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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

秋夕

Autumn Evening

杜牧

Du Mu

宫怨palace lament 秋夜autumn night 七夕Qixi Festival

银烛秋光冷画屏，轻罗小扇扑流萤。
天阶夜色凉如水，卧看牵牛织女星。

The silver candle's autumn light chills the painted screen.
With a small fan of sheer silk she chases flickering flies.
The night on the palace steps is cool as water,
Lying, she watches the Cowherd and Weaving Maid stars.

Listen

Meaning

On an autumn night, a lonely palace lady observes the cold candlelight and chases fireflies to pass the time. The stone steps feel cool, and she lies down to gaze at the Cowherd and Weaving Maid stars, symbolizing her longing and isolation.

秋夜，银烛映着清冷的秋光，照在画屏上显得格外寂寥；宫女手持轻薄的丝罗小扇，扑打着飞来飞去的流萤。夜色笼罩的石阶凉意如水，她独自躺着，遥望天上的牵牛织女星。

Appreciation

This poem masterfully portrays the solitude of a palace lady through subtle imagery. The word 'cold' sets both the scene and her mood. Her action of chasing fireflies reveals her boredom, while the final couplet contrasts her loneliness with the mythical lovers' reunion. The resentment is implied, not stated, making it a classic of implicit palace lament.

【白话串讲】深宫秋夜，烛光映着画屏，宫女用轻罗小扇扑流萤，然后坐在台阶上，卧看牵牛织女星。杜牧不写一个字的心事，却写尽了深宫女子的寂寞。【意象与手法】首句「银烛秋光冷画屏」以「冷」字融秋光与心境于一炉；「轻罗小扇扑流萤」以扑萤的无聊动作写深宫寂寞；末句「卧看牵牛织女星」以天上团圆反衬人间孤寂，以景结情，白描含蓄。四句四景，由室内而阶前，由动而静，层次井然。【情感与主旨】此诗写秋夜深宫宫女之孤寂，借宫怨题材以冷笔写热哀，反映封建时代被幽禁女子青春虚度的悲剧，亦寄托诗人才士不遇之慨。通篇不着一怨字而怨意自见。【名句点睛】常考「冷」字的炼字之妙（秋光与心境双关）、「扑流萤」的动作描写作用，以及末句以牛女相会反衬孤寂的以乐衬哀手法。

Background

Written around Du Mu's later years (mid-9th century). Though specific circumstances are unknown, the poem likely reflects the poet's sympathy for confined palace women or his own feelings of unrecognized talent.

杜牧（803—约852），字牧之，京兆万年（今陕西西安）人，晚唐著名诗人、文学家，宰相杜佑之孙。他出身高门而仕途蹇滞，二十六岁进士及第，先后任弘文馆校书郎、淮南节度使牛僧孺掌书记，又历黄州、池州、睦州、湖州诸州刺史，官终中书舍人，世称杜牧之、杜紫微。杜牧生当宦官专权、藩镇割据、牛李党争的晚唐衰世，胸怀济世之志而不得大用，常以诗酒风流自遣，诗中每寄深沉感慨。此诗题作《秋夕》，一作《七夕》，属宫怨题材，具体作年无考，当为诗人中晚年之作。晚唐宫怨诗蔚为风气，王建《宫词》、白居易《上阳白发人》皆咏深宫女子之悲，杜牧此诗却不用直白语，纯以秋夜四景白描成篇。关于诗中宫女是否实有其人，古今均无实据，学者多认为诗人借宫怨写幽闭之叹，或亦寄寓自身才士不遇、年华虚度的感慨，与《阿房宫赋》对历史与人生的悲悯一脉相通，唯此诗笔法更为含蓄蕴藉。

Art

The first line blends autumn light and mood with the word 'cold'. The firefly-chasing action subtly shows boredom. The final couplet uses the cool night and distant stars to contrast her solitude with the mythical lovers, moving from interior to exterior and from motion to stillness.

全诗四句二十八字，却写尽一个秋夜、一座深宫、一位宫女，章法极细而语言极简。首句「银烛秋光冷画屏」写室内：银烛高烧，秋光入户，烛光与月光交织，照在画屏上透出一股寒意，「冷」字既写秋夜之清冷，又透出人物心境的孤冷，景语即情语。次句「轻罗小扇扑流萤」转写人物动作：深宫无事，宫女只得持扇扑萤以消磨长夜，看似天真闲适，实则无聊至极——萤火本生于荒凉之处，扑萤正见其居处冷落、长夜难遣。第三句「天阶夜色凉如水」由室内写到阶前，以通感手法将夜色写成触手可感的凉水，一个「凉」字暗应首句之「冷」，层层递进。末句「卧看牵牛织女星」以人物仰卧望星的静态收束全诗：天上牛女一年一会，人间宫女却夜夜孤眠，以乐景写哀情，反衬愈见其悲。四句由静而动、由动而静，由室内而庭院而阶前而星空，空间渐次推开，而孤独越积越深；通篇不着一怨字，而怨意自在景中，正是「不着一字，尽得风流」的白描高境。

Allusions

The 'light silk fan' alludes to Ban Jieyu's 'Song of Resentment', where an autumn fan is discarded, symbolizing lost favor. The Cowherd and Weaving Maid stars refer to the Qixi legend of lovers meeting once a year, highlighting the lady's eternal loneliness.

诗中的典故与意象均取自传统而赋予新意。其一为「轻罗小扇」：团扇自汉成帝时班婕妤《怨歌行》以来，已成为失宠宫人的象征——「新裂齐纨素，皎洁如霜雪。裁为合欢扇，团团似明月。出入君怀袖，动摇微风发。常恐秋节至，凉飙夺炎热。弃捐箧笥中，恩情中道绝」，秋扇见捐，喻君恩中绝，杜牧以「轻罗小扇」扑萤，正是以被弃的秋扇暗示宫女的失宠命运，不言弃而弃意自明。其二为「流萤」：萤火生于腐草荒芜之地，《礼记·月令》谓「腐草为萤」，宫女扑萤之地竟有流萤出没，足见其居处之荒冷，暗写宫怨之深。其三为「牵牛织女」：用七夕牛女相会的神话传说，《古诗十九首·迢迢牵牛星》「迢迢牵牛星，皎皎河汉女……盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语」与曹丕《燕歌行》「牵牛织女遥相望，尔独何辜限河梁」，皆以牛女隔河写离愁；而杜牧反用其意——牛女虽隔天河，尚有一年一度的七夕之会，宫女却长年幽闭，永隔君恩，天上尚有一会，人间永无团圆，反衬之笔更为沉痛。七夕本是乞巧团圆的佳节，末句着一「卧看」，更显出独卧空庭、形影相吊的孤寂。

Commentary

Qing critic Hengtang Tuishi praised the layered imagery as a 'colored figure painting'. Modern scholar Yu Biyun noted that the poem conveys resentment without using the word. Du Mu's quatrain is clear yet subtle, comparable to Wang Jian's palace poems.

此诗历代传诵，评家多赏其含蓄。清人蘅塘退士孙洙编《唐诗三百首》选入此诗，其评语称「层层布景，是一幅着色人物画」，指出全诗以四句四景构成画面，如同工笔人物画，人物情态与景物氛围交融无间。近人俞陛云《诗境浅说》评曰：「首句言画屏银烛，明而未曙；次句言扇扑流萤，无聊之极；三句言凉夜如水，望之愈深；末句言卧看双星，怨而不怒。全首不著怨字，而怨意自见。」此评点出「不著怨字而怨意自见」的含蓄手法，最得诗心。清代沈德潜《唐诗别裁》亦谓其「写宫女幽怨，全在景中」。杜牧七绝向以清丽俊爽、含蓄蕴藉著称，《秋夕》是其宫怨诗中的清冷名作，与王建《宫词》「树头树底觅残红」的明写不同，与白居易《上阳白发人》的直陈亦异，纯以白描与反衬取胜。此诗在文学史上的价值在于：以二十八字浓缩深宫女子的整个青春，以小见大，成为宫怨诗「以景结情」的典范，后人写宫怨闺情，多从此取法。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (oblique-tone first line, not rhymed)七言绝句（仄起首句入韵，押平水韵下平九青）

Rhyme Rhymes: ping, ying, xing (Pingshui rhyme category 下平九青)全诗四句，一、二、四句押韵，韵脚为「屏」「萤」「星」，均属平水韵下平九青韵部，平声韵，一韵到底。

Tone pattern 银烛秋光冷画屏: 平仄平平仄仄平; 轻罗小扇扑流萤: 平平平仄仄平平; 天阶夜色凉如水: 平平仄仄平平仄; 卧看牵牛织女星: 仄仄平平仄仄平.首句「银烛秋光冷画屏」平仄为平仄平平仄仄平；次句「轻罗小扇扑流萤」为平平仄仄仄平平；第三句「天阶夜色凉如水」为平平仄仄平平仄；末句「卧看牵牛织女星」为仄平平平仄仄平。其中「烛」「画」「扑」「织」皆入声字读仄声，「看」字此处读平声。全诗合于仄起首句入韵的七绝正格。

Reading note The cold autumn night scene implies the lady's resentment, subtle and deep, differing from Yuan Zhen's direct expression.此诗为标准的七言绝句，仄起首句入韵，属近体诗中格律谨严的一格。七绝定型于盛唐，至晚唐杜牧手中已达炉火纯青之境：二十八字、四句、三韵，体制极短，却要容纳完整的起承转合——首句起于室内陈设，次句承以人物动作，第三句转由阶前夜色，末句合于星空凝望，章法上完全符合绝句「起承转合」的经典结构。声律上，全诗押下平九青韵，韵母悠长清细，正宜传达秋夜的清冷与幽怨；四句平仄除个别一字之变通外皆合正格，诵读时「冷画屏」「扑流萤」「凉如水」「织女星」的声调起伏如微波荡漾，与诗中由静入动、由动入静的节奏相呼应。绝句不同于律诗之处在于不求对仗，此诗四句亦无对偶，纯以意象的转换与情绪的流动取胜，足见杜牧以白描写深愁的高超手段——形式极简而韵味极长，这正是晚唐七绝区别于初盛唐的成熟风貌。

Line by line

银烛秋光冷画屏，轻罗小扇扑流萤。

The silver candle's autumn light chills the painted screen; she chases fireflies with a light silk fan. 'Cold' blends scene and mood; chasing fireflies reveals her boredom and hidden sorrow.

秋夜，银烛高烧，清冷的秋光映在画屏之上；她手执轻罗小扇，在庭院里扑打着飞来飞去的流萤。

On the autumn night, the silver candles burn cold on the painted screen; in her hand a light silk fan, she bats at the drifting fireflies.

首联写室内之景与人物之态，是全诗定调之笔。「银烛秋光冷画屏」七个字铺陈出三重意象：银烛是富贵之物，秋光是节候之象，画屏是闺中之饰，而一个「冷」字如冷水浇头，将烛光、秋光与屏光全部染上寒意——这寒意既是秋夜的物理之冷，更是深宫失宠者心境之冷，景语与情语在此合而为一。下句「轻罗小扇扑流萤」由静转动：银烛照屏是静的陈设，扑萤则是动的姿态；然而这动作愈是轻灵可爱，愈见其无事可做的无聊——深宫女子长夜难遣，只能以扑萤自娱，而流萤生于腐草，其出没之处必是荒冷之境，扑萤的举动反衬出她居处的孤寂与青春的虚耗。两句一静一动、一明一暗，写尽深宫女子被遗忘的命运。

The opening couplet writes the indoor scene and the figure's state, the tuning stroke of the poem. 'On the autumn night, the silver candles burn cold on the painted screen' — seven words lay out three images: the silver candle a thing of luxury, the autumn light the season, the painted screen the boudoir's adornment; and the one word 'cold', like cold water poured on the head, tints the candlelight, the autumn light, the screen's light all with chill — this chill is both the physical cold of the autumn night and, more, the cold of the neglected palace woman's heart; scenic language and emotional language are one here. The next line, 'in her hand a light silk fan, she bats at the drifting fireflies', turns from still to motion: the candle on the screen a still furnishing, batting the fireflies a moving posture; yet the lighter and lovelier the action, the more it shows the boredom of nothing to do — the deep-palace woman, the long night hard to pass, can only amuse herself by batting fireflies, and the fireflies are born of rotting grass, wherever they rise a desolate, cold place, the action setting off the solitude of her lodging and the waste of her youth. Two lines, one still one moving, one bright one dark, writing to the full the neglected woman's fate.

天阶夜色凉如水，卧看牵牛织女星。

The night on the palace steps is cool as water; she lies and watches the Cowherd and Weaving Maid stars. The coolness mirrors her heart, and the lovers contrast her loneliness, ending with lingering sadness.

夜色笼罩的石阶凉得像水一样，她独自躺着，遥望天上那隔着银河的牵牛星与织女星。

The stone steps of the heaven's terrace are cool as water in the night; she lies alone, gazing up at the Cowherd and Weaver Girl stars across the Silver River.

后联将镜头由庭院推到阶前、由地面抬向星空，是全诗情感的高潮与收束。「天阶夜色凉如水」以通感写夜：夜色本不可触，诗人却以「如水」的比喻赋予其触觉的凉意，石阶之凉、夜色之凉、心境之凉在此叠合，一个「凉」字上承首句之「冷」，把秋夜的寒意写透。末句「卧看牵牛织女星」是全诗的画龙点睛：她不悲不泣，只静静地仰卧，遥望天上那对一年只能相会一次的星辰——牛女虽隔银河，尚有七夕一会，而她幽闭深宫，连这样的相会也无从指望；以天上之会反衬人间之隔，以团圆之景反衬孤寂之身，乐景写哀，哀情愈深。通篇至此不着一怨字，而一个「卧」字已把长夜难眠、百无聊赖、欲哭无泪的心境尽数托出，余韵悠长，令人低回。

The closing couplet pushes the camera from the courtyard to the steps, from the ground up to the starry sky, the emotional climax and close of the poem. 'The stone steps of the heaven's terrace are cool as water in the night' writes night through synaesthesia: night is untouchable, yet the 'as water' metaphor gives it a tactile chill, the steps' chill, the night's chill, the heart's chill, layered together; the one 'cool' carries the 'cold' of the opening, the autumn night's chill written through. The last line, 'she lies watching the Cowherd and Weaver Girl across the sky', is the poem's painting-eye: she grieves not, weeps not, but lies quietly on her back, gazing at the pair of stars that meet but once a year across the river — the Cowherd and Weaver, though parted by the Silver River, still have their one seventh-night meeting, while she, sealed in the deep palace, cannot hope for even such a meeting; the heaven's meeting set off against the human separation, the reunion scene against the solitary self, grief written through a joyous scene, the grief the deeper. The whole, not one word of complaint, yet the one word 'lies' has laid out the long sleepless night, the utter boredom, the grief that cannot weep, the aftertaste long, the reader lingering.

卧看牵牛织女星。

She lies watching the Cowherd and Weaver Girl across the sky.

她仰卧着，久久凝望天上那牵牛与织女两颗星。

She lies on her back, gazing long at those two stars of the Cowherd and the Weaver.

「卧看」二字是全诗动作的收束，也是人物心理的凝缩。扑萤之后，夜已渐深，她索性躺下，仰望星空——这看似随意的姿态里，藏着深宫女子全部的无望：既无法入睡，也无事可做，只有天上的双星可以陪伴她的长夜。牵牛织女本是团圆与爱情的象征，此刻在她眼中却成了触不可及的对照：天上双星尚有每年一会的期许，人间宫女却连这期许都没有，只能把一生耗在无边的等待里。以「卧」写其松懈慵懒，以「看」写其凝神专注，二字之间，深宫女子被岁月遗忘的悲凉悄然溢出。这样的结尾不写怨而怨满天地，正是杜牧含蓄蕴藉诗风的极致体现，也是后世宫怨诗以景结情的范本。

'She lies watching' — the close of the poem's action, the condensation of the figure's psychology. After the firefly-batting, the night has grown deep, and she simply lies down, gazing up at the starry sky — in this casual posture lies the deep-palace woman's whole hopelessness: she cannot sleep, and has nothing to do, only the heavenly pair to keep her long night company. The Cowherd and the Weaver are the symbols of reunion and love, yet now in her eyes they become the unattainable contrast: the heavenly pair still have the expectation of a yearly meeting, while the palace woman has not even that expectation, and can only spend her life in boundless waiting. 'Lies' writes her slack languor, 'watching' her rapt attention, and between the two words the desolation of the deep-palace woman forgotten by the years quietly overflows. Such a ending, grief written without grief, is the extreme of Du Mu's restrained and lasting style, and the model of later palace-grievance verse closing in scene.

Study

Word focus

冷 In 'cold painted screen', it describes both the chilly autumn light and the lady's lonely mood, fusing scene and emotion. 首句「银烛秋光冷画屏」的「冷」字，是撑起全诗意境的核心字眼。它有三重意蕴：其一为物候之冷，秋夜霜气渐浓，烛光月光都带着清寒；其二为物色之冷，银烛、秋光、画屏本是华贵的陈设，经「冷」字点染，顿成萧索的静物；其三为心境之冷，深宫女子独守空房，君恩如秋扇之捐弃，心上早已冰凉。妙在「冷」字置于「银烛秋光」与「画屏」之间，既作渲染，又作定性，将客观之景与主观之情熔于一炉，使人分不清是秋光冷、画屏冷，还是人心冷。与下句「扑流萤」的轻灵动作相映，愈是动作轻盈，愈见心境苍凉。一个「冷」字立骨，全诗的色调与情绪便都有了归宿。

扑 In 'chases fireflies', the action shows her attempt to distract herself, but it underscores her tedious, lonely life, implying resentment. 「轻罗小扇扑流萤」的「扑」字，是全诗唯一一个轻快动作的字眼，却写尽深宫的无聊与寂寞。若写「扇流萤」「拍流萤」皆嫌用力，一个「扑」字既有追逐的急切，又有捕捉的专注，写出宫女以戏萤遣夜的姿态；然而这姿态越是天真烂漫，越暴露出她无事可做的处境——青春正盛的少女，本该有赏花、调笑、承恩的日常，如今却只能与流萤为戏，打发漫漫长夜。且流萤本生于荒冷之地，扑萤所在愈见其居处之冷落；轻罗小扇又是班婕妤《怨歌行》中秋扇见捐的象征，持扇扑萤，正是以被弃之扇戏荒凉之萤，两个意象叠加，失宠的命运已在不言之中。

凉如水 In 'cool as water', it describes the cold stone steps while symbolizing the lady's cold heart and bitter fate, leading to the contrast with the stars. 「天阶夜色凉如水」以「凉如水」三字写夜色，是通感手法的典范。夜色本是视觉的对象，诗人却以触觉的「凉」、以水的质感来摹写它，使无形之夜色变得可以触摸：石阶之上，夜露凝结，凉意浸骨，仿佛真的有一层凉水铺在阶前。这「凉」字上承首句的「冷」字，形成全诗情绪的双峰——冷在室内，凉在阶前，一层凉似一层，把秋夜的寒意层层推进；而「如水」的比喻又暗含流动之意，暗示时光如水流逝，青春的孤寂在岁月中无声漫漶。更妙的是，「凉如水」的触觉经验最终引向「卧看牵牛织女星」的仰望——夜凉如水，恰是看星之时，由触觉转入视觉，由凉意转入遥想，句与句之间过渡得不着痕迹。

秋夕