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Jiāo Xíng Jí ShìA Country Walk 郊行即事

Cheng Hao (程颢, also known as Cheng Mingdao)｜Northern Song｜seven-character regulated verse

Cheng Hao on a Qingming outing: enjoy it, but remember to go home.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

芳原绿野恣行时
fāng yuán lǜ yě zì xíng shí

春入遥山碧四围
chūn rù yáo shān bì sì wéi

况是清明好天气
kuàng shì qīng míng hǎo tiān qì

不妨游衍莫忘归
bù fáng yóu yǎn mò wàng guī

Simplified characters; traditional title: 郊行即事. 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.

I roam at will over fragrant plains and green fields;

spring has reached the distant hills, blue all around.

And it's Qingming, with such fine weather —

why not wander on, and forget to go home?

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

芳原绿野恣行时 · fāng yuán lǜ yě zì xíng shí — I roam at will over fragrant plains and green fields;

春入遥山碧四围 · chūn rù yáo shān bì sì wéi — spring has reached the distant hills, blue all around.

况是清明好天气 · kuàng shì qīng míng hǎo tiān qì — And it's Qingming, with such fine weather —

不妨游衍莫忘归 · bù fáng yóu yǎn mò wàng guī — why not wander on, and forget to go home?

Cheng Hao on a Qingming outing: enjoy it, but remember to go home. The scene stays with you.

Cheng Hao on a Qingming outing: enjoy it, but remember to go home.

Cheng Hao helped shape Neo-Confucian thought; his poems are plain and clear.

Lifetime: 1032–1085. Other famous works: A Country Walk (郊行即事); Spring Day, Impromptu (春日偶成).