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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

花非花

Flower in the Mist

白居易

Bai Juyi

抒情Lyrical 哲理Philosophical

花非花，雾非雾。
夜半来，天明去。
来如春梦几多时，去似朝云无觅处。

A flower? Not a flower. A mist? Not a mist.
It comes at midnight, leaves at dawn.
Its coming is like a spring dream — how long does it last?
Its going is like morning clouds — nowhere to be found.

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Meaning

It seems like a flower but is not, seems like mist but is not. It comes in the dead of night and leaves at dawn. Its arrival is as fleeting as a spring dream, its departure as elusive as morning clouds.

说它是花又不是花，说它是雾又不是雾。半夜里悄悄来到，天明时便倏然离去。来时就像春梦一般能有多少时光，去时好似朝云一样再无处寻觅。

Appreciation

This poem, a self-composed piece by Bai Juyi, has been variously interpreted as a depiction of a fleeting beauty or a meditation on the transience of life. It uses layered metaphors to create a hazy, dreamlike image, pioneering a subtle, suggestive style in Chinese poetry. With only 26 characters, it builds a mysterious atmosphere through simple yet profound language.

【白话串讲】 “花非花，雾非雾。夜半来，天明去”——白居易写一个来去无踪的人或梦。“来如春梦几多时，去似朝云无觅处”——来如春梦，去如朝云。白居易写过的最朦胧的一首诗。【意象与手法】全诗仅二十六字，却以'非花''非雾'破题，连用博喻【情感与主旨】《花非花》为白居易自制之语，或题作《花非花》，属《长庆集》中之杂律。其意历代聚讼【名句点睛】本诗常考意象特点与主旨理解。'花非花，雾非雾'以否定式起笔，制造朦胧恍惚之美，多考其'似是而非'的意境营造

Background

This poem is believed to be a self-composed lyric by Bai Juyi, included in his 'Changqing Ji'. Its meaning has been debated for centuries: some see it as a description of a beautiful woman (perhaps a singing girl) who comes at night and leaves at dawn, others as a reflection on the brevity of life and fleeting joys, and still others as an allegory for an elusive affair. The poem uses multiple metaphors to create an ethereal, ambiguous image, marking a departure from Bai Juyi's usual straightforward style and showing his capacity for abstract, intangible thoughts.

《花非花》为唐代诗人白居易所作。白居易（772—846），字乐天，号香山居士，中唐新乐府运动的倡导者，诗风平易通俗。此诗以“花非花，雾非雾”起兴，写一种来去匆匆、如幻如梦之物：夜半来，天明去，来如春梦，去似朝云。此诗未明言所咏何物，历代解说不一——或谓咏“梦”，或谓咏“女子”，或谓咏“聚散”，而其“花非花，雾非雾”的迷离之象，正是其魅力所在。全诗以春梦、朝云写其缥缈，语言空灵而情思朦胧，是白居易诗中别具一格之作，也是其晚年感怀身世、叹人生聚散的写照。

Art

The poem is only 26 characters long, yet it opens with the negations 'not flower, not mist' and employs layered metaphors: a spring dream for the brief arrival, morning clouds for the vanishing departure. The line lengths vary (3, 4, 5, 7 characters), giving it a folk-song or gatha-like rhythm. The temporal frame 'midnight comes, dawn goes' outlines the form, while the concluding questions 'how long?' and 'nowhere to find' leave a lingering aftertaste. The simpler the language, the more elusive the emotion—this is the poem's subtle charm.

《花非花》艺术上以迷离的意象与空灵的语言见长。全诗六句，层层写来：“花非花，雾非雾”以否定写所咏之物——似花而非花、似雾而非雾，迷离恍惚；“夜半来，天明去”写其行踪——夜半而来、天明而去，来去匆匆；“来如春梦几多时”写其来——来如春梦，短暂而虚幻；“去似朝云无觅处”写其去——去似朝云，飘散而难寻。全诗以“非花非雾”写其难名，以“夜半天明”写其倏忽，以“春梦朝云”写其虚幻，层层递进，把一种缥缈难名之物写得空灵有致。语言极其简净，而情思极其朦胧，正是白居易“言浅思深”的绝技。

Allusions

The allusions are subtle. 'Morning clouds' hints at the goddess of Mount Wu from Song Yu's 'Gaotang Fu', who said 'I am the morning clouds and evening rain', symbolizing something that appears and disappears unpredictably. 'Spring dream' is a common poetic trope for short-lived happiness. The poem avoids obscure references, using everyday images to create a transcendent feel. Later critics see this poem as an early precursor to ci poetry, influencing the graceful style of Su Shi and Qin Guan.

《花非花》用典在“朝云”。“朝云”承宋玉《高唐赋》“旦为朝云，暮为行雨”之典——楚王梦遇神女，神女“旦为朝云，暮为行雨”，本写梦幻缥缈之遇；此处以“去似朝云”写所咏之物去后如朝云般无觅，正用其缥缈难寻之意。“春梦”亦写梦之短暂虚幻。全诗以春梦、朝云这两个传统的意象写缥缈之感，不事雕琢而意境空灵。白居易晚年多写感怀之作，《花非花》或即叹人生之聚散、欢爱之无常，以“春梦朝云”写之，正见其“言浅思深”的风格。

Commentary

Liu Xizai of the Qing Dynasty remarked that Bai Juyi's poems are often too explicit, but 'Flower in the Mist' avoids that fault. Shen Kuo's 'Dream Pool Essays' records that this poem was set to music and sung. Hu Shi considered it one of the earliest ci poems. It was also collected by Hengtang Tuishi in 'Three Hundred Tang Poems'. Its misty beauty influenced the Huajian ci poetic style of the late Tang and Five Dynasties, and it is often compared with Li Shangyin's 'Untitled' poems for expressing an unattainable, elusive realm.

《花非花》是白居易诗中的名篇，也是唐诗中写“缥缈”之物的绝唱。此诗历代传诵，论者多赏其“花非花，雾非雾”的迷离起兴——“似花非花、似雾非雾”，开篇即引人入胜；“来如春梦几多时，去似朝云无觅处”以春梦朝云写其缥缈，更见空灵。此诗所咏何物，向无定论，而正是这种“不著一字，尽得风流”的朦胧，使其魅力经久不衰。白居易诗风平易，而此诗独以空灵见长，可见其诗才之全面。此诗或咏梦、或咏欢、或咏人生聚散，读者各以其心会之，正是其“言有尽而意无穷”的妙处。

Prosody

Form Miscellaneous-verse ancient poem (Bai Juyi's self-composed lyric)杂言古诗（三三七句式）

Rhyme Rhyming characters: 雾 (wù), 去 (qù), 处 (chù) — in Pingshui rhyme scheme of the Yu/Qu rhyme group《花非花》为杂言古诗，句式以三、五、七言相间，押仄声韵。此诗用韵：雾、去（遇部）、处（语部），大体同韵，音节短促流转。

Tone pattern Irregular line lengths, not strictly regulated《花非花》句式长短相间，音节明快而流转。首二句“花非花，雾非雾”以三言叠用，音节顿挫；中二句“夜半来，天明去”亦三言相承，音节紧凑；末二句“来如春梦几多时，去似朝云无觅处”以七言相对，音节舒展。全诗以短促的三言起，以舒展的七言收，音节与内容的迷离空灵相合，是白居易诗中音律别具一格之作。

Reading note Bai Juyi's own form; lines of 3, 4, 5, and 7 characters interwoven, resembling early ci poetry and initiating the graceful school.《花非花》为杂言古诗，是白居易诗中别具一格之作。此诗六句，以“花非花，雾非雾”的否定起兴，写一种来去匆匆、如幻如梦之物；以“夜半来，天明去”写其行踪，以“春梦”“朝云”写其来去，层层递进，空灵缥缈。此诗所咏何物，向无定论——或咏梦、或咏女子、或咏人生聚散，而其迷离之象正是其魅力所在。白居易诗风平易，而此诗独以空灵见长，可见其诗才之全面。此诗后人多拟之（如苏轼《花非花》），可见其影响之远。

Line by line

花非花，雾非雾。夜半来，天明去。

It is flower, yet not flower; it is mist, yet not mist. At midnight it comes; at dawn it goes.

说它是花又不是花，说它是雾又不是雾。半夜里悄悄来到，天明时便倏然离去。

Call it a flower, and yet not a flower; call it mist, and yet not mist. It comes quietly at midnight, and vanishes at dawn.

前四句以否定写所咏之物与行踪。“花非花，雾非雾”写其难名——似花而非花、似雾而非雾，迷离恍惚，难以名状；两用“非”字，把所咏之物写得既近于花雾又不同于花雾，引人追问；“夜半来，天明去”写其行踪——夜半而来、天明而去，来去匆匆，倏忽难留。四句以否定起兴、以时间写行，把一种缥缈难名之物写得神秘而空灵。前两句写其“质”之难名，后两句写其“时”之倏忽，迷离与匆匆相映，正是全诗的基调。以“花”“雾”与“夜半”“天明”对举，虚实相生，含蓄不尽。

The first four lines write, through negation, the thing and its coming and going. 'It is flower, yet not flower; it is mist, yet not mist' — near to flower and mist, yet neither, dim and nameless; the two 'not' words making it both like and unlike. 'At midnight it comes; at dawn it goes' — its movements, brief and uncatchable. Negation first, time after, writing an elusive thing that is mysterious and empty, the dimness matched with haste, the poem's whole tone.

来如春梦几多时，去似朝云无觅处。

Coming, it is like a spring dream — how long did it last? Going, like the morning cloud — nowhere to be found.

来时就像春梦一般能有多少时光，去时好似朝云一样再无处寻觅。

Coming, it is like a spring dream — how long did it last? Going, like morning cloud — nowhere to be sought.

后二句以春梦朝云写其来去，是全诗的升华。“来如春梦几多时”写其来——来如春梦，短暂而虚幻，“几多时”写其时长之短，如梦般倏忽即逝；“去似朝云无觅处”写其去——去似朝云，飘散而难寻，“无觅处”写其踪迹之无。二句以“春梦”写来、以“朝云”写去，把所咏之物的来去写得既短暂又缥缈——来时如梦，去时如云，皆不可捉摸。以“春梦”与“朝云”对举，一虚一幻，把全诗的迷离推到极致。这一收束，正是“言有尽而意无穷”——所咏之物已去，而读者的怅惘犹在。

The last two lines write its coming and going through spring dream and morning cloud, the poem's elevation. 'Coming, it is like a spring dream — how long did it last?' — brief and illusory, 'how long' naming its shortness; 'going, like the morning cloud — nowhere to be found' — drifting and untraceable, 'nowhere' naming the vanishing. Spring dream against morning cloud, one virtual, one phantom, pushing the dimness to the utmost; the thing has gone, yet the reader's melancholy remains.

Study

Word focus

非 The negation that creates the paradoxical 'neither-nor' structure. “花非花，雾非雾”之“非”，两用否定，是全诗立象的关纽。“非”即不是，着一“非”字，所咏之物便既不是花、又不是雾——似花非花、似雾非雾，迷离难名。两用“非”字，把物象写得介于有无之间、虚实之际，正是全诗缥缈基调的起点。以“非”写物，比直言“似”更见空灵：不是相似，而是亦非亦是，引人遐想。

夜半 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “夜半来”之“夜半”，写其来之时，是全诗写行踪的关键词。“夜半”即半夜，着一词，来便带上了神秘与幽独——半夜而来，无人知晓，如梦境之悄至。这一词与“天明去”对举，夜半来、天明去，来去都在人不觉之时，更见其倏忽难留。以“夜半”写来，正是写“缥缈”之物的绝妙时间——白日无此物，惟夜半而来。

春梦 Spring dream, a metaphor for fleeting joy. “来如春梦几多时”之“春梦”，以春梦写其来，是全诗写其虚幻的喻象。“春梦”本写春日之梦，短暂而美好、醒来即空；此处写所咏之物来如春梦——“几多时”写其时长之短，如梦般倏忽。这一词以梦写物，把“来”写得虚幻而短暂：如春梦般美好，亦如春梦般易醒。以“春梦”写来，正是全诗最见空灵的一笔。

朝云 Morning clouds, an allusion to the goddess of Mount Wu, symbolizing ephemeral beauty. “去似朝云无觅处”之“朝云”，用宋玉《高唐赋》之典写其去，是全诗用典最妙的一词。“朝云”即“旦为朝云，暮为行雨”之神女，缥缈难寻；此处写所咏之物去似朝云——“无觅处”写其踪迹之无。这一词以典写去，把“去”写得既缥缈又怅惘：如朝云般飘散，再无处寻觅。以“朝云”写去，与“春梦”对举，一来一往、一虚一幻，正是全诗迷离之境的收束。

花非花