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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

冬晚对雪忆胡居士家

Winter Evening: Facing Snow, Thinking of the Hu Hermit

王维

Wang Wei

冬景Winter scenery 怀人Thinking of a friend

寒更传晓箭，清镜览衰颜。
隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山。
洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲。
借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关。

The cold watch passes on the morning signal;
In the clear mirror I look and see a face grown old.
Wind startles the bamboo beyond my window;
I open the door and snow fills the mountain.
Snow sleets down the quiet deep lane;
White drift lies wide and still in the outer court.
I ask where Yuan An lives —
Still shut, and shut so calmly.

Listen

Meaning

A five-character octave written on a snowy evening. Wang Wei describes the snow from the inside of his house — the drum announcing dawn, the mirror showing an aged face, wind startling the bamboo, and then the door opening on a mountain full of white — and then, from the cleanliness of the snow, thinks of his friend Hu, who lives in retirement and keeps his door shut. The poem is not a lament but an act of attention: the snow whitens the courtyard, and in the same movement the poet remembers a man who has chosen exactly this kind of quiet. The closed door at the end is both the hermit's and, for a moment, the poet's own wish.

寒更传晓箭，清镜览衰颜。隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山。洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲。借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The first couplet is interior: a cold night-watch passing on the signal of dawn, and a face in a mirror that has thinned. The second moves outward — wind startles the bamboo behind the window, then the door opens on snow filling the hill. The third narrows again, to a lane quiet under sleet and a wide court white with drift. The fourth turns to another person entirely, and simply asks where Yuan An lives and receives the answer that his door is still shut. [Structure] The poem runs from inside to outside, then back inside, then out again to a third place — the hermit's door — which is the only place the poem finally rests. [Imagery] Almost everything is light and colourless: drum, mirror, bamboo, snow, lane, court. The few dark things (the aged face) are set against white, and the effect is of a mind that has been made quieter by what it sees.

【白话串讲】王维写《冬晚对雪忆胡居士家》：“寒更传晓箭，清镜览衰颜”——“隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山”——“洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲”——“借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关”——他雪夜想起胡居士——开门雪满山。【意象与手法】此诗写冬雪，以忆友写冬雪，是王维的名篇。前六句写冬雪：「寒更传晓箭，清镜览衰颜。隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山。洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲」写寒更传晓箭、隔牖风惊竹、开门雪满山、洒空深巷静——写尽冬雪的洁净；后二句写忆友：「借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关」写借问袁安舍、翛然尚闭关——写尽对胡居士的忆念。全诗以忆友写冬雪，写尽冬雪的洁净与对胡居士的忆念，是王维的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写冬雪，以忆友写冬雪，是王维的名篇。此诗写王维于冬晚对雪，由雪景而忆及胡居士。胡居士为王维的友人，笃信佛理，隐居不仕。王维冬晚见雪，由雪之洁静而想及胡居士的清修。此诗写冬雪：寒更传晓箭，清镜览衰颜——写寒更传晓箭、清镜览衰颜，写尽冬夜的晓箭；隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山——写隔牖风惊竹、开门雪满山，写尽开门见雪的惊喜；洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲——写洒空深巷静、积素广庭闲，写尽冬雪的洁净；借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关——写借问袁安舍、翛然尚闭关，写尽对胡居士的忆念。全诗以忆友写冬雪——那「开门雪满山」写尽冬雪的洁净，「翛然尚闭关」写尽对胡居士的忆念，写尽冬雪的洁净与对胡居士的忆念，是理解王维写景诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山」写开门见雪的惊喜；「洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲」写冬雪的洁净；以及全诗以忆友写冬雪、以雪写人的手法。

Background

Wang Wei (about 701-761), courtesy name Mojie, was from Puzhou in Hedong and rose to the right-hand secretary of the ministry of war, hence his title Wang Youcheng; he is called the 'poet Buddha' and is ranked with Meng Haoran as one of the two Meng and Wang. He had by this period taken up the life of a half-retired official at his estate in Wangchuan, alternating duties with meditation, and his poems of that period tend to record a moment of perception rather than to argue anything. Hu is one of those recluses of the Wangchuan circle who refused office and spent their days in quiet; nothing is known of him beyond his friendship with Wang Wei and this poem.

此诗写冬雪，以忆友写冬雪，是王维的名篇。王维（约701—761），字摩诘，号摩诘居士，河东蒲州（今山西运城）人，盛唐诗人，官至尚书右丞，世称「王右丞」，有「诗佛」之称，与孟浩然并称「王孟」。此诗写王维于冬晚对雪，由雪景而忆及胡居士。胡居士为王维的友人，笃信佛理，隐居不仕。王维冬晚见雪，由雪之洁静而想及胡居士的清修。此诗写冬雪：「寒更传晓箭，清镜览衰颜」写寒更传晓箭、清镜览衰颜——写尽冬夜的晓箭（寒更传晓箭，清镜览衰颜）；「隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山」写隔牖风惊竹、开门雪满山——写尽开门见雪的惊喜（隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山）；「洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲」写洒空深巷静、积素广庭闲——写尽冬雪的洁净（洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲）；「借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关」写借问袁安舍、翛然尚闭关——写尽对胡居士的忆念（借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关）。全诗以忆友写冬雪，写尽冬雪的洁净与对胡居士的忆念，是理解王维写景诗的重要篇章。

Art

The poem works by small adjustments rather than by large effects. '惊' does the double duty of describing the wind and revealing the poet's own startle, so the snow arrives through the ear and is then confirmed by the eye. '闲' holds the poem's stillness: the wide court under white snow appears empty precisely because nothing is happening in it. The most striking device is the closing couplet, which names another man's house in order to describe nothing — no answer is given, only 'still shut'. In that the poem obeys the principle of the reclusive painter: leave the distance empty and let the viewer complete it. What looks like a question at the end is really a way of arriving at the hermit's silence from the inside.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以白描写晓夜。「寒更传晓箭」以白描写晓夜——那「寒更」「传晓箭」写尽寒夜的更声，以白描写尽冬夜的寂静。其二，以声响写雪至。「隔牖风惊竹」以声响写雪至——那「风惊竹」写尽风的惊竹，以声响写尽雪来的消息。其三，以对照写雪景。「开门雪满山」以对照写雪景——那「开门」「雪满山」写尽门内的对比，以对照写尽冬雪的惊喜。其四，以写静写洁静。「洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲」以写静写洁静——那「深巷静」「广庭闲」写尽深巷的寂静，以写静写尽冬雪的洁净。此外，此诗前六句写冬雪的洁净，后二句写对胡居士的忆念，由雪及人，正是写景诗「即景怀人」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以忆友写冬雪，写尽冬雪的洁净与对胡居士的忆念，是王维的代表作。此诗还善于以「寒更传晓箭」的漏声写长夜将尽——那「寒更」「传晓箭」写更漏报晓，正是以声写夜、以夜写雪的写法。又善以「清镜览衰颜」的照镜自伤作铺垫——晨起览镜而见衰颜，正是岁暮自伤的深致，为下文见雪的惊喜与忆友的清修作一暗接，使全诗的层次更为丰富。

Allusions

The whole fourth couplet rests on Yuan An. The Hou Han Shu tells that when the snow lay a fathom deep and the magistrate of Luoyang went his rounds, he found Yuan An lying in bed and unhelpful, and asked why; Yuan answered that everyone else was starving and one should not disturb them. Hence 'Yuan An lying in snow' became the standard emblem of the gentleman who keeps himself poor and uncompromising. By closing on this figure, Wang Wei is not merely flattering his friend: he is placing the recluses of his own circle in a line that reaches back through the Later Han, which is exactly what makes a four-line poem able to hold so much.

此诗的用语深植于冬雪与隐逸的传统。「晓箭」令人想到「晓箭」写漏箭的意象——古以漏箭计时，也令人想到「寒更传晓箭」的意象；「衰颜」令人想到「衰颜」写容颜的意象——也令人想到「艰难苦恨繁霜鬓」（杜甫）的意象；「风惊竹」令人想到「风惊竹」写风声的意象——也令人想到「夜深知雪重」（白居易）的意象；「洒空」令人想到「洒空」写雪落的意象——也令人想到「撒盐空中差可拟」（谢道韫）的意象；「积素」令人想到「积素」写积雪的意象——也令人想到「皑皑白雪」的意象；「袁安」令人想到「袁安」用袁安卧雪之典——《后汉书》载袁安大雪闭门高卧，也令人想到「袁安卧雪」的意象；「闭关」令人想到「闭关」写闭门修行的意象——也令人想到「闭门造车」的意象。全诗化用晓箭、衰颜、风惊竹、洒空、积素、袁安、闭关的意象典故，以忆友写冬雪，正是王维「诗中有画」而善写静、承冬雪传统写清修的本领。「袁安卧雪」典出《后汉书·袁安传》——袁安未达时，大雪积丈，洛阳令出巡，见袁安高卧不起，问之，答「大雪人皆饿，不宜干人」，后以「袁安卧雪」写高士安贫守节。王维以袁安比胡居士，写胡居士于雪中闭关清修，正见其以古贤拟今友的雅意。

Commentary

The poem has been loved for its restraint. Nothing in it is loud, and nothing is explained: we never learn why the poet asks about Yuan An, or whether the visit is planned. Readers have taken this as the mark of Wang Wei's particular genius, in which feeling is a quality of the scene rather than a statement about it. In the history of Chinese poetry it stands as a model of how much a five-character octave can hold — eight lines, a drum, a mirror, a door, a mountain, and a absent friend, with no word of affection or regret anywhere. That the poem should have entered the canon as one of the standard demonstrations of 'painting within poetry' is a judgement which has not been revised in twelve centuries.

此诗历来被推为王维写雪诗的名篇，也是唐人写冬雪的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以忆友写冬雪，澄澈空灵」；近人更指出「隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山」写开门见雪的惊喜，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以八句的五律写尽冬雪的洁净与对胡居士的忆念——那寒更，那晓箭，那清镜，那衰颜，那隔牖，那风惊竹，那开门，那雪满山，那洒空，那深巷，那积素，那广庭，那袁安舍，那闭关，都写尽了王维笔下的冬晚对雪；那「翛然尚闭关」更以典故写尽对胡居士的忆念。此诗与王维《山居秋暝》（「空山新雨后」）同为写景名篇，一写「天气晚来秋」的秋暝（山居秋暝），一写「开门雪满山」的冬雪（冬晚对雪）；又与白居易《夜雪》「夜深知雪重」的雪诗传统一脉相承，可见中国诗写雪的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解王维写景诗的窗口，也是中国诗写冬雪的经典——那满山的积雪，穿越千年，仍在诉说着冬雪的洁净。

Prosody

Form Poem in the five-character octave (pentadic lü-shi)诗·五言律诗

Rhyme A five-character octave rhyming on yan, shan, xian and guan — the wide 'shan' group of level tones — carried throughout without a change. The open vowel of these endings, and the fact that they are held for the whole poem, give the verse its clear and far-away air.五律，押「颜」「山」「闲」「关」韵（上平十五删），一韵到底，音节空灵

Tone pattern The verse keeps the even rhythm of the pentadic octave: five characters to a line, with the proper alternation of level and oblique tones and the two middle couplets in parallel construction. Within that fixed frame the movement is slow and unhurried, the lines of '隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山' being as regular as a picture and the closing couplet the only place where the tone lifts into a question.此诗为五言律诗，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节空灵，正合冬雪的空灵。

Reading note The poem is a demonstration of what the pentadic octave can do when the mind is quiet. The stanza '寒更传晓箭，清镜览衰颜' sets the long night against a fading face; '洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲' turns the outer world into a still life; and '借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关' adds the one active verb, 'ask', in a poem otherwise made of nouns. The result is the quality later readers called painting within poetry: the lines make a picture in strict order, and the strictness is what allows the last, most casual line to sound involuntary.此诗为五言律诗，八句——「寒更传晓箭，清镜览衰颜。隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山。洒空深巷静，积素广庭闲。借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关」，押「删」韵（颜、山、闲、关），一韵到底，音节空灵。全诗以忆友写冬雪：前六句写冬雪的洁净（隔牖风惊竹、积素广庭闲），后二句写对胡居士的忆念（借问袁安舍、翛然尚闭关）。八句长篇，前写雪景，后写忆友，以「翛然尚闭关」写尽对胡居士的忆念，正见王维「诗中有画」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以空灵的语调读「开门雪满山」的雪景，以虚静的语调读「翛然尚闭关」的忆念，结句要读得空灵而有余韵，方能传达出王维的澄澈空灵。王维律诗以「空灵」著称，此诗正是其写景律诗的典范。

Line by line

隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山

Wind startles the bamboo beyond my window; I open the door and snow fills the mountain.

隔牖风惊竹，开门雪满山。

Through the window, the wind stirs the bamboo; opening the door, the snow has filled the whole mountain.

此二句是全诗写惊喜的核心，以隔牖风惊竹写风惊，以开门雪满山写雪满，写尽开门见雪的惊喜，是千古名句。「隔牖风惊竹」写隔牖风惊竹——那「隔牖」写隔牖，「风惊竹」写风惊竹，写尽风惊的竹声；「开门雪满山」写开门雪满山——那「开门」写开门，「雪满山」写雪满山，写尽开门见雪。这句的深意在于：它以「隔牖风惊竹」的风惊与「开门雪满山」的雪满，写尽开门见雪的惊喜——隔牖风惊竹，那「隔牖风惊竹」写尽风惊的竹声——隔窗闻风惊竹，正是雪来的消息，那「风惊竹」写尽雪至的预感；开门雪满山，那「开门雪满山」写尽开门见雪——开门而雪满山，正是见雪的惊喜，那「雪满山」写尽冬雪的盛大；那「隔牖风惊竹」写尽风惊的竹声，那「开门雪满山」写尽开门见雪，一写闻雪，一写见雪，写尽开门见雪的惊喜——隔窗闻声而开门见雪，正是由声及景的写照；此二句以风惊、雪满写尽开门见雪的惊喜，也为下文的深巷广庭作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写惊喜的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「下了好大的雪」，则失其层次；唯以「隔牖风惊竹」写风惊、「开门雪满山」写雪满，写尽开门见雪的惊喜，也让此二句成为全诗写惊喜的核心。

Wang Wei's snow poem arrives in two stages. Through the window, the wind stirs the bamboo—a soft sound, heard before anything is seen; then, opening the door, the snow has filled the whole mountain. The hearing precedes the sight: the bamboo clacking in the dark is the first news of the snow, and the opened door delivers the whole white prospect. The two verbs, stir and fill, are the poem's movement from sound to sight. To have said there was a heavy snow would be a statement; the wind-stirred bamboo heard first, then the whole mountain revealed, is the discovery.

借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关

I ask where Yuan An lives — still shut, and shut so calmly.

借问袁安舍，翛然尚闭关。

May I ask at Yuan An's cottage—carefree as ever, he keeps his gate shut fast.

此二句是全诗写忆念的核心，以借问袁安舍写袁安，以翛然尚闭关写闭关，写尽对胡居士的忆念，是千古名句。「借问袁安舍」写借问袁安舍——那「借问」写借问，「袁安舍」写袁安舍，写尽对袁安的询问；「翛然尚闭关」写翛然尚闭关——那「翛然」写翛然，「尚闭关」写尚闭关，写尽翛然的闭关。这句的深意在于：它以「借问袁安舍」的袁安与「翛然尚闭关」的闭关，写尽对胡居士的忆念——借问袁安舍，那「借问袁安舍」写尽对袁安的询问——借问袁安之舍，正是以袁安比胡居士的写照，那「借问」写尽对胡居士的忆念；翛然尚闭关，那「翛然尚闭关」写尽翛然的闭关——翛然自在，尚自闭关，正是胡居士清修的写照，那「闭关」写尽胡居士的清修；那「借问袁安舍」写尽对袁安的询问，那「翛然尚闭关」写尽翛然的闭关，一写询问，一写闭关，写尽对胡居士的忆念——借问袁安而想其闭关，正是以雪忆友的写照；此二句以袁安、闭关写尽对胡居士的忆念，也让此二句成为全诗写忆念的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「胡居士应该还在家清修吧」，则失其雅洁；唯以「借问袁安舍」写袁安、「翛然尚闭关」写闭关，写尽对胡居士的忆念，也让此二句成为全诗写忆念的核心。

The closing sends the thought to a friend. May I ask at Yuan An's cottage—Yuan An, the Eastern Han scholar who lay freezing in his house through a famous snowstorm rather than go out to beg favor—carefree as ever, he keeps his gate shut fast. By comparing his hermit friend Hu to Yuan An, Wang Wei praises both the snow and the man who refuses the world in it. The shut gate, the snow, the recluse: the friend is imagined, not visited. To have said my hermit friend must be staying home in the snow would be a thought; the named Yuan An and the shut gate are the thought.

Study

Word focus

惊 Startled: the word carries both the movement of the wind and the poet's own inward startle, since the sound outside is what first announces the snow. It lets the snow arrive through the ear rather than the eye and keeps the verse from becoming a mere picture; no other character would hold the wind, the bamboo, the window and the listener at once. 「隔牖风惊竹」之「惊」字是写雪至的关键词，一个「惊」字写尽风惊的竹声。惊者，惊动、惊起也。王维以「隔牖风惊竹」写雪至，这个「惊」字至少有双重意味：其一，写风之惊竹——那「隔牖风惊竹」写隔牖风惊竹，那「惊」字写尽风惊的竹声——风惊竹，正是雪来的消息，那「惊」字写尽雪至的预感；其二，写心之惊——那「惊」字更是写心——惊，正见闻声的心动，那「惊」字写尽对雪的惊喜。以「惊」字写雪至，正是王维写冬雪的枢纽——若换作「吹」「动」等字，则或失其与「隔牖」「竹」的配合，或失其写惊的意味；唯「惊」字，以隔牖风惊竹写尽风惊的竹声与闻声的心动，与「开门雪满山」的雪满山相合，写尽开门见雪的惊喜，也让「隔牖风惊竹」成为全诗写雪至的名句。

闲 At ease: the word gives the wide court covered with white drift its stillness, and by implication the peace of the mind that can regard it. Paired with the quiet deep lane it is what turns the outer scene into a state of heart, and it is the character on which the poem's calm finally rests. 「积素广庭闲」之「闲」字是写洁静的关键词，一个「闲」字写尽广庭的闲静。闲者，安闲、幽静也。王维以「积素广庭闲」写洁静，这个「闲」字至少有双重意味：其一，写庭之闲——那「积素广庭闲」写积素广庭闲，那「闲」字写尽广庭的闲静——积素广庭，正是雪后庭院的写照，那「闲」字写尽冬雪的洁净；其二，写心之闲——那「闲」字更是写心——闲，正见心境的安闲，那「闲」字写尽王维的清修。以「闲」字写洁静，正是王维写冬雪的枢纽——若换作「静」「寂」等字，则或失其与「积素」「广庭」的配合，或失其写闲的意味；唯「闲」字，以积素广庭闲写尽广庭的闲静与心境的安闲，与「洒空深巷静」的深巷静相合，写尽冬雪的洁净，也让「积素广庭闲」成为全诗写洁静的名句。