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Guān Shū Yǒu GǎnThoughts on Reading 观书有感

Zhu Xi (朱熹, also known as Chu Hsi, Zhuzi)｜Southern Song｜seven-character quatrain

Zhu Xi's clear pond fed by living water.

Original Chinese text with pinyin

半亩方塘一鉴开
bàn mǔ fāng táng yī jiàn kāi

天光云影共徘徊
tiān guāng yún yǐng gòng pái huái

问渠那得清如许
wèn qú nǎ dé qīng rú xǔ

为有源头活水来
wèi yǒu yuán tóu huó shuǐ lái

Simplified characters; traditional title: 觀書有感.

English translation

A square pond of half an acre opens like a glass;

Sky-light and cloud-shadows together pass.

I ask how it can stay so clear and clean—

Because fresh water flows in from the source unseen.

Original translation by Poetune — literal but poetic, written for this site.

Line by line

半亩方塘一鉴开 · bàn mǔ fāng táng yī jiàn kāi — A square pond of half an acre opens like a glass;

天光云影共徘徊 · tiān guāng yún yǐng gòng pái huái — Sky-light and cloud-shadows together pass.

问渠那得清如许 · wèn qú nǎ dé qīng rú xǔ — I ask how it can stay so clear and clean—

为有源头活水来 · wèi yǒu yuán tóu huó shuǐ lái — Because fresh water flows in from the source unseen.

Meaning and imagery

On the surface it is a description of a small, mirror-like pond. The question and answer in the second half reveal the meaning: the mind stays clear only when fresh learning keeps flowing in. "源头活水" (living water from the source) is now a common expression for constant renewal of knowledge.

Background

The first of two poems titled 观书有感 by the Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi.

Key words

一鉴 yī jiàn: a mirror
渠 qú: it (the pond)
源头活水 yuán tóu huó shuǐ: living water from the source

About the poet: Zhu Xi

Zhu Xi was the most influential Neo-Confucian philosopher of later imperial China; his commentaries on the Four Books became the basis of the civil-service examinations. He also wrote poems that express philosophical ideas through everyday images.

Lifetime: 1130–1200. Other famous works: Thoughts on Reading (观书有感); Impromptu (Youth Ages Easily) (偶成).