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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

村夜

Village Night

白居易

Bai Juyi

秋夜autumn night 田园pastoral 孤寂loneliness

霜草苍苍虫切切，村南村北行人绝。
独出前门望野田，月明荞麦花如雪。

Frosted grass is vast and pale, insects chirp in shrill fit,
South and north of the village, no traveler at all.
Alone I step from the front gate to view the open fields,
Under bright moon the buckwheat flowers are like snow.

Listen

Meaning

On an autumn night in the village, Bai Juyi hears insects and sees an empty village, then steps out to find the moonlit buckwheat fields shining white as snow — loneliness giving way to quiet wonder.

秋霜覆盖的野草一片苍白，秋虫切切地鸣叫不停；村子南北再看不见一个行人。我独自走出门前，眺望空旷的田野，只见月光皎洁，荞麦花开得一片雪白。

Appreciation

The first two lines write 'hearing,' the last two 'seeing'; the first two voice stark lonely desolation, the last suddenly present a bright, open world of snow-white. The auditory 'shrill' sets off the silence; the visual 'like snow' flips the poem's emotional tone — a classic 'praise after restraint.' Bai Juyi wrote this while retired in the countryside; the loneliness of the first lines is real, the delight of the last is real too. Sorrow is not gone but thinned by nature's vastness. The whole poem carries no word of 'sorrow' yet sorrow is within, no word of 'joy' yet joy overflows.

【白话串讲】 “霜草苍苍虫切切，村南村北行人绝”——白居易写村夜：霜草苍苍，虫声切切。“独出前门望野田，月明荞麦花如雪”——他一个人出门看田野，月光下荞麦花白得像雪。【意象与手法】前两句写“闻”，后两句写“见”；前两句极写萧瑟孤寂，后两句忽然推出一片明亮开阔的雪白世界。以听觉的“切切”反衬环境之静，以视觉的“如雪”翻转全诗的情绪基调，是典型的欲扬先抑。【情感与主旨】白居易写此诗时正退居乡间，前两句的孤寂是真实心境，后两句的惊喜也是真实感受。孤独中忽遇美景，愁绪并未消失，却被自然的辽阔冲淡了几分。全诗不著一“愁”字而愁在其中，不著一“喜”字而喜溢言表。【名句点睛】 “月明荞麦花如雪”——以雪喻花，既写颜色之白，又暗合秋夜之寒，一句而色、温、境俱全，是唐诗中写月下田野的绝笔。

Background

Written during Bai Juyi's retirement at Weicun (present-day Xiagui, Weinan, Shaanxi). In the sixth year of Yuanhe (811), his mother died; he left the capital for three years of mourning, living in plain loneliness and writing many pastoral poems. 'Village Night' is from this period, recording the most ordinary autumn night.

白居易字乐天，中唐大诗人，新乐府运动之倡导者，主张文章合为时而著、歌诗合为事而作。其诗风平易晓畅，而题材兼及讽喻、闲适、感伤诸类。村夜一诗约作于其乡居时期，写秋夜村落中所见所闻。白氏一生仕途起伏，既曾慷慨上疏言事，亦屡有退居闲处之时，闲适诗正为其排遣心绪、体察自然之作。此篇所写乃寻常村落秋夜，无重大时事，却以极淡之笔写极真之景，正是白诗能于浅处见深、于静处寓情的代表。中唐诗风渐由盛唐之雄浑转向平易工细，白居易、元稹辈倡浅切，而王维、孟浩然一脉的田园清境亦在其闲适题中延续，村夜即是融合二者、以村野小景写心境微澜的佳作。白居易晚年闲居渭村时亦多写此类村野小景，此诗将秋夜之孤寂与月下之惊喜并置，正见其随遇而安而又敏于感物的心性，在中唐田园诗中别有一种朴拙清新。白居易此诗写于乡居秋夜，将霜草虫鸣之萧瑟与月下荞麦之明丽并置，前冷后明、欲扬先抑，于极短篇幅中藏情绪之跌宕，最见白诗体物之细与举重若轻之能，在中唐田园诗中别饶朴拙清新之趣，足与王维辋川诸作并观。

Art

All twenty-eight characters divide into two halves: the first two build stillness and emptiness through hearing and a negative ('no traveler'); the last two open brightness and breadth through seeing and metaphor ('flowers like snow'). The turn from restraint to praise, dark to bright, near-listening to far-view, completes entirely on the third line's single action 'step from the front gate,' seamless. Language is pure description, no rare word — exactly the practice of Bai Juyi's 'old woman can understand' creed.

此诗仅四句而章法井然，前两句写闻，后两句写见，由听觉转入视觉，由萧瑟翻为明亮，是欲扬先抑的巧妙布局。霜草苍苍虫切切、村南村北行人绝，极写秋夜之荒寒与孤寂，声色皆冷；至独出前门望野田，忽换视角，推出月明荞麦花如雪一片皎洁开阔之境，情绪为之一振。以虫鸣之切切反衬环境之死寂，以花白如雪翻转全诗之黯淡，对比之中见出心境由愁转旷。全诗不着一愁字而孤寂自见，不着一喜字而惊喜溢于言表，含蓄蕴藉，深得王维辋川诸作以景写心之妙，而又更近民俗村野，别有一种朴拙清新。全诗二十八字而具起承转合之妙，前两句以声写静、以寂写孤，后两句以见写变、以雪写明，章法似平实奇，于极短篇幅中藏情绪之跌宕，最见白诗举重若轻之能。前两句写闻，后两句写见，以虫鸣之切切反衬环境之静，以花白如雪翻转全诗之黯淡，对比之中见出心境由愁转旷，这种以静写动、以冷写明的章法，正是白诗能于浅处见深的关键所在，故寥寥二十八字而具开阖之致。

Allusions

The whole poem uses no allusion, pure description. The metaphor 'buckwheat flowers like snow,' though not an allusion, was deeply influential; later poets writing white flowers under the moon mostly trace to this intent.

荞麦为北方秋熟作物，其花洁白如雪，唐人诗中多以雪喻白花，如岑参忽如一夜春风来、千树万树梨花开亦以雪状春花，此处月明荞麦花如雪则以雪喻秋花，既写其色之纯白，又暗合秋夜之清寒，一笔而色温境俱备。切切虫鸣，其声凄切，源出诗经召南草虫喓喓草虫、趯趯阜螽之传统，后人以切切状秋虫，益增孤寂之感。村南村北行人绝，写村落之静，与陶渊明归园田居中暧暧远人村、依依墟里烟的田园静境一脉相承。全诗虽少用典，却处处可见诗人对前人田园、月夜意象的化用与熔铸。霜草苍苍化用诗经苍苍蒹葭之叠字传统，虫切切则承召南草虫喓喓之写声法，落月荞麦之雪喻更与岑参梨花之雪喻一脉相承，足见白诗对前人意象的熔铸。霜草苍苍化用诗经苍苍蒹葭之叠字传统，虫切切则承召南草虫喓喓之写声法，落月荞麦之雪喻更与岑参梨花之雪喻一脉相承，足见白诗对前人意象的熔铸与自然流转，虽少用典而句句有来处。

Commentary

The Qing Huang Shucan, in 'Tang Poem Annotation,' said: 'scenery like a painting, yet a lonely mood lingers beyond the words.' The modern Yu Benshui, in 'Poetic Realm, Brief Continuation,' called the last line 'using snow to compare flowers, clear yet not mean.'

此诗向来以清丽自然见称，虽篇幅短小，却被推为白诗闲适体中之上品。前人多赏其月明荞麦花如雪一句，谓写月下田野至此乃绝，能将寻常村景写得如雪如银、澄明脱俗。苏轼谓白居易诗似浅实深，此篇正是：前两句的孤寂是真实心境，后两句的惊喜亦是真实感受，二者并存而不相互抵消，恰见人情之复杂。后世论白诗者，或病其有时过于浅率，然如村夜此等小诗，于平淡中见层次、于静景中藏波澜，正显其大匠运斤、举重若轻之能。今人读之，亦每于喧嚣尘世中，从此一片荞麦花雪里觅得片刻清凉。此诗向来以清丽自然见称，月明荞麦花如雪一句尤被推为写月下田野之绝笔，于平淡中见层次、于静景中藏波澜，恰显大匠运斤之妙，今人读之亦每得片刻清凉。月明荞麦花如雪一句尤被推为写月下田野之绝笔，于平淡中见层次、于静景中藏波澜，恰显大匠运斤之妙；今人读之亦每于喧嚣尘世中，从此一片花雪里觅得片刻清凉，足证其穿越古今的感染力。此诗不著一愁字而愁在其中，不著一喜字而喜溢言表，前两句的孤寂是真实心境，后两句的惊喜也是真实感受，孤独中忽遇美景，愁绪虽未全消，却被自然的辽阔冲淡了几分。这种哀而不伤、乐而不淫的节制，正是白居易闲适诗最高明处，亦使一片村野小景生出了悠远的人情厚度，读来如见月下花田、泠然生凉，于平淡中见真趣，于清景中见深情。其哀而不伤、乐而不淫的节制，使一片村野小景生出了悠远的人情厚度，足为白诗闲适一体之冠。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (level-opening, first line no rhyme)七言绝句

Rhyme Rhymes on entering-tone group 9 Xue: qie, jue, xue. All oblique rhymes, syllables short and concluding, matching the cool autumn-night tone.绝句首句入韵，韵脚绝、雪，属平水韵入声九屑部，一韵到底。

Tone pattern First line 'frosted grass vast insects shrill' stacks reduplicatives, fine and broken syllables; last line 'bright moon buckwheat flowers like snow' spreads level-oblique, one urgent one slow, exactly fitting the emotional turn from lonely to open.仄起首句入韵体，句式为仄仄平平平仄仄、平平平仄仄平平，平仄谐协，符合七绝格律。

Reading note Quatrains rhyming on oblique tones are rare; this one closes on entering-tone rhymes, each word short as frost-fall and insect-chirp, sound matching scene — a rare fine work of Bai Juyi.此诗为七言绝句，体制短小却章法完整。首句霜草苍苍虫切切为七言带叠字，苍苍、切切双声叠韵，读来声情凄婉，与秋夜孤寂之情相契；次句村南村北行人绝以复辞村南村北铺展空间，绝字收束有力。后两句独出前门望野田、月明荞麦花如雪，由抑转扬，句式由密转疏，节奏随心境豁然开朗。入声韵绝、雪短促收束，恰如月光下花影一闪而余味悠长。绝句贵在含蓄有余，此诗前冷后明，于二十八字中藏情绪之转折，最见七绝以少总多之能。入声韵绝、雪短促收束，恰如月光下花影一闪而余味悠长，前冷后明、于二十八字中藏情绪转折，最见七绝以少总多、声尽意不尽之能。

Line by line

霜草苍苍虫切切，村南村北行人绝。

Frosted grasses are hoar and dim; insects chirp keenly; north and south of the village, not a traveler.

秋霜覆盖的野草一片苍白，秋虫切切地鸣叫不停；村子南北再看不见一个行人。

The frosted grass lies pale and gray; insects chirp without cease; north and south of the village, not a soul passes.

开篇十四字，一句写色，一句写声，一句写寂，三重笔墨叠加出秋夜村落的荒寒孤清。霜草苍苍状野草经霜后的灰白衰飒，是视觉之冷；虫切切以虫鸣的凄急反衬四野之死寂，是听觉之冷；村南村北行人绝则点出人迹断绝，将空间铺展到整个村落而一无所见。三者合力，遂使孤寂之感弥漫全篇，为后文独出前门的行动与望见花雪的惊喜蓄足了情绪反差，是欲扬先抑章法中抑的笔力所在。且前两句之孤寂乃真实心境，后两句之惊喜亦真实感受，二者并存而不相消，恰见人情之复杂与白诗体物之细。

The opening fourteen characters, one line writing color, one sound, one stillness, three layers of brush overlaying the desolate cold and solitude of the autumn village night. Frosted grasses are hoar and dim writes the gray withered wild grass after frost, the cold of sight; insects chirp keenly writes the insects' mournful rapid chirp setting off the dead silence of the wilds, the cold of hearing; north and south of the village, not a traveler points the traces' severance, spreading the space over the whole village yet seeing nothing. The three together make the loneliness pervade the whole, gathering the emotional contrast for the later action of going out the front gate and the surprise at the flowers like snow, the suppressing force of the method of suppressing before rising. And the loneliness of the first two lines is the true mood, the surprise of the last two the true feeling, the two coexisting without canceling, exactly showing the complexity of human feeling and Bai's minute observation of things.

独出前门望野田，月明荞麦花如雪。

Alone I go out the front gate and gaze at the wild fields; in the moonlight the buckwheat flowers are white as snow.

我独自走出门前，眺望空旷的田野，只见月光皎洁，荞麦花开得一片雪白。

Alone I step out the front gate and gaze across the fields; in the moonlight the buckwheat blooms are as white as snow.

此联于前句极写孤寂之后，忽作转折：诗人独出前门，目光由村落移向空阔野田，而后猛然撞见月明之下荞麦花白如雪的奇景。独字呼应前文行人绝的孤身，望字领起视野的开阔，而月明荞麦花如雪则以雪喻花，将秋夜的清辉与花海的纯白融为一幅澄明画卷。情绪由抑转扬，孤寂并未消散，却被自然的辽阔冲淡了几分。这一句既是全诗最亮之笔，也最见白诗于平淡中藏惊喜、于村野间得天真的本领，读之如见月下花田、泠然生凉。这一片雪白不惟写色，更暗含秋夜之寒，色温境交融，遂使惊喜中仍带清冷，情绪层次远较寻常写景为厚。

This couplet, after the previous line's extreme writing of loneliness, suddenly turns: the poet alone goes out the front gate, the gaze moving from the village to the open wild fields, and then suddenly comes upon the wonder of the buckwheat flowers white as snow under the moon. The word alone echoes the lone figure of not a traveler before; the word gaze leads the opening of the view; and in the moonlight the buckwheat flowers are white as snow uses snow for the flowers, fusing the autumn night's clear moonlight and the pure white of the flower sea into a transparent picture. The emotion turns from suppression to rise, the loneliness not dispersed, yet diluted a little by nature's vastness. This line is at once the brightest brush of the whole and the most showing of Bai's craft of hiding surprise in the plain and finding innocence in the village wilds, reading it as if seeing the moonlit flower field, cool and clear. This white expanse writes not only color, but secretly holds the autumn night's cold, color, temperature, and realm fused, so the surprise still carries a chill, the emotional layers far thicker than ordinary scenery.

Study

Word focus

切切 'Shrill' mimics the insects' fine, hurried sound — onomatopoeia and emotion both. The clearer the insect sound, the stiller the four fields; writing sound to show silence is classic counterpoint, of a piece with 'cicada noise makes the forest more still.' 切切二字状秋虫鸣声，是全诗听觉描写的魂魄所在。此词本有凄急、恳切之意，用于虫鸣则既写出虫声之繁密短促，又暗透出时节将晚、生命将歇的凄清。更妙者在于以声写静：虫声愈是切切不休，愈显村落之夜的空寂无人，正所谓鸟鸣山更幽之理。相较于霜草之静、行人绝之绝，切切以动破静，使前两句的荒寒之境有了细微而持续的脉动，也为抒情主人公的独出望野埋下不安而敏感的基调，炼字之精令人玩味。

如雪 'Like snow' hits three marks at once: the buckwheat's whiteness, the moon's cold clarity, and deep autumn's chill. Using snow to compare flowers avoids cliché precisely because it evokes color, temperature, and season together. 如雪二字是结句诗眼，以雪喻荞麦花之白，看似寻常比喻，实则包蕴多重意涵。一来写花色之纯白无瑕，二来雪字天然带着清寒，暗合秋夜之凉与月色之冷，使色、温、境三者交融；三来雪在古典诗词中常象征高洁与澄明，此处以雪状田间野花，将卑微的农作物点化为月下奇景，见出诗人能从最寻常的村野中发掘诗意的能力。二字收束全篇，把前文积累的低郁孤寂一举荡开，化为一片皎洁，是举重若轻的妙笔。

村夜