Yisuo Jiangyu — A Straw Cloak in River Rain
A modern Chinese poetic ballad inspired by Su Shi’s Dingfengbo. Drawing from the spiritual resilience of the ancients, the song offers a quiet place for the modern soul to rest.
In a noisy age, do we still have the patience to listen to a rainstorm from a thousand years ago?
That rain once fell on a mountain road in Huangzhou during the Northern Song Dynasty. It passed through bamboo forests, struck leaves, soaked straw sandals and old garments, and revealed something deep within the Chinese literary spirit: the ability to walk through wind and rain without surrendering the self.
For Grandevity Studio, classical poetry is not merely ink preserved on paper. It is a spiritual coordinate left by those who endured exile, loss, uncertainty, separation, and worldly change before us.
Today, we officially release a new original classical literature reimagined work:
Yisuo Jiangyu
《一蓑江雨》
Inspired by Su Shi’s classic lyric poem 《定風波·莫聽穿林打葉聲》 (Dingfengbo), this song follows the poet’s spirit beyond the mountain road and into a moonlit river night — where rain, river, moonlight, solitude, and silence become a way of settling the modern heart.
From Dingfengbo to the State of “Letting Life Be”
The inspiration for Yisuo Jiangyu comes from Su Shi’s famous poem Dingfengbo.
莫聽穿林打葉聲，何妨吟嘯且徐行。
Do not listen to the rain beating through the forest leaves; why not chant and walk slowly?
More than nine hundred years ago, on a muddy spring road in Huangzhou, Su Shi wrote one of the most graceful and resilient responses to adversity in Chinese literature.
But Yisuo Jiangyu does not simply reproduce the original poem. Instead, it continues along Su Shi’s inner road.
After the rain on the mountain path begins to fade, after the slanting sunlight appears, after twilight closes in — where does a person go within themselves? In this song, the space slowly shifts from “a mountain road in wind and rain” to “a cold river under moonlight.” The emotion moves from the boldness of “Who is afraid?” toward the clearer stillness of “letting floating life be.”
There is no forced declaration of strength. No theatrical heroism. No need to prove anything.
Only rain, river, moon, lone boat, distant islet, night air, and a fisherman’s song remain.
Let the cold river flow toward the edge of the sky; a thousand mountains of moonlight fill the empty river.
When rain soaks the old clothes, when a lone boat rests by the distant shore, when a person looks back across the vast human world from the heart of the river, all attachment, sorrow, resistance, and pride begin to dissolve into the night.
This is not only a modern extension of Song Dynasty aesthetics. It is a musical practice of using ancient spiritual strength to bring rest to contemporary life.
Sound Design: After the Rain, the River Opens
In arrangement and production, Yisuo Jiangyu deliberately avoids the common excesses of conventional Chinese-style music. There is no overwhelming orchestral build-up. No forced emotional climax. No heavy drums trying to manufacture grandeur.
Instead, the sound design is restrained and spacious.
- An acoustic guitar traces the simplicity of walking slowly along a mountain path.
- A deep cello carries the weight of a weathered human world.
- A distant xiao flute opens the moonlight over the river.
Everything in the arrangement steps back, allowing the words, the rain, and the surface of the river to emerge slowly. The melody moves like a person walking through rain. The arrangement expands like a river becoming still beneath moonlight.
True freedom is not the absence of storms. It is the ability to say, after the storm has passed:
也無風雨也無晴。
There is no wind or rain. There is no clear sky either.
Official Music Video
To give visual form to this stillness, Grandevity Studio has also created an official MV for Yisuo Jiangyu.
The video removes excessive color and spectacle, leaving only ink-like mist, a distant riverbank, a cold river, a lone boat, and moonlight. It is not a loud visual work. It is more like a slowly unfolding scroll of river and sky.
We invite you to watch it in a quiet moment. Let this song sit with you before a cold river under the moon.
📜 Lyrics: 《一蓑江雨》 Yisuo Jiangyu
[Original Chinese Lyrics]
[Verse 1]
莫聽穿林打葉聲，何妨吟嘯且徐行。
竹杖芒鞋輕勝馬，誰怕？一蓑煙雨任平生。
料峭春風吹酒醒，微冷，山頭斜照卻相迎。
回首向來蕭瑟處，歸去，也無風雨也無晴。
[Verse 2]
閒看浮雲開復停，隨緣信步數清泠。
俗事紛紜皆一夢，何妨？孤舟泊處望遙汀。
微雨疏疏侵素影，煙暝，寒江萬頃月初平。
悄然夜氣連天闊，倚棹，任憑風浪任憑聽。
[Chorus]
任大雨漫過舊衣裳，隔岸遙看人世蒼黃。
一任寒江天際流，千山明月滿空江。
歸去吧，任孤雲閒渡暮江。
也無風雨，也無晴，一蓑江雨任浮生。
[Bridge]
雲盡處，一片江天白。
半盞清茶，坐對寒江月色。
數聲漁唱，依稀在天涯。
[Chorus]
任大雨漫過舊衣裳，隔岸遙看人世蒼黃。
一任寒江天際流，千山明月滿空江。
歸去吧，任孤雲閒渡暮江。
也無風雨，也無晴，一蓑江雨任浮生。
[Outro]
竹杖敲著青石板，聲聲慢……
歸去，歸去……
[English Lyric Translation]
[Verse 1]
Do not listen to the rain
beating through the forest leaves.
Why not chant aloud
and walk slowly?
A bamboo staff and straw sandals
feel lighter than a horse.
Who is afraid?
In a straw cloak of mist and rain,
I let this life unfold.
The sharp spring wind
wakes me from wine.
A slight coldness comes,
yet slanting sunlight from the hilltop
comes to meet me.
Looking back
at the desolate place I came from,
I return.
There is no wind or rain.
There is no clear sky either.
[Verse 2]
I quietly watch floating clouds
open and gather again.
Following fate,
I walk at ease
and count the clear ripples.
The tangled affairs of the world
are all one dream.
Why should it matter?
Where the lone boat rests,
I gaze toward the distant islet.
Fine rain lightly touches
a pale reflection.
Mist darkens.
Across ten thousand acres of cold river,
the moon has just become level.
Silently,
the night air joins the vast sky.
Leaning on the oar,
I let the wind and waves be,
and let myself listen.
[Chorus]
Let the heavy rain pass over my old clothes.
From across the river,
I gaze at the weathered human world.
Let the cold river flow
toward the edge of the sky.
A thousand mountains of moonlight
fill the empty river.
Let me return.
Let the lone cloud drift across the evening river.
There is no wind or rain.
There is no clear sky either.
In a straw cloak of river rain,
I let this floating life be.
[Bridge]
Where the clouds end,
the river sky turns white.
With half a cup of clear tea,
I sit facing the moonlit cold river.
A few fisherman’s songs
seem to come from the edge of the world.
[Chorus]
Let the heavy rain pass over my old clothes.
From across the river,
I gaze at the weathered human world.
Let the cold river flow
toward the edge of the sky.
A thousand mountains of moonlight
fill the empty river.
Let me return.
Let the lone cloud drift across the evening river.
There is no wind or rain.
There is no clear sky either.
In a straw cloak of river rain,
I let this floating life be.
[Outro]
The bamboo staff taps the bluestone path,
slowly, sound by sound.
Return.
Return.
Why “A Straw Cloak in River Rain”?
The Chinese title 一蓑江雨 grows from Su Shi’s famous line:
一蓑煙雨任平生。
In a straw cloak of mist and rain, I let life unfold.
In the new song, the image moves from 煙雨 — mist and rain — to 江雨 — river rain. This small shift changes the emotional space. The original poem begins on a road. The song expands toward a river.
The straw cloak is no longer only protection from rain. It becomes a symbol of a person’s way of moving through life: lightly, slowly, without panic, without complaint.
To wear “a straw cloak in river rain” is to accept that storms will come, and that one can still remain whole within them.
“There Is No Wind or Rain. There Is No Clear Sky Either.”
The emotional center of the song remains Su Shi’s great ending:
也無風雨也無晴。
There is no wind or rain. There is no clear sky either.
This line is often misunderstood as simple optimism. It is deeper than that. Su Shi does not say that hardship disappears. He does not insist that everything becomes bright. Instead, he reaches a state where the difference between storm and sunshine no longer rules the heart.
This is not denial. It is freedom.
The modern expanded chorus echoes this spirit:
一蓑江雨任浮生。
In a straw cloak of river rain, I let this floating life be.
For modern listeners, this may be the most necessary part of the song. Life may still be uncertain. The rain may still fall. But the heart no longer has to be dragged by every change in the weather.
About the Creative Structure
The lyric structure of Yisuo Jiangyu follows a gradual inner movement.
- First, it preserves Su Shi’s original Dingfengbo, keeping the poem’s foundational spirit of calm resilience.
- Second, it extends the scene into a new poetic space: floating clouds, clear ripples, a lone boat, a distant islet, fine rain, misty dusk, and a vast cold river under the moon.
- Third, it allows the modern chorus to translate this ancient composure into a contemporary emotional language:
Let the rain fall. Let the river flow. Let the clouds cross the evening sky. Let life be.
This is not a song about escaping the world. It is a song about no longer being broken by the world.
About Grandevity Studio
Grandevity Studio is dedicated to translating classical literature into modern music, visual storytelling, and digital creative experiences.
We believe ancient poetry should not remain trapped in textbooks, annotations, or distant admiration. These works were born from real human lives — from exile, rain, longing, laughter, fatigue, courage, and the need to continue walking.
Through the Classical Literature Reimagined in Music project, we aim to let classical literature speak again through contemporary sound.
Not nostalgia. Not ornament. But renewal.
💿 Credits
- Song Title: 一蓑江雨 (Yisuo Jiangyu — A Straw Cloak in River Rain)
- Inspired By: Su Shi, Northern Song Dynasty, Dingfengbo / 《定風波·莫聽穿林打葉聲》
- Original Poem / Verse 1 Lyrics: Su Shi, Northern Song Dynasty
- Expanded Lyrics / Adaptation: Geng Yeqian
- Music Composition / Arrangement: Suno AI v5.5
- Production: Grandevity Limited
- Creative Direction: Grandevity Studio
- Project: Classical Literature Reimagined in Music
- Language: Chinese
- Style: Modern Chinese poetic ballad, Chinese fusion, acoustic minimalism, classical poetry reimagining
- MV Concept: Ink-wash river, mist, distant islet, cold river, lone boat, moonlight, bamboo staff, post-rain stillness
⚖️ Copyright Notice
Su Shi’s original work 《定風波·莫聽穿林打葉聲》 is a public domain literary work.
The modern expanded lyrics, song concept, AI-assisted musical composition and arrangement, audio production, MV concept, visual design, promotional writing, and related creative materials for Yisuo Jiangyu are produced and published by Grandevity Limited / Grandevity Studio and are protected by copyright where applicable.
© 2026 Grandevity Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction, redistribution, re-uploading, adaptation, editing, commercial use, secondary publication, or use of the music, video, visual materials, lyrics adaptation, or promotional content without permission is prohibited.
This music work may be available for non-exclusive commercial background music licensing. Vlog creators, game developers, commercial brands, and media projects are welcome to contact Grandevity Studio for licensing and collaboration enquiries.
Closing Reflection
Wind and rain will always come.
And they will always pass.
May Yisuo Jiangyu leave you with a piece of cold river moonlight — a quiet place where the heart can rest amid the countless dreams and storms of the human world.
Return.
Return.
There is no wind or rain.
There is no clear sky either.