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Jìng Yè SīQuiet Night Thoughts 静夜思

Li Bai (李白, also known as Li Po, Li Taibai)｜High Tang｜five-character quatrain

Li Bai's 20-character poem is the first Chinese poem most children learn.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

床前明月光
chuáng qián míng yuè guāng

疑是地上霜
yí shì dì shàng shuāng

举头望明月
jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè

低头思故乡
dī tóu sī gù xiāng

Simplified characters; traditional title: 靜夜思.

Note on the text: This is the version taught in Chinese schools today, from a Ming-dynasty anthology. The earliest (Song-dynasty) text, which the Japanese page follows, reads 床前看月光 (chuáng qián kàn yuè guāng, "Before my bed I watch the moonlight") and 举头望山月 (jǔ tóu wàng shān yuè, "I raise my head and gaze at the mountain moon").

English translation

Before my bed a pool of light—

Is it hoarfrost upon the ground?

Looking up, I find the moon bright;

Bowing, in homesickness I'm drowned.

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

Line by line

床前明月光 · chuáng qián míng yuè guāng — Before my bed a pool of light—

疑是地上霜 · yí shì dì shàng shuāng — Is it hoarfrost upon the ground?

举头望明月 · jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè — Looking up, I find the moon bright;

低头思故乡 · dī tóu sī gù xiāng — Bowing, in homesickness I'm drowned.

Meaning and imagery

The poem turns on a single moment of misperception: pale moonlight on the floor looks like frost. That chill sets the mood before any emotion is named. The two final lines mirror each other — raise the head, lower the head — so the body acts out the shift from looking outward at the moon to turning inward to memory. Because the same moon shines over the poet's hometown, it quietly links the lonely traveler to the people he left behind. The plainness is the point: no rare words, no allusions, just a feeling everyone away from home recognizes.

Background

Written around 726, when the young Li Bai had left Sichuan and was traveling in the Yangzhou area.

Key words

床 chuáng: usually "bed"; some scholars read it as a well railing or a folding seat
明月 míng yuè: the bright moon
疑 yí: to suspect, to half-believe
霜 shuāng: frost
故乡 gù xiāng: hometown, native place

About the poet: Li Bai

Li Bai (also romanized Li Po; courtesy name Taibai) is celebrated as the "Immortal of Poetry." Raised in Sichuan, he spent much of his life wandering, briefly served at the court of Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an, and is remembered for his love of wine, the moon and untamed nature. He and Du Fu are regarded as the two greatest poets of the Tang dynasty.

Lifetime: 701–762. Other famous works: Farewell to a Friend (送友人); Song of Qiupu (White Hair) (秋浦歌); Midnight Song of Wu (Autumn) (子夜吴歌); Question and Answer in the Mountains (山中问答); For Wang Lun (赠汪伦); The Road Is Hard (行路难); Sitting Alone Facing Jingting Mountain (独坐敬亭山); Written as a Traveler (客中作); Song of the Moon over Mount Emei (峨眉山月歌); Resentment (怨情); Farewell to Meng Haoran at Yellow Crane Tower (黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵); Quiet Night Thoughts (静夜思); Bring In the Wine (将进酒); Drinking Alone Under the Moon (月下独酌); Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu (望庐山瀑布); Leaving Baidi City at Dawn (早发白帝城); The Hard Road to Shu (蜀道难).