The Orange Tree
感遇十二首·其七
Gǎn Yù Shí Èr Shǒu · Qí Qī
An orange tree's winter green becomes Zhang Jiuling's image of lasting worth, obstructed opportunities, and the limits of choosing only familiar trees.
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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
- 江 jiāng river
- 南 nán south
- 有 yǒu has
- 丹 dān red
- 橘 jú oranges
Word meanings — Line 2
- 經 jīng through
- 冬 dōng winter
- 猶 yóu still
- 綠 lǜ green
- 林 lín groves
Word meanings — Line 3
- 豈 qǐ could it be
- 伊 yī only
- 地 dì land
- 氣 qì climate
- 暖 nuǎn warm
Word meanings — Line 4
- 自 zì inherently
- 有 yǒu have
- 歲 suì year
- 寒 hán cold
- 心 xīn heart
Word meanings — Line 5
- 可 kě can
- 以 yǐ by this
- 薦 jiàn offer
- 嘉 jiā honored
- 客 kè guests
Word meanings — Line 6
- 奈 nài what can be done
- 何 hé why
- 阻 zǔ blocked
- 重 chóng layered
- 深 shēn deep
Word meanings — Line 7
- 運 yùn fortune
- 命 mìng fate
- 唯 wéi only
- 所 suǒ what is
- 遇 yù encountered
Word meanings — Line 8
- 循 xún follow
- 環 huán circle
- 不 bù not
- 可 kě can
- 尋 xún trace
Word meanings — Line 9
- 徒 tú merely
- 言 yán say
- 樹 shù plant
- 桃 táo peaches
- 李 lǐ plums
Word meanings — Line 10
- 此 cǐ this
- 木 mù tree
- 豈 qǐ could it
- 無 wú lack
- 陰 yīn shade
English translation by PoemWell.
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Original
江南有丹橘，
經冬猶綠林。
豈伊地氣暖，
自有歲寒心。
可以薦嘉客，
奈何阻重深。
運命唯所遇，
循環不可尋。
徒言樹桃李，
此木豈無陰。
Translation
South of the river grow red-fruited orange trees,
their groves still green all through the winter.
Is it only that the country's climate is warm?
They have their own heart for the year's cold.
Their fruit could be offered to honored guests,
yet barriers rise in layer upon layer of depth.
Fortune depends on what one happens to encounter;
its turning course cannot be traced.
You speak only of planting peaches and plums—
does this tree have no shade to give?
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?
江南有丹橘，
Pronunciation hint
yǒu
Reveal meaning and translation
有 — has
South of the river grow red-fruited orange trees,
-
Line 6 · What does the marked word mean?
奈何阻重深。
Pronunciation hint
zǔ
Reveal meaning and translation
阻 — blocked
yet barriers rise in layer upon layer of depth.
-
Line 10 · What does the marked word mean?
此木豈無陰。
Pronunciation hint
qǐ
Reveal meaning and translation
豈 — could it
does this tree have no shade to give?
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 1–4 · What keeps a tree green
丹橘 names the tree by its reddish fruit. 經冬 says the grove passes through winter, and 猶 draws attention to the green that endures. 豈伊 asks whether the warmth of the region explains all of that. 自有歲寒心 answers in the language of character, giving the trees a “heart for the year's cold.” The translation keeps 心 because this change of vocabulary is what makes a physical observation available as a moral comparison.
Lines 5–8 · Fruit worth giving and no way to offer it
薦 means to offer or present. 嘉客 gives the fruit an imagined recipient and 可以 gives the offering a possibility. 奈何 brings in what prevents it. 阻重深 makes the barriers numerous and deep while leaving their particulars open. The next pair calls the uncertain relation between worth and opportunity 運命. 循環 suggests a turning course and 不可尋 leaves its route impossible to trace.
Lines 9–10 · What the favored list leaves out
樹 works as a verb, “plant.” 徒 gives the advice about peaches and plums the narrowness of speaking only about them. The last question asks the reader to consider what this other tree can give. 陰 means shade, a value distinct from the fruit that could be served to guests. That new benefit makes the case for looking again at an already available tree.
Form and tone
The complete poem has ten five-character lines and is old-style verse. Two questions frame an intervening reflection on worth and opportunity. It is the seventh individual poem of a twelve-poem sequence, not a ten-line excerpt. A historical tone grid is not supplied.
Historical context
Zhang Jiuling uses a southern tree to examine how qualities become useful—or fail to find an audience. Its contrast with Orchid and Cassia is productive: those plants need no one to pluck them, while these fruits could serve guests if only they could get there. The poems need not resolve that tension.
Sources
Chinese text follows Ganyu shi'er shou, no. 7, in Quan Tang shi, juan 47, including 唯所遇. This ten-line poem ends at 此木豈無陰; the following poem in the sequence is separate. Punctuation is editorial. 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
Zhang Jiuling. “The Orange Tree” (感遇十二首·其七). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .
https://poemwell.org/poems/the-orange-tree
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.