Home › Poems › The Back Garden of Poshan Temple

Tí Pò Shān Sì Hòu Chán YuànThe Back Garden of Poshan Temple 题破山寺后禅院

Chang Jian (常建, also known as Ch'ang Chien)｜High Tang｜five-character regulated verse

Chang Jian walks into an old temple at dawn; a bamboo path leads to the meditation hall.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

清晨入古寺
qīng chén rù gǔ sì

初日照高林
chū rì zhào gāo lín

竹径通幽处
zhú jìng tōng yōu chù

禅房花木深
chán fáng huā mù shēn

Simplified characters; traditional title: 題破山寺後禪院. This is a long poem; only the best-known lines are shown, and “……” marks omitted passages.

Note on the text: This page presents a well-known excerpt; the full poem is longer in the traditional corpus.

In the clear morning I enter the old temple;

the first sunlight shines on the tall forest.

A bamboo path leads to a secluded place —

the meditation hall, deep among flowers and trees.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

清晨入古寺 · qīng chén rù gǔ sì — In the clear morning I enter the old temple;

初日照高林 · chū rì zhào gāo lín — the first sunlight shines on the tall forest.

竹径通幽处 · zhú jìng tōng yōu chù — A bamboo path leads to a secluded place —

禅房花木深 · chán fáng huā mù shēn — the meditation hall, deep among flowers and trees.

Chang Jian walks into an old temple at dawn; a bamboo path leads to the meditation hall. The scene stays with you.

Chang Jian walks into an old temple at dawn; a bamboo path leads to the meditation hall.

Chang Jian's Broken Mountain temple poem is a Chan-tinged landscape touchstone.

Lifetime: fl. High Tang. Other famous works: The Back Garden of Poshan Temple (题破山寺后禅院).