POEM
题西林壁Tí Xī Lín BìWritten on the Wall of West Forest Temple
- Dynasty
- Song
- Author
- 苏轼 Sū Shì (Su Shi)
- Genre
- 七言绝句
- Lines
- 4
- Era
- c. 11th century
THE POEM — LINE BY LINE
Tap a line for word-by-word gloss.
#1横看成岭侧成峰Héng kàn chéng lǐng cè chéng fēngSeen across, it is a ridge; seen from the side, a peak.word by word
横héngacross; horizontally看kànlook at成chéngbecome; turn into岭lǐngridge侧cèsideways; from the side成chéngbecome; turn into峰fēngpeak#3不识庐山真面目Bù shí lú shān zhēn miàn mùI cannot make out the true face of Mount Lu —word by word
#4只缘身在此山中Zhǐ yuán shēn zài cǐ shān zhōngfor the simple reason that I am standing inside it.word by word
只zhǐonly; just缘yuánbecause; for the reason that身shēnbody; oneself在zàibe at; in此cǐthis山shānmountain中zhōnginside; in the middle of
POEM IN PLAIN ENGLISH
A plain-English guide, not a literary translationSeen across, it is a ridge; seen from the side, a peak. Far or near, high or low — no two views of it are alike. I cannot make out the true face of Mount Lu, for the simple reason that I am standing inside it. What begins as a tourist's note turns, in the last two lines, into one of the most quoted sayings in Chinese: you cannot see a thing truly while you are inside it. This is a plain-English guide, not a literary translation.
BACKGROUND & IMAGERY
Su Shi (1037-1101), the greatest writer of the Song dynasty, wrote this on the wall of West Forest Temple (西林寺) on Mount Lu in 1084. He had just spent days touring the mountain and had seen it from every side; the poem distills the experience into a single philosophical turn. 不识庐山真面目 has become the standard phrase for failing to see what is too close to be seen — a piece of everyday wisdom that began as graffiti on a temple wall.
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
Sources
- 《宋诗鉴赏辞典》（上海辞书出版社）通行文本；部编版语文教材同文
- 本站飞花令语料 feihualing.db（poem 397005） — 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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