Tang poem · seven-character quatrain唐诗 · 七言绝句

yuè月yè夜

liú刘fāng方píng平Liu Fangping · Tang唐

Moonlit Night

gēng更shēn深yuè月sè色bàn半rén人jiā家

běi北dǒu斗lán阑gān干nán南dǒu斗xié斜

jīn今yè夜piān偏zhī知chūn春qì气nuǎn暖

chóng虫shēng声xīn新tòu透lǜ绿chuāng窗shā纱

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。

Line by line逐句翻译

更深月色半人家Late at night the moon hangs low, lighting only half of each courtyard.夜深了，月亮偏西，月光只照亮了人家院子的一半。
北斗阑干南斗斜The Big Dipper lies across the sky, and the Southern Dipper has tilted.北斗星横在天上，南斗星也斜了。
今夜偏知春气暖Tonight, to my surprise, I sense that spring air has turned warm,今夜我偏偏感觉到，春天的气息变暖了，
虫声新透绿窗纱for the chirp of insects comes through the green window gauze for the first time.因为虫子的叫声，第一次透过绿色的窗纱传了进来。

Words字词注释

更深gēng shēn: gēng shēn: deep in the night. In old times the night was divided into five watches.更深：夜深了。古代把一夜分成五更。
月色半人家yuè sè bàn rén jiā: yuè sè bàn rén jiā: the moon has sunk to the west, so its light covers only half of each courtyard, and the other half is in shadow.月色半人家：月亮已经偏西，月光只照亮了人家院子的一半，另一半在阴影里。
北斗běi dǒu: běi dǒu: the Big Dipper, seven stars in the shape of a ladle.北斗：北斗七星，七颗星排成勺子的样子。
阑干lán gān: lán gān: lying slanted across the sky.阑干：横斜的样子。
南斗nán dǒu: nán dǒu: the Southern Dipper, six stars in the southern sky, also shaped like a ladle.南斗：南斗六星，在南边的天空，也像一把勺子。
偏知piān zhī: piān zhī: to sense, to my surprise; to notice for the first time.偏知：偏偏感觉到、才知道，带有出乎意料的意思。
春气chūn qì: chūn qì: the breath of spring.春气：春天的气息。
新透xīn tòu: xīn tòu: coming through for the first time. Xīn means just now; tòu means to pass through.新透：第一次穿过。新，刚刚；透，穿过。
绿窗纱lǜ chuāng shā: lǜ chuāng shā: green gauze on the window.绿窗纱：绿色的窗纱。

How to read it读音

更gēng: Here it is a watch of the night, an old unit of night time, so it is read gēng.这里指古代夜里计时的单位“更”，读 gēng。
斗dǒu: Běi dǒu and nán dǒu are names of star groups, so it is read dǒu.北斗、南斗是星名，读 dǒu。
斗dǒu: The dǒu of nán dǒu is also read dǒu, not dòu.南斗的斗也读 dǒu，不读 dòu。
斜xié: Textbooks today read it xié. The old reading was xiá, which rhymes with jiā and shā.现在课本读 xié。古音读 xiá，和“家、纱”押韵。

Background创作背景

It is not known when this poem was written. Our source text titles it "Night Moon", but most editions call it "Moonlit Night". It shows a late night in early spring. The moon has sunk to the west, the stars lie slanted, the air has just turned warm, and insects have begun to chirp. Liu Fangping lived quietly as a recluse and never held office, so he could notice small changes like these.

这首诗具体写于什么时候已经不清楚了。题目这里的底本作《夜月》，通行本多作《月夜》。诗写的是早春的一个深夜：月亮偏西，星星横斜，天气刚刚转暖，虫子开始叫了。刘方平一生隐居，没有做官，过着安静的生活，所以能留意到这样细小的变化。

The poet作者

Liu Fangping's birth and death years are not known. He came from Luoyang and lived around the Tianbao years of Emperor Xuanzong. He never took office and lived as a recluse near the Ying and Ru rivers, and was friends with poets such as Huangfu Ran. He was good at describing scenes in a fresh, delicate style, and he could also paint. "Spring Sorrow" is another well-known poem of his.

刘方平，生卒年不详，洛阳人，大约生活在唐玄宗天宝年间前后。他一生没有做官，隐居在颍水、汝水一带，和诗人皇甫冉等是朋友。他擅长写景，诗风清新细腻，还会画画。《春怨》也是他的名作。

The mood意境

The first two lines are a quiet night scene. The moonlight covers only half of the courtyard, and both Dippers have tilted, so the night is already deep. The last two lines are the best. How does the poet know spring has come? He does not see it, he hears it. Insects outside have begun to chirp, and for the first time their voices come through the window gauze. Insects feel the warmth first, and through them the poet feels spring too. The word "first" tells us it is the first time this year. The word "through" makes us feel that spring's warmth slips into the room along with the sound. The whole poem is quiet, yet full of the life of a spring that has just woken up.

前两句是一幅安静的夜景：月光只照亮半个院子，天上的北斗、南斗都斜了，说明夜已经很深。后两句最妙。春天什么时候来的？诗人不是看见的，而是听见的：窗外的虫子开始叫了，声音第一次透过窗纱传进屋里。虫子最先感到天气变暖，诗人从虫声里也感到了春天。一个“新”字，说明这是今年第一次听到；一个“透”字，让人觉得春天的暖意也跟着钻进了屋子。整首诗静静的，却充满了春天刚刚醒来的生气。