Song Dynasty
Partridge in the Sky · Written Drunk on a Wine Shop Wall at Goose Lake
Xin Qiji
春入平原荠菜花
新耕雨后落群鸦
多情白发春无奈
晚日青帘酒易赊
闲意态
细生涯
牛栏西畔有桑麻
青裙缟袂谁家女
去趁蚕生看外家
Translation
Spring enters the broad plain through shepherd's-purse flowers; after rain, on newly plowed fields, flocks of crows descend. White-haired now, I am still full of feeling for spring, yet helpless before its passing. In the evening sun, beneath the green wine flag, wine is easy enough to buy on credit. The people here have an unhurried air, their small lives detailed and steady. West of the cattle pen, there are mulberries and hemp. Whose daughter is that, in a blue skirt and white sleeves? She is going to visit her mother's family, taking the chance while the silkworms have just hatched.
Analysis
This lyric was written after Xin Qiji visited Goose Lake and, while drunk, inscribed the poem on the wall of a wine shop. Like the previous 'Zhegu Tian · Written on Behalf of Someone,' it finds spring not in refined urban blossoms, but in the humble shepherd's-purse flowers of the countryside. The opening line is plain but powerful. Spring does not arrive through luxurious gardens; it enters the plain through small wild flowers close to the earth. The next image, crows descending onto newly plowed fields after rain, gives the scene a strong rural texture. It is not polished or ornamental; it smells of wet soil and farming life. 'White-haired now, I am still full of feeling for spring, yet helpless before its passing' introduces the speaker's own emotional state. Xin Qiji is old, but still responsive to spring. Yet age and seasonal change cannot be stopped. The following line, with the evening sun, the wine flag, and wine easily bought on credit, gives this helplessness a human and slightly relaxed form: if spring cannot be held, one can at least drink. The second stanza turns to village life. 'Unhurried air, small lives' is central to the poem. It describes neither luxury nor misery, but the slow, detailed, ordinary rhythm of rural existence. Cattle pens, mulberries, hemp, silkworms, and family visits all belong to this world. The final image of the young woman is especially vivid. Her blue skirt and white sleeves stand out against the rural background. She is going to visit her mother's family at the time when silkworms are hatching. Through this small detail, the poem connects spring, agriculture, women's lives, kinship, and seasonal custom. The poem's strength lies in how low and close to life its spring is. Spring is not only in flowers; it is in wet fields, wine shops, silkworms, family visits, and the patient continuity of rural life.
About the Author
Xin Qiji, courtesy name You'an and literary name Jiaxuan, was a major poet and military figure of the Southern Song dynasty. Born in Licheng, Shandong, he joined anti-Jin resistance forces in his youth and later served the Southern Song court. He strongly advocated recovering the northern territories, but his political ambitions were repeatedly frustrated. Xin Qiji is best known as a master of the bold and heroic style of ci poetry and is often paired with Su Shi as 'Su-Xin.' Alongside his patriotic works, he also wrote many rural lyrics that reveal his deep sensitivity to village life, farming, seasonal customs, and ordinary human warmth.