Book of Songs
Bei Feng
Anonymous
北风其凉
雨雪其雱
惠而好我
携手同行
其虚其邪
既亟只且
北风其喈
雨雪其霏
惠而好我
携手同归
其虚其邪
既亟只且
莫赤匪狐
莫黑匪乌
惠而好我
携手同车
其虚其邪
既亟只且
Translation
The north wind is cold; snow falls thick and heavy. If you care for me and love me, take my hand and let us go together. Can we still linger and delay? The matter is already urgent. The north wind cries sharply; snow flies and falls. If you care for me and love me, take my hand and let us return together. Can we still linger and delay? The matter is already urgent. Nothing red is not a fox; nothing black is not a crow. If you care for me and love me, take my hand and ride with me in one carriage. Can we still linger and delay? The matter is already urgent.
Analysis
"Bei Feng" is a poem of urgency, danger, and shared departure from the "Bei Feng" section of the Book of Songs. On the surface, it is a call from one person to another: if you truly love me or care for me, take my hand and come with me. At a deeper level, it is often read as a poem about leaving a dangerous or disordered situation. The opening image is harsh: the north wind is cold, and snow falls heavily. This is not a neutral landscape. It is an environment that presses on the body and makes staying difficult. The weather becomes an image of crisis. "If you care for me and love me, take my hand and let us go together." The poem tests affection through action. To love is not merely to speak kindly; it is to join hands and move together when conditions become dangerous. The refrain asks: can we still delay? The answer is clearly no. The situation is already urgent. Repetition gives the poem its force. Each stanza returns to the same demand: do not wait. The second stanza intensifies the weather: the wind cries, the snow flies. The requested action changes from "go together" to "return together." This suggests not just movement, but seeking a place of safety, belonging, or refuge. The third stanza introduces foxes and crows: "Nothing red is not a fox; nothing black is not a crow." These lines imply that signs of danger or corruption are now unmistakable. The world has revealed what it is. There is no point pretending not to see. The final action, "ride with me in one carriage," is more concrete than simply walking together. The speaker is no longer talking about feeling; the speaker is preparing departure. The progression from going together, to returning together, to riding together in one carriage gives the poem a mounting sense of practical urgency. "Bei Feng" is powerful because it compresses love, trust, political or social danger, and survival into one image: holding hands in the snow. The poem asks what real loyalty means when the wind turns cold. Its answer is direct: come with me now.
About the Author
"Bei Feng" comes from the "Bei Feng" section of the "Airs of the States" in the Book of Songs. Its author is unknown. The Book of Songs is the earliest anthology of Chinese poetry, containing more than three hundred poems from roughly the early Western Zhou to the mid-Spring and Autumn period. "Bei Feng" preserves songs associated with the region of Bei and the state of Wei, many of which concern marriage, family, politics, war, labor, poverty, and social distress. "Bei Feng" is a poem of crisis and flight, using the cold wind and snow as images of danger to issue a call for a trusted companion to leave together.