Chinese Poems in English Translation - A Selection

This site presents Chinese, pinyin and English texts of poems by some Chinese poets. Most of the featured authors are from the Tang dynasty, when imperial culture in China was at its peak.

See Also:  English Translation of  300 Selected Tang Dynasty Poems.

Bai Juyi (白居易)	[772- 846] uses very simple language, and is therefore particularly accessible for the beginner. (17 poems).
Du Fu (杜甫)	[712- 770] is widely acknowledged as the finest of the classical Chinese poets. His poems have a particularly sensitive feeling for humanity. (56 poems).
Du Mu (杜牧)	[803- 852] was one of the foremost writers of the late Tang period. (9 poems).
Han Yu (韓愈)	[768- 824] was a founder of Neo-Confucianism as well as a poet, and was exiled for his views. (3 poems).
Li Bai (李白)	[701- 762] is the most popular Chinese poet, with a distinctively Romantic style. (21 poems).
Li Shangyin (李商隱)	[813- 858] wrote verse which was allusive, but which nevertheless dealt with readily accessible themes of loss and parting. (3 poems).
Li Yu (李煜)	[937- 978] was the last emperor of the Southern Tang dynasty, deposed in 975. His works focus on the memory of lost pleasures. (12 poems).
Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元)	[773-819] was a Mid-Tang politician and another victim of political intrigues. (3 poems).
Mei Yaochen (梅堯臣)	[1002-1060] lived in the Song dynasty, and wrote simple, moving poems of everyday life and of mourning for his family. (6 poems).
Meng Haoran (孟浩然)	[689- 740] was associated with Wang Wei, and was himself one of the greatest poets of the High Tang. (11 poems).
Ouyang Xiu (歐陽修)	[1007- 1072] was one of the pioneers of serious ci poetry in the Song dynasty. A self-taught polymath, his works express a warm, self-deprecatory persona (10 poems).
Su Shi (蘇軾)	[1037- 1101], also known as Su Dongpo, was the most important of the Song dynasty poets. (8 poems).
Tao Qian (陶潛)	[365- 427] wrote about his decision to abandon public life and return to live among nature. He was a major influence on Wang Wei. (3 poems).
Wang Wei (王維)	[701- 761] is one of the three most admired Tang dynasty poets, alongside Du Fu and Li Bai. A painter as well as a poet, he is known above all for his miniaturist celebrations of nature. (20 poems).
Other Poets	19 poems by Cao Cao, Cui Hao and others, plus anonymous Yue Fu folk songs.