WINTER SONG

Folk Song of Northern and Southern 

Dynasties(386-589)

Three-foot-thick ice on the pond piles;

White snow outspreads for miles and miles.

My love for you lasts like green pine.

Will your love for me last like mine?

子夜四时歌 冬歌

[南北朝民歌]

渊冰厚三尺,素雪覆千里。

我心如松柏,君情复何似？

About the poet 

The Winter Song is a popular folk song from the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-589). While the name of the author is unknown, it is clear that the piece was created to show the purity of love.

About the translator 

Xu Yuanchong (1921-2021) was born in Nanchang in East China's Jiangxi Province. He was a professor of literary translation at Peking University.

About the book 

Golden Treasury of Chinese Poetry in Han, Wei and Six Dynasties 

Translated by Xu Yuanchong (1921-2021) 

Published by China Intercontinental Press