
Birdsong in the Ravine · Wang Wei
Wang Wei · Tang · Wang Wei
“人閒桂花落,夜靜春山空。月出驚山鳥,時鳴春澗中。” “Man at rest, osmanthus blossoms fall; the night is still, the spring mountain empty. The moon comes out and startles the mountain birds; now and then they call in the spring ravine.” One of the most celebrated quatrains of the High Tang, from Wang Wei’s Five Poems on Huangfu Yue’s Cloud Creek, a model of his quiet, Chan-tinged landscape verse. All 20 characters of the poem are set vertically, each collected from public-domain Tang rubbings: 17 are in Yan Zhenqing’s hand, from his Duobao Pagoda, Yan Family Temple and Zang Huaike steles; three characters survive intact in no Yan rubbing, so 閒 (at rest) comes from Chu Suiliang’s Preface to the Sacred Teachings at the Wild Goose Pagoda, 鳥 (bird) from Chu Suiliang’s Stele of Master Meng, and 澗 (ravine) from Ouyang Xun’s Sweet Spring of the Jiucheng Palace. The poem is in the Complete Tang Poems, juan 128. Bright moon in ink wash.
$32 (reference) · ¥229 CNY
Case only · fits standard-size inserts (insert not included)






