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Tang Dynasty Jueju Bai Juyi

Snow at Night

夜雪

Yè xuě

A cold quilt, bright windows, and the snap of bamboo reveal snow to someone indoors. Read the original Chinese with pinyin, word meanings, an original English translation, and notes.

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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

已訝衾枕冷，

yǐ yà qīn zhěn lěng

Already surprised by the cold of quilt and pillow,

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 已 yǐ already
  2. 訝 yà be surprised
  3. 衾枕 qīn zhěn quilt and pillow
  4. 冷 lěng cold
02

復見窗戶明。

fù jiàn chuāng hù míng

I see the windows have grown bright as well.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 復 fù also
  2. 見 jiàn see
  3. 窗戶 chuāng hù windows
  4. 明 míng bright
03

夜深知雪重，

yè shēn zhī xuě zhòng

Deep in the night I know the snow is heavy:

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 夜深 yè shēn late at night
  2. 知 zhī know
  3. 雪 xuě snow
  4. 重 zhòng heavy
04

時聞折竹聲。

shí wén zhé zhú shēng

from time to time, the sound of bamboo breaking.

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 時 shí from time to time
  2. 聞 wén hear
  3. 折竹 zhé zhú bamboo breaking
  4. 聲 shēng sound

English translation by PoemWell.

Read the whole poem

Original

已訝衾枕冷，

復見窗戶明。

夜深知雪重，

時聞折竹聲。

Translation

Already surprised by the cold of quilt and pillow,

I see the windows have grown bright as well.

Deep in the night I know the snow is heavy:

from time to time, the sound of bamboo breaking.

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?

    已訝衾枕冷，

    Pronunciation hint

    qīn zhěn

    Reveal meaning and translation

    衾枕 — quilt and pillow

    Already surprised by the cold of quilt and pillow,

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

    夜深知雪重，

    Pronunciation hint

    yè shēn

    Reveal meaning and translation

    夜深 — late at night

    Deep in the night I know the snow is heavy:

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

    時聞折竹聲。

    Pronunciation hint

    zhé zhú

    Reveal meaning and translation

    折竹 — bamboo breaking

    from time to time, the sound of bamboo breaking.

One more question: what changes?

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Line-by-line notes →

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Line-by-line notes

Lines 1–2: cold first, light second

衾 is a quilt and 枕 a pillow. The speaker discovers something unusual at bed level before looking at the window. 已訝 says the cold has already caused surprise. 復見 adds a new clue, the brightness at the window. The poem gives the observer’s evidence before naming what it is evidence of.

Lines 3–4: why the snow must be heavy

重 is zhòng, “heavy,” here. 知 gives the inference, and the next line supplies its reason. The English colon helps the reader follow that order. 時 means the sound comes now and then. 折 is a break, so each crack measures the weight without a view of the bamboo. Read the poem once for its sequence of senses: touch, sight, then hearing.

Form and tone

Four five-character lines organize touch, sight, and hearing. The third line names what the surrounding sensations reveal. 明 and 聲 rhyme; their apparent visual and auditory difference becomes part of one account of perception. Pinyin marks a modern reading, without reconstructing Tang sound.

See the jueju guide for the form. Pinyin gives modern Mandarin; no historical tone grid is supplied.

Historical context

The speaker remains indoors throughout this small scene. No journey, snowball fight, or panoramic mountain view is needed. The poem is especially useful beside works that use sound to make an unseen landscape present: its most decisive evidence arrives from outside the observer’s line of sight.

Read more by Bai Juyi, or follow the nature shelf. The English translation, gloss, and notes are original to PoemWell.

Sources

夜雪, public transcription. The linked text identifies the poem with 《全唐詩》 juan 433. We retain 已訝 and 折竹聲. Punctuation and reading-line divisions are 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

Bai Juyi. “Snow at Night” (夜雪). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/snow-at-night

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.