An outdated festival (Qingming Festival) that started one or two days ago in Tomb-Sweeping Day, when only cold food is served for three days.

In late spring, Chang 'an city is full of songs and dances, and countless flowers fall. The east wind of the Cold Food Festival blows on the willow trees in the royal garden.

As night fell, the palace was busy lighting candles, and smoke drifted to the house of the prince and the marquis.

Vernacular translation:

In Chang 'an in spring, there is no place where flowers are falling and dancing. Cold food festival, east wind oblique palace wicker.

The Cold Food Festival should have banned fire, but at dusk, the palace gave candles to light a fire, and the light smoke of candles was scattered in the home of Minister Venus.

Creative background:

Cold food is a traditional festival in ancient China. In this festival, the ancients did not make a fire for three days before and after, but only ate ready-made cold food, hence the name. According to Xijing Miscellanies, in the Han Dynasty, although fire was banned in the whole country during the Cold Food Festival, the emperor gave the nobles of Houmen candles and licensed lighting to show their favor. Tang system, following the old practice, also spread candles on cold food to show gratitude. The exact year of this poem is unknown. If it was written in Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, "Five Emperors" refers to Yang Guifei's brother Yang and his sisters. If it is after the Anshi Rebellion, it refers to the eunuch political group with growing power since Tang Daizong. They were good at politics, which made the politics in the middle Tang Dynasty increasingly corrupt, just like the world at the end of Han Dynasty. Seeing that the favor of the royal family only benefits the upper class, Han Yi reveals a trace of irony in this poem.

About the author:

Han Yi was born in Nanyang (now Henan). In the thirteenth year of Tianbao (754), he was a scholar, and he was in middle school. Bao worked as a shogunate and our ambassador to Ziqing, and then returned to Korea and lived in Chang 'an for ten years. In the late Dali period, he successively entered Biansong and Xuanwu to make the shogunate work. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Dezong appreciated his poem Cold Food, worked as a driving doctor, knew the imperial edict, and finally wrote a book for others. He is one of the "Top Ten Talents in Dali". Most of his poems are farewell works, and he is good at writing the scenery of the journey away from people. The rhythm is natural, but he lacks emotion and depth. Lightweight brushwork and unique scenery were widely read at that time. The Ming Dynasty had The Collection of Han Junping. The Complete Tang Poetry contains three volumes of Tang poetry.