The Fisherman
At night the old fisherman sleeps beside the western rock;
At dawn he draws clear Xiang water and burns bamboo for fuel.
Smoke clears, the sun rises, and he is no longer seen;
One creak of the oar sounds amid green hills and water.
Looking back from midstream toward the horizon,
He sees untroubled clouds pursuing one another above the rocks.
Notes
The Xiang is a river in southern China. The sound ai-nai is often read as an imitation of an oar, though its pronunciation and interpretation vary. “Without intention” describes the clouds’ untroubled movement; the final viewpoint admits different readings.
Meaning
The poem follows a fisherman from a night by the rocks into a morning on the river, ending with clouds above the hills.
Appreciation
Sleeping, drawing water and burning bamboo follow the passage from night to dawn.
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The person vanishes from view, while a single sound makes the landscape feel quieter.
Sound and green colour meet in one image.
The backward glance and moving clouds leave room for different interpretations of perspective.
About the poet
Liu Zongyuan (773–819), courtesy name Zihou, was a Tang writer and thinker whose family came from the area of present-day Yuncheng, Shanxi.
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After taking part in a political reform that failed, he was sent to Yongzhou and later served as prefect of Liuzhou.
His works include River Snow and the prose collection Eight Records of Yongzhou.