天光云影共徘徊

天光雲影共徘徊

tiān guāng yún yǐng gòng páihuái

quotation

Meanings

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

Characters

light (天光 = daylight / sky-light)

shadow (云影 = cloud-shadow)

linger (徘徊 = linger / pace)

Examples

HSK 7-9

池塘倒映天空，天光云影共徘徊。

Chítáng dào yìng tiānkōng, tiānguāngyúnyǐnggòngpáihuái.

The pond mirrored the sky: 'light and cloud-shadow linger together.'

HSK 7-9

朱熹观书有感半亩方塘一鉴开，天光云影共徘徊。

Zhū Xī Guān shū Yǒu Gǎn bànmǔfāngtángyíjiànkāi, tiānguāngyúnyǐnggòngpáihuái.

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