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Tang Dynasty Jueju Cen Shen

Sending Cui Back to the Capital

送崔子還京

Sòng Cuī zǐ huán jīng

Cen Shen watches a lone rider return east from the frontier and writes his farewell in September snow.

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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

匹馬西從天外歸，

pǐ mǎ xī cóng tiān wài guī

On a lone horse you return from the west beyond the sky;

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 匹 pǐ single
  2. 馬 mǎ horse
  3. 西 xī west
  4. 從 cóng from
  5. 天 tiān sky
  6. 外 wài beyond
  7. 歸 guī return
02

揚鞭只共鳥爭飛。

yáng biān zhǐ gòng niǎo zhēng fēi

your lifted whip would race only the birds.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 揚 yáng raise
  2. 鞭 biān whip
  3. 只 zhǐ only
  4. 共 gòng with
  5. 鳥 niǎo birds
  6. 爭 zhēng compete
  7. 飛 fēi fly
03

送君九月交河北，

sòng jūn jiǔ yuè jiāo hé běi

I see you off in the ninth month, north of Jiaohe,

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 送 sòng see off
  2. 君 jūn you
  3. 九 jiǔ ninth
  4. 月 yuè month
  5. 交 jiāo Jiao
  6. 河 hé River
  7. 北 běi north
04

雪裏題詩淚滿衣。

xuě lǐ tí shī lèi mǎn yī

writing a poem in snow, my clothing wet with tears.

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 雪 xuě snow
  2. 裏 lǐ within
  3. 題 tí write
  4. 詩 shī poem
  5. 淚 lèi tears
  6. 滿 mǎn fill
  7. 衣 yī clothes

English translation by PoemWell.

Read the whole poem

Original

匹馬西從天外歸，

揚鞭只共鳥爭飛。

送君九月交河北，

雪裏題詩淚滿衣。

Translation

On a lone horse you return from the west beyond the sky;

your lifted whip would race only the birds.

I see you off in the ninth month, north of Jiaohe,

writing a poem in snow, my clothing wet with tears.

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?

    匹馬西從天外歸，

    Pronunciation hint

    cóng

    Reveal meaning and translation

    從 — from

    On a lone horse you return from the west beyond the sky;

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

    送君九月交河北，

    Pronunciation hint

    yuè

    Reveal meaning and translation

    月 — month

    I see you off in the ninth month, north of Jiaohe,

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

    雪裏題詩淚滿衣。

    Pronunciation hint

    shī

    Reveal meaning and translation

    詩 — poem

    writing a poem in snow, my clothing wet with tears.

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: one horse, a sky full of speed

匹馬 gives the returning traveler a solitary scale against 天外. 西從 places the point he comes from in the distant west. The title supplies the capital as the destination. 揚鞭 is the raised whip, and 共鳥爭飛 lets the horse’s speed be judged beside birds in flight.

Lines 3–4: the person who stays behind

送君 brings the voice of the person seeing Cui off into the scene. 交河 is Jiaohe, and 北 places the farewell north of it. 九月 refers to the ninth lunar month. 題詩 now shows someone writing in the snow. The English puts the tears on the writer’s clothing and preserves the contrast between the departing rider’s speed and the stay required to write a goodbye.

Form and tone

The seven-character jueju rhymes 歸, 飛, and 衣. The first pair follows the horse; the second fixes the remaining poet in place, writing through snow and tears. Mandarin pinyin is given without a historical level/oblique table.

Historical context

Cen Shen's farewell contains both the return someone else can make and the staying that lets the poem be written. Compare Sending Liu West from Wuwei, whose rider heads onward into service, and Yellow Crane Tower Farewell, where continued looking measures the departure.

Sources

《全唐詩》, juan 201, Cen Shen; the Wikisource transcription's main reading is followed. 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. “Sending Cui Back to the Capital” (送崔子還京). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/sending-cui-back-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.