Tang poem · five-character regulated verse唐诗 · 五言律诗

xún寻nán南xī溪cháng常shān山dào道rén人yǐn隐jū居

liú刘cháng长qīng卿Liu Changqing · Tang唐

Looking for the Hermit Daoist Chang by the Southern Creek

yí一lù路jīng经xíng行chù处

méi莓tái苔jiàn见lǚ履hén痕

bái白yún云yī依jìng静zhǔ渚

fāng芳cǎo草bì闭xián闲mén门

guò过yǔ雨kàn看sōng松sè色

suí随shān山dào到shuǐ水yuán源

xī溪huā花yǔ与chán禅yì意

xiāng相duì对yì亦wàng忘yán言

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 four, the Complete Tang Poems has "spring grass" (chun cao), while the common Three Hundred Tang Poems has "fragrant grass" (fang cao). We follow the second. In the Three Hundred Tang Poems the title is "Looking for Daoist Chang by the Southern Creek".

第四句，《全唐诗》作“春草闭闲门”，通行的《唐诗三百首》作“芳草闭闲门”，这里用后者。这首诗在《唐诗三百首》里题作《寻南溪常道士》。

Line by line逐句翻译

一路经行处All along the path I walked,我一路走过的地方，
莓苔见履痕his footprints showed in the moss.青苔上留着他的鞋印。
白云依静渚White clouds rested on a quiet sandbar,白云依偎着安静的小沙洲，
芳草闭闲门and green grass closed off his quiet gate.青草掩住了他清静的家门。
过雨看松色After the rain I gazed at the green of the pines,雨刚停，我看着青翠的松树，
随山到水源and followed the hills all the way to where the creek begins.顺着山路一直走到溪水的源头。
溪花与禅意The creek-side flowers and the calm in my heart溪边的花和我心里的禅意，
相对亦忘言faced each other, and I forgot all words.静静相对，我已忘了要说什么。

Words字词注释

经行jīng xíng: jīng xíng: to walk past, to pass through.经行：走过。
莓苔méi tái: méi tái: moss, the tiny green plants that grow on damp ground.莓苔：青苔，长在潮湿地上的小绿植物。
履痕lǚ hén: lǚ hén: footprints. Lǚ means shoe.履痕：鞋印。履，鞋。
依yī: yī: to lean against, to rest close to.依：依偎、靠着。
渚zhǔ: zhǔ: a small piece of land in the water, a little sandbar.渚：水中的小块陆地，小沙洲。
闲门xián mén: xián mén: a quiet gate that nobody passes through.闲门：清静、没人来往的门。
过雨guò yǔ: guò yǔ: a shower of rain has just passed.过雨：一场雨刚刚下过。
随山suí shān: suí shān: following the line of the hills.随山：顺着山势走。
禅意chán yì: chán yì: the calm, still feeling of Buddhist practice. Chán is the Buddhist practice of quieting the mind.禅意：佛家清静、安宁的心境。禅，佛教里静心思考的修行。
忘言wàng yán: wàng yán: to understand something so deeply that you forget words, with no need to speak.忘言：心里明白了，却说不出、也不想说。

How to read it读音

看kàn: Today this is read kàn. The tone pattern of the poem wants a level tone here, so in old times it was read kān.“看”今天读 kàn。按律诗的平仄这里该用平声，古人读 kān。

Background创作背景

In this poem the poet goes into the hills to visit a Daoist hermit. A hermit is someone who lives alone, far from towns. This one was named Chang and lived by the Southern Creek. Along the way the poet sees footprints in the moss and a closed gate, but never meets the man. So he simply walks on along the hills and the creek, and finds peace in nature. We no longer know exactly when it was written.

这首诗写诗人去山里拜访一位隐居的道士。道士姓常，住在南溪边。诗人一路寻找，看到青苔上的鞋印，看到关着的门，却没见到主人。他干脆沿着山和溪水往上走，在大自然里找到了平静。写作的具体时间已经不清楚。

The poet作者

Liu Changqing was a Tang poet of the middle period. Sources disagree about when he was born and died. He served as an official and was sent away to remote posts twice. He was best at five-character poems, and people called him "the Great Wall of five-character verse". His poems often show hills and rivers and a lonely, quiet mood, in clean, calm words.

刘长卿，唐代中期诗人，生卒年说法不一。他做过官，两次被贬到偏远的地方。他最擅长五言诗，被人称为“五言长城”。他的诗常写山水和冷清的心情，用字干净、安静。

The mood意境

The title says "looking for", yet the poet never finds the man. First come the footprints, which show the hermit often walks this way. Then the white clouds and green grass around a closed gate show that few people ever come. The poet is not upset. After the rain the pines look greener, so he follows the hills to the head of the creek. At last, looking at the little flowers by the water, his heart goes still. He seems to understand something, but does not want to put it into words. He did not find the man, but he found peace. That is the charm of the poem.

诗名叫“寻”，可整首诗都没见到要找的人。先是鞋印，说明主人常从这里走；再是白云和青草围着关上的门，说明这里很少有人来。见不到人，诗人也不着急。雨后松树更绿，他就顺着山一直走到溪水的源头。最后，他看着溪边的小花，心里一下子安静下来，好像明白了什么，却不想用话说出来。没找到人，却找到了一份宁静，这就是这首诗的妙处。