<p>Just a bit of paraphrasing fun, hoping to &quot;capture the intentional / hidden meaning of the poem&quot;, I hope.</p>
<p>云想衣裳花想容 -- Clouds be her clothes, flowers be her face,</p>
<p>春风拂槛露华浓 -- Spring breeze and dew drops deepen her grace;</p>
<p>若非群玉山头见 -- If not at Jade Mountain she is seen,</p>
<p>会向瑶台月下逢 -- Then meet her under Yáo Tái's moonbeam.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-10T15:25:46.107Z
Differ only in choosing a word, I think "moon" would be a better word for the ending.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-10T15:31:57.787Z
I wanted a word to at least nearly rhyme with "seen", since I started rhyming "face" with "grace"?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-10T15:49:53.290Z
My preference is based on the fact that both "seen" and "moon" are one-syllable words with a common ending sound "n".
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-10T07:51:36.533Z
2024-11-10T07:51:36.533Z
Wayne Cheah
<p>In order to comprehend the real meaning of the ancient poem, we often need to familiarize with the fads of that time, and the background stories. Below are two background materials about the love for &quot;peonies&quot; in Tang Dynasty (during which the poem was written), and the relation between peonies and <strong>唐明皇</strong> (to whom the poem was made to please) and <strong>楊貴妃</strong> (who was the main figure the poem describes).</p>
<ul>
<li><p>&quot;... <strong>牡丹花</strong>开时节，繁花似锦，灿烂辉煌。 曾在<strong>大唐盛世</strong>，全国上下无不为之倾倒，牡丹花季成了首都长安的狂欢节。 自唐宋以来，牡丹成为吉祥幸福、繁荣昌盛的象征，并得以世代延续下来。&quot;</p>
</li>
<li><p>&quot;<strong>唐明皇特別喜愛牡丹花</strong>(為其四愛之一)，將各色牡丹種植於宮中興慶池東沈花亭下。時值清和之後，此花盛開，玄宗同楊貴妃賞玩，特召李白入宮宴飲，明皇因謂牡丹盛開，「<strong>花雖妙，不能言，不若愛妃為解語花也</strong>。」欲聽新詩，<strong>李白便以花詠人，立賦清平調一首</strong>：「雲想衣裳花想容，春風拂檻露華濃，若非群玉山頭見，會向瑤台月下逢。」<strong>形容她美如牡丹</strong>。&quot;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>I don't think the English translation cited in this thread captures the intentional/hiden meaning of the poem. Here is a <a href="https://haitang.app/works/10692/" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>Chinese translation</strong></a> for information/comparison:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>云想衣裳 花想容, - [<strong>见云之灿烂想其衣裳之华艳，见花之艳丽想人之容貌照人</strong>.]</p>
</li>
<li><p>春风拂槛 露华浓。- [<strong>春风吹拂栏杆，露珠润泽花色更浓</strong>.]</p>
</li>
<li><p>若非&quot;群玉&quot;山头见, - [<strong>如此天姿国色，若不见于群玉山头,</strong>] (群玉：山名，传说中西王母所住之地。全句形容贵妃貌美惊人，怀疑她不是群玉山头所见的仙子，就是瑶台殿前月光照耀下的神女。)</p>
</li>
<li><p>会向瑶台 月下逢。 - [<strong>那一定只有在瑶台月下，才能相逢</strong>！]</p>
</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-10T06:33:10.730Z
Talking about "beauty", it seems that 楊貴妃 was rather "plump", the preferred female body type in those days. So, Li Bai, waxing lyrical about her beauty with, "若非群玉山头见,  会向瑶台月下逢",  would bring about a smile to people of our "modern" day where being plump is a disaster, rather than 貌美惊人. BTW, I wonder whether Li Bai was playing about with "群玉山" as her maiden name was 楊玉環. Whatever, her favorite fruit, 荔枝, was delivered to her from Southern China by fast horses. Such Imperial decadence was the "Romantic" period in which Li Bai lived and wrote, much of which after a few cups of fine wine.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-10T04:09:50.280Z
2024-11-10T04:09:50.280Z
r13
<p>To my understanding,</p>
<p>For the first line, you are correct. That's the beauty of poem. The meaning is not explicit with just 7 words, and leave people with a vague impression.</p>
<p>For the second line, I do not think there is anything erotic. Some people think of the love story of 唐明皇 and 杨贵妃, as other people have answered previously, and they see the word '春‘ and ‘露’ and say this implies erotic scenes in their love, because these two words often relate to some erotic scenes. And even some people may think '浓‘ refers to the breast milk. But I DO NOT agree with that. It is not proper to read poem word by word but a feeling that poem leave you is the most important. '花' (huā) is often miss-written by ‘华’(huá), but sometimes deliberately to keep the thyme. 杨贵妃 is often linked to red peony which is gorgeous and honorable. And '华‘ means gorgeous and honorable. So in this poem, both understanding is correct. So direct understanding is, the Spring wind sweeps the balustrade and the peony shows. To use metaphor, an emperor visit his concubine is a gift, corresponding to the '春风' which is warm. And a concubine who has never been visited by the emperor is usually said to live in 'cold palace'. '拂' is motion of wind from high to low, which also implies the high position of the emperor. Even though the poem writes 'the Spring wind sweeps the balustrade', in reality, the wind also sweeps the peony. So this line wants to say because of emperor's love and visit, 杨贵妃 is happy and shows her peony-like face.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-11T05:51:24.543Z
A person with a runaway imagination could interpret 春风拂槛露华浓 in so many ways, including the erotic angle as each word there could be paired up with some other word to change the apparently innocent rendering to some kind of erotic innuendo. But would Mr. Li Bai dared to do that with 杨贵妃, the favorite concubine of an Emperor? The whole poem is just an unapologetic exaltation of her beauty to the divine plane comparable to a goddess; residing at 玉山 looking down on humanity from her perch at 瑶台, illuminated by the Moon, 月下, with 春风 gently wafting by and 露华浓, dew drops adding splendor to the scene.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-11T04:38:16.867Z
2024-11-11T04:38:16.867Z
user41645
<p>Maybe irrelevant to the appreciation of the poem itself, but a related topic.</p>
<p>One of the best translations I have seen: the cosmetic brand Revlon is translated into 露华浓.</p>
<p>Just genius.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-16T01:45:35.083Z
Indeed, it looks almost impossible to translate "露华浓" online, as seems like everything redirects to "Revlon". Damn!
Starnuto di topo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-20T15:12:15.833Z
@Starnutoditopo haha they won.
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-15T15:23:43.440Z
2024-11-15T15:23:43.440Z
Archeosudoerus
<p>瑶:尊敬的，珍贵的 [esteemed]。</p>
<p>台: 敬辞。用于称呼对方或跟对方有关的行为 [term of respectful address in letters，etc.]  (basically a form of <em>you</em>)</p>
<p>拂: 弼: help, assist</p>
<p>云想衣裳花想容，<br />
clouds want clothes flowers want looks<br />
春风拂槛露华浓。<br />
spring wind helps flowers caged in dense dew<br />
若非群玉山头见，<br />
were it not for the crowd gathered atop 玉山<br />
会向瑶台月下逢。<br />
I could meet your esteemed self under the moon.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-10T22:12:32.493Z
I think 瑶台 is a place where some goddesses live.
CO2
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-10T18:20:51.020Z
2024-11-10T18:20:51.020Z
Pedroski
<p>I'm trying to understand this famous poem by 李白 (the translation on the right is excerpted from <a href="https://eastasiastudent.net/china/classical/li-bai-purity-peace-1/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://eastasiastudent.net/china/classical/li-bai-purity-peace-1/</a> ):</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>《清平调·其一》</strong> - <em>Song of Purity and Peace</em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>云想衣裳花想容, - <em>Clouds, one thinks of her clothes; flowers, one thinks of her countenance;</em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>春风拂槛露华浓。 - <em>the spring wind sweeps dew from her balustrade, splendid and dense.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>若非群玉山头见, - <em>If not seen at the peak of the Jade Mountain,</em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>会向瑶台月下逢。- <em>then she will be encountered under the moon on the Gemstone Terrace.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the first line, two metaphors are used to represent Yang's beauty: clouds resemble her clothes and flowers her face. But the verse can also be intended as [Yang is so beautiful that even] clouds think to (would like to be) her clothes and flowers think (would like to be part of) her face.</p>
<p>In the second line, the wind blows, carrying a splendid dew to her railing.</p>
<p>The third and the fourth lines use mythical places (群玉山 and 瑶台) to indicate that she look like a goddess.</p>
<hr />
<ol>
<li><p>The second line uses a game of words (a hint is the usage of 浓, quite unexpected in this context) to express some erotic situation, but I cannot get it (maybe I am too innocent?). Can this double sense be explained?</p>
</li>
<li><p>Many comments on this poem speak about &quot;peonies&quot;, but I don't see a direct reference to them. Am I wrong?</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>(of course, any improvement/correction to my explanation are welcome, too!)</p>

<word-choice><poetry>
Appreciation of 李白's poem 《清平调·其一》
# Appreciation of 李白's poem 《清平调·其一》

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-11-09)

I'm trying to understand this famous poem by 李白 (the translation on the right is excerpted from <https://eastasiastudent.net/china/classical/li-bai-purity-peace-1/> ):

> **《清平调·其一》** - *Song of Purity and Peace*

> 云想衣裳花想容, - *Clouds, one thinks of her clothes; flowers, one thinks of her countenance;*

> 春风拂槛露华浓。 - *the spring wind sweeps dew from her balustrade, splendid and dense.*

> 若非群玉山头见, - *If not seen at the peak of the Jade Mountain,*

> 会向瑶台月下逢。- *then she will be encountered under the moon on the Gemstone Terrace.*

In the first line, two metaphors are used to represent Yang's beauty: clouds resemble her clothes and flowers her face. But the verse can also be intended as [Yang is so beautiful that even] clouds think to (would like to be) her clothes and flowers think (would like to be part of) her face.

In the second line, the wind blows, carrying a splendid dew to her railing.

The third and the fourth lines use mythical places (群玉山 and 瑶台) to indicate that she look like a goddess.

---

1. The second line uses a game of words (a hint is the usage of 浓, quite unexpected in this context) to express some erotic situation, but I cannot get it (maybe I am too innocent?). Can this double sense be explained?
2. Many comments on this poem speak about "peonies", but I don't see a direct reference to them. Am I wrong?

(of course, any improvement/correction to my explanation are welcome, too!)

**Tags:** word-choice, poetry


---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-11-10. Score: 3

Just a bit of paraphrasing fun, hoping to "capture the intentional / hidden meaning of the poem", I hope.

云想衣裳花想容 -- Clouds be her clothes, flowers be her face,

春风拂槛露华浓 -- Spring breeze and dew drops deepen her grace;

若非群玉山头见 -- If not at Jade Mountain she is seen,

会向瑶台月下逢 -- Then meet her under Yáo Tái's moonbeam.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Differ only in choosing a word, I think "moon" would be a better word for the ending.  
> **username_1**: I wanted a word to at least nearly rhyme with "seen", since I started rhyming "face" with "grace"?  
> **username_2**: My preference is based on the fact that both "seen" and "moon" are one-syllable words with a common ending sound "n".  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-11-10. Score: 3

In order to comprehend the real meaning of the ancient poem, we often need to familiarize with the fads of that time, and the background stories. Below are two background materials about the love for "peonies" in Tang Dynasty (during which the poem was written), and the relation between peonies and **唐明皇** (to whom the poem was made to please) and **楊貴妃** (who was the main figure the poem describes).

* "... **牡丹花**开时节，繁花似锦，灿烂辉煌。 曾在**大唐盛世**，全国上下无不为之倾倒，牡丹花季成了首都长安的狂欢节。 自唐宋以来，牡丹成为吉祥幸福、繁荣昌盛的象征，并得以世代延续下来。"
* "**唐明皇特別喜愛牡丹花**(為其四愛之一)，將各色牡丹種植於宮中興慶池東沈花亭下。時值清和之後，此花盛開，玄宗同楊貴妃賞玩，特召李白入宮宴飲，明皇因謂牡丹盛開，「**花雖妙，不能言，不若愛妃為解語花也**。」欲聽新詩，**李白便以花詠人，立賦清平調一首**：「雲想衣裳花想容，春風拂檻露華濃，若非群玉山頭見，會向瑤台月下逢。」**形容她美如牡丹**。"

I don't think the English translation cited in this thread captures the intentional/hiden meaning of the poem. Here is a [**Chinese translation**](https://haitang.app/works/10692/) for information/comparison:

* 云想衣裳 花想容, - [**见云之灿烂想其衣裳之华艳，见花之艳丽想人之容貌照人**.]
* 春风拂槛 露华浓。- [**春风吹拂栏杆，露珠润泽花色更浓**.]
* 若非"群玉"山头见, - [**如此天姿国色，若不见于群玉山头,**] (群玉：山名，传说中西王母所住之地。全句形容贵妃貌美惊人，怀疑她不是群玉山头所见的仙子，就是瑶台殿前月光照耀下的神女。)
* 会向瑶台 月下逢。 - [**那一定只有在瑶台月下，才能相逢**！]

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Talking about "beauty", it seems that 楊貴妃 was rather "plump", the preferred female body type in those days. So, Li Bai, waxing lyrical about her beauty with, "若非群玉山头见,  会向瑶台月下逢",  would bring about a smile to people of our "modern" day where being plump is a disaster, rather than 貌美惊人. BTW, I wonder whether Li Bai was playing about with "群玉山" as her maiden name was 楊玉環. Whatever, her favorite fruit, 荔枝, was delivered to her from Southern China by fast horses. Such Imperial decadence was the "Romantic" period in which Li Bai lived and wrote, much of which after a few cups of fine wine.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-11-11. Score: 2

To my understanding,

For the first line, you are correct. That's the beauty of poem. The meaning is not explicit with just 7 words, and leave people with a vague impression.

For the second line, I do not think there is anything erotic. Some people think of the love story of 唐明皇 and 杨贵妃, as other people have answered previously, and they see the word '春‘ and ‘露’ and say this implies erotic scenes in their love, because these two words often relate to some erotic scenes. And even some people may think '浓‘ refers to the breast milk. But I DO NOT agree with that. It is not proper to read poem word by word but a feeling that poem leave you is the most important. '花' (huā) is often miss-written by ‘华’(huá), but sometimes deliberately to keep the thyme. 杨贵妃 is often linked to red peony which is gorgeous and honorable. And '华‘ means gorgeous and honorable. So in this poem, both understanding is correct. So direct understanding is, the Spring wind sweeps the balustrade and the peony shows. To use metaphor, an emperor visit his concubine is a gift, corresponding to the '春风' which is warm. And a concubine who has never been visited by the emperor is usually said to live in 'cold palace'. '拂' is motion of wind from high to low, which also implies the high position of the emperor. Even though the poem writes 'the Spring wind sweeps the balustrade', in reality, the wind also sweeps the peony. So this line wants to say because of emperor's love and visit, 杨贵妃 is happy and shows her peony-like face.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: A person with a runaway imagination could interpret 春风拂槛露华浓 in so many ways, including the erotic angle as each word there could be paired up with some other word to change the apparently innocent rendering to some kind of erotic innuendo. But would Mr. Li Bai dared to do that with 杨贵妃, the favorite concubine of an Emperor? The whole poem is just an unapologetic exaltation of her beauty to the divine plane comparable to a goddess; residing at 玉山 looking down on humanity from her perch at 瑶台, illuminated by the Moon, 月下, with 春风 gently wafting by and 露华浓, dew drops adding splendor to the scene.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-11-15. Score: 1

Maybe irrelevant to the appreciation of the poem itself, but a related topic.

One of the best translations I have seen: the cosmetic brand Revlon is translated into 露华浓.

Just genius.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Indeed, it looks almost impossible to translate "露华浓" online, as seems like everything redirects to "Revlon". Damn!  
> **username_4**: @Starnutoditopo haha they won.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-11-10. Score: 1

瑶:尊敬的，珍贵的 [esteemed]。

台: 敬辞。用于称呼对方或跟对方有关的行为 [term of respectful address in letters，etc.] (basically a form of *you*)

拂: 弼: help, assist

云想衣裳花想容，  
clouds want clothes flowers want looks  
春风拂槛露华浓。  
spring wind helps flowers caged in dense dew  
若非群玉山头见，  
were it not for the crowd gathered atop 玉山  
会向瑶台月下逢。  
I could meet your esteemed self under the moon.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: I think 瑶台 is a place where some goddesses live.  

---

