Learn Chinese Poem: Min Nong (Part 1) by Li Shen

Min Nong (悯农, mǐn nóng) is one of the most famous ancient Chinese poems. The poem is so popular that a few years ago, Chinese president Xi Jinping used this poem to appeal to reduce the wastage of the food in China.

Although the exact date of the composition of these two poems remains debatable, it is generally believed that the poems were written in the year 799.

For any student of Mandarin Chinese, if you don’t know this poem, then your Chinese level should be reassessed. 🙂

Check out the books to learn more Chinese Poems

• Ancient Chinese Poems
• Li Bai’s Selected Poems

In this post, let’s learn the Chinese poem, Min Nong.

The poem has two parts (悯农二首/古风二首). In this post, let’s discover the first part of the poem (悯农.其一). You can find the second part of Min Nong in the next blog-post.

What does the two characters, Min Nong, mean?

• 悯 (mǐn): Feel concerned over; pity
• 农 (nóng): Peasant; farmer

Taken together, Min Nong means “Sympathize with the peasants” or “Sympathy to the farmers.”

Who composed the Min Nong poem?

Min Nong was written by Li Shen (李绅, 772-846), a prime minister and poet of the Tang Dynasty (唐代). Li Shen lost his father at the young age and often saw the farmers working all day without proper food and clothing. With compassion, he wrote the two Min Nong poems.

Min Nong– Part 1 (悯农其一) 原文

春种一粒粟，

秋收万颗子。

四海无闲田，

农夫犹饿死。

Pinyin (拼音) of Min Nong

Chūn zhòng yī lì sù，

qiū shōu wàn kē zǐ.

Sì hǎi wú xián tián，

nóng fū yóu è sǐ。

English Translation (译文) of Min Nong

Sow one seed in the spring,

And harvest a lot of grain in the autumn.

In the whole world, there is no abandoned farmland,

However, the laborious farmers still starve to death.

Appreciation (赏析) of Min Nong

This poem vividly depicts the scene of great farming harvest results everywhere. There is no uncultivated land on the planet. The harvest is so bumper that just by showing one seed in the spring, one can cultivate tons of grains in the autumn. Unfortunately, despite all great harvest, the farmer, who worked so hard in the field, starved to death.

The poet highlights the social problem existing in the typical peasant society where the farmer worked hard, but the produce was not for the farmer. So, despite all good harvesting seasons, the farmer had nothing to eat and starved to death.