元日
bào zhú爆竹shēng声zhōng中yī一suì岁chú除，
chūn fēng春风sòng送nuǎn暖rù入tú屠sū苏。
qiān千mén门wàn hù万户tóng曈tóng曈rì日，
zǒng总bǎ把xīn新táo桃huàn换jiù旧fú符。
The poet & the story
Wang Anshi (1021–1086) wrote this around 1069, just as he rose to power and launched his sweeping (and bitterly contested) “New Policies.” The poem doubles as a manifesto: out with the old, in with the new — every house exchanging old peach-wood charms for fresh ones.
Interpretation
Amid the crackle of firecrackers the old year is gone; spring wind carries warmth into the tusu wine. On a thousand doors and ten thousand households the rising sun shines bright, as everyone swaps last year’s peach charms for new ones — the ancestors of today’s spring couplets (春联). It is quoted every Chinese New Year, and 总把新桃换旧符 stands for renewal of every kind.