Chítáng lǐ de é yóu guò, zhēn rú hóngzhǎngbōqīngbō de huàmiàn.
Geese crossing the pond, truly the image of 'red webs paddling clear ripples.'
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From 骆宾王's 咏鹅 (early Tang; legend says composed at age 7, around 632 CE): 鹅，鹅，鹅，曲项向天歌。白毛浮绿水，红掌拨清波 (Goose, goose, goose, crooked neck singing to sky. White feathers float on green water; red webs paddle clear ripples). The most widely taught first-poem in modern mainland primary school; almost every Chinese child learns it before age six.
usage
Always quoted as the couplet with 白毛浮绿水: the color-contrast (white/green/red/clear) is the pedagogical point. 掌 here = 'web/palm' of the goose's foot, not 'palm of a hand' in the human sense.
