江 上 渔 者
Jiang1 shang4 yu2 zhe3
The Fisherman on the River
范仲淹
Fan4 Zhong4 yan1
江 上 往 来 人，
Jiang1 shang4 wang3 lai2 ren2
The people came and went along the river bank (note 1)
但 爱 鲈 鱼 美。
dan4 ai4 lu2 yu2 mei3
They were merely fond of the pleasing taste of perches (note 2)
君 看 一 叶 舟，
jun1 kan4 yi2 ye4 zhou1
Gentleman, you see that one leaf-like skiff
出 没 风 波 里。
chu1 mo4 feng1 bo1 li3
appearing and vanishing in the windy waves
Translated by Shu
note 1:
These people came and went along the bank of river were looking to buy the newly caught fresh perches.
note 2:
Perch are carnivorous fish that can be found in small ponds, river, and lakes. My dad used to make perch soup, and it was very delicious:) The best fish soup I ever had. The recipe was pretty simple; what you need is fresh perch, water, ginger, and a bit of salt.
Poem analysis:
This poem is mentioning about pedestrians came and went along the river bank, just to look for the fresh delicious perches. While the poet pointed out for us that in order to catch the fresh tasty fish, the fishermen had to risk their lives sailing on those little leaf shape skiffs, one moment disappearing, one moment surging in the dangerous windy waves.
This poem expresses the compassion for the fishermen, and reminds the fish shoppers need to pay some respect to fishermen for they suffered all the hardship just to bring the fish ashore.
The genre of this poem is 絕句 Jue2 ju4 (curtailed or frustrated verse) which is a style of 近体诗 jin4 ti3 shi1 （Modern form poetry）that was very popular among Chinese poets in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Jue2 ju4 poems are often quatrains — two pairs of couplets, with each line consisting of five or seven syllables each. The poem has five words in one line, so it belongs to the five syllable form –五絕 wu3 jue2 (five -syllable curtailed verse).
About the poet- 范仲淹 Fan Zhongyan
范仲淹 Fan Zhongyan was a famous Chinese statesman, educator, poet and writer of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Fan was born in 989 A.D., in 江苏 Jiangsu Province. He came from a poor family, but he studied diligently. At the age of 26, he did well in the highest imperial examination and started his official career. He was a compassionate statesman and always cared about the joys and sorrows of the people.
Fan Zhongyan was an outstanding poet and writer. His masterpiece of writing is 岳阳楼记 Yue4 yang2 lou2 ji4 ” On Yueyang Tower.” This well－known essay not only describes the magnificent of the Yue Yang Tower and its surrounding, but also expresses Fan’s sentiment about everyone in the nation should care about the nation and the people first, and put person’s self interest and enjoyment last. In the essay, he wrote this famous maxim “Be the first to concern about the state affairs and the last to enjoy yourself.” Xian1 tian1 xia4 zhi1 you1 er2 you1, hou4 tian1 xia4 zhi1 le4 er2 le4. 先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐。
Fan Zhongyan info in Chinese 人文地图_诗词之旅 德全才备范仲淹
The Yueyang Tower (1)
The Yueyang Tower (2)