It means that when the breeze blows, the water surface becomes calm.
Source: "Red Cliff Ode" by Su Shi of the Song Dynasty.
Original sentence:
In the autumn of Renxu, in the seventh month, Su Zi and his guests went boating under Red Cliff. The breeze comes slowly and the water waves are calm. Lifting wine to the guests, reciting poems about the bright moon, and singing graceful chapters. After a while, the moon rose above the east mountain, wandering among the bullfights. White dew flows across the river, and the water reaches the sky. Even though a reed is like this, thousands of hectares are at a loss. The vastness is as if Feng Xu is riding the wind without knowing where it is going; the flutteringness is as if he is left alone in the world, becoming an immortal and ascending to immortality.
Translation:
In the autumn of the Renxu year, on the 16th day of the seventh month, Su Shi and his friends were boating under Red Cliff. The breeze blows in waves, and the water surface becomes calm. He raised his glass to toast his companions, recited an article related to the bright moon, and praised the graceful chapter. After a while, the bright moon rose from behind Dongshan, hovering between the constellations Dipper and Ox. The white mist stretches across the river, and the clear water reaches the sky.
Let the boat float on the boundless river, crossing the vast expanse of river. It's like riding the wind out of thin air, but not knowing where it will stop. It's like abandoning the world, detached and independent, becoming a god and entering a fairyland.
Creative background
"Red Cliff Ode" was written during one of the most difficult periods in Su Shi's life - when he was demoted to Huangzhou. In the second year of Yuanfeng (1079), Su Shi was falsely accused of writing a poem that "slandered the imperial court." Because he wrote "Huzhou Xie Shangbiao", he was impeached by the censor and charged with slandering the imperial court. "Taiwan Poetry Case". "After several restorations," he was tortured.
After being rescued by many parties, he was released in December of that year and demoted to the deputy envoy of Huangzhou Tuanlian, but he was "not allowed to sign official documents or go to the resettlement house without permission." This was undoubtedly a "semi-prisoner" style regulated life. In the fifth year of Yuanfeng, Su Shi traveled to Red Cliff twice on July 16 and October 15, and wrote two poems on Red Cliff. Later generations called the first "Red Cliff Ode" and the second one. It is "Hou Chibi Fu".