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唐 Tang · 词 Ci lyric

新添声杨柳枝词

Newly Added Song of the Willow Branch

温庭筠

Wen Tingyun

爱情Love 闺情Chamber Longing 词Lyric (Ci) 双关Puns

井底点灯深烛伊，共郎长行莫围棋。
\n玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知？

At the bottom of a well a lamp shines deep — a deep command for you,
Together with you on the long march, do not play at Go and miss the appointed time.
In the exquisite die are set red beans —
This love that enters the bone, do you know or not?

Listen

Meaning

A woman bids farewell to her traveling lover, telling him through puns to remember her deep instructions and not to delay his return. She then describes a delicate die inlaid with red beans, symbols of longing, and asks whether he knows that her longing for him has penetrated to the bone.

像在井底点上灯那样深深地嘱咐你：虽然你要远行，但我的心与你共长行，切记早日归来，莫要误了归期。手中玲珑骰子上的颗颗红点，都是最相思的红豆；你可知道，那深入骨中的，正是我对你的相思意？

Appreciation

This lyric, the second of Wen Tingyun's 'Newly Added Song of the Willow Branch,' is a seven-character quatrain cleverly built on homophonic puns. The first two lines describe the woman's parting admonition: 'deep candle' puns on 'deep instruction,' 'long march' also names a kind of chess game, while 'Go' puns on 'violating the appointed time.' Beneath the surface of games and chess lies an earnest plea. The final two lines shift from the die's red dots to the red beans of homesickness, and from the ivory die to the idea of 'entering the bone,' expressing longing carved into the marrow. The poem uses folk images and double-entendre to convey heartfelt longing, displaying remarkable ingenuity. Though Wang Fuzhi joked that it is 'a riddle rather than poetry,' its deep feeling and fresh elegance give it a sincere, moving power, showing how literati lyrics absorbed vitality from folk songs and turned wordplay into the deepest expression of love.

【白话串讲】 “井底点灯深烛伊，共郎长行莫围棋”——温庭筠写杨柳枝：井底点灯，是“深烛”（深嘱）。“玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知”——骰子里的红豆，是“入骨”的相思。他用了双关的谐音。【意象与手法】巧用谐音双关。井底点灯“深烛”谐“深嘱”，“围棋”谐“违期”，于博戏之名中暗藏“深嘱郎远行莫误归期”的痴语；“玲珑骰子安红豆”由骰上红点想到相思红豆，再想到骨制骰子之“入骨”，将相思之深写到骨髓。以民间生活意象、双关隐语写刻骨相思，设想奇巧。【情感与主旨】写女子临别叮咛与刻骨相思。虽被王夫之讥为“谜而不诗”，然其深情远韵、自然清丽，在温词中别具真率动人的力量，见文人词吸收民歌养分后的鲜活生机。【名句点睛】常考“玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知”以“入骨”双关写相思之深；“井底点灯深烛伊”以谐音（深嘱）写临别叮咛。

Background

The 'Newly Added Song of the Willow Branch' is Wen Tingyun's adaptation of the Sui-dynasty yuefu tune 'Song of the Willow Branch,' in two pieces, this being the second. It speaks in a woman's voice of parting instructions and bone-deep longing. The 'Willow Branch' was originally a yuefu ballad theme often associated with breaking willows to send off a traveler; Wen turned it into a new melody infused with witty puns. Wen Tingyun, gifted and quick-witted, excelled in yuefu and small lyrics; his life was full of setbacks, but he was familiar with the songs and love affairs of the marketplace. In the late Tang, when morale was low and lyrics were largely entertainment at banquets, this piece stands out for its ingenuity: through images of lighting a lamp in a well, the game of 'long march,' Go, dice, and red beans, it weaves layer upon layer of homophonic puns to express a lovesick woman's entreaty and longing. Its style is popular yet true to feeling; though a short lyric, it displays singular cleverness and is the most brilliant example of Wen's witty and passionate yuefu style, heralding later lyrics that make use of puns and hidden language.

新添声杨柳枝词是温庭筠依隋代乐府杨柳枝改创新调之作，共二首，此为其二，以女子口吻写临别叮咛与刻骨相思。杨柳枝本乐府旧题，多咏折柳赠别，飞卿翻为新声，益以谐隐双关之趣。温庭筠才调敏给，尤擅乐府小词，一生坎坷，熟谙市井歌酒与儿女情致。晚唐士气消沉，词体兴于尊前，多写艳情，此词却以巧思胜：借井底点灯、长行围棋、骰子红豆诸般物事，织成层层谐音双关，写尽痴女对远行情郎之嘱盼与入骨之思。其风调俚俗而情真，虽为小令，巧心独运，最见飞卿乐府之机智与深情，亦开后世谐音隐语词之先声。飞卿以乐府写儿女情，最能于俚俗物事中见性灵；此诗通篇谐音却不见轻薄，反见深婉，正是其才调敏给、善于运化民间语汇为诗家巧思之明证。晚唐小诗由雅入俗、以俗写雅之一脉，此诗最为典型。井底灯、长行棋、骰子豆，皆市井常物，一经双关，便成深情载体，可见文人乐府取资民间、点铁成金之手腕，非徒游戏笔墨而已。温庭筠此诗为乐府《杨柳枝词》之作，以谐音双关写深闺相思，约作于晚唐。彼时文人好为闺情小诗，托物寄怨，温氏尤擅以隐语写情。井底点灯深烛伊以烛谐嘱，共郎长行莫围棋以棋谐期，玲珑骰子安红豆以入骨写相思之深。全诗纯用吴语谐音之巧，将市井情歌之活泼与文人锤炼之工融合无间。研究者谓此类诗虽近俚俗，而其双关机杼实开后世谜语诗与情词之先声，足见晚唐风情之一斑。

Art

The entire poem is built on puns and hidden language, turning humble objects into vehicles for the deepest feeling. The first line, 'lighting a lamp at the bottom of a well to shine deep on you,' is a physical impossibility, yet 'deep candle' puns on 'deep instruction,' making the woman's earnestness almost foolishly touching. The second line, 'together with you on the long march, do not play at Go,' uses 'long march' to mean both a board game and a distant journey; 'Go' puns on 'miss the appointed time.' The last two lines, 'in the exquisite die are set red beans — this love that enters the bone, do you know or not?' compare the die's inlaid red beans to the woman's longing, and the ivory die's carved dots to longing that penetrates the marrow. The poem unfolds from instruction to hope, then from hope to a question, revealing its layers like peeling a cocoon. It looks like wordplay, yet the feelings deepen line by line; within twenty-eight characters it conceals multiple layers of wit, perfectly demonstrating the Tang talent for expressing truth through cleverness and depth through simplicity.

此诗通篇用双关隐语，以俗物写至情，构思极巧。首句井底点灯深烛伊，深烛谐音深嘱，点灯于井底本不可能，却正喻深切嘱咐之痴；烛伊即嘱你，呼语亲切。次句共郎长行莫围棋，长行既指棋戏又指远行，围棋谐音违期，叮咛郎君远行莫误归期，一语双关。三四句玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知，骰子嵌豆喻相思入骨，安红豆既写骰子镂点，又写相思安放于心，结以问句直逼情感。全诗以日常物事为喻，谐音叠用，由嘱而盼而恨，层层递进，巧而不佻，最是乐府风调，二十八字中藏数重机锋。四句四层双关，由嘱而盼、由盼而恨、由恨而问，如剥茧抽丝次第展开；看似文字游戏，实则情致层深，于短章之中藏长篇之力。深烛、长行、围棋三处谐音密布于前二句，安红豆、入骨相思双关收束于后二句，机杼井然。最见唐人小诗以巧写真、以浅寓深之能事，巧至极处乃见性灵，机锋全在言外。此诗之妙全在谐音双关，字面上写器物行止，骨子里诉儿女私情。井底点灯深烛伊，烛谐嘱，似写点灯实写叮咛；共郎长行莫围棋，棋谐期，似写棋戏实写约期。后二句玲珑骰子安红豆入骨相思知不知，以骰子嵌豆之巧喻相思入骨。章法前二句设谜，后二句揭情，由隐而显。语似浅俚而思极巧慧，以俗为雅，以戏为深，是温庭筠将民间情歌提炼为文人绝句的典范手笔。

Allusions

The willow branch comes from yuefu tradition, where breaking a willow branch signified farewell, as in the Han dynasty's 'The willows by the inn are fresh and green.' The willow (liu) also puns on 'to stay' (liu). 'Long march' was a popular Tang board game, but here it also means a long journey. 'Go' is a chess game, but its homophone means 'to miss the appointed time.' The red beans in the die recall Wang Wei's famous poem 'Red beans grow in the southern land,' making them the classic symbol of longing. 'Entering the bone' describes both the carved dots of the die and the depth of the woman's love. Wen Tingyun combines chess, gambling tools, and plants into love language, transforming folk puns into poetic art. Drawing on the homophonic tradition of Southern Dynasty Wu songs, he refines folk wordplay into delicate literati craft, a hallmark of his genius.

杨柳枝出乐府，古辞有折柳赠别之意，汉人有客舍青青柳色新之咏，后人因以柳喻留。长行本唐代棋戏之名，此处兼指远行，一语双关。围棋即弈棋，谐音违期，示勿误归程。骰子嵌以红豆，红豆本相思子，王维红豆生南国即咏此；入骨相思，以骰子镂点深入骨中，喻相思之深透骨髓。井底点灯为不可能之事，用以极言嘱咐之深。飞卿溶棋戏、博具、草木于情语，使民间谐隐升为诗家巧思，承乐府谐音传统而新其面目，遂成唐人小诗之别调。长行、围棋、红豆、入骨，皆日常事物而被赋予深情暗示，民间谐隐传统经此提升，遂成文人乐府之一体，其影响及于后世词曲之隐语风气。温词之巧不在堆垛而在点化，以棋戏博具入诗，化俗为雅，于此诗最为明显。杨柳枝本折柳赠别之调，飞卿翻为新声，益以谐隐，遂使旧题别开生面，足窥其变法之才。长行本唐代博戏之名，围棋亦棋戏，诗人借棋谐期，暗约归期。红豆即相思子，自王维红豆生南国后已成相思之符号。骰子嵌点本以象牙，此云安红豆则虚事实写，奇想天外。入骨既状骰点之镂刻，又喻相思之深透骨髓。此类用事多取当世俗物与熟典，经诗人点化，俚俗皆成雅趣。谐音之法则承六朝乐府吴声歌曲而来，温氏加以锤炼，使民间双关升为案头巧思。

Commentary

The beauty of this poem lies entirely in its puns. On the surface, it speaks of a well lamp, a chess game, and dice — not a single word about longing, yet every line is longing. 'Deep candle' means 'deep instruction,' and 'Go' means 'miss the appointed time.' The reader first takes it as a joke, but on reflection finds tears. The woman does not weep or cling; she merely foolishly insists that her lover not break his promise. Her simplicity is her passion. The final question, 'do you know or not?' is half reproach, half grief, exposing her bone-deep love. Unlike ordinary boudoir laments thatexpress feeling directly, this poem hides truth in cleverness and writes elegance through vulgarity, revealing a delicate heart beneath rustic words. It is the very essence of Wen Tingyun: beneath the puns lies a vein of absolute sincerity. To read it as mere wordplay is to miss its point; one must imagine the woman's infatuated heart speaking out of the shadows of the well lamp and the ivory die, and then the wit becomes the truest voice of love.

此诗之妙，全在双关二字。表面写井底灯、长行棋、骰子豆，无一字说相思，而句句皆是相思。深烛即深嘱，围棋即违期，读者初觉戏语，细味乃见血泪。女子临别，不哭不挽，只痴痴嘱郎莫违期，其憨其痴，正其深情。至入骨相思知不知，以问作结，似嗔似怨，把刻骨之恋和盘托出。与寻常闺怨之直抒不同，此诗以巧藏真，以俗写雅，俚俗中见玲珑心，最是飞卿本色。读之但觉一往情深，不忍以游戏视之，双关之表下原是一腔至诚。双关之表下是一往情深，戏语之中有血泪在；读者若仅赏其巧思，犹未尽其妙，须于井底深烛、入骨知否之间，想见那位临别痴嘱的女子之心。巧至极处原是最真，此即乐府风流之精髓。与寻常闺怨之直抒不同，此诗以不可能之事写必然之情，以俗物写至性，俚俗中见玲珑心，千载之下犹能动人。统观全篇，以俗物写至情、以双关藏深意，乃飞卿乐府之独到；不须一字说相思，而句句皆是相思，此其所以为巧而能真也。井底深烛、入骨知否，痴语之中自有血泪，晚唐小诗之妙尽在此等机杼之间，非徒戏笔可比，亦见文人乐府取资民间而能点铁成金之手腕，化俗为雅良非易事。后世诗词用谐音隐语者多矣，而能如这首一般巧不伤雅、俗不碍真者实罕；飞卿运化民间语汇为诗家巧思，非徒游戏笔墨而已。读此诗若仅赏其巧，犹未尽其妙，须于言外想见那位临别痴嘱的女子之心，方知双关之表下是一往情深，乐府风流之精髓在此，千载之下犹能动人，巧至极处便是至诚。此诗之巧，全在将深情藏于戏语；若直写相思，便落凡近，惟以井底深烛、围棋违期之谐隐出之，始见低回宛转之致，是谓以俗为雅、以浅为深。唐人小诗手段之高，于此可窥一斑，亦见飞卿才调之敏给；双关之表下是一往情深，戏语之中有血泪在，故能艳而不浮。统观全篇，以俗物写至情、以双关藏深意，乃飞卿乐府之独到；不须一字说相思，而句句皆是相思，此其所以为巧而能真也。井底深烛、入骨知否，痴语之中自有血泪，晚唐小诗之妙尽在此等机杼之间，非徒戏笔可比，亦见文人乐府取资民间而能点铁成金之手腕，化俗为雅良非易事。后世诗词用谐音隐语者多矣，而能如这首一般巧不伤雅、俗不碍真者实罕；飞卿运化民间语汇为诗家巧思，非徒游戏笔墨而已。读此诗若仅赏其巧，犹未尽其妙，须于言外想见那位临别痴嘱的女子之心，方知双关之表下是一往情深，乐府风流之精髓在此，千载之下犹能动人，巧至极处便是至诚。此诗之巧，全在将深情藏于戏语；若直写相思，便落凡近，惟以井底深烛、围棋违期之谐隐出之，始见低回宛转之致，是谓以俗为雅、以浅为深。唐人小诗手段之高，于此可窥一斑，亦见飞卿才调之敏给；双关之表下是一往情深，戏语之中有血泪在，故能艳而不浮。此诗读来似民歌而实极文人巧思。前二句以烛嘱棋期之谐，写女子对远行郎君的千叮万嘱，娇憨中见缱绻；后二句以骰子红豆之喻，写相思之深直入骨髓，设问收束更显痴绝。封建时代女子难诉胸臆，乃托物隐语以寄情，其怨其盼皆在其中。温庭筠以游戏笔调写深挚之情，俗而不滥，巧而不纤，是为晚唐情诗中以谐达哀、以隐写显之绝佳标本，千载之下犹令人会心。

Prosody

Reading note The poem is a regulated seven-character quatrain with a smooth, rather colloquial rhythm that suits its punning style. The first two lines are dense with homophones, while the final question gives a melodic lift. The rhyme is clear and bright, matching the folk-song tone while retaining the craft of a literati work.此诗为七言绝句，押平声支韵（伊、棋、知，古音支脂之通押），声调清亮而情致婉转。前两句井底点灯深烛伊，共郎长行莫围棋，以七言叙写双关，深烛、长行、围棋三处谐音密布，读来似俗语而实巧思。后两句玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知，由叙述转抒情，安红豆对入骨相思，物象与心象相对，结以问句振起全篇。绝句贵含蓄，此诗却以巧显情，于二十八字中藏数重谐音，密处见疏，问处见真，最宜轻歌曼诵，是晚唐谐隐小诗之珍品，声情与辞趣相生。声情与辞趣相生，双关密布而读来清亮，最宜轻歌曼诵，晚唐谐隐小诗以此最为玲珑。二十八字中藏数重机关而歌者易习，听者亦易醉于其宛转之调；前二句以俗事起，后二句以问句收，音节由缓转促，恰如低诉忽作娇嗔，声情与辞情相得益彰，足称绝句之巧构。此七绝平起首句入韵，押支韵，伊期知为韵脚，一韵贯通，声情柔婉。平仄合律，井底点灯深烛伊仄仄仄平平仄平，共郎长行莫围棋仄平平平仄平平，黏对间有拗救而气脉仍顺。后二句玲珑骰子安红豆入骨相思知不知以散句作结，打破齐整而添摇曳，恰合谜底揭晓之态。双关谐音使字面与深意双层流动，诵之如听吴侬软语，最见唐绝以声写情、以巧写痴之小品风神。

Line by line

井底点灯深烛伊，共郎长行莫围棋。

Lighting a lamp at the bottom of the well to shine deeply on you — 'deep candle' puns on 'deep instruction,' a strange but fervent image of urgent advice.

A lamp lit at the bottom of the well burns deep for you; let us travel far, my love - do not delay the tryst.

此联以奇想起笔：井底点灯本不可能，却偏说深烛伊——深烛谐音深嘱，极写嘱咐之深、痴情之甚。次句共郎长行莫围棋，长行双关远行与棋戏，围棋谐音违期，一语藏两意，叮咛情郎远行切莫误了归期。两句以不可能之事、可双关之词写临别叮咛，巧思层出而情意极真，俚俗物事皆成深情载体，最见乐府谐音之妙，亦见飞卿体物写心之巧。烛谐嘱、棋谐期，前二句设谜写女子千叮万嘱，娇憨中见缱绻之深。

This couplet opens in fancy: a lamp lit at the bottom of the well is impossible, yet he says burns deep for you - deep candle puns on deep entrustment, writing the depth of the charge, the depth of devotion. The second line, let us travel far, my love - do not delay the tryst: travel far is a double entendre for long journey and the board game, delay the tryst puns on playing go, one phrase hiding two meanings - charging her lover on a long journey not to miss the return date. The two lines use the impossible and the double-entendre to write the parting charge,巧 thought after巧 thought, yet the feeling utterly true; common things become vehicles of deep feeling, most showing yuefu puns' skill and Wen's perception of heart. Candle puns charge, dice puns tryst: the first two set the riddle of the woman's thousand charges, her coyness holding deep devotion.

玲珑骰子安红豆，入骨相思知不知？

Together with you on the long march, do not play at Go — 'long march' means both a journey and a board game; 'Go' puns on 'to miss the appointed time.'

On the dainty dice, red love-pearls are set; bone-deep longing - do you know it, or not?

结联由嘱转问：骰子镂以红豆，红豆本相思子，安红豆既写博具纹样，又写相思安放心头；入骨二字双关骰子镂点透骨与相思深入骨髓。末以知不知问句收束，似娇嗔实沉痛，把满腔刻骨之恋逼问对方。以博具起兴，以问句作结，由巧入真，由浅入深，通篇双关至此乃全盘托出，余味极浓，是温词中最见性灵的一首，亦最足代表其乐府之巧思。骰子红豆喻相思入骨，设问收束更显痴绝，俗而不滥巧而不纤。

The closing couplet turns from charge to question: the dice carved with red beans - the red bean is the love-pea; setting red beans writes both the gambling piece's pattern and longing set in the heart; bone-deep is a double entendre for the dice's carved dots piercing the bone and longing entering to the marrow. The close ends in the question do you know it or not? seeming coy yet in truth cutting, pressing the whole bone-deep love upon him. Opening with the gambling piece as bi-xing, closing in a question, from巧 to truth, from shallow to deep; the whole wordplay laid out at last, the savor extremely rich. This is the most spiritual of Wen's songs, and most representative of his yuefu巧 thought: dice and red beans as bone-deep longing, the questioning close making the devotion absolute; vulgar yet not coarse,巧 yet not frail.

Study

Word focus

深烛 A pun for 'deep instruction' (深嘱); literally 'deep candle.' It conveys the depth and earnestness of the woman's parting words. 深烛是此诗机窍：字面指井底深燃之烛，实与深嘱同音，暗寓女子深切嘱咐。井底点灯原属虚妄，偏用深烛二字，愈显痴情之不合常理而出于至诚。烛伊即嘱你，呼语亲昵。飞卿以谐声代直叙，避免说破相思，反使情意更婉更厚。此一双关，统摄全篇叮咛之意，是小物见大情的关纽，亦见乐府谐音传统在文人手中的新变，一字而关通篇。深烛谐音深嘱，似写点灯实写叮咛，字面与深意双层流动之巧在此。

入骨 Literally 'enter the bone'; puns on the die's carved pits and on love penetrating to the marrow. 入骨二字，一指骰子镂点透入骨中，一指相思深透骨髓，字面双关，意极沉痛。前句安红豆写相思之安放，此句入骨写相思之深锲，由外而内，由浅而深。知不知三字逼问，使入骨之思不再是静写，而成掷地有声的情感迸发。二字虽小，却把全诗的巧思收束为一记重锤，令俚俗博具顿生千钧之力，最见飞卿炼意之精，巧语至此归于至情。入骨既状骰点镂刻亦喻相思透骨，虚实相生，设问收束更显痴绝。