宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
苏轼·洞仙歌·冰肌玉骨
Song of the Cave Immortal: Ice Flesh, Jade Bones
洞仙歌·冰肌玉骨冰肌玉骨，自清凉无汗。
水殿风来暗香满。
绣帘开，一点明月窥人，人未寝，欹枕钗横鬓乱。
起来携素手，庭户无声，时见疏星渡河汉。
试问夜如何？
夜已三更，金波淡，玉绳低转。
但屈指西风几时来，又不道流年暗中偷换。
The embroidered curtain opens; a pinpoint of bright moon peeps at the one within, not yet asleep, leaning on the pillow, hairpin askew, temples loose.
She rises and takes his pale hand; the court is soundless; now and then a sparse star crosses the River of Heaven.
He asks, how goes the night? Past the third watch; the golden waves pale, the Jade Cord turns low. Only counting on fingers when the west wind will come, unaware that the fleeting years have secretly been exchanged.
Meaning
Su Shi's preface says that as a child he heard how the Shu ruler Meng Chang and his consort Lady Flower Ripple, on a summer night, rose to cool themselves and made a 'Cave Immortal' lyric; he remembered its first two lines at seven and completed the whole in his late years. The poem paints a summer-night rendezvous of清 beauty, then in the close turns from the tender to the desolate: the fleeting years are silently exchanged, lodging the poet's own drift and sigh at time's passage.
美人的肌肤如冰似玉，天生清凉，没有一丝汗意。水边的殿宇清风徐来，幽香暗暗弥漫。绣帘卷开，一弯明月悄悄窥视着人儿，她还未入睡，斜倚枕上，玉钗横斜，鬓发微乱。起身牵着她的素手，庭院里悄然无声，时时望见稀疏的星子渡过银河。试问今夜到了什么时分？已是三更，月光淡淡，玉绳星低低地旋转。她只是屈指盘算西风几时吹来，却没想到流年正在暗中悄悄偷换，青春与欢情就这样无声无息地逝去。
Appreciation
The whole lyric opens with 'ice flesh, jade bones,' plainly describing the woman's清 beauty and the summer night's cool stillness, with no ornate word yet her loveliness shows. The turn 'she rises and takes his pale hand' moves from stillness to motion; sparse stars crossing the River of Heaven and the Jade Cord turning low set the night's depth and the realm's stillness. The close 'only counting when the west wind will come, unaware the fleeting years have secretly been exchanged' from the tender suddenly breathes a desolate sigh, from the amorous to the philosophical, real and empty intertwined, with a clear emptiness holding restrained depth.
【白话串讲】 苏轼写五代后蜀的花蕊夫人：“冰肌玉骨，自清凉无汗”——她睡在水殿里，月光透过绣帘偷看。苏轼用一首词，复活了千年前的一位美人。 【意象与手法】 全词以「冰肌玉骨」四字领起，白描女子的清妍与夏夜的清寂，不着丽字而丽质自见。上片写美人独处：水殿风来暗香满以嗅觉写环境之清幽，一点明月窥人以拟人写静夜之生姿，人未寝、欹枕钗横鬓乱以细节写其慵懒。下片转写双人夜起：携素手、庭户无声、疏星渡河汉，以星象写夜深；结拍「但屈指西风几时来，又不道流年暗中偷换」于柔情中忽作苍凉之叹，由艳入哲，虚实相生。 【情感与主旨】 此词小序自述幼时闻蜀主孟昶与花蕊夫人夏夜纳凉、作《洞仙歌》之事，七岁时记其首两句，晚年补成全篇。词借前蜀宫闱的夏夜闲情，写美人清凉与良夜静谧，然结拍忽转「流年暗中偷换」，暗含对美好时光易逝、盛景难再的深沉感慨。苏轼历乌台诗案、贬谪流徙，故艳情之中寄托身世之感，是清空婉约而寄慨遥深的名作。 【名句点睛】 常考「冰肌玉骨，自清凉无汗」的正面描写与「一点明月窥人」的拟人衬托；结拍「流年暗中偷换」是理解全词主旨的钥匙，须答出由艳情转入哲思、寄寓身世之慨的用意。背诵全词，注意上下片韵脚与「试问夜如何」的设问转折。
Background
The preface says Su Shi as a child heard of Meng Chang and Lady Flower Ripple's summer-night lyric and remembered its first two lines at seven, completing it late in life. Most now doubt this story was attached later; Meng Chang's original is lost. The lyric was likely written after Su Shi's exile to Huangzhou (Yuanfeng era), borrowing the former court's private romance to lodge his own drift and the sigh of silently exchanged years, implication deep, trace unseen.
苏轼（1037—1101），字子瞻，号东坡居士，眉州眉山（今四川眉山）人，北宋文坛领袖。此词小序自述：七岁时于眉山遇一老尼，年九十余，自言尝随其师入蜀主孟昶宫中，一日大热，孟昶与花蕊夫人夜起避暑摩诃池上，孟昶作《洞仙歌》词，老尼犹能记其首两句「冰肌玉骨，自清凉无汗」，苏轼四十余年后续成此篇。花蕊夫人为后蜀主孟昶之妃，蜀亡被掳入宋，其身世本身即含兴亡之慨。孟昶原词今已不传，学者或疑小序所记为后人附会，然词中水殿、摩诃池等皆蜀中故实。此词约作于元丰年间苏轼谪居时期，借追述前朝宫闱夏夜，于清凉旖旎之中暗写流年偷换、盛景难再，寄托谪宦身世之感，托意遥深而不露痕迹，是东坡婉约词的代表作。词中「水殿」「摩诃池」皆蜀宫故实，苏轼以之重建前蜀夏夜的画面，既有追忆的成分，也有想象的补充，虚实之间见出文人对历史烟云的凭吊之情。此词与苏轼同期贬谪之作在情感上互相呼应：处境愈是困厄，愈向往清凉无汗、超然物外的境界，故词虽写美人良夜，实寄士大夫的胸次与怀抱。
Art
Opens with 'ice flesh, jade bones,' plain description of清 beauty and cool stillness. The turn moves from stillness to motion; sparse stars and the Jade Cord set night's depth. The close turns from the tender to the desolate, real and empty intertwined, clear emptiness with restrained depth.
全词以「冰肌玉骨」四字领起，以通感写人之清丽，不着脂粉而丽质自见，起笔即高。「水殿风来暗香满」以嗅觉写环境之清幽，风、香、殿三者构成夏夜的清凉底色；「绣帘开，一点明月窥人」以一「窥」字拟人，月光如人探视，静夜顿生旖旎情致；「人未寝，欹枕钗横鬓乱」以细节写美人慵懒之态，钗横鬓乱四字尤见传神。过片「起来携素手，庭户无声」由独处转双人，画面由静转动；「时见疏星渡河汉」以星移暗写夜深，空静中有悠然动势；「试问夜如何？夜已三更」以口语设问，亲切如话；「金波淡，玉绳低转」以星月写夜之深沉。结拍「但屈指西风几时来，又不道流年暗中偷换」由盼秋凉忽转流年之叹，由艳情入哲思，清空之中见沉郁，是全词眼目。全词结构上由静入动、由人及天、由夜及年：上片写静的独处，下片写动的相携，末以「西风几时来」的期盼与「流年暗中偷换」的惊觉作结，时间之思贯串全篇。用笔上白描与用典相间，景语与情语相生，无一字浓艳而风流自见，正合「清空」之旨，为后来姜夔「清空」词风导夫先路。
Allusions
'Jade Cord' is a star name from 'Chunqiu Yuanming Bao'; used for the star's move to write deep night. 'River of Heaven' is the Milky Way, echoing the Nineteen Old Poems 'the bright River of Heaven maid.' 'Fleeting years secretly exchanged' borrows the 'steal' character for time's hidden passage, inheriting Li He's 'if heaven had feeling, heaven too would age.' Though mostly plain, the star allusions melt naturally.
此词用典不着痕迹，皆融化于意象之中。「玉绳」为星名，出《春秋元命苞》「玉衡北两星为玉绳」，玉绳低转写夜深星移，以天文故实衬夜的深沉；「金波」指月光，出《汉书·礼乐志》「月穆穆以金波」，形容月光如水波荡漾；「河汉」即银河，暗用《古诗十九首》「迢迢牵牛星，皎皎河汉女」的牛女意象，为夏夜星空添一层情思；「窥」字写月，承李白「举杯邀明月」把明月当作有情之人的传统，而更添私密之感。「流年暗中偷换」化李贺「天若有情天亦老」及乐府「人生不满百」的时光之悲，「偷」字把无情的时光写得像窃贼一般潜行，化抽象为可感。星象典故与白描抒情水乳交融，不滞不黏，正是东坡「以才学为词」而能浑化的表现。「冰肌玉骨」之喻亦有渊源，前人写美人多以玉喻肤（如《诗经》「肤如凝脂」、《洛神赋》「皓质呈露」），东坡取「冰」「玉」二物，更添清冷之气，与夏夜纳凉的语境相合。「摩诃池」为蜀宫旧池，见《蜀梼杌》等载记，词人点入词中，使追述有了具体的时空坐标。诸般典故与蜀中故实、天文星象交错融化，正见东坡博学而能浑化的功力。
Commentary
Qing scholar Huang Su's Liaoyuan Ci Selection praised it as 'clear, far sound, dissolving trouble and washing harshness.' Modern Yu Pingbo called it 'clear and single-breath, barely over a hundred words yet the summer night's mood is like a picture.' Xia Chengtao said the close 'fleeting years secretly exchanged' six characters 'from amid rouge and perfume suddenly breathe a sigh of vicissitude, most the true Su Shi.' Critics grant it clear, winding, deep implication.
清人黄苏《蓼园词选》评此词「清越之音，解烦涤苛」，谓其声调清朗，能洗涤烦嚣。近人俞平伯称此词「清空一气，不足百余字，而夏夜之情态如画」，推为东坡婉约词之冠。夏承焘则特赏结拍，谓「流年暗中偷换」六字「于绮罗香泽之中，忽作沧桑之叹，最是坡仙本色」，点出艳情与哲思交融的独特品格。词史上苏轼向以豪放著称，然其婉约词如《洞仙歌》《蝶恋花·春景》《水龙吟·次韵章质夫杨花词》等，皆清空婉丽、别有怀抱，足见其词并非一格。此词借前朝宫词之题而写自我身世之感，上承温韦、下开清空一路，对南宋姜夔、吴文英的咏物寄慨亦有启导，是研究东坡词风多面性的重要篇目。此词在传播史上亦有一桩公案：因小序自述来源，历来关于孟昶原词真伪的考辨不绝，学者或据《温叟诗话》等记载比勘，然无论原词有无，东坡此篇的艺术价值已自足成立。明清词选中此词恒入选，近世各类词选与教材亦多收录，其「清空」之美与「艳中寓哲」的品格，使之成为学词者揣摩婉约词上乘境界的入门津梁。
Prosody
Line by line
冰肌玉骨，自清凉无汗
Ice flesh, jade bones, naturally cool, no sweat.
肌肤如冰似玉，天生清凉，没有汗意
Ice-like flesh, jade-like bones, naturally cool and without sweat.
起笔八字以冰、玉喻美人肌肤，白描其清妍之质，不着脂粉而丽质自见。「自清凉无汗」更以通感写其天生体质的清冽，仿佛连暑热都被她的冰肌玉骨化解。此句妙在以物喻人而不隔：冰玉取其莹洁、清凉，正合夏夜避暑的语境；「自」字点出这种清凉出于天然，非沐浴熏香所致，愈显其人之清贵。写美人不写眉眼服饰，只写肌肤之清凉，正是东坡「不着一字，尽得风流」的手段，也为全词定下清冷高华的基调。孟昶原词仅存此二句，东坡补足全篇而首句赫然，足见此八字之警策动人。
The opening eight characters using ice and jade for the beauty's flesh, the plain portrait of her clear-lovely quality, no powder-and-yet-the-beauty-self-seen. The naturally-cool-and-without-sweat further using synesthesia for her inborn constitution's coolness, as if even the summer heat's dissolved by her ice-flesh-and-jade-bones. This line's wonder in the thing-as-metaphor-and-yet-not-remote: ice-and-jade taking their crystal-cleanness and coolness, precisely fitting the summer-night heat-escaping context; the self word pointing out this coolness's natural, not from the bath-and-incense, the person's loftiness the clearer. Writing the beauty and not writing the eyebrows-and-raiment, only writing the flesh's coolness, precisely Dongpo's not-landing-one-word-and-yet-seizing-the-spirit craft, and setting the whole ci's cool-lofty tone. Meng Chang's original poem only these two lines surviving, Dongpo completing the whole and the opening line's conspicuous, seeing these eight characters' alert-moving.
一点明月窥人
A pinpoint of bright moon peeps at the one within.
一弯明月悄悄窥视着人儿
A thread of bright moon peeps in at the person.
「一点」写月光之微，月从绣帘缝隙漏入，只余一点清光，极写夜之深静；「窥」字拟人，赋予月光以人的情态，仿佛月也忍不住偷看帘内美人，静夜顿时生出旖旎的情致。此句的妙处以月写人：不直写美人如何动人，而写月光之窥探，则美人之动人自可想见，是侧面烘托的典范。同时「窥」又暗含私密之感，帘开月入、人未寝而钗横鬓乱，为下文「携素手」的相会作了铺垫。宋人评此句谓「点缀之工，如天孙织锦」，以数字写尽夏夜闺中的静谧与情思。
The yidian writing the moonlight's faint, the moon leaking through the embroidered curtain's crack, only a thread of clear light, the extreme writing the night's deep-and-still; the kui word's personification, granting moonlight the human disposition, as if the moon's also unable to resist peeking at the inner-curtain beauty, the quiet night at once born the languorous feeling. This line's wonder in using the moon for the person-writing: not directly writing the beauty's how-moving, and yet writing the moonlight's peeking, then the beauty's moving itself imaginable, the side-rendering model. At the same time the kui again carrying the privacy feeling, the curtain-open-and-moon-entering and the person's-not-asleep-and-yet-pin-askew, storing the ground for the below's taking-the-white-hand meeting. The Song critic's this line's ornament-craft like the weaving-god's brocade, using few characters for the summer-night boudoir's quiet and feeling.
时见疏星渡河汉
Now and then a sparse star crosses the River of Heaven.
时时望见稀疏的星子渡过银河
At times I see sparse stars crossing the Silver River.
「疏星」写夜渐深而星渐稀，「渡河汉」写星光横越银河，以星移暗写时光的流逝，空静之中自有悠然的动势。此句是下片由写人转向写夜的枢纽：庭户无声是听觉之静，疏星渡河汉是视觉之动，动静相生，境界空灵。同时「河汉」暗用牛郎织女隔河相望的传说，为双人夜话添一层深情。以星象写夜深，比直说「三更」更有画面感，也为结拍「玉绳低转」「流年偷换」的天象与时间之思预作铺垫，使下片的哲思不显突兀。
The sparse-stars writing the night's deepening and the stars' thinning, the crossing-the-Silver-River writing the starlight's traversing the galaxy, using the star's moving for the time's flowing, the void-still within the own easeful motion. This line the second stanza's person-writing-to-night-writing hinge: the courtyard-no-sound the hearing-stillness, the sparse-stars-crossing-the-galaxy the sight-motion, the motion-and-stillness's mutual birth, the realm void-and-living. At the same time the galaxy secretly using the Cowherd-and-Weaver-Girl's separated-river legend, adding one layer of deep feeling for the two-person night talk. Using the star-phenomenon for the night's depth, more pictorial than the direct third-watch, and storing the ground for the close's jade-rope's-low-turning and the fleeting-years'-secret-change celestial-and-time thought, making the second stanza's philosophizing's not-sudden.
又不道流年暗中偷换
Unaware that the fleeting years have secretly been exchanged.
却没想到流年正在暗中悄悄偷换
And unheeded, the fleeting years steal past in secret.
结拍是全词的灵魂，由夏夜盼凉的闲情忽然转入流年之叹。「不道」意为不觉得、没料到，写出当事人在良辰美景中的浑然不觉；「暗中」「偷」把抽象的时光写得如窃贼潜行，悄无声息地偷换青春与欢情。前句「屈指西风几时来」还停留在盼秋凉的表层愿望，此句陡转，点破一切清凉、欢会都敌不过时间的流逝，由艳情入哲思，境界顿高。苏轼历仕途风波、贬谪流徙，故于夏夜宫词中暗寄身世之感，艳而不靡，清而能沉，正是「坡仙本色」所在，历来为评家激赏。
The close is the whole ci's soul, from the summer-night's cool-wishing ease suddenly turning to the fleeting-years sigh. The budao meaning the not-realizing and un-expecting, writing the party in the beautiful-night's unawareness; the in-secret and steal turning the abstract time's writing like the thief's creeping, soundlessly stealing the youth and the joy. The above's counting-the-fingers-when-will-the-west-wind-come still staying at the autumn-cool-wishing surface wish, this line's sharp turn, breaking through that all coolness and love's no-match-for-the-time's-flowing, from the amorous to the philosophic, the realm's at-once-elevation. Su Shi's experienced the official-shipwinds and exiles, hence in the summer-night palace poem's secretly lodging the lot's feeling, the amorous-and-yet-not-garish, the cool-and-yet-profound, precisely the Dongpo-immortal true color, through-the-ages critics' admiration.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both Su Shi; one summer-night beauty, one spring-night flower-care; both clear and refined, feeling in the细微.
《海棠》「只恐夜深花睡去，故烧高烛照红妆」写春夜惜花，此词写夏夜美人，同出东坡之手，皆于清空婉丽中暗含时光之叹。《海棠》以高烛照花的痴态写惜春之情，此词以流年偷换的哲思写惜时之感；一写花之将睡，一写人之将老，物我相映。两作对照，可见东坡婉约词的两副笔墨：一以痴语动人，一以哲思取胜，而骨子里都是对美好事物易逝的深情挽留，是理解东坡词心的重要参照。
李清照·声声慢 Li Qingzhao: Slow Slow Song 李清照 · 同属婉约正宗，可比较结拍收束手法 Different (style/era)Both refined masterpieces; Su hides philosophy in the amorous, Li shows grief in sorrow; compare their closings.
《声声慢》以「这次第，怎一个愁字了得」直写愁情，如泣如诉，凄婉已极；此词以「又不道流年暗中偷换」含蓄点破，于艳情中暗藏苍凉。李清照把抽象的愁写得铺天盖地，苏轼把时间的流逝写得悄无声息；一以叠字营造声情，一以炼字凝练哲思。两词一南一北、一凄一清，却同为婉约词由情入思的典范，合观可见两宋婉约词在抒情深度上的演进，也可比较女性词人与士大夫词人抒情姿态的差异。
白居易·长恨歌 Bai Juyi: Song of Everlasting Sorrow 白居易 · 同写美人夜色，可比较意象营造 Same (theme/beauty night)Both use beauty as flower; 'ice flesh jade bones' and 'congealed fat' intertext; compare night-realm building.
《长恨歌》写杨贵妃「温泉水滑洗凝脂」，以凝脂喻肌肤之润，此词以「冰肌玉骨」喻肌肤之清凉，同一美人意象而一温一凉，恰合二人所处环境：华清池温泉与摩诃池夏夜。《长恨歌》以铺陈叙事写盛唐宫闱的繁华与幻灭，此词以白描抒情写前蜀宫闱的一夜清欢；白诗长于叙事之波澜，苏词长于意境之清空。两作相隔三百余年，同以美人、夜色、宫闱为题材，可见唐人歌行与宋人小词在处理同类题材时笔法的巨大差异。