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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

李清照·浣溪沙·淡荡春光寒食天

Silk-Washing Stream: Light Spring Light on Cold Food Day

李清照

Li Qingzhao

婉约Graceful and restrained 惜春Cherishing spring 时序Theme

浣溪沙·淡荡春光寒食天淡荡春光寒食天，玉炉沉水袅残烟。
梦回山枕隐花钿。
海燕未来人斗草，江梅已过柳生绵。
黄昏疏雨湿秋千。

Light spring light on Cold Food Day,
From the jade burner rises the smoke of incense grey.
Awake from dreams, I find on pillow hill my hairpin array.
Swallows not come, maidens, in play pick grass in the field;
Plum blossoms fallen, willow down begins to yield.
At dusk I see the swing wet with fine rain revealed.

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Meaning

The poem depicts a leisurely spring scene on Cold Food Day, with incense smoke, a dream, and outdoor games, ending with rain wetting the swing, conveying a sense of cherishing spring and mild melancholy.

寒食时节，春光柔和荡漾；玉炉中沉水香燃尽，余烟袅袅盘旋。梦中醒来，只见山形枕上隐隐枕着花钿。海燕尚未飞来，女子们已忙着斗草嬉戏；江边的梅花早已谢尽，柳树抽出了绵绵飞絮。黄昏时分，稀疏的春雨打湿了秋千。

Appreciation

This is an early work by Li Qingzhao, expressing languid spring melancholy around the Cold Food and Qingming festivals. The upper stanza describes the elegant indoor scene of incense and dream; the lower stanza moves to outdoor activities like grass-picking, catkins, and rain, subtly intensifying the feeling of cherishing spring. The imagery is delicate and the colors are clear. The line 'Awake from dreams, I find on pillow hill my hairpin array' captures the intimate boudoir mood, and the final line 'At dusk I see the swing wet with fine rain revealed' uses scenery to convey emotion, leaving lingering melancholy.

【白话串讲】寒食节的春光里，李清照刚睡醒，炉烟袅袅。黄昏细雨打湿秋千——少女时代的李清照，连惆怅都写得这么轻盈。【意象与手法】全词意象绵密而层次分明：上片由户外「淡荡春光」转入室内「玉炉沉水」「梦回山枕」，写闺阁之闲雅；下片以「斗草」「柳绵」写节俗与春去，终以「黄昏疏雨湿秋千」收束，以景结情。「湿」字融情入景，将无形春愁化为可感之湿意。【情感与主旨】此词约作于李清照出阁前后居汴京时期，写寒食、清明前后的闺中生活。寒食禁火、清明斗草，皆为宋代上层女子节令习俗。词以「海燕未来」「江梅已过」点染节候推移，于淡淡的春困与疏雨中流露惜春迟暮之轻愁，是易安早年清丽婉约词风的代表作。【名句点睛】常考：一、上下片空间转换（室内外）与惜春主旨；二、「梦回山枕隐花钿」的细腻描写；三、结句「湿」字的炼字与以景结情。

Background

This ci is believed to be written around the time of Li Qingzhao's marriage, when she lived in Bianjing (Kaifeng). It depicts boudoir life during the Cold Food and Qingming festivals. Cold Food involved no fire, and Qingming had grass-picking games, both customs for upper-class women of the Song dynasty. The poem uses 'swallows not yet come' and 'plum blossoms already past' to indicate the passage of seasons, revealing a light melancholy of cherishing spring and sensing the fleeting of time. It is a representative of her early graceful and restrained style.

李清照（1084—约1155），号易安居士，宋代杰出女词人，婉约词宗。此词约作于其出阁前后、随父居汴京时期，属早期作品。寒食在清明前一二日，为禁火冷食、祭扫踏青之节，与清明相连，正是春光明媚而春意将阑的时节。词写寒食天闺中女子的一日：从春睡醒来、炉烟袅袅的慵懒，到与女伴斗草嬉戏的欢愉，再到黄昏疏雨打湿秋千的怅惘，淡淡地流露惜春迟暮之轻愁。宋时上层女子节令生活丰富，斗草、荡秋千皆为清明寒食的时令游戏，词中「海燕未来」「江梅已过」「柳生绵」等物候描写精确地标出节令推移。此词清丽婉约、意象绵密，是易安早年词风的代表作，与后期《声声慢》的凄苦形成鲜明对照，可见其词风随身世而变的发展轨迹。李清照生于书香门第，父李格非为苏轼门人，母王氏亦善文，幼承家学，「自少年便有诗名」。此词作于汴京少女时代，正值北宋承平之世，词中寒食斗草、玉炉沉水、疏雨秋千，皆是汴京上层闺阁生活的实录，与张择端《清明上河图》所绘汴京繁华恰成文字与图画的互证。就词史而言，此词与《如梦令·常记溪亭日暮》等早期作品，共同奠定了易安「以寻常语度入音律」的词风，为词坛带来一股清新之气。

Art

The imagery is dense and well-layered: the upper stanza moves from the outdoor 'light spring light' to the indoor 'jade burner' and 'mountain pillow', depicting the elegance of the boudoir; the lower stanza uses 'grass-picking', 'willow catkins' to depict customs and spring departure, ending with the scene of rain wetting the swing, expressing emotion through scenery. The colors are clear, and the word 'wet' blends feeling into the scene, turning the invisible spring sorrow into a tangible sense of moisture, achieving the perfect unity of scene and emotion.

全词上下两片，意象绵密而层次分明。上片由外而内：起句「淡荡春光寒食天」点明节令与基调，「淡荡」二字写春光和舒摇漾之态，明媚而不浓烈；「玉炉沉水袅残烟」转入室内，以熏香袅袅之静写闺阁之闲雅，「残烟」暗含时光流转之微愁；「梦回山枕隐花钿」写梦醒情态，「隐」字写花钿半露于枕间，慵懒娇憨之态毕现。下片由内而外：以「海燕未来」对「江梅已过」，一未至一已过，写出春光的推移与人事的怅惘；「人斗草」写女伴嬉游之乐，「柳生绵」写春去之兆，乐景中已伏愁绪；结句「黄昏疏雨湿秋千」以景结情，秋千本是欢乐之物，今为疏雨所湿、空自摇曳，惜春之情尽化于一片湿意之中。全词由昼入暮、由乐入愁，情景相生，「湿」字尤为词眼，将无形的春愁化为可感之湿，深得婉约词含蓄蕴藉之致。此词在结构上尤见「淡中见层次」之妙：上片由「淡荡春光」而「玉炉残烟」而「梦回山枕」，由户外而室内而枕上，空间层层内收，写闺中人春睡方醒、慵懒未起的情态；下片由「斗草」而「柳绵」而「疏雨秋千」，由嬉游而物候而黄昏，时间由昼入暮，情绪由欢而怅，收束于一片湿意。全词不着一「愁」字，而惜春之愁无处不在，正是婉约词「不言愁而愁自见」的极致，亦可见易安驾驭小令结构的天才。

Allusions

'Cold Food' originates from the story of Jie Zitui in the Spring and Autumn period, traditionally a time of cold food and mourning, associated with lamenting spring. 'Grass-picking' (doucao) comes from the 'Jingchu Suishiji' about girls playing the hundred-grass game during the Dragon Boat Festival (here generalized to spring festival). 'Chenshui' is a type of incense, implying the tradition of incense in boudoirs. 'Huadian' is a forehead ornament for women. The poem integrates seasonal customs, boudoir decorations, and incense without obscure allusions, yet manifests elegance.

「寒食」用春秋介子推之典：介子推辅晋文公重耳，功成不受禄，隐居绵山，文公焚山相逼，子推抱木而死，后人于其忌日禁火冷食以悼之，遂成寒食节。词中虽不言禁火之事，而以寒食点节候，暗含伤春叹逝的传统意味。「斗草」为古代女子时令游戏，源于采百草之俗，《荆楚岁时记》载「五月五日，四民并踏百草，又有斗百草之戏」，唐宋时于清明寒食亦行之。「沉水」即沉香，为名贵熏香，闺阁焚香为唐宋上层妇女生活常态，暗合「玉炉沉水」的熏香传统。「花钿」为女子额饰，六朝隋唐诗词习见。全词融节令、闺饰、熏香于一体，无明显僻典而风雅自见，正是易安「以浅俗之语，发清新之思」的体现。就意象传统而言，「秋千」一物尤堪玩味：秋千为春日闺阁之戏，唐宋诗词多写荡秋千之乐（如苏轼「墙里秋千墙外道」），此词反写秋千为疏雨所湿、空自寂寞，以「乐具」写「哀情」，翻新出奇；「柳生绵」之「绵」即柳絮，暗含飘零之感，「海燕未来」「江梅已过」则一虚一实写出节候推移，皆取常物而含深意，正是易安「用浅俗之语，发清新之思」的具体体现。

Commentary

This ci has always been a famous early example of Li Qingzhao's graceful style. Modern critics say that Li uses simple language to express fresh thoughts. This work, with its spring light, grass-picking, and willow catkins, depicts boudoir melancholy with a clear and beautiful pictorial quality. A Qing dynasty critic called it 'the best of women's poetry,' and the final line 'At dusk I see the swing wet with fine rain revealed' is especially praised as a masterstroke of scene-emotion fusion.

此词向为易安早期婉约名篇。王灼《碧鸡漫志》称李清照「自少年便有诗名，才力华赡，逼近前辈」，此词正见其少年才情。近人评易安词「用浅俗之语，发清新之思」，此作以寒食春光、斗草柳绵写闺中轻愁，清丽如画。清人谓其「闺秀之词，当以此种为最」，结句「黄昏疏雨湿秋千」尤被推为情景交融的化工之笔。与晏殊「无可奈何花落去」、晏几道「落花人独立」等惜春名句相比，易安此作不直接议论春去，而纯以景语、物候语含之，更见女性词人细腻婉转的笔致。就词史而言，此词与《如梦令·昨夜雨疏风骤》等早期作品一起，确立了李清照以女性身份写闺阁真情的独特地位，在男权话语的诗词传统中别开生面。从女性文学史看，此词的意义尤在于「以女子之身写女子之心」：此前词坛写闺情多为男子代拟（如温庭筠、柳永），难免隔膜，易安以其切身体验写闺中真趣——梦回花钿之慵、斗草嬉游之乐、疏雨秋千之怅，皆非旁观者所能道，遂开女性自写闺情的新纪元。后世朱淑真「绿杨影里，海棠亭畔」等作，正承此脉；此词与《点绛唇·蹴罢秋千》等篇，实为古代女性词人自我书写的奠基之作，其词史地位自不可轻。

Prosody

Form Ci · 'Silk-Washing Stream' double stanza, 42 characters词·《浣溪沙》双调四十二字

Rhyme Pingshui rhyme scheme, three rhymes in upper stanza, two in lower (tian, yan, dian; mian, qian)平韵，上片三平韵、下片两平韵（天、烟、钿；绵、千），词林正韵第七部

Tone pattern Seven-character lines plus three-character lines, smooth and harmonious句式以七言为主、间以三字句，音节和婉流转

Reading note The short lyric has a clear and beautiful tone, ideal for boudoir and spring melancholy, matching the mood of the poem.此词为《浣溪沙》双调四十二字，上片三句三平韵，下片三句两平韵，是唐宋词中声情最为和婉的小令之一。《浣溪沙》句式上片为七七七、下片为七七七，七言句中夹以「寒食天」「隐花钿」「柳生绵」「湿秋千」等三字收尾，长短错落、音韵流美。本词押词林正韵第七部平声韵（天、烟、钿、绵、千），韵脚皆收于「an」类韵母，绵长悠远，与春日闲雅、轻愁袅袅的词境正相吻合。平仄上严守词谱，如「淡荡春光寒食天」为「仄仄平平平仄平」，「玉炉沉水袅残烟」为「仄平平仄仄平平」，声调起伏有致；下片「海燕未来人斗草，江梅已过柳生绵」两句对仗工稳而不板滞。小令体制短小，最宜含蓄，易安于此以四十二字写一日之景、一缕之愁，由昼而暮、由乐而愁，起承转合井然，正是《浣溪沙》「以短章写深致」的典范，也可见宋代女词人对小令声情的精熟。

Line by line

淡荡春光寒食天

On Cold Food Day the spring light is gentle and rippling. 'Light and rippling' sets a graceful tone and indicates the season.

寒食时节，春光柔和荡漾。

The soft spring light of the Cold Food day.

起句点明节令与基调，开篇即定清丽婉约的词风。「淡荡」写春光和舒摇漾之态，明媚而不浓烈，如微风拂水、春气氤氲，一词尽得春日神韵；「寒食天」点明时节——寒食禁火、春意将阑，为全词的惜春之情埋下伏笔。此句写景而不见人，然「淡荡」二字已透出闺中人闲适慵懒的心境，景语即是情语，是易安善于以景写心的典型起笔。

The opening names the season and the tone, setting at once the ci's clear, graceful style. The soft writes the spring light's gentle sway, bright and yet not strong, like the light wind on the water, the spring breath curling, one word exhausting the spring day's charm; the Cold Food day names the season — the Cold Food's fire ban, the spring feeling near its end, storing ground for the ci's spring-treasuring. This line writes scene and not the person, and yet the two words soft already breathe the chamber woman's leisured languor, the scene words at once the feeling words, the typical opening of Yi'an's way of writing the heart through scene.

玉炉沉水袅残烟

From the jade burner rises the smoke of incense grey. The remaining smoke suggests fleeting time and boudoir elegance.

玉炉中沉香燃尽，余烟袅袅盘旋。

In the jade burner, the aloeswood burns out; the last smoke curls up.

由户外春光转入室内，以熏香之静写闺阁之闲雅。「玉炉」见器之华贵，「沉水」即沉香，见香之名贵，玉炉沉香正是上层闺阁生活的标志；「袅残烟」写香烟将尽、袅袅上升之态，「残」字暗含时光将逝之微愁——香将尽而春将尽，物候与人事相映。此句以室内静景写闺中寂寥，一个「残」字将惜春之意轻轻带出，含蓄而不露，正是易安体「淡语含愁」的特色。

Turning from the outdoor spring to the indoor, writing the chamber's elegance through the censer's stillness. The jade burner shows the vessel's splendor, the aloeswood the costly incense, the jade burner and aloeswood the mark of the upper chamber's life; the last smoke curls up writes the incense's ending and the curling rise, the word last secretly carrying the faint grief of time's going — the incense ending and the spring ending, the phenology and the human affairs answering. This line writes the chamber's solitude through the indoor still scene, the one word last lightly bringing out the spring-treasuring, restrained and unspoken, precisely the Yi'an-style feature of the plain words holding grief.

梦回山枕隐花钿

Awake from dreams, I find on pillow hill my hairpin array. This depicts the languid and delicate boudoir mood.

梦中醒来，只见山形枕上隐隐枕着花钿。

Waking from the dream, the flower pin half-hidden on the mountain-shaped pillow.

写梦醒情态，是易安写闺情入微的妙笔。「梦回」写午睡方醒，「山枕」指山形之枕，「花钿」为女子额饰；「隐」字写花钿半露于枕间，似隐似现——梦醒慵懒，未及整妆，花钿斜坠而半藏枕隙，娇憨之态毕现。此句以「隐」字写动态的静态，不着一个「慵」字而慵态自见，正是李清照「以浅俗之语，发清新之思」的典范，也是其女性视角写闺情胜过男性的关键所在。

Writing the waking mood, Yi'an's delicate brush for the chamber feeling. Waking from the dream writes the afternoon sleep just ended, the mountain-shaped pillow the pillow shaped like a hill, the flower pin the woman's forehead ornament; the word hidden writes the pin half-shown on the pillow, half-hidden half-seen — the waking languor, not yet dressed, the pin aslant and half hidden in the pillow's gap, the charming artless pose vivid. This line writes the stillness of motion through the hidden, not one word of languor and the languor self-seen, precisely Li Qingzhao's model of the fresh thought from the plain words, and the key of her female perspective surpassing the men's in writing the chamber feeling.

海燕未来人斗草，江梅已过柳生绵。

The swallows have not come, and the girls play the grass game; the river plum is past, and the willow bears its down.

海燕尚未飞来，女子们已忙着斗草嬉戏；江梅早已谢尽，柳树抽出了绵绵飞絮。

The sea swallows not yet arrived, the girls play the grass contest; the river plum long faded, the willow sends forth its down.

下片由室内回到户外，以物候对仗写节令推移与人事怅惘。「海燕未来」对「江梅已过」，一未至一已谢，写出春光将尽的怅惘；「人斗草」写女伴嬉游之乐，「柳生绵」写柳絮飘飞、春去之兆。两句一写人事、一写物候，乐景中已伏愁绪——斗草之乐何其欢，而春去之速又何其迫。此联对仗工稳而含情，将闺中少女的欢愉与惜春的隐忧交织在一起，为结句的疏雨秋千蓄势。

The second stanza returns from the room to the outdoor, writing the season's turn and the human wistfulness in the parallelism of phenology. The swallows not yet arrived set against the river plum long faded: one not come, one already shed, writing the wistfulness of the spring's near end; the girls play the grass contest writes the maidens' playful joy, the willow bears its down writes the willow's flying catkins, the sign of spring's going. Two lines, one human affair one phenology, the delighted scene already hiding grief — how gay the grass game's joy, and how pressing the spring's going. This couplet in steady parallelism and yet feeling within, weaving the chamber maid's delight and the hidden spring-treasuring anxiety together, storing ground for the closing swing in the sparse rain.

黄昏疏雨湿秋千

At dusk I see the swing wet with fine rain revealed. The word 'wet' blends sorrow into the scene, a masterful ending that leaves lingering melancholy.

黄昏时分，稀疏的春雨打湿了秋千。

At dusk, the sparse rain wets the swing.

结句以景结情，是全词的词眼。「黄昏」写暮色降临，「疏雨」写雨势疏淡，「湿秋千」写细雨打湿秋千——秋千本是荡春嬉戏的欢乐之物，今为疏雨所湿、空自垂挂，无人再荡。「湿」字融情入景，将无形的惜春之愁化为可感的湿意，物之湿即是心之湿；秋千之湿暗示春游之罢、欢乐之逝，余韵袅袅。全词至此戛然而止，不言愁而愁自弥漫，正是「以景结情」的化工之笔，也是易安惜春词中最耐寻味的结尾。

The close ends feeling in scene, the eye of the ci. The dusk writes the gathering twilight, the sparse rain the rain's thinness, wets the swing writes the drizzle wetting the swing — the swing by nature the spring-playing's joy, and now wetted by the sparse rain, hanging empty, no one to swing. The word wet fuses feeling into scene, turning the invisible spring-treasuring grief into the felt wetness, the thing's wetness being the heart's wetness; the swing's wetness hints the outing's end and the joy's departure, the aftertone winding. The ci ends abruptly here, not naming grief and the grief self-spreading, precisely the creator-stroke of ending feeling in scene, and the most enduring close in Yi'an's spring-treasuring ci.

Study

Word focus

淡荡 Gentle and rippling (describing spring light) 「淡荡春光」之「淡荡」，状春风和舒、光景闲雅，叠韵联绵，是全词基调的定音之词。「淡」写春色之不浓，「荡」写春光之摇漾，二字连用，将春日的和煦、舒缓、明媚写得可触可感——如见春水微漾、春气氤氲。此词不用「明媚」「骀荡」等熟语而用「淡荡」，正见易安炼字之雅：既写春日之景，又暗合闺中人淡远闲适的心境，景情双关。叠韵联绵，读来口吻温润，音韵与词境相谐，开篇二字即定清丽婉约之调。

湿 Wet (used to blend emotion into scene) 「疏雨湿秋千」之「湿」，以触觉收束全篇，是全词炼字精髓。「湿」本是极寻常的字，置于「黄昏疏雨」与「秋千」之间，便生出无穷情味：秋千为春游嬉戏之物，湿则无人再荡，欢乐之迹化为寂寥之象；以「湿」写雨之沾物，具体可感，将无形的惜春之愁化为有形的湿意，情景交融。「湿」字不用「打」「淋」而用「湿」，因「湿」写的是结果状态而非动作过程，正是愁绪「浸透」心境的写照。一字之工，全词的轻愁由此凝结为可触的意象，余韵悠长。

隐 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「梦回山枕隐花钿」之「隐」，写花钿半露于枕间之态，是易安体细腻处的代表。「隐」本指隐藏、隐约，此处写梦醒后花钿斜坠、半藏枕隙——若用「枕」「压」则太实，若用「露」则太明，「隐」字恰好写出「似隐似现」的娇慵情态，如见其人。此字以动态写静态，不着一个「慵」「懒」字而慵态毕现，正是李清照以女性身份写闺阁真情的独得之妙，也是「用浅俗之语，发清新之思」的具体体现。