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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

寒食夜

The Night of the Cold Food Festival

韩偓

Han Wo

恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红。
夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中。

A chill that creeps and a wind that gently cuts; the little plum sheds its snow-petals, the apricot blossoms blaze red.
Deep in the night the swing's ropes hang slantwise;
towers and pavilions are hazy in the misty rain.
Listen

Meaning

On the Cold Food night a light chill and a keen wind blow; the plum sheds its white petals like snow while apricot blossoms glow red. Deep at night the swing ropes hang crooked and unused, and towers and pavilions dissolve in misty rain. The quatrain writes the festival's after-hours emptiness: beauty without people, a scene of tender, fading loneliness.

恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红。夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A creeping chill, a wind that cuts softly; the small plum scatters petals like snow, and the apricot blossoms burn red. Late at night the swing's rope hangs aslant, untended; the towers and pavilions stand hazy in misty rain. [Imagery] Two colors dominate, white and red, snow-petals and apricot bloom, set against the grey haze of the closing scene. The swing, motionless and empty, is the poem's one trace of human absence. [Technique] Han Wo's genius is the double adverb: creeping and gently make the cold and wind tactile, almost timid. The poem moves from color in the first couplet to mist in the second, from day's brilliance to night's blur, a miniature fade like the festival itself dissolving into rain.

【白话串讲】 韩偓写《寒食夜》：“恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红”——“夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中”——他写寒食夜——楼阁朦胧烟雨中。 【意象与手法】 “恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红”写轻寒风梅杏红；“夜深斜搭秋千索”写秋千索；结以“楼阁朦胧烟雨中”写楼阁烟雨。婉约夜景。 【情感与主旨】 韩偓写寒食夜之作，写轻寒小梅、斜搭秋千与楼阁朦胧烟雨的夜景，是写寒食夜景的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红”写寒食春景；“夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中”写楼阁烟雨。

Background

Han Wo (ca. 842-ca. 923), courtesy name Zhiyao, was a late Tang poet from Wannian near Chang'an who served at court and remained loyal to the dying dynasty. He is known for the delicate, fragrant style of his lyrics, the tradition later critics called the fragrant and ornate manner. This quatrain on the Cold Food night belongs to his festival and seasonal poems, where his skill at rendering atmosphere, light, chill, color, and mist, is displayed at its most economical.

《寒食夜》为唐代诗人韩偓所作诗。韩偓（约842—约923），字致尧，京兆万年人，唐代诗人。此诗写节序夜景，为寒食夜之作。诗中「恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红」写恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红；「夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中」写夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中。韩偓此诗以节序夜景、楼阁朦胧烟雨中写其夜景之情，婉约夜景，是韩偓诗中的名篇。此篇《寒食夜》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《寒食夜》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《寒食夜》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The quatrain is built on sensory gradation. The first couplet attacks with color and touch: creeping and gently cutting make the chill and wind physically felt, while the little plum shedding its snow and the apricot blossoms blazing red set white against red, spring at its most vivid. The second couplet dissolves all that color: the swing hangs slantwise, with no one to use it, and the pavilions blur into misty rain. The poem's arc is a fade, from brightness to haze, from festival day to empty night. Han Wo never mentions a person, yet the unused swing and the blurred towers fill the poem with absence; this is his fragrant, delicate manner at its most refined, feeling carried entirely by weather and color.

此诗艺术上以「婉约夜景、以风写情」见长。全诗共四句两联，由恻恻轻寒翦翦风而夜深斜搭秋千索。起「恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红」写恻恻轻寒翦翦风：恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红；结「夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中」写夜深斜搭秋千索：夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中。全诗以风写情，由恻恻轻寒翦翦风而楼阁朦胧烟雨中，婉约夜景，是韩偓诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

The poem's allusions live in its imagery. The Cold Food festival traditionally included swinging on the swing, a custom especially associated with the festival, so the swing hanging slantwise at night marks the festival's end and the absence of its players. The little plum shedding its snow plays on the classical likeness of plum petals to snow, a commonplace of spring poetry, while apricot red against it is the standard pairing of the season. Misty rain evokes the atmospheric haze of southern spring that late Tang poets made their own. Nothing is paraded; the poem's charm is its accumulation of familiar spring materials into a single, hushed night.

诗中「恻恻轻寒翦翦风小梅飘雪杏花红」「夜深斜搭秋千索楼阁朦胧烟雨中」等语，皆含典故故实。「恻恻轻寒翦翦风小梅飘雪杏花红」写恻恻轻寒翦翦风小梅飘雪杏花红；「夜深斜搭秋千索楼阁朦胧烟雨中」写夜深斜搭秋千索楼阁朦胧烟雨中。诗人以轻寒、秋千等语入诗，不着痕迹，而把节序夜景之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

The Night of the Cold Food Festival is Han Wo's most famous quatrain, long anthologized for its atmosphere. Critics of the fragrant and ornate school saw in lines like a chill that creeps and a wind that gently cuts the perfection of their aesthetic: feeling rendered through the most delicate physical sensation. The closing image of towers and pavilions hazy in the misty rain has been compared to a painting's final wash of ink, the festival's colors dissolving into a blurred, tender night. Later readers noted how the poem turns a public festival into a private hush, the swing, the pavilions, and the rain all emptied of people, a small masterpiece of late Tang mood.

这首《寒食夜》，是韩偓写节序夜景之作，写恻恻轻寒翦翦风、夜深斜搭秋千索、楼阁朦胧烟雨中之情，婉约夜景。起「恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红」——恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红。写恻恻轻寒翦翦风：恻恻轻寒翦翦风、小梅飘雪杏花红——轻寒翦翦风、飘雪杏花红；结「夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中」——夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中。写夜深斜搭秋千索：夜深斜搭秋千索、楼阁朦胧烟雨中——斜搭秋千索、朦胧烟雨中。这「夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中」，是全诗之结：以楼阁朦胧烟雨中写其夜景。全诗婉约夜景，以风写情，正是韩偓诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qijue)诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme A four-line quatrain on the eastern rhyme group, with red and in the rain: a deep, level, echoing rhyme whose somber fullness supports the closing wash of mist.此诗为七言绝句，共四句两联。押韵：「红」「中」押东部韵。前两句起、后两句转合，平仄相间，正与写节序夜景的婉约夜景相称，也见其以七绝写夜景的凝练。
Tone pattern Two balanced couplets: the first piles up sensation and color, the second withdraws into haze and silence. The even seven-character measure moves slowly, matching the poem's fade from brightness to blur.句式上，「恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红」写恻恻轻寒翦翦风，音节婉约；结「夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中」写夜深斜搭秋千索，音节悠长。全诗音节随情起伏，由婉约而悠长，正合七绝「凝练」之妙，读来如节序夜景、楼阁朦胧烟雨中之音，婉约而动人。
Reading note Han Wo's quatrain is a study in tonal atmosphere: the deep eastern rhyme gives the poem a resonant, muffled sound, as if the verse itself were wrapped in mist. The first couplet should be voiced in bright, crisp tones, plum snow and apricot fire, then the voice should soften and blur through slantwise and misty rain until the poem ends in a wash of grey. This is the fragrant and delicate late Tang style at its most economical: a whole festival night in twenty-eight characters.此诗为七言绝句，是韩偓写节序夜景之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「婉约夜景、以风写情」：「恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红」写恻恻轻寒翦翦风、「夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中」写夜深斜搭秋千索。全诗婉约夜景，以风写情。尤为精妙者，是「恻恻轻寒翦翦风」写尽翦翦风；而「楼阁朦胧烟雨中」写尽烟雨中，正是韩偓诗「婉约夜景」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《寒食夜》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红。

A chill that creeps and a wind that gently cuts; the little plum sheds its snow-petals, the apricot blossoms blaze red.

恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红。

A faint chill, a keen wind; small pear blossoms drift like snow, the apricot red.

起句写恻恻轻寒翦翦风，起笔即见其轻寒。「恻恻轻寒翦翦风」写恻恻轻寒翦翦风，「恻恻轻寒」写恻恻轻寒、「翦翦风」写翦翦风；「小梅飘雪杏花红」写小梅飘雪杏花红，「小梅飘雪」写小梅飘雪、「杏花红」写杏花红。一句写恻恻轻寒翦翦风小梅飘雪杏花红，以恻恻轻寒翦翦风写翦翦风、以小梅飘雪杏花红写杏花红，写尽恻恻轻寒翦翦风、小梅飘雪杏花红之情。以寒起兴，婉约而夜景，是「以寒起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line writes the keen faint chill and the wind, the pear blossoms drifting like snow against the red apricot; rising through the cold, it is tender and nocturnal, setting the hazy spring-night mood.

夜深斜搭秋千索，

Deep in the night the swing's ropes hang slantwise,

夜深斜搭秋千索，

Deep night, the swing rope slants and lies.

此句写夜深斜搭秋千索，是全诗写秋千之态的关键。「夜深斜搭」写夜深斜搭，「夜深」写夜深、「斜搭」写斜搭；「秋千索」写秋千索，「秋千」写秋千、「索」写索。一句写夜深斜搭秋千索，以夜深斜搭写斜搭、以秋千索写秋千索，写尽夜深斜搭秋千索之情。以索写景，婉约而夜景，是「以索写景」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

This line writes deep night and the slanted, abandoned swing rope; through the rope it writes the stillness after play, the deserted swing of a festival night.

楼阁朦胧烟雨中。

Towers and pavilions are hazy in the misty rain.

楼阁朦胧烟雨中。

The towers and terraces are dim in misty rain.

结句写楼阁朦胧烟雨中，是全诗立意的落点。「楼阁朦胧」写楼阁朦胧，「楼阁」写楼阁、「朦胧」写朦胧；「烟雨中」写烟雨中，「烟雨」写烟雨、「中」写中。一句写楼阁朦胧烟雨中，以楼阁朦胧写朦胧、以烟雨中写烟雨中，写尽楼阁朦胧烟雨中之情。以雨写情，婉约而夜景，是全诗最动人处，也是「以雨写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

The closing line writes the towers and terraces dim in misty rain; through the rain it lands the feeling — the dim, drenched buildings as the poem's most moving point, a hazy, tender close.

Study

Word focus

轻寒 Light chill: the barely felt cold of early spring. Its gentleness is the point, for the poem's world is one of faint, creeping sensations, not harsh weather. 「轻寒」写恻恻轻寒翦翦风，是写轻寒之态的关键。「恻恻轻寒翦翦风」着一「轻寒」，写轻寒——着一「轻寒」，写恻恻轻寒翦翦风，见其寒之轻。两字写尽轻寒之态，是「以词写寒」的妙笔。「轻寒」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
小梅 Little plum: the small plum tree shedding white petals like snow. Plum and snow is a classical pairing; here it supplies the poem's white note against the apricot's red. 「小梅」写小梅飘雪杏花红，是写小梅之态的关键。「小梅飘雪杏花红」着一「小梅」，写小梅——着一「小梅」，写小梅飘雪杏花红，见其梅之小。两字写尽小梅之态，是「以词写梅」的点睛之词。「小梅」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
秋千 Swing: the traditional Cold Food festival amusement. Hanging slantwise and unused at night, it is the poem's one human trace, and its emptiness measures the festival's end. 「秋千」写夜深斜搭秋千索，是写秋千之态的关键。「夜深斜搭秋千索」着一「秋千」，写秋千——着一「秋千」，写夜深斜搭秋千索，见其千之秋。两字写尽秋千之态，是「以词写千」的点睛之词。「秋千」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
烟雨 Misty rain: the fine rain and haze that dissolve the scene. The word closes the poem in grey blur, turning the day's bright colors into a tender, indefinite night. 「烟雨」写楼阁朦胧烟雨中，是写烟雨之态的关键。「楼阁朦胧烟雨中」着一「烟雨」，写烟雨——着一「烟雨」，写楼阁朦胧烟雨中，见其雨之烟。两字写尽烟雨之态，是「以词写雨」的点睛之词。「烟雨」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

水调歌头·明月几时有 Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Bright? 苏轼 · 同写夜景感怀、婉约旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写恻恻轻寒翦翦风小梅飘雪杏花红，皆于夜景之中见婉约 Two night atmospheres: the philosopher's cosmic moon and the lyricist's misty rain.

Su Shi's night rises, as he dances with his clear shadow and asks what is there in the heavens, into philosophical freedom; Han Wo's night sinks into misty rain and blurred pavilions. Both write the loneliness of night, but Su Shi conquers it with imagination while Han Wo dissolves in it: two perfect, opposite night moods.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写夜景感怀、婉约旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；韩偓《寒食夜》则以「恻恻轻寒翦翦风，小梅飘雪杏花红」「楼阁朦胧烟雨中」写杏花红、烟雨中。两诗同写夜景感怀、婉约旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写恻恻轻寒翦翦风小梅飘雪杏花红、以轻寒写夜景；一为苏轼之旷达、一为韩偓之婉约，并读正可见诗写「夜景感怀」的两种笔法，皆于夜景之中见婉约。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of Ganzhou: Facing the Evening Rain Sweeping the River Sky 柳永 · 同写楼阁凝望、婉约清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写夜深斜搭秋千索楼阁朦胧烟雨中，皆于楼阁之中见凝望 Two scenes of rain-viewing from above: the traveler's vast river sky and the lyricist's hazy towers.

Liu Yong looks out at an evening rain sweeping the river sky and grieves for home across a landscape; Han Wo looks out from a tower into misty rain and a blurred world. Both write standing high and gazing into rain, but Liu Yong's sorrow has geography while Han Wo's has only atmosphere: the same gesture at two scales of feeling.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写楼阁凝望、婉约清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；韩偓《寒食夜》则以「夜深斜搭秋千索，楼阁朦胧烟雨中」「小梅飘雪杏花红」写秋千索、烟雨中。两诗同写楼阁凝望、婉约清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写夜深斜搭秋千索楼阁朦胧烟雨中、以秋千写夜景；一为柳永之清丽、一为韩偓之婉约，并读正可见诗写「楼阁凝望」的两种笔法，皆于楼阁之中见凝望。