Ding Feng Bo
Listening Not to the Sound of Rain Through the Woods
莫听穿林打叶声，何妨吟啸且徐行。
Mò tīng chuān lín dǎ yè shēng, hé fáng yín xiào qiě xú xíng.
Let not the rain among the leaves disturb your ear;
Why not sing aloud and walk at leisure?
竹杖芒鞋轻胜马，谁怕？
Zhú zhàng máng xié qīng shèng mǎ, shuí pà?
A bamboo cane and straw sandals—
Lighter than the finest steed.
What is there to fear?
一蓑烟雨任平生。
Yì suō yān yǔ rèn píng shēng.
Wrapped in a humble straw cloak,
I entrust my life to mist and rain.
料峭春风吹酒醒，微冷，
Liào qiào chūn fēng chuī jiǔ xǐng, wēi lěng,
The sharp spring wind sobers my wine-flushed mind;
A slight chill brushes past.
山头斜照却相迎。
Shān tóu xié zhào què xiāng yíng.
Yet from the mountain crest
The setting sun appears,
As though coming to welcome me.
回首向来萧瑟处，归去，
Huí shǒu xiàng lái xiāo sè chù, guī qù,
I look back
Toward the place once filled with wind and storm.
I move on.
也无风雨也无晴。
Yě wú fēng yǔ yě wú qíng.
There is neither wind nor rain, neither sunshine nor storm
There is only peace.
Background of Creation
Ding Feng Bo (Listening Not to the Sound of Rain Through the Woods) is one of the representative ci Ci by the Northern Song writer Su Shi (Su Dongpo). It was composed in the spring of the fifth year of the Yuanfeng era (1082) during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, when Su Shi was living in exile in Huangzhou (present-day Huanggang, Hubei Province) as a result of the famous “Crow Terrace Poetry Case” (Wutai Poetry Case).
Although the poem appears to describe a journey in the rain, it actually uses the scenery of wind and rain to express Su Shi’s reflections on life and reveals the broad-mindedness and transcendence he achieved after enduring severe hardships.
I. Life After the “Crow Terrace Poetry Case”
In 1079, Su Shi was accused of using his Ci and prose to satirize government policies and became involved in the notorious Wutai Poetry Case. During this political persecution, he was imprisoned and narrowly escaped death.
After being released, he was demoted to the position of Assistant Military Governor of Huangzhou, a nominal office with neither real authority nor substantial income. For Su Shi, who had long cherished ideals of serving the country and benefiting the people, this was a profound blow.
The drastic change from a prominent court official to an exiled and powerless minor official forced him to reconsider the meaning of life, fame, and destiny.
II. Huangzhou: A Turning Point in Su Shi’s Life
Life in Huangzhou was extremely difficult. To support himself, Su Shi personally cultivated the wasteland east of the city and adopted the sobriquet Dongpo Jushi (“Resident of the Eastern Slope”), the name by which he later became famous throughout Chinese history.
Despite material hardship, the Huangzhou period became the most mature stage of his intellectual development and one of the most productive periods of his literary career. Many of his greatest masterpieces, including The First Ode to the Red Cliff, The Second Ode to the Red Cliff, Prelude to Water Melody, Nian Nu Jiao: Memories of the Red Cliff, and Ding Feng Bo (Calming the Waves), were composed during these years.
Having experienced imprisonment and the constant threat of death, Su Shi gradually freed himself from attachment to official success and failure, developing a broader, more resilient, and more detached outlook on life.
III. The Immediate Occasion for the Poem
According to the preface attached to the Ci:
“On the seventh day of the third month, while traveling on the road to Shahu, we encountered rain. The rain gear had been sent ahead, and my companions were all in distress, while I alone remained unaffected. Soon the sky cleared, and thus I composed this Ci.”
In other words, on the seventh day of the third lunar month in 1082, Su Shi and his friends were caught in a sudden rainstorm while traveling to Shahu. Because their rain gear was no longer with them, his companions became flustered and embarrassed, whereas Su Shi remained calm and composed.
After the rain stopped and the weather cleared, he wrote Ding Feng Bo. Therefore, the Ci is both a record of a real experience and a philosophical reflection on life expressed through natural scenery.
IV. The Symbolic Meaning of Wind and Rain
The “wind and rain” in the Ci do not merely refer to a natural rainstorm. They symbolize:
political persecution, setbacks in life, the hardships of fate, and the uncertainty of the world.
Likewise, the images of “a bamboo staff and straw sandals” and “a straw cloak amid misty rain” symbolize the poet’s composure and freedom in the face of adversity.Instead of complaining about or fleeing from hardship, Su Shi chose to continue walking forward with serenity.
V. The Spiritual Realm of the Ci
The famous lines:
“A bamboo cane and straw sandals lighter than the finest steed. What is there to fear? Wrapped in a humble straw cloak,
I entrust my life to mist and rain.”
express the idea that even in adversity, one can preserve inner freedom and dignity.
The concluding lines:“Looking back at the desolate place from which I came, I return. There is neither wind nor rain, neither sunshine nor storm.”represent the highest philosophical point of the Ci.
The phrase “There is neither wind nor rain, neither sunshine nor storm.” does not mean that the weather has literally ceased to change. Rather, it means that the poet’s mind has transcended the influence of external circumstances.
When storms come, he is not frightened; when clear skies appear, he is not excessively delighted.
Success and failure, honor and disgrace, prosperity and adversity can no longer dominate his spiritual world.
VI. Literary Significance
Ding Feng Bo is widely regarded as one of the works that most fully embodies Su Shi’s personality and spiritual ideals.
Unlike Jiang Cheng Zi, which expresses deep personal grief, Ding Feng Bo reveals Su Shi’s optimism and resilience in the face of suffering. Compared with the lofty philosophical vision of Shui Diao Ge Tou, this Ci is closer to the realities of everyday life and is filled with the calm wisdom gained through hardship.
What makes the Ci especially moving is that it describes nothing more than an ordinary encounter with rain on a journey, yet through this small event later readers perceive the spirit of a great writer who continued to walk forward with dignity and freedom despite the storms of fate.
For this reason, the lines “Wrapped in a humble straw cloak, I entrust my life to mist and rain.” and “There is neither wind nor rain, neither sunshine nor storm” have become some of the most powerful and enduring life maxims in the history of Chinese literature.