hán寒shí食

Cold Food Day falls a day or two before Qingming. By custom, fires were put out and people ate only cold food. This poem shows the holiday in Chang'an, the Tang capital. It is usually placed in the reigns of Emperor Daizong or Dezong, but the exact year is not known. A Tang book of poem stories by Meng Qi says Emperor Dezong liked this poem so much that he gave Han Hong a post writing the emperor's orders.

寒食节在清明前一两天，按风俗要禁火，只吃冷食。这首诗写的就是唐朝都城长安过寒食节的景象，一般认为写于唐代宗、唐德宗时，具体年份说不清。据唐人孟棨的《本事诗》记载，唐德宗很欣赏这首诗，因此提拔韩翃做了替皇帝起草诏书的官。

Han Hong's birth and death years are not known. He came from Nanyang, in today's Henan, and passed the top exam in the Tianbao years of Emperor Xuanzong. He was one of the Ten Talents of the Dali Era, a group of well-known poets of that time. Most of his poems are about farewells or were written in reply to friends, in rich, elegant words. This poem is his most famous.

韩翃，生卒年不详，字君平，南阳（今属河南）人，唐玄宗天宝年间考中进士。他是“大历十才子”之一，这是唐代宗大历年间一群有名的诗人。他的诗多写送别和唱和，用词华美，这首《寒食》是他最有名的作品。

The first two lines fill the city with spring. Petals and willow fluff fly everywhere, and the east wind sways the palace willows. "No place without flying blossoms" uses two negatives to mean "blossoms fly everywhere", which sounds even stronger. The last two lines turn to dusk. No one in the city may light a fire, yet candles go out from the palace, and their smoke drifts into the homes of the favored lords. On the surface this is just the bustle of the holiday and the emperor's kindness. But some readers hear a quiet complaint: ordinary homes stay cold and dark, while the powerful enjoy special treatment. Others think the poet simply paints a peaceful time, with no complaint at all. Either way the picture is lovely: flying blossoms, slanting willows, and thin smoke drifting in the evening light.

前两句写满城春色：花瓣和柳絮到处飞，东风吹着宫里的柳枝。“无处不飞花”用两个否定词，说的是“处处都在飞花”，语气更加强烈。后两句写傍晚：全城都不许点火，只有皇宫传出的蜡烛，把烟送进了五侯家里。这几句看上去只是写节日的热闹和皇帝的恩宠，可是有人读出了讽刺：普通人家冷冷清清，受宠的权贵却能得到特权。一说诗人只是在描写太平景象，并没有讽刺的意思。不管怎样理解，画面都很美：漫天飞花、斜斜的柳枝、暮色里飘散的轻烟。