Summer Quatrain: Remembering Xiang Yu
夏日絕句
Xià rì jué jù
Also called 烏江, Wu River.
Li Qingzhao looks back to Xiang Yu through a forceful judgment of heroic stature. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation.
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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.
Word meanings — Line 1
- 生 shēng in life
- 當 dāng should
- 作 zuò become
- 人傑 rén jié outstanding person
Word meanings — Line 2
- 死 sǐ in death
- 亦 yì also
- 為 wéi be
- 鬼雄 guǐ xióng hero among spirits
Word meanings — Line 3
- 至今 zhì jīn even now
- 思 sī think of
- 項羽 xiàng yǔ Xiang Yu
Word meanings — Line 4
- 不肯 bù kěn refuse
- 過 guò cross
- 江東 jiāng dōng region east of the river
English translation by PoemWell.
Read the whole poem
Original
生當作人傑，
死亦為鬼雄。
至今思項羽，
不肯過江東。
Translation
In life, one should stand outstanding among people;
in death, be mighty among the spirits too.
Even now I think of Xiang Yu,
who would not cross back to the river's east.
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.
-
Line 1 · What does the marked word mean?
生當作人傑，
Pronunciation hint
rén jié
Reveal meaning and translation
人傑 — outstanding person
In life, one should stand outstanding among people;
-
Line 3 · What does the marked word mean?
至今思項羽，
Pronunciation hint
zhì jīn
Reveal meaning and translation
至今 — even now
Even now I think of Xiang Yu,
-
Line 4 · What does the marked word mean?
不肯過江東。
Pronunciation hint
bù kěn
Reveal meaning and translation
不肯 — refuse
who would not cross back to the river's east.
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 — Two ways to stand out
生 and 死 put living and dying in parallel. 當 makes the first claim one of obligation, and 亦 carries that expectation over into death. 人傑 is an exceptional person. 鬼雄 gives corresponding distinction among the dead, which is why the English says “among the spirits.” The pair sets the scale of praise before anyone is named.
Lines 3–4 — The act that is remembered
至今 shifts from a general judgment to a person remembered “even now.” Xiang Yu lost his struggle with Liu Bang. The poem selects his refusal to cross back to Jiangdong. 不肯 stresses his unwillingness, which the English keeps in “would not.” The line gives this Song poet one ancient act through which to express the opening judgment. The poem gives only the name and refusal. The older account supplies the boat offered at Wu River and Xiang Yu’s reasons for refusing it. Xiang Yu’s biography in Records of the Grand Historian
Form and tone
Four five-character lines form a quatrain. 生 and 死, 當 and 亦, 人傑 and 鬼雄 make the first pair unusually assertive. 雄 and 東 carry the even-line rhyme; the final action supplies the particular example after the general declaration.
See the quatrain guide for the form. Pinyin gives modern Mandarin pronunciation; no unverified historical tone grid is supplied.
Historical context
The poem also circulates as 烏江, Wu River. It shows a dimension of Li Qingzhao beyond the intimate speaking situations of her lyrics. Stories attaching it to a precise conversation with her husband should be treated separately from what these four lines establish.
Continue with Li Qingzhao or the time and memory shelf.
Sources
Chinese text compared with 夏日絕句, public transcription on Wikisource. Punctuation is editorial; the English translation and reading 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
Li Qingzhao. “Summer Quatrain: Remembering Xiang Yu” (夏日絕句). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .
https://poemwell.org/poems/summer-quatrain-xiang-yu
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.