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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

十五夜望月

Moon Gazing on the Fifteenth Night

王建

Wang Jian

思乡Homesickness 中秋Mid-Autumn 怀人Remembering someone

中庭地白树栖鸦，冷露无声湿桂花。
今夜月明人尽望，不知秋思落谁家。

In the court the ground is white, a crow roosts in the tree; the cold dew, silent, wets the osmanthus.
Tonight the bright moon, all gaze; who knows where this autumn thought will fall?

Listen

Meaning

On the Mid-Autumn night Wang Jian stands in his court, gazing at the moon and longing for those far away. From his own autumn thought he reaches all who look up at the same moon, and in the closing line makes the formless 'autumn thought' something that can 'fall.' A clear, round Mid-Autumn poem of homesickness.

庭院中月色如霜，一片洁白，树上栖息着乌鸦。冷冷的露水悄无声息地打湿了桂花。今夜明月当空，人人都在仰望，却不知这茫茫的秋思，究竟落在了谁家。

Appreciation

The first two lines paint scene: 'ground is white' writes frost-like moonlight; 'crow roosts in the tree' sets night by stillness; 'cold dew, silent, wets the osmanthus' shows cold and osmanthus scent in the细微, hinting Mid-Autumn. The last two move from scene to feeling: 'all gaze' opens to the whole world under one moon; 'who knows where the autumn thought will fall' ends in question, making the abstract autumn thought a tangible thing that falls, a fresh conception, long resonance, from self to others, scene turning to void.

【白话串讲】 “今夜月明人尽望，不知秋思落谁家”——中秋夜，天下人都抬头望月，可那份秋思，不知落在了谁家。王建不写自己，却让每个望月的人都对号入座。【意象与手法】前两句写景，层层铺染中秋月色：「中庭地白」以月光写庭院，如霜似雪，暗用李白「疑是地上霜」之意；「树栖鸦」以鸟宿写夜深人静，鸦声已息，愈显庭院之清寂；「冷露无声湿桂花」于细微处着笔，以「湿」字写出秋露之冷、夜气之深，桂香与月光交织，暗点中秋。后两句由景入情：「今夜月明人尽望」陡然拓开，由庭院一隅推及天下之人；「不知秋思落谁家」以问收束，将抽象的秋思化为可「落」的实物，化虚为实，构思尖新。全诗由近及远、由实入虚，意境清空。【情感与主旨】王建为中唐诗人，此诗一题《十五夜望月寄杜郎中》，写于中秋之夜，为寄赠友人之作。十五夜即农历八月十五，唐人已有中秋赏月之俗。诗人独立中庭，望月怀远，本是一己的秋思，却不说破思谁，而问「秋思落谁家」，将个体的情怀推衍为天下望月人共有的怅惘，由己及人，含蓄深婉。诗中不着一「愁」字，而清冷月色、寒露桂香、望月人群之间，弥漫的尽是挥之不去的秋思。【名句点睛】结句「不知秋思落谁家」为全诗点睛之笔：一个「落」字，将无形无迹的「秋思」化为有形可落之物，化虚为实，新颖警策；「谁家」之问又不落言筌，既含诗人自己的怀人之思，又涵盖天下所有望月之人，怅惘之情弥漫无际，是唐诗中写秋思的经典名句。

Background

Wang Jian, a mid-Tang poet, wrote this on the Mid-Autumn night. The fifteenth night is the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month, when custom gazes at the moon. Standing alone in his court, he looks at the moon and longs for the far, pushing from his own autumn thought to all who gaze. The closing line cleverly makes 'autumn thought' a thing that can 'fall.' With his hundred 'Palace Poems' it shows his seven-character quatrains also master the empty, clear realm.

王建（约767—约830），字仲初，颍川（今河南许昌）人，中唐著名诗人。他出身寒微，一生仕途蹇滞，曾从军塞上，后任昭应县丞、太府寺丞、秘书丞、陕州司马等职，晚年退居咸阳原，生活清苦。王建与张籍齐名，并称「张王乐府」，其乐府诗多写民生疾苦；又以《宫词》百首闻名于世，为后人留下了宫中生活的珍贵画卷。此诗一题《十五夜望月寄杜郎中》，显为中秋望月寄赠友人之作。「十五夜」即农历八月十五中秋之夜，唐代中秋赏月之俗已盛，玄宗时更有「八月十五夜，与太真临太液池，凭栏望月」的传说，士人于中秋设宴赏月、吟诗酬和，蔚为风气。诗人于中秋之夜独立中庭，月白露冷，桂香暗度，遂将一己的秋思写入诗中；由「人尽望」的推衍可见，诗人所感并非一人之私，而是天下游子共同的怅惘，这与中唐士人普遍的家国漂泊感、人生迟暮感相通。全诗以清空之笔写普遍之思，正是王建七绝「调清丽而思深」的典型风貌。又王建与张籍为挚友，二人同以新乐府名世，王建另有《望夫石》《水夫谣》等反映民间疾苦之作；然其七绝小诗亦复清丽可诵，《十五夜望月》之外，如《雨过山村》《江馆》皆以白描写景见长，可见其诗才之全面。

Art

First two lines paint scene: 'ground is white' writes frost-like moonlight; 'crow roosts' sets night by stillness; 'cold dew, silent, wets the osmanthus' shows cold and scent, hinting the festival. Last two move to feeling: 'all gaze' opens the world to one moon; 'who knows where the autumn thought will fall' ends in question, making abstract autumn thought a falling thing, fresh, from self to others, scene to void.

此诗章法上紧下松、由实入虚，是七绝中清空一格的代表。前两句纯写景，构筑中秋夜的具体情境：首句「中庭地白树栖鸦」七字含三重意象——「中庭」点地点，「地白」写月色如霜铺满庭院（暗用李白「床前明月光，疑是地上霜」之意境），「树栖鸦」以鸦宿写夜深人静，鸦已栖而不啼，愈衬庭院之清寂，以动（地白月明）与静（树栖鸦）交织出清冷画面。次句「冷露无声湿桂花」于细微处着笔，「冷露」写秋夜之寒，「无声」以静写动，露水悄然降落，竟「湿」了桂花——桂香与月色交融，暗点中秋（月中桂树的传说与人间桂香双关）。后两句转写人事：「今夜月明人尽望」陡然由一己拓开，写天下之人同望此月，「尽」字囊括万有，境界由庭院一隅推及天地之间；「不知秋思落谁家」以问作结，将抽象无形的秋思化为可「落」的实物，化虚为实，且问而不答，把怅惘留给读者。全诗由景及人、由实入虚，前两句清冷，后两句空灵，构思尖新而不失浑成。且全诗由听觉（栖鸦）、触觉（冷露）、嗅觉（桂花）、视觉（月色）多感官并用，层层渲染中秋夜境，后二句则以「人尽望」的群像与「落谁家」的悬问收束，以小诗而具大开阖之势。

Allusions

'Osmanthus' is double: the mid-autumn moon's osmanthus tree (myth: Wu Gang fells the osmanthus) and the earthly osmanthus scent, hinting the festival. 'Autumn thought' comes from the traditional autumn-lament (as the Nineteen Old Poems 'what of autumn thought'). 'Ground is white' echoes Li Bai's 'before my bed the moonlight, suspected frost on the ground.' The allusions melt without trace, using Mid-Autumn images for universal homesickness.

此诗用典融化无迹，深得唐人「用典如己出」之妙。其一，「地白」暗用李白《静夜思》「床前明月光，疑是地上霜」之意：李白以月光疑霜，王建更直接以「地白」状月，二字即摄尽李白两句之神，使读者一见「地白」便知月明，这是典故的化用而非搬用。其二，「桂花」双关：既指人间庭院中实有的桂花树，又暗指月中桂树——神话谓月中有桂，吴刚伐桂，桂树随斫随合，故「桂花」实为中秋的节令符号，一「湿」字写露湿桂花的细节，同时把天上与人间、神话与实景绾合在一起。其三，「秋思」承悲秋传统：自宋玉《九辩》「悲哉秋之为气也」发端，悲秋成为中国文学的重要母题，张翰「莼鲈之思」、曹丕《燕歌行》「秋风萧瑟天气凉」皆其流裔，「秋思」二字正是这一传统的凝缩。其四，望月怀远亦是旧题：谢庄《月赋》「隔千里兮共明月」、张九龄「海上生明月，天涯共此时」，皆以明月为异地相思之媒，王建「人尽望」三字正承此脉而更推及普天之下。四重典故化入景语情语，浑然一体。其五，「望月」之俗至唐代极盛，《开元天宝遗事》载玄宗与杨贵妃中秋望月，民间亦于八月十五玩月赋诗；王建此诗正是在这一节令文化的土壤中写成的，故「人尽望」三字有深厚的民俗依据，非泛泛之语。

Commentary

Qing scholar Shen Deqian's Tang Poetry Selection praised the 'fall' character as 'new and fine.' This poem, with Du Mu's 'Autumn Eve' and Bai Juyi's Mid-Autumn poems, mourns the Mid-Autumn. Wang Jian's quatrains are known for 'clear tune, deep thought' (Hu Zhenheng); this one is prized for its empty roundness and fresh close.

此诗历来为选家所重。清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评曰：「『落』字新隽。」一语道破结句「秋思落谁家」炼字之妙——「落」字把无形的秋思写得可落可拾，新警尖新，为全诗诗眼。沈德潜又谓此诗「语意清远」，正合王建七绝「调清丽而思深」的总体风貌（胡震亨《唐音癸签》评王建乐府与宫词，谓其「思深语丽」，此诗亦然）。近人俞陛云《诗境浅说》论唐人中秋诗，谓此诗与杜甫《月夜》、白居易《中秋月》等同写望月而各极其妙：杜诗对面落笔、白诗直抒情怀，王诗则以「人尽望」推及天下、以「落谁家」宕开一笔，含蓄空灵，别是一家。今人论唐诗中的「秋思」，多以此诗与张籍《秋思》（「洛阳城里见秋风」）并举，一以清空之笔写普遍怅惘，一以具体细节写家书之难寄，各擅胜场。此诗以二十八字写尽中秋月色与天下秋思，清空圆转、结句尖新，千载以下犹能动人，正是其艺术生命所在。尤可注意者，此诗题中「寄杜郎中」三字点明赠答背景，而诗中却无一语提及友人，唯以「秋思落谁家」的悬问作结，把对友人的思念融进普天之下的秋思之中，赠答诗而能如此脱略形迹，正是大家手笔。历代论者每以此诗与张继《枫桥夜泊》并提，一写秋夜之愁、一写羁旅之思，皆以二十八字营造出弥漫全篇的情绪氛围，可见中唐七绝在含蓄蕴藉一路上的高度成熟。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Pingshui rhyme, lower-level sixth Ma (鸦, 花, 家)首句入韵，押平水韵下平六麻韵（鸦、花、家）

Tone pattern Level-onset, first line enters rhyme平起首句入韵式（首句平平仄仄仄平平），一三五不论、二四六分明

Reading note Mid-Autumn moon-gazing and longing; close turns virtual to real此诗为七言绝句，平起首句入韵，首句「中庭地白树栖鸦」即入韵，押平水韵下平六麻韵（鸦、花、家）。全诗四句二十八字，平仄严整：首句平平仄仄仄平平，次句仄仄平平仄仄平，三句平仄仄平平仄仄（首字「今」以平代仄，一三五不论），四句平平仄仄仄平平，二四六字分明合律。绝句体制短小，贵在含蓄，此诗正得其中三昧：前两句写景，一静一动、一实一虚，铺染中秋月色；后两句抒情，由「人尽望」的群像转到「落谁家」的悬问，一问收束，情韵悠长。韵脚「鸦」「花」「家」皆平声，声调清亮悠扬，与月色桂香的清空之境相称；「家」字又暗扣「谁家」之问，韵与意合。全诗以平声韵写清冷之境，声情相谐，读之如闻秋夜桂香，袅袅不绝，故为唐诗中秋绝句中的上品。

Line by line

中庭地白树栖鸦

In the court the ground is white, a crow roosts in the tree.

庭院中月色如霜，一片洁白，树上栖息着乌鸦。

In the courtyard, the ground white as frost, cocks roosting in the trees.

首句七字写庭院中秋夜景，凝练而富层次。「中庭」点出望月之地——庭院是居所与天地之间的过渡，独处中庭，正见诗人与世疏离的清寂姿态；「地白」二字写月光，不直言月而月色自见，如霜似雪的洁白铺满地面，暗用李白「疑是地上霜」之意境，却更简洁；「树栖鸦」以鸦之栖息写夜深人静——鸦本夜啼之鸟，今已栖而不鸣，正说明夜已深沉、万籁俱寂，以无声写有声，以静景衬清夜。三组意象由地面到树梢，由月光到栖鸦，视线由低到高、由静入静，构成一幅清冷的中秋夜庭院图。尤妙者，「栖鸦」又暗含「乌鹊南飞，绕树三匝」的漂泊联想，为全诗的秋思主题预埋伏笔，读至结句方知其妙。

The opening seven words write the mid-autumn night scene in the courtyard, concise and layered. 'In the courtyard' names the place of gazing at the moon — the courtyard the transition between dwelling and heaven, alone in the courtyard, precisely showing the poet's clear, detached posture from the world; 'the ground white' writes the moonlight, not saying the moon and the moon of itself, the frost-like, snow-like whiteness covering the ground, secretly using Li Bai's 'I suspect it's frost on the ground', yet the more concise; 'cocks roosting in the trees' writes the night's depth and the stillness through the roosting crows — the crow a night-crying bird, now roosting and not calling, showing the night deepened, the universal silence, writing the sound through the soundless, setting off the clear night through the still scene. Three groups of images from the ground to the treetops, from moonlight to roosting crows, the sight from low to high, from still to still, forming a cold, clear mid-autumn courtyard. The more exquisite, 'roosting crows' secretly holds the drifting association of 'the magpies fly south, circling the trees three times', planting the groundwork for the poem's autumn-longing theme, the ingenuity known only at the closing line.

冷露无声湿桂花

The cold dew, silent, wets the osmanthus.

冷冷的露水悄无声息地打湿了桂花。

The cold dew, soundless, wets the cassia flowers.

此句是全诗最细腻的一笔，于细微处见节令与心境。「冷露」写秋夜之寒，露为秋之信使，着一「冷」字，寒意透骨，既是节令实感，也是诗人内心的清冷；「无声」以静写动，露之降落本无声音，「无声」二字反衬夜的静谧，与「树栖鸦」的静境相承，愈静愈冷；「湿桂花」于无声处见变化——露水悄然凝聚，竟将桂花打湿，一个「湿」字写出过程与结果，体物入微。桂花又双关中秋：人间桂香与月中桂树（吴刚伐桂的神话）在此叠合，暗点八月十五的节令，桂花的清芬与冷露的寒意交织，嗅觉与触觉并用。全句以极细微的动态写极深沉的静谧，动静相生，冷香浮动，把中秋之夜的清冷写到骨子里，也为后文的「秋思」作了最充分的环境渲染。

This line is the finest stroke of the poem, the season and the mood seen in the minute. 'The cold dew' the autumn night's chill, the dew the autumn's messenger, the one word 'cold' the chill striking to the bone, at once the season's real feeling and the poet's inner cold; 'soundless' writes motion through stillness, the dew's falling of itself no sound, the two words 'soundless' setting off the night's silence, carrying on the stillness of 'cocks roosting in the trees', the stiller the colder; 'wets the cassia flowers' the change seen in the soundless — the dew quietly gathering, and actually wetting the cassia, the one word 'wets' writing the process and the result, the observation minute. The cassia also doubles the mid-autumn: the human cassia scent and the moon's cassia tree (the myth of Wu Gang felling the cassia) layered here, secretly naming the fifteenth of the eighth month, the cassia's clear fragrance and the cold dew's chill interwoven, smell and touch both used. The whole line, through the minutest motion, writes the deepest stillness, motion and stillness giving birth, the cold fragrance floating, writing the mid-autumn night's cold to the bone, and the fullest environmental groundwork for the later 'autumn longing'.

今夜月明人尽望

Tonight the moon is bright, and all men gaze.

今夜明月当空，人人都在仰望。

Tonight the moon shines bright, and all the world gazes up.

此句是全诗由一己推及天下人的转折，境界陡然拓开。「今夜月明」回扣题面「十五夜」，点明中秋望月之时；「人尽望」三字则把镜头从诗人一人的中庭拉开，推向普天之下——今夜圆月当空，富贵贫贱、南来北往之人，谁不抬头望月？一个「尽」字囊括万有，写尽天下人同望一月的盛况，也暗中点出中秋望月之俗的普遍。然而「尽望」二字的分量不止于此：人人望月，而月下之人各有怀抱——游子在望故乡，思妇在望征人，离人在望团圆，诗人则在望友人。诗人不说破众人的心思，只以「人尽望」轻轻带过，便为结句「秋思落谁家」的叩问张本：正因为人人皆望，秋思才不知落在谁家。由一己之望推到万人之望，由具体之情升为普遍之思，此句正是全诗由实入虚的枢纽。

This line is the poem's turn from the self to all men, the realm suddenly opened. 'Tonight the moon is bright' answers the title's 'fifteenth night', naming the mid-autumn moon-gazing hour; the words 'all men gaze' pull the camera from the poet's single courtyard to all under heaven — tonight the round moon overhead, rich and poor, south-bound and north-bound, who does not raise his head to the moon? The one word 'all' holds all things, writing to the full the spectacle of all the world gazing at one moon, and secretly naming the universality of the mid-autumn custom. Yet the weight of 'all men gaze' is more than this: all men gaze at the moon, and the men beneath the moon each hold their own heart — the traveler gazing at home, the longing wife at the soldier, the parted at reunion, the poet at his friend. The poet does not spell out the many minds, but passes over them lightly with 'all men gaze', storing the groundwork for the closing question of 'on whose house the autumn longing falls': precisely because all gaze, the autumn longing knows not on whose house it falls. From the self's gaze to the ten thousand's gaze, from the concrete feeling to the universal thought, this line is precisely the poem's pivot from the real to the void.

不知秋思落谁家

Who knows where this autumn thought will fall?

却不知这茫茫的秋思，究竟落在了谁家。

Yet I know not on whose house the autumn longing falls.

结句以问收束，是全诗的诗眼所在，构思尖新，千古传诵。其妙有三：其一，「落」字化虚为实——秋思本是无形的情绪，着一「落」字，便如秋叶、如露珠般可落可拾，可寻可问，把抽象之情写得具体可感，沈德潜评「『落』字新隽」，正指此；其二，「谁家」之问不落言筌——诗人明明自己有秋思，却不说破思在谁身，反问秋思落在谁家，把一己的情怀推衍为普天之下的悬问，人人读之皆以为问到自己，含蓄到极致；其三，问而不答，余味无穷——秋思究竟落谁家，诗人不答，读者自答，怅惘之情随月光弥漫开来，笼罩全诗。以问句作结本是七绝常法，而此句之问既新且隽、既虚且实，故能成为唐诗中秋思题材的绝唱。

The closing line ends in question, the poem's eye, the conception sharp and new, a famous line through the ages. Three beauties: first, the word 'falls' turns the void to the real — autumn longing is originally a formless mood, and with one 'falls', it becomes, like an autumn leaf, like a dew drop, something that can fall and be picked, sought and asked, the abstract feeling made concrete and sensible; Shen Deqian's praise that 'the word falls is new and elegant' points precisely here. Second, the question of 'whose house' is not caught in words — the poet plainly has autumn longing himself, yet does not say whose it rests on, but asks on whose house the longing falls, extending the personal feeling into a question for all under heaven, and every reader takes it as asked of himself, restrained to the extreme. Third, the question unanswered, the aftertaste endless — on whose house does the autumn longing fall, the poet does not answer, the reader answers, and the wistfulness diffuses with the moonlight, overspreading the whole. Closing in question is the quatrain's common craft, yet this question is at once new and elegant, at once void and real, and so became the unmatched song of the autumn-longing theme in Tang poetry.

Study

Word focus

落 Makes the formless autumn thought a thing that can 'fall,' virtual to real, fresh and striking, with the ache of not knowing where it lands; the eye of the poem. 「不知秋思落谁家」之「落」字，是全诗的诗眼，沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评其「新隽」，一语中的。秋思本是无形无迹的心理活动，不可捉摸，诗人着一「落」字，便将它写得如同秋叶飘坠、露珠滴落一般，有形有体、可落可拾、可寻可问，这是「化虚为实」的炼字典范。细味其妙，一在「落」字与全诗意象的贯通：前有「冷露无声湿桂花」的露落，中有「月明」的月光洒落，「落」字承此而下，秋思便如月色露珠般自天而降，落满人间，意象浑然一体；二在「落」字带出的怅惘：「落」有不知所终之意，秋思既落而不知落于谁家，则落处人人自危、处处皆愁，把个体的秋思推广为弥漫天下的普遍怅惘；三在「落」字的声情，入声字短促低回，读之如一声轻叹。一字而意兼三层，故为千古名炼。

湿 'Silent, wets the osmanthus' writes the dew's cold and the night's stillness; 'wet' is细腻, with osmanthus scent, hinting Mid-Autumn. 「冷露无声湿桂花」之「湿」字，是体物入微的炼字典范。露水本是无形的夜气凝结，诗人以「湿」字写出其凝聚成液、浸染桂花的全过程，化无形为有形，细腻至极。此字的妙处有四：其一，「湿」字写出夜的深沉——露能湿花，必是夜已深、露已浓，时间的流逝暗藏其中；其二，「湿」字带出触觉的寒意——「冷露」着「湿」，寒意由肌肤直入心底，与后文「秋思」的清冷相呼应；其三，「湿」字暗通嗅觉——桂花被露打湿，清芬反而更幽更远，湿花之香是最冷冽的秋香，中秋的节令气息扑面而来；其四，「湿」字以静写动——露落无声而花已湿透，过程的悄无声息反衬夜的静谧，动与静在此达到微妙平衡。若易为「打」「沾」等字，则笨拙无味，唯「湿」字自然含蕴，似不着力而境界全出。

尽 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「今夜月明人尽望」之「尽」字，是境界拓开的关键。「尽」者，全部、都也，一个「尽」字把望月之人从诗人一人扩大到普天之下——今夜中秋，圆月当空，无论身在何处、心有何事，人人都抬头望月，盛况可想。此字的分量在于由一己推及万有：诗人不说「我望」，而说「人尽望」，个人的动作变成群体的行为，个体的情感升华为普遍的情境，为结句「秋思落谁家」的叩问作了最充分的铺垫——正因为「尽望」，秋思才可能落在任何一家，也正因为「尽望」，秋思落在谁家才成为无人能答的悬问。同时，「尽」字还暗含时间与空间的广度：今夜同此明月，天下同此秋思，天涯共此一刻，时空的辽阔尽在「尽」字之中。一字而境界全开，与张若虚「何处春江无月明」的「无……不」同一机杼。