Tang poem · seven-character regulated verse唐诗 · 七言律诗

fèng奉hè和zhōng中shū书shè舍rén人jiǎ贾zhì至zǎo早cháo朝dà大míng明gōng宫

cén岑shēn参Cen Shen · Tang唐

Replying to Secretary Jia Zhi's Poem on the Morning Court at Daming Palace

jī鸡míng鸣zǐ紫mò陌shǔ曙guāng光hán寒

yīng莺zhuàn啭huáng皇zhōu州chūn春sè色lán阑

jīn金què阙xiǎo晓zhōng钟kāi开wàn万hù户

yù玉jiē阶xiān仙zhàng仗yōng拥qiān千guān官

huā花yíng迎jiàn剑pèi佩xīng星chū初luò落

liǔ柳fú拂jīng旌qí旗lù露wèi未gān干

dú独yǒu有fèng凤huáng凰chí池shàng上kè客

yáng阳chūn春yì一qǔ曲hè和jiē皆nán难

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 corpus writes jian pei (sword and jade pendants) and feng huang (phoenix) with older forms of the characters. The meaning is the same.

资料库本“剑佩”写作“劒珮”，“凤凰”写作“凤皇”，都是古代的写法，意思一样。

Line by line逐句翻译

鸡鸣紫陌曙光寒The roosters crow; on the capital's great roads the dawn light is cold.鸡叫了，京城大道上晨光还带着寒意，
莺啭皇州春色阑Orioles sing over the imperial city, and spring is almost gone.黄莺在京城里歌唱，春天快要过去了。
金阙晓钟开万户The dawn bell rings in the golden palace, and ten thousand doors open;宫殿里晨钟响起，千门万户一齐打开，
玉阶仙仗拥千官on the jade steps, the honour guard surrounds a thousand officials.玉石台阶前，皇帝的仪仗簇拥着上千名官员。
花迎剑佩星初落As the stars fade, flowers greet the officials with their swords and jade;星星刚刚隐去，鲜花迎接佩剑戴玉的官员，
柳拂旌旗露未干willows brush the banners, still wet with dew.柳枝轻拂着旗帜，上面的露水还没干。
独有凤凰池上客Only the gentleman by Phoenix Pool只有凤凰池边的那位中书舍人，
阳春一曲和皆难could write a poem as fine as "Sunny Spring"; no one can match it in reply.写出了像《阳春》一样高雅的诗，谁都难以和得上。

Words字词注释

紫陌zǐ mò: zi mo: the broad roads of the capital.紫陌：京城里的大道。
曙光寒shǔ guāng hán: shu guang han: at first light, the dawn still feels cold.曙光寒：天刚亮，晨光里还带着寒意。
莺啭yīng zhuàn: ying zhuan: orioles singing their trilling songs.莺啭：黄莺婉转地叫。
皇州huáng zhōu: huang zhou: the imperial city, here Chang'an.皇州：京城，这里指长安。
春色阑chūn sè lán: chun se lan: spring is nearly over. Lan means coming to an end.春色阑：春天快要结束了。阑，将尽。
金阙jīn què: jin que: the golden palace. A que is a tall tower before a palace gate.金阙：金碧辉煌的宫殿。阙，宫门前的高楼。
晓钟xiǎo zhōng: xiao zhong: the dawn bell.晓钟：清晨报时的钟声。
开万户kāi wàn hù: kai wan hu: thousands of palace doors swing open.开万户：宫里成千上万扇门一齐打开。
玉阶yù jiē: yu jie: the jade steps in front of the palace hall.玉阶：宫殿前用玉石砌的台阶。
仙仗xiān zhàng: xian zhang: the emperor's honour guard, rows of guards and banners.仙仗：皇帝的仪仗，排列整齐的卫队和旗帜。
拥千官yōng qiān guān: yong qian guan: surrounding a thousand officials.拥千官：簇拥着上千名官员。
剑佩jiàn pèi: jian pei: the swords and jade pendants officials wore.剑佩：官员身上佩带的宝剑和玉佩。
星初落xīng chū luò: xing chu luo: the stars have just faded; day is breaking.星初落：星星刚刚隐没，天快亮了。
旌旗jīng qí: jing qi: flags and banners.旌旗：各种旗帜。
凤凰池fèng huáng chí: feng huang chi: Phoenix Pool, a pond in the palace near the Secretariat, so it came to stand for the Secretariat. Here it means Jia Zhi, who worked there.凤凰池：本来是皇宫里的池子，因为中书省在附近，就用来代指中书省。这里指在中书省做官的贾至。
阳春yáng chūn: yang chun: "Sunny Spring", an old, refined tune that few could sing. Here it praises Jia Zhi's poem as lofty.阳春：《阳春白雪》，古代一种高雅难唱的曲子。这里称赞贾至的诗写得高妙。
和皆难hè jiē nán: he jie nan: everyone finds it hard to write a reply worthy of it.和皆难：大家都很难写出配得上它的和诗。

How to read it读音

曲qǔ: Here it means "a song", so it is read qǔ, not qū (bent).这里是“歌曲”的意思，读 qǔ，不读 qū。
和hè: Here it means "to write a poem in reply, matching another's", so it is read hè, not hé.这里是“依照别人的诗作诗应答”的意思，读 hè，不读 hé。

Background创作背景

In the spring of 758, Chang'an had been won back from the rebels of the An Lushan Rebellion, and the court was again holding morning audiences at Daming Palace. Jia Zhi, a secretary in the Secretariat, wrote a poem about the morning court and sent it to his colleagues. Wang Wei, Du Fu and Cen Shen all wrote poems in reply. This famous exchange is known as the Morning Court poems. Cen Shen was then serving at court as an adviser, and this is his reply.

唐肃宗乾元元年（758年）春天，安史之乱中被叛军占领的长安已经收复，朝廷重新在大明宫上朝。中书舍人贾至写了一首《早朝大明宫呈两省僚友》，送给同事们。王维、杜甫、岑参都写了和诗，这就是有名的“早朝唱和”。岑参当时在朝中做右补阙，这首是他的和诗。

The poet作者

Cen Shen (about 715–770) was a Tang poet best known for frontier poems, such as "Song of White Snow". He twice served with the army on the far northwest frontier and wrote many poems about its grand, wild scenery. This poem about the palace morning court is polished and elegant, very different from his frontier poems.

岑参（约715—770），唐代诗人，最有名的是边塞诗，比如《白雪歌送武判官归京》。他两次到西北边疆军中，写过很多雄奇壮丽的风光。这首诗写宫廷早朝，风格华丽工整，和他的边塞诗很不一样。

The mood意境

This poem is like a short film of the morning court, moving forward in time. First the roosters crow, day breaks, and the dawn is a little cold. Then the bell rings, the palace gates open, and a thousand officials file up the jade steps. Then it is light: the stars fade, flowers and willows greet the officials, and dew still hangs on the banners. The scene is bright and orderly, showing a court standing tall again just after the war. Only the last two lines turn to Jia Zhi, praising his poem as refined as the tune "Sunny Spring", hard for anyone to match. The lively scenes come first, and a polite compliment to a friend comes last, just as good manners for a reply poem require.

这首诗像一部早朝的纪录片，按时间一步步往下拍。先是鸡叫、天刚亮、晨光微寒；接着晨钟一响，宫门全开，上千名官员排着队走上玉阶；然后天亮了，星星落下，鲜花和柳枝迎接着官员，旗帜上还挂着露水。画面明亮又整齐，写出了战乱刚过、朝廷重新振作的气象。最后两句才回到贾至身上，夸他的诗像《阳春》一样高雅，别人很难和。前面写景写得热闹，最后一句客气地赞美朋友，合乎和诗的礼节。