POEM
悯农Mǐn NóngSympathy for the Farmers
- Dynasty
- Tang
- Author
- 李绅 Lǐ Shēn (Li Shen)
- Genre
- 五言绝句
- Lines
- 4
- Era
- c. 9th century
THE POEM — LINE BY LINE
Tap a line for word-by-word gloss.
#1锄禾日当午Chú hé rì dāng wǔAt high noon the farmer is still hoeing the young grain.word by word
#2汗滴禾下土Hàn dī hé xià tǔSweat drips onto the soil beneath the grain.word by word
#3谁知盘中餐Shuí zhī pán zhōng cānWho would ever think about the food in the bowl?word by word
#4粒粒皆辛苦Lì lì jiē xīn kǔEvery grain of rice is bought with bitter labor.word by word
粒lìgrain (of rice)粒lìgrain (of rice)皆jiēall; every辛xīnbitter; hard苦kǔhardship; bitter
POEM IN PLAIN ENGLISH
A plain-English guide, not a literary translationAt high noon the farmer is still hoeing the field, and his sweat drips onto the soil beneath the young grain. Who, sitting down to a meal, ever stops to think? — every single grain of rice in the bowl was bought with his bitter labor. In four lines the poem turns an ordinary bowl of rice into a lesson in gratitude, which is why it is one of the first classical poems Chinese children memorize. This is a plain-English guide, not a literary translation.
BACKGROUND & IMAGERY
Li Shen (772-846) was a Tang official and poet best remembered for 悯农二首 (Two Poems Pitying the Farmers); this is the second piece, the one every Chinese schoolchild knows. The poem works through a single contrast: the scorching noon heat of the field against the cool, untouched rice bowl. Some editions read the third line as 谁念盘中餐 ('who remembers the food in the bowl'); the text here follows the received school version (通行本).
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
Sources
- 《全唐诗》（中华书局点校本）通行文本；部编版语文教材同文
- 本站飞花令语料 feihualing.db（poem 396994） — 文本以通行本为准，库本仅行级参考（库本与通行本一致）
- Original English paraphrase & gloss — 本站原创学习释义，非文学译本（plain-English guide, not a literary translation）
publishedReport an error