Written on Master Huyin’s Wall I
The thatched eaves are swept clean, without a trace of moss;
Flowers and trees grow in beds planted by the owner’s hand.
One stream protects the fields and winds around their green;
Two hills open the gate and send their blue-green shapes inside.
Notes
Shū means to write or inscribe. Master Huyin was Yang Defeng, a friend of Wang Anshi. “Thatched eaves” stand for the house; qí are orderly garden beds. Pái tà means to push open a door; green-blue color refers to the hills.
Meaning
The thatched home is kept clean, and its garden is planted by hand. A stream circles the fields while two hills seem to open the gate and bring their color indoors.
Appreciation
Written on a friend’s wall, the poem brings a cared-for home, a stream and hills into one scene.
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Clean eaves and hand-planted garden beds reveal the attention the resident gives to the home.
The stream “protects” the fields and the hills “open” the gate. These imagined actions make the landscape feel close and alive.
Draw the house and landscape, then act out winding around and opening a door.
About the poet
Wang Anshi (1021–1086) was a Northern Song statesman and writer from the area of present-day Fuzhou, Jiangxi.
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His works include Mooring at Guazhou and New Year’s Day; he spent his later years near present-day Nanjing.
Sources
Poem and reading reference: Shicile · Poet biography reference · poems-db
Translation and explanations by Poetry Buds; review ongoing.