Five-Character Poem · In Praise of a Well[1]

(1906)

The courtyard well[2] is four-square,

All around it are high walls.

Clear and pure, one sees the pebbles[3],

A little fish confined in the center[4].

Drinking only the water in the well,

It will never grow up[5].

[1] Five-character poem, a form of ancient Chinese poetry. Each line consists of five characters, including five-character ancient verse, five-character regulated verse, five-character quatrains, and five-character linked verse. Five-character lines already existed in the *Book of Songs*, *Songs of Chu*, and other ancient ballads, but entire poems in five-character form only appeared in the Han Dynasty. Since the Tang Dynasty, there has been the five-character regulated form. This poem rhymes at the first line, does not adhere to tonal patterns, and has a relatively free prosody.

[2] Courtyard well: an open-air space within a residential compound enclosed by houses or by houses and walls, resembling a well in shape, hence the name.

[3] Clear and pure: refers to the water being clear. Pebbles: egg-shaped, round, or oval stones laid at the bottom of the well to help prevent mud from rising and to keep the well water clear.

[4] Confined: restricted. Center: middle. Here it means the little fish is restricted to moving within the well.

[5] Grow up: to mature. Will never grow up: means it can only survive, but will not grow larger.

*The Family Letters of Zeng Guofan*, which Mao Zedong read.

Some works Mao Zedong read.

*Sowing* (oil painting)