松风

松風

sōngfēng

noun

Meanings

1 the sound of wind through pines
2 (literary) the sigh of pines
3 (poetic) tea (the sound of boiling water)

Characters

Examples

山中松风阵阵，令人心静。

Shān zhōng sōngfēng zhènzhèn, lìng rén xīnjìng.

Wave after wave of wind through the pines on the mountain — it calms the heart.

茶壶里的水开了，像松风一样。

Cháhú lǐ de shuǐ kāile, xiàng sōngfēng yīyàng.

The water in the kettle came to a boil with a sound like wind in pines.

Tips

culture

A literary image stretching back to Tang and Song poetry — pine-wind suggests austerity, solitude, and calm. By extension, tea masters describe the hiss of just-boiling water as 松风 (an aural synonym for 'water at the perfect temperature'), and the qin piece 《风入松》 evokes the same sound.

Stroke Order

松 sōng

风 fēng