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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

张先·青门引·春思

Green Gate Prelude · Spring Thought

张先

Zhang Xian

婉约graceful 春愁spring melancholy

乍暖还轻冷，风雨晚来方定。
庭轩寂寞近清明，残花中酒，又是去年病。
楼头画角风吹醒，入夜重门静。
那堪更被明月，隔墙送过秋千影。

Just warm again, and yet a light cold;
Wind and rain settled only toward dusk.
The court and porch are lonely, near the Clear and Bright.
Before the faded blooms I drink to sickness—
Again it is last year's malady.

Atop the tower the painted horn; the wind blows me awake.
Into the night the layered gates fall still.
How can I bear that the bright moon
Should send across the wall the shadow of a swing?

Listen

Meaning

The weather has just turned warm yet carries a slight chill; wind and rain did not cease until dusk. The lonely courtyard and porch, near the Clear and Bright festival; before the faded flowers I drink myself sick—again the same sick melancholy as last year. The painted horn atop the tower is carried on the wind and wakes me; deep into the night the many gates are silent. How can I bear that the bright moon should send across the wall the shadow of a swing.

天气刚转暖却又带着微微寒意，风雨直到傍晚才停歇。庭院轩窗寂寞冷清，临近清明时节，对着残花醉酒，又染上和去年一样的愁病。城楼上的画角声被风送来将人吹醒，入夜后一道道门扉寂静无声。怎堪忍受那明月，竟隔着墙送过来秋千的影子。

Appreciation

This piece wins by layered imagery and interwoven sound and sight. The upper part moves from touch (just warm, light cold) and weather (wind and rain settled) to sight (faded blooms) and bodily feeling (drink to sickness), naturally reaching 'again it is last year's malady', plain yet showing the depth of sorrow. The lower part's 'the painted horn atop the tower; the wind blows me awake' breaks the still with sound; 'into the night the layered gates fall still' takes sound back to still, sound and still breeding. The finest is the close 'How can I bear that the bright moon should send across the wall the shadow of a swing': the moon means nothing, yet 'sends' the swing's shadow, personifying loneliness as a trance, writing real sorrow in an empty scene—endless in restraint, long praised as Zhang Xian's striking line.

【白话串讲】 “乍暖还轻冷，风雨晚来方定”——张先写初春：刚暖又冷，风雨到傍晚才停。“那堪更被明月，隔墙送过秋千影”——明月把隔壁的秋千影子送过来——那是她的秋千。寂寞，在一道影子里。【意象与手法】本词以意象层叠、视听交错取胜。上片从触觉（乍暖轻冷）、气候（风雨方定）写到视觉（残花）与身体感受（中酒、病），由景及情自然过渡到「又是去年病」；下片「楼头画角风吹醒」以声破静，「入夜重门静」以静收声，声静相生。最妙在结句「那堪更被明月，隔墙送过秋千影」，以拟人写孤寂中之恍惚，以虚景写实愁，含蓄不尽。【情感与主旨】张先（990—1078），字子野，北宋前期重要词人。此词具体系年难确，据「近清明」「去年病」等语，当为晚年某一暮春之作。词人借「残花中酒」「又是去年病」写愁绪之循环往复，可见其春日伤怀并非偶发，而是经年累月的生命体验，于平易中见沉厚，于闲冷中藏深情。【名句点睛】「那堪更被明月，隔墙送过秋千影」为千古名句，以无情之月送有情之影，于闲冷中见深情，历来推为张先警句；「又是去年病」所暗示的年复一年的孤寂伤春亦为赏析重点。

Background

Zhang Xian (990–1078), styled Ziyu, an important lyricist of early Northern Song. The exact year is unsure; from 'near the Clear and Bright' and 'last year's malady' it should be a late-life spring piece. Zhang Xian held no high office, retired in later years, and his manner moved from early feasting-songs to deep and quiet grace, mostly writing his lone breast through the turning seasons. Around Clear and Bright, the traveller longs for home and the poet recalls the past—since olden times a season for sorrow; the poet uses 'before the faded blooms I drink to sickness' and 'again it is last year's malady' to write the sorrow's return, showing his spring melancholy is not sudden but a year-upon-year experience of life, hence deep in the plain, warm in the cold.

张先（990—1078），字子野，乌程（今浙江湖州）人，北宋前期重要词人，与晏殊、欧阳修同时而年辈稍晚，以善写「影」闻名，人称「张三影」。其一生官职不显，晚年退居乡里，词风由早年宴饮应歌渐入幽深闲婉，多写时序流转中的个人孤怀。此词具体系年难确，据「近清明」「去年病」等语，当为晚年某一暮春之作。清明前后，本是游子思归、诗人感旧的时节，自古为触愁之候；词人独处庭院，乍暖还寒，风雨方定，见残花而中酒，听画角而惊醒，又见明月隔墙送来秋千之影，遂将经年累月的孤寂之愁尽数勾出。「又是去年病」一语最堪玩味：可见词人的春日伤怀并非偶发，而是年复一年的生命体验，于平易的叙述中透出沉厚的人生况味，是其晚年心境的艺术写照。又，张先晚年退居湖州，与苏轼等后辈交游，其词学主张与创作实践影响了苏轼「以诗为词」的探索，然其本人则始终在晏欧一路的婉约传统中深耕，此词写暮春独居的孤怀，正是其晚年「繁华落尽见真淳」的心境写照，也是北宋前期词由宴饮应歌向个人抒情转变的见证。

Art

This piece wins by layered imagery and interwoven sound and sight. The upper part moves from touch (just warm, light cold) and weather (wind and rain settled) to sight (faded blooms) and bodily feeling (drink to sickness), naturally reaching 'again it is last year's malady', plain yet deep in sorrow. The lower part's 'the painted horn atop the tower; the wind blows me awake' breaks the still with sound; 'into the night the layered gates fall still' takes sound back to still, sound and still breeding. The finest is the close 'How can I bear that the bright moon should send across the wall the shadow of a swing': the moon means nothing, yet 'sends' the swing's shadow, personifying the lonely trance, writing real sorrow in an empty scene—endless in restraint, long praised as Zhang Xian's striking line.

本词以意象层叠、视听交错取胜，是张先婉约词风的代表作。上片写白昼至黄昏：起句「乍暖还轻冷」写触觉，天气刚回暖又带着微寒，气候不定正是心绪不定的外化；「风雨晚来方定」写气候，风雨一日，至晚方歇，寂寞之感随雨声弥漫；「庭轩寂寞近清明」点出时令与空间，「寂寞」二字直写心境；「残花中酒，又是去年病」由景及人，见残花而醉酒，愁病竟与去年相同，「又是」二字写出愁绪的循环往复，平易中见沉厚。下片写夜：「楼头画角风吹醒」以声破静，画角之声随风入耳，惊醒沉醉之人；「入夜重门静」以静收声，重重门户寂静无声；结句「那堪更被明月，隔墙送过秋千影」以拟人收束，明月本无情，偏「送」秋千影来，以虚景写实愁，含蓄不尽。全词声静相生、视听交错，层层递进，最见张先于浅处见深的抒情功力。词中「虚景写实愁」的手法尤可深味：秋千本在邻家墙内，词人所见唯其影耳，影为虚，愁为实，以虚写实，正是「隔」的妙用——隔墙之影，可望而不可即，恰如词人所怀念的青春欢愉，早已隔着一道无形的墙，这正是张先善写「影」的深层原因，其写影非为巧技，实为深情的寄托。

Allusions

The lyric uses no obvious allusion, winning purely by plain description and scene-feeling blend. Only 'drink to sickness' comes from the Six Dynasties and Tang habit of 'drink to sickness' meaning drunk, here inheriting the tradition of writing sick-drinking, not a fixed allusion. 'Painted horn' is a military instrument, entering lyrics to write the martial or seasonal sound, also a common image. The whole lyric piles no allusion yet feeling is complete, exactly Zhang Xian's power of 'showing depth in the shallow', needing no stacked old tales to move.

本词无明显使事用典，纯以白描与情景交融取胜，这恰是张先词「于浅处见深」的本色。「中酒」一语，源于六朝及唐人诗词中「中酒」指醉酒的习见用语，如杜牧「残春杜陵客，中酒落花前」，此处承传统写病酒之态，非专典而自有渊源。「画角」为军中乐器，声音高亢悲凉，唐宋词中常以之写城防肃杀或时序更替之声，如范仲淹「四面边声连角起」，此处入词以写夜半惊醒，属常见意象而非典实。「秋千」则是唐宋诗词中常见的闺阁意象，多与春光、少女、游乐相连，此处秋千之影隔墙送来，反衬词人的孤独，意象本身即是抒情。全词不着一典而情致宛然，正见张先以白描写真情的本事，无须堆垛故实而自能动人。另，「画角」一词源于军中，其声悲凉，唐代诗人多以之写边塞或城防，如杜甫「画角吹秦晋」，此处画角之声随风入夜，惊醒词人，既是听觉的刺激，也是「世路之音」对闲愁的惊扰，暗含词人对仕途人事的隔膜之感；「重门」则写庭院之深，重重门户，层层孤寂，皆以物象写心境，含蓄而深至。

Commentary

Zhang Xian's little lyrics, in their secluded beauty, are not less than Wen and Wei. The modern Xue Liruo in 'A General Account of Song Lyrics' said he 'can write many hard-to-paint scenes and hard-to-say sorrows with fine detail'. The close 'sends across the wall the shadow of a swing' was praised by the Qing critic Xian Zhu in 'Lyric Purity' as 'newly wrought in phrasing'. Also Kuang Zhouyi in 'Hui Wind Lyric Talk' praised Zhang Xian for 'good lines often beyond expectation'; this line writes feeling in the heartless moon sending a feelingful shadow, showing deep feeling in the cold—long praised by critics.

张先小词，幽艳处不减温韦，历代论者评价颇高。近人薛砺若《宋词通论》称其「能将许多难状之景、难言之愁，写得极细腻」，此词正是范例：乍暖轻冷的触觉、风雨方定的气候、残花中酒的情态、隔墙送影的明月，皆寻常物事，却被写得愁绪万千。结句「隔墙送过秋千影」，清人先著《词洁》评为「琢句炼字，殊觉新颖」，以为以「送」字写明月之无情与有情，构思新颖；况周颐《蕙风词话》亦推张先「好句往往出人意表」，此句以无情之月送有情之影，于闲冷中见深情，自来为论者所称。此词的价值，一在它是张先婉约词风的代表作，二在它以「又是去年病」写时间性的愁绪，超越了即景伤春的浅层抒情，触及了人类面对时间流逝的普遍悲感，三在其结句的意象经营，为后世词人提供了以虚景写实愁的经典范式。又，张先以「张三影」闻名，其「云破月来花弄影」「帘压卷花影」「隔墙送过秋千影」三影俱佳，而「隔墙送过秋千影」即出此词，可见论者对结句的推崇由来已久；此词与晏殊、欧阳修诸作并观，正是北宋前期小令「以淡语写深情」传统的代表作，其艺术成就为后世婉约词树立了典范。

Prosody

Form Lyric, 'Green Gate Prelude' (Qing Men Yin), double-tune 52 characters词·《青门引》双调五十二字

Rhyme Ci Lin Zheng Yun eleventh group (ding, still, awake, silent, shadow), oblique rhymes both parts仄韵，依《词林正韵》第十一部，定、明、病、静、影押韵，一韵到底

Tone pattern Per the tune's register上片六句三仄韵，下片六句三仄韵，句式参差，平仄依谱

Reading note A little lyric, spring-thought melancholy; the close is striking.此词为双调《青门引》，全调五十二字，押仄声韵，韵脚「定」「明」「病」「静」「影」皆属《词林正韵》第十一部，一韵到底，仄韵短促，正合词中寂寞伤春的幽咽情调。平仄依谱填写，句式参差错落：上片以五字句、七字句、三字句、五字句相间，如「乍暖还轻冷，风雨晚来方定。庭轩寂寞近清明，残花中酒，又是去年病」，长短相济，舒卷自如；下片「楼头画角风吹醒，入夜重门静。那堪更被明月，隔墙送过秋千影」句式亦见错落，结句以七字句、五字句收束，音节由紧而缓，正合愁绪层层推进、绵绵不绝的情态。小令体制短小，而此词以景写情、以声写静、以虚写实，声律与内容高度统一，是张先婉约小令在格律与意境上俱臻佳妙的代表作。

Line by line

乍暖还轻冷，风雨晚来方定

Just warm again, and yet a light cold; wind and rain settled only toward dusk.

天气刚转暖却又带着微微寒意，风雨直到傍晚才停歇。

The weather has just turned warm yet still a little chill; wind and rain only settle toward evening.

起句以气候不定写心绪不定，是即景写情的起笔。「乍暖还轻冷」写天气刚回暖又带着微寒，一个「乍」字一个「还」字，写出冷暖反复、摇摆不定的状态，这既是暮春时节乍暖还寒的气候特征，也是词人内心那种欲喜还忧、不安不宁的情绪外化；「风雨晚来方定」写风雨一日，至傍晚方才停歇，「方定」二字写出等待的漫长与煎熬，雨声终歇而寂寞未散。两句由触觉而气候，由气候而心境，层层映射，将词人独处庭院、静待风雨的百无聊赖写得细腻入微。起笔不写愁而愁意已浓，正是婉约词「以景起、以情结」的典型手法，也为全词的伤春基调作了铺垫。

The opening writes unsettled mood through unsettled weather, raising feeling from the immediate scene. 'The weather has just turned warm yet still a little chill' — the words 'just' and 'yet' write the oscillation between warm and cold; this is both the late-spring trait of sudden warmth and lingering cold, and the outer projection of the poet's inner state of joy yet anxiety, restless and unquiet. 'Wind and rain only settle toward evening' writes wind and rain all day, ceasing only at dusk; 'only settle' writes the long, bitter waiting — the rain at last stilled, yet the loneliness not dispersed. Two phrases move from touch to weather, from weather to mood, mirroring layer by layer; the listlessness of the poet alone in the courtyard, waiting out the wind and rain, is written with delicate precision. The opening names no grief yet grief is already dense — the typical method of restrained ci, 'raising through scenery, closing in feeling' — and prepares the keynote of spring sorrow.

残花中酒，又是去年病

Before the faded blooms I drink to sickness—again it is last year's malady.

对着残花醉酒，又染上和去年一样的愁病。

Wine against the fading flowers, I sink into drunkenness — the same sickness as last year.

此句是全词情感的凝结点，由景及人，直写愁病。「残花」写暮春花谢，是时序将尽的象征，见残花而触动伤春之情，遂以酒浇愁，以至「中酒」（醉酒）成病；「又是去年病」五字是全词的画龙点睛之笔，「又」字点出愁病的循环往复——去年的此时，同样的残花、同样的病酒，今年竟又重演，可见词人的春日伤怀并非偶发，而是年复一年的生命体验。「去年」二字将当下的愁病与往昔的愁病勾连，时间在此折叠，愁绪因之有了纵深的重量。此句平易如话，却于平易中见沉厚，正是张先「于浅处见深」的抒情功力所在。

This line is the condensation point of the ci's feeling, moving from scene to person and writing the sickness of sorrow directly. 'Wine against the fading flowers' writes late-spring blossoms fallen, the symbol of the season's end; seeing the faded flowers stirs spring sorrow, and she drowns it in wine until 'drunkenness' becomes sickness. The five words 'the same sickness as last year' are the illuminating stroke: the word 'again' marks the recurrence of the sorrow-sickness — this time last year, the same faded flowers, the same drunken sickness, this year repeated; showing the poet's spring grief is not occasional but a year-by-year experience of life. 'Last year' links the present sickness to the past one, time folding here, and sorrow gaining a longitudinal weight. The line is as plain as speech, yet within plainness shows depth — precisely Zhang Xian's lyrical power of 'seeing depth in the shallow.'

那堪更被明月，隔墙送过秋千影

How can I bear that the bright moon should send across the wall the shadow of a swing?

怎堪忍受那明月，竟隔着墙送过来秋千的影子。

How can I bear it when the bright moon, over the wall, sends me the shadow of a swing?

结句是全词最警策的名句，以拟人写孤寂中的恍惚。「那堪」以反问写难以承受，「更」字写出愁绪的递进——白昼的风雨残花已够愁人，入夜又有明月来添愁绪；「隔墙送过秋千影」写明月将邻家秋千的影子隔墙送来，「送」字将明月拟人化，仿佛明月有意送来这秋千之影，化无情为有情。秋千本是少女春游、两情欢好的意象，隔墙送影，只见其影而不见其人，恰恰反衬出词人的孤独：他人墙内有秋千之乐，自己墙外唯余形影相吊。以虚景写实愁，以他人之乐写己之悲，含蓄不尽，正是「言有尽而意无穷」的境界，历来推为张先警句，也是其「张三影」之誉的由来。

The closing is the most aphoristic line of the ci, personifying the trance of solitude. 'How can I bear it' writes, in a rhetorical question, the unbearable; the word 'still' writes the escalation of sorrow — the day's wind, rain and faded flowers are grief enough, and at night the bright moon adds more. 'Over the wall, sends me the shadow of a swing' writes the moon sending the neighbor's swing shadow across the wall; the word 'sends' personifies the moon, as if it deliberately dispatched this swing shadow, turning the unfeeling into the feeling. The swing is the image of girls' spring outings and happy love; the shadow sent over the wall shows the shadow yet not the person, precisely setting off the poet's solitude — others beyond the wall enjoy the swing, while she outside the wall has only her own shape to keep her company. Writing real sorrow through virtual scenery, and her grief through others' joy, the restraint is inexhaustible — the state of 'words ended, meaning not ended.' It has always been esteemed Zhang Xian's aphorism and is the source of his nickname 'Zhang of the Shadows.'

Study

Word focus

中酒 Means 'drunk'; here it writes using wine to drown sorrow yet caught by wine, echoing 'malady' and showing the depth of sorrow. 「残花中酒」之「中酒」，即醉酒，是全词写愁病的关键词。「中」在此读去声，义为遭受、陷入，「中酒」即陷入醉态，与「中寒」「中暑」同构，写出醉酒不是主动的畅饮，而是身不由己的陷入，恰与词人的心境相合：见残花而触动愁绪，借酒浇愁而反为酒困，愁上添病，病中更愁。此语源于六朝及唐人诗词的习见用语，杜牧「残春杜陵客，中酒落花前」即其先例，张先承之而自出新意。「中酒」与下句「病」字呼应，醉酒成病，愁病相连，将伤春之情写得具体可感。若换作「醉酒」「酣饮」则或失之寻常、或失之欢快，「中酒」一词兼含被动陷入之意，最能写出词人身不由己的愁态，是婉约词炼字含蓄深微的典范。

送 Personifies the bright moon, as if on purpose sending the swing's shadow; turns the heartless into the feelingful, writing utter solitude. 「隔墙送过秋千影」之「送」字，是结句炼字之眼，将明月拟人化，化无情为有情。就字面而言，「送」写明月将秋千的影子隔墙投送过来，光影移动本是自然现象；就深层而言，「送」字赋予明月以人的动作与情意，仿佛明月有意将这秋千之影「送」给词人，以他人之乐影反衬词人之孤寂。这个「送」字妙在既写实又写虚：写实则光影流动、真切如见；写虚则明月有心、愁绪更深。若换作「照」「映」则止于写景，「送」字兼含主动送达之意，使无情的月光变成有情的干扰，与「那堪」的难以承受相呼应，将愁绪推至顶点。一字之炼，境界全出，正是张先「好句往往出人意表」的典型例证，也是其「张三影」之誉的由来。