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

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.

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