This bittersweet 1000-year-old rhyme from China’s artistic golden age is perhaps the country’s most well-known verse. Even better for beginners (HSK 2-3), it’s only a few lines long, and there are only a couple of difficult characters. In fact, this is such a perfect lesson, that the fact that I haven’t posted it until now may be a sign of early-onset dementia.
床前 明月 光， 疑是 地上 霜。 举头 望 明月， 低头 思 故乡。 Buy on Amazon:
Kindle Li Bai biography or his poems in English.
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 床 | chuáng | bed; couch (furniture that one can lie down on) (CL:張|张[zhang1]); bed; bottom (of rivers, oceans, gardens etc); frame; chassis; classifier for blankets, quilts etc; variant of 床[chuang2] |
| 前 | qián | front; forward; ahead; first; top (followed by a number); future; ago; before; BC (e.g. 前293年); former; formerly |
| 明月 | míng yuè | bright moon; refers to 夜明珠, a legendary pearl that can glow in the dark; CL:輪|轮[lun2] |
| 光 | guāng | light; ray (CL:道[dao4]); bright; shiny; only; merely; used up; finished; to leave (a part of the body) uncovered |
| 疑 | yí | (bound form) to doubt; to suspect |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 地上 | dì shang | on the ground; on the floor |
| 霜 | shuāng | frost; white powder or cream spread over a surface; frosting; (skin) cream |
| 举 | jǔ | variant of 舉|举[ju3]; to lift; to hold up; to cite; to enumerate; to act; to raise; to choose; to elect; act; move; deed |
| 头 | tóu | head; hair style; the top; end; beginning or end; a stub; remnant; chief; boss; side; aspect; first; leading; classifier for pigs or livestock; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 望 | wàng | full moon; to hope; to expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); to look towards; towards; 15th day of month (lunar calendar); old variant of 望[wang4] |
| 低 | dī | low; beneath; to lower (one's head); to let droop; to hang down; to incline |
| 思 | sī | to think; to consider |
| 故 | gù | happening; instance; reason; cause; intentional; former; old; friend; therefore; hence; (of people) to die, dead |
| 乡 | xiang | country or countryside; home village or town |
Before my bed the bright moon’s glow,
seems like frost on the ground.
I raise my head and gaze at the bright moon,
I lower my head and think of my hometown.