This year, World Poetry Day will fall on the Spring Equinox. In spring, already a romantic and poetic season, World Poetry Day gains additional meaning. Let's celebrate the festival by learning about some great poets from Zhengzhou.
春光如詩，當春分與“世界詩歌日”相遇，春分更將被吟成詩。讓我們行走中原，在鄭州與中國古代詩歌名家來場浪漫相遇。
A significant part of Chinese culture, poetry has a long history in Zhengzhou. In the Book of Songs,? 25 works were composed in Zhengzhou. The profound culture of the Central Plains has cultivated many writers in Zhengzhou, including those great poets in the Tang Dynasty.
詩歌，這一中華文化的瑰寶，在鄭州地區有非常悠久的歷史，《詩經》中就有25首鄭州地區作品，深厚的中原文化底蘊，深刻影響了后世鄭州地區的很多文人，使鄭州僅在唐代就出現了不少文壇巨匠。
Du Fu, known as the Sage of Poetry, was born in Gongyi, Zhengzhou. He wrote more than 1,500 poems in his lifetime, including many famous verses that have been passed down through the generations. He wrote "Good rain knows its time right. It will fall when comes spring." in Happy Rain on a Spring Night. He said "I will ascend the mountain's crest. It dwarfs all peaks under my feet." in Gazing on Mount Tai. He wrote "The boundless forest sheds its leaves shower by shower. The endless river rolls its waves hour after hour" in On the Height.
“詩圣”杜甫，出生于今天的鄭州鞏義。他一生寫詩一千五百多首，其中很多是傳頌千古的名篇名句，如《春夜喜雨》中的“好雨知時節，當春乃發生”；《望岳》中的“會當凌絕頂，一覽眾山小”；《登高》中的“無邊落木蕭蕭下，不盡長江滾滾來”，皆成為千古絕唱。
Photo: Xu Zongfu
The great poet Bai Juyi was born in Xinzheng, Zhengzhou. His masterpieces like The Song of Everlasting Regret and Pipa Song are widespread. In the sixth year of Emperor Huichang (A.D.846), Bai Juyi wrote the Epitaph of Bai Juyi at the end of his life, in which he emphasized his hometown Xinzheng: On the twentieth day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Emperor Dali, I was born in Dongguo House, Xinzheng County, Zhengzhou.
大詩人白居易出生于鄭州新鄭，有“詩魔”和“詩王”之稱，代表作《長恨歌》和《琵琶行》廣為流傳。會昌六年（846年），在生命的最后時刻，白居易寫下了《醉吟先生墓志銘》，仍然不忘故鄉新鄭：“大歷七年正月二十日，生于鄭州新鄭縣東郭宅。”
Shortly after Bai Juyi was born in Xinzheng, the famous poet Liu Yuxi was born in Xingyang, a county close to Xinzheng. A famous writer and philosopher in the Tang Dynasty, Liu Yuxi became a close friend of Bai Juyi. He was finally buried in his hometown - Xingyang. Liu Yuxi created a large number of influential works, of which the On My Humble Home and the Song of Bamboo Twigs are well known. Recently, Xingyang has established its first cultural park - Liu Yuxi Park - to pay tribute to this great poet.
大詩人白居易在鄭州新鄭出生不久，另一位詩人劉禹錫在離他不遠的鄭州滎陽誕生了。劉禹錫是唐代著名的文學家和哲學家，有“詩豪”之美譽，與白居易是好朋友。劉禹錫死后葬于故鄉滎陽。劉禹錫創作了大量佳作，《陋室銘》《竹枝詞》等廣為傳頌。一千多年后，他的家鄉鄭州滎陽市建立了第一個主題文化公園——劉禹錫公園，表達對劉禹錫的敬意。
Li Shangyin, a famous poet in the late Tang Dynasty, was also born in Xingyang, Zhengzhou. He wrote On the Xiyang Tower, with the line "Vital scenery tends to make people feel infinitely sad. You will see higher towers when climbing up a high tower" being widely known to people.
晚唐著名詩人李商隱，出生于鄭州滎陽。他在鄭州《夕陽樓》中，留下了著名詩句“花明柳暗繞天愁，上盡重城更上樓”。
Hu Lingneng, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, was born in Zhongmu County, Zhengzhou. He lived in seclusion in what is modern-day Putian Town in Zhengdong New District. Putian is the hometown of Liezi, a follower of Taoism who was highly respected by Hu Lingneng, who also believed in Taoism. Hu Lingneng's poems tend to show strong interest in life through simple words with deep connotations. One of his masterpieces, A Fishing Boy said "A boy tries to fish with a rod and line, sitting away amid green grass fine. A passer-by waves his hand to ask the way. He won't reply lest fish be scared away". This poem has been included in Chinese textbooks for primary students.
唐朝詩人胡令能，鄭州中牟縣人，隱居在位于今鄭東新區圃田一帶。圃田，是列子的家鄉。胡令能對列子推崇備至，成就了一副道家風骨。他的詩語言淺顯而構思精巧，生活情趣很濃。“蓬頭稚子學垂綸，側坐莓苔草映身。路人借問遙招手，怕得魚驚不應人。”胡令能的《小兒垂釣》入選小學語文課本，是一首家喻戶曉的詩歌。
Zhengzhou, located along the Yellow River in central China, is known for its profound culture. It has cultivated a great number of poets and writers in China's history, who made their era memorialized forever with their literary and artistic talent.
位居天地之中、黃河之濱的鄭州，受大河哺育、“天中”滋養，鄭州歷史上的詩詞名人數不勝數，他們用自己的才思為所處時代打上了一片片“高光”。
