He recited 'before Xisai Mountain the egrets fly; peach blossoms drift, the mandarin fish are fat.'
Tips
history
Opening line of 张志和's 渔歌子 (Tang, c. 770s), a 27-character ci: 西塞山前白鹭飞，桃花流水鳜鱼肥。青箬笠，绿蓑衣，斜风细雨不须归 (Before Xisai Mountain, white egrets fly; peach blossoms on the water, fat mandarin fish. Green bamboo hat, green straw cape - slanting wind, thin rain - no need to go home). The defining fisherman-hermit ci of the High Tang, still widely anthologized. 西塞山 is in modern Huzhou, Zhejiang.
usage
西塞 is pronounced Xīsài - here 塞 takes its 'frontier pass' reading, NOT 'sāi' (to plug) or 'sè' (to block). A common schoolroom mispronunciation.
