江雪 - River Snow

江雪 - 柳宗元 [River Snow by Liu Zong-yuan]

千山鳥飛絕

萬徑人蹤滅

孤舟蓑笠翁

獨釣寒江雪

thousand mountains; flight of birds unseen

on ten thousand paths footprints vanish

lonely boat: old man in straw cloak and bamboo hat

fishing alone in the cold river snow 

This poem has the title ‘jiang [river] xue [snow]’. It was written in the 8^th or 9^th century. The poet, 柳宗元 [Liu Zong-yuan], lived from 773 – 819 and is one of the so-called Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song [dynasties]. 

The translation above is one that I put together myself. I tried to keep it as close to the original as possible. Any feedback would be welcome. There are many, many alternative translations online and in print.

The original poem can be found in the classical Chinese poetry collection Three Hundred Tang Poems, which was compiled in the 18^th century. This anthology, which actually contains over 300 poems, has come to represent the canon of classical Chinese poetry. The poems contained within it were written during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907). 

caligraphy version of the poem - a bargain at $2,950 from this site

The poem has inspired many works of art, as seen below.

15th-century artwork from Zhou Wenjing, featuring part of the poem

artwork featuring the poem found here

artwork featuring the poem found here