原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
次早朝門 The Next Morning at the Court Gate
次早，脫卻孝衣，換了綵服，一個個紅袍烏帽，一個個紫綬金章，在那朝門外等候宣召。次早，脱却孝衣，换了彩服，一个个红袍乌帽，一个个紫绶金章，在那朝门外等候宣召。
逐句解 Line by line
次早，脫卻孝衣，換了綵服，一個個紅袍烏帽，一個個紫綬金章，在那朝門外等候宣召。
次早，脱却孝衣，换了彩服，一个个红袍乌帽，一个个紫绶金章，在那朝门外等候宣召。
Early the next morning, they doffed their mourning clothes and changed into colored robes — every one in red gown and black cap, every one with purple sash and golden seal — and waited outside the court gate for the summons.
White out, colour in. 綵服 is festive coloured dress, replacing the undyed hemp of mourning — in Chinese custom white is the colour of funerals, so the whole court changing out of it is a public statement. 紫綬金章, the purple sash and gold seal-ribbon, are the insignia of high office. 朝門 uses cháo, the court gate.
The abrupt change from mourning white to festive colour marks the reversal from death to life at the level of the whole court.
The officials who kept the death-watch yesterday now dress for an audience, and the machinery of state starts up again as if the interruption had never happened.