Peach Blossom Stream
桃花谿
Táohuā xī
A bridge, a fishing boat, and drifting petals lead Zhang Xu’s speaker to ask where the hidden entrance lies.
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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.
Word meanings — Line 1
- 隱 yǐn faint
- 隱 yǐn faint
- 飛 fēi high
- 橋 qiáo bridge
- 隔 gé beyond
- 野 yě wild
- 煙 yān mist
Word meanings — Line 2
- 石 shí rock
- 磯 jī ledge
- 西 xī west
- 畔 pàn side
- 問 wèn ask
- 漁 yú fishing
- 船 chuán boat
Word meanings — Line 3
- 桃 táo peach
- 花 huā blossoms
- 盡 jìn all
- 日 rì day
- 隨 suí follow
- 流 liú flowing
- 水 shuǐ water
Word meanings — Line 4
- 洞 dòng cave
- 在 zài is
- 清 qīng clear
- 谿 xī stream
- 何 hé what
- 處 chù place
- 邊 biān side
English translation by PoemWell.
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Original
隱隱飛橋隔野煙，
石磯西畔問漁船。
桃花盡日隨流水，
洞在清谿何處邊。
Translation
A high bridge glimmers beyond the countryside's mist;
west of the rocky bank, I question a fishing boat.
Peach petals follow the current all day long—
where along this clear stream is the cave?
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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.
-
Line 1 · What does the marked word mean?
隱隱飛橋隔野煙，
Pronunciation hint
qiáo
Reveal meaning and translation
橋 — bridge
A high bridge glimmers beyond the countryside's mist;
-
Line 3 · What does the marked word mean?
桃花盡日隨流水，
Pronunciation hint
rì
Reveal meaning and translation
日 — day
Peach petals follow the current all day long—
-
Line 4 · What does the marked word mean?
洞在清谿何處邊。
Pronunciation hint
xī
Reveal meaning and translation
谿 — stream
where along this clear stream is the cave?
One more question: what changes?
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Line-by-line notes
Lines 1–2 · A view with part of it hidden
隱隱 makes the high bridge (飛橋) only faintly visible. 隔 places country mist between the bridge and the watcher. The next line narrows from the bridge to 石磯, a rocky projection by the water, and locates the questioning on its west side. 問漁船 names the boat in place of the person aboard. The translation “I question a fishing boat” keeps that compact turn toward a source of directions.
Lines 3–4 · Signs of a story the speaker has yet to enter
盡日 lets peach petals follow the current all day. Petals, a fisherman's route, and an opening in the landscape recall the story in which a fisherman follows a stream through peach trees to a hidden community. Here the question 何處邊 asks where on the stream the cave lies. The flowers and the water give enough evidence to make the search imaginable, while the last line leaves the entrance undiscovered. Tao Yuanming’s Peach Blossom Spring
Form and tone
This seven-character jueju rhymes 煙, 船, and 邊. The question arrives only after three lines have made the approach feel visible. Pinyin reads 谿 as xī, the same reading as 溪. No historical tone grid is supplied.
Historical context
Zhang Xu's landscape makes a path for curiosity without delivering a destination. Compare Peach Blossoms at Dalin Temple, where flowers reveal a place already reached, and Deer Enclosure, where the unseen presence is registered through sound instead of a question.
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. “Peach Blossom Stream” (桃花谿). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .
https://poemwell.org/poems/peach-blossom-stream
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