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Yù Lóu ChūnJade Tower Spring 玉楼春

Song Qi (宋祁, also known as Sung Ch'i)｜Northern Song｜ci (song lyric)

Song Qi on spring east of the city, with the famous line on red apricot blossom.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

东城渐觉风光好
dōng chéng jiàn jué fēng guāng hǎo

縠皱波纹迎客棹
hú zhòu bō wén yíng kè zhào

绿杨烟外晓寒轻
lǜ yáng yān wài xiǎo hán qīng

红杏枝头春意闹
hóng xìng zhī tóu chūn yì nào

Simplified characters; traditional title: 玉樓春. 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.

East of the city I begin to feel the scenery turn fine;

crinkled ripples welcome the oars of visitors.

Beyond the misty green willows, the dawn chill is light;

on the red apricot branches, spring is bustling.

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

东城渐觉风光好 · dōng chéng jiàn jué fēng guāng hǎo — East of the city I begin to feel the scenery turn fine;

縠皱波纹迎客棹 · hú zhòu bō wén yíng kè zhào — crinkled ripples welcome the oars of visitors.

绿杨烟外晓寒轻 · lǜ yáng yān wài xiǎo hán qīng — Beyond the misty green willows, the dawn chill is light;

红杏枝头春意闹 · hóng xìng zhī tóu chūn yì nào — on the red apricot branches, spring is bustling.

Song Qi on spring east of the city, with the famous line on red apricot blossom. The scene stays with you.

Song Qi on spring east of the city, with the famous line on red apricot blossom.

Song Qi earned the nickname Red Apricot Minister.

Lifetime: 998–1061. Other famous works: Jade Tower Spring (玉楼春).