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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

谒金门

Visiting the Golden Gate

冯延巳

Feng Yansi

闺怨Theme 相思Longing 婉约Refined style

风乍起，吹皱一池春水。
闲引鸳鸯芳径里，手挪红杏蕊。
斗鸭阑干独倚，碧玉搔头斜坠。
终日望君君不至，杨柳陌，宝马嘶空无迹。
新著荷衣人未识，年年江海客。
梦觉巫山春色，醉眼飞花狼藉。
起舞不辞无气力，

The wind rises suddenly, wrinkling a whole pool of spring water.
Idly she leads the mandarin ducks along the fragrant path, rolling a red apricot blossom between her fingers.
Leaning alone on the rail by the duck-fighting pond, her green-jade hairpin slips aslant.
All day she waits for her lord, who does not come; she lifts her head and hears a magpie's joyful cry.

Listen

Meaning

A lady's spring longing, framed by the famous line that 'wrinkled a pool of spring water.'

一阵风忽然吹起，吹皱了满池的春水。闲来无事，在花香小径上引逗成双的鸳鸯，手里揉搓着红杏的花蕊。整日里盼望郎君回来，郎君却始终没有归来，杨柳依依的大道上，宝马曾经嘶鸣而过，如今望去空空荡荡，了无踪迹。

Appreciation

Feng Yansi's 'Visiting the Golden Gate' is immortal chiefly for its opening line—'The wind rises suddenly, wrinkling a whole pool of spring water'—so famous that his ruler, the Southern Tang sovereign Yuan Zong, teased him about having no business 'wrinkling the spring water' as a court minister. The artistry turns on a single metaphor that is also a state of mind: the abrupt wind ruffling the calm pond mirrors longing stirring a quiet heart, so that weather and emotion fuse in one stroke. Around this center Feng arranges idle, tactile detail—leading mandarin ducks, rolling a red apricot blossom between the fingers, a slipping jade hairpin—a surface of leisurely ease that the poem's steady waiting quietly undermines. The lady's all-day vigil and the empty, traceless road widen private restlessness into quiet melancholy. As a leading lyricist of the Southern Tang, Feng refined the ci from decorative song toward psychological subtlety; this piece, with its seamless scene-feeling fusion and its celebrated image, became a touchstone for later writers exploring desire held just beneath calm.

【白话串讲】冯延巳写谒金门：“风乍起，吹皱一池春水”——这句让他出名。“闲引鸳鸯芳径里，手挪红杏蕊”——“终日望君君不至，举头闻鹊喜”——她等了一天的丈夫。【意象与手法】「吹皱一池春水」以皱字双关景物与心情，风皱水即是风皱心，为全词词眼。下文以引逗鸳鸯、手挪杏蕊、独倚栏杆、搔头斜坠等细节写百无聊赖之态，虚实相生。后段由梦醒写望眼成空，一个「空」字收尽期待与失落，迷离中见深婉。【情感与主旨】词写春日深闺怀人之情，以闲笔写深愁，借春景、闺物层层渲染孤栖之怨与望归之切。冯延巳身当南唐国势日蹙之际，词中闺情不妨以意内言外视之，于细腻情思中暗寓身世萧瑟与忧生之慨。【名句点睛】「风乍起，吹皱一池春水」以景写情，妙合无垠，皱字赋予池水以眉蹙般的表情，春心与池波同起涟漪，遂成以景写情的千古经典。

Background

Feng Yansi (c. 903–960) was a leading lyricist of the Southern Tang, whose 'Visiting the Golden Gate' (Que Jin Men) opens with the line that made him famous. Anecdote has it that his ruler, Yuan Zong, teased him: 'Though you are a minister, what business have you wrinkling a pool of spring water?' The ci paints a lady idle in spring, her restlessness a cover for waiting on an absent lover.

冯延巳，一名延嗣，字正中，广陵人，南唐中主李璟时官至中书侍郎、同平章事，为南唐词坛领袖，有《阳春集》传世。其词多写闺情离思，深婉绮丽，开北宋晏欧词风之先。此篇《谒金门》写春日深闺怀人之情，「风乍起，吹皱一池春水」一句尤著，据马令《南唐书》卷二十一载，李璟尝戏问延巳：「吹皱一池春水，干卿何事？」延巳对曰：「未如陛下『小楼吹彻玉笙寒』。」君臣相谑，传为词坛佳话，可见此句在当时已负盛名。通行本此词结于「举头闻鹊喜」，以鹊噪报喜收束；今本文字与通行本略有出入，如「芳径里」「手挪红杏蕊」诸处，或系传刻异文，兹就所存文字论之。冯延巳身当南唐国势日蹙之际，身居相位而志意萧索，故其词多含忧生之嗟，此篇虽写闺情，亦不妨以「意内言外」视之。王国维《人间词话》谓冯词「堂庑特大」，此词于细腻闺情中见深广之慨，正是其所谓「虽不失五代风格而堂庑特大」的典范之作。冯延巳之词，尤长于以闲笔写深愁，此篇即其代表。史载延巳秉政多旷失，然其词情之真、笔致之细，为时人所共赏，《阳春集》中以《谒金门》《鹊踏枝》诸调最著，后人遂以「冯氏小词」目之，其影响直至北宋晏欧而极盛。读此篇者，须知其中不独是闺中儿女之情，更有南唐国运日蹙之际词人内心的萧瑟与寄托。

Art

The poem begins with a weather-image that doubles as a state of mind: the sudden wind 'wrinkles' the still pool as longing 'wrinkles' the calm heart. Idle, tactile detail—ducks, an apricot blossom rolled between fingers, a slipping hairpin—builds a surface of leisure that the closing wait contradicts. The famous opening fuses outer scene and inner stir in a single stroke.

此词以景起情，风起水皱，池上之春水与心中之春情同时被唤醒，「皱」字双关，是全词的词眼。第二句「闲引鸳鸯芳径里，手挪红杏蕊」，写女主人公百无聊赖，引逗鸳鸯、揉搓杏蕊，一「闲」字点出心绪之无所寄，一「挪」字写其有意的无意识动作，焦躁与闲闷俱在其中。下片「斗鸭阑干独倚」再写独倚栏杆，「碧玉搔头斜坠」以簪斜欲坠写其出神失态之状，细节传神。「终日望君君不至」直点怀人之情，长日凝望而人不至，其怨可知。后段转写梦醒之景：「杨柳陌，宝马嘶空无迹」，陌上杨柳依旧，宝马嘶过空无踪迹，望眼成空；「新著荷衣人未识，年年江海客」，转念游子身着新衣、漂泊江海，相见时或已不相识。「梦觉巫山春色，醉眼飞花狼藉」，巫山云雨之梦觉来，唯见飞花狼藉，一场春梦付诸东流。结句「起舞不辞无气力」，以舞写情，气力虽尽而不辞起舞，痴态可掬。全词以闲笔写深愁，以细节传神情，虚实相生，由春景而入梦境，再由梦境回到眼前，结构流转自如，是冯延巳「深婉」词风的典型体现。又全词前后两段，一写白昼之闲闷，一写入夜之梦醒，时间上由昼至夜，空间上由池畔而入梦境，脉络分明而意象迷离。结句「起舞不辞无气力」以醉态收束，与「梦觉巫山」相承，醉耶梦耶，几不可辨，惟剩一腔痴情，此正是冯词「意内言外」、令人低回不尽之处。

Allusions

'Golden Gate' (Que Jin Men) is a ci tune-title, originally evoking a palace gate. 'Mandarin ducks' (yuanyang) are the conventional pair of loyal lovers; 'green-jade hairpin' (biyu saotou) marks a court lady's dress. The magpie's cry was folklore's omen that a visitor (often the beloved) is coming.

「吹皱一池春水」之「皱」，为全词最具独创性的字面，后人论词每以「皱」字为「以一字振起全篇」之例。「鸳鸯」为双宿双飞之鸟，《诗经·小雅·鸳鸯》「鸳鸯于飞，毕之罗之」开其端，后世多以鸳鸯寓男女之情，此处引逗鸳鸯，正是孤栖之人对成双之物的敏感。「斗鸭」为古代贵族戏玩，三国吴建昌侯孙虑于堂前作斗鸭栏，事见《三国志·吴书·陆逊传》，唐人宫苑亦盛行之，此处「斗鸭阑干」写闺中栏槛景物。「碧玉搔头」用玉簪典，《西京杂记》载汉武帝过李夫人，就取玉簪搔头，自此宫人搔头皆用玉，故玉簪名「搔头」，冯词写其「斜坠」，正是出神之态。「巫山」用宋玉《高唐赋》《神女赋》楚王梦遇巫山神女之典，「旦为朝云，暮为行雨」，后以「巫山云雨」指男女欢会，此处「梦觉巫山春色」即化用其意，写欢会之梦方醒。「杨柳陌」暗合唐人折柳送别之俗，《三辅黄图》载灞桥折柳赠别，柳与别离遂结不解之缘。凡此数典，皆融化于闺中景物之中，不着痕迹。

Commentary

This line—'The wind rises suddenly, wrinkling a whole pool of spring water'—was reckoned by Song critics (e.g., in the Moci) among the finest openings in all ci, praised for catching a whole mood in a single natural image. Feng's gift is to make political small-talk (the emperor's tease) irrelevant next to the poem's quiet, abiding tenderness.

马令《南唐书》卷二十一载，元宗李璟尝戏问冯延巳「吹皱一池春水，干卿何事」，延巳以「小楼吹彻玉笙寒」相对，一时传为美谈；陆游《南唐书》亦载其事，可见此句为当时君臣共赏之名句，而「干卿何事」一语，反证其情韵之动人至深。王国维《人间词话》谓「冯正中词，虽不失五代风格，而堂庑特大，开北宋一代风气」，此词于细腻闺情中寓深沉之慨，正是「堂庑特大」之验。刘熙载《艺概·词曲概》云「冯延巳词，晏同叔得其俊，欧阳永叔得其深」，晏欧均沾溉于延巳，其词统之绵远可知。又此词以「风乍起」起调而以「起舞不辞无气力」收束，首尾皆有「风」「舞」相应，结构上自具匠心，后世论冯词者每以其「深婉」与「层深」并举，此词两长兼而有之。综合诸家所评，冯词之地位实为五代词与北宋词之间的关键枢纽，而此篇尤见其情感之深、技法之纯。又此词虽写闺情，然冯延巳身居南唐相位，国势危殆，朋党倾轧，其词多隐有寄托，宋人曾谓延巳「托意于词」，虽未必一一可指，而「堂庑特大」之评，正是就其词内涵之深广而言。后世论五代词者，每以冯延巳与温庭筠、韦庄并称，而三人面目迥异：温秾丽，韦清疏，冯深婉，此篇恰为冯体之典型，学者由是而得词体演进之消息。

Prosody

Form English explanation is being prepared.词（双调小令，四十五字，唐教坊曲）

Rhyme English explanation is being prepared.押仄声韵，韵字多属《词林正韵》第三部仄声（上声纸尾、去声寘未）

Tone pattern English explanation is being prepared.前后段各四句四仄韵，句法以三五七言相间

Reading note A 'xiao ling' (short ci) in the Que Jin Men tune: lines of mixed length (mostly seven and six characters) with a fixed pause pattern and end-rhyme. The tune's quick shifts suit the flicker of idle motion giving way to still, unhappy waiting.《谒金门》为唐教坊曲，后用为词牌，双调四十五字，前段四句四仄韵，后段四句四仄韵。此调以仄声入韵，且韵位密集，每两句一韵乃至一句一韵，音节迫促，正合闺中急盼之人起伏不定的心绪。本词韵字「起、水、里、蕊」押上声，「倚、坠、至」及后段「迹、客、藉、力」押去声或入声，上去入通押，声调于促中有抑扬之变。句式上，「风乍起」三字起调，急促而奇警；「吹皱一池春水」六字承之，音节舒展，一急一缓相济；中段「闲引鸳鸯芳径里」七字流转，至「手挪红杏蕊」五字收束，顿挫有致。下片「斗鸭阑干独倚」「碧玉搔头斜坠」皆六言，工整流丽；「杨柳陌，宝马嘶空无迹」三、六言相间，于整饬中见顿宕，声情并茂，颇能见冯延巳调声之细。

Line by line

风乍起，吹皱一池春水。

The wind rises suddenly, wrinkling a whole pool of spring water.

一阵风忽然吹起，吹皱了满池的春水。

The wind suddenly rises, wrinkling a pool of spring water.

这是五代词中传诵最广的名句之一。风起水面，本是寻常，著一「皱」字，池水便有了人的情态，涟漪层层，仿佛春心被风吹动，乍起波澜。全句以「乍」写风之骤至，以「皱」写水之生变，景语而情语已具：闺中人的春情，正如这池春水，本自平静，忽然被一阵风搅动，再也按捺不住。这一笔既是眼前实景，又暗喻心潮，景与情妙合无垠，故能超越一时一地，成为中国文学中「以景写情」的经典范式，其下「干卿何事」之君臣佳话，正是此句魅力的注脚。

This is one of Five Dynasties ci's most widely recited famous lines. Wind rising on water is originally ordinary; placing one wrinkled makes the pool water have human mood, ripple after ripple, as if the spring heart stirred by wind, suddenly rising waves. The whole line uses suddenly to write the wind's abrupt arrival, uses wrinkled to write the water's change; scenery words yet feeling words already present: the chamber woman's spring feeling, like this pool of spring water, originally calm, suddenly stirred by a gust of wind, no longer to be held. This stroke is at once the眼前 real scene, and secretly metaphorizes the heart tide; scenery and feeling seamlessly fused, hence transcending one time one place, becoming Chinese literature's writing-feeling-through-scenery classic model; its lower dry-what-is-it-to-you? ruler-minister anecdote is precisely this line's charm footnote.

闲引鸳鸯芳径里，手挪红杏蕊。

Idly she leads the mandarin ducks along the fragrant path, rolling a red apricot blossom between her fingers.

闲来无事，在花香小径上引逗成双的鸳鸯，手里揉搓着红杏的花蕊。

Idle, she leads mandarin ducks along the fragrant path; her fingers crush red apricot blossoms.

此二句以细节写人物神态，妙在「闲」与「挪」两字。闲引鸳鸯，偏是成双之鸟，孤身之人引逗双鸟，反衬之意油然而生；手挪杏蕊，是把花瓣揉碎的无意识动作，正见心不在焉、烦闷难遣。人物没有一句心事之言，而焦灼、无聊、期盼诸般情绪都从动作中透出。这种「以外显内」的写法，与《诗经》「采采卷耳，不盈顷筐」同一机杼，以动作的凝滞写心思的飞驰，含蓄而传神，是五代词中以细节写情的典范。

These two lines write the person's expression through detail, the subtlety lies in idle and crush two characters. Idle leading mandarin ducks: precisely paired birds, the lone person teasing paired birds, the foil meaning naturally arising. Fingers crush red apricot blossoms: the unconscious action of crumbling flower petals, precisely showing the mind absent, boredom hard to dispel. The person has not one word of heart-trouble speech, yet anxiety, listlessness, expectation all show through action. This outward-displays-inner method, with Book of Songs's gathering gathering the soft plant, not filling the shallow basket same craft, using action's stagnation to write thought's flying, reserved yet spirit-transmitting; Five Dynasties ci's model of detail-writing-feeling.

终日望君君不至，

All day she waits for her lord, who does not come;

整日里盼望郎君回来，郎君却始终没有归来，

All day she watches for her lord; her lord does not come,

七字直抒，是全词情感的爆发点，也解释了一切闲闷的由来。「终日」写时间之长，「望君」写思念之专，「君不至」写失望之重，三叠之间，望眼的疲惫与期盼的无望历历如绘。句子以「君」字两见作顶针，声情顿挫，仿佛每一迭都要把人叫应回来，而应者终杳。此句单行入拍，戛然而止，与下段「杨柳陌」另起一层，正见语尽而情不断，为下文的梦醒与醉舞张本，是词中直抒与含蓄相结合的妙笔。

Seven characters directly speak, the ci piece's emotional explosion point, also explaining the origin of all idle boredom. All day writes the time's length; watches for her lord writes the longing's singleness; her lord does not come writes the disappointment's weight; within three叠, the gaze's weariness and expectation's hopelessness vivid as painted. The sentence uses the lord character twice as anadiplosis, sound-feeling modulated, as if each repetition would call the person back, yet the responder ultimately silent. This line enters the beat single-lined, stops abruptly; with the next section's willow road starting another layer, precisely showing words ended yet feeling not broken; preparing the later dream-waking and drunken dancing; the ci's direct-speech-and-reserve-combined subtle brush.

杨柳陌，宝马嘶空无迹。

On the willow-lined road a fine horse once whinnied—now empty, leaving no trace.

杨柳依依的大道上，宝马曾经嘶鸣而过，如今望去空空荡荡，了无踪迹。

On the willow road, the fine horse neighed and left no trace.

此二句写望眼成空之景，虚实相生。「杨柳陌」是离别之地，柳丝系别情；「宝马嘶空」则把听觉与视觉交织：仿佛还听见马嘶，循声望去却「无迹」，一个「空」字，写尽人去楼空、音信杳然的怅惘。此处不言思人而思人之深自在，不言别久而别久之痛弥彰。以具体可感的物象（杨柳、宝马、嘶声）写不可捉摸的思念，正是冯词「深婉」之所在，也是此篇后半转入凄迷梦境的过渡关捩。

These two lines write the gaze's empty scenery, void-and-solid generating. Willow road is the parting place, willow strands tied to parting feeling. Fine horse neighed and left no trace then interweaves hearing and sight: as if still hearing the horse neigh, following the sound yet no trace; one empty character exhausts the person-gone-hall-empty, news-silent disappointment. Here not saying the person yet the person's longing self-present deep; not saying parting-long yet the parting-long grief all the more manifest. Using concrete sensible objects (willows, fine horse, neigh) to write the intangible longing, precisely Feng's ci deep-graceful place, also this piece's latter half's transition to the dim dream realm.

Study

Word focus

皱 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「吹皱一池春水」之「皱」字，是五代词炼字的极致。水面受风，本用「动」「荡」「涌」等字，冯延巳独以「皱」字出之，赋予池水以绸缎般的质感与眉蹙般的表情。皱者，眉之蹙也；水皱如眉蹙，春心之动已隐隐在望。此字双关景物与心理，风皱水即是风皱心，心波与池波同起涟漪，遂使写景句自然过渡为抒情句。「皱」字一出，全篇皆活，故马令《南唐书》特记君臣「干卿何事」之谑，可见其惊动一时，正是以一字振起全词的典范，千载之下犹能令人击节。

挪 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「手挪红杏蕊」之「挪」，通行本或作「捋」，此本作「挪」，实亦有味。挪者，揉搓、捻弄之谓，杏蕊本娇嫩，经不住反复捻挪，而其人偏要无意识地揉之碎之，正见心绪之烦乱、时间的难捱。较之「捋」字，其动作更见琐碎重复，恰合「闲」字的无聊底色。以如此细微的动作写如此深重的怀人之情，全凭这一个字撑着，正是「一切景语皆情语」的细节化表达，脂粉味中见真性情，是五代词以俗字写深情的典型例证。

空 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「宝马嘶空无迹」之「空」字，是全词怅惘情绪的凝聚。马嘶本是有声之物，写其「空」，是说循声望去，唯余空陌；「无迹」二字补足之，则连蹄痕也了无踪影。「空」字兼收听觉与视觉：嘶声虽在耳畔，形迹已归杳无，音与影的错位，正写出思念之人的恍惚状态，仿佛那人刚策马而过，又仿佛从未归来。着一「空」字，把期待、失落、幻听种种情状一笔收尽，是词中以虚字传神的妙处，也为「梦觉巫山」的迷离之境预埋了伏笔。

谒金门