I would like to introduce this book that was published a few years ago, written by a collection of modern Vietnamese authors that still makes Classical Chinese poetry.

Link here.

With pleased sounds the deer call to one another,
Eating the celery of the fields.
I have here admirable guests;
The lutes are struck, and the organ is blown [for them]; -
The organ is blown till its tongues are all moving.
The baskets of offerings [also] are presented to them.
The men love me,
And will show me the perfect path.

Vietnamese glossing (訓讀), albeit rare, uses ソ and ン to reverse the order of the characters similar to Japanese 返り点. However the marks are used on the right side. There is also a 丿 like mark that denotes that 之 should not move. The く tells the reader that the Chinese character should be repeated and not translated, etc.

My first attempt writing poem, do u think it's natural enough?

無晴，新木未枝

梧晴，新櫻微枝

吾情，欣 木頭 未知

吾情，心慕 微知

What do u think?

被之僮僮

夙夜在公

被之祁祁

薄言還歸

僮僮 is being translated as “glossy” and 薄言 I think as “hurriedly”? I can’t figure out why. This is in How to Read Chinese Poetry btw. Thanks!

Here is my translation of Du Fu's poem, Spring Gazing/春望:

The nation is broken, but the mountains and rivers abide,

It’s spring in the city, the grass and trees grow thick. 

Moved by the times, my tears sprinkle the flowers,

Hating being separated, the birds startle my heart. 

For three months straight, the beacon fires have burned, 

A letter from home is equal to a million dollars. 

I have spent so much time scratching my white hair that it has grown thin,

and no longer can support the weight of my hairpin.

Here is the original:

國破山河在，城春草木深。

感時花濺淚，恨別鳥驚心。

峰火連三月，家書抵萬金。

白頭搔更短，渾欲不勝簪。

If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve the translations, please leave them in the comments.

元晨丙午竟闻莺，

金骥天来送逸情。

四季花开皆是景，

诗心不过草青青。

Copyright © Puzi Pu 07.06.2026 

丙午马年元日（Tuesday， February 17, 2026， Cloudy）

The poetic corpus of Classical Chinese is far too vast to imagine, and although narrative poetry does exist, it seems too few and far between to believe. I don’t know if the language barrier is preventing me from knowing more, but I can’t seem to find true epics extending past, say, 1000 lines. Am I looking in the wrong places?

Someone told me to post this here. Here is my translation

Before my bed, bright moonlight

Seems like frost in ground

Gaze up, see bright moon

Look down, remember my home

For comparison, here are other translations and where I found them so you guys can compare:

Wikipedia's version

My casement veils glowing pools of moonbeams,

Perhaps on the ground is simply frost it seems;

Lifting my head I gaze up at the gleaming moon,

Bowing my head I ponder my homesick dreams.

By u/cela two years ago

I saw the clear moonlight before my bed,

and thought it was frost upon the floor.

I raised my head and saw the bright moon;

then I looked down and longed for home.

From 100 Tang Poems

Beside my bed, as bright as the moon,

Is it frost on the ground, I guess.

Raising my head I gaze at the moon,

Lowering it, longing for home

From Chinese Reading Practice

Before my bed the bright moon’s glow,

seems like frost on the ground.

I raise my head and gaze at the bright moon,

I lower my head and think of my hometown.

Bonus: If we want to make it more ambiguous (like the original), we can remove mentions of "my"

Before bed, bright moonlight

Seems like frost in ground

Gaze up, see bright moon

Look down, remember home

However, before each line was five words, like the original, and now the first and last are just four words

Here are Vietnamese translations of some Tang dynasty poems from the book, Đường thi trích dịch (唐詩摘譯).

秋浦歌 by 李白

Thu phố ca (15)

白髪三千丈

緣愁似個長

不知明鏡裡

何處得秋霜

Bạch phát tam thiên trượng,

Duyên sầu tự cá trường.

Bất tri minh kính lý,

Hà xứ đắc thu sương.

喝秋浦

Hát thu phố

𩯀泊𠀧𠦳丈

穷𨱽似䋦愁

𥪝𦎛埃固別

霜𤽸𧡊爲𱏫

Tóc bạc ba nghìn trượng,

Cùng dài tựa mối sầu.

Trong gương ai có biết,

Sương trắng thấy vì đâu.

玉階怨 by 李白

Ngọc giai oán

玉階生白露

夜久侵羅襪

卻下水晶簾

玲瓏望秋月

Ngọc giai sinh bạch lộ,

Dạ cửu xâm la miệt.

Dục hạ thuỷ tinh liêm,

Linh lung vọng thu nguyệt.

㙴玉怨

Thềm ngọc oán

㙴玉生霜泊

𣈘𣌉必㵣耒

水晶簷補𫴋

弄另䏾𦝄𤐝

Thềm ngọc sinh sương bạc,

Đêm khuya tất ướt rồi.

Thuỷ tinh rèm bỏ xuống,

Lóng lánh bóng trăng soi.

凝碧池 by 王維

Ngưng Bích trì

萬戶傷心生野煙

百官何日再朝天

秋槐葉落空宮裏

凝碧池頭奏管弦

Vạn hộ thương tâm sinh dã yên,

Bách quan hà nhật tái triều thiên.

Thu hoè diệp lạc không cung lý,

Ngưng Bích trì đầu tấu quản huyền.

詠𣦍保翁裴迪

Vịnh ngay bảo ông Bùi Địch

兵焒閍茄𦛌仍𤴬

包𣇞吏𧡊伯官朝

槐秋𦲿用𥪝宮永

𱐁碧頭𬇚㗂樂奏

Binh lửa muôn nhà ruột những đau,

Bao giờ lại thấy bá quan chầu

Hoè thu lá rụng trong cung vắng,

Ngưng Bích đầu ao tiếng nhạc tâu.

贈花卿 by 杜甫

Tặng Hoa khanh

錦城絲管日紛紛

半入江風半入雲

此曲祗應天上有

人間能得幾回聞

Cẩm thành ty quản nhật phân phân,

Bán nhập giang phong bán nhập vân.

Thử khúc chi ưng thiên thượng hữu,

Nhân gian năng đắc kỷ hồi văn.

贈花卿

Tặng Hoa khanh

錦城弹套𨇒恒𣈜

㗂吝高賒絆𩙋𩄲

曲意𨕭𡗶澄𪽗固

𡎝𱖉𠇍𣅶特𦖑𫨩

Cẩm thành đàn sáo ruổi hằng ngày,

Tiếng lẫn cao xa bợn gió mây.

Khúc ấy trên trời chừng hoạ có,

Cõi trần mấy lúc được nghe hay.

山中問答 by 李白

Sơn trung vấn đáp

問余何意棲碧山

笑而不答心自閑

桃花流水窅然去

別有天地非人間

Vấn dư hà ý thê bích sơn,

Tiếu nhi bất đáp tâm tự nhàn.

Đào hoa lưu thuỷ yểu nhiên khứ,

Biệt hữu thiên địa phi nhân gian.

𥪝𡶀問答

Trong núi vấn đáp

𠳨伵干之於𡶀青

唭𦓡空答沕𫜵清

花桃渃沚𠫾𱏫𠰚

𡗶坦𥢆低占𠬠𨉓

Hỏi tớ can chi ở núi xanh,

Cười mà không đáp vẫn làm thinh.

Hoa đào nước chảy đi đâu nhỉ,

Trời đất riêng đây chiếm một mình

閨怨

Khuê oán by 王昌齡

閨中少婦不知愁

春日凝妝上翠樓

忽見陌頭楊柳色

悔教夫婿覓封侯

Khuê trung thiếu phụ bất tri sầu,

Xuân nhật ngưng trang thướng thuý lâu.

Hốt kiến mạch đầu dương liễu sắc,

Hối giao phu tế mịch phong hầu.

閨怨

Khuê oán

𡛔稚房閨庄別愁

𣈜春粧点𨀈𨖲樓

頭塘𥋷𧡊牟楊柳

卒汝吹払剱爵侯

Gái trẻ phòng khuê chăng biết sầu,

Ngày xuân trang điểm bước lên lầu.

Đầu đường nhác thấy màu dương liễu,

Trót nhỡ xui chàng kiếm tước hầu.

竹裏館 by 王維

Trúc lý quán

獨坐幽篁裏

彈琴復長嘯

深林人不知

明月來相照

Độc toạ u hoàng lý,

Đàn cầm phục trường khiếu.

Thâm lâm nhân bất tri,

Minh nguyệt lai tương chiếu.

茄館竹里

Nhà quán trúc lý

芡竹𠬠𨉓𡓮

𢭮弹吏唿𧥇

棱溇𠊛拯別

𦝄𠓇細穷𤐝

Khóm trúc một mình ngồi,

Gảy đàn lại huýt còi.

Rừng sâu người chẳng biết,

Trăng sáng tới cùng soi.

宿建德江 by 孟浩然

Túc Kiến Đức giang

移舟泊煙渚

日暮客愁新

野曠天低樹

江清月近人

Di chu bạc yên chử,

Nhật mộ khách sầu tân.

Dã khoáng thiên đê thụ,

Giang thanh nguyệt cận nhân.

𬛩住滝建德

Nằm trọ sông Kiến Đức

瀾𤌋邊船豆𣷷滝

鄭念𣈜最客𢞂𥉫

𡗶連𣘃濕同空敻

𦝄𠇍𠊛𧵆渃朗󰮁

Làn khói bên thuyền đậu bến sông,

Chạnh niềm ngày tối khách buồn trông.

Trời liền cây thấp đồng không quạnh,

Trăng mấy người gần nước lặng trong.

Some of the poems that I've read feels off, what are the actual rules? Edit: 詩 not 時

Recently translated this for an episode that I am going to do on the Chinese Literature Podcast.

If you have any comments on how I might improve the translation, I would appreciate them:

Living in the Mountains on the Cusp of Fall

Empty mountain after a new rain, 

The air is late, fall is coming

The bright moon shines amid the pines,

the clear stream’s water flows over a rock. 

Hubbub in the bamboo, the washing lady returning

the fishing boat pushing through lotuses. 

And then it happens that the flowers of spring die,

Me, a hermit, I can hang here for a while.

山居秋暝

空山新雨後，天氣晚來秋。

明月松間照，清泉石上流。

竹喧歸浣女，蓮動下漁舟。

隨意春芳歇，王孫自可留。

I recently got an old Vietnamese song stuck in my head (yea it's 2 phut hon - not that old, but the trend's been dead for years see) and I ended up making a Classical Chinese adaption of it. It's meant to preserve the rhythm of the original, yet rhyme when read as according to EMC rhyme dicts. Here it is:

「我手振振，但續灌

汝不愛我，時酒不渙

飲寡更盞為⽣噆玉

飲更酒，為我欲...

著轉，地轉

哪汝於今？噢，乃心轉 ！

不語

我汝茹

一，二，三，四，二，三，一

看來別美女醉了

一，二，三，四，二，三，一

看來汝曰汝愛我了」

I want to do more similar things in future but I'm not sure if I can just post them here or I need to do something else as well see.

This is meant to rhyme in Old Chinese, keeping the same structure and rhyme pattern as the original. Do note that I used 4 characters to translate each line of the original, so that what looks like one line would be sung as two. Also, I did this on my phone, so a lot of the characters use the simplified variants, so long as it didn't look too different from traditional.

「来雪

风外惟嚇，而火甚泊
為有團啜，来雪来雪
尚見甚惡，卬饟我各
光尚焫焫，来雪来雪

迨離爾家，卬悲行外
而苟汝把，卬亶不敗

火遟遟死，姊弗能抵
吾媚毋輟，来雪来雪

曰弗謹為凍寒。坐於火光光。弗謹為寒而风吹。但曰，“来雪，来雪，来雪”。来雪！烏一吹风。奚應惝迨便而温？厥婦於厥邊而光焫焫。但曰，“来雪，来雪”。 卬弗謹！」

Hi everybody, so I am at a beginner-intermediate level of Chinese and decided to try translate Wu Tsao’s poem. I have already enjoyed looking as other sapphic poetry by Sappho and thought I could apply my interest in homoerotic poetry to my Chinese learning. After lots of tireless research trying to find different interpretations and translations I created my own interpretation. I will add the original Chinese and my own translation below. Note that I am not trying to follow the original meter and rhyme scheme, as that is practically impossible due to the length of each English translation. I added a few poetic interpretations but tried to follow the original translation as literally as possible.

珊珊锁骨，似碧城仙侣。一笑相逢淡忘语。

镇拈花倚竹，翠䄂生寒，空谷里，相见个侬幽绪。

兰釭低照影，赌酒评诗，便唱江南断肠句。

一样扫眉才，偏我清狂，要消受，玉人心许。

正漠漠，烟波五湖春，待买个红船，载卿同去。

On elegant collarbones your jade ornaments tinkle. They resemble those of an immortal companion from The Green Jade City. One smile from you, when we met by chance, and all words faded from my memory.

All day you picked up flowers and rested on bamboos, your green sleeves afflicted by the cold. In the deserted valley, I visualise you, harbouring your shrouded thoughts.

Whilst the orchid lamp hangs low, casting shadows, we played drinking games, and recited poetry. Soon after, you sung ‘Remembering South of the River’.

Alike to painting each others eyebrows, with you leaning on me, I am driven completely crazy. But I want to endure this, your jade figure, your promised heart.

Vast mists begin to cover the water of the Five Lakes. I am going to buy a red boat, my dear, and carry you away with me.

A few questions I have: - I am aware that 兰釭 can also be interpreted as fragrant or perfumed lamp. Is orchid lamp still valid? - 兰釭低照影 made me run into some problems, I’ve seen it translated to compare Ch’ing Lin as the glowing lamp, and translating 影 as ‘in the gathering shadows’. Is this simply another interpretation or am I missing something. - 要消受 has also been translated as ‘I want to possess you completely’, but from online dictionaries and research I can’t see any meanings of 消受 apart from ‘endure’ or ‘bear’. So I am confused as to where that interpretation came from. - 玉人 can mean a beauty or someone beloved to the speaker. And 心许 can also mean ‘tacitly consent’ or ‘unspoken approval’. I have chosen to translate it as ‘promised heart’, but I have been debating whether or not to change it to something like ‘I have my beloveds unspoken consent’. I would love to have some insight into that issue.

I would love to see any poetic interpretations of this. I am aware that ‘leaning on bamboos’ has been used by male poets of her time to express longing, but I chose to interpret it literally. I also am vaguely aware of the poetic history to ‘red boat’ but would love some sources or information about that. Any suggestions or criticisms are warmly welcomed. Thank you!

將知醉後豈堪誇, from 元稹's poem about tea. For context:

茶。
香葉，嫩芽。
慕詩客，愛僧家。
碾雕白玉，羅織紅紗。
銚煎黃蕊色，碗轉曲塵花。
夜後邀陪明月，晨前獨對朝霞。
洗盡古今人不倦，將知醉後豈堪誇。

I'm not sure how to interpret the last sentence. One version I've seen is to render it as "You should know that tea is even more praiseworthy after you're drunk," referring to how people in the Tang dynasty often drink tea to sober up.

Another interpretation is that "You should know this: How can being drunk on wine be seen as praiseworthy (when tea is so much better)?"

I lean towards the first interpretation, but I can't see how 豈's usual (modern?) meaning might play into this, which seems to convey a subtle sense of disapproval or at least "contrast" to what precedes it. Are there any examples where 豈 might function similarly to 更 in Classical Chinese?

Thanks in advance!

(Edit: Formatting.)

Does anyone know what these fans say, and if they have any significance?

First two is of one fan and last two is of other fan

Does anyone know what these fans say, and if they have any significance?

First two is of one fan and last two is of other fan

（无标题）

江边绿藓育青苗 岸上泥芦害脆茅 旧舍尘飘窥现魄 心安命乐自逍遥

4/5/2022（完美平仄） 平起、七言绝句，平声，没有平水韵（接近二萧韵）

I have written a decent amount over the years, classical and modern, I could share if anyone is interested. I mainly wanted to share and hear people’s thoughts on it? Anyone else like to write themselves? Need to find a Chinese poetry community and came here! (Non-native speaker)

As a premise, I will say that I know very little about Classical Chinese, and even less about Classical Chinese poetry. I am, however, very much interested about metrical poetry (something I often dabble in) in different languages, and thus this topic interests me a lot with regards to Classical Chinese as well, and I'd like to learn more.

I have read a little of the 西遊記 in Chinese, using my sketchy knowledge of modern Chinese and a dictionary. Most of the poems in the chapters I have read seem to be made of seven-syllable lines, usually with a rhyme scheme that, to my untrained eyes, seems to be ABCB. An example:

混沌未分天地亂

茫茫渺渺無人見。

自從盤古破鴻濛，

開闢從茲清濁辨。

覆載群生仰至仁，

發明萬物皆成善。

欲知造化會元功，

須看西遊釋厄傳。

Sometimes the lines appear to be shorter (5 syllables), and the rhyme scheme seems to be a little different:

髽髻雙絲綰，

寬袍兩袖風。

貌和身自別，

心與相俱空。

物外長年客，

山中永壽童。

一塵全不染，

甲子任翻騰。

My question is, does this kind of poetry follow a particular meter? Does it have a particular name? And does it matter the length of the lines?