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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

凤凰台上忆吹箫·香冷金猊

Playing Flute Recalled on Phoenix Terrace: The Incense in the Gold Lion Burner Has Grown Cold

李清照

Li Qingzhao

离别parting 闺怨boudoir plaint 相思yearning

香冷金猊，被翻红浪，起来慵自梳头。
任宝奁尘满，日上帘钩。
生怕离怀别苦，多少事、欲说还休。
新来瘦，非干病酒，不是悲秋。
休休，这回去也，千万遍《阳关》，也则难留。
念武陵人远，烟锁秦楼。
惟有楼前流水，应念我、终日凝眸。
凝眸处，从今又添，一段新愁。

The incense in the gold lion burner has grown cold,
The quilt is rumpled like crimson waves,
I rise but am too lazy to comb my hair.
I let the precious dressing case gather dust,
The sun has risen above the curtain hook.
What I dread most is the pain of parting,
So many things I want to say but then hold back.
I have grown thin lately,
Not from drinking too much,
Nor from grieving over autumn.
Enough, enough! This time he is gone,
Even if I sing 'Yang Pass' a thousand times,
It cannot keep him here.
I think of the man far away as the Wuling fisherman,
The Qin Tower is shrouded in mist.
Only the water before the tower,
Should remember me, staring all day long.
Where I stare, from now on,
Another segment of new sorrow is added.

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Meaning

The poem depicts a woman's loneliness and longing after her beloved's departure, from the lazy morning routine to the inability to speak of sorrow, the mysterious thinness, the futile attempts to keep him, and the ever-present new sorrow. It is a poignant expression of marital love and separation.

狮形铜炉里的香已冷透，锦被乱如红浪，起床后懒得梳头。任妆奁落满灰尘，日头已上了帘钩。最怕的是离别之苦，多少心事想说又咽了回去。近来消瘦，不是因为病酒，也不是为了悲秋。算了吧，这一走，纵把《阳关》唱上千百遍也留不住他。想那远去的人如武陵迷踪，我只剩烟锁秦楼。唯有楼前流水，该懂得我终日凝望的痴情。凝望的地方，从今又添上一段新愁。

Appreciation

Li Qingzhao masterfully uses domestic details—cold incense, rumpled quilt, dusty dressing case—to convey the lethargy of grief. The poem is famous for its subtlety, especially the line where she imagines the flowing water as her only confidant, transforming abstract longing into a vivid, melancholic scene. The gentle, restrained tone makes the sorrow all the more profound.

【白话串讲】丈夫出门在外，李清照懒得起、懒梳头，连镜子都懒得照。“生怕离怀别苦，多少事、欲说还休”——她不说愁，但整个人都瘦了，瘦得与喝酒、秋天都无关。【意象与手法】上片连用“香冷金猊，被翻红浪，起来慵自梳头”三组细节铺叙懒态，“任宝奁尘满”更进一层【情感与主旨】此词约作于李清照与赵明诚婚后别离之时。明诚或因仕宦、访书外出，易安独守闺中，积思成章【名句点睛】考点常涉：一、“非干病酒，不是悲秋”的强调手法与情感指向；二、“惟有楼前流水”句的拟人化与抒情效果

Background

This ci poem was likely written during a separation from her husband Zhao Mingcheng, possibly while he was away on official duties or gathering antiques. It reflects the deep affection between the couple and exemplifies Li Qingzhao's innovative approach to the song lyric, focusing on genuine emotion rather than conventional tropes.

《凤凰台上忆吹箫·香冷金猊》是李清照写离愁别苦的代表作，多系于她与赵明诚婚后、明诚外出仕宦或远游访碑的时期。赵明诚于徽宗朝历任鸿胪少卿、知莱州、知淄州等职，其间夫妇时有分居。李清照《金石录后序》自述二人屏居青州故第十余年，赵明诚或负笈访碑，或赴官任所，易安常独守空闺，积思成章。此词或即作于这一阶段。亦有学者推测作于宣和年间赵明诚知莱州前后，李清照未随任而留居青州，临别或别后寄怀。词中「这回去也」四字明言是一次当面送别，故系于某次明诚离家赴任之际较为合理。此词见于《漱玉词》，《全宋词》本与各选本文字大体一致，仅个别字有异，如「多少事」一本作「多少恨」，「也则难留」一本作「也则难住」。词牌「凤凰台上忆吹箫」本自《列仙传》萧史、弄玉吹箫成仙、乘凤飞去的故实，李清照取此调正与词中「烟锁秦楼」的用典呼应，词牌与词意相得益彰。此词是李清照前期词风的典型，语言婉丽、情致深挚，与其南渡后饱经丧乱的沉痛之作相比，尚存闺阁婉约之致，而深情已见其端。词牌《凤凰台上忆吹箫》一名《忆吹箫》，此调正由易安此词创制，后人填者多循其体。词中「武陵人」「秦楼」二典并置，学界或指其为送赵明诚出守莱州时作，然皆属推测，未可遽定，惟其写别情之深，则诸说无异。

Art

The poem proceeds from external scenes to internal feelings, using a series of concrete images (cold incense, rumpled quilt, dusty case) to build an atmosphere of listless sorrow. The rhetorical question 'Not from sick drinking, nor from autumn sorrow' sharpens the focus on parting. The repetition of 'staring' and the personification of water create a haunting, cyclical effect, while the colloquial 'enough, enough!' adds a natural, spoken quality to the lyric.

此词的艺术核心在以物写情、层层蓄势。上片「香冷金猊，被翻红浪，起来慵自梳头」三句连用香炉已冷、锦被凌乱、懒于梳妆三个细节铺叙慵态，一句一顿，写尽无心妆饰的心绪。「任宝奁尘满，日上帘钩」再进一层，妆奁积尘、日上帘钩，说明她久已不事妆束，日高犹懒。「生怕离怀别苦，多少事、欲说还休」点出慵懒之由，却又欲言又止，将万千心事压回胸中，蓄而不发。歇拍「新来瘦，非干病酒，不是悲秋」用排除法，以两个否定反衬一个未说破的真因——离愁，手法顿挫，情思益深。下片「休休」二字叠用，一声长叹陡然转笔，「千万遍《阳关》，也则难留」写留人不住的无奈。「念武陵人远，烟锁秦楼」以典代情，含蓄深婉。「惟有楼前流水，应念我、终日凝眸」将无情流水拟为知心，以痴语写深情，是全词最见情致之笔。结拍「凝眸处，从今又添，一段新愁」以「愁」字收束全篇，与上片「欲说还休」遥相呼应，章法细密。全词以慵起、瘦损、凝眸、新愁层层推进，情脉贯穿，深得婉约词吞吐顿挫之妙。后世论词者多以「欲说还休」「非干病酒」为易安吞吐笔法的代表，谓其于吞吐之间见深情，于顿挫之中藏愁绪。上片纯以白描铺叙慵态，无一怨字而怨意自深；下片借典言情、移情于水，痴语中见真性，正是婉约词「不着一字，尽得风流」的典范，较之直抒胸臆者尤见蕴藉。

Allusions

'Wuling man' alludes to the fisherman who discovered the Peach Blossom Spring (Tao Yuanming's fable), implying the beloved has vanished into a fairyland unreachable. 'Qin Tower' refers to the tower where Princess Nongyu played the flute and ascended to immortality, here symbolizing the woman's solitary abode, also echoing the song title 'Playing Flute Recalled on Phoenix Terrace'. 'Yang Pass' is a farewell song from Wang Wei's poem 'Seeing Yuan Er Off on a Mission to Anxi', sung repeatedly to express reluctance to part.

此词用典密集而不露痕迹。「金猊」指狮形铜香炉，香冷猊冷，暗喻人去楼空、温情消散，是闺怨词常见意象。「武陵人远」一典学界有歧说：一说用陶渊明《桃花源记》武陵渔人入桃源迷路不复得之故实，喻远行人一去难返；一说用刘义庆《幽明录》刘晨、阮肇入天台山遇仙之典，亦含「人远」难归之意。二者皆以迷离仙境喻情人远隔，学界多从武陵渔人说，取其「不复得路」的怅惘。「烟锁秦楼」用《列仙传》萧史、弄玉事，弄玉所居凤楼（秦楼），后夫妇乘凤仙去，此处借「秦楼」自指独居的寂寞，又以「烟锁」写阻隔之深，与词牌「凤凰台」暗相钩连。《阳关》即王维《送元二使安西》「劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人」，唐代已谱入乐府为送别曲，李清照谓「千万遍《阳关》也则难留」，极言离歌无力挽留。香草、金猊、楼、流水诸意象，皆承《诗经》「自伯之东，首如飞蓬」以懒妆写思妇的传统而来，又化入词体，较之《诗》之朴质更添一层婉约。「阳关」一典尤见巧思，王维原诗本为送别之曲，易安偏谓唱遍千遍亦难留，以唱曲之无力反衬离情之深固，用典而不泥于典，是李清照化故为新的一例。「金猊」之冷、「红浪」之翻，虽非典故而皆为闺怨词中习见的香炉、衾枕意象，其源可溯至温庭筠「小山重叠金明灭」一路的闺中陈设描写，易安承其绪而自出新境。

Commentary

Critics since the Qing dynasty have praised this poem as 'twists and turns, marvelously subtle' (Chen Tingzhuo) and 'lamentable and tender, one cannot bear to read it through'. It is considered a masterpiece of boudoir poetry, where deep personal affection is expressed with elegant restraint, making the grief universal.

此词在历代选本中颇受推重。清代陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》论易安词，谓其「曲折尽人意」，此词「多少事、欲说还休」与「非干病酒，不是悲秋」正见吞吐之妙。唐圭璋《唐宋词简释》谓此词「写别情，极为曲折婉转」。《宋词三百首》《唐宋名家词选》《词选》皆收录此篇。近代词论家于李清照评价甚高，王灼《碧鸡漫志》虽讥其「闾巷荒淫之语」而不得不服其才，反证其词传唱之广。此词上承温庭筠、韦庄闺怨词，下启南宋姜夔、吴文英的吞吐笔法，在婉约词发展脉络中居于承前启后之位。「非干病酒，不是悲秋」的句式后来常被化用，如辛弃疾、纳兰性德皆有类似笔法。在当代，此词入选多种中学教材与普及读本，是李清照词中被研读最勤的作品之一，其「慵」「瘦」「凝眸」「新愁」的意象链，成为考察易安前期词风的经典标本。清代沈谦《填词杂说》论易安词亦有推许之语，近人沈祖棻《宋词赏析》专析此篇，谓其写别情「极深极细」。此词在词学史上还常被举为「创调之祖」的实例——以《凤凰台上忆吹箫》一词，声情与词情相发，遂成定格。其「新来瘦」三句的否定句式，后世词人如纳兰性德「不是人间富贵花」等，皆可见其笔法的影响。由宋迄清，此词的经典地位在选本递传中不断巩固，声情词情相发，遂成一代定调。

Prosody

Form Ci poem to the tune 'Playing Flute Recalled on Phoenix Terrace', double stanza, 97 characters, 10 lines in first stanza with 4 level-tone rhymes, 9 lines in second with 5 level-tone rhymes.词，双调九十五字，前段十句四平韵，后段九句五平韵

Rhyme Rhymes follow the 12th rhyme category (The 'You' group, including -ou, -iu) of the Ci Standard Rhymes: tou, gou, xiu, qiu (first stanza); liu, lou, mou, chou (second stanza).全词押平声韵，韵字为头、钩、休、秋（前段），休、留、楼、眸、愁（后段），属词林正韵第十二部

Tone pattern The level tone pattern creates a drawn-out, sorrowful melody, complementing the theme of lingering grief.此调以李清照此词为正体。前段平仄以「平平平平，仄平平仄」起，「香冷金猊，被翻红浪」四字句与六字句相间，声情舒缓；后段「休休」二字叠韵短促，转接有力。全词多四字、六字句，间以三字短句「新来瘦」「凝眸处」，音节顿挫有致。

Reading note The poem builds emotion layer by layer, from scene to feeling, with subtle use of colloquial particles to enhance musicality.《凤凰台上忆吹箫》一词以李清照此作为定格，双调九十五字。前段十句四平韵，韵脚「头、钩、休、秋」分押于第三、五、八、十句；后段九句五平韵，起句「休休」叠字入韵，继以「留、楼、眸、愁」分押于第二、四、六、九句，平韵一韵到底。此调句式以四字句与六字句为主干，声调节奏从容舒缓，适合抒写绵长深挚之情；而「欲说还休」的「三字一读」与「多少事」「应念我」的领字顿逗，又在舒缓中生出吞吐顿挫之致。李清照此词用韵皆取开口洪亮之字，而所抒却是低沉愁苦之情，声与情形成一种含蓄的张力，读来既流美又哀婉。后人填此调者多以易安为蓝本，如贺双卿、纳兰性德之作，皆受其声情与章法的沾溉，足见此词在声律上亦为创调之宗。此词「休休」叠字起下片，于声律上亦是一种创格，短促的叠韵转入「这回去也」的决绝，声情由压抑而迸发，与词意丝丝入扣。

Line by line

香冷金猊，被翻红浪，起来慵自梳头

The incense is cold in the bronze lion; the quilt tosses like a red wave; rising, she too languid to comb her hair.

狮形铜炉里的香已冷透，锦被乱如红浪，起床后懒得梳头。

The incense in the lion-shaped bronze burner has gone cold; the brocade quilt lies tumbled like red waves; rising, she has no heart to comb her hair.

三句连用三个生活细节，一冷一乱一慵，从嗅觉、视觉、动作三个层面铺叙晨起的光景。香冷，说明夜已深、人未眠，炉香无人续添，暗示昨夜独处之久；被翻红浪，一个「翻」字写锦被凌乱如红浪翻卷，见出辗转难眠、起身无心整理；起来慵自梳头，一个「慵」字统摄全句，写晨起无力梳妆的精神倦怠。三句纯用白描，不着一「愁」字，而孤寂无聊已溢于言外，是李清照以物写情、以事传神的典型笔法。以三组镜头连缀成片，不涉议论而情态自足，深得「以景写情」之妙。

The opening chains three domestic details — cold, tumbled, languid — across smell, sight, and action. The incense is cold in the bronze lion means the night is deep and the sleepless watcher has not refilled the burner, hinting the long solitary night; the brocade quilt lies tumbled like red waves uses the word tossed for the quilt's disorder, the sleepless turning; rising, she has no heart to comb her hair takes the word languid to govern the whole line, the spiritual exhaustion of rising without the will to dress. Three lines of pure plain sketch, not one word of grief, and yet the loneliness overflows — the typical method of Li Qingzhao's writing feeling through things and transmitting character through action, three shots joined without comment, the beauty of writing feeling through scene.

新来瘦，非干病酒，不是悲秋

Lately I have grown thin — not from wine's illness, nor from grief for autumn.

近来消瘦，不是因为病酒，也不是为了悲秋。

Lately I have grown thin — it has nothing to do with wine, nor is it grief for autumn.

三句以「非干」「不是」两个否定层层排除，最后并未点出真因，反使真因——离愁——不著一字而愈见深重。酒能伤身，秋可感人，是古人消瘦最常见的两种缘由，词人偏说都不是，则其瘦自当另有隐衷。这种排除法在修辞上称为否定蓄势，先把寻常答案一一否定，逼出读者自己去体会那未说破的情。较之直说「因相思而瘦」，吞吐之间更见婉约词欲言又止的韵致。清人陈廷焯所谓「曲折尽人意」，正指此种吞吐跌宕的笔法。

The three phrases exclude through two negations, and never name the true cause, which thereby — not written a single word — weighs the heavier. Wine can waste the body, autumn can sadden the heart: these are the two commonest causes of thinness, and the poet says neither; then the thinness must have another hidden cause. This rhetorical exclusion is called negation as buildup: the ordinary answers are struck down one by one, forcing the reader to feel the unspoken cause for himself. Compared with saying plainly I waste from longing, the hesitating phrasing has the reserved charm of the graceful school's speaking and yet holding back. Chen Tingzhuo's the turns exhaust the human heart points exactly to this method of pausing and rising.

惟有楼前流水，应念我、终日凝眸

Only the flowing water before the tower, I think, pities me, staring all day long.

唯有楼前流水，该懂得我终日凝望的痴情。

Only the flowing water before the tower, it seems, remembers me, as I gaze from dawn to dusk.

此句将无情流水拟为知音，谓其能解我终日凝望之苦，是痴情至极方有的奇语。凝眸望水，水自东流，望的是远人不归的方向；流水年年如此，仿佛见证了她的日日眺望，故词人反觉只有流水尚念及她的痴情。以无情写有情，以流水之永恒反衬相思之久长，移情于物而不失其真，是全词情思最浓、想象最奇的一笔，深得「无理而妙」之趣。所谓「无理而妙」，谓其情之痴、语之巧，愈痴愈见其真，此正易安痴情语之妙。

The line endows the feelingless flowing water with a soulmate's understanding, the fantasy that only a grief at its extreme can invent. Staring at the water while the water flows east — the gazing is aimed at the road where the far one does not return; the water flows the same year after year, as if it had witnessed her daily watching, and so the poet feels that only the water still pities her devoted gaze. Writing the feeling through the feelingless, the water's eternity set against the longing's length, the transferred emotion kept true, this is the most densely felt and most strangely imagined stroke of the ci, the delight of the unreasonable-yet-beautiful: the more doting the feeling, the truer it rings.

凝眸处，从今又添，一段新愁

Where I stare, from today there is added yet another stretch of new grief.

凝望的地方，从今又添上一段新愁。

At the place of my gazing, from this day on, one more new grief is added.

结拍承上「终日凝眸」而来，顶针而下，一气贯通。「凝眸处」三字回环叠用，既收束上文，又开启新意；「从今又添，一段新愁」，谓昔日已有旧愁，今番离别之后，凝望之处又添一段新愁，愁上加愁，层层递进。一个「又」字点出愁绪的叠加与无尽头，暗示未来岁月将在这凝望与添愁中往复。以「愁」字收束全篇，与上片「欲说还休」遥应，章法圆合，余味不尽。一个「又」字更见愁绪的绵延不绝，暗示此别之后，凝眸与添愁将日复一日，循环不已。

The closing takes up the all-day gazing above, threaded on the same word in chain composition, one breath continuous. The place of my gazing loops back on the previous line, closing what went before and opening the new; from this day on, one more new grief is added writes the old grief already there, and after this parting another stretch of new grief piled on — grief on grief, layer on layer. The word yet points out the piling and the endlessness, hinting that the years to come will revolve in this gazing and this adding. Closing the whole ci on the word grief, echoing the earlier desire-to-speak-yet-held-back, the structure circular, the aftertaste unending.

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Word focus

慵 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「慵」字是上片的眼目，一字写尽晨起的精神状态。慵而自梳头，是懒散而非不能，是意绪萧索而非身体疲惫。古人以梳妆为女子日常的仪节，无心妆饰便是心事重重的外现。《诗经·伯兮》「自伯之东，首如飞蓬」写思妇不梳，李清照此字正承其意而更添词体的细腻。一个「慵」字把离别后百无聊赖、事事无心的心绪凝固在晨起一瞬，不着一字愁而愁已尽出。较之直写「懒梳头」的直白，着一「慵」字更见精神层面的倦怠，是易安炼字于虚处的工力。

休 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「休」字在上片作「欲说还休」，欲倾吐而终于咽回，是吞吐顿挫之笔；下片叠作「休休」，一声长叹，陡然收住上文，转入决绝之语「这回去也」。同一「休」字，前为「止」义，写千言万语欲说不能；后为「罢了」义，写留人不住的认命与自解。一字两用，语义递进，把女子由压抑到爆发再到无可奈何的心理过程勾画得极有层次，是李清照善用虚字传情的明证。以虚字「休」串起上下片，于转折顿挫处见章法之妙，正是词家所谓「虚字传神」的本领。

凝眸 'Stare fixedly'—the repeated use of this word in 'staring all day' and 'where I stare' emphasizes the obsessive, time-consuming nature of her longing. 「凝眸」写目光久聚不移之态，比「望」「眺」更见专注与痴迷。眸而凝之，是望到出神、望到忘我的地步，其间不知过了多少时辰。下片「终日凝眸」四字，点出这份凝望从晨至暮无有间断，与上片「日上帘钩」呼应，时间在凝望中悄然流逝。结拍「凝眸处」复取此词顶针回环，使痴望这一动作成为贯通全篇的情感支点，凝结了词人全部的相思与守候。二字以目力之久写情之痴，其写盼归之切，与温庭筠「过尽千帆皆不是，斜晖脉脉水悠悠」的望江，实有异曲同工之妙。