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天光云影共徘徊

天光雲影共徘徊
tiānguāngyúnyǐnggòngpáihuái
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 sky-light and cloud-shadow linger together
  2. 2 (fig.) an image of a clear pool mirroring the sky — and, symbolically, a pure mind reflecting all things
  3. 3 (lit.) sky — light — cloud — shadow — together — linger

Examples

池塘倒映天空，天光云影共徘徊。
Chítáng dàoyìng tiānkōng, tiān guāng yún yǐng gòng páihuái.
The pond mirrored the sky — 'light and cloud-shadow linger together.'
朱熹观书有感半亩方塘一鉴开，天光云影共徘徊。
Zhū Xī Guānshū Yǒu Gǎn bàn mǔ fāng táng yī jiàn kāi, tiān guāng yún yǐng gòng páihuái.
Zhu Xi's 'On Reading Books': 'a half-mu square pond opens like a mirror; sky-light and cloud-shadow linger together.'

Tips

history
From 朱熹《观书有感·其一》 (Zhu Xi, Southern Song, 12th c.), a 28-character philosophical quatrain: 半亩方塘一鉴开，天光云影共徘徊。问渠那得清如许？为有源头活水来 (A half-mu square pond opens like a mirror; sky-light and cloud-shadow linger together. Ask that channel — how can it be so clear? Because a living spring feeds it at its source). Zhu Xi, the great Neo-Confucian synthesizer, uses the pond as an allegory for the mind kept pure by continuous inquiry.
usage
Canonically paired with 半亩方塘一鉴开. 徘徊 here = 'lingering / moving to and fro' (the shifting reflection on water), not the modern 'hesitating.' The last two lines (问渠那得清如许？为有源头活水来) are the more widely quoted pair; this line sets the scene.

Stroke Order

天 tiān
光 guāng
云 yún
影 yǐng
共 gòng
徘 pái
徊 huái