What is your first Chinese poem that you learned.

dennisliehappo
March 14, 2008, 01:07 AM posted in General Discussion

This is the first Chinese poem that I learned in both Fantizi and Jiantizi.

春眠不覺曉,處處聞啼鳥。夜來風雨聲,花落知多少?

春眠不觉晓,处处闻啼鸟。夜来风雨声,花落知多少?

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John
March 14, 2008, 02:30 AM

Mine was this one: 静夜诗(李白) 床前明月光,疑是地上霜。 举头望明月,低头思故乡。 I had to memorize it for first year Chinese class, and the experience affected me deeply. I struggled REALLY HARD to memorize it, and I maintain to this day that it did me close to ZERO good as far as my Chinese ability was concerned. Still, it's such a famous poem that I see references to it all the time...

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vampire_gerz
November 08, 2008, 07:27 AM

Hi Gesang, dpay02,

The poem itself has a deeper meaning about life despite the scenery.

The first 2 lines describe scenery that can only be viewed best at the top. Eg: you have to stand on top of a mountain order to fully see the sun set. If you stand only at the ground, you can only see up until it was blocked by the mountain.

The next two lines are translated as:

- If you want to see more (a thousand miles more)

- You have to be at a higher place.

In life: To see things more clearly, you have to be one notch higher.

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cassielin
March 14, 2008, 03:16 AM

John, I bet you must like the last sentence“举头望明月,低头思故乡。” PS:这首诗歌表达的是人们普遍共鸣的思乡之情,所以千百年来广为传颂,成为经典。 ^_^

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wildyaks
March 14, 2008, 09:18 AM

I could make the one John had to learn my first... At least it's short.

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danjo
March 14, 2008, 01:25 PM

Mine was actually also 静夜诗, a student of mine taught it to me. I see it referenced on TV and such, it seems almost a cliche of Chinese poetry. It's still the only one I have memorized. In my opinion, I have to say Chinese poetry is beautiful when written but not necessarily when spoken...

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cassielin
March 14, 2008, 02:05 PM

Have you ever heard about 悯农? 悯农 (唐)李绅 锄禾日当午,汗滴禾下土; 谁知盘中餐,粒粒皆辛苦。 This one took a very deep root in my mind. When i was a little girl my father always used this poem to taught me to cherish what i have got. I think my dad set a very good example for me. Everytime when i saw my nephews waste food , like rice, i will recite “谁知盘中餐,粒粒皆辛苦”to them and tell them there are many people have no enough food or even no food to eat in this world.

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dennisliehappo
March 14, 2008, 10:15 PM

Thanks for the input so far and I am hoping for more.

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tvan
March 14, 2008, 03:03 AM

Does 三隻老虎 count?

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gesang
March 15, 2008, 03:53 PM

mine is this, its about a tower on a mountain: 白日依山尽, 黄河入海流。 欲穷千里目, 更上一层楼。 was in my textbook, written by Wang Zhihuan.

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dpay02
March 15, 2008, 06:06 PM

Hi everyone. The first and only poem I have learned so far is the one gesang mentioned, unfortunately still I don't understand it. :(

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gesang
March 15, 2008, 09:01 PM

dpay02, Its something like this: At daytime you can see ...like over many rows of hills... and how the Yellow River is flowing in the sea, if you like to see ..like 1000chinese miles .... you have to climb up one more floor. this implies standing on a building with some floors on a mountain, maybe like one of these pagodas...well, thats what my teacher explained... maybe you can get a closer or better translation here later... for me its more or less like: if you want things to be better or improve..., you have to take action to change your situation..or something like that..dont you think? gesang

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mayor_bombolini
March 15, 2008, 10:24 PM

Here's one related to me verbally that I wrote in pinyin on the back of a cocktail napkin. Not sure I've got the right hanzi. Feel free to correct. 青山顶上一颗藤。 藤厅藤上挂藤铃。 风吹藤动藤铃响。 风停藤停藤铃停。

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lisomiso
March 22, 2008, 03:54 PM

I was shamed into learning 静夜思 by an American friend I met in Harbin! But the first one I learned is: 暮江吟 白居易 一道残阳铺水中 半江瑟瑟半江红 可怜九月初三夜 露似真珠月似弓

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daynah
March 15, 2008, 03:38 PM

It was our first or second week of class. I still hate this poem (as I do all tongue twisters). 四是四, 十是十. 十四是十四, 四十是四十. 一百是一零零,是不是?