Home › Poems › Clear Calm Music: Village Life
Qīng Píng LèClear Calm Music: Village Life 清平乐
Xin Qiji on a farm family of five; the youngest lies shelling lotus seeds.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
茅檐低小
máo yán dī xiǎo
溪上青青草
xī shàng qīng qīng cǎo
大儿锄豆溪东
dà ér chú dòu xī dōng
中儿正织鸡笼
zhōng ér zhèng zhī jī lóng
最喜小儿亡赖
zuì xǐ xiǎo ér wáng lài
溪头卧剥莲蓬
xī tóu wò bō lián péng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 清平樂. 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.
English translation
Low and small, the thatched eaves;
by the stream, the grass green, green.
The eldest son hoes beans east of the stream;
the middle son is weaving a chicken coop;
best of all, the youngest, the little rascal,
lies by the stream peeling lotus pods.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
Xin Qiji on a farm family of five; the youngest lies shelling lotus seeds. The scene stays with you.
Background
Xin Qiji on a farm family of five; the youngest lies shelling lotus seeds.
Key words
- 茅檐 máo yán
- thatch eaves; a thatched roof
- 亡赖 wáng lài
- mischievous; playfully naughty (dialectal)
- 莲蓬 lián péng
- lotus seed pods
About the poet: Xin Qiji
Xin Qiji is a leading ci poet of the Southern Song, writing in both heroic and delicate modes.
Lifetime: 1140–1207. Other famous works: Green Jade Cup: Lantern Festival (青玉案); Clear Calm Music: Village Life (清平乐); West River Moon (西江月); Partridge Sky (鹧鸪天).