Li Pin Explained

Li Pin (818–876) was a late Tang dynasty poet.^[1] One of Li Pin's poems was collected in the popular anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems.

Poetry

Li Pin's poem "Crossing the Han River" is described by Kenneth Rexroth as "one of the most perfect poems of the later T'ang".^[2]

Chinese: 渡漢江 Crossing the Han River

Chinese: 嶺外音書絕， Away from home, I was longing for news

Chinese: 經冬復立春。 Winter after winter, spring after spring.

Chinese: 近鄉情更怯， Now, nearing my village, meeting people,

Chinese: 不敢問來人。 I dare not ask a single question.

Translation by Witter Bynner.^{[3] [4]}

References

• Rexroth, Kenneth (1970). Love and the Turning Year: One Hundred More Poems from the Chinese. New York: New Directions.

External links

• • Books of the Quan Tangshi that include collected poems of Li Pin at the Chinese Text Project:
  • Book 592
  • Book 593

Notes and References

1. Rexroth, 125
2. Rexroth, 125
3. http://wengu.tartarie.com/wg/wengu.php?l=Tangshi&no=250 Li Pin, "Crossing the Han River", original text and English translation
4. http://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=Chinese/uvaGenText/tei/300_tang_poems/HanTang.xml;chunk.id=HanTang.13.250 "Tang Shi San Bai Shou", University of Virginia Library