The name, 'washing silk in the stream', points to
西施, the Spring and Autumn beauty said to have washed silk in a stream before she was sent to the king of Wu. A short, gentle pattern, it is cited with the first line as the title: 《
浣溪沙·
一曲新词酒一杯》 by
晏殊 and 《
浣溪沙·
谁念西风独自凉》 by
纳兰性德, which ends
当时只道是寻常. It is also written
浣溪纱.
