ChineseStudy

277. Mooring on the Qinhuai | Du Mu

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English translation

Mist shrouds the cold water, moonlight shrouds the sand; at night I moor on the Qinhuai near a wineshop.

Shrouds means to cover or wrap; the repeated word binds mist, water, moon, and sand into one hazy night scene. The Qinhuai is the river that runs through Jinling, present-day Nanjing, whose banks had been crowded with wineshops and singing houses since the Six Dynasties. Mooring near a wineshop prepares the way for the song that follows.

The singing girls do not know the grief of a fallen kingdom; across the river they still sing The Backcourt Flowers.

Singing girls are hired performers. The Backcourt Flowers, or Jade Tree and Backcourt Flowers, is said to have been written by Chen's last emperor and was later regarded as the music of a doomed dynasty. Across the river means the song reaches him from the far bank. Since the singers perform what their patrons request, it is the guests who are truly lost in pleasure; through the song the poet points to a generation that will not take warning.

赏析 · Commentary

朦胧的夜与刺耳的歌声 · A Hazy Night and a Jarring Song

前两句把秦淮夜景写得又冷又柔：烟、水、月、沙，浑然一片。就在这样的夜里，隔江传来《后庭花》的曲调。景越静美，歌声越显得不合时宜；诗人一句评语都没有下，忧愤却已经压不住。

The opening couplet renders the Qinhuai night both cold and soft: mist, water, moon, and sand melt into one. Into just such a night drifts the tune of The Backcourt Flowers from across the river. The quieter and lovelier the scene, the more out of place the song seems; the poet passes no verdict, yet his anger can no longer be contained.

该被责怪的是谁 · Who Should Be Blamed

诗说“商女不知”，字面上是唱者无知；可歌女要靠卖唱为生，唱什么往往由客人决定。被讽刺的其实是在酒家里寻欢、对国事无动于衷的人。杜牧把矛头藏在一句看似责备歌女的话里，问一句“谁点的这支曲子”，意思便出来了。

The poem says the singing girls do not know, which on the surface faults the performers; but they earn their living by singing and usually sing what the guests ask for. The satire falls on those who seek pleasure in the wineshop and care nothing for the nation's affairs. Du Mu hides the point in a line that seems to blame the singers; ask who requested that tune, and the meaning surfaces.

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