[Photo/VCG]

"江南春" (jiāng nán chūn, Spring on the Southern River Shore) is a seven-character quatrain composed by the Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Du Mu. The poem not only depicts the bright spring scenery of Jiangnan (south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River) but also describes misty, rain-drenched pavilions, making the landscape of Jiangnan even more enchanting and mysterious.

Let's appreciate this poem together. This translation was done by Xu Yuanchong, China's most renowned master translator.

千里莺啼绿映红，

qiān lǐ yīng tí lǜ yìng hóng

Orioles sing for miles amid red blooms and green trees;

水村山郭酒旗风。

shuǐ cūn shān guō jiǔ qí fēng

By hills and rills wine shop streamers wave in the breeze.

南朝四百八十寺，

nán cháo sì bǎi bā shí sì

Four hundred eighty splendid temples still remain;

多少楼台烟雨中。

duō shǎo lóu tái yān yǔ zhōng

Of Southern Dynasties in the mist and rain.