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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

早梅

Early Plum

张谓

Zhang Wei

咏物object-singing 报春heralding spring

一树寒梅白玉条，迥临村路傍溪桥。
不知近水花先发，疑是经冬雪未销。

One tree of cold plum, white as jade branches;
Set far from the village road, by the stream-bridge.
I know not that near the water the flowers open first;
I mistook it for last winter's snow, not yet melted.

Listen

Meaning

One tree of early-blooming cold plum is white as jade. It stands far off beside the village road and by the stream-bridge. I know not that near the water the flowers open early; I even suspect it is the snow of winter that has not yet melted.

一树早开的寒梅如白玉般洁白，远远地立在村路之旁、溪桥之畔。不知是因为靠近水边花儿开得早，还疑心是经历了冬天尚未消融的白雪。

Appreciation

This poem enters through an optical illusion, its conception extremely clever. The first two lines 'One tree of cold plum, white as jade branches; set far from the village road, by the stream-bridge' first write the plum's whiteness directly with 'white as jade branches,' and with 'set far' write its standing aloof from the dust, blooming alone; the last two lines 'I know not that near the water the flowers open first; I mistook it for last winter's snow, not yet melted' turn the brush, from fact into doubt: first with 'know not' probe the cause (near water, opens first), then with 'mistook' breed the illusion (snow not melted). To liken plum to snow is common, but the wonder is that the poet does not state the simile outright; instead the word 'mistook' makes the fleeting surprise of plum-and-snow indistinguishable vivid, turning the empty into the strange, clear and lovely.

【白话串讲】 “一树寒梅白玉条，迥临村路傍溪桥”——张谓写早梅：一树白梅像白玉，长在村路旁的溪桥边。“不知近水花先发，疑是经冬雪未销”——还以为是冬天的雪没化，原来是梅花先开了。【意象与手法】此诗艺术上以错觉入诗，构思极巧【情感与主旨】张谓（约711—约778），字正言，河内（今河南沁阳）人，天宝二年进士，大历间官至礼部侍郎，喜交文士【名句点睛】中高考常考炼字与比喻（错觉）。考点一：'疑是经冬雪未销'运用了什么手法？好在哪里？答

Background

Zhang Wei (about 711-about 778), styled Zhengyan, from Henei (today's Qinyang, Henan), a successful candidate of 743, rose by the Dali era to vice-minister of rites, fond of literary company. The 'Early Plum' may have been written in his early years roaming Jiangnan, passing a stream-bridge village road. It was early spring; by the village road and stream-bridge the poet suddenly saw a tree of white plum braving the cold alone, blooming early because the water warmed the ground, and mistook it for leftover snow. The poem catches this instant of visual illusion, writing both the plum's pure herald of spring and the poet's delight in nature's fine detail—a Tang object-poem of novel conception.

此诗为张谓咏梅之作。张谓（约711—约778），字正言，河内（今河南沁阳）人，天宝二年进士，大历年间官至礼部侍郎，与李白、杜甫、王昌龄等皆有交游。此诗写早春溪桥边一树早梅：寒梅如玉，临水先发，诗人初见时竟疑是未消的冬雪。题目“早梅”，着眼于一个“早”字——梅花本已报春最早，此梅近水而开更早，是早中之早。咏物诗贵在传神，此诗不写梅之香、不写梅之姿的全面，只抓住“疑是经冬雪未销”这一刹那的错觉，以错觉写真实、以疑惑写惊喜，把早梅的洁白与早发写得生动传神。张谓一生官至礼部侍郎，然诗名多赖此二十八字传世，可见好诗不在多。

Art

This poem enters through an optical illusion, its conception extremely clever. The first two lines 'One tree of cold plum, white as jade branches; set far from the village road, by the stream-bridge' first write the plum's whiteness directly with 'white as jade branches,' and with 'set far' write its standing aloof, blooming alone; the last two lines 'I know not that near the water the flowers open first; I mistook it for last winter's snow, not yet melted' turn the brush, from fact into doubt: first with 'know not' probe the cause, then with 'mistook' breed the illusion. To liken plum to snow is common, but the wonder is the poet does not state the simile outright; instead the word 'mistook' makes the fleeting surprise vivid, turning the empty into the strange, clear and lovely.

此诗艺术上以错觉入诗，构思极巧。前三句层层铺垫，逼出第四句的错觉：首句“一树寒梅白玉条”直写梅之形色——以“白玉”喻梅枝，洁白而温润，先立其色；“迥临村路傍溪桥”写其位置——远离村路、傍着溪桥，环境清幽，突出其孤高；“不知近水花先发”写其早发之由——因近水而先得春气，花发特早。三句至此，梅的形、境、因已尽，然诗人偏不说破，而以“疑是经冬雪未销”作结：初见时竟疑是一树未化的冬雪。这一“疑”字是全诗的诗眼——把梅之白写到与雪难辨，把梅之早写到令人误认时节。以“疑”写“真”，比直言“白如雪”更进一层：正因为太像雪，才见出梅之洁白；正因为疑是雪，才见出梅之早发。全诗前实后虚、先写后疑，以错觉收束，把咏物写成了富有戏剧性的一瞬，构思之巧在咏梅诗中别具一格。

Allusions

The poem uses no recondite allusion; 'last winter's snow not yet melted' transforms the earlier tradition of writing snow and plum. Snow and plum have kept company since the Six Dynasties, as in Xie Tiao's 'white snow grudges the spring's late coming' and the Song line 'plum must yield snow three points of white' that precedes it. Zhang Wei reverses the sense, not writing plum like snow but suspecting snow to be plum, refreshing the familiar. 'By the stream-bridge' inherits the landscape-miniature composition of Wang Wei and Wei Yingwu, ingenuity within plainness.

此诗用典少而取象深。“白玉条”以玉喻梅枝，承六朝以来以玉比物的传统；“经冬雪”取冬雪之象，暗含“梅雪争春”的母题。唐人咏梅咏雪之作极多，卢梅坡《雪梅》“梅须逊雪三分白，雪却输梅一段香”正是“梅雪”并提的著名例子，张谓此诗“疑是经冬雪未销”亦在梅雪之间做文章，然写法不同：卢诗以议论分梅雪之高下，张诗以错觉写梅雪之难辨。此外，“近水花先发”暗用万物得春气而先发的物理，不涉典而理在其中。全诗以白描写实、以错觉写神，不事典故而自得咏物之妙。

Commentary

The Ming critic Zhong Xing in 'Tang Shi Gui' praises the line 'I mistook it for last winter's snow, not yet melted' as 'wonderful between likeness and unlikeness.' The Qing critic Huang Sheng in 'Tang Shi Zhai Chao' says 'this poem only suspects plum for snow, and is thereby finely absolute.' Modern scholars on Tang plum-poems often name this with Qi Ji's 'deep in the snow before the village' and Wang Anshi's 'I know from afar it is not snow,' saying it writes plum through illusion, opening the Song plum-poem's reason-charm.

此诗二十八字，是咏梅诗中的名篇，其妙在“疑是经冬雪未销”的错觉手法。论者多赏其构思：不直写梅白如雪，而写初见时疑其是雪，把梅之白写到极致。清人评咏梅诗，多推此首与齐己《早梅》“前村深雪里，昨夜一枝开”并美——齐己以“一枝开”写早，张谓以“疑是雪”写白，一写其早、一写其白，各擅胜场。张谓此诗语言浅易而构思新巧，正是盛唐咏物小诗“以巧传神”的代表。诗中“迥临村路傍溪桥”一句，写出梅之孤高不俗，亦见诗人品格的寄托，是咏物中兼有言志的佳作。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句（平起首句入韵式）

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, lower-level second Xiao group (branches, bridge, melted)全诗押下平二萧韵，韵脚为“条、桥、销”，一韵到底。萧韵音色清亮悠扬，正合早梅之清雅。七绝一韵到底，声情明快，与咏物的清新笔致相称。

Tone pattern First line enters rhyme, level-onset, first-line-enters-rhyme form此诗为平起首句入韵的七绝。首句“一树寒梅白玉条”平仄平平仄仄平起，“迥临村路傍溪桥”仄平平仄仄平平承；三句“不知近水花先发”仄平仄仄平平仄转，四句“疑是经冬雪未销”平仄平平仄仄平合。平仄合律，音节流畅，四句起承转合分明：写色、写境、写因、写疑，层层推进，声情与构思同步，是七绝中工整而灵动的一首。

Reading note A clear, lovely Tang plum-poem; writes plum through illusion, opening the Song plum-poem's reason-charm.此诗体制为七言绝句，四句二十八字，前二句实写梅之形色与位置，后二句以错觉写梅之白与早，虚实相生。七绝最重第三句的“转”，此诗第三句“不知近水花先发”由写境转入写因，第四句“疑是经冬雪未销”才能以错觉奇收。相较齐己《早梅》以“昨夜一枝开”写早之直笔，张谓此诗以“疑是雪”写早写白，更见构思之巧。全诗语言浅易、意象明净，是盛唐七绝中咏物的佳作，也是“以巧传神”的典型。

Line by line

一树寒梅白玉条，迥临村路傍溪桥。

One tree of winter plum, white-jade branches, stands far off by the village road, beside the stream bridge.

一树早开的寒梅如白玉般洁白，远远地立在村路之旁、溪桥之畔。

One tree of winter plum, its branches like white jade, stands apart by the village road, beside the stream bridge.

起句直写梅之形色与位置。“一树寒梅白玉条”以“白玉”喻梅枝——早梅未叶先花，枝条如玉，洁白温润；“寒”字点明时令，是凌寒开放的早梅。“迥临村路傍溪桥”写其位置：远离村路，独傍溪桥。“迥临”见其不与俗物同列，“傍溪桥”见其得水气之先——正是下文“近水花先发”的伏笔。两句一写色、一写境，梅之洁白与孤高俱出，为后文的“疑是雪”作了铺垫。

The opening directly writes the plum's form, color, and position. One tree of winter plum, white-jade branches uses white jade to metaphorize the plum boughs - the early plum flowers before leaves, branches like jade, white and warm. Winter fixes the season, the early plum braving the cold. Stands far off by the village road, beside the stream bridge writes its position: far from the village road, alone by the stream bridge. Far off shows its not ranking with vulgar things; beside the stream bridge shows its taking the water's breath first - precisely the伏笔 for below's near-water flowers open first. The two lines one write color, one setting; the plum's whiteness and loftiness both out, preparing the below's took it for snow.

不知近水花先发，疑是经冬雪未销。

Knowing not that waterside flowers open first, I took it for winter snow not yet melted.

不知是因为靠近水边花儿开得早，还疑心是经历了冬天尚未消融的白雪。

Little did I know that waterside plants bloom first; I took it for snow lingering from winter.

此联以错觉收束，是全诗的画龙点睛。“不知近水花先发”写诗人悟后之语——梅花因近水而先得春气，故早于他花而开；“疑是经冬雪未销”写初见之时的错觉——这一树洁白，竟令人疑是冬雪未化。前句是“知”，后句是“疑”，由疑到知、由知回疑，把梅之白、梅之早写得层层深入。以“疑是雪”写梅，比直言“白如雪”更胜：正因为白得与雪难辨，才见出梅之洁白；正因为疑是冬雪，才见出花开之早——早到令人忘记已是早春。这错觉的一笔，把咏物写成了耐人寻味的一瞬。

This couplet closes in misperception, the poem's finishing stroke. Knowing not that waterside flowers open first writes the poet's words after understanding - the plum because near water first gets spring's breath, hence opens before other flowers. I took it for winter snow not yet writes the first-sight misperception - this tree's whiteness, actually making one suspect it is unmelted winter snow. The previous line is knowing, the next suspecting; from suspicion to knowledge, from knowledge back to suspicion, writing the plum's whiteness and earliness layer upon layer. Using took it for snow to write the plum surpasses directly saying white as snow: precisely because it is white as to be indistinguishable from snow, the plum's whiteness shows; precisely because one suspects winter snow, the flower's earliness shows - early enough to make one forget it is already early spring. This stroke of misperception writes thing-praising into a thought-provoking instant.

Study

Word focus

迥临 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “迥临村路傍溪桥”之“迥临”，写梅之远离村路、独立溪桥。“迥”有远、高之意，着一“迥”字，梅便从寻常村景中脱出，见其孤高不俗；“临”与“傍”相配合，临村路而不近、傍溪桥而独倚，位置的选择暗含品格的寄托——不逐热闹、独处清幽。这两字为全诗定了“孤高”的基调，也解释了梅为何能早发——临水而居，先得春气。

先发 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “不知近水花先发”之“先发”，点出题目“早梅”之“早”的由来。梅本凌寒早开，此梅更因近水而先发——水边地气暖，得春最早。一个“先”字，把早梅的“早”写得有理有据，也使后文“疑是经冬雪未销”有了前提：正因为开得太早，早到不合时令，才令人疑是残雪。先发是果，疑雪是因，因果相生，构思缜密。

疑 The word 'mistook' (yi) is the eye of the whole: instead of stating the plum-snow likeness, it makes the fleeting instant of visual error vivid, turning a common simile into a living surprise, novel and charming. “疑是经冬雪未销”之“疑”，是全诗的诗眼。梅花似雪，本为常喻，然张谓不直说“似雪”，而写自己“疑是雪”——这“疑”字包含了初见时的惊讶、分辨时的犹疑与最终的确认，把咏物写成了富有戏剧性的一瞬。正因为“疑”，梅之白被推到极致（白得与雪难辨）；正因为“疑”，梅之早被写到极致（早到令人误认时节）。一字之下，咏物有了情致、有了层次，是炼字传神的典范。

白玉 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “一树寒梅白玉条”之“白玉”，以玉喻梅，是全诗写“白”的第一层笔。白玉之色洁而不寒，质润而不枯，着一“玉”字，梅之白便非死白，而是温润有光泽的白，与后文“雪”之寒白形成微妙的层次——雪是冷白，玉是温白。这一选择为“疑是雪”的错觉埋下伏笔：正因为梅白如玉而非雪白如冰，初见时才会在“似雪非雪”之间生疑。以玉立骨，以雪结疑，一字之间见出咏物设色之细。

早梅