日照香炉生紫烟

日照香爐生紫煙
rì zhào Xiānglú shēng zǐ yān
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 sunlight on Xianglu Peak breeds purple mist
  2. 2 (of Lushan) golden light turns the incense-burner peak into a smoking brazier
  3. 3 (lit.) sun shining on Incense-Burner Peak gives rise to purple smoke

Examples

Lǐbái de rìzhàoxiānglúshēngzǐyān, jīhū shì měigè xiǎoxuéshēng dōu bèi guò de jùzi.
Li Bai's 'sunlight on Xianglu breeds purple mist' is a line virtually every Chinese primary-schooler has memorized.
Qīngchén de Lúshān yúnwù liáorào, wǎnrú rìzhàoxiānglúshēngzǐyān.
Mount Lu wreathed in morning mist — just like 'sunlight on Xianglu breeding purple smoke.'

Tips

history
Opening of 李白庐山瀑布》(Li Bai, Tang): 日照瀑布三千银河九天 (Sunlight on Xianglu breeds purple mist; from afar the waterfall hangs like a river in front. Flying current plunges straight down three thousand feet — I think the Milky Way has fallen from the Ninth Heaven). here = (Xianglu Peak, 'Incense-Burner Peak') of Mount Lu, whose rising mist at sunrise looks like smoke from a burning incense censer.
usage
is the name of the peak, punning on 'incense burner' — the mist at dawn literally looks like smoke, hence the name and the image. Nearly always quoted as the opening of the full quatrain.

Stroke Order

zhào
xiāng
shēng
yān