蝶恋花·上巳召亲族

Meaning

Through the endless night the poet lies spiritless, with little cheer. She can only return to Chang'an in dreams, where she still recognizes its streets and roads. To answer the loveliness of this year's spring, the glow of blossoms and the shade of the moon are meant to shine upon one another. Cups and dishes are set out at random, though plainly and simply. The wine is mellow, the plums tart—just as the heart desires. In her cups she pins flowers in her hair and bids the flowers not to laugh; pitifully, spring is aging even as she herself grows old.

漫漫长夜，精神萎靡，欢乐之意很少。只能在梦里回到长安，梦里还记得长安的道路。为报答今年春色美好，那花光月影正宜相互映照。随意摆上杯盘，虽是草草。酒味醇美、梅子酸涩，正合人的怀抱。醉里插花，花儿莫要笑我，可怜春色已如人一样将要老去。

Appreciation

[Plain-Language Reading] Through the long night, languid and faint, little joy is to be found. In vain she dreams of Chang'an, recalling its streets and roads. To answer this year's fair spring, the flower's glow and the moon's shade are best mirrored together. Cups and plates are set out at random, though plainly. The wine is fine, the plums sour—just as the heart would wish. Drunk, she pins flowers in her hair; flowers, do not laugh—pitiful, spring is like one grown old. [Imagery and Method] This lyric, written by Li Qingzhao when she entertained her kinsfolk on the Shangsi Festival, voices longing for the lost capital through 'dreaming of return to Chang'an'; it is a famous piece after her southward crossing. The first stanza, 'Through the long night, languid… little joy,' sets the cheerless mood of the endless night; 'In vain I dream of Chang'an, recalling its streets' dreams the old capital—'in vain' shows the dream-return is futile, and 'Chang'an' stands for the Northern Song capital Bianjing, a line of enduring fame; 'To answer this year's fair spring…' tells of spring's beauty. The second stanza, 'Cups and plates at random, though plainly,' tells of the humble feast; 'The wine is fine, the plums sour—just as the heart' matches the season (the Shangsi had the custom of floating cups and drinking), and 'Drunk, I pin flowers… pitiful spring like one grown old' is self-pity at spring's passing—a line of enduring fame. The whole lyric weaves longing for the capital through the dream and a sense of life's passing through 'spring like one grown old,' blending homesickness, spring-lament, and self-pity into a restrained, tender whole—typical of Li Qingzhao after the crossing. [Feeling and Theme] The lyric was written in the Jianyan reign of Gaozong (c. 1129–1130), after Li Qingzhao's southward crossing. After the Jingkang catastrophe (1127) she fled south with the court; her husband Zhao Mingcheng died at Jiankang in 1129, and she drifted alone in the south. Written on the Shangsi Festival, she summoned kinsfolk to feast, moved by the times. 'Through the long night…' sets the cheerless night; 'In vain I dream of Chang'an…' the futile dream of the old capital; 'To answer this year's fair spring' the beauty of spring; 'Cups and plates at random' the makeshift feast in exile; 'Drunk I pin flowers… pitiful spring like one grown old' self-pity—spring aging, she aging too. The lyric speaks of longing for the lost state and sorrow at spring's passing through the experience of exile—its dream of Chang'an and its sense of a life cut short are the core themes of her late work, a window onto her mature style.

【白话串讲】 李清照写《蝶恋花·上巳召亲族》：“永夜恹恹欢意少。空梦长安，认取长安道”——“为报今年春色好，花光月影宜相照”——“随意杯盘虽草草。酒美梅酸，恰称人怀抱”——“醉里插花花莫笑，可怜春似人将老”——她上巳节与亲族聚会，叹春与人俱老。 【意象与手法】 此词是李清照在上巳节宴请亲族时所作，以「梦回长安」写故国之思，是李清照南渡后的名篇。上片「永夜恹恹欢意少」写长夜无欢的愁绪；「空梦长安，认取长安道」写梦中回长安——「空梦」写梦回长安是徒然的，「长安」代指北宋都城汴京，是千古名句；「为报今年春色好，花光月影宜相照」写春色的美好——为报答今年春色，花光月影宜相映照；下片「随意杯盘虽草草」写宴席的草草；「酒美梅酸，恰称人怀抱」写酒梅正合心怀——上巳节有曲水流觞、饮酒之俗，那「酒美梅酸」写物候与时令；「醉里插花花莫笑，可怜春似人将老」写伤春自怜——醉里插花，花莫笑我，可怜春将老、人也将老，是千古名句。全词以「梦回长安」写故国之思，以「春似人将老」写身世之感，将思乡、伤春、自怜融为一体，含蓄深婉，是李清照南渡后词作的典型风格。 【情感与主旨】 此词作于南宋高宗建炎年间（约1129—1130），时李清照南渡之后。李清照于靖康之变（1127）后随宋室南渡，金兵南下，北宋灭亡，她与丈夫赵明诚南奔避难，赵明诚于建炎三年（1129）病逝于建康（今南京），此后李清照孤身漂泊江南。此词作于上巳节（三月三，古有祓禊、宴饮之俗），李清照召亲族宴饮，感时伤怀。那「永夜恹恹欢意少」写长夜无欢的愁绪，那「空梦长安，认取长安道」写梦中回故都而梦醒徒然的故国之思，那「为报今年春色好」写春色的美好，那「随意杯盘虽草草」写流离中宴席的草草，那「醉里插花花莫笑，可怜春似人将老」写伤春自怜——春将老、人也将老。全词以南渡后的身世之感写故国之思与伤春之愁，那「空梦长安」的故国之思、「春似人将老」的身世之感，都是李清照南渡后词作的核心主题，是理解其晚年词风的窗口。 【名句点睛】 常考“空梦长安，认取长安道”写梦回故都的故国之思；“醉里插花花莫笑，可怜春似人将老”写伤春自怜，是南渡后的名句。

Allusions

The language of this lyric is rooted in the traditions of lost state, Shangsi, and spring-lament. 'Through the long night, languid… little joy' writes the cheerless night—'long night' recalls the melancholy of sleepless nights, and 'languid' the spiritless look of illness. 'In vain I dream of Chang'an, recalling its streets' writes the dream-return—'Chang'an' stands for Bianjing, evoking the lost-state longing of Xin Qiji's 'gazing northwest at Chang'an, alas countless hills' and the tradition of 'Chang'an unseen brings grief.' 'To answer this year's fair spring…' writes spring—'flower-glow and moon-shade' evokes the happy scene of blossoms and moon, and 'best mirrored' the moon and flowers reflecting, recalling the good night of 'the moon born on the sea, far apart yet shared this hour.' 'Cups and plates at random' evokes Wang Anshi's 'careless cups and plates for laughter, dim lamplight for a lifetime's talk,' hinting the humble exile feast. 'The wine is fine, the plums sour—just as the heart' writes the Shangsi season—'sour plums' recall the custom of eating plums and the image of 'green plums and warmed wine,' writing mood through wine and plum. 'Drunk, I pin flowers… pitiful spring like one grown old' writes spring-lament—'pinning flowers' evokes the Shangsi custom and 'the peach bloom reflects the red face,' and 'spring like one grown old' recalls Yan Shu's 'nothing to be done, blossoms fall' and Liu Xiyi's 'year by year the blossoms seem the same, year by year the people differ.' The lyric transforms the imagery of Xin Qiji, Wang Anshi, Yan Shu, and Liu Xiyi into a single utterance of lost state and spring—exactly Li Qingzhao's gift.

此词的用语深植于故国、上巳与伤春传统。「永夜恹恹欢意少」写长夜无欢——那「永夜」令人想到「永夜不寐」的愁绪，那「恹恹」写精神萎靡，令人想到「病恹恹」的愁态；「空梦长安，认取长安道」写梦回故都——那「长安」代指汴京，令人想到「西北望长安，可怜无数山」（辛弃疾《菩萨蛮·书江西造口壁》）的故国之思，也令人想到「长安不见使人愁」的望京传统；「为报今年春色好，花光月影宜相照」写春色——那「花光月影」令人想到「花光月影」的良辰美景，那「宜相照」写花月相映，令人想到「海上生明月，天涯共此时」的良宵传统；「随意杯盘虽草草」写宴席草草——那「草草杯盘」令人想到「草草杯盘供笑语，昏昏灯火话平生」（王安石《示长安君》）的宴饮意象，暗写流离中宴席的简陋；「酒美梅酸，恰称人怀抱」写上巳时令——那「梅酸」令人想到上巳节食梅的时令习俗，也令人想到「青梅煮酒」的意象，那「恰称人怀抱」以酒梅写心境；「醉里插花花莫笑，可怜春似人将老」写伤春——那「插花」令人想到上巳插花的习俗与「人面桃花相映红」的意象，那「春似人将老」令人想到「无可奈何花落去」（晏殊《浣溪沙》）的伤春，也令人想到「年年岁岁花相似，岁岁年年人不同」（刘希夷《代悲白头翁》）的惜春。全词化用辛弃疾、王安石、晏殊、刘希夷等故国、上巳、伤春的意象与传统，以梦写思、以乐衬愁，正是李清照南渡后词作的本领。

Commentary

This lyric has long been esteemed as a famous late utterance of Li Qingzhao's longing for the lost state, and a representative of her mature manner. Critics through the ages have judged it highly: a Qing reader praised it for 'writing thought through dream, writing age through spring, gentle and deep'; modern scholars note that 'In vain I dream of Chang'an' voices lost-state longing and 'Drunk, I pin flowers… pitiful spring like one grown old' voices the sense of a life through spring-lament—typical of her late style. Its special value in literary history lies in this: it depicts a Shangsi feast with kinsfolk, yet within the merriment exhausts longing for the lost state and the sense of a life—the cheerless night, the futile dream, the humble exile feast, the self-pity of aging spring, all lay bare the desolate heart of this 'first gifted woman of a thousand years' after the crossing; 'spring like one grown old' writes the person through spring, at once lamenting spring and lamenting herself, a line of enduring fame. Together with Shengsheng Man ('searching, searching… how can one word sorrow contain it all') it is a late masterpiece of sorrow; against the maidenly Ru Meng Ling it shows the turn from bright girlhood to somber age. For today's reader it is a window onto Li Qingzhao's late manner and a classic of ci longing for the lost state.

此词历来被推为李清照南渡后写故国之思的名篇，也是其晚年词风的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以梦写思，以春写老，婉约深挚」；近人更指出「空梦长安，认取长安道」以梦回故都写故国之思，「醉里插花花莫笑，可怜春似人将老」以伤春写身世之感，是李清照南渡后词作的典型风格。在文学史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它写的是上巳节召亲族宴饮的场面，却于宴饮的欢场中写尽了故国之思与身世之感——那「永夜恹恹欢意少」的愁绪，那「空梦长安」的故国之思，那「随意杯盘虽草草」的流离困顿，那「春似人将老」的伤春自怜，都写尽了这位「千古第一才女」南渡后的凄凉心境；那「春似人将老」以春写人，既是伤春，也是自伤，是千古名句。此词与李清照的《声声慢》（「寻寻觅觅，冷冷清清」）同为南渡后写愁的名篇，一写「怎一个愁字了得」的深愁，一写「空梦长安」的故国之思；又与《如梦令》（「常记溪亭日暮」）的少女词风形成对照，可见李清照词风从少女的明快到晚年的沉郁的转变。对于今日读者，此词是理解李清照晚年词风的窗口，也是中国词写故国之思的经典——那空梦的长安、将老的春色，穿越千年，仍在诉说着一位女词人流离中的故国之思。

Prosody

Line by line

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