The Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den (simplified Chinese: 施氏食狮史; traditional Chinese: 施氏食獅史; pinyin: Shī Shì shí shī shǐ) is a 92-character modern poem written in Classical Chinese by Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982), in which every syllable has the sound shi (in different tones) when read in modern Mandarin Chinese. It is a famous example of constrained writing. The sentence "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is an example of this type of writing in English.
The text, although written in Classical Chinese, can be easily comprehended by most educated readers. However, changes in pronunciation over 2,500 years resulted in a large degree of homophony in Classical Chinese, so the poem becomes completely incomprehensible when spoken in Modern Standard Chinese or when written in romanization.
Read more about Lion-Eating Poet In The Stone Den: The Text, Explanation, Poem Text in Vernacular Chinese, Classical Chinese Pronunciation in Antiquity, Related Tongue-twisters
Famous quotes containing the words poet, stone and/or den:
“For me being a poet is a job rather than an activity. I feel I have a function in society, neither more nor less meaningful than any other simple job. I feel it is part of my work to make poetry more accessible to people who have had their rights withdrawn from them.”
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“She took you the way a woman takes
a bargain dress off the rack
and I broke the way a stone breaks.”
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“Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.””
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