Tang poem · five-character quatrain唐诗 · 五言绝句

sòng送líng灵chè澈shàng上rén人

liú刘cháng长qīng卿Liu Changqing · Tang唐

Seeing Off the Monk Lingche

cāng苍cāng苍zhú竹lín林sì寺

yǎo杳yǎo杳zhōng钟shēng声wǎn晚

hè荷lì笠dài带xié斜yáng阳

qīng青shān山dú独guī归yuǎn远

Underlined words have notes: tap one. The Pinyin button below shows or hides all pinyin. 一 and 不 are marked with the tone you actually say.字下有虚线的，点开有注释。下方的“拼音”按钮可以显示或隐藏全部拼音。“一”“不”标的是实际读出来的变调。

In line three the corpus uses another word for "evening sun". The common text uses the word meaning "slanting sun". The meaning is the same.

诗集里第三句作“荷笠带夕阳”，通行本作“荷笠带斜阳”。意思一样。

Line by line逐句翻译

苍苍竹林寺Bamboo Grove Temple sits among deep green woods.竹林寺掩映在一片深青色的山林里，
杳杳钟声晚Its evening bell sounds faint and far away.傍晚的钟声从远处隐隐传来。
荷笠带斜阳You carry your bamboo hat, wrapped in the light of the setting sun,你背着斗笠，身上披着夕阳的余晖，
青山独归远and walk alone into the green hills, farther and farther.独自向青山深处走去，越走越远。

Words字词注释

苍苍cāng cāng: cāng cāng: deep green, describing thick, dark woods.苍苍：深青色，形容山林茂密、颜色深。
竹林寺zhú lín sì: zhú lín sì: Bamboo Grove Temple, in Runzhou, today's Zhenjiang in Jiangsu.竹林寺：寺庙的名字，在润州（今江苏镇江）。
杳杳yǎo yǎo: yǎo yǎo: deep and far, here the sound of the bell drifting faintly from far away.杳杳：深远的样子，这里形容钟声从远处隐隐传来。
钟声晚zhōng shēng wǎn: zhōng shēng wǎn: the evening bell. Temples ring a bell every morning and evening.钟声晚：傍晚的钟声。寺庙早晚都要敲钟。
荷笠hè lì: hè lì: carrying a bamboo hat. Hè means to carry on the back; lì is a wide hat woven from bamboo or straw, against sun and rain.荷笠：背着斗笠。荷，背着；笠，用竹子或草编的遮阳挡雨的帽子。
带dài: dài: bringing along, wrapped in.带：带着，披着。
斜阳xié yáng: xié yáng: the low evening sun.斜阳：傍晚快落山的太阳。
独dú: dú: alone.独：独自，一个人。

How to read it读音

荷hè: Here this character means "to carry on the back", so it is read hè, not hé (lotus).“荷”在这里是“背着、扛着”的意思，读 hè，不读 hé。
斜xié: Read xié today. It is not in a rhyming spot here, so there is no need for the old reading xiá.现在读 xié。这里不在押韵的位置，不需要读古音 xiá。

Background创作背景

Lingche was a Tang Buddhist monk who also wrote poems and was friends with many poets of his day. "Shangren" in the title is a polite word for a monk. The poem is usually thought to be written while Liu Changqing was in Runzhou. One evening Lingche was going back to Bamboo Grove Temple. Liu Changqing saw him off and watched him disappear into the hills, then wrote this poem. The exact year is not known.

灵澈是唐代的一位和尚，也会写诗，和当时很多诗人有交往。“上人”是对和尚的尊称。一般认为，这首诗是刘长卿在润州时写的。傍晚，灵澈要回竹林寺，刘长卿送他，看着他的身影走进山里，写下了这首诗。具体年份不能确定。

The poet作者

Liu Changqing was a Tang poet. He was best at five-character poems and was called "the Great Wall of five-character verse". His career went badly, and he was sent away from court twice. His poems often have a cool, lonely feeling. This farewell poem is written very lightly, but it stays with you.

刘长卿，唐代诗人，最擅长写五言诗，被称为“五言长城”。他一生做官不顺，两次被贬，诗里常有清冷、孤寂的味道。这首送别诗写得很淡，却很有味道。

The mood意境

This poem is like a painting of hills at dusk. Far off are deep green woods, with Bamboo Grove Temple hidden among them. A bell sounds from the distance, telling everyone that night is coming and it is time to go back. In the middle of the picture is one small figure: Lingche, carrying his hat, wrapped in the evening sun, walking alone into the green hills. The poem says no words of goodbye. The poet just stands still and watches his friend go farther and farther. The bell, the setting sun and the green hills are all quiet, like a monk's calm mind, with a little of the poet's gentle sadness at parting.

这首诗像一幅傍晚的山水画。远处是深青色的山林，山里藏着竹林寺；远远传来钟声，告诉人天快黑了，该回去了。画面中间是一个小小的人影：灵澈背着斗笠，披着夕阳，一个人往青山深处走。诗里没写一句离别的话，诗人只是站在原地，静静看着朋友越走越远。钟声、夕阳、青山，都很安静，正像一位和尚的心境，也带着诗人淡淡的不舍。