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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

长信秋词·其一

Autumn Palace Grief, No. 1

王昌龄

Wang Changling

宫怨palace grief 秋autumn

金井梧桐秋叶黄，珠帘不卷夜来霜。
熏笼玉枕无颜色，卧听南宫清漏长。

By the golden well, parasol leaves turn yellow in autumn.
The pearl screen is not rolled up, frost descends at night.
The incense brazier and jade pillow have lost their colors.
Lying, I listen to the long, clear drips from the Southern Palace.

Listen

Meaning

A deserted palace woman lies alone on an autumn night, surrounded by withered scenery and chilly air. The neglected objects mirror her own faded beauty, and the endless sound of the water clock underscores her sleepless loneliness.

金井旁梧桐秋叶已经枯黄，珠帘不卷，夜里降下了寒霜。熏笼与玉枕都失去了往日光彩，独自卧听南宫漏声悠长。

Appreciation

The poem conveys deep resentment without a single word of complaint. Each line adds a layer of coldness: autumn leaves, frost, faded objects, and the long night. The silence is broken only by the dripping water clock, making the solitude even more profound.

【白话串讲】 “金井梧桐秋叶黄，珠帘不卷夜来霜”——王昌龄写失宠的宫女：秋叶黄了，珠帘不卷。“熏笼玉枕无颜色，卧听南宫清漏长”——她躺在冷宫里，听着南宫传来的漏声。宫怨诗的巅峰。【意象与手法】全诗以秋景写哀情，层层加冷。首句'金井梧桐秋叶黄'点节候，梧桐报秋，金井生凉【情感与主旨】《长信秋词》五首借汉成帝时班婕妤失宠、退居长信宫之事，写宫怨。其一为组诗开篇，写秋夜冷宫之寂寥【名句点睛】本诗常考借景抒情与'不著怨字而怨深'。'珠帘不卷夜来霜'考'不卷'二字如何写尽孤寂与寒意

Background

Inspired by Ban Jieyu, a Han dynasty concubine who lost favor and retired to the Changxin Palace. Wang Changling writes a series of five poems on palace grief. This first poem sets the tone of desolation on an autumn night. The poet, who experienced political setbacks, may be projecting his own feelings of neglect.

《长信秋词·其一》为盛唐诗人王昌龄所作。王昌龄（698—757），字少伯，京兆长安人，盛唐边塞诗派与宫怨诗的代表，有“诗家天子王江宁”之称。长信宫为汉代太后所居之宫，班婕妤失宠后曾奉养于长信宫，故“长信”成为宫怨的典故。此诗写失宠宫妃的秋夜之怨：金井边梧桐叶黄，珠帘不卷而夜来霜降；熏笼玉枕失去颜色，宫妃卧听南宫更漏之长。全诗以金井、梧桐、珠帘、熏笼、玉枕、更漏等意象，写深宫秋夜的冷寂与宫妃的幽怨，是王昌龄宫怨诗的代表作。

Art

The poem uses autumn scenery to convey sorrow, layering coldness step by step. The first line sets the season with 'golden well and parasol leaves'. The second shows inertia with 'pearl screen not rolled up' and adds frost. The third line uses faded objects to hint at lost favor. The last line uses the long sound of the water clock to contrast with silence, making the grief tangible without explicit complaint.

《长信秋词·其一》艺术上以意象的冷寂与含蓄的怨情见长。全诗四句，层层写来：“金井梧桐秋叶黄”写秋景——金井边梧桐叶黄，是深秋之象；“珠帘不卷夜来霜”写夜寒——珠帘不卷而夜霜已降，是深宫之冷；“熏笼玉枕无颜色”写人之冷寂——熏笼玉枕黯然失色，是物之无华；“卧听南宫清漏长”写夜之漫长——卧听南宫更漏，是怨之难眠。全诗以金井、梧桐、珠帘、熏笼、玉枕、清漏等意象，写深宫秋夜的冷寂：井、梧、帘、霜皆写其寒，笼、枕、漏皆写其孤，而宫妃之怨不着一字，尽在物象之中。以“卧听清漏长”收束，怨情含蓄不尽，正是王昌龄“含蓄浑成”的风格。

Allusions

'Changxin' refers to Ban Jieyu's story: she refused to share the emperor's palanquin, later lost favor to Zhao Feiyan, and asked to serve the Empress Dowager in Changxin Palace, writing a self-consoling poem. 'Golden well' is a poetic term for an imperial well. 'Southern Palace' indicates the cold palace. 'Clear drips' refers to the water clock heard at night, emphasizing solitude. The poem uses Han palace allusions to reflect Tang palace grief, a common technique.

《长信秋词·其一》用典在“长信”与“金井”。“长信”指长信宫，为汉太后之宫，班婕妤失宠后自请奉养于此，故“长信”成为失宠宫妃的典故；“金井”指雕饰的井栏，为汉宫井栏之制，以金井写宫苑之华，而“梧桐秋叶黄”以秋写冷寂；“南宫”指皇帝所居之宫，写更漏之声；“玉枕”“熏笼”为宫中卧具，写宫妃之居。全诗以这些宫廷意象写宫怨，用典自然而不着痕迹，正是王昌龄“以景写怨”的笔法。宫怨诗自班婕妤《怨歌行》以来，多以团扇、长信写失宠之怨，王昌龄此诗承其传统而更为含蓄。

Commentary

Shen Deqian said, 'Wang Longbiao's palace poems are deep and subtle, with hidden resentment.' Hu Yinglin praised his seven-character quatrains as equal to Li Bai's. This poem, together with others in the series, is often compared to Li Bai's 'Pure Serenade' and Wang Jian's palace poems. Qing critic Huang Shucan commented, 'In twenty-eight characters, the desolation of a long night is fully captured—truly divine brushwork.'

《长信秋词·其一》是王昌龄宫怨诗的名篇，也是唐代宫怨诗的代表作。此诗以秋夜深宫写失宠宫妃之怨，含蓄深婉，向为论者称道。清代诗评家沈德潜评王昌龄宫怨诗“深情幽怨，意旨微茫”，正指此类作品。论者多赏其“熏笼玉枕无颜色”的写法——以物之黯然写人之失宠，含蓄而有味；“卧听南宫清漏长”以更漏写夜之漫长，怨情在不言之中。王昌龄的《长信秋词》共五首，此为其一，与《春宫曲》《闺怨》等同为宫怨闺怨诗的名篇，可见其“诗家天子”之才不仅限于边塞。

Prosody

Form seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Pingshui rhyme: lower level 7 yang (yellow, frost, long)《长信秋词·其一》为七言绝句，押平声韵。此诗用韵：黄、霜、长（阳部），一韵到底，音节悠长。七绝句式整饬，宜于写含蓄的怨情。

Tone pattern First line rhymes, level tone start, level tone ending七言绝句以声调抑扬、音节流丽见长。此诗以“金井梧桐秋叶黄”起，音节舒缓如秋景；“珠帘不卷夜来霜”以“霜”承，声情转冷；“熏笼玉枕无颜色”写物之黯然，音节低沉；“卧听南宫清漏长”以“长”收，声情悠长。全诗以平韵贯底，声调随秋夜之景与宫怨之情起伏，是七绝中含蓄深婉的一路。

Reading note Wang Changling's palace grief quatrain, borrowing Ban Jieyu's story, conveys deep resentment without explicit words.《长信秋词·其一》为七言绝句，是王昌龄宫怨诗的代表作。此诗以长信宫之典写失宠宫妃的秋夜之怨：金井梧桐、珠帘夜霜写秋夜之冷寂，熏笼玉枕、清漏长夜写宫妃之幽怨，不着一怨字而怨情自深。王昌龄的宫怨诗以“深情幽怨，意旨微茫”著称，此诗正见其风格——以物象写心理，以含蓄写怨情。此诗与《长信秋词》其余四首、《春宫曲》《闺怨》等，皆是盛唐宫怨闺怨诗的代表作。

Line by line

金井梧桐秋叶黄，珠帘不卷夜来霜。

By the jewelled well the paulownia leaves turn autumn yellow; the pearl curtain unrolled not, the night frost has fallen.

金井边的梧桐秋叶已黄，珠帘不卷而夜霜已降临。

By the gilded well the plane-tree leaves are autumn-yellow; the pearl curtain hangs unrolled, the night frost has come.

首二句写深宫秋夜之景。“金井梧桐秋叶黄”写秋景之深——金井边梧桐叶黄，是深秋萧瑟之象，点出时令；“珠帘不卷夜来霜”写夜寒之深——珠帘不卷，而夜霜已降，写深宫之冷。二句以金井、梧桐、珠帘、夜霜四个意象，写深宫秋夜的冷寂：井以金饰而梧叶黄，帘以珠缀而夜霜寒，繁华与萧瑟并见。一个“不卷”写珠帘之垂，既写秋夜之寒（无人在帘外），亦写宫妃之闭（无人来顾）；“夜来霜”写霜之已降，更见夜之深寒。以景写怨，怨在景中，正是王昌龄含蓄的笔法。

The opening two lines write the deep palace's autumn night. By the jewelled well the paulownia leaves turn autumn yellow writes the depth of autumn - the paulownia yellow by the gilded well, the image of late autumn's bleakness, pointing the season. The pearl curtain unrolled not, the night frost has fallen writes the depth of night cold - the curtain unrolled not, yet the frost has come, writing the deep palace's chill. The two lines use the four images of gilded well, paulownia, pearl curtain, and night frost to write the deep palace autumn night's cold solitude: the well gold-adorned yet the leaves yellow, the curtain pearl-strung yet the night frost cold, splendor and bleakness appearing together. The single word unrolled not writes the curtain's hanging, at once the autumn night's cold (no one beyond the curtain) and the palace lady's confinement (no one to visit). The night frost has fallen writes the frost's descent, further showing the night's deep chill. Writing resentment through scenery, the resentment within the scenery, exactly Wang Changling's reserved brush.

熏笼玉枕无颜色，卧听南宫清漏长。

The censer and the jade pillow have lost their color; lying awake, I hear the southern palace's clear water-clock, endless.

熏笼与玉枕都已失去颜色，卧听南宫传来清冷的更漏声，夜是这样漫长。

The scent-burner and the jade pillow have lost their color; lying abed I hear the southern palace's clear dripping, night so long.

后二句写宫妃之冷寂与怨情。“熏笼玉枕无颜色”写物之黯然——“熏笼”是熏衣的香笼，“玉枕”是枕具，皆宫中用物，而“无颜色”写其黯然失色——物因人失宠而失去光泽，正是以物写人的笔法；“卧听南宫清漏长”写夜之漫长——“卧听”写其未眠，“南宫清漏”写更漏之声，“长”写夜之无尽。二句由物写到人：宫妃卧于熏笼玉枕之间，物已无颜色，人自多幽怨；卧听更漏，一夜未眠，怨情在不言之中。以“清漏长”收束，把失宠宫妃的孤寂与长夜的煎熬写得含蓄不尽，正是“不言怨而怨自深”的极致。

The last two lines write the palace lady's cold solitude and resentment. The censer and the jade pillow have lost their color writes the things' dimness - the scent-burner the cage for scenting clothes, the jade pillow the pillow, both palace furnishings, yet lost their color writes their fading - the things losing their luster because the person has lost favor, exactly the brush of writing the man through the thing. Lying awake, I hear the southern palace's clear water-clock, endless writes the night's length - lying awake writes her sleeplessness, the southern palace's clear dripping writes the water-clock sound, the endless the night's unending. The two lines move from the thing to the man: the lady lying among the censer and the jade pillow, the things already colorless, the person full of hidden grief; lying awake listening to the dripping, sleepless the whole night, the resentment in the unspoken. Closing through the clear dripping's endless, writing the disfavored lady's loneliness and the long night's ordeal reserved and unexhausted, exactly the peak of resentment not spoken yet resentment of itself deep.

Study

Word focus

金井 golden well; a poetic term for an imperial well, often connoting the palace “金井梧桐秋叶黄”之“金井”，指雕饰华美的井栏，是全诗写宫苑之华的首象。“金”写井栏之华美，为宫中井制；“梧桐”植于井边，秋叶已黄，写秋之深。这一词以“金”写繁华，“秋叶黄”写萧瑟，繁华与萧瑟并见——宫苑虽华而秋意已深，正是失宠宫妃所处的境遇。以“金井”起，为全诗的冷寂布下华而冷的基础。

不卷 not rolled up; shows the woman's laziness and despair, hinting at loss of favor “珠帘不卷夜来霜”之“不卷”，写珠帘之垂而不卷，是全诗写宫妃心境的关纽。“不卷”本写帘之垂，实则写人之无意——珠帘不卷，是无人来卷，亦是宫妃无心卷帘；夜霜已降而帘不卷，更见其与世隔绝的冷寂。这一词以帘写人，含蓄而传神：帘不卷，是闭；人不卷，是怨。以“不卷”写宫妃之闭与怨，正是王昌龄“以物写人”的绝妙笔法。

无颜色 has no color; refers to the objects losing their shine, metaphorically the woman's faded beauty and lost favor “熏笼玉枕无颜色”之“无颜色”，写宫中用物黯然失色，是全诗以物写怨的关键词。“颜色”本指光泽色彩，“无颜色”写熏笼玉枕失去光泽——物因人失宠而黯然。这一词妙在以物之无华写人之失宠：不是物旧，而是人怨；物无颜色，正是人心无色。以“无颜色”写物，含蓄地写尽宫妃失宠后的冷遇与黯淡，正是王昌龄善用物象写心理的笔法。

清漏长 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “卧听南宫清漏长”之“清漏长”，写更漏之声清冷而夜之漫长，是全诗怨情的收束。“清漏”写更漏声之清冷，“长”写夜之无尽——卧听清漏，一夜未眠，更漏每一声都敲在心上。这一词以声写怨：清漏之清，是夜的清冷，亦是心的清寂；清漏之长，是夜的无尽，亦是怨的无期。以“清漏长”收束，把宫妃长夜难眠的幽怨写到极处，正是“不言怨而怨自深”的绝唱。