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Tí Xī Lín BìWritten on the Wall at West Forest Temple 题西林壁
Su Shi: you cannot see the mountain while standing on it.
Original Chinese text with pinyin
横看成岭侧成峰
héng kàn chéng lǐng cè chéng fēng
远近高低各不同
yuǎn jìn gāo dī gè bù tóng
不识庐山真面目
bù shí lú shān zhēn miàn mù
只缘身在此山中
zhǐ yuán shēn zài cǐ shān zhōng
Simplified characters; traditional title: 題西林壁.
English translation
It's a range viewed in face and peaks viewed from the side,
Assuming different shapes viewed from far and wide.
Of Mountain Lu we cannot make out the true face,
For we are lost in the heart of the very place.
Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.
Line by line
Meaning and imagery
The first couplet records an experience every hiker knows: the mountain changes with your position. The second turns it into a philosophical insight. Being inside a situation keeps you from seeing it whole. "不识庐山真面目" is now a common Chinese idiom. Su Shi makes philosophy feel as natural as a walk.
Background
Written in 1084 at West Forest Temple on Mount Lu, as Su Shi was leaving exile in Huangzhou.
Key words
- 岭 lǐng
- a ridge
- 峰 fēng
- a peak
- 真面目 zhēn miàn mù
- true face, true nature
About the poet: Su Shi
Su Shi, better known as Su Dongpo, was a poet, essayist, painter, calligrapher and official — the great all-rounder of the Song dynasty. Repeatedly exiled, he met hardship with humor and philosophy, and made the ci (song lyric) a vehicle for grand themes.
Lifetime: 1037–1101. Other famous works: Prelude to Water Melody (When Will the Moon Be Clear?) (水调歌头); Spring Night (春夜); Remembering the Past at Red Cliff (念奴娇·赤壁怀古); Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple (题西林壁); Drinking at West Lake: First Sun, Then Rain (饮湖上初晴后雨); Red Cliff Rhapsody (赤壁赋).
More by Su Shi
- Spring Night春夜
- Drinking at West Lake: First Sun, Then Rain饮湖上初晴后雨
- Prelude to Water Melody (When Will the Moon Be Clear?)水调歌头
- Remembering the Past at Red Cliff念奴娇·赤壁怀古