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五代 Five Dynasties · 词 Ci lyric

浣溪沙·红日已高三丈透

Silk-Washing Stream: The Red Sun Already Three Rods High

李煜

Li Yu

宫廷court life 享乐pleasure-seeking

红日已高三丈透，金炉次第添香兽。
红锦地衣随步皱。
佳人舞点金钗溜，酒恶时拈花蕊嗅。
别殿遥闻箫鼓奏。

The red sun has already climbed a good three rods high;
in golden censers the beast-shaped incense is fed in turn.
The red brocade carpet wrinkles as the dancing feet pass over it.
The beauty strikes the beat and her gold hairpin slips loose;
sick with wine, she plucks a flower's heart and breathes its scent.
From a hall far off, faintly, flutes and drums are heard.

Listen

Meaning

The red sun has already risen a good three rods high, and in the gilded beast-shaped censers fresh incense is added piece by piece. The red brocade carpet on the floor puckers under the dancers' steps. The beautiful woman reaches the crucial beat of her dance and her gold hairpin slides free; light-headed with wine, she idly picks up a flower and breathes its scent. From a distant palace hall the sound of flutes and drums drifts across.

红日已经升起三丈多高，金兽香炉里依次添换着香料。红色锦绣地毯随着舞步起了皱褶。佳人舞到紧要处金钗滑落，酒意微醺时随手拈起花蕊轻嗅。别殿远远传来箫鼓奏乐之声。

Appreciation

The lyric is pure plain description, laid out in order and arguing nothing, yet the whole luxurious, self-indulgent scene stands complete. The first three lines give the morning, moving from the sun outdoors to the censers indoors to the carpet creasing under dancing feet, with red and gold laying on a rich palette. The second half turns to people: a dancer on the beat, a pin slipping loose, a hand lifting a flower to the face, and music heard from another hall. It reads like a long scroll of court entertainment, brilliant in colour and unhurried in tempo, and beneath that easy magnificence one hears the decadence of the night before a kingdom falls.

【白话串讲】 “红日已高三丈透，金炉次第添香兽”——李煜写南唐宫廷的狂欢：太阳老高了还在歌舞。“佳人舞点金钗溜”——跳得太猛，金钗都甩掉了。这是李煜亡国前的奢侈日子。【意象与手法】此词纯用白描铺叙，不著议论而奢华纵乐之态毕现。上片三句写晨景：红日高升、金炉添香、红锦地衣随步皱，由室外入室内、由静到动，铺排有序，「红」「金」设色秾丽。下片转写人物：佳人舞点、金钗溜落，醉中拈花轻嗅，别殿箫鼓遥闻，视听交错，极写沉醉歌舞。全词如宫乐长卷，色彩绚烂而节奏闲雅。【情感与主旨】李煜（937—978），字重光，南唐后主。在位沉湎声色、不修政事，终为宋所灭，被俘后遭毒杀。其词以亡国为界，前期多写宫廷享乐，后期写亡国之痛。此《浣溪沙》约作于开宝年间纵情声色之时，铺陈宫中清晨行乐，是其前期生活的典型写照，表面富贵闲适下暗涌亡国前夜之颓靡，是为「后庭花」之音。【名句点睛】「佳人舞点金钗溜，酒恶时拈花蕊嗅」以生活化细节写后主习性，白描传神；「红日已高三丈透」以时间之晚写沉醉忘晓，为常考之句。

Background

Li Yu (937 to 978), styled Chongguang, was the last ruler of the Southern Tang. On the throne he gave himself up to music and women and neglected government; his state fell to the Song, and after his capture he was poisoned. His lyrics divide at the fall of his kingdom: the earlier ones mostly describe court pleasure, the later ones the pain of a lost country. This Silk-Washing Stream was written around the Kaibao years, at the height of his indulgence; it lays out one morning of revelry in the palace, a typical picture of his earlier life, and carries within it the omen of the old song about jade trees and courtyard flowers.

李煜（937—978），字重光，南唐中主李璟第六子，世称李后主。他在位十五年间沉湎声色、不修政事，终为宋所灭，被俘至汴京，封违命侯，后被宋太宗赐牵机药毒死。其词以亡国为界分为前后两期：前期多写宫廷享乐与男女之情，辞采秾丽；后期写亡国之痛与故国之思，血泪交迸。此《浣溪沙》约作于开宝年间纵情声色之时，写宫中清晨行乐：红日高升而歌舞未歇，金炉添香、红锦起皱、佳人舞、金钗溜、酒恶嗅花、别殿箫鼓，一幅奢华纵乐的宫廷生活图卷，是其前期生活的典型写照。此词表面写富贵闲适，然时值宋师压境、国势日蹙之际，此等醉生梦死的纵乐，正暗含「玉树后庭」之兆，后世论者每以后主前期艳词与陈叔宝并论，以为亡国之音，此词正是理解李煜前期生活与其悲剧命运的重要文本。又，李煜前期词多写宫廷生活，然其「神秀」之才已于此等艳词中显露端倪：「红日已高三丈透」的意象经营、「酒恶时拈花蕊嗅」的细节捕捉，皆非寻常宫廷应制之作所能及，王国维《人间词话》谓后主词「不失其赤子之心」，此词正可见其前期生活中那种率真任情的气质，为后期血泪词的横空出世埋下伏笔。

Art

The lyric is pure plain description laid out in sequence; it argues nothing, and yet the whole luxurious scene stands complete. The first three lines give the morning: the red sun already high, beast-shaped incense fed into golden censers, the red brocade carpet wrinkling under dancing feet, moving from outdoors to indoors and from stillness to motion in orderly array, with red and gold laying on rich colour. The second half turns to people: the dancer on the beat, the gold pin slipping loose, the sick-with-wine plucking of a flower to smell, and the flutes and drums heard from a distant hall, sight and sound crossing, the absorption in music and dance carried to its limit. The whole reads like a long scroll of court music, brilliant in colour and unhurried in tempo, and under that easy magnificence surges the decadence of the night before a kingdom's fall.

此词纯用白描铺叙，不著议论而奢华纵乐之态毕现，是李煜前期词「以赋为词」的代表。上片三句写晨景：首句「红日已高三丈透」以时间之晚写沉醉忘晓，「三丈透」写日之高，透字见光之强烈，纵乐竟至日上三竿；次句「金炉次第添香兽」由室外转入室内，「次第」写添香之从容有序，见宫中生活之奢华闲适；三句「红锦地衣随步皱」以地毯起皱写舞步之繁密，由静入动。下片转写人物：「佳人舞点金钗溜」写舞到紧要处金钗滑落，细节传神；「酒恶时拈花蕊嗅」写微醺时拈花轻嗅，生活化细节写尽后主习性；结句「别殿遥闻箫鼓奏」以远处箫鼓遥应，视听交错，如宫乐长卷徐徐展开。全词「红」「金」设色秾丽，色彩绚烂而节奏闲雅，铺排有序而无一句议论，纵乐之态自见。全词六句，句句写实而层层铺展：红日、金炉、地衣为器物之景，佳人、酒态为人物之态，别殿箫鼓为空间之延展，由近及远、由物及人，如一幅徐徐展开的宫廷长卷；而其妙处正在「不著一字议论」，纵乐之态、颓靡之兆，皆从物象中自然流出，读者自能会心，正是「以赋为词」而能含蓄不露的大家手笔。

Allusions

The allusions here quietly carry a warning about the rise and fall of states. The incense beast is a censer cast in animal shape and marks court luxury; the red brocade carpet is the embroidered floor covering used for song and dance in Tang and Song times. The phrase rendered 'sick with wine' is a Southern Tang dialect expression for the discomfort of drunkenness, and Tao Gu's Qingyi Lu expressly records it as the last ruler's own habit. The flutes and drums in a distant hall quietly continue the tradition of the Chen ruler's song of jade trees and courtyard flowers, that gorgeous music of a fallen state, for later readers regularly set Li Yu's early ornamental lyrics beside Chen Shubao's and read them as an omen. The allusions are hidden, but the warning goes deep.

本词用典暗寓兴亡之戒。「香兽」指兽形熏炉，以香料雕成兽形焚烧，点明宫廷奢华；「金炉次第添香兽」写添香之景，见宫中生活之靡丽。「红锦地衣」即锦绣地毯，为唐宋宫廷歌舞的陈设，「随步皱」写舞步在毯上留下的皱褶，细节真实。「酒恶」为南唐方言，谓酒醉不适（陶谷《清异录》明注此语出后主习气），以方言入词，极生活化。「别殿箫鼓」暗承陈后主《玉树后庭花》绮艳亡国之音的传统——陈后主以《玉树后庭花》写宫中行乐，终致亡国，后人遂以「后庭花」为亡国之音的代称，李煜此词写别殿箫鼓、宫中纵乐，正与陈后主同其行径，故后世每以后主前期艳词与陈叔宝并论，视为亡国之兆，典虽隐而戒意深。另，「金钗溜」之「溜」字亦见匠心：金钗滑落，本是舞动剧烈的自然结果，一个「溜」字写出钗落之态，轻巧而传神，暗写舞姿之狂放；「地衣随步皱」之「皱」字，则以地毯之皱写舞步之繁，与「溜」字一物一人，皆以细节写纵乐，可见李煜前期词已具「以细节传神」的功力，非泛写宫廷生活者可比。

Commentary

Su Shi of the Song said that Li Yu's lyrics were apt, plaintive, clear and harmonious, and that even the early ornamental ones had a fine spirit; later readers, however, generally set his early palace lyrics beside Chen Shubao's song of jade trees and courtyard flowers and heard in them the music of a state about to fall. Yang Shen of the Ming, in Ci Pin, spoke of his spring days at a splendid banquet, conducting elegance at will. Modern critics say that lines such as the red sun three rods high, the golden censers fed with incense and the woman sick with wine smelling a flower are plain description laid out in order, and yet the extravagance shows of itself; precisely in that unruffled surface lies the omen of a fallen court, a different mode from his later lyrics of blood and tears but the same grief.

宋人苏轼评李后主词「适怨清和」，以为其前期艳词亦具「神秀」之致；明人杨慎《词品》称其「绮筵春日，指挥风雅」，盛赞其词才。然后世多以李煜前期宫词与陈叔宝《玉树后庭花》并论，视为亡国之音：纵乐的宫廷终成覆亡的南唐，此词正是那「后庭花」式的靡靡之音。近人论此词，谓「红日三丈」「金炉添香」「酒恶嗅花」诸句，白描铺叙而奢靡自见，不动声色处正见「玉树后庭」之兆，与其后期血泪词异曲而同悲——前期以纵乐写悲的潜伏，后期以血泪写悲的爆发，一隐一显，皆是南唐覆亡这一时代悲剧的注脚。此词的价值，一在它是李煜前期词风的代表作，二在它以白描写宫廷生活的艺术成就，三在它与后期词对照所见的完整人生轨迹，是理解「词中之帝」李煜由享乐到亡国、由绮艳到沉痛的心路历程的起点。又，此词在后世的接受亦颇堪玩味：论者或以之为「亡国之兆」而惋惜，或以之为「赤子之心」而宽容，其评价之分歧，正见李煜前期词情感的复杂性与多义性；然无论如何评价，此词作为「词帝」前期生活的实录，其文学价值与史料价值皆不容忽视，是研究李煜完整词史不可或缺的一环。

Prosody

Form Ci lyric to the tune Silk-Washing Stream, double form of forty-two characters词·《浣溪沙》双调四十二字

Rhyme Cilin Zhengyun, oblique rhyme (high, turn, wrinkles, slips, scent, heard), oblique tones rhymed together仄韵体，透、兽、皱、溜、嗅、奏，属《词林正韵》第十二部，仄声通押，一韵到底

Tone pattern Double form, three lines in each half, the first line entering the rhyme双调，上下片各三句，句句入韵，首句入韵，平仄依谱

Reading note This is the oblique-rhyme form of Silk-Washing Stream, with lines of seven, seven, seven and seven, seven, seven characters.此词为《浣溪沙》的仄韵变体，双调四十二字，上下片各三句。用韵上，全词六句皆押仄声韵，韵脚「透」「兽」「皱」「溜」「嗅」「奏」属《词林正韵》第十二部，仄声通押，一韵到底，句句入韵，韵脚密集，读来紧促流转，正合歌舞场面的繁密热烈。句式为七七七、七七七，上下片句式相同，皆为三句七言，平仄依谱填写。与常见的平韵《浣溪沙》不同，此词用仄韵，声调由平韵的悠扬转为仄韵的促迫，正合宫中行乐那种热烈狂欢的气氛。全词六句，上片写景（红日、金炉、地衣），下片写人（佳人、酒态、箫鼓），由外而内、由静而动，句式整齐而内容递进，音律与内容高度统一，是李煜前期词中格律与声情并美的代表作，可见其驾驭词律的高超功力。

Line by line

红日已高三丈透

The red sun has already climbed a good three rods high.

红日已经升起三丈多高。

The red sun has climbed three zhang and more, shining through.

起句以时间之晚写沉醉忘晓，是全词纵乐基调的起点。「红日」点出旭日初升，「三丈高」写日之高，以视觉的高度写时间之晚；「透」字最见功力，写日光穿透云层、明亮透彻，光之强烈如在目前。日上三竿而宫中歌舞未歇，可见通宵达旦的纵乐，「红日已高三丈透」七字，以时间的流动写出纵乐的沉迷：夜宴竟延续到红日高悬。此句纯写景而意蕴自见，不著一字议论，而「醉生梦死」之态已在言外，正是「以景写情」的高明。起笔以白日开篇，与后文的歌舞、添香、箫鼓形成呼应，构成一幅昼夜不息的宫廷行乐图，也暗含国势日蹙而君臣沉溺的深忧。

The opening writes, through the lateness of the hour, a drunken oblivion of dawn, the starting point of the lyric's keynote of revelry. 'Red sun' fixes the rising sun; 'three zhang high' writes its height, the lateness of the hour through the visual height; the word 'through' is the crafted touch, writing the sunlight piercing the clouds, bright and transparent, the intensity of the light visible at once. The sun already three poles high while song and dance in the palace have not ceased shows a revelry that lasted all night; the seven characters write, through the movement of time, the intoxication of pleasure—the night banquet prolonged until the sun hung high. The line is pure scenery yet its meaning shows of itself, naming no argument yet the 'living drunk, dreaming dead' already between the lines, the high art of 'writing feeling through scenery.' Opening on daylight, it answers the song and dance, the adding of incense, and the pipes and drums that follow, forming a picture of palace revelry without day or night, and carrying the hidden grief of a shrinking realm while lord and court sink in pleasure.

红锦地衣随步皱

The red brocade carpet wrinkles as the dancing feet pass over it.

红色锦绣地毯随着舞步起了皱褶。

The red brocade carpet wrinkles with every step.

此句以地毯起皱写舞步之繁密，是白描传神的妙笔。「红锦地衣」写宫中铺地的锦绣地毯，「红」字设色秾丽，正合宫廷的华贵气派；「随步皱」三字是全句的神采所在，地毯竟随着舞步起了皱褶，可见舞者之多、舞步之急、歌舞之久——地毯被踩出皱褶，正是通宵达旦歌舞的实证。此句不写舞者的身姿，不写乐声的喧闹，只写地毯上的皱褶，以物写人、以小见大，将一场酣畅淋漓的宫廷歌舞写得如在目前，正是白描手法「不著一字，尽得风流」的典范。与上句「金炉次第添香兽」由室外入室内、由静到动，至此句以地毯之皱写舞动之烈，铺排有序，一幅奢华的宫廷行乐图徐徐展开。

The line writes the dense dancing through the wrinkles in the carpet, a masterpiece of plain depiction. 'Red brocade carpet' writes the embroidered carpet laid in the palace, the word 'red' setting a lush color fitting the palace's luxury. The words 'wrinkles with every step' are the spirit of the line: the carpet actually creases with the dance steps, showing the multitude of dancers, the urgency of the steps, the length of the song and dance—the carpet trampled into folds is the proof of revelry that lasted all night. The line writes neither the dancers' forms nor the noise of the music, only the folds in the carpet, writing the person through the thing and the great through the small, rendering a night of lavish palace song and dance as before the eyes, the model of plain depiction that 'says everything without saying a word.' Following the previous line's 'golden furnace adding incense beasts' in turn, from outdoors to indoors, from stillness to motion, and here the carpet's folds write the violence of the dance, the arrangement ordered, and a luxurious picture of palace pleasure unfolds slowly.

酒恶时拈花蕊嗅

Sick with wine, she now and then plucks a flower's heart and breathes its scent.

酒意微醺时随手拈起花蕊轻嗅。

When the wine turns sour, he plucks a flower and smells it.

此句以生活化细节写后主习性，是全词最见情态的一句。「酒恶」为南唐方言，谓酒醉不适，陶谷《清异录》明注此语出于后主习气，以方言入词，极见生活气息；「拈花蕊嗅」写微醺时随手拈起花蕊轻嗅，一个「拈」字写动作之随意轻巧，一个「嗅」字写神态之微醺沉醉，将一位酒意微醺、拈花轻嗅的帝王写得活灵活现。此句妙在细节：醉酒不适而以花蕊解酒，本是寻常人的寻常举动，写入帝王词中，却见其风流自赏、纵情声色的生活常态。全句无一句议论，而李煜那副沉醉于享乐、不恤国事的情态跃然纸上，正与前文「红日三丈」「金炉添香」的奢华铺叙相呼应，共同构成其前期生活的真实写照，也是后世论其「亡国之音」的依据所在。

The line writes the emperor's habit through a detail of daily life, the most vivid passage of the lyric. 'Wine turns sour' is a Southern Tang dialect word for the discomfort of drunkenness, Tao Gu's 'Record of the Unusual' noting that this phrase came from the Later Lord's own habit, and bringing dialect into the lyric shows the breath of life. 'Plucks a flower and smells it' writes, when slightly drunk, casually picking a blossom and breathing it— the word 'plucks' the casual lightness of the motion, the word 'smells' the slightly drunk, rapt expression, rendering a tipsy emperor plucking a flower and breathing it vividly. The art lies in the detail: discomfort from wine and relieving it with a flower is an ordinary act of ordinary men, yet written into an emperor's lyric it shows the habitual life of one who admires his own charm and abandons himself to music and women. The whole line names no argument, yet Li Yu's absorption in pleasure and neglect of affairs of state leap to the page, answering the earlier luxury of 'sun three zhang' and 'golden furnace adding incense,' forming the true portrait of his early life and the basis on which later critics judge his 'music of a fallen state.'

Study

Word focus

次第 It means 'one after another', and describes the unhurried, orderly feeding of incense; a quiet index of the leisured luxury of the palace. 「金炉次第添香兽」之「次第」，意为依次、陆续，是全句写宫廷生活从容有序的关键词。「次第」写添香的过程依次进行、不慌不忙：金炉中的香兽烧完一块，便依次添上一块，一个「次第」，写出宫中侍者添香的从容有序，也写出宫廷生活的奢华闲适——添香本是寻常小事，在宫中却成为一项有条不紊的仪式。此二字还暗含时间的绵延：香兽依次添换，说明宴饮时间之长，与首句「红日已高三丈透」相呼应，通宵达旦的纵乐由此可见。若换作「纷纷」「频频」则或失之杂乱、或失之匆忙，「次第」以从容的节奏写出宫廷的靡丽与闲适，正是李煜前期词以白描写奢华的炼字之笔，一字之间，宫廷气象毕现。

酒恶 A Southern Tang dialect phrase for the queasiness of drunkenness. Tao Gu's Qingyi Lu expressly notes it as the last ruler's own habit, which makes the detail wonderfully lifelike. 「酒恶时拈花蕊嗅」之「酒恶」，是南唐方言，谓酒醉不适、恶心欲呕，是全词最见生活气息的词语。陶谷《清异录》明注：「酒恶，谓酒醉后厌厌欲吐也，江南人呼为酒恶。」李煜以江南方言入词，写出微醺醉态的生理感受，极富地域色彩与生活质感。「酒恶」二字，将纵乐写得更具体：不是泛写醉酒，而是写出酒醉后那种不适而慵懒的微妙状态，正是在这种状态下「拈花蕊嗅」，以花蕊之清香解酒恶之不适，动作与情态才更见真切。若换作「酒醉」「酒酣」则或失之抽象、或失之欢快，「酒恶」一词兼含生理感受与方言色彩，将后主纵情声色的生活常态写得如在目前，是李煜词以俗语入词、以细节传神的本色所在，也为后世研究南唐方言与宫廷生活留下了珍贵材料。