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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

元日

New Year's Day

王安石

Wang Anshi

节令Seasonal Festival 民俗Folk Custom 时序Theme

爆竹声中一岁除，春风送暖入屠苏。
千门万户曈曈日，总把新桃换旧符。

With the sound of firecrackers, the old year is gone;
The spring breeze brings warmth into the Tusu wine.
The rising sun shines upon thousands of doors;
Always the new peachwood replaces the old amulet.

Listen

Meaning

The old year departs amid firecrackers; spring wind brings warmth as people drink Tusu wine. Under the bright sun, every family replaces the old peachwood charm with a new one.

在噼啪作响的爆竹声中，旧的一年过去了；春风送来暖意，人们畅饮屠苏酒。初升的太阳光辉灿烂，照耀着千家万户；家家户户总是取下旧桃符，换上崭新的桃符。

Appreciation

The poem uses three folk customs—firecrackers, Tusu wine, and peachwood charms—to depict the festive New Year. The bright sun symbolizes the new order. While describing joyful celebration, Wang Anshi conveys his political ambition to abolish the old and implement reforms. The final line is a clever double entendre for both the custom and reformist ideal.

【白话串讲】 “爆竹声中一岁除，春风送暖入屠苏”——王安石变法初成，在春节写下这首《元日》。“总把新桃换旧符”，他相信新政会像春风一样换掉旧世界。【意象与手法】全诗四句，句句写民俗而句句含寄托。起句「爆竹声中一岁除」以声写时，爆竹的脆响宣告旧年终结；承句「春风送暖入屠苏」以暖写新，一个「送」字拟人化春风，把春意送入酒杯；转句「千门万户曈曈日」以光写普照，旭日东升、光辉灿烂；合句「总把新桃换旧符」以俗写更新，点出除旧布新之题。四句由声、暖、光、俗层层推进，白描叙事而画面鲜亮，节奏明快，明朗昂扬，毫无衰飒之气。【情感与主旨】此诗作于宋神宗熙宁年间王安石拜相推行新法之初（约熙宁二年，1069年前后）。诗人借元日热闹的民俗场景，暗喻自己辅佐君王、革除旧弊、推行新法的政治抱负：爆竹驱邪如扫除积弊，春风送暖如新政惠民，曈曈旭日如新朝气象，「新桃换旧符」更象征革故鼎新。全诗于节令诗中寄寓政治理想，是咏节令而见怀抱的名作。【名句点睛】「总把新桃换旧符」是全诗诗眼：表面写年俗，实则象征除旧布新——「新」「旧」二字对照，正是王安石推行新法、更新时政的宣言，千百年来已成为革故鼎新的代名词。

Background

This poem was written around 1069 when Wang Anshi became Chancellor and started the New Policies. New Year's Day was a time for driving away evil with firecrackers, drinking Tusu wine, and replacing peachwood charms. The poet uses these customs to metaphorically represent his political reform—removing the old and ushering in the new.

王安石（1021—1086），字介甫，号半山，临川（今江西抚州）人，北宋著名政治家、文学家，唐宋八大家之一。他于宋仁宗、英宗朝即屡上变法之议，至宋神宗熙宁二年（1069）拜参知政事，次年任同中书门下平章事，推行青苗、均输、市易、免役、农田水利等新法，史称「熙宁新政」。此诗即作于拜相行新法之初的元日（农历正月初一），具体年份学界多定为熙宁二年（1069）或三年（1070）。元日乃一年之首，宋人于此日燃爆竹、饮屠苏、换桃符以驱邪迎祥，气氛最为热烈。诗人身处变法初行、朝野翕然之际，意气风发，遂借节俗之「新」寄托政治之「新」：爆竹声中一岁既除，恰如积弊当革；春风送暖，恰如新政惠民；桃符更新，恰如更张法度。全诗以民俗写政见，把一位改革家除旧布新的抱负熔铸于四句之中，是节令诗与政治抒情诗交融的典范。后世论者或谓此诗亦含王氏推行新法时自信其必然成功的心态，与晚年退居半山后的冲淡诗风判若两人，从中正可窥见一位改革家盛年时的精神气象。

Art

The poem is a four-line quatrain. Each line describes a folk custom yet carries deeper meaning. Line 1: sound of firecrackers marks passage of time; line 2: spring wind and Tusu wine depict human joy; lines 3-4: bright sun and new peachwood represent renewal. The tone is bright and optimistic, using vivid imagery like '曈曈日' to create a grand, festive atmosphere. The final line has a clever pun.

全诗四句二十八字，起承转合极为工整，而妙在句句写民俗、句句有寄托的双层结构。起句「爆竹声中一岁除」写时间更替：以「声中」点出听觉，爆竹之响是旧年消逝的宣告，「除」字斩截有力，一出场即定下除旧迎新的基调。承句「春风送暖入屠苏」写人事欢愉：春风本无形，着一「送」字便成殷勤使者；「入屠苏」更以暖意沁入酒中，写春之可饮可尝，由外景转入人身，节令的温暖落到了百姓的杯盏里。转句「千门万户曈曈日」拓开空间：从一家一户的饮宴推到千家万户，旭日「曈曈」（光明的样子）普照，天地为之一新，气象陡然宏大。合句「总把新桃换旧符」收束点题：「总」字写此乃年年如此之俗，「新」「旧」对照，由民俗之更新自然过渡到政治之除旧，双关而不着痕迹。四句由听而感、由感而见、由见而思，声、暖、光、俗四层递进，白描中寓豪情，明朗中见机杼。尤妙者，全诗无一字议论，而变法之志自在其中，所谓「不著一字，尽得风流」，正是荆公此诗的高明处。

Allusions

Tusu wine is a traditional New Year's drink believed to ward off evil, recorded in the Jingchu Suishiji. Peachwood charms were hung on doors to repel ghosts, as recorded in Fengsu Tongyi. Later, inscribed couplets replaced them, becoming spring couplets. Wang Anshi uses 'new peachwood replaces old' to allude to his reform policies.

此诗所用皆岁时民俗之典，熔铸自然，几乎看不出用典痕迹。「爆竹」之俗源于驱傩：古以火烧竹节，竹爆发声以逐山臊恶鬼，南朝梁宗懔《荆楚岁时记》载「正月一日，鸡鸣而起，先于庭前爆竹，以辟山臊恶鬼」，至宋代已演为庆祝新年的娱乐，火药制爆竹亦渐流行。「屠苏」指屠苏酒，相传为华佗所制、孙思邈发扬的辟疫药酒，饮法最幼者先饮，取「少者得岁，老者失岁」之意，《荆楚岁时记》与《岁时广记》皆有记载，苏轼「但把穷愁博长健，不辞最后饮屠苏」即咏此俗。「桃符」为春联之前身：古俗以桃木板长二尺，上书神荼、郁垒二神之名或画像，悬于门旁以驱鬼辟邪，事见东汉应劭《风俗通义》；五代后蜀孟昶始在桃符上题联语「新年纳余庆，嘉节号长春」，是为春联之始，入宋后此风大盛。「曈曈日」则暗用《淮南子》「日出于旸谷，至于曲阿，是谓旦明」的日出意象，写旭日之光明。诗人把四种岁时民俗从容写入四句，看似信手拈来，实则句句有来历，且以「新桃换旧符」暗合《周易》「革故鼎新」的变革观念，使民俗描写同时成为政治宣言，这是此诗用典的独到之处。

Commentary

This poem is widely recited and praised for its festive spirit. Scholars often point to the last line as the core, which combines folk custom with political reform. Reading it alongside Wang's 'Plum Blossom' shows his consistent use of natural phenomena and customs to convey political ideals.

此诗自宋以来即家喻户晓，被收入多种蒙学读物，向以「明朗喜庆」著称，而其深层寓意则久为论者关注。南宋陈岩肖《庚溪诗话》引胡仔语，谓荆公此诗「自寓其执政改革之意」，已揭其寄托。明人瞿佑《归田诗话》称「此诗写出他宰相胸襟」，以为「千门万户」之句非宰相气象不能道。清代贺裳《载酒园诗话》则谓「元日诗自荆公此篇出，后人遂难为继」，虽含偏爱，亦见其影响力。近人研究多聚焦「总把新桃换旧符」一句，以为「新」「旧」之对是理解全诗的关键：它既是年俗的实录，又是新政的象征，表层与深层之间形成稳定而开放的隐喻结构，故能被不同时代的读者反复征引——近现代以来，「新桃换旧符」更成为「除旧布新」「推陈出新」的代名词，进入日常语言。从文学史看，此诗是宋人「以俗为雅」「议论入诗」风气在节令诗中的成功实践：白居易等唐人咏节令多写风物人情，荆公则于民俗中注入政治理想，开苏轼一类以事理入诗的先声；同时它保持七绝的明快音调，未堕宋诗议论之弊，是「诗中有寄托而诗外无议论痕迹」的典范。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain, even-start with first line rhymed (Pingshui rhyme: Qiyu rhyme)七言绝句（平起首句入韵，平水韵·上平七虞）

Rhyme chu, su, fu (level-tone Yu rhyme; 'ri' does not rhyme)押「除、苏、符」，平水韵上平七虞，一韵到底；第三句「日」不押韵，仄收。

Tone pattern Each line describes sound, warmth, light, and custom; straightforward narration; tonal pattern conforms to seven-character quatrain平起平收式，音节明快；四句分写声、暖、光、俗，白描铺陈而平仄合律。

Reading note Writes New Year folk customs, subtly conveys reformist ambition to remove the old and establish the new; cheerful and bright.此诗为七言绝句，平起首句入韵，押平水韵上平七虞（除、苏、符），一韵到底，属七绝的正格。七虞韵为合口呼，读来浑厚洪亮，正合元日欢庆的明快氛围；「除」「苏」「符」三字皆平声，韵脚绵长，一唱三叹，诵之如见爆竹声与笑语声相和。格律上，首句「爆竹声中一岁除」为仄仄平平仄仄平，平起平收，故首句即入韵；第二句「春风送暖入屠苏」为平平仄仄仄平平，与首句成对；第三句「千门万户曈曈日」末字「日」为入声仄收，不入韵，为转句之常格；第四句「总把新桃换旧符」为仄仄平平仄仄平，与第三句相粘，全诗平仄合律，是七绝的规范之作。声情上，四句分写声（爆竹）、暖（春风）、光（曈曈日）、俗（换桃符），由听而感、由感而见、由见而思，层层推进；「曈曈」叠字置于转句句腰，音节明亮，是全诗声调的最高点。此诗之妙在「以俗为雅」：将驱祟、辟疫、迎神等民俗仪式写入格律严整的七绝，音节的雅正与内容的通俗相映成趣，证明宋人「以俗为雅」的诗学主张在节令诗中同样可行。王安石绝句素以「瘦硬通神」著称，此诗却明快流丽，是其风格多样性的一个标本。

Line by line

爆竹声中一岁除，

The old year departs amid the sound of firecrackers.

在噼啪作响的爆竹声中，旧的一年过去了。

Amid the crackle of firecrackers, the old year departs.

起句以声写时，是全诗的时间起点。「爆竹声中」四字先声夺人，爆竹之响既有除旧的心理暗示（驱祟），又有热闹的节日氛围，听觉先行，画面随之展开。「一岁除」三字交代时间的更替，「除」字用得斩截，写旧岁如被爆竹声「清除」一般干脆利落，没有依依惜别，只有辞旧迎新的爽朗。值得注意的是「一岁除」与下句「入屠苏」的动词呼应：一「除」一「入」，旧去新来，时间的流转被写成空间的位移，抽象的时间更替因此变得可触可感。此句为全诗定了基调：不是叹流光易逝，而是庆新岁将至，与后来「总把新桃换旧符」的更新主题一脉相承。王安石变法之初的踌躇满志，正从这斩截的「除」字中隐隐透出——旧法如旧岁，当一除而尽。

The opening writes time through sound and is the temporal starting point of the poem. 'Amid the crackle of firecrackers' seizes the ear first: the crackle carries both the psychological hint of driving out the old (warding off ill) and a festive bustle; sound leads, and the picture unfolds after. 'The old year departs' marks the turn of time; the verb 'depart' is decisive, as if the old year were 'cleared away' by the crackle, brisk and clean, no lingering regret, only the bright ease of seeing the old out and the new in. Note the echo between 'departs' and the next line's 'enters' the tususu wine: one departs, one enters; the old goes, the new comes, and the flow of time is written as spatial movement, making abstract change tangible. The line sets the poem's tone: not a sigh at fleeting time, but celebration of the coming year, of a piece with the later theme of 'new peach charms replacing the old.' Wang Anshi's elation at the start of his reforms faintly shows through the decisive 'depart' — the old laws, like the old year, should be swept out clean.

春风送暖入屠苏。

The spring breeze brings warmth into the Tusu wine.

春风送来暖意，人们畅饮屠苏酒。

The spring breeze sends warmth into the tususu wine.

承句由「声」转「暖」，写春之降临与人之欢愉。「春风送暖」本为常语，妙在一个「入」字：春风把暖意直直送入屠苏酒中，暖不是停留在空中，而是沁入酒里、入到人的腹中，由外境直贯人身。诗人对「送」字的处理尤见匠心——春风被写成殷勤的使者，主动送暖，拟人而不着痕迹；「屠苏」一词则点出元日特有之俗（饮辟疫的屠苏酒），使抽象的「暖」落到了具体的民俗生活里。此句与上句对看，一除一新、一送一入，动词密集而意象流动，读来春风拂面、酒意融融。从寄托层面看，「送暖入屠苏」暗喻新政如春风般惠及百姓——王安石推行新法的理想，正是要让「暖」进入千家万户的日常生活，此句实为「曈曈日」普照天下作了铺垫。

The following line turns from 'sound' to 'warmth,' writing spring's arrival and human joy. 'The spring breeze sends warmth' is a common phrase, yet the genius lies in 'enters': the breeze sends warmth straight into the tususu wine; warmth does not linger in the air but soaks into the wine and into the drinker's belly, passing from outer scene straight into the body. The poet's handling of 'sends' is especially artful — the spring breeze becomes an attentive messenger actively sending warmth, personified without a trace. 'Tususu' names the New Year custom of drinking the wine that wards off pestilence, grounding the abstract 'warmth' in concrete folk life. Read against the previous line, one 'departs' and one 'enters,' one 'sends' and one 'enters,' dense with verbs and flowing imagery; one feels the breeze on the face and the wine's warmth. On the level of allegory, 'sending warmth into the tususu wine' shadows the new policies reaching the people like a spring breeze — Wang Anshi's ideal of reform was precisely to let 'warmth' enter the daily life of every household, preparing for the 'bright sun' that will shine over all below.

千门万户曈曈日，

Thousands of doors and windows are bathed in the bright morning sun.

初升的太阳光辉灿烂，照耀着千家万户。

The rising sun shines bright on a thousand thousand doors and households.

转句拓开空间，是全诗气象最高处。「千门万户」以夸张写市井之广，从一家之宴推到万室之庆，元日的喜庆遂成普天之庆；「曈曈」为叠字，状旭日初升时光明灿烂之貌，兼有日欲明之义，写朝阳之新鲜蓬勃。「曈曈日」三字是全句乃至全诗的亮色所在：前两句写爆竹、春风，皆是无形之声与无形之暖，至此方有一轮红日铺满画面，天地为之大明。此句亦暗含政治寓意：新法行而天下新，正如旭日之普照，无远弗届。就章法言，起承两句写一家之元日，转句忽然推到千家万户，境界由小转大，正是七绝「转」处须有的开合之势；而以「曈曈」叠字置于句腰，音节明亮，读之如见朝阳喷薄，为合句「新桃换旧符」的收束蓄足了势。

The third couplet opens out in space, the highest breadth of the poem. 'A thousand thousand doors and households' uses hyperbole for the width of the streets, moving from one family's feast to the celebration of ten thousand homes, so that the New Year joy becomes a joy under all heaven. The reduplicative 'bright' paints the freshly risen sun glowing radiantly, with a sense of light about to break; it writes the morning sun as fresh and teeming. 'The bright sun' is the luminous point of the whole poem: the first two lines wrote firecrackers and spring breeze — invisible sound and invisible warmth — and only now does a red sun spread across the picture, making all creation bright. The line also carries political allegory: when the new policies prevail, all below is renewed, just as the rising sun shines everywhere, however distant. In craft, the first two lines write one family's New Year; the third suddenly pushes to a thousand thousand doors, the realm moving from small to large — the very sweep expected at the 'turn' of a seven-character quatrain. Placing 'bright' mid-line makes the syllables luminous; reading it, one sees the sun burst forth, storing momentum for the closing 'new peach charms replacing the old.'

总把新桃换旧符。

Always the new peachwood charm replaces the old one.

家家户户总是取下旧桃符，换上崭新的桃符。

Everywhere they take down the old peach charms and hang up new ones.

合句点题，是全诗诗眼所在。「总把」二字写此俗年年如此、家家如此，语带笃定，仿佛大势所趋、无可阻拦；「新桃换旧符」五字则道出元日民俗的核心仪式——取下旧桃符、挂上新桃符，本是驱邪迎祥之举，诗人却在此注入全新寓意：「新」「旧」二字由具体之物上升为抽象之象，除旧布新、革故鼎新之意不言自明。尤其「换」字，写得从容不迫，仿佛时势流转、新旧代谢本是天经地义，变法成功之自信溢于言表。从寄托看，此句是王安石政治理想最凝练的表达：新法如新桃，积弊如旧符，新政之行如同换符，自然而然、势所必至。此句之所以千古传诵，正因它以最朴素的民俗写出了最宏大的历史变革，成为「除旧布新」的民族化表达。

The closing names the theme and is the eye of the poem. 'Everywhere' writes this custom as the same every year, in every household, with a tone of certainty, as if a mighty current that cannot be opposed. 'New peach charms replacing the old' names the core New Year rite — taking down the old peach charms and hanging new ones, originally a ward against evil and a welcome of good — yet the poet infuses it with fresh meaning: 'new' and 'old' rise from concrete objects to abstract symbols, and 'sweeping out the old to bring in the new' is self-evident. The verb 'replace' is especially composed, as if the turning of times and the metabolism of old and new were natural law; the confidence of successful reform brims between the lines. As allegory, the line is the most condensed expression of Wang Anshi's political ideal: the new laws are the new peach charm, the accumulated abuses the old charm, and the reform's coming as natural and inevitable as replacing the charms. It has been cherished for a thousand years precisely because it writes the grandest historical change through the plainest folk rite, becoming the nation's own expression of renewal.

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Word focus

除 remove/depart 「爆竹声中一岁除」之「除」字，是全诗时间更替的枢纽。「除」本义为台阶，引申为更易、去掉，《尔雅》谓十二月为「除」，故旧岁尽去谓之「除岁」，「除夕」「岁除」皆由此来。诗人于起句用一「除」字，斩截有力：旧岁之去不是悄然消逝，而是被爆竹声「清除」而去，动词本身即带主动更张的意味。与后文「新桃换旧符」的「换」字呼应，「除」与「换」构成除旧布新的完整过程：先除旧岁，再换新符，时序井然。此字亦见诗人胸襟：一般写岁暮多叹流光，荆公却以「除」字写出辞旧的痛快与迎新的自信，正见变法之初的进取气象。故论者谓此诗以一字见宰相胸襟，「除」字实为首功。

送 usher/bring (personified spring breeze) 「春风送暖入屠苏」之「送」字，是炼虚字见功力的典型。春风本无形无色，诗人着一「送」字，便把它写成殷勤的使者——主动携暖而至，送到人间、送入杯中；「送」字赋予春风以人的情意，拟人化而不着痕迹，与「入」字配合，一送一入，暖意的流转过程如在目前。若易作「吹」「度」等字，则暖只是一般的气象变化，失去了「送」字所含的主动与温情。更深一层，「送」字暗合诗人的政治寄寓：新政如春风，主动惠民，将「暖」送入千家万户的日常生活——从「送暖入屠苏」到「千门万户曈曈日」，暖由一杯酒推到普天之下，正是变法「惠及百姓」理想的诗化表达。一字之妙，使节令诗兼有了政治抒情的温度。

曈曈 bright and shining (describing the sun) 「千门万户曈曈日」之「曈曈」，叠字状旭日初升时光明灿烂之貌，是全诗最亮的一笔。「曈」本指日出时光明的样子，叠用则写光之盛、色之新：不是夕照的温柔，也不是正午的酷烈，而是朝阳乍露、万象更新的蓬勃光辉，正合元日「一元复始」的节令气象。叠字在音韵上亦有讲究，「曈曈」双声叠韵，读来明亮上口，音节与语义同构——光明的字面配光明的声调，声情并茂。此字上承《诗经》「旭日始旦」的传统，下启后世「曈曈初日」的固定搭配。就寓意言，「曈曈日」普照千门万户，暗喻新政如初日之升、泽被天下；荆公以一字写出整个新时代的光明预期，气象之宏阔，非怀改革之志者不能道。

新、旧 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 「总把新桃换旧符」以「新」「旧」二字对举，是全诗寄托所在。「新桃」「旧符」本为同物异时之实指（桃符一年一换，新者为新桃，旧者为旧符），诗人却让这对反义词由具体之物上升为抽象之象：旧者，积弊、旧法、旧朝之习；新者，良政、新法、更新之象。「换」字居中，写出代谢之势的必然与从容，与「总把」的笃定语吻相合，变法成功的自信溢于言表。二字之妙还在其普适性：脱离具体语境，「新桃换旧符」依然是「推陈出新」最形象的说法，故能穿越千年成为民族化的表达。诗人于二十八字中嵌入一对反义词，不动声色地完成从民俗到政治的跳跃，正是王安石「以俗为雅」「以议论入诗」而能不着议论痕迹的典范笔法。

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