Looking towards Jiang Nan
Written at Chaoran Terrace
春未老，风细柳斜斜。
Chūn wèi lǎo, fēng xì liǔ xié xié.
Spring is still young,
And a tender breeze inclines the willow boughs.
试上超然台上看，
Shì shàng Chāorán Tái shàng kàn.
Ascend the Chaoran Terrace and behold,
半壕春水一城花。
Bàn háo chūn shuǐ yī chéng huā.
A moat of shining spring water,
A city awash with blossoms.
烟雨暗千家。
Yān yǔ àn qiān jiā.
A thousand homes dimmed by drifting rain.
寒食后，酒醒却咨嗟。
Hán shí hòu, jiǔ xǐng què zī jiē.
After the Cold Food Festival,
I awoke from my wine with a sigh.
休对故人思故国，
Hán shí hòu, jiǔ xǐng què zī jiē.
Yet let me not dwell on absent friends,
Nor pine for my far-off native land.
且将新火试新茶。
Qiě jiāng xīn huǒ shì xīn chá.
Come—
Light the year’s first fire,
Brew the season’s freshest tea.
诗酒趁年华。
Shī jiǔ chèn nián huá.
Let us savor poetry and wine
while life is in its finest season.
Background of Creation
Looking towards Jiang Nan: Written at Chaoran Terrace was composed in the spring of 1076, the ninth year of the Xining era during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. At the time, Su Shi was serving as the Governor of Mizhou (present-day Zhucheng, Shandong Province).
Mizhou was located on the Shandong Peninsula, while Su Shi’s hometown was Meishan in present-day Sichuan Province. Having left home many years earlier, he had been unable to return for a long time. In addition to being separated from his homeland, he had also spent years apart from his younger brother, Su Zhe, to whom he was deeply attached.
Disappointment in his official career and prolonged separation from his family often filled him with profound homesickness.
II. The Construction of the Chaoran Terrace
After arriving in Mizhou, Su Shi oversaw the restoration of an old Terrace and named it Chaoran Terrace.
The name “Chaoran” (“Transcendent Detachment”) was inspired by the phrase “虽有荣观，燕处超然” (“Though one may enjoy splendid surroundings, one should remain inwardly detached.”), expressing the idea of maintaining inner peace despite external glory and pleasures.
The name reflects Su Shi’s pursuit of a state of mind that rises above worldly gains and losses while preserving inner freedom and peace.
The Terrace later became one of his favorite places to climb, enjoy the scenery, compose poetry, and share wine with friends.
III. A View from the Terrace Awakens Homesickness
One spring day, Su Shi ascended the Chaoran Terrace and gazed into the distance.
Beyond the city walls, rivers encircled the landscape; within the city, flowers bloomed in abundance, while countless homes lay veiled in a gentle spring mist.
Such beautiful scenery would normally bring delight to the heart. Yet, as Su Shi admired the spring landscape before him, his thoughts suddenly drifted to his distant homeland.
The Cold Food Festival, having just passed, naturally intensified the traditional Chinese sentiment of remembering one’s family and home.
Thus came the heartfelt line “After the Cold Food Festival,I awoke from my wine with a sigh.”The wine had faded, but his homesickness remained.
IV. From Homesickness to Self-Comfort
At first, Su Shi expresses his longing for his homeland, nostalgia for old friends, and the loneliness of living far from home. Yet he refuses to dwell in sorrow.
Instead, he gently encourages himself:
“Yet let me not dwell on absent friends, Nor pine for my far-off native land.”
Rather than remaining immersed in memories of home and old companions, he chooses to embrace the present moment. With the new fire lit after the Cold Food Festival and the first spring tea freshly brewed, he finds comfort in the simple pleasures of life and the beauty of spring.
The poem concludes with the celebrated line:
“Let us savor poetry and wine while life is in its finest season.”
It reminds us to cherish the prime of life, accompany our days with poetry, express our feelings through wine, and treasure every beautiful moment before time quietly slips away.
V. The Philosophical Meaning of the Ci
This ci poem perfectly embodies Su Shi’s characteristic philosophy of life.
He experiences homesickness without allowing it to imprison his spirit.
He encounters disappointment without surrendering to despair.
He feels sorrow, yet ultimately returns to optimism and serenity.
The emotional journey from “longing for home” to “brewing new tea,” and from “sighing after the wine” to “savoring poetry and wine while life is in its finest season,” illustrates Su Shi’s remarkable ability to transform life’s hardships into an appreciation of its everyday beauty.
VI. Literary Significance
Although relatively short, Wang Jiang Nan: Written at the Chaoran Terrace is regarded as one of the representative works that established Su Shi’s early bold and broad-minded ci style.