水調歌頭（明月幾時有）
To the Tune Shuidiao Getou: How Long Has the Bright Moon Been There
Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101)
Song · 1076

Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-001053 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/001053
Rights: Song dynasty lyric (ci); the author died in 1101. Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice.
Source: Wikisource, https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/水調歌頭_(明月幾時有) (retrieved 2026-10-11)
English translation: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0
Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/su-shi-prelude-to-water-melody

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丙辰中秋，歡飲達旦，大醉，作此篇，兼懷子由。

明月幾時有，
把酒問青天。
不知天上宮闕，
今夕是何年。
我欲乘風歸去，
惟恐瓊樓玉宇，
高處不勝寒。
起舞弄清影，
何似在人間。

轉朱閣，
低綺戶，
照無眠。
不應有恨，
何事長向別時圓。
人有悲歡離合，
月有陰晴圓缺，
此事古難全。
但願人長久，
千里共嬋娟。

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丙辰中秋，欢饮达旦，大醉，作此篇，兼怀子由。

明月几时有，
把酒问青天。
不知天上宫阙，
今夕是何年。
我欲乘风归去，
惟恐琼楼玉宇，
高处不胜寒。
起舞弄清影，
何似在人间。

转朱阁，
低绮户，
照无眠。
不应有恨，
何事长向别时圆。
人有悲欢离合，
月有阴晴圆缺，
此事古难全。
但愿人长久，
千里共婵娟。

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English translation by Claude (an AI)

Mid-Autumn of the year Bingchen. I drank happily until dawn, got very drunk, and wrote this, thinking also of Ziyou.

How long has the bright moon been there?
I raise my cup and ask the blue sky.
I do not know, in the palaces of heaven,
what year it is tonight.
I would like to ride the wind and go back up there,
but I fear those towers of jade and halls of crystal,
so high, so very cold.
I rise and dance with my clear shadow:
how could that compare with being among people?

It turns past the vermilion pavilion,
it stoops through the carved window,
it shines on the sleepless.
It should bear no grudge,
so why is it always full when people are apart?
People have sorrow and joy, parting and meeting;
the moon is dim or bright, full or waning;
since ancient times this has been hard to make whole.
I only wish that we may both live long
and share, a thousand li apart, the beauty of the moon.