Song Dynasty
Joy of Hearing Magpies · Watching the Tide at Wu Hill
Zhou Mi
天水碧，染就一江秋色。
鳌戴雪山龙起蛰，快风吹海立。
数点烟鬟青滴，一杼霞绡红湿。
白鸟明边帆影直，隔江闻夜笛。
Translation
Sky and water are blue-green, dyeing the whole river with the color of autumn. The tide rises like a giant turtle bearing snow mountains, like a dragon waking from hibernation; a swift wind seems to blow the sea upright. A few misty green peaks, like coiled hair, drip with deep blue-green color. A shuttle of rosy silk, wet with red sunset light, spreads across the river sky. White birds fly along the bright edge of the water; sail shadows stand upright on the river. Across the river, a night flute is heard.
Analysis
This lyric describes watching the Qiantang tide from Wu Hill in Hangzhou. Wu Hill overlooks the Qiantang River and has long been associated with tide viewing. Zhou Mi turns the spectacle into a composition of color, force, distance, and sound. The first line begins quietly: sky and water are a single blue-green expanse, and the whole river seems dyed with autumn. This still, clear background prepares for the sudden power of the tide. 'The tide rises like a giant turtle bearing snow mountains, like a dragon waking from hibernation' is the poem's strongest image. 'A swift wind seems to blow the sea upright' exaggerates the force of the tide. The second stanza shifts from power to refinement. The distant hills are compared to misty hair coils, blue-green and dripping with color. Sunset is imagined as a piece of rosy silk woven by a shuttle and dampened by river mist. These are highly crafted images, typical of the elegant and decorative precision of late Southern Song lyric style. The final lines move into stillness. White birds cross the bright water, sail shadows stand straight, and then, across the river, a night flute is heard. After the huge movement of tide and wind, the poem closes with a single distant sound. That contrast is what gives the poem its depth: grandeur gives way to spacious quiet.
About the Author
Zhou Mi, courtesy name Gongjin and literary name Caocuang, also known as Pingzhou and Sishui Qianfu, was a late Southern Song poet, writer, and historian. His ancestral home was Jinan, and he later lived in Wuxing. He experienced the fall of the Southern Song and did not serve the Yuan dynasty. Zhou Mi's ci poetry is known for elegance, refinement, careful musicality, and richly polished imagery, making him an important figure in the late Southern Song 'elegant lyric' tradition. He also wrote major prose works such as 'Old Stories of Wulin,' 'Qidong Wild Words,' and 'Guixin Miscellaneous Records,' which preserve valuable information about Southern Song society, culture, and the capital Lin'an.