---
title: "题西林壁 (Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple) by Su Shi: Pinyin, English and Audio"
description: "题西林壁 (Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple) by Su Shi, Song dynasty, whole: 横看成岭侧成峰 … Pinyin over every character, the English line by line, and Play to hear it read."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/written-on-the-wall-at-west-forest-temple"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese poems](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems) · 苏轼 Su Shi · Song dynasty

# 题西林壁 Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple

Mount Lu looks like a ridge from one side and a peak from another, and you can’t see its true face from inside it: a poem about seeing anything clearly.

Speed

héng横kàn看chéng成lǐng岭cè侧chéng成fēng峰，

From the front, a ridge; from the side, a peak;

yuǎn远jìn近gāo高dī低gè各bù不tóng同。

near or far, high or low, each view is different.

bù不shí识lú庐shān山zhēn真miàn面mù目，

I can’t see Mount Lu’s true face

zhǐ只yuán缘shēn身zài在cǐ此shān山zhōng中。

only because I am inside the mountain.

[Print as flashcards](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-flashcards?level=mine&words=%E5%B2%AD%20%E8%BF%9C%E8%BF%91%20%E7%9C%9F%E9%9D%A2%E7%9B%AE)

## What does 题西林壁 mean?

题西林壁 is “Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple”. Mount Lu looks like a ridge from one side and a peak from another, and you can’t see its true face from inside it: a poem about seeing anything clearly.

## What is the pinyin of 题西林壁?

héng kàn chéng lǐng cè chéng fēng / yuǎn jìn gāo dī gè bù tóng / bù shí lú shān zhēn miàn mù / zhǐ yuán shēn zài cǐ shān zhōng.

## Who wrote 题西林壁?

Su Shi (苏轼), a poet of the Song dynasty.

## More Chinese poems

- [静夜思 Quiet Night Thoughts](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/quiet-night-thoughts)
- [春晓 Spring Dawn](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/spring-dawn)
- [登鹳雀楼 On the Stork Tower](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/on-the-stork-tower)
- [咏鹅 Ode to the Goose](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/ode-to-the-goose)
- [悯农 Pity the Farmers](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/pity-the-farmers)
- [相思 Thinking of You](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/thinking-of-you)
- [江雪 River Snow](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/river-snow)
- [寻隐者不遇 Looking for the Hermit and Not Finding Him](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/looking-for-the-hermit)
- [早发白帝城 Leaving Baidi at Dawn](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/leaving-baidi-at-dawn)
- [望庐山瀑布 Gazing at the Lushan Waterfall](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/lushan-waterfall)
- [草 Grass](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/grass)
- [游子吟 Song of the Wanderer](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/song-of-the-wanderer)
- [绝句 Quatrain](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/two-orioles)
- [春夜喜雨 Happy Rain on a Spring Night](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/happy-rain-on-a-spring-night)
- [枫桥夜泊 Night Mooring at Maple Bridge](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/night-mooring-at-maple-bridge)
- [清明 Qingming](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/qingming)
- [山行 Mountain Walk](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/mountain-walk)
- [九月九日忆山东兄弟 Missing My Brothers on the Double Ninth](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/missing-my-brothers-on-double-ninth)
- [黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵 Seeing Meng Haoran Off to Guangling](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/farewell-to-meng-haoran)
- [赠汪伦 For Wang Lun](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/to-wang-lun)
- [水调歌头 Prelude to Water Melody](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-poems/prelude-to-water-melody)

## More free tools

- [Chinese songs](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-songs)
- [Chinese idioms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms)
- [Chinese tongue twisters](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-tongue-twisters)
- [Chinese text to speech](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-text-to-speech)

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