Free · 22 poems · 109 lines
Chinese poems with pinyin
The Tang and Song poems every Chinese child learns by heart, each line with pinyin, the English and sound.
静夜思 Quiet Night Thoughts
床前明月光，
Before my bed, the bright moonlight;
疑是地上霜。
I take it for frost on the ground.
举头望明月，
I raise my head and gaze at the bright moon,
低头思故乡。
lower it, and think of home.
All 22 poems
- 静夜思 Quiet Night Thoughts床前明月光 · 李白 Li Bai · Tang dynasty
- 春晓 Spring Dawn春眠不觉晓 · 孟浩然 Meng Haoran · Tang dynasty
- 登鹳雀楼 On the Stork Tower白日依山尽 · 王之涣 Wang Zhihuan · Tang dynasty
- 咏鹅 Ode to the Goose鹅，鹅，鹅 · 骆宾王 Luo Binwang · Tang dynasty
- 悯农 Pity the Farmers锄禾日当午 · 李绅 Li Shen · Tang dynasty
- 相思 Thinking of You红豆生南国 · 王维 Wang Wei · Tang dynasty
- 江雪 River Snow千山鸟飞绝 · 柳宗元 Liu Zongyuan · Tang dynasty
- 寻隐者不遇 Looking for the Hermit and Not Finding Him松下问童子 · 贾岛 Jia Dao · Tang dynasty
- 早发白帝城 Leaving Baidi at Dawn朝辞白帝彩云间 · 李白 Li Bai · Tang dynasty
- 望庐山瀑布 Gazing at the Lushan Waterfall日照香炉生紫烟 · 李白 Li Bai · Tang dynasty
- 草 Grass (Farewell on the Ancient Plain)离离原上草 · 白居易 Bai Juyi · Tang dynasty
- 游子吟 Song of the Wanderer慈母手中线 · 孟郊 Meng Jiao · Tang dynasty
- 绝句 Quatrain (Two Orioles)两个黄鹂鸣翠柳 · 杜甫 Du Fu · Tang dynasty
- 春夜喜雨 Happy Rain on a Spring Night好雨知时节 · 杜甫 Du Fu · Tang dynasty
- 枫桥夜泊 Night Mooring at Maple Bridge月落乌啼霜满天 · 张继 Zhang Ji · Tang dynasty
- 清明 Qingming清明时节雨纷纷 · 杜牧 Du Mu · Tang dynasty
- 山行 Mountain Walk远上寒山石径斜 · 杜牧 Du Mu · Tang dynasty
- 九月九日忆山东兄弟 Missing My Brothers on the Double Ninth独在异乡为异客 · 王维 Wang Wei · Tang dynasty
- 黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵 Seeing Meng Haoran Off to Guangling故人西辞黄鹤楼 · 李白 Li Bai · Tang dynasty
- 赠汪伦 For Wang Lun李白乘舟将欲行 · 李白 Li Bai · Tang dynasty
- 题西林壁 Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple横看成岭侧成峰 · 苏轼 Su Shi · Song dynasty
- 水调歌头 Prelude to Water Melody (When Will the Moon Be Clear and Bright?)明月几时有 · 苏轼 Su Shi · Song dynasty
What is the most famous Chinese poem?
静夜思 (Quiet Night Thoughts) by Li Bai: 床前明月光，疑是地上霜。举头望明月，低头思故乡。 (chuáng qián míng yuè guāng …). It is the first poem nearly every Chinese child learns.
Which Chinese poems should a learner start with?
Short four-line Tang poems in everyday words: 静夜思, 春晓, 登鹳雀楼 and 咏鹅. Chinese children learn them at five or six, and each takes a minute to learn by heart.
How are Chinese poems built?
Most of these are Tang dynasty (618–907) quatrains: four lines of five or seven characters, the second and fourth lines rhyming. Each character is one syllable, so a five-character line is five beats.
How do I learn one by heart?
Press Play to hear the whole poem read, say each line with the voice, then cover the English and say it again. Four lines of five characters is twenty syllables.
More free tools
Poems over a thousand years old; the English and pinyin are ours, the pinyin as Chinese schools teach it.