Chinese Riddle 2 中国谜语2 远看山有色, 近听水无声。

Please watch the video after you have a chance to guess the meaning.

This poem is a word puzzle.

远看山有色, 近听水无声。

春去花还在,人来鸟不惊。

yuǎn kàn shān yǒu sè, jìn tīng shuǐ wúshēng 。

chūn qù huā hái zài , rén lái niǎo bù jīng 。

English translation:

View from far away, the mountains have colors; listen closely, water has no sound. Flowers are still blossom even though the spring has gone, and birds are not startled even though people come by.

Vocabulary

ID Chinese Trad. Pinyin English Definition
ID Chinese Trad. Pinyin English Definition
1 yuǎn far; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower etc)
2 kan4 to look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard
3 shān surname Shan; mountain; hill; anything that resembles a mountain; Classifiers: ; bundled straw in which silkworms spin cocoons; gable
4 有色 yǒu colored; non-white; non-ferrous (metals)
5 jìn near; close to; approximately
6 tīng to listen; to hear; to obey; a can (loanword from English “tin”); classifier for canned beverages
7 shuǐ surname Shui; water; river; liquid; beverage; additional charges or income; (of clothes) classifier for number of washes
8 无声 無聲 shēng noiseless; noiselessly; silent
9 chūn old variant of ; surname Chun; spring (time); gay; joyful; youthful; love; lust; life
10 to go; to go to (a place); to cause to go or send (sb); to remove; to get rid of; (when used either before or after a verb) to go in order to do sth; to be apart from in space or time; (after a verb of motion indicates movement away from the speaker); (used after certain verbs to indicate detachment or separation); (of a time or an event etc) just
11 花還 huāhai2  flowerstill
12 zài (located) at; (to be) in; to exist; in the middle of doing sth; (indicating an action in progress)
13 rén man; person; people; Classifiers:
14 lái to come; to arrive; to come round; ever since; next
15 niao3 bird
16 (negative prefix); not; no
17 jīng to startle; to be frightened; to be scared; alarm

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