From My Valley Study, to Yang the Reminder
谷口書齋寄楊補闕
Gǔ Kǒu Shū Zhāi Jì Yáng Bǔ Quē
Qian Qi's valley retreat offers rain-washed bamboo, evening mountains, and late flowers before a swept path reveals an expected friend's arrival.
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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.
Word meanings — Line 1
- 泉 quán springs
- 壑 hè ravines
- 帶 dài encircle
- 茅 máo thatch
- 茨 cí roofing
Word meanings — Line 2
- 雲 yún clouds
- 霞 xiá rosy clouds
- 生 shēng rise
- 薜 bì creeping fig
- 帷 wéi curtain
Word meanings — Line 3
- 竹 zhú bamboo
- 憐 lián cherish
- 新 xīn new
- 雨 yǔ rain
- 後 hòu after
Word meanings — Line 4
- 山 shān mountains
- 愛 ài love
- 夕 xī evening
- 陽 yáng sun
- 時 shí time
Word meanings — Line 5
- 閒 xián unhurried
- 鷺 lù egrets
- 棲 qī roost
- 常 cháng always
- 早 zǎo early
Word meanings — Line 6
- 秋 qiū autumn
- 花 huā flowers
- 落 luò fall
- 更 gèng even
- 遲 chí late
Word meanings — Line 7
- 家 jiā household
- 童 tóng boy
- 掃 sǎo sweep
- 蘿 luó vines
- 徑 jìng path
Word meanings — Line 8
- 昨 zuó yesterday
- 與 yǔ with
- 故 gù old
- 人 rén friend
- 期 qī arrange
English translation by PoemWell.
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Original
泉壑帶茅茨，
雲霞生薜帷。
竹憐新雨後，
山愛夕陽時。
閒鷺棲常早，
秋花落更遲。
家童掃蘿徑，
昨與故人期。
Translation
Springs and ravines encircle my thatched dwelling;
cloud and rosy light arise around its curtain of vines.
I love the bamboo just after rain,
the mountains when the evening sun is on them.
The unhurried egrets always settle early;
autumn flowers are slower still to fall.
The household boy sweeps the vine-bordered path:
yesterday I arranged a visit with an old friend.
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?
泉壑帶茅茨，
Pronunciation hint
dài
Reveal meaning and translation
帶 — encircle
Springs and ravines encircle my thatched dwelling;
-
Line 5 · What does the marked word mean?
閒鷺棲常早，
Pronunciation hint
qī
Reveal meaning and translation
棲 — roost
The unhurried egrets always settle early;
-
Line 8 · What does the marked word mean?
昨與故人期。
Pronunciation hint
gù
Reveal meaning and translation
故 — old
yesterday I arranged a visit with an old friend.
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 · The study and its surroundings
茅茨 names the dwelling by its thatched roof. 帶 makes the springs and ravines seem to encircle it. 薜帷 is the curtain-like growth of climbing vines. The English “curtain of vines” keeps both the living plants and the resemblance to a furnished room.
Lines 3–4 · Each view has its hour
In 竹憐 and 山愛 the bamboo and mountains appear before the verbs of affection. The English makes the speaker the one who loves them. 新雨後 selects the bamboo just after rain, while 夕陽時 selects the mountains in the evening sun. Two familiar sights become particular through their timing.
Lines 5–6 · Early and late in one place
棲常早 says that the egrets habitually settle early. 落更遲 measures the autumn flowers by how late they fall. 更 makes that lateness stand out beside 常早. The two observations suggest a person who has spent enough time here to notice the rhythms of both birds and plants.
Lines 7–8 · Who the path is for
家童 is a young attendant in the household. 掃 gives the vine-bordered path a practical task, and 昨 tells us that yesterday’s arrangement explains it. 期 here is to arrange or expect a meeting. The delayed mention of the friend lets a reader reconsider the earlier views as pleasures the host is ready to share.
Form and tone
The five-character regulated verse makes conspicuous use of middle-couplet parallelism: bamboo and mountains, egrets and flowers, early and late. Its final domestic action turns description into hospitality. No historical tone grid is supplied; the pinyin is modern.
Historical context
Sources
Chinese text follows Gukou shuzhai ji Yang buque, Quan Tang shi, juan 237. 閑 and 逕 are normalized to 閒 and 徑. Punctuation is editorial. English translation and annotations 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
Qian Qi. “From My Valley Study, to Yang the Reminder” (谷口書齋寄楊補闕). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .
https://poemwell.org/poems/valley-study-to-yang
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.