POEM
相思Xiāng SīLovesickness
- Dynasty
- Tang
- Author
- 王维 Wáng Wéi (Wang Wei)
- Genre
- 五言绝句
- Lines
- 4
- Era
- c. 8th century
THE POEM — LINE BY LINE
Tap a line for word-by-word gloss.
#1红豆生南国Hóng dòu shēng nán guóRed beans grow in the southern lands.word by word
#2春来发几枝Chūn lái fā jǐ zhīWhen spring comes, how many new branches will it put out?word by word
#3愿君多采撷Yuàn jūn duō cǎi xiéI wish you would gather plenty of them,word by word
#4此物最相思Cǐ wù zuì xiāng sīfor these little things best carry thoughts of you.word by word
POEM IN PLAIN ENGLISH
A plain-English guide, not a literary translationRed beans grow in the southern lands; when spring comes, how many new branches will they put out? Pick plenty of them, my friend — for these little red seeds best carry thoughts of someone far away. The whole poem never says 'I miss you' out loud; it only asks for a handful of beans, and the longing is all in the silence between the lines. This is a plain-English guide, not a literary translation.
BACKGROUND & IMAGERY
Wang Wei (701-761) is the Tang master of quiet, painterly poetry. The 'red bean' (红豆) — the rosary pea — was a traditional love token in the south, so the poem works as a small riddle: the beans are not really the subject, the absent friend is. Traditionally the addressee is identified as the singer Li Guinian, which has made 相思 as often read as a poem of friendship as of love. Some editions read the third line as 劝君休采撷 ('I beg you not to pick them'); the text here follows the received version (通行本).
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
Sources
- 《唐诗三百首》通行本（中华书局点校本）
- 本站飞花令语料 feihualing.db（poem 397019） — 文本以通行本为准，库本仅行级参考（库本与通行本一致）；库中另存异文'秋来发故枝'（poem 327748），不予采用
- 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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