山行
yuǎn远shǎng上hán寒shān山dàn石jìng径xié斜，
bái yún白云shēng生chǔ处yǒu rén有人jiā家。
tíng chē停车zuò坐ài爱fēng枫lín林wǎn晚，
shuāng霜xié叶gōng红yú于Èr yuè二月huā花。
The poet & the story
Du Mu wrote this on a mountain journey in autumn. Against the long tradition of mourning autumn in Chinese poetry, he declared frosted maple leaves more vivid than the flowers of spring — and gave the season its proudest line.
Interpretation
A stone path winds up the cold mountain to where houses sit among the clouds. He halts his carriage simply because he loves the maple wood at dusk: leaves after frost are redder than second-month flowers. The poem flips the script on autumn — not decline but a final blaze of colour — and 霜叶红于二月花 is quoted every leaf-viewing season.