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Tang Dynasty Jueju Cen Shen

Meeting a Messenger Bound for the Capital

逢入京使

Féng rù jīng shǐ

A chance meeting on horseback lets Cen Shen send home a spoken reassurance when no paper or brush is available.

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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

故園東望路漫漫，

gù yuán dōng wàng lù màn màn

Looking east toward home, I see a road without end;

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 故 gù old
  2. 園 yuán garden; home
  3. 東 dōng east
  4. 望 wàng look
  5. 路 lù road
  6. 漫 màn long
  7. 漫 màn long
02

雙袖龍鍾淚不乾。

shuāng xiù lóng zhōng lèi bù gān

both sleeves are soaked, the tears still wet.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 雙 shuāng two
  2. 袖 xiù sleeves
  3. 龍鍾 lóng zhōng soaked with tears
  4. 淚 lèi tears
  5. 不 bù not
  6. 乾 gān dry
03

馬上相逢無紙筆，

mǎ shàng xiāng féng wú zhǐ bǐ

We meet on horseback, with no paper or brush—

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 馬 mǎ horse
  2. 上 shàng on
  3. 相 xiāng mutually
  4. 逢 féng meet
  5. 無 wú no
  6. 紙 zhǐ paper
  7. 筆 bǐ brush
04

憑君傳語報平安。

píng jūn chuán yǔ bào píng ān

please carry word that I am safe.

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 憑 píng rely on
  2. 君 jūn you
  3. 傳語 chuán yǔ pass on a message
  4. 報 bào report
  5. 平安 píng ān safe and well

English translation by PoemWell.

Read the whole poem

Original

故園東望路漫漫，

雙袖龍鍾淚不乾。

馬上相逢無紙筆，

憑君傳語報平安。

Translation

Looking east toward home, I see a road without end;

both sleeves are soaked, the tears still wet.

We meet on horseback, with no paper or brush—

please carry word that I am safe.

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?

    故園東望路漫漫，

    Pronunciation hint

    wàng

    Reveal meaning and translation

    望 — look

    Looking east toward home, I see a road without end;

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

    馬上相逢無紙筆，

    Pronunciation hint

    féng

    Reveal meaning and translation

    逢 — meet

    We meet on horseback, with no paper or brush—

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

    憑君傳語報平安。

    Pronunciation hint

    chuán yǔ

    Reveal meaning and translation

    傳語 — pass on a message

    please carry word that I am safe.

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: the road that separates him from home

東望 turns the traveler toward the old home. 漫漫 makes the road seem to stretch indefinitely, a long look answered by the near detail of two sleeves. 龍鍾 describes their soaked state here. 淚不乾 shows the tears persisting, so the opening presents both the distance and its bodily effect.

Lines 3–4: a message small enough to say on horseback

馬上相逢 gives the traveler company for a moment. 無紙筆 makes a written letter unavailable, which explains why the next line uses 傳語, passing a spoken message. 憑君 entrusts the task to the other traveler. 平安 is what the family needs to hear. Read the first pair beside that short assurance: the page shows readers the tears the message leaves out.

Form and tone

The seven-character jueju rhymes 漫, 乾, and 安 in its historical rhyme tradition. The final pair changes a solitary look into an available act of communication. Pinyin is modern Mandarin; no historical tone grid is inferred from it.

Historical context

Cen Shen's homesickness becomes a practical request. Compare the precious written letter in Spring View and the imagined geese carrying news in Mooring below North Solid Hill. Here another human traveler supplies the route that paper cannot.

Sources

《全唐詩》, juan 201, Cen Shen; checked against the Wikisource transcription and its recorded variants. 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

Cen Shen. “Meeting a Messenger Bound for the Capital” (逢入京使). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/meeting-a-messenger-to-the-capital

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.