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

HSK 7-9
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.
HSK 7-9
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《望庐山瀑布》(Li Bai, Tang): 日照香炉生紫烟遥看瀑布挂前川飞流直下三千尺疑是银河落九天 (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). 香炉 here = 香炉峰 (Xianglu Peak, 'Incense-Burner Peak') of Mount Lu, whose rising mist at sunrise looks like smoke from a burning incense censer.
usage
香炉 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