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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

雪梅

Plum Blossom and Snow

卢梅坡

Lu Meipo

咏物Object-Chanting 哲理Philosophical

梅雪争春未肯降，骚人阁笔费评章。
梅须逊雪三分白，雪却输梅一段香。

Plum and snow contend for spring, neither yields,
The poet puts down his pen, at a loss to judge.
Plum must concede to snow three parts of whiteness,
Yet snow loses to plum a whiff of fragrance.

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Meaning

Plum blossoms and snowflakes vie for the beauty of spring, each refusing to admit defeat. The poet sets down his brush, unable to decide which is superior. In whiteness, plum yields three-tenths to snow; in fragrance, snow falls short of plum by a certain measure.

梅花与飞雪争抢着报春，谁也不肯相让，惹得诗人放下笔杆，费尽思量，难以评判高下。论洁白，梅花究竟要比雪稍逊三分；说芬芳，雪却输给了梅花一段幽香。诗人以轻松诙谐的笔调，道出梅雪各有所长、相辅相成之理。

Appreciation

The poem begins with a personified competition between plum and snow, creating suspense. The latter two lines offer a balanced verdict: plum is slightly less white, snow lacks fragrance. The use of quantifiers 'three parts' and 'a whiff' makes abstract qualities concrete and vivid.

【白话串讲】梅花和雪抢着说自己是春天的主角，诗人也难判高下。最后得出结论：“梅须逊雪三分白，雪却输梅一段香”——各有各的好，何必争。【意象与手法】诗起以「争春」「未肯降」拟人设势，制造悬念；「骚人阁笔」以诗人窘态增添趣味。后两句以「须逊」「却输」两两对照，用「三分」「一段」量化比较，既工整又清新。全篇以议论为诗而毫无枯燥，得理趣之妙【情感与主旨】卢梅坡，南宋诗人，生平不详，以《雪梅》二首传世。此为其一，约作于南宋中后期。诗借梅雪之争抒发对事物长短相济、各有千秋的体会，属宋人咏物说理小诗，风格轻巧诙谐，不同于唐人单纯咏物言志【名句点睛】常考「梅须逊雪三分白，雪却输梅一段香」的辩证理趣（尺有所短、寸有所长）；「争春」「未肯降」的拟人手法；「三分」「一段」量化比较的巧思

Background

Lu Meipo, a Southern Song poet with little known biography, is famous for two 'Plum and Snow' poems. This one likely dates from the mid-to-late Southern Song. It expresses the idea that things have both strengths and weaknesses, typical of Song dynasty object-chanting philosophical poetry.

卢梅坡，南宋诗人，生平不详，仅以《雪梅》二首传世，其一即此篇。此诗约作于南宋中后期，正值宋诗由江西诗派转向江湖诗派、理趣诗大行其道的时期。宋人咏物诗多不满足于单纯摹写物态，而好于物中见理、发为议论，所谓「以议论为诗」，此诗正是其中翘楚。诗借梅雪之争抒发对事物长短相济、各有千秋的体会：梅有香而逊白，雪有白而输香，二者各有所长、互有短长，只有相得益彰才能构成完整的「春」意。这种辩证的眼光，正是宋代理学「理一分殊」「物各一理」思想在诗歌中的形象化表达，也体现了宋代文人善于从日常物候中提炼哲理的思维特点。全诗轻巧诙谐，不同于唐人单纯咏物言志，是宋人咏物说理小诗的代表作，也是理解宋诗「理趣」特色的经典篇目。此诗后两句更被后世广为引用，成为论人论物「各有所长」的经典表述，其影响已超出诗歌领域，深入日常语言之中。

Art

The poem uses personification ('contend for spring', 'neither yields') to set up a lively conflict. The poet's hesitation adds humor. The contrasting pairs 'must concede' and 'yet loses', along with quantified comparison, create a neat and fresh style. It turns a debate into poetry without becoming dry.

此诗以拟人设势、以议论见理，理趣与情趣兼得。起句「梅雪争春未肯降」以「争春」「未肯降」拟人，将梅花与飞雪写得如两个争胜的对手，谁也不肯服输，一开篇即制造悬念：梅雪之争，孰胜孰负？次句「骚人阁笔费评章」以诗人窘态增添趣味——连诗人也放下笔杆，费尽心思难以评判，反衬二者之美难分高下，将悬念推到顶点。后两句「梅须逊雪三分白，雪却输梅一段香」以「须逊」「却输」两两对照，用「三分」「一段」量化比较，公正判词：论白，梅逊雪；论香，雪输梅——各有一长、各有一短，打成平手，妙在不偏不倚。全篇以议论为诗而毫无枯燥，拟人生动、对仗工整、量化巧妙，将抽象的优劣之辩化为具体可感的「三分白」「一段香」，得理趣之妙，是宋人咏物说理诗的上乘之作。全诗二十八字，前设势、后判词，结构谨严而笔调轻松，恰合宋人「理趣」之旨，亦可见南宋咏物诗由重物象转向重哲思的趋向。

Allusions

‘Sao ren’ refers to poets since Qu Yuan; ‘ge bi’ echoes the idiom of laying down the brush in deep thought. Plum and snow have symbolized spring and purity since the Six Dynasties. Lu Meipo innovatively uses them to discuss comparative merits.

此诗用典极少而意象自有渊源。「骚人」本指屈原以来《离骚》传统的诗人，后泛指诗人词客，此处指评判梅雪高下的诗人；「阁笔」即搁笔，用南朝江淹「梦笔生花」「江郎才尽」搁笔故事及曹丕「下笔不能自休」等文人搁笔沉思之意，写诗人面对梅雪之争难以评判、只好搁笔，风趣传神。梅、雪意象自六朝以来即为报春与高洁之象征：梅花凌寒独放，为岁寒三友之一，象征坚贞高洁；雪洁白无瑕，象征纯净高雅。前人咏梅多写其香（如林逋「暗香浮动月黄昏」），咏雪多写其白（如岑参「千树万树梨花开」），卢梅坡则别开生面，不咏梅之高洁、不咏雪之纯净，而专写梅雪之争与长短之较，将传统意象翻出新意，于「香」「白」二字上作文章，是宋人「点铁成金」「夺胎换骨」诗法在咏物诗中的巧妙运用。全诗以梅雪相较而不涉品格高下，正见其「不落套语」的翻新之功，为咏物诗开辟了「以理入物」的新途。

Commentary

This poem excels in cleverness. Later critics praise it for avoiding clichés and presenting reasoning with charm. Unlike Lin Bu's 'dark fragrance floating' or Lu You's 'falling into mud', Lu Meipo focuses on comparing strengths, reflecting the Song fashion for argumentative and witty object poetry.

此诗以巧思取胜，历来传诵。后人评其「不落前人咏梅雪套语，别以理趣取胜」，正点出其翻新之妙。与林逋「疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏」之写梅之孤高、陆游「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」之写梅之坚贞相比，卢梅坡不写梅之品格，而写梅雪之较，纯以辨析长短为乐，体现了宋人咏物诗好发议论、追求新巧的时代风气。此诗后两句「梅须逊雪三分白，雪却输梅一段香」已成为中国文学中辩证看待事物长短的经典表述，被广泛引用：既可用于评价人物各有所长，也可用于说明事物相辅相成之理。全诗二十八字，以游戏笔墨写深刻哲理，理趣与情趣并臻，是南宋理趣诗的代表作，也是雅俗共赏的咏物名篇。其雅俗共赏之处，在于以游戏笔墨写平实哲理，人无论老幼，读之皆能会心，这正是宋诗「理趣」传统深入民间的生动例证。后世咏物诗中「短长互见」之论，多本于此诗。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Characters: jiang, zhang, xiang; rhyme in level tone Yang rhyme (7 Yang)降、章、香，押平声阳韵（平水韵下平七阳），首句入韵，一韵到底

Tone pattern Level-tone first-line rhyme pattern; argumentative tone with skillful parallelism平起首句入韵式，对仗工巧，论辩口吻

Reading note A philosophical object-chanting poem by Lu Meipo, blending wit and principle, widely recited.此诗为七言绝句，押平水韵下平七阳韵，「降」「章」「香」三字一韵到底，首句入韵；阳韵洪亮开阔，与梅雪争春的明朗气象相称。格律为平起首句入韵式，平仄和谐，音节流利。章法上，此诗前二句设势、后二句判词：首句拟人设势，次句以诗人窘态添趣，三句写梅之逊、四句写雪之输，两两对照、层层推进，由悬念到评判，结构谨严而趣味横生。此诗最见功力者在对仗：末联「梅须逊雪三分白，雪却输梅一段香」以「梅」对「雪」、「须逊」对「却输」、「三分白」对「一段香」，句内自对、句间互对，工巧而不板滞；全诗以议论为诗而毫无枯燥，得理趣之妙，是宋人咏物说理诗的典范，也是七绝中以辩证理趣取胜的代表作，历来传诵。

Line by line

梅雪争春未肯降

Plum and snow vie for the spring, neither willing to yield.

梅花与飞雪争抢着报春，谁也不肯相让

The plum blossom and the falling snow vie in heralding spring, and neither will give way.

起句以拟人设势，是全诗悬念的制造。「争春」写梅花与飞雪都争着报春——梅开报春，雪落亦兆春，二者本无高下，诗人偏以「争」字写其竞胜，赋予自然物以争强好胜的情态；「未肯降」进一步写其相持不下，谁也不肯认输，如两位较量的对手，剑拔弩张而意趣横生。「争春」之「春」字尤妙：梅与雪争的不仅是高下，更是「春」——谁才是报春的第一使者，这一竞争的落点使全诗有了活泼的焦点。此句十四字中无一处议论，纯以拟人写物，却已将「梅雪之争」的悬念高高挂起，为后文「骚人阁笔」「须逊」「却输」的展开蓄足情势，是宋人咏物诗「以趣设势」的典型开篇。

The opening line using the personification's momentum-establishing, the whole poem's suspense-making. The vie-for-the-spring writing the plum-and-snow's both vie for the spring-announcement — the plum's blooming spring-announcement, the snow's falling spring-presage, the two's originally no-high-low, and yet the poet's precisely using the vie word for their contest, granting the natural thing the rivalry-proud pose; the neither-willing-to-yield further writing their deadlock, neither willing to admit defeat, like two competing opponents, the swords-drawn-and-the-wit's-abundant. The vie-for-the-spring's one chun word's the most wondrous: the plum-and-snow's vying's not the high-low, and yet the spring — who's the spring-announcement's first envoy, this competition's landing-point's making the whole poem's the lively focus. This line's fourteen characters' within not one place's argument, purely using the personification for the object, and yet already's the plum-snow's-contest suspense's hung-high, storing the force for the below's poet's lays-down-the-brush, must-yield, and yet-loses's unfolding, the Song object-ode's wit-establishes-momentum typical opening.

骚人阁笔费评章

The poet lays down his brush, at a loss to judge between them.

惹得诗人放下笔杆，费尽思量难以评判

It makes the poet lay down his brush, exhausting his wits to judge.

此句转写诗人，以诗人窘态增添趣味，将悬念推到顶点。「骚人」本指《离骚》传统的诗人，泛指文人墨客，此处指评判梅雪高下之人；「阁笔」即搁笔——面对梅雪之争，诗人放下笔杆，写其为难之态，暗用江淹搁笔之典而化于无形；「费评章」写其用心之深——费尽思量，难以评判，评章为品评章句之意。此句的妙处在于以人衬物：连诗人都评不出高下，可见梅雪各有千秋、难分轩轾——诗人之窘，正是二者之美的最好证明。同时，「阁笔费评章」亦为下文蓄势：评不出，是因为各有短长，故后两句以「须逊」「却输」两两对照，公允判词，正是「费评章」之后得出的结论。以诗人的为难写梅雪之美，风趣传神，是全诗由设势到评判的过渡。

This line's turning to write the poet, using the poet's embarrassment's adding the wit, pushing the suspense to the peak. The sao-ren originally the Lisao-tradition poet, the general scholar-and-writer, here meaning the plum-snow's-judge; the lays-down-his-brush i.e. the brush's resting — facing the plum-sow's contest, the poet's laying down the brush, writing the embarrassment's pose, secretly using Jiang Yan's lays-down-the-brush allusion's adapting to the invisible; the exhausting-his-wits-to-judge writing the care's depth — the exhausted wits, the hard-to-judge, the ping-zhang meaning the criticism's judging. This line's wonder's in the person's setting-off-the-thing: even the poet's the no-judgment-out, hence the plum-and-snow's each-has-their-merits's knowable, the poet's embarrassment's precisely the two's beauty's best proof. At the same time, the lays-down-brush-exhausts-judgment's also storing the force for the below: the no-judgment-out, because of the each-has-their-short-long, hence the below two lines' must-yield and yet-loses's two-two-contrast, the fair verdict, precisely the exhausting-judgment's after conclusion. Using the poet's embarrassment's writing the plum-snow's beauty, the wit's vivid, the whole poem's momentum-to-judgment transition.

梅须逊雪三分白

The plum must yield to the snow three parts in whiteness.

论洁白，梅花究竟要比雪稍逊三分

In whiteness, the plum must concede three parts to the snow.

此句是判词的上半，写梅之短。「须逊」写其必须相让——论白，梅花须让雪三分，「须」字带公断语气，如裁判之判；「三分白」以量词写程度——白之差仅三分，不多不少，正见梅虽逊雪而相差无几。此句的妙处在于公允而不偏废：不是全盘否定梅之白，而是说梅之白逊于雪之白，仅差三分——既承认雪白之胜，亦保存梅白之美，分寸拿捏极准。「三分」为虚数，以量词写优劣，将抽象的「白」之较化为具体可感的程度之别，俏皮而精确。此句与下句「雪却输梅一段香」相对成文：梅逊雪之白，是梅之短；而雪输梅之香，是雪之短——各有所短，恰成平手。以「须逊」写梅之让，谦和而不失身份，正是「尺有所短」的诗化表达，也为下句的转折作了铺垫。

This line is the verdict's first half, writing the plum's short. The must-yield writing the must-give-way — in whiteness, the plum must give the snow three parts, the must word's the fair-verdict tone, like the judge's verdict; the three-parts-in-whiteness using the quantity word for the degree — the white's difference's only three parts, not-more-not-less, precisely seeing the plum's though-yields-the-snow-and-yet-the-difference's-negligible. This line's wonder's in the fair-and-no-bias: not the whole-negation-of-the-plum's-white, and yet saying the plum's-white's inferior-to-the-snow's-white, only's three parts' difference — at once the snow's-white's-superior's acknowledgment, and yet the plum's-white's-beauty's preservation, the measure's precision. The three-parts's the virtual number, using the quantity word for the quality, turning the abstract white's comparison's into the concrete-perceivable degree's difference, witty-and-precise. This line with the below's the-snow-loses-to-the-plum-one-stretch-of-fragrance's the paired text: the plum's inferior-to-the-snow's-white, the plum's short; and yet the snow's inferior-to-the-plum's-fragrance, the snow's short — each-has-their-short, precisely's the draw. Using the must-yield for the plum's giving-way, the humble-and-yet-no-loss-of-dignity, precisely the foot-has-its-short's poetic expression, and storing the ground for the below's turning.

雪却输梅一段香

The snow, though, loses to the plum one stretch of fragrance.

说芬芳，雪却输给了梅花一段幽香

In fragrance, the snow loses to the plum a whole stretch of scent.

此句是判词的下半，写雪之短，与上句对举成文。「却输」写其终究要输——论香，雪却输梅一段，「却」字带转折语气，如裁判改判；「一段香」以量词写数量——香之有一整段，满满当当，正见雪输梅香之完整浓郁。此句的妙处在于以「一段」对「三分」：一写程度之差、一写数量之足，将抽象的「香」之较化为具体可感的比较，使优劣之辩有了分明的刻度。梅逊雪之白，雪输梅之香，两两对照、不偏不倚：各有一长、各有一短，打成平手——胜负之辩由此消解，而「尺有所短、寸有所长」之理自明。此联对仗工巧、措辞公允而俏皮，是全文判词的核心，也是「梅雪各有所长、相辅相成」这一理趣最凝练的表述，历来传诵，成为辩证看待事物长短的经典名句。

This line is the verdict's second half, writing the snow's short, with the above's the paired text. The and-yet-loses writing the ultimately-loses — in fragrance, the snow loses the plum one stretch, the que word gives the turn, like the judge's reversal; the one-stretch-of-fragrance using the quantity word for the amount — the fragrance's one-whole-stretch, the full, precisely seeing the snow's losing-the-plum-fragrance's completeness. This line's wonder's in the one-stretch's to-the-three-parts: one writing the degree's difference and one writing the amount's full, turning the abstract fragrance's comparison's into the concrete-perceivable comparison, making the superiority-dispute's the clear scale. The plum's inferior-to-the-snow's-white, the snow's inferior-to-the-plum's-fragrance, the two-two-contrast's no-bias: each-has-one-long, each-has-one-short, the draw — the victory-defeat's dispute's thus's dissolved, and yet the foot-has-its-short-and-inch-has-its-long's principle's self-evident. This couplet's parallel-witty, the wording's fair-and-witty, the whole text's verdict core, and the plum-snow's-each-has-their-long-and-mutually-complementary's this principle's delight's most-concise expression, through-the-ages recited, becoming the dialectical-view-of-things'-long-and-short's classic line.

Study

Word focus

争/降 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「梅雪争春未肯降」之「争」「降」二字，拟人化赋予自然物以争胜情态，是全诗生动之源的炼字。「争」写梅花与飞雪竞相报春，如两人争功，含娇含怒，活泼生趣；「降」本指投降、服输，「未肯降」写其相持不下，谁也不肯低头认输，如对峙的对手，剑拔弩张。二字将无情的自然物写得有情有性：梅与雪不是并列的景物，而是竞争的对手，春意的到来成了它们争夺的目标，全诗的悬念与趣味全由此二字生发。若不用「争」「降」而直写梅雪俱报春，则索然无味；正因「争」「未肯降」，方逼出下句「骚人阁笔费评章」的为难之态，也为末联的公正判词蓄足情势。拟人之妙，尽在二字。

逊/输 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「梅须逊雪三分白，雪却输梅一段香」之「逊」「输」二字，是诗眼所在，精准道出梅雪互有短长。「逊」本为谦让、不及之意，写梅之白不及雪，措辞谦和，如君子相让；「输」本为败给、欠负之意，写雪之香不及梅，语气直率，如对手认输。二字一谦一率、一让一输，相对成文，将梅雪之争化为一场公允的比试：各自认输、各让一步，胜负之辩遂归于平手。用「逊」「输」而不用「差」「少」，妙在赋予比较以人的情态——不是客观的计量，而是带着较劲与和解的意味，公正之中见俏皮。二字相对，既写物之短长，又写诗人之评判，措辞精审、妙趣横生，是「炼字」与「理趣」结合的典范。

三分/一段 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「三分白」「一段香」之「三分」「一段」，以量化写优劣，虚数中见巧思。「三分」言白之差仅三分，不多不少，正见梅虽逊雪而相差无几；「一段」言香之有一整段，满满当当，正见雪输梅香之完整浓郁。两个量词，一写程度之差、一写数量之足，将抽象的「白」「香」之较化为具体可感的比较，使优劣之辩有了分明的刻度，俏皮而精确。妙在「三分」「一段」皆是虚数——白无度量，香无数目，诗人偏以量词出之，如裁判报分，举重若轻，将严肃的优劣之辩化为轻松的比试。正因这量化，后两句才显得公允而不偏颇：梅差三分白，雪差一段香，各有所短，恰成平手，理趣在俏皮中自然流出。

雪梅