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Tang Dynasty Lüshi Qian Qi

At the Examination: The Xiang Spirit Plays the Se

省試湘靈鼓瑟

Shěng Shì Xiāng Líng Gǔ Sè

Qian Qi imagines a river spirit's music moving through gods, listeners, fragrant plants, and water before silence leaves only green peaks.

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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

善鼓雲和瑟，

shàn gǔ yún hé sè

So skilled at playing the Yunhe se—

Word meanings — Line 1
  1. 善 shàn skilled
  2. 鼓 gǔ play
  3. 雲 yún Yun
  4. 和 hé he
  5. 瑟 sè se zither
02

常聞帝子靈。

cháng wén dì zǐ líng

I have often heard of the imperial daughter's spirit.

Word meanings — Line 2
  1. 常 cháng often
  2. 聞 wén hear of
  3. 帝 dì emperor
  4. 子 zǐ child
  5. 靈 líng spirit
03

馮夷空自舞，

féng yí kōng zì wǔ

Feng Yi, the river god, dances in vain;

Word meanings — Line 3
  1. 馮 féng Feng
  2. 夷 yí Yi
  3. 空 kōng in vain
  4. 自 zì himself
  5. 舞 wǔ dance
04

楚客不堪聽。

chǔ kè bù kān tīng

a traveler of Chu can hardly bear to listen.

Word meanings — Line 4
  1. 楚 chǔ Chu
  2. 客 kè traveler
  3. 不 bù not
  4. 堪 kān bear
  5. 聽 tīng listen
05

苦調淒金石，

kǔ diào qī jīn shí

Its bitter strains chill even metal and stone;

Word meanings — Line 5
  1. 苦 kǔ bitter
  2. 調 diào melody
  3. 淒 qī sadden
  4. 金 jīn metal
  5. 石 shí stone
06

清音入杳冥。

qīng yīn rù yǎo míng

its clear notes enter unfathomable darkness.

Word meanings — Line 6
  1. 清 qīng clear
  2. 音 yīn sound
  3. 入 rù enter
  4. 杳 yǎo distant
  5. 冥 míng darkness
07

蒼梧來怨慕，

cāng wú lái yuàn mù

From Cangwu comes a longing full of grief;

Word meanings — Line 7
  1. 蒼 cāng Cang
  2. 梧 wú wu
  3. 來 lái comes
  4. 怨 yuàn grief
  5. 慕 mù longing
08

白芷動芳馨。

bái zhǐ dòng fāng xīn

white angelica stirs its fragrance.

Word meanings — Line 8
  1. 白 bái white
  2. 芷 zhǐ angelica
  3. 動 dòng stir
  4. 芳 fāng fragrant
  5. 馨 xīn scent
09

流水傳瀟浦，

liú shuǐ chuán xiāo pǔ

Flowing water carries the music along the Xiao's banks;

Word meanings — Line 9
  1. 流 liú flowing
  2. 水 shuǐ water
  3. 傳 chuán carry
  4. 瀟 xiāo Xiao
  5. 浦 pǔ riverbank
10

悲風過洞庭。

bēi fēng guò dòng tíng

a sorrowing wind crosses Lake Dongting.

Word meanings — Line 10
  1. 悲 bēi sad
  2. 風 fēng wind
  3. 過 guò passes
  4. 洞 dòng Dong
  5. 庭 tíng ting
11

曲終人不見，

qǔ zhōng rén bú jiàn

The piece is over, and its player is nowhere to be seen:

Word meanings — Line 11
  1. 曲 qǔ music
  2. 終 zhōng ends
  3. 人 rén person
  4. 不 bú not
  5. 見 jiàn seen
12

江上數峰青。

jiāng shàng shù fēng qīng

above the river, a few peaks stand green.

Word meanings — Line 12
  1. 江 jiāng river
  2. 上 shàng above
  3. 數 shù several
  4. 峰 fēng peaks
  5. 青 qīng green

English translation by PoemWell.

Read the whole poem

Original

善鼓雲和瑟，

常聞帝子靈。

馮夷空自舞，

楚客不堪聽。

苦調淒金石，

清音入杳冥。

蒼梧來怨慕，

白芷動芳馨。

流水傳瀟浦，

悲風過洞庭。

曲終人不見，

江上數峰青。

Translation

So skilled at playing the Yunhe se—

I have often heard of the imperial daughter's spirit.

Feng Yi, the river god, dances in vain;

a traveler of Chu can hardly bear to listen.

Its bitter strains chill even metal and stone;

its clear notes enter unfathomable darkness.

From Cangwu comes a longing full of grief;

white angelica stirs its fragrance.

Flowing water carries the music along the Xiao's banks;

a sorrowing wind crosses Lake Dongting.

The piece is over, and its player is nowhere to be seen:

above the river, a few peaks stand green.

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?

    善鼓雲和瑟，

    Pronunciation hint

    yún

    Reveal meaning and translation

    雲 — Yun

    So skilled at playing the Yunhe se—

  2. Line 7 · What does the marked word mean?

    蒼梧來怨慕，

    Pronunciation hint

    lái

    Reveal meaning and translation

    來 — comes

    From Cangwu comes a longing full of grief;

  3. Line 12 · What does the marked word mean?

    江上數峰青。

    Pronunciation hint

    shù

    Reveal meaning and translation

    數 — several

    above the river, a few peaks stand green.

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.

Line-by-line notes →

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Line-by-line notes

Lines 1–2 · A player known by hearing

鼓 is the verb “play” with the se, an ancient plucked zither. 雲和 names the fine instrument. 聞 introduces what the speaker has heard of the player, whose identity as 帝子 evokes the legendary imperial daughters linked to the Xiang River.

Lines 3–4 · Two responses

Feng Yi is the river god. 空 qualifies his dancing, giving “in vain,” while 不堪 says the traveler of Chu can hardly bear the sound. 舞 and 聽 show two distinct responses in the space of a couplet. Hearing the music gives no guarantee of sharing its pleasure.

Lines 5–6 · What the notes reach

淒 makes even 金石 seem affected by the sound. Those words can name metal and stone instruments as well as the materials themselves. 入 then lets the notes penetrate 杳冥, a darkness too deep to see into. The English uses “chill” and “enter” to follow the movement from an effect on things to a reach beyond sight.

Lines 7–8 · Grief and fragrance

蒼梧 evokes Shun’s traditional burial place and the bereavement associated with the Xiang spirits. 怨慕 joins grief with the pull of longing. 白芷 gives the responding landscape the fragrance of white angelica. 動 makes the scent stir just as the earlier lines set listeners and sounds in motion.

Lines 9–12 · The sound ends and the view remains

傳 lets the flowing water carry the music along the Xiao’s banks, and 過 takes the wind across Dongting. 曲終 stops this movement at the end of the piece. 人不見 leaves the player absent from sight. The final 數峰青 offers a few green peaks with no new sound or action. Read the still image against the verbs that carried the music there.

Form and tone

This is twelve-line five-character pailü, an extended form of regulated verse, rather than the usual eight-line lüshi. Its successive middle couplets organize listeners, sounds, places, and natural responses. The quiet final couplet releases that accumulation. A historical tone grid is not supplied.

Historical context

省試 identifies an examination composition: a prescribed topic could still produce a distinctive imaginative scene. Qian Qi works with the legendary Xiang spirits, not a documented performance heard on a particular riverbank. Read his shorter Returning Geese afterward: there, the same sorrowful music becomes an invented explanation for migration.

Sources

Chinese text follows the main readings of Shengshi Xiangling guse, Quan Tang shi, juan 238: 鼓, 空, 來, and 瀟浦. Punctuation is editorial. English translation and notes are original to PoemWell. The Ministry of Education dictionary identifies the legendary Xiang spirits and gives the reading Feng Yi.

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. “At the Examination: The Xiang Spirit Plays the Se” (省試湘靈鼓瑟). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .

https://poemwell.org/poems/xiang-spirit-plays-the-se

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.