Chinese New Year Poems

Ancient poems to welcome in Chinese New Year

1. ‘What Will the New Year Bring?’ by Tang Dynasty poet Cui Tu, born ca. 854

The road to Ba is a long, long way
Still, I make this perilous journey of ten thousand li
In the melting snow beneath jagged mountains at night
A stranger in a strange land

Alone, gradually growing distant from family and friends
And closer instead to my companions
How does one bear moving from place to place,
What will the New Year bring?

Snow melts and the new year brings spring. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain
and Black Dragon Pool, Yunnan province, China.  

2. ‘New Year’s Eve Snow’ by Song Dynasty poet Lu You, 1125-1209

At midnight, the north wind brought a heavy snow; the snow that was given to us by the gods just arrived on New Year’s Eve, which showed the harvest of the coming year.

Hold the glass of the half-baked Tusu wine, it has no time to celebrate the New Year, and I should use the grass to write the peach symbol of the spring on snow.

Good to know:

Tusu wine was medical liquor in the old days, and was infused with Chinese herbs and then placed in a thatched cottage that was decorated with an herb named Tusu, hence the name of this wine. Its functions were driving out the chill and protecting from plague and epidemic.

3. ‘Chinese New Year’ by Song Dynasty poet Wang Anshi, 1021-1086

The old year has passed in the sound of firecrackers, and the Tusu wine is enjoyed with a warm spring breeze.

The rising sun shines on thousands of households, and the old peach symbols are removed and replaced with new peach symbols.

Light rain in early spring. (Image: Hupeng via Dreamstime)  

4. ‘Light Rain in Early Spring’ by Tang Dynasty poet Han Yu, 768-824

The rain, like [a sheen of] oil on Heaven street, falls lightly,
though one sees the color of grass from afar, if one looks closely it is not really there.

The most beautiful spring scene of the whole year is this very one,
far better than the willows that hang everywhere over the city.