This well-known nursery jingle that Chinese kids learn in kindergarten was written 1400 years ago, by Tang Dynasty poet Luo Binwang, who, in the tradition of great artists everywhere, did some jail time for dissing the reigning empress. You don’t get much sense of Luo’s rebellious side in this short poem, though – it’s about geese, and that’s about it.
鹅鹅鹅， 曲项向天歌。 白毛浮绿水， 红掌拨清波。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 鹅 | é | variant of 鵝|鹅[e2]; goose; CL:隻|只[zhi1] |
| 曲 | Qū | surname Qu; variant of 麴|曲[qu1]; fermentation starter; leaven (molds, yeasts or bacteria used in fermenting soy products or brewing etc); Taiwan pr. [qu2] |
| 项 | Xiàng | surname Xiang |
| 向 | Xiàng | surname Xiang; to tend toward; to guide; variant of 向[xiang4]; variant of 向[xiang4]; direction; orientation; to face; to turn toward; to; towards; shortly before; formerly |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 歌 | gē | song (CL:首[shou3],支[zhi1]); (bound form) to sing; variant of 歌[ge1] |
| 白毛 | bái máo | white hair (of animals); see also 白髮|白发[bai2 fa4] |
| 浮 | fū | to float; floating; movable; temporary; impetuous; inflated; superfluous; surplus |
| 绿水 | lu:4 shuǐ | green water; crystal-clear water |
| 红 | Hóng | surname Hong |
| 掌 | zhǎng | palm of the hand; sole of the foot; paw; horseshoe; to slap; to hold in one's hand; to wield |
| 拨 | bo | to push aside with the hand, foot, a stick etc; to allocate; to poke (the fire); to turn round |
| 清 | Qīng | Qing (Wade-Giles: Ch'ing) dynasty of China (1644–1911); surname Qing |
| 波 | Bō | (bound form) Poland (abbr. for 波蘭|波兰[Bo1 lan2]); surname Bo |
Geese, geese, geese, Crooked necks towards heaven they sing, White feathers float on green water, Red feet push up clear waves.