POEM
清明Qīng MíngThe Qingming Festival
- Dynasty
- Tang
- Author
- 杜牧 Dù Mù (Du Mu)
- Genre
- 七言绝句
- Lines
- 4
- Era
- c. 9th century
THE POEM — LINE BY LINE
Tap a line for word-by-word gloss.
#1清明时节雨纷纷Qīng míng shí jié yǔ fēn fēnAt the Qingming festival, rain falls thick and fast;word by word
清qīngclear (清明: the Qingming festival)明míngbright (清明: the Qingming festival)时shíseason; time节jiéfestival; holiday雨yǔrain纷fēndrizzly (纷纷: thick and fast)纷fēndrizzly (纷纷: thick and fast)#2路上行人欲断魂Lù shàng xíng rén yù duàn húnon the road, travelers feel their hearts break.word by word
路lùroad上shàngon行xíngtravel; walk人rénperson欲yùabout to; feel like断duànbreak (断魂: heartbroken)魂húnsoul; spirit#3借问酒家何处有Jiè wèn jiǔ jiā hé chù yǒu'May I ask where a tavern can be found?'word by word
借jièborrow (借问: may I ask)问wènask酒jiǔwine; liquor家jiāhouse; shop (酒家: tavern)何héwhere; which处chùplace有yǒuhave; exist#4牧童遥指杏花村Mù tóng yáo zhǐ xìng huā cūnA shepherd boy points far off — to Apricot Blossom Village.word by word
POEM IN PLAIN ENGLISH
A plain-English guide, not a literary translationAt the Qingming festival — the day for sweeping the family graves — rain falls thick and fast, and travelers on the road feel their hearts break. 'May I ask where a tavern can be found?' A shepherd boy points far off: Apricot Blossom Village, over there. The poem catches the exact mood of the festival: sorrow, drizzle, and the small human comfort of a cup of wine at the end of the road. This is a plain-English guide, not a literary translation.
BACKGROUND & IMAGERY
Du Mu (803-852) is one of the great late-Tang poets, and this tiny scene has become the most famous poem about 清明 (Qingming), the early-April festival for tending family graves. The whole poem is a movement from grief to a question to a pointing finger — the answer is not shown, only the blossom of a village name in the distance. Because Qingming falls in spring, the poem also belongs to the season's drizzle-and-flowers mood, which is why it is read in school as a spring classic.
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
Sources
- 《千家诗》通行文本；部编版语文教材同文
- 本站飞花令语料 feihualing.db（poem 397023） — 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）
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