Song lyric · ci to the tune Dan Huang Liu, a tune Jiang Kui made himself宋词 · 词·淡黄柳（自度曲）

dàn淡huáng黄liǔ柳·kōng空chéng城xiǎo晓jiǎo角

jiāng姜kuí夔Jiang Kui · Song宋

Pale Yellow Willows: A Bugle at Dawn over the Empty Town

kōng空chéng城xiǎo晓jiǎo角

chuī吹rù入chuí垂yáng杨mò陌

mǎ马shàng上dān单yī衣hán寒cè恻cè恻

kàn看jìn尽é鹅huáng黄nèn嫩lǜ绿

dōu都shì是jiāng江nán南jiù旧xiāng相shí识

zhèng正cén岑jì寂

míng明zhāo朝yòu又hán寒shí食

qiǎng强xié携jiǔ酒

xiǎo小qiáo桥zhái宅

pà怕lí梨huā花luò落jìn尽chéng成qiū秋sè色

yàn燕yàn燕fēi飞lái来

wèn问chūn春hé何zài在

wéi唯yǒu有chí池táng塘zì自bì碧

Underlined words have notes: tap one. The Pinyin button below shows or hides all pinyin. 一 and 不 are marked with the tone you actually say.字下有虚线的，点开有注释。下方的“拼音”按钮可以显示或隐藏全部拼音。“一”“不”标的是实际读出来的变调。

The usual text opens with xiǎo jiǎo, a bugle blown at dawn in an army camp. The source text here has xiǎo yuè, the dawn moon, which is a copying or conversion slip. We follow the usual text.

通行本第一句作“空城晓角”，晓角是清晨军营里吹的号角。这里的底本作“空城晓月”，是传抄或转换时出的差错，现在按通行本改正。

Line by line逐句翻译

空城晓角At dawn a bugle sounds over the empty town,清晨，冷清的空城里吹起了号角，
吹入垂杨陌and drifts into the lanes lined with weeping willows.号角声飘进了种满垂柳的小路。
马上单衣寒恻恻On horseback in a thin robe, I shiver with cold.我骑在马上，只穿一件薄薄的单衣，冷得发颤。
看尽鹅黄嫩绿I look at all the willow buds, pale yellow and tender green,看遍了这些浅黄嫩绿的柳芽，
都是江南旧相识and every one looks like an old friend from the south.它们都像江南的老朋友一样熟悉。
正岑寂Everything is so quiet and lonely,正是冷清寂寞的时候，
明朝又寒食and tomorrow is the Cold Food Festival again.明天又是寒食节了。
强携酒I make myself pick up some wine我打起精神，带上酒，
小桥宅and go to the house by the little bridge.到小桥边那户人家去。
怕梨花落尽成秋色I fear the pear blossoms will all fall, and spring will look as bare as autumn.只怕梨花落光了，春天就变得像秋天一样冷落。
燕燕飞来When the swallows fly back燕子飞回来了，
问春何在and ask where spring has gone,要问春天在哪里，
唯有池塘自碧only the pond will still be green, all by itself.只有池塘里的水还独自碧绿。

Words字词注释

空城kōng chéng: kōng chéng: an empty town, quiet and with few people. Here it means Hefei, which was near the border with the Jin state and had been hit by war.空城：冷冷清清、人很少的城。这里指合肥。当时合肥靠近宋金边界，经历过战乱，人烟稀少。
晓角xiǎo jiǎo: xiǎo jiǎo: a bugle blown at dawn in an army camp.晓角：清晨军营里吹响的号角。
垂杨陌chuí yáng mò: chuí yáng mò: a lane lined with weeping willows. Mò means a path or lane.垂杨陌：两边种着垂柳的小路。陌，田间或街巷里的小路。
单衣dān yī: dān yī: a thin, single-layered robe.单衣：只有一层布的薄衣服。
恻恻cè cè: cè cè: a feeling of biting cold that also makes the heart sad.恻恻：形容冷得让人难受、心里也凄凉。
鹅黄嫩绿é huáng nèn lǜ: é huáng nèn lǜ: the color of new willow buds: pale yellow like a gosling's fluff, with a tender green.鹅黄嫩绿：刚长出的柳芽，颜色像小鹅的绒毛那样浅黄，又带着嫩嫩的绿。
旧相识jiù xiāng shí: jiù xiāng shí: old friends. The poet says the willows look just like those in the south, so they feel like old friends.旧相识：老朋友。词人说这些柳色和江南的一模一样，像见到了老朋友。
岑寂cén jì: cén jì: quiet and lonely.岑寂：冷清、寂寞。
明朝míng zhāo: míng zhāo: tomorrow.明朝：明天。
寒食hán shí: hán shí: the Cold Food Festival, a day or two before Qingming. People did not light fires and ate only cold food.寒食：寒食节，在清明节前一两天。古时这一天不生火做饭，只吃冷的食物。
强携酒qiǎng xié jiǔ: qiǎng xié jiǔ: to force himself to cheer up and bring some wine.强携酒：勉强打起精神，带上酒。
小桥宅xiǎo qiáo zhái: xiǎo qiáo zhái: a house by a little bridge. One reading takes xiǎo qiáo as Xiao Qiao, a famous beauty of the Three Kingdoms, standing for the home of the woman the poet loved in Hefei.小桥宅：小桥边的人家。一说“小桥”就是“小乔”，借三国美女小乔的名字，指词人在合肥所爱的女子的家。
秋色qiū sè: qiū sè: the bare, faded look of autumn.秋色：秋天那样冷落凋零的景色。
燕燕yàn yàn: yàn yàn: swallows.燕燕：燕子。
自碧zì bì: zì bì: green all by itself. The pond is still green, but spring is almost gone.自碧：独自碧绿。池塘的水还是绿的，可春天已经快过去了。

How to read it读音

单dān: Here dān means single-layered, as in a thin unlined robe.单衣的“单”读 dān，意思是只有一层的。
朝zhāo: In míng zhāo, meaning tomorrow, this character is read zhāo, not cháo.“明朝”是明天早上、明天，这里“朝”读 zhāo，不读 cháo。
强qiǎng: Here it means to force oneself, so it is read qiǎng, not qiáng.这里是勉强、硬着头皮的意思，读 qiǎng，不读 qiáng。

Background创作背景

Before the poem the poet wrote a short note. It says he was staying west of the Red Railing Bridge in the south of Hefei. The streets were bleak, very unlike the lands south of the Yangtze. Only the willows along the roads were lovely. So he made up this tune to ease his loneliness far from home. It is usually dated to around 1191. Hefei was then near the border with the Jin state, which is why it looked so empty. The tune Dan Huang Liu was created by Jiang Kui himself.

词前有一段小序，大意是：词人客居合肥城南赤阑桥的西边，街巷冷清，和江南很不一样，只有道路两边的柳树还算好看，于是自己作了这支曲子，来排解客居的愁绪。一般认为写于宋光宗绍熙二年（1191年）前后。那时合肥靠近宋金边境，所以显得很荒凉。“淡黄柳”这个词牌是姜夔自己创作的。

The poet作者

Jiang Kui (about 1155 to about 1221), also called the Daoist of White Rock, was a Southern Song ci poet and a musician. He never held office and spent his life moving from place to place, living with help from friends. He knew music well and wrote many of his own tunes. As a young man he fell in love with a woman in Hefei, and he remembered her in many later poems.

姜夔（约1155—约1221），号白石道人，南宋词人，也是音乐家。他一辈子没有做官，常常在各地漂泊，靠朋友帮助生活。他懂音律，会自己作曲，很多词牌都是他自创的。年轻时他在合肥爱上过一位女子，后来多次在词里怀念她。

The mood意境

The first half is a ride out at dawn. A bugle sounds from the empty town and drifts into the willow lanes. The poet wears a thin robe and shivers. The cold is the chill of early spring, but it is also his loneliness. He sees the pale yellow, tender green buds and feels they are old friends from the south. In this strange border town, only the willows feel close to him, and that shows how far from home he is. The second half moves to the coming Cold Food Festival. He makes himself take wine to the house by the little bridge, as if trying to hold on to a little spring. Yet he fears that once the pear blossoms fall, spring will be as bare as autumn. At the end the swallows come and ask where spring is. The only answer is a green pond. Spring is leaving, no one can keep it, and what remains is a soft sadness that is hard to name.

上阕写清晨骑马出行。号角声从空城里传来，飘进柳树夹道的小路。词人穿着单衣，冷得发抖。这里的冷，既是早春的寒气，也是心里的孤单。他看见柳芽浅黄嫩绿，觉得像江南的老朋友。在陌生的边城里，只有柳树让他感到亲切，这更显出他离家之远。下阕从冷清写到寒食节。他勉强带着酒去小桥边的人家，好像想抓住一点春天。可他又怕梨花一落，春天就像秋天一样冷落。最后燕子飞来问春天在哪里，回答只有一池碧水。春天要走了，人也留不住，留下的是淡淡的、说不出的惆怅。