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Tang Dynasty Jueju Gao Shi

Sending Li Off from the Inn

送李少府時在客舍作

Sòng Lǐ Shào Fǔ Shí Zài Kè Shè Zuò

Snow clears and geese depart as Gao Shi prolongs an inn farewell with an empty wine supply and one last unanswered question.

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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

相逢旅館意多違，

xiāng féng lǚ guǎn yì duō wéi

We meet at an inn with so much going against our wishes;

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 相 xiāng each other
  2. 逢 féng meet
  3. 旅 lǚ travel
  4. 館 guǎn inn
  5. 意 yì wishes
  6. 多 duō many
  7. 違 wéi thwarted
02

暮雪初晴候雁飛。

mù xuě chū qíng hòu yàn fēi

the evening snow has just cleared, and migrant geese take flight.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 暮 mù evening
  2. 雪 xuě snow
  3. 初 chū just
  4. 晴 qíng clear
  5. 候 hòu seasonal
  6. 雁 yàn geese
  7. 飛 fēi fly
03

主人酒盡君未醉，

zhǔ rén jiǔ jìn jūn wèi zuì

Your host's wine is finished; you are not drunk yet.

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 主 zhǔ host
  2. 人 rén person
  3. 酒 jiǔ wine
  4. 盡 jìn exhausted
  5. 君 jūn you
  6. 未 wèi not yet
  7. 醉 zuì drunk
04

薄暮途遙歸不歸。

bó mù tú yáo guī bù guī

Dusk is coming, the road is long—will you leave, or stay?

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 薄 bó approaching
  2. 暮 mù dusk
  3. 途 tú road
  4. 遙 yáo far
  5. 歸 guī return
  6. 不 bù not
  7. 歸 guī return

English translation by PoemWell.

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Original

相逢旅館意多違，

暮雪初晴候雁飛。

主人酒盡君未醉，

薄暮途遙歸不歸。

Translation

We meet at an inn with so much going against our wishes;

the evening snow has just cleared, and migrant geese take flight.

Your host's wine is finished; you are not drunk yet.

Dusk is coming, the road is long—will you leave, or stay?

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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.

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

    相逢旅館意多違，

    Pronunciation hint

    guǎn

    Reveal meaning and translation

    館 — inn

    We meet at an inn with so much going against our wishes;

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

    主人酒盡君未醉，

    Pronunciation hint

    jìn

    Reveal meaning and translation

    盡 — exhausted

    Your host's wine is finished; you are not drunk yet.

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

    薄暮途遙歸不歸。

    Pronunciation hint

    yáo

    Reveal meaning and translation

    遙 — far

    Dusk is coming, the road is long—will you leave, or stay?

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.

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Line-by-line notes

Lines 1–2: meeting at a point of departure

相逢 makes a welcome meeting possible in the inn, while 意多違 leaves the disappointments around it unnamed. 初晴 is the first clearing after snow. 候雁 are geese whose movement follows the season, so their flight makes a departure visible before the traveler decides when to leave.

Lines 3–4: the conditions for staying grow harder

酒盡 and 未醉 do not reach an end together. The host has finished the wine, while the guest has not reached the state that would make the visit feel complete. 主人 is the host in this meeting. 薄暮 and 途遙 make the question urgent because darkness is approaching and the road is long. 歸不歸 literally asks whether the guest will go back. “Will you leave, or stay?” gives it the force of the choice at the inn.

Form and tone

The seven-character quatrain tightens from a broad statement of frustration to a direct question. Its last line repeats 歸 on either side of 不, making hesitation audible. Modern pinyin is a reading aid; a reconstructed tone pattern is omitted.

Historical context

A 少府 was a county-level official designation used in polite address. The title locates Gao Shi's farewell at a guest lodging without identifying all the circumstances. As in many farewell poems, wine measures the time companions can still share; the darkening road supplies a competing deadline.

Sources

Chinese text follows the Sibu Congkan transcription of Gao Changshi ji, juan 8. Variant written forms are normalized to current traditional characters (including 巳 to 己 in 知己, 鴈 to 雁, 郷 to 鄉, 鬂 to 鬢, 羗 to 羌, and 猒 to 厭); wording is retained. Punctuation is editorial. The English translation and 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

Gao Shi. “Sending Li Off from the Inn” (送李少府時在客舍作). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/sending-li-from-the-inn

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