五代 Five Dynasties · 词 Ci lyric
菩萨蛮·劝君今夜须沉醉
Buddhist Dancers · I Urge You to Drunkenness Tonight
劝君今夜须沉醉，尊前莫话明朝事。
珍重主人心，酒深情亦深。
须愁春漏短，莫诉金杯满。
遇酒且呵呵，人生能几何。
Only grieve that the spring clepsydra is short; do not decline the golden cup brimmed. Meet wine and laugh a little 'hehe'—how long is a life?
Meaning
Written amid the late-Tang turmoil, the lyric seems to counsel seizing the night in drink, but beneath the merriment hides the helpless grief of a wanderer in a broken age.
劝你今夜定要沉醉，酒杯前莫提明日事。珍重主人的情意，酒深情亦深。 只愁春夜漏声短，莫辞金杯满。遇酒且呵呵而笑，人生能有多少时光。
Appreciation
The lyric writes the seeming open-handed carpe diem of drinking amid a troubled age: urge drunkenness tonight, speak not of tomorrow; treasure the host's deep feeling. The lower stanza grieves the short spring night, declines not the full cup, meets wine with a forced laugh—'how long is a life.' On the surface it is seizing the day; within, 'speak not of tomorrow' hides fear of an uncertain road, and 'how long is a life' is a helpless sigh. It is the late-Tang Five-Dynasties manner of 'writing grief through joy.'
【白话串讲】 “劝君今夜须沉醉，尊前莫话明朝事”——韦庄劝酒：今夜喝醉，别说明天。“须愁春漏短，莫诉金杯满”——“遇酒且呵呵，人生能几何”——遇到酒就呵呵笑，人生能有多长？一首看似潇洒、实则悲凉的小词。 【意象与手法】以“沉醉”“金杯”“春漏”写宴饮；“尊前莫话明朝事”以回避写忧；“遇酒且呵呵”以强笑写悲，似达实痛；语言浅近如白话，情致宛转。 【情感与主旨】抒发韦庄晚年漂泊、身逢唐末乱世的深沉悲慨。表面劝人醉酒尽欢，实则“莫话明朝”藏着对前途渺茫的恐惧，“人生能几何”是无可奈何的喟叹，是“以乐写哀”的晚唐五代词风。 【名句点睛】“遇酒且呵呵，人生能几何。”——遇酒且强作欢笑，人生能有几时。以貌似旷达的“呵呵”写尽乱世飘零的苍凉，笑声里是化不开的悲，是韦庄“似达实痛”的绝佳注脚。
Background
Wei Zhuang (c. 836–910), courtesy name Duanji, was a late-Tang Five-Dynasties poet and lyricist, a representative of the Huajian (Among-the-Flowers) school; his five 'Buddhist Dancers' write his wandering in the south and thoughts of the lost north. This piece was likely written amid the late-Tang turmoil while wandering south of the Yangzi.
《菩萨蛮·劝君今夜须沉醉》为五代韦庄所作，是写尊前沉醉、人生苦短之慨的词。韦庄（约836—约910），字端己，京兆杜陵人，唐代诗人、五代词人。此词：劝君今夜须沉醉，尊前莫话明朝事。珍重主人心，酒深情亦深。须愁春漏短，莫诉金杯满。遇酒且呵呵，人生能几何。全词写尊前沉醉、人生苦短之慨，是韦庄词的名篇。
Art
It writes the banquet through 'drunkenness,' 'golden cup,' 'spring clepsydra'; 'speak not of tomorrow' writes worry through avoidance, 'meet wine and laugh hehe' writes grief through forced mirth—seeming open, truly in pain. The language is plain as talk yet the feeling turns subtly; a variant of the Huajian school's 'writing grief through splendor.'
《菩萨蛮·劝君今夜须沉醉》艺术上以尊前沉醉的描摹与人生苦短之慨的深婉见长。全词分两片：上片写劝君沉醉——“劝君今夜须沉醉，尊前莫话明朝事”写劝君沉醉、莫话明朝，“珍重主人心，酒深情亦深”写珍重主人心、酒深情亦深；下片写人生苦短——“须愁春漏短，莫诉金杯满”写须愁春漏短、莫诉金杯满，“遇酒且呵呵，人生能几何”写遇酒且呵呵、人生能几何。全词以尊前沉醉写人生苦短之慨，正是韦庄词深婉的笔法。
Allusions
'Before the cup' (zun qian) means before the wine vessel; 'spring clepsydra' is the night-time water-clock; 'golden cup brimmed' means a full pour; 'hehe' is laughter, here forced mirth; 'how long is a life' adapts Cao Cao's 'against wine I sing, how long is a life,' reversing his openness into sorrow.
《菩萨蛮·劝君今夜须沉醉》用典在“尊前”“春漏”“呵呵”。“尊前”写酒尊之前；“春漏”写春夜漏刻（时光）；“呵呵”写呵呵（笑声）。全词以这些意象写尊前沉醉、人生苦短之慨，用典自然而深婉自见，正是韦庄词的笔法。
Commentary
A Qing critic said Wei's lyrics are 'like a golden oriole on the string,' clear and lovely yet deeply somber; this piece seems to seize the day, but tasted closely the grief of wandering a broken age overflows—among Huajian lyrics, exceptionally poignant.
《菩萨蛮·劝君今夜须沉醉》是韦庄词的名篇，也是五代词中写人生苦短的代表作。此词写尊前沉醉、人生苦短之慨，向为论者称道。论者多赏其尊前沉醉的描摹与人生苦短之慨的深婉——“劝君今夜须沉醉，尊前莫话明朝事”写劝君沉醉、莫话明朝，深婉之极；“珍重主人心，酒深情亦深”写珍重主人心、酒深情亦深，更见其情；“须愁春漏短，莫诉金杯满”写须愁春漏短、莫诉金杯满，尤见其愁；“遇酒且呵呵，人生能几何”写遇酒且呵呵、人生能几何，尤见其慨。韦庄为花间派词人，其词以深婉著称，此词正是其代表——以尊前沉醉写人生苦短之慨，正是其词风。
Prosody
Line by line
劝君今夜须沉醉，尊前莫话明朝事。
I urge you: tonight be drunk to the full; before the cup, speak not of tomorrow's affairs.
劝君今夜须沉醉，尊前莫话明朝事。
I urge you to be thoroughly drunk tonight; before the wine cup, say nothing of what may come tomorrow.
首写劝君沉醉、莫话明朝，是全词写尊前之情的起点。“劝君今夜须沉醉”写劝君今夜须沉醉——“劝君今夜须沉醉”写劝您今夜须当沉醉——劝君今夜须沉醉；“尊前莫话明朝事”写尊前莫话明朝事——“尊前莫话明朝事”用尊前之语写酒尊之前莫谈明朝之事——尊前莫话明朝事。二句写劝君沉醉、莫话明朝：劝君今夜须沉醉，尊前莫话明朝事。以“劝君今夜须沉醉”写劝君沉醉、今夜尽欢，以“尊前莫话明朝事”写尊前莫谈明朝、且尽今朝，正是韦庄词写尊前之情的起点——劝君沉醉，莫话明朝。
The opening writes urging drunkenness and silence of tomorrow, the starting point of the lyric's feeling before the cup. 'I urge you: tonight be drunk to the full' writes urging full drunkenness tonight. 'Before the cup, speak not of tomorrow's affairs' uses the words before the cup to write not speaking of tomorrow's business over the wine. The two lines write urging drunkenness and silence of tomorrow—the starting point of Wei's feeling before the cup: urge drunkenness, speak not of tomorrow.
珍重主人心，酒深情亦深。
Treasure the host's heart; the wine is deep, and the feeling is deep too.
珍重主人心，酒深情亦深。
Cherish the host's whole-heartedness; the wine is deep, and so is his affection.
此二句写珍重主人心、酒深情亦深，是全词写主客之情的深化。“珍重主人心”写珍重主人心——“珍重主人心”写珍重主人一片心意——珍重主人心；“酒深情亦深”写酒深情亦深——“酒深情亦深”写酒意深浓、情意亦深——酒深情亦深。二句写珍重主人心、酒深情亦深：珍重主人心，酒深情亦深。以“珍重主人心”写珍重主人之心、感其厚意，以“酒深情亦深”写酒深情深、主客相知，正是韦庄词写主客之情的深化——主人情深，酒深情深。
These two lines write treasuring the host's heart and that the wine is deep and feeling deep, deepening the lyric's feeling between host and guest. 'Treasure the host's heart' writes valuing the host's whole feeling. 'The wine is deep, and the feeling is deep too' writes the wine strong and the feeling deep. The two lines write treasuring the host and wine and feeling deep—the deepening of Wei's host-guest feeling: the host's feeling deep, the wine deep and the feeling deep.
须愁春漏短，莫诉金杯满。
Grieve that the spring night's water clock is too short; do not complain that the golden cup is full.
须愁春漏短，莫诉金杯满。
Grieve only that the spring night passes too quickly; do not protest that the golden cup is filled to the brim.
此二句用春漏之典写须愁春漏短、莫诉金杯满，是全词写时光之愁的深化。“须愁春漏短”用春漏之典写须愁春漏短——“须愁春漏短”用春夜漏刻之典写应愁春夜漏短——须愁春漏短；“莫诉金杯满”写莫诉金杯满——“莫诉金杯满”写莫推说金杯已满——莫诉金杯满。二句写须愁春漏短、莫诉金杯满：须愁春漏短，莫诉金杯满。以“须愁春漏短”用春漏之典写春夜易逝、当愁漏短，以“莫诉金杯满”写莫推杯满、且饮且欢，正是韦庄词写时光之愁的深化——春漏苦短，金杯莫辞。
These two lines use the allusion to the spring water clock to write grieving the short spring night and not complaining of the full cup, deepening the lyric's grief over time. 'Grieve that the spring night's water clock is too short' uses the allusion to the spring night's clepsydra to write that one should grieve the short spring night. 'Do not complain that the golden cup is full' writes not to protest that the golden cup is full. The two lines write grieving the short night and not complaining of the full cup—the deepening of Wei's grief over time: the spring night too short, refuse not the golden cup.
遇酒且呵呵，人生能几何。
When wine comes, laugh and be merry; how long can a man's life last?
遇酒且呵呵，人生能几何。
When there is wine, laugh and make the most of it; how long, after all, can life endure?
末写遇酒且呵呵、人生能几何，是全词写人生苦短之慨的归结。“遇酒且呵呵”写遇酒且呵呵——“遇酒且呵呵”写遇酒且呵呵而笑——遇酒且呵呵；“人生能几何”写人生能几何——“人生能几何”写人生能有多少——人生能几何。二句写遇酒且呵呵、人生能几何：遇酒且呵呵，人生能几何。以“遇酒且呵呵”写遇酒呵呵、姑且尽欢，以“人生能几何”写人生无多、能得几何，正是韦庄词写人生苦短之慨的归结——遇酒呵呵，人生几何。
The closing writes laughing when wine comes and that life is short, the resolution of the lyric's sigh at the brevity of life. 'When wine comes, laugh and be merry' writes laughing aloud over the wine. 'How long can a man's life last?' writes how little life has to offer. The two lines write laughing over wine and life's brevity—the resolution of Wei's sigh: laugh when the wine comes, how much of life is there?
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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