静夜思

靜夜思
Jìngyèsī
proper noun

Meanings

  1. 1 Quiet Night Thoughts, Li Bai's short poem of homesickness

Examples

HSK 5
Hěnduō Zhōngguó háizi xué de dìyī shǒu shī jiùshì 《 Jìngyèsī 》.
For many Chinese children, the first poem they learn is 'Quiet Night Thoughts'.
HSK 7-9
《 Jìngyèsī 》 xiě de shì shīrén zài yìxiāng sīniàn gùxiāng de xīnqíng.
'Quiet Night Thoughts' is about the poet longing for home while far away.

Tips

culture
The whole poem: 床前明月光,疑是地上霜。举头望明月,低头思故乡。 'Before my bed the moonlight gleams, like frost upon the ground. I raise my head to gaze at the bright moon, then lower it and think of home.' By 李白, it is probably the best-known poem in the Chinese language.
history
The school version is not the earliest one. Song-dynasty editions read 看月光 'see the moonlight' and 望山月 'gaze at the mountain moon'; the familiar wording with two 明月 was fixed by later anthologies.

Stroke Order

静 jìng
夜 yè
思 sī