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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

黄庭坚·鹧鸪天·黄菊枝头生晓寒

Partridge in the Sky: Yellow Chrysanthemums on Branches Bear Morning Chill

黄庭坚

Huang Tingjian

时序Theme 旷达Theme

黄菊枝头生晓寒，人生莫放酒杯干。
风前横笛斜吹雨，醉里簪花倒著冠。
身健在，且加餐。
舞裙歌板尽清欢。
黄花白发相牵挽，付与时人冷眼看。

Yellow chrysanthemums on branches bear morning chill,
In life, never let your wine cup go dry.
Before the wind, play the slanting flute in the rain,
Drunk, pin flowers in hair and wear your hat awry.
While healthy, eat your fill.
With dancing skirts and singing boards, enjoy pure delight.
Yellow blossoms and white hair entwine together,
Let the world look at us with cold eyes if they might.

Listen

Meaning

The poet expresses a carefree attitude towards life, urging to drink and enjoy while young, and in old age to ignore the cold gaze of the world, focusing on health and simple pleasures.

黄菊枝头生出清晨的寒意，人生在世切莫让酒杯空干。在风前横笛斜对着细雨吹奏，醉里把花插在头上、帽子也戴倒了。只要身子康健，且多吃饭。歌声舞袖尽情享受清雅的欢娱。黄色的菊花与白色的头发相互牵挽，任凭世俗之人冷眼相看。

Appreciation

This poem showcases Huang Tingjian's unrestrained yet resigned spirit. The vivid imagery of playing flute in rain and wearing flowers drunk captures his wildness, while the final couplet declares defiant self-sufficiency.

【白话串讲】 “黄菊枝头生晓寒，人生莫放酒杯干”——黄庭坚说：人生别让酒杯空着。“风前横笛斜吹雨，醉里簪花倒著冠”——他喝醉了，把花插在头上，帽子都戴倒了。“黄花白发相牵挽，付与时人冷眼看”——我白发黄花，随你们怎么看。【意象与手法】本词以『以俗为雅』见长，将健饭、醉酒、簪花、倒冠等日常放诞之态写得洒脱可爱。上片『风前横笛斜吹雨，醉里簪花倒著冠』以两个极具动感与醉态的画面活画出狂放不羁的诗人形象，『斜』『倒』二字尤见醉中真趣；下片『身健在，且加餐』化用汉乐府『上言加餐饭』，结句『黄花白发相牵挽』以菊之黄对发之白，色彩对照鲜明，诙谐中见风骨。【情感与主旨】黄庭坚（1045—1105），字鲁直，号山谷道人，江西诗派开山。此词题作《黄菊枝头生晓寒》，当为重九（重阳）前后与客宴饮之作，或作于绍圣、元符间贬谪遇赦、量移稍安之时，于困顿中以诗酒自遣，是历经忧患后的达观，并傲然以『冷眼看』回应世俗。【名句点睛】本词赏析常考：①风格辨识——『以俗为雅』『诙谐旷达』的山谷本色，与苏轼豪放洒脱一脉相承；②『黄花白发相牵挽，付与时人冷眼看』的傲俗风骨。

Background

Huang Tingjian (1045–1105), a leading poet of the Jiangxi school, wrote this ci around the Double Ninth Festival after his exile. It reflects his Taoist and Chan-influenced detachment from worldly success, embracing wine, health, and indifference to public opinion.

黄庭坚（1045—1105），字鲁直，号山谷道人，洪州分宁（今江西修水）人，北宋文学家、书法家，江西诗派开山祖师。此词题作《黄菊枝头生晓寒》，写黄菊、重九、宴饮，当为重九（重阳）前后与客宴饮之作。考其生平，词或作于绍圣、元符年间贬谪遇赦、量移稍安之时。黄庭坚一生两遭贬逐：绍圣元年（1094）因修《神宗实录》被指失实，贬涪州别驾、黔州安置；后又贬宜州，卒于贬所。然其为人旷达，深受庄子与禅宗影响，于困顿中常以诗酒自遣，自号『山谷道人』，即取其超然物外之意。此词上片写狂饮簪花，下片忽作『身健在，且加餐』之语，显系历经忧患后的达观：不再执着于仕途穷达，而珍惜眼前健饭清欢，并傲然以『冷眼看』回应世俗，是其晚年心境的真实写照，也是北宋党争背景下文人以旷达自守的典型文本。此词写于贬谪余波之中，正是北宋党争时代文人精神状态的缩影，对了解山谷晚年心境与宋代士大夫的生存哲学均有重要价值。

Art

The poem excels in refining common language into elegance. Verbs like 'slanting' and 'awry' vividly depict drunken abandon. The shift from wild revelry to calm contentment ('eat your fill') and the defiant contrast of yellow flowers and white hair epitomize his unique style.

本词以『以俗为雅』见长，将健饭、醉酒、簪花、倒冠等日常放诞之态写得洒脱可爱。上片以『黄菊枝头生晓寒』起兴，点时令、写景致，菊花凌寒而开，正与后文傲俗之态暗合；『人生莫放酒杯干』以直白的劝酒语转入抒情，见及时行乐之意。『风前横笛斜吹雨，醉里簪花倒著冠』是全词最精彩的画面：风前横笛、细雨斜吹，醉里簪花、帽冠倒戴，两个极具动感与醉态的画面，活画出狂放不羁的诗人形象，『斜』『倒』二字尤见醉中真趣。下片『身健在，且加餐』化用汉乐府『上言加餐饭』，由狂放转入温和的知足；『舞裙歌板尽清欢』写宴饮歌舞之乐；结句『黄花白发相牵挽，付与时人冷眼看』以菊之黄对发之白，色彩对照鲜明，将傲俗自适之情推向高潮，诙谐中见风骨，正是山谷词疏宕旷达的本色。全词以俗为雅、寓庄于谐，狂放之中自有风骨，诙谐之下深藏沧桑，正是山谷词独树一帜之处，也是宋代文人词多元风格的代表。

Allusions

'While healthy, eat your fill' alludes to Han Dynasty folk songs advising 'eat well' as a comfort for distant travelers, here repurposed as self-consolation. 'Yellow chrysanthemums' evoke the recluse tradition from Qu Yuan, while 'white hair' signifies old age.

词中化用典实与成句，皆有来历而浑然无迹。『身健在，且加餐』化用汉乐府民歌及古诗成句：《饮马长城窟行》有『上言加餐饭，下言长相忆』，《行行重行行》有『弃捐勿复道，努力加餐饭』，本为劝慰远人之语，山谷转作自我宽慰、珍惜身体的达观之辞，用典而如己出，正是『点铁成金』的典范。『黄花』即菊花，承屈原『夕餐秋菊之落英』的隐逸高洁传统，又合重九赏菊之俗，菊之傲霜与人之傲俗互为映照；『白发』则点明老境，与黄花相牵挽，见岁月无情而襟怀不改。『簪花』用唐宋文人簪菊之习，苏轼《吉祥寺赏牡丹》『人老簪花不自羞，花应羞上老人头』即写此趣。全词并无生僻故实，而善将民间熟语与经典意象融为颔首可会的旷达语，正见山谷『点铁成金』之妙，不事雕琢而意趣自远。全词善将民间熟语与经典意象融为颔首可会的旷达语，正见山谷『点铁成金』之妙，不事雕琢而意趣自远，是其诗学主张在词中的体现。

Commentary

Huang's ci are praised for their stubborn charm. Qing critic Chen Tingzhuo noted 'stubbornness with elegance'. The final line 'let the world look coldly' exemplifies his defiant independence, while the simple 'eat your fill' conceals profound experience.

黄山谷词，疏宕处近东坡。宋人曾季狸《艇斋诗话》记其『词尤高妙』；清人陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》谓『黄九词，倔强中见姿态』，正是对此词一类作品的评断：语似豪放不羁，实则于狂放中自见风骨。近人龙榆生《唐宋名家词选》录此篇，称其『以俗为雅，极尽旷达之致』。结句『付与时人冷眼看』，尤见其不随流俗的兀傲；而『身健在，且加餐』一语，于诙谐中藏沧桑，论者多以『达者之词』目之。此词与《念奴娇·断虹霁雨》等同为山谷晚年词的代表，可见其在党争贬谪的困境中以诗酒自遣、以旷达自守的精神面貌，亦可窥北宋文人于政治打击下的生存智慧，在词史上是苏轼旷达词风的重要后继，为南宋辛弃疾一脉的先声。此词在词史上地位独特，上承东坡旷达之风，下启稼轩疏宕之气，是研究宋词风格流变与山谷词风的重要篇目，历来为词选家所重，至今仍是赏析山谷词的首选之作。

Prosody

Form Ci poem (Partridge in the Sky), 55 characters in double stanzas词·《鹧鸪天》双调五十五字，上片四句三平韵，下片五句三平韵

Rhyme Rhymed throughout with flat tone (han, gan, guan, huan, kan) in the seventh rhyme scheme of Cilin Zhengyun寒、干、冠、餐、欢、看押平韵，属《词林正韵》第七部（寒、干、冠、欢、看等），一韵到底。

Tone pattern Pattern: 7,7,7,7 / 3,3,7,7; first four lines may form couplets句式以七言为主，间以三字短句（身健在，且加餐），上片四句、下片五句，前四句或对仗，音节疏宕。

Reading note Written during the Double Ninth Feast, blending vulgarity with elegance此词为《鹧鸪天》小令，双调五十五字，上片四句、下片五句，是宋代流行的词调之一，句式整齐而又有短句顿挫，宜于抒写疏宕旷达之情。用韵上，全词押平声韵，韵脚『寒、干、冠、餐、欢、看』属《词林正韵》第七部，平声韵一韵到底，音节悠长舒展，正与词中豪饮高歌、旷达自适的情调相合。句法上，上片以七言句为主，两两成对，『风前横笛斜吹雨，醉里簪花倒著冠』对仗工整而气度疏宕；下片换以三字短句『身健在，且加餐』，音节顿挫，如歌者换气，情感由张扬转入平实；结以七言两句，以色彩对照收束。全词长短句交替，节奏由舒而促、由促而缓，正合情感由狂放归于达观的进程。此词不严遵格律而自有法度，语言以俗为雅，声情与辞情相谐，是《鹧鸪天》词调中别具山谷风神的佳作，也是研究北宋词体与词风的典型文本。

Line by line

黄菊枝头生晓寒

Yellow chrysanthemums on branches bring morning chill, setting a crisp autumn scene.

黄菊枝头生出清晨的寒意。

On the yellow chrysanthemum branches, the morning chill is born.

起句点时令、写景致，为全词定下基调。『黄菊』点明重阳时节，菊花凌寒而开，是秋令的标志性物象；『枝头生晓寒』写清晨的菊花枝头寒意初生，一个『生』字把无形的寒意写得有了来处、仿佛从菊枝上渐渐生发，语新而意切。此句之妙，在以景起情：菊花傲霜而开，正与后文词人傲俗自适的姿态暗合，菊之品格即人之品格的映照；而晓寒料峭，又暗示节序变迁、岁月迟暮，为下文『人生莫放酒杯干』的及时行乐之意与『黄花白发相牵挽』的老境之叹埋下伏笔。全词由菊起兴，以花写人，起笔清劲而含蕴丰富，正是山谷词以简驭繁的笔法，一句景物便撑起全篇的情感骨架。

The opening names the season and the scene, setting the ci's tone. The yellow chrysanthemum points to the Double Ninth, the bloom that braves the frost, the signature image of autumn; on the branches, the morning chill is born writes the dawn chill arising on the flowered boughs, the word born giving the invisible chill a source, as if it sprouted from the chrysanthemum twigs — fresh phrasing, exact feeling. The line's beauty lies in scene breeding feeling: the frost-defying chrysanthemum answers the poet's disdain of the world; the morning chill hints at the turn of the seasons and the years' decline, foreshadowing the never let the cup run dry below and the old-age sigh of the white hair. The ci opens on the chrysanthemum, writing the man through the flower, the opening clear and spare, yet rich in implication — the valley master's way of sustaining a whole emotion on a single line of scenery.

人生莫放酒杯干

In life, never let your wine cup run dry; seize the day.

人生在世，切莫让酒杯空干。

In this life, never let the wine cup run dry.

此句由景入情，以直白的劝酒语转入抒情。『人生』二字总揽，把个体生命放在时间的长河中审视，暗含人生短暂、好景不常之慨；『莫放酒杯干』以劝酒的口吻写及时行乐之意，酒杯不让它空着，即不放过大好时光，狂饮自遣。两句相连，菊之晓寒与酒之热烈形成对照：天愈寒而酒愈烈，节序愈催人老而饮兴愈高，正是以酒对抗寒凉、以狂放消解悲慨的典型表达。此句之妙，在以家常语写真性情：不说愁而愁在酒中，不说达而达在杯底，语似放诞而情实深挚。上承菊寒的秋意，下启风笛簪花的醉态，是上片由景入情的枢纽，也是山谷以俗语入词、化俗为雅的典型笔法，看似脱口而出，实则精心结撰。

This line turns from scene to feeling, entering lyric through the plain drinking plea. The two words life take the individual life up into the long river of time, carrying the sigh of life's brevity and fair times' fleeting; never let the wine cup run dry is the drinking plea turned to the carpe diem — the cup never emptied, the good hour never wasted, drinking deep to dispel oneself. Joined to the chrysanthemum's morning chill, the wine's warmth answers the cold: the colder the dawn, the fiercer the wine; the more the season urges age, the higher the drinking — the typical expression of meeting cold with wine, dissolving grief in abandon. The line's beauty: writing true feeling in the plainest words — no word of grief, and grief is in the wine; no word of equanimity, and equanimity is at the cup's bottom, the seeming wildness, the deep affection. The hinge of the first stanza's turn from scene to feeling, the valley master's way of turning the colloquial into elegance.

风前横笛斜吹雨，醉里簪花倒著冠

Yellow chrysanthemums on branches bring morning chill, setting a crisp autumn scene.

在风前横笛斜对着细雨吹奏，醉里把花插在头上、帽子也戴倒了。

Before the wind I hold the flute sideways and play into the slanting rain; drunk, I pin flowers in my hair and wear my cap askew.

此联是全词最见狂放气度的画面，两个极具动感与醉态的特写活画出放诞不羁的诗人形象。上句『风前横笛斜吹雨』写风中横笛、细雨斜飞，横笛本宜对月，此处偏对风雨，见其不拘常格；『斜吹雨』三字，笛声与雨丝交织，风、笛、雨合成一片苍茫任诞之境。下句『醉里簪花倒著冠』写醉中簪花、帽冠倒戴，簪花本属风流雅事，倒冠更是狂态毕露，『醉』字点明因由，『簪』『倒』二字见出醉中真趣与旁若无人的气概。两句一写外在风雨之狂，一写内在醉态之狂，内外呼应，把山谷睥睨世俗、放浪形骸的一面写得活灵活现，正是『以俗为雅』的典范：簪花倒冠本是俗态，一经点染，便成狂士风流的写照。

This couplet is the ci's most unrestrained picture, two close-ups of motion and drunkenness drawing the reckless poet. Before the wind I hold the flute sideways and play into the slanting rain writes the transverse flute against the wind and slanting rain — the flute by nature for the moon, and here set against wind and rain, showing the disregard for rule; the three words play into the slanting rain weave flute notes with rain threads, wind, flute, rain fused into a wild, vast realm. Drunk, I pin flowers in my hair and wear my cap askew writes the drunken pinning of flowers, the cap worn backwards — pinning flowers by nature a romantic elegance, the backwards cap the full display of wildness, the word drunk naming the cause, the pin and the backwards showing the unguarded joy and the lordly bearing. One line writes the outer wind-rain wildness, one the inner drunken wildness, inner and outer answering, drawing the valley master's disdain of the world and his freedom of form to the life — the model of turning the vulgar into the elegant: the flower in the hair and the askew cap, vulgar by nature, and once touched by the brush, become the portrait of the wild gentleman.

身健在，且加餐

As long as you are healthy, eat well; a turn to practical self-care.

只要身子康健，且多吃饭。

While the body stays sound, take hearty meals.

此三字句化用汉乐府成句，是词境由狂放转入达观的关键转折。『身健在』三字极朴，写身体健康之可贵：经历过贬谪风波的人，方知健康才是最实在的本钱；『且加餐』化用《饮马长城窟行》『上言加餐饭』与《行行重行行》『努力加餐饭』，本为劝人保重身体的古语，此处转作自我宽慰之辞：不追求功名富贵，只求身体康健、能吃饭，便是人生至福。此句之妙，在以最俗之语写最深之理：不说『淡泊』『知足』等雅语，而说吃饭，把达观落实为最日常的生存关怀，正是山谷『以俗为雅』的极致。由上片的狂饮簪花到此处的健饭加餐，情感由张扬归于平实，见出词人历经忧患后的通透：放达不是逃避，而是安顿，语极平淡而味极深长。

These three characters borrow the old yuefu line, the turning point from wildness to equanimity. While the body stays sound writes, in the plainest words, the preciousness of health — only one through the storms of exile knows that health is the solid capital; take hearty meals borrows the Eat, drink, keep well of the old yuefu, here turned to self-consolation: seeking no rank or riches, asking only for health and the ability to eat, that is life's highest blessing. The line's beauty lies in saying the deepest truth in the most vulgar words — no elegant talk of detachment or contentment, only eating, grounding equanimity in the most daily care for existence, the extreme of the valley master's turning the vulgar into elegance. From the first stanza's wild drinking and flower-pinning to this hearty meal, the emotion settles from display to plainness, showing the lucidity after the storms: freedom is not escape but settlement, the plainest words carrying the longest flavor.

黄花白发相牵挽，付与时人冷眼看

Before the wind, play the flute slanting through the rain; a carefree posture facing adversity.

黄色的菊花与白色的头发相互牵挽，任凭世俗之人冷眼相看。

The yellow flower and the white hair draw each other along; leave it to the world to watch with cold eyes.

结句以色彩对照收束，将傲俗自适之情推向高潮。上句『黄花白发相牵挽』以菊之黄对发之白，一黄一白，色彩对照鲜明：黄花是重阳的象征，白发是老境的标志，二者相牵挽，写岁月与菊俱老而人不改其乐，把菊花拟人化为同老之友，语新奇而意深长；下句『付与时人冷眼看』直写傲世之态：我自簪花醉酒、与菊同欢，至于世俗之人如何看待，一概付之冷眼。『付与』二字轻描淡写，把世俗的议论轻轻推开，正是兀傲自信的体现。两句一写自得其乐，一写不屑世议，对照之中见风骨：愈是白发黄花、老境将至，愈要活得自在痛快，任凭旁人冷眼。结句戛然而止，而山谷睥睨世俗的兀傲形象，已深深印入读者心中，正是达者之词的典范收尾。

The closing gathers in color contrast, pushing the disdain-of-the-world temper to its height. The yellow flower and the white hair draw each other along sets the chrysanthemum's yellow against the hair's white, a vivid contrast: the yellow flower the Double Ninth, the white hair the mark of age, the drawing-along the years and the chrysanthemum growing old together while the joy does not change, the flower personified as the fellow-aged friend, novel phrasing, deep meaning; leave it to the world to watch with cold eyes writes the disdain directly: I pin my flowers and drink, rejoice with the chrysanthemum; how the world regards it, leave it all to cold eyes. The word leave-it-to brushes the world's talk aside, the easy stroke of proud self-confidence. One line writes the self-delight, one the scorn for opinion; within the contrast, the backbone shows: the older the white hair and yellow flower, the more freely to live, whatever the bystanders' cold eyes. The close ends abruptly, yet the valley master's proud figure is fixed in the reader's mind, the model ending of the equanimous ci.

Study

Word focus

斜 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 『风前横笛斜吹雨』之『斜』，是上片写狂放气度最见功力的字眼。『斜』写细雨在风中倾斜飘洒之态，本为寻常景语，此处与『横笛』相配，便生出一种旁逸斜出的疏狂气度：横笛本应正对明月，诗人偏在斜风细雨中横笛而吹，笛横、雨斜、风急，三者相错，如画家的斜笔皴染，画面顿生动感。此字之妙，在以一个方位词写尽风、雨、笛三者的关系，也写出吹笛人任诞不羁的姿影：横笛者不避风雨，正见其超然物外的态度。若易为『吹』『洒』等字，则只写雨之动态，失了人与景相映的疏狂；『斜』字则人与景俱见，斜雨与横笛互为映衬，把山谷放浪形骸的气度一笔写出，正是炼字以传神见骨的典型。

冷眼看 to look on coldly—defiance against worldly judgment 『付与时人冷眼看』之『冷眼看』，是全词兀傲风骨的字眼。『冷眼』写冷眼旁观、不屑一顾之态，与『热肠』相对：世俗之人以冷眼看待我的放诞，我亦以冷眼回敬世俗的议论，一词双关，见出词人与世俗互相冷对、互不相扰的姿态。此词之妙，在以一个『冷』字写尽傲骨：不辩解、不求谅、不趋附，任凭世人如何看，我自黄花白发、狂歌痛饮。『付与』二字轻描淡写，更见其胸襟之阔：世俗的眼光不是被抵抗，而是被轻轻交付、置之度外，愈是轻忽，愈见兀傲。此三字与上句『黄花白发相牵挽』的色彩对照相映成趣：黄白之色是明丽的，冷眼之态是孤峭的，明丽与孤峭统一于达观自适之中，正是山谷晚年人格的写照，一字千钧，全词风骨尽出。

牵挽 to hold hand in hand—personifying the companionship of old age and flowers 『黄花白发相牵挽』之『牵挽』，将菊花与白发拟人相挽，是全词最富机趣的字眼。『牵挽』本指牵手挽臂、互相扶持，此处移用于黄花与白发之间：菊花在枝头，白发在头上，一物一人，本不相干，着一『牵挽』，便似菊花有意牵住白发、白发甘心挽住黄花，写尽岁月与菊花俱老而人不改其乐的情趣。此词之妙，在以游戏之笔写深沉之慨：黄花是重九的象征，白发是老境的标志，二者相牵挽，既写时序流转、老境将至的坦然，又写与菊同欢、及时行乐的自适，把衰老写得亲切可爱，全无悲秋之感。若直写『黄花映白发』，则只写色彩相映，索然无味；『牵挽』二字赋予物象以人的情意，化静为动，诙谐中见旷达，正是山谷以俗为雅、点铁成金的笔法。