暖风熏得游人醉

暖風熏得遊人醉

nuǎnfēng xūn de yóurén zuì

quotation

Meanings

1 the warm breeze intoxicates the travelers
2 comfort and ease make people forget their larger duty, especially rulers losing sight of a lost homeland
3 (literal) warm - wind - smoke-infuses - until - traveler - drunk

Characters

to smoke / infuse / lull

得

until (complement marker)

person (游人 = traveler)

醉

zuì

drunk

Examples

HSK 7-9

西湖春游的时候，他吟起暖风熏得游人醉。

Xīhú chūnyóu de shíhòu, tā yín qǐ nuǎnfēngxūndeyóurénzuì.

Strolling West Lake in spring, he recited 'the warm breeze intoxicates the travelers.'

HSK 7-9

表面繁华，暖风熏得游人醉，其实危机暗藏。

Biǎomiàn fánhuá, nuǎnfēngxūndeyóurénzuì, qíshí wēijī àncáng.

On the surface all is prosperity - 'warm breeze making the travelers drunk' - but crisis lurks beneath.

Tips

history

From 林升《题临安邸》 (Lin Sheng, Southern Song, 12th c.), a quatrain written on an inn wall in 临安 (modern Hangzhou, the Southern Song capital after the loss of the north): 山外青山楼外楼，西湖歌舞几时休？暖风熏得游人醉，直把杭州作汴州 (Green hills beyond green hills, tower beyond tower - when will the song and dance by West Lake ever cease? The warm breeze makes the travelers drunk - they've come to treat Hangzhou as if it were Bianzhou). A savage protest against Southern Song court officials partying while Bianjing (Kaifeng) remained lost to the Jin.

usage

熏得 = 'infuses / smokes so that...' (得 is a classical complement marker). Almost always paired with 直把杭州作汴州 - together the two lines form one of the sharpest political indictments in Song poetry.

Stroke Order

暖 nuǎn

风 fēng

熏 xūn

得 de

游 yóu

人 rén

醉 zuì