Level 5 · 4 lines · Free PDF
Quiet Night Thoughts by Li Bai: Chinese Writing Worksheet
Quiet Night Thoughts (靜夜思) by the Tang poet Li Bai (701–762) may be the best-known poem in Chinese. Children in China and Taiwan learn it by heart. Each line has five characters.
Traditional
Used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
Simplified
Used in mainland China and Singapore.
What’s on this worksheet
Li Bai (701–762)
| Text (Traditional / Simplified) | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 床前明月光， | Chuáng qián míng yuè guāng, | Before my bed the bright moonlight; |
| 疑是地上霜。 | yí shì dì shàng shuāng. | I take it for frost on the ground. |
| 舉頭望明月， / 举头望明月， | Jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè, | I raise my head and gaze at the bright moon, |
| 低頭思故鄉。 / 低头思故乡。 | dī tóu sī gù xiāng. | I lower my head and think of home. |
Pinyin follows the Hanyu Pinyin standard used in mainland China. In Taiwan, some syllables marked here with a neutral tone are often read with their full tone.
How to use it
- Print the sheet in the character set you are learning.
- Say the line out loud, then trace the grey line slowly.
- Write it on your own in the empty boxes, keeping each character inside its square. The dashed lines help you place each part.
- Check your writing against the grey line, and try again tomorrow. Short, regular practice works better than one long session.
The worksheets don’t show stroke order. That is easier to learn by watching each stroke being drawn. In the Hanzibloc app you write every character stroke by stroke on your phone, and the app checks each stroke as you go.
