Tang Dynasty
Spring View of Hangzhou
Bai Juyi
望海楼明照曙霞，护江堤白踏晴沙。
涛声夜入伍员庙，柳色春藏苏小家。
红袖织绫夸柿蒂，青旗沽酒趁梨花。
谁开湖寺西南路，草绿裙腰一道斜。
Translation
Wanghai Tower shines bright in the glow of morning clouds. The river-protecting embankment is white, and people walk over sunlit sand. At night, the sound of the tide enters Wu Zixu's temple. In spring, willow green softly hides the home of Su Xiaoxiao. Red-sleeved women weave fine silk, boasting patterns like persimmon calyxes. Blue wine flags call out to buyers, taking advantage of the pear blossoms in bloom. Who opened the road southwest of the lakeside temple? The green grass runs slantwise, like a sash across a woman's skirt.
Analysis
This poem presents a spring view of Hangzhou. Unlike Bai Juyi's poems that focus more narrowly on West Lake, this poem gathers the whole city into view: Wanghai Tower, the Qiantang River, the embankment, ancient temples, local legends, silk weaving, wine shops, pear blossoms, and the road by the lake. The title's key word is 'view': the poet looks outward, and Hangzhou unfolds layer by layer. The first couplet gives a bright morning scene. Wanghai Tower shines in the dawn clouds, and the white embankment appears under clear sunlight. The imagery is clean and open, using light and whiteness to establish the freshness of spring. The second couplet brings in history and legend. Wu Yuan, or Wu Zixu, is associated with the Qiantang tide in later tradition. The line about the tide entering Wu Zixu's temple combines natural force with historical memory. The next line turns to a different register: spring willow color hides the home of Su Xiaoxiao, the famous Qiantang courtesan whose story became a symbol of Jiangnan beauty and romantic culture. Together, the couplet gives Hangzhou both grandeur and softness. The third couplet shifts to urban life. Red-sleeved women weave patterned silk, suggesting Hangzhou's textile culture and the beauty of labor. Wine shops with blue flags sell wine during pear blossom season, joining commerce, festival feeling, and spring scenery. The final couplet returns to the lake. A road southwest of a lakeside temple runs through green grass, compared to a slanting sash across a woman's skirt. The metaphor is graceful and bodily, turning the landscape into a piece of spring clothing. The poem's strength is its range. Bai Juyi does not write an abstract spring scene. He writes a specific city: bright, historical, commercial, sensual, and alive. Hangzhou's spring is made of towers, tides, temples, willows, silk, wine, flowers, roads, and lake grass.
About the Author
Bai Juyi, courtesy name Letian and literary name Xiangshan Jushi, was one of the major poets of the Tang dynasty. He was known for clear, fluent language and a wide range of subjects, including social criticism, narrative poetry, leisure, friendship, landscape, and daily life. Together with Yuan Zhen, he advocated the New Yuefu movement, emphasizing that poetry should respond to real events and social conditions. Bai Juyi served as prefect of Hangzhou and developed a lasting affection for the city and West Lake. 'Spring View of Hangzhou' shows his ability to combine natural scenery, local history, and urban life in a vivid and accessible poetic form.