---
title: "静夜思 (Quiet Night Thoughts) by Li Bai: Pinyin, English and Audio"
description: "静夜思 (Quiet Night Thoughts) by Li Bai, Tang dynasty, whole: 床前明月光 … Pinyin over every character, the English line by line, and Play to hear it read."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/quiet-night-thoughts"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese poems](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems) · 李白 Li Bai · Tang dynasty

# 静夜思 Quiet Night Thoughts

The first poem nearly every Chinese child learns: moonlight on the floor of a room far from home, and the homesickness it brings. Twenty characters, almost all of them everyday words.

Speed

chuáng床qián前míng明yuè月guāng光，

Before my bed, the bright moonlight;

yí疑shì是dì地shàng上shuāng霜。

I take it for frost on the ground.

jǔ举tóu头wàng望míng明yuè月，

I raise my head and gaze at the bright moon,

dī低tóu头sī思gù故xiāng乡。

lower it, and think of home.

[Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E6%98%8E%E6%9C%88%20%E9%9C%9C%20%E4%B8%BE%E5%A4%B4%20%E6%95%85%E4%B9%A1)

## What does 静夜思 mean?

静夜思 is “Quiet Night Thoughts”. The first poem nearly every Chinese child learns: moonlight on the floor of a room far from home, and the homesickness it brings. Twenty characters, almost all of them everyday words.

## What is the pinyin of 静夜思?

chuáng qián míng yuè guāng / yí shì dì shàng shuāng / jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè / dī tóu sī gù xiāng.

## Who wrote 静夜思?

Li Bai (李白), a poet of the Tang dynasty.

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Poems over a thousand years old; the English and pinyin are ours, the pinyin as Chinese schools teach it.