暗香浮动月黄昏

暗香浮動月黃昏

àn xiāng fú dòng yuè huánghūn

quotation

Meanings

1 a hidden fragrance drifts on the dusk under the moon
2 the exquisite, almost imperceptible beauty of plum blossom at twilight (figurative)
3 hidden scent floats-moves moon dusk (literal)

Characters

fragrance (暗香 = subtle scent)

Examples

HSK 7-9

梅园傍晚散步，暗香浮动月黄昏，让人心旷神怡。

Méiyuán bàngwǎn sànbù, àn xiāng fú dòng yuè huánghūn, ràng rén xīnkuàng-shényí.

Strolling the plum garden at dusk, 'a hidden fragrance drifting under the moon at twilight,' it lifts the spirit.

HSK 7-9

这首词只此一句暗香浮动月黄昏，便让作者名垂千古。

Zhè shǒu cí zhǐ cǐ yī jù àn xiāng fú dòng yuè huánghūn, biàn ràng zuòzhě míngchuí-qiāngǔ.

This single line, 'hidden fragrance drifting under the moon at dusk,' alone made the author's name last a thousand years.

Tips

history

From 林逋《山园小梅》其一 (Lin Bu, 'Little Plum in the Mountain Garden,' no. 1, Northern Song, early 11th c.): 疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏 (Sparse shadows slant across the clear shallow water; a hidden fragrance drifts on the dusk under the moon). Lin Bu was a hermit on Gushan at West Lake who famously 'took the plum as wife and the crane as son' (梅妻鹤子). This couplet is considered the greatest plum-blossom poem ever written.

usage

Always paired with 疏影横斜水清浅. The two phrases 疏影 and 暗香 each became poem titles in their own right (e.g. Jiang Kui's song-lyrics). Quoted whenever evoking understated fragrance or restrained beauty.

Stroke Order

暗 àn

香 xiāng

浮 fú

动 dòng

月 yuè

黄 huáng

昏 hūn