月上柳梢头

月上柳梢頭

yuèshàngliǔshāotóu

phrase

Meanings

1 the moon rises to the tip of the willow branch
2 image of early evening on the Lantern Festival — a classic tryst setting

Characters

tip (of branch)

Examples

月上柳梢头，人约黄昏后，多么浪漫的情景。

Yuè shàng liǔ shāo tóu, rén yuē huánghūn hòu, duōme làngmàn de qíngjǐng.

‘The moon rises to the willow tip; people meet after dusk’ — what a romantic scene.

春节晚会上朗诵了‘月上柳梢头’这首词。

Chūnjié wǎnhuì shàng lǎngsòngle ‘yuè shàng liǔ shāo tóu’ zhè shǒu cí.

At the Spring Festival gala they recited the ci poem beginning ‘The moon rises to the willow tip.’

Tips

history

From Ouyang Xiu 欧阳修's Northern Song ci 《生查子·元夕》 (authorship sometimes attributed to Zhu Shuzhen 朱淑真): ‘月上柳梢头，人约黄昏后。’ (The moon climbs to the willow tip; we meet after dusk.) Set on the Lantern Festival (元夕), traditionally a rare night when young men and women could meet freely.

usage

Always paired with 人约黄昏后. 梢 (shāo) = tip of a branch. The couplet is shorthand for ‘romantic Lantern Festival tryst.’

Stroke Order

月 yuè

上 shàng

柳 liǔ

梢 shāo

头 tóu