, 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

Wen Tingyun. “Lament of the Jade Zither” (瑤瑟怨). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/lament-of-the-jade-zither

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.