Classical poems 古诗古詩
Tang and Song classics every learner meets sooner or later — short, vivid and public domain. Open a poem for pinyin, zhuyin, both scripts, the story behind it and a printable study sheet.
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静夜思靜夜思
The most famous poem in Chinese — moonlight, homesickness, four simple lines every child knows.
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春晓春曉
Waking on a spring morning to birdsong — and wondering how many blossoms the night storm took.
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登鹳雀楼登鸛雀樓
Climb one more floor to see a thousand miles — the classic image for always striving higher.
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悯农憫農
Every grain on your plate is a farmer’s sweat — recited before meals across generations.
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咏鹅詠鵝
Written by a seven-year-old: a goose curving its neck to sing at the sky — a first poem for many learners.
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相思
Red beans as tokens of longing — the reason 红豆 still means “missing someone” today.
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江雪
A lone fisherman in a snowed-silent world — twenty characters of perfect stillness.
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清明
Drizzle on Tomb-Sweeping Day and a boy pointing to a tavern in the apricot blossoms.
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望庐山瀑布望廬山瀑布
A waterfall like the Milky Way falling from heaven — Li Bai at his most extravagant.
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枫桥夜泊楓橋夜泊
Moonset, crows, and a midnight temple bell reaching a traveller’s boat — pure Tang atmosphere.
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回乡偶书回鄉偶書
Coming home after a lifetime away — the village children ask the old man where he’s from.
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九月九日忆山东兄弟九月九日憶山東兄弟
Alone on the Double Ninth festival — the line every homesick Chinese person quotes at festivals.
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黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵黃鶴樓送孟浩然之廣陵
Li Bai watches his friend’s sail vanish down the Yangtze — the most beautiful goodbye in Chinese.
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早发白帝城早發白帝城
A thousand miles in a day — Li Bai’s joyride down the Yangtze after a pardon saved his life.
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绝句絕句
Two orioles, a line of egrets, ancient snow and waiting ships — a window framed into a poem.
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游子吟遊子吟
A mother sewing her son’s coat before he leaves — China’s best-loved poem about parental love.
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山行
Stopping the carriage for maple leaves redder than spring flowers — autumn’s favourite poem.
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题西林壁題西林壁
“You can’t see the mountain because you’re standing on it” — Song-dynasty philosophy in four lines.
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小池
A dragonfly lands on a lotus bud barely out of the water — the gentlest poem about beginnings.
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晓出净慈寺送林子方曉出淨慈寺送林子方
West Lake in June: lotus leaves to the horizon, flowers a different red under the sun.
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元日
Firecrackers, spring wine and new door charms — the Chinese New Year poem.
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梅花
Plum blossoms in the snow, known by their hidden fragrance — the emblem of quiet integrity.