江雪
jiāng xuě
River Snow
柳宗元 (Liu Zongyuan) · Tang Dynasty · 773–819
Original Text
千山鸟飞绝，
qiān shān niǎo fēi jué,
万径人踪灭。
wàn jìng rén zōng miè.
孤舟蓑笠翁，
gū zhōu suō lì wēng,
独钓寒江雪。
dú diào hán jiāng xuě.
English Translation
From a thousand mountains, birds have vanished; on ten thousand paths, human traces are gone. A lone boat, an old man in straw cloak and hat — fishing alone in the cold river snow.
Historical Background
Liu Zongyuan wrote this poem during his political exile in Yongzhou (modern Hunan). Having been banished for his role in a failed reform movement, he spent over a decade in the remote south. The poem is widely read as a self-portrait of the poet in exile — alone and unbowed. It is one of the most visually iconic Chinese poems, frequently depicted in traditional painting.
Literary Analysis
The poem achieves extraordinary stillness through systematic negation. First all birds vanish, then all human traces. The world is emptied of all life except one old man. The scale is vast (thousands of mountains, ten thousand paths) yet narrows to a single point (one boat, one figure). The old fisherman, alone in a frozen landscape, embodies Confucian integrity — maintaining one's principles despite complete isolation.
Details
Form
Five-character Quatrain (五言绝句)
Theme
Nature & Landscape
About Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元)
Liu Zongyuan was a Tang Dynasty essayist, poet, and political reformer. After a failed political reform, he was exiled to remote southern regions for the rest of his life. His poetry and prose reflect themes of isolation, resilience, and communion with nature. He is counted among the "Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song."
2 poems by Liu Zongyuan in our collection
Traditional Chinese
千山鳥飛絕，萬徑人蹤滅。孤舟蓑笠翁，獨釣寒江雪。