诗词

Chinese Poetry

Classical verse distilled over two millennia — Tang quatrains, Song lyrics, Han rhapsodies. Read each poem in English translation alongside its original Chinese text and literary context.

Tang Dynasty

静夜思

Quiet Night Thoughts

Li Bai · 李白

Perhaps the most memorized poem in the Chinese language — four spare lines evoking homesickness under moonlight with astonishing economy of feeling.

moonlighthomesicknessli baiquatrain