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Listening to a Monk from Shu Play the Lute

By Li Bai Tang Dynasty

English Poetic Translation

A monk from Shu cradles his zither of silk,
Descending the heights where Mount Emei looms.
At my request he sweeps the strings with his hand,
And ten thousand pines roar from the deep mountain glooms.
My wanderer's heart is washed by the rushing streams,
As lingering notes melt into the frosty temple bell.
Unheeded, the emerald hills fade into dusk,
While layers of autumn clouds gather and swell.

Classical Chinese & Pinyin

蜀僧抱綠綺，西下峨眉峯。
爲我一揮手，如聽萬壑松。
客心洗流水，餘響入霜鐘。
不覺碧山暮，秋雲暗幾重。

shǔ sēng bào lǜ qǐ, xī xià é méi fēng.
wèi wǒ yì huī shǒu, rú tīng wàn hè sōng.
kè xīn xǐ liú shuǐ, yú xiǎng rù shuāng zhōng.
bù jué bì shān mù, qiú yún àn jǐ chóng.

Philological Direct Translation

Shu monk holds green-silk lute,
West descending Emei peak.
For me once he waves his hand,
Like listening to ten thousand ravines' pines.
Guest's heart washed by flowing water,
Remaining echoes enter frost-bell.
Not noticing green mountain dusk,
Autumn clouds darken how many layers.

Scholarly Exegesis & Cultural Commentary

I. Formal Poetic Architecture & Meter

This poem is written in the five-character regulated verse format (wuyan lushi), consisting of eight lines with a strict tonal counterpoint and parallel couplets in the interior. The rhyme scheme follows the level tone 'dong' category (rhyming on 'feng', 'song', 'zhong', and 'chong'). The spatial movement dynamically shifts from the vertical descent of the Sichuan monk out of the lofty Emei peaks to the intimate, interior space of the listener's ear, expanding outward again into the vast, darkening autumn landscape.

II. Historical Chronology & Existential Impulse

Composed during the early Kaiyuan or Tianbao era of the High Tang dynasty, this piece reflects Li Bai's early travels through the Bashu (Sichuan) region before his meteoric rise and subsequent political disillusionment at the imperial court in Chang'an. The monk Jun embodies the untamed, pristine spirit of the western mountains, bringing sonic purification to a wandering traveler weary of transient earthly life.

III. Line-by-Line Exegesis & Allusion Decoding

Lines 1-2 (Opening Couplet): The monk from Shu cradles his 'green silk' zither, descending westward from the majestic peaks of Mount Emei. The imagery immediately establishes a transcendent, ethereal atmosphere, introducing the musician as an emissary of high mountain wilderness.
Lines 3-4 (Internal Couplet A): At my request, he strikes a single sweep of the strings, and instantly one hears the rushing wind through ten thousand ravines of pine trees. The auditory illusion is complete, transforming the confines of a chamber into the primal, roaring forces of nature.
Lines 5-6 (Internal Couplet B): The traveler's heart is washed clean by flowing mountain streams, while the lingering reverberations mingle with the frosty temple bell. The reference invokes the classical 'flowing water' motif of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi, suggesting total spiritual communion through music, followed by the crystalline resonance of Buddhist bells in the frosty air.
Lines 7-8 (Closing Couplet): Unawares, the emerald mountains grow dim with the dusk, as autumn clouds darken in layer upon layer. Time dissolves entirely in the presence of the music, leaving the poet enveloped in a serene, melancholic twilight.

IV. Aesthetic Synthesis & Poetic Aftertaste

The poem achieves a rare synthesis of Daoist natural transcendence and Chan Buddhist awareness of impermanence. Through the medium of the qin, Li Bai dissolves the boundary between self and external nature. The lingering aftertaste is one of pristine emotional cleansing, where the fading notes of the zither merge seamlessly with the encroaching autumn night, securing the poem's place among the finest masterpieces of High Tang musical verse.