诗 (shī): poem; poetry

Measure Word

一首诗 shǒu

Meanings

1 poem; poetry
2 verse

Characters

诗

shī

poem; poetry; verse

Examples

李白写了很多有名的诗。

Lǐbái xiě le hěnduō yǒumíng de shī.

Li Bai wrote many famous poems.

我喜欢读古诗。

Wǒ xǐhuan dú gǔshī.

I like reading ancient poetry.

他给她写了一首诗。

Tā gěi tā xiě le yì shǒu shī.

He wrote a poem for her.

Tips

culture

Poetry is one of the most revered art forms in Chinese culture. The Tang Dynasty (618-907) is considered the golden age, with poets like 李白 and 杜甫 still memorised by every Chinese student.

usage

The measure word for poems is 首, not 个. 古诗 means classical / ancient poetry; 现代诗 means modern poetry.

Components

radical

讠 yán

speech (radical form)

Left speech-radical 讠 (simplified from 言) — the indexing radical. Poetry is words crafted with care; the speech-radical groups 诗 with 词 (lyric), 语 (language), 说 (speak), 论 (discuss) — all word-and-utterance characters.

phonetic

寺 sì

temple; office

Right 寺 supplies the sound (sì → shī, a regular alternation in the same phonetic family). 寺 originally meant 'court office' before its Buddhist-temple sense developed. Phonetic family: 时 shí (time), 持 chí (hold), 等 děng (wait), 特 tè (special) — all built on 寺.