Book of Songs
Kai Feng
Anonymous
凯风自南
吹彼棘心
棘心夭夭
母氏劬劳
凯风自南
吹彼棘薪
母氏圣善
我无令人
爰有寒泉
在浚之下
有子七人
母氏劳苦
睍睆黄鸟
载好其音
有子七人
莫慰母心
Translation
The gentle south wind blows, blowing on the tender shoots of the thorn tree. The thorn shoots grow young and lush; our mother has labored hard. The gentle south wind blows, blowing on the thorn tree's branches. Our mother is wise and good, yet we are not worthy children. There is a cold spring, below the town of Xun. She has seven sons, yet our mother still suffers hardship. The yellow bird sings clearly and sweetly; how beautiful is its sound. She has seven sons, yet none can comfort our mother's heart.
Analysis
"Kai Feng" is a poem of filial feeling from the "Bei Feng" section of the Book of Songs. It is often read as the voice of children reflecting on their mother's labor and their own failure to repay her properly. Its emotional center is not only gratitude, but shame. The poem begins with the gentle south wind. This wind nourishes growing plants, and it becomes an image of maternal care. The mother, like the south wind, has sustained life quietly and continuously. The wind blows on the tender shoots of the thorn tree. These young shoots suggest children growing under care. But the line immediately turns to the mother's labor. The children's growth has been purchased by her hardship. In the second stanza, the plant image moves from shoots to branches. The children have grown, but the mother's labor has not disappeared. "Our mother is wise and good, yet we are not worthy children" is a blunt confession. The poem does not accuse the mother; it accuses the children themselves of not becoming good enough. The third stanza introduces the cold spring below Xun. A spring can nourish, but its coldness also gives the stanza a sober tone. The mother has seven sons, yet she still suffers. The number intensifies the shame: with so many children, surely someone should have relieved her burden — but none has done enough. The final stanza contrasts the yellow bird's beautiful song with the sons' failure. Even a bird can offer pleasing sound, but seven sons cannot comfort their mother's heart. This is a sharp and effective comparison. The poem's power lies in its moral honesty. It does not simply say "mother is great." It says: mother is good, mother has labored, and we have not repaid her. That self-accusation gives the poem its weight. "Kai Feng" is therefore one of the important early Chinese poems of filial reflection. It presents filial piety not as a slogan, but as an ache: the realization that the person who gave most has not been adequately comforted.
About the Author
"Kai 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, social pressure, and ethical life. "Kai Feng" is a representative poem of filial feeling, using the south wind, thorn tree, cold spring, and yellow bird to express gratitude toward a hardworking mother and the children's shame at failing to comfort her.