260. Cold Food Day | Han Hong
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
春城无处不飞花，寒食东风御柳斜。
English translation
In the spring capital there is no place where blossoms are not drifting; on Cold Food Day the east wind slants the willows by the imperial park.
Cold Food Day falls a day or two before Qingming, when the old custom forbade lighting fires and called for cold food. The spring capital is Chang'an. The willows in question stand near the palace grounds; drifting petals and swaying branches mark the season.
Original Chinese text
日暮汉宫传蜡烛，轻烟散入五侯家。
English translation
Toward dusk the palace sends out candles; a thin smoke drifts into the households of the favored nobles.
The Han palace stands in for the Tang court. After the Cold Food ban, the emperor granted fire—in the form of candles—to ministers close to him, a mark of favor. The five marquises stand for powerful favorites in general. The poem shows only the bestowal of fire and leaves its judgment unspoken.
赏析 · Commentary
满城春色与几户人家的火光 · Spring Everywhere, Firelight for a Few
前两句把镜头放在整座春城：花开到无处不飞，风也照顾到宫苑的柳。后两句忽然收紧到黄昏的宫门，赐出的蜡烛只送进少数权贵之家。同一座城里，寒食的禁令人人遵守，能够重新点火的却只有得宠的人。
The first couplet takes in the whole spring capital: blossoms drift everywhere, and the wind reaches even the palace willows. The last two lines suddenly narrow to the palace gate at dusk, where the candles are sent out to only a few powerful households. In one city everyone keeps the Cold Food ban, yet only the favored are granted fire again.
不下一句评语的讽意 · Satire That Passes No Verdict
诗里没有一句批评，只把“赐烛”这件恩典写得清清楚楚。读者若知道寒食禁火、赐火只给近臣，就能读出其中的偏向：明媚的春天属于全城，特殊的待遇却归于豪门。韩翃不点明褒贬，语气越平静，意味越耐咀嚼。
The poem contains not one word of criticism; it simply presents the bestowal of candles plainly. A reader who knows that Cold Food forbids fire and that relighting it was a privilege for favored ministers can sense the imbalance: the bright spring belongs to the whole city, while special treatment goes to great houses. Han Hong names no judgment, and the calmer the tone, the longer the implication lingers.