Chinese poem illustration: 枫桥夜泊/ Night Anchor at Maple Bridge by Zhang Ji
Full video also available at Bilibili: 枫桥夜泊
This poem depicted a very typical situation after the civil war (安史之乱) broke: people fled to south China in fear of war casualty, thus Gusu city, or today’s Suzhou city(苏州) became a thoroughfare of the crowd.
By the wording, it is a pure description of the situation that a passenger boat arrived the Hanshan temple in midnight, with some nervous atmosphere, a bit of bitterness, a bit of uncertainty, a bit of doubt of Zen or philosophy: who is knocking the door? With a thoroughly exploration of the life style of Tang people and the history background, the meaning of a midnight stranger is revealed, thus the common feeling shared among Tang people could be understood a bit by us.
This poem is of very simple and plain wording while reveals abundant background and feelings, an excellent example of express feelings through view depicting(寓情于景) and leave the space for readers(书不尽言, 言不尽意).
枫桥夜泊
张继
月落乌啼霜满天，
江枫渔火对愁眠。
姑苏城外寒山寺，
夜半钟声到客船。
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