Peach blossoming in Dalin Temple

By Bai Juyi (Tang Dynasty)

Fragrance of flowers have withered in April in the terrestrial world,

The peach blossoming in Dalin temple has just begun in full bloom.

I often regret there is no place to look for spring having passed away,

but didn't expect it had turn up to the temple now.

大林寺桃花

白居易（唐）

人间四月芳菲尽，山寺桃花始盛开。

长恨春归无觅处，不知转入此中来。

Creative background

This poem was written on April 9, the 12th year of Yuanhe reign of emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty (817). At that time, Bai Juyi was demoted to Jiangzhou (now Jiujiang, Jiangxi) as Sima, but  had no practical business to do. In his spare time, he wandered around Lushan Mountain together and wrote this poem.

Introduction of related world

1.     Dalin Temple: In the Dalin peak of Lushan Mountain, it is said that it was built by Tan Shen, a monk of Jin Dynasty. It is one of the Buddhist resorts in China. 

About Bai Juyi

Bai Juyi (772-846), with the word Lotte, was named Xiangshan Buddhist and Zuiyin. His ancestral home was Taiyuan, Shanxi [1-2]. He moved to Xiaying when his great grandfather was born in Xinzheng, Henan [3]. Bai Juyi was a great realistic poet in the Tang Dynasty and one of the three great poets in the Tang Dynasty.

Bai Juyi's poems have a wide range of themes, diverse forms, and common language. He is known as "the devil of poetry" and "the king of poetry". Official to crown prince Shaofu, Minister of punishment, Fengyi County Hou. In 846 ad, Bai Juyi died in Luoyang and was buried in Xiangshan. "Bai's Changqing collection" has been handed down, and the representative poems include "song of eternal regret", "charcoal man" and "Pipa line".