Song lyric · ci lyric宋词 · 词

shào少nián年yóu游·bīng并dāo刀rú如shuǐ水

zhōu周bāng邦yàn彦Zhou Bangyan · Song宋

Shao Nian You: The Bingzhou Knife Gleams Like Water

bīng并dāo刀rú如shuǐ水

wú吴yán盐shèng胜xuě雪

xiān纤shǒu手pò破xīn新chéng橙

jǐn锦wò幄chū初wēn温

shòu兽xiāng香bú不duàn断

xiāng相duì对zuò坐tiáo调shēng笙

dī低shēng声wèn问xiàng向shuí谁háng行sù宿

chéng城shàng上yǐ已sān三gēng更

mǎ马huá滑shuāng霜nóng浓

bù不rú如xiū休qù去

zhí直shì是shǎo少rén人xíng行

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。

This uses the commonly printed text. In line five the corpus has 'beast smoke' where most editions have 'beast incense'.

这里用通行本。第五句语料库作“兽烟不断”，通行本多作“兽香不断”。

Line by line逐句翻译

并刀如水The Bingzhou knife gleams like water,并州的刀明亮得像水，
吴盐胜雪the Wu salt is whiter than snow,吴地的盐比雪还白，
纤手破新橙and her slender hands cut open a fresh orange.她用纤细的手切开新摘的橙子。
锦幄初温Inside the silk curtains it has just grown warm,丝绸帐子里刚刚暖和起来，
兽香不断incense curls without end from the animal-shaped burner,兽形香炉的香烟不断飘出，
相对坐调笙and the two sit face to face, playing the sheng.两人面对面坐着吹笙。
低声问向谁行宿In a low voice she asks: where will you stay tonight?她低声问：今晚你到哪里住？
城上已三更From the city wall, the third watch has already sounded.城楼上已经打过三更了。
马滑霜浓The frost is thick and the horse will slip.路上霜很厚，马会打滑，
不如休去You had better not go,还不如别走了，
直是少人行for there is hardly anyone out on the road.外面实在是没有什么人走了。

Words字词注释

并刀bīng dāo: bīng dāo: a knife from Bingzhou, around today's Taiyuan in Shanxi, famous for being sharp.并刀：并州（今山西太原一带）出产的刀，以锋利出名。
如水rú shuǐ: rú shuǐ: bright and gleaming like water.如水：像水一样明亮发光。
吴盐wú yán: wú yán: salt from the Wu region, around today's Jiangsu and Zhejiang, fine and white. People then dipped oranges in a little salt.吴盐：吴地（今江苏、浙江一带）出产的盐，又细又白。古人吃橙子时蘸一点盐。
纤手xiān shǒu: xiān shǒu: slender hands, a woman's hands.纤手：细嫩的手，指女子的手。
破新橙pò xīn chéng: pò xīn chéng: cutting open a freshly picked orange.破新橙：切开新摘的橙子。
锦幄jǐn wò: jǐn wò: a curtain made of silk brocade.锦幄：用丝织品做的帐子。
兽香shòu xiāng: shòu xiāng: incense burning in a burner shaped like an animal.兽香：兽形香炉里烧着的香。
笙shēng: shēng: a mouth organ made of many bamboo pipes.笙：一种用很多竹管做成的乐器，用嘴吹。
谁行shuí háng: shuí háng: at whose place.谁行：谁那里。
三更sān gēng: sān gēng: the third watch, around midnight, about 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Old Chinese split the night into five watches.三更：半夜，大约晚上十一点到一点。古人把一夜分成五更。
休去xiū qù: xiū qù: don't go.休去：别走了。
直是zhí shì: zhí shì: truly, really.直是：真是，实在是。

How to read it读音

并bīng: Bīng dāo is a knife from Bingzhou, an old place name, so the first character is read bīng, not bìng.并刀：并州出产的刀。并州是古地名，这里读 bīng。
调tiáo: In tiáo shēng (to tune and play the sheng pipes), the first character is read tiáo, not diào.调笙：吹笙、调好笙的音。调读 tiáo。
行háng: Shuí háng means 'at whose place', a phrase from Song spoken language, so the second character is read háng, not xíng.谁行：谁那里，是宋代的口语，行读 háng。

Background创作背景

This lyric shows a man and a woman together on a winter night. When and where it was written cannot be fixed. A Southern Song book by Zhang Duanyi tells a story: Zhou Bangyan was at the house of the famous singer Li Shishi when Emperor Huizong suddenly arrived. He hid, overheard their talk, and turned it into this lyric. Later scholars showed the story does not fit the facts. It was most likely made up and should not be taken as true.

这首词写一对男女在冬夜相聚的情景，写作的时间和地点已经无法确定。南宋张端义的《贵耳集》里有个故事，说周邦彦在名妓李师师家，宋徽宗忽然来了，他躲起来听到两人的话，就写成了这首词。不过后人考证，这个故事和事实对不上，多半是编的，不能当真。

The poet作者

Zhou Bangyan (1056–1121) was a lyric poet of the late Northern Song. He knew music deeply and worked in the court's music office, where he wrote many new tunes. His lyrics choose every word with care and follow the music closely. He had a great influence on Southern Song lyric poets.

周邦彦（1056—1121），字美成，号清真居士，北宋末年的词人。他精通音乐，曾在朝廷管音乐的机构大晟府任职，创作了不少新曲调。他的词用字讲究，音律精细，对南宋词人影响很大。

The mood意境

The first half is like a slow-motion film. A bright knife, snow-white salt, slender hands cutting an orange. Inside the curtains it is warm, incense keeps rising, and two people sit face to face playing music. The word love never appears, yet warmth and closeness are everywhere. The second half is all the woman's words. In a low voice she asks where he will stay tonight; it is already midnight. Then she gives reasons: the frost is thick, the horse will slip, no one is on the road, better not go. She never says 'stay'. She only worries that the road is bad, and her deep feeling hides inside that care. The lyric is gentle and true to life, as if we were watching the scene ourselves.

上片像一组慢镜头：明亮的刀，雪白的盐，纤细的手切开橙子；帐子里暖暖的，香烟不断，两人对坐吹笙。没有一个“爱”字，却处处是温暖和亲密。下片全是女子的话。她低声问：今晚去哪里住？已经三更了。接着她找理由：霜太厚，马会滑，路上没人，不如别走了。她不直接说“留下来”，只是替他担心路不好走，一片深情就藏在这些体贴的话里。词写得含蓄，细节真实，读来像亲眼看见一样。