宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
花犯
Hua Fan (Flower Transgression)
粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味。
露痕轻缀。
疑净洗铅华，无限佳丽。
去年胜赏曾孤倚。
冰盘同宴喜。
更可惜，雪中高树，香篝熏素被。
今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴。
吟望久，青苔上、旋看飞坠。
相将见、脆丸荐酒，人正在、空江烟浪里。
但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水。
still the old flavor.
Light dewdrops cling to it.
She seems to have washed away all her lead-white paint: endless beauty.
Last year, at the finest view, I leaned alone;
with the ice-cold dish we feasted in joy.
More precious still: the tall tree in snow,
like a censer smoking a plain white quilt.
This year I face the flowers in the greatest haste;
our meeting seems to bear a grudge, reluctant, sorrowful, and wan.
I chant and gaze long;
on the green moss, they soon fall fluttering.
Soon you'll see the crisp pills offered with wine,
while I am amid the misty waves of an empty river.
I only dream of one branch, free and easy,
slanted by the evening light into the water.
Meaning
The plum blossom still dazzles the eye with its old flavor, recalling last year's feast; but this year the meeting is hasty, the blossom seems resentful, and soon the petals fall. When the fruit is served with wine, the poet will be far away on a misty river; he can only dream of one branch, free and easy, mirrored in evening water.
粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味。露痕轻缀。疑净洗铅华，无限佳丽。去年胜赏曾孤倚。冰盘同宴喜。更可惜，雪中高树，香篝熏素被。今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴。吟望久，青苔上、旋看飞坠。相将见、脆丸荐酒，人正在、空江烟浪里。但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Low on the whitewashed wall, the plum blossom still dazzles the eye with its old flavor. Dew clings to it as if it had washed away all cosmetics. The poet remembers last year's feast with the ice-cold dish, the snow-crowned tree like a censer under a plain quilt. This year the meeting is hasty; the blossom seems to bear a grudge, and soon petals fall on the moss. When the fruit is offered with wine, he will be far away on a misty river; he can only dream of one branch, free and easy, slanted by the evening light into the water. [Structure] Past and present alternate — last year's lingering gaze against this year's haste — and the ending moves the scene into dream. The lyric never states loneliness directly; it is carried by the contrast between feasting together and drifting alone. [Imagery] Lead-white washed away, ice-cold dishes, a censer-smoked quilt of snow, moss catching falling petals, misty waves, one branch mirrored in evening water — the ending quietly echoes Lin Bu's famous lines on slanting shadows and hidden fragrance.
【白话串讲】 周邦彦写《花犯》：“粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味”——“去年胜赏曾孤倚。冰盘同宴喜”——“更可惜，雪中高树，香篝熏素被”——“今年对花最匆匆”——他写梅花——去年胜赏曾孤倚。 【意象与手法】 “粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味”写梅花之眼熟；“露痕轻缀、疑净洗铅华无限佳丽”写梅之佳丽；“去年胜赏曾孤倚。冰盘同宴喜”忆去年赏梅；“今年对花最匆匆”写来去匆匆；结以“但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水”以黄昏照水写梦想。今昔对照、咏物工细。 【情感与主旨】 周邦彦咏梅惜花之作，写梅花的清雅与去年来赏、今年匆匆的今昔之感，将咏物与身世之感结合，是清真咏物词的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味”以梅花照眼写梅之风姿；“但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水”以黄昏照水写梅之潇洒。
Background
Zhou Bangyan (1056-1121), courtesy name Meicheng, sobriquet Qingzhen Jushi, was a native of Qiantang (modern Hangzhou). The supreme musical craftsman of Northern Song ci — he presided over the Great Music Bureau (Da yue fu) and is called 'the Du Fu of ci' — he brought the lyric to new heights of regulated splendor. 'Hua fan' is a rare, intricate tune associated with plum blossoms, and Zhou's setting became the model for the tune. The poem folds a plum-viewing — last year's feast against this year's haste — into the singer's absence on 'a misty river,' giving the chant-on-objects a melancholy, time-saturated cast.
《花犯》为北宋词人周邦彦所作词。周邦彦（1056—1121），字美成，号清真居士，钱塘（今浙江杭州）人，北宋词人，精通音律，词风典雅精工，为婉约词集大成者，人称「词中老杜」。此词写咏梅惜花。词中「粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味。露痕轻缀」写梅花旧风味；「疑净洗铅华，无限佳丽」写梅之佳丽；「去年胜赏曾孤倚。冰盘同宴喜」写去年胜赏；「更可惜，雪中高树，香篝熏素被」写雪中高树；「今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴」写今年对花匆匆；「吟望久，青苔上、旋看飞坠」写花落飞坠；「相将见、脆丸荐酒，人正在、空江烟浪里」写空江烟浪；「但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水」写黄昏照水。周邦彦此词以咏梅惜花、今年匆匆写其惜花之情，含蓄深婉，是周邦彦词中的名篇。此篇《花犯》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。
Art
The lyric's art is 'subtle indirection and past-present contrast,' carried by Zhou Bangyan's legendary control of musical form. Time is layered in three depths: the present blossom dazzling the eye with its 'old flavor,' last year's solitary leaning and shared feast with ice-cold dishes, and a future in which the poet will be far away on a misty river while others offer the green fruit with wine. The blossom is never described objectively; it greets, resents, and is lost, as if it were a person — 'our meeting seems to bear a grudge.' The closing move withdraws everything into dream: one branch, free and easy, slanted by evening light into the water. The image quietly absorbs Lin Bu's 'sparse shadows slant across the clear shallows,' so the most famous plum of Chinese poetry becomes, here, a beauty that can only be seen obliquely, at dusk, in water.
此词艺术上以「含蓄深婉、今昔对照」见长。全词上片写梅花旧风味与去年胜赏，下片写今年匆匆与黄昏照水。上片「粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味。露痕轻缀」写梅花旧风味：粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味，露痕轻缀；「疑净洗铅华，无限佳丽」写梅之佳丽：疑净洗铅华，无限佳丽；「去年胜赏曾孤倚。冰盘同宴喜」写去年胜赏：去年胜赏曾孤倚，冰盘同宴喜；「更可惜，雪中高树，香篝熏素被」写雪中高树：更可惜，雪中高树，香篝熏素被。下片「今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴」写今年匆匆：今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴；「吟望久，青苔上、旋看飞坠」写花落飞坠：吟望久，青苔上、旋看飞坠；「相将见、脆丸荐酒，人正在、空江烟浪里」写空江烟浪：相将见、脆丸荐酒，人正在、空江烟浪里；「但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水」写黄昏照水：但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水。全词含蓄深婉，今昔对照，是周邦彦词中的名篇。
Allusions
The lyric works through literary fragrance rather than formal allusion. 'Washing away lead-white' (jing xi qian hua) praises the plum as a beauty who needs no cosmetics. 'Ice-cold dish' (bingpan) recalls the pure vessels of elegant banquets. 'Censer smoking a plain quilt' (xiang gou xun su bei) sees the snow-crowned tree as incense steaming under a white coverlet. 'Crisp pills' (cuiwan) are the green plums, small and round as pills, offered with wine in early summer. The final line, 'one branch, free and easy, slanted by the evening light into the water,' fuses Lin Bu's 'sparse shadows slant across the clear shallows, hidden fragrance drifts at dusk' — the most famous plum couplet in Chinese poetry — into a dream image, so the ending reads as a memory of poetry itself.
词中「粉墙低」「梅花照眼」「铅华」「胜赏」「孤倚」「冰盘」「香篝」「素被」「愁悴」「青苔」「脆丸」「荐酒」「空江烟浪」「一枝潇洒」「黄昏斜照水」等语，皆含典故故实。「粉墙低」写低矮之粉墙；「梅花照眼」写梅花耀眼；「铅华」写铅粉之妆，「疑净洗铅华」写梅如洗去铅华、淡雅天然；「胜赏」写胜景之赏；「孤倚」写独倚；「冰盘」写冰洁之盘；「香篝」写熏香之笼；「素被」写素白之被（喻雪中梅花如素被）；「愁悴」写忧愁憔悴；「青苔」写青苔；「脆丸」写梅子（脆而圆如丸）；「荐酒」写佐酒；「空江烟浪」写空江烟浪；「一枝潇洒」写梅花一枝之潇洒；「黄昏斜照水」写黄昏之影斜照于水，暗含林逋「疏影横斜水清浅」之意。词人以粉墙低、梅花照眼、净洗铅华、冰盘、香篝、空江烟浪、黄昏斜照水等语入词，不着痕迹，而把咏梅惜花之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸意象的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。
Commentary
Zhou Bangyan's 'Hua fan' is the definitive plum lyric of the 'regulated and exquisite' (dian ya jing gong) school, endlessly anthologized and imitated. Critics especially praise the ending 'dan meng xiang, yi zhi xiao sa, huang hun xie zhao shui' for fusing Lin Bu's reclusive plum into a traveler's dream — the past's beauty can now only be glimpsed obliquely, at dusk, in water. Wang Guowei and later writers used the poem to discuss the Song lyric's capacity to turn description into time-saturated memory.
这首《花犯》，是周邦彦写咏梅惜花之作，写粉墙低梅花照眼、净洗铅华、今年对花匆匆之情，含蓄深婉。上片写梅花旧风味与去年胜赏：「粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味。露痕轻缀」——粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味，露痕轻缀。写梅花旧风味：粉墙低、梅花照眼，依然旧风味、露痕轻缀——梅花照眼、依然旧日风味；「疑净洗铅华，无限佳丽」——疑净洗铅华，无限佳丽。写梅之佳丽：疑其净洗铅华、无限佳丽——梅如洗去铅华之淡雅佳丽；「去年胜赏曾孤倚。冰盘同宴喜」——去年胜赏曾孤倚，冰盘同宴喜。写去年胜赏：去年胜赏曾孤倚，冰盘同宴喜——忆去年倚梅、冰盘同宴之乐；「更可惜，雪中高树，香篝熏素被」——更可惜，雪中高树，香篝熏素被。写雪中高树：更可惜雪中高树，香篝熏素被——雪中梅树，如香篝熏素被。下片写今年匆匆与黄昏照水：「今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴」——今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴。写今年匆匆：今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨、依依愁悴——今年匆匆，花似含恨而愁；「吟望久，青苔上、旋看飞坠」——吟望久，青苔上、旋看飞坠。写花落飞坠：吟望久，青苔上、旋看飞坠——吟望之间，梅落飞坠于青苔；「相将见、脆丸荐酒，人正在、空江烟浪里」——相将见、脆丸荐酒，人正在、空江烟浪里。写空江烟浪：相将见脆丸荐酒，而人正在空江烟浪里——梅落成脆丸，而人正于空江烟浪；「但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水」——但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水。写黄昏照水：但梦想一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水——唯梦想梅花一枝、黄昏斜照于水，暗含林逋疏影横斜之意。这「但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水」，是全词之结：以梦想梅花写其惜花。全词含蓄深婉，今昔对照，正是周邦彦词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味。
Low the powdered wall, the plum blossom dazzling the eye — still the old flavor.
粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味。
The pink wall is low; the plum blossoms dazzle the eye, still with their old charm.
首三句写梅花旧风味，起笔即见其梅。「粉墙低」写粉墙低，「粉墙低」写低矮之粉墙；「梅花照眼」写梅花照眼，「梅花照眼」写梅花耀眼夺目；「依然旧风味」写依然旧风味，「依然」写依旧、「旧风味」写旧日之风致。三句一写粉墙低、一写梅花照眼、一写依然旧风味，以粉墙低写其境、以梅花照眼写其盛、以依然旧风味写其旧日风致，写尽粉墙低处梅花照眼、依旧旧日风味之景。以梅起兴，含蓄而清雅，是「以梅起兴」的妙笔。
The opening three phrases write the plum's old charm, the plum rising at the first stroke. The pink wall is low: the low pink wall the low whitewashed wall; the plum blossoms dazzle the eye: the plum-dazzle the blossoms striking the sight; still with their old charm: the still the unchanged, the old charm the old grace. Three phrases, the low wall the place, the dazzle the abundance, the old charm the past grace — the plum dazzling by the low wall, still in its old grace. Rising on the plum, restrained and fresh, the pointed brush.
疑净洗铅华，无限佳丽。
She seems to have washed away all her lead-white paint: endless beauty.
疑净洗铅华，无限佳丽。
I wonder if they have washed off all rouge — how infinitely fair.
此二句写梅之佳丽，是全词写梅之淡雅的关键。「疑净洗铅华」写疑净洗铅华，「疑」写疑似、「净洗铅华」写洗净铅粉之妆；「无限佳丽」写无限佳丽，「无限」写无尽、「佳丽」写其娇丽。两句一写疑净洗铅华、一写无限佳丽，以净洗铅华写梅之淡雅天然、以无限佳丽写其娇丽，写尽梅花如洗尽铅华之淡雅佳丽。以人喻梅，含蓄而传神，是「以人喻梅」的点睛之笔。
The two phrases write the plum's beauty, the key of the ci's writing the plum's purity. I wonder if they have washed off all rouge: the wonder the seeming, the washed-clean-rouge the cleansed of paint; how infinitely fair: the infinite the endless, the fair the loveliness. Two phrases, the cleansed-of-rouge the plum's pure naturalness, the infinite fairness its beauty — the plum as if washed of all paint, pure and fair. Writing the plum through the human figure, restrained and vivid, the pointed stroke.
今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴。
This year I face the flowers in the greatest haste; our meeting seems to bear a grudge, reluctant, sorrowful, and wan.
今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴。
This year, facing the flowers, I am most hurried; our meeting seems to hold a grievance, lingering, sorrowful, withered.
此三句写今年匆匆，是全词由昔转今的关键。「今年对花最匆匆」写今年对花最匆匆，「今年对花」写今年对花、「最匆匆」写最是匆匆；「相逢似有恨」写相逢似有恨，「相逢」写与花相逢、「似有恨」写似有含恨；「依依愁悴」写依依愁悴，「依依」写依恋、「愁悴」写忧愁憔悴。三句一写今年对花最匆匆、一写相逢似有恨、一写依依愁悴，以今年匆匆写其惜花、以似有恨愁悴写花似含恨，写尽今年对花匆匆、花亦含恨之况。以情写花，含蓄而深挚，是「以情写花」的点睛之笔。
The three phrases write this year's haste, the key of the ci's turning from old to new. This year, facing the flowers, I am most hurried: the this-year-facing-flowers the year's meeting, the most hurried the haste; our meeting seems to hold a grievance: the meeting-with-the-flowers the encounter, the seems-to-hold-a-grief the seeming resentment; lingering, sorrowful, withered: the lingering the attachment, the sorrowful-withered the grief and decay. Three phrases, this year's facing in haste and the meeting seeming resentful and the lingering sorrow — the facing in haste, the flower seeming to grieve. Writing the flower through feeling, restrained and deep, the pointed stroke.
但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水。
I only dream of one branch, free and easy, slanted by the evening light into the water.
但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水。
I only dream of one sprig, graceful, its slanting image on the water in the dusk.
尾三句写黄昏照水，是全词立意的落点。「但梦想」写但梦想，「但」写只是、「梦想」写梦中所想；「一枝潇洒」写一枝潇洒，「一枝潇洒」写梅花一枝之潇洒；「黄昏斜照水」写黄昏斜照水，「黄昏」写黄昏、「斜照水」写斜影照于水。三句一写但梦想、一写一枝潇洒、一写黄昏斜照水，化用林逋疏影横斜之意，写其唯梦想梅花一枝、黄昏斜照于水——花已落而唯梦想其潇洒之姿。以梦写花，含蓄而深挚，是全词最动人处，也是「以梦写花」的点睛之笔。
The closing three phrases write the dusk on the water, the landing point of the ci's intention. I only dream: the only the merely, the dream the imagined; of one sprig, graceful: the graceful sprig the single elegant spray; its slanting image on the water in the dusk: the dusk the evening, the slanting-on-the-water the slanting reflection. Three phrases, the only-dreaming and the graceful sprig and the dusk reflection, drawing on Lin Bu's sparse shadows slanting — the dreaming only of one graceful sprig, its slant on the dusk water, the flowers fallen and only the dream of the grace. Writing the flower through the dream, restrained and deep, the most moving place of the ci, the pointed stroke.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Lu You's plum is a portrait of the poet himself — unowned, buffeted by wind and rain, keeping its fragrance even in the dust; Zhou Bangyan's plum is a remembered beauty encountered in haste and lost again. Lu You writes the plum as his own character; Zhou writes it as a lost companion. Read together, they show the Song plum lyric's two modes: one self-portraiture, one elegy.
陆游《卜算子·咏梅》「驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主。已是黄昏独自愁，更著风和雨」「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」，写梅之孤高、寂寞无主，是宋词咏梅最著名的词；周邦彦《花犯》则以「粉墙低，梅花照眼，依然旧风味」「今年对花最匆匆，相逢似有恨，依依愁悴」写咏梅惜花。两词同写咏梅：一写断桥寂寞、零落成泥、以梅写志，一写粉墙照眼、今年匆匆、以梅写情；一为陆游之孤高、一为周邦彦之精工，并读正可见宋词咏梅的两种情致，皆以梅写其孤高寂寞之情。
山园小梅 The Small Plum of the Mountain Garden 林逋 · 同写梅之疏影黄昏、暗香浮动，一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、一写但梦想一枝潇洒黄昏斜照水，皆以黄昏水影写梅之幽独 Both write of the plum's slanting shadows at dusk and its hidden fragrance: Lin Bu writes 'Sparse shadows slant across the clear shallows, hidden fragrance drifts at dusk'; Zhou Bangyan writes 'I only dream of one branch, free and easy, slanted by the evening light into the water.' Both set the plum's shadow in dusk water, but one is a recluse's garden and one a traveler's dream.Lin Bu's couplet fixes the plum forever as the flower of the recluse — clear shallows, dusk, drifting fragrance, a world of perfect detachment. Zhou Bangyan takes the same shadow and water and moves them into a dream by a river where the poet is absent — the recluse's plum becomes the wanderer's memory. Read together, they show how one image passes from hermit poem to lyric, changing from an eternal present into a longing for what is gone.
林逋《山园小梅》「疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏」，写梅之疏影暗香、月下幽独，是咏梅诗最著名的名篇；周邦彦《花犯》则以「但梦想、一枝潇洒，黄昏斜照水」写梅花一枝黄昏斜照于水。两篇同写梅之疏影黄昏、暗香浮动：一写疏影横斜水清浅、暗香浮动月黄昏、以梅写隐者之幽，一写梦想一枝潇洒、黄昏斜照水、以梅写游子之思；一为林逋之清逸、一为周邦彦之精工，并读正可见诗与词写「黄昏水影之梅」的两种情致，皆以黄昏水影写梅之幽独。