梅花
qiáng jiǎo墙角shǔ数zhī枝méi梅，
líng凌hán寒dú zì独自kāi开。
yáo遥zhī知bù shì不是xuě雪，
wéi为yǒu有àn xiāng暗香lái来。
Line by line
- 墙角数枝梅，牆角數枝梅， In a corner of the wall, a few branches of plum
- 凌寒独自开。凌寒獨自開。 bloom alone, braving the cold.
- 遥知不是雪，遙知不是雪， From afar I know they are not snow —
- 为有暗香来。為有暗香來。 for a hidden fragrance drifts this way.
The poet & the story
Wang Anshi wrote this late in life, retired in Nanjing after being dismissed as chancellor for the second time, his reforms under attack and his allies scattered. The plum — flowering alone in the coldest season — was his self-portrait, and it remains China’s favourite symbol of character that endures adversity.
Interpretation
A few plum branches in the corner of a wall bloom alone against the cold. From afar you know they are not snow — because a hidden fragrance drifts over. The poem works in one inversion: what looks like snow is proven alive by scent. 暗香 (“hidden fragrance”) became the standard phrase for unadvertised virtue — worth that announces itself quietly.