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七律·人民解放军占领南京

Seven-Part Octet: The People's Liberation Army Takes Nanjing

毛泽东

Mao Zedong

名篇Canonical Masterpiece 七言律诗Seven-Part Octet 革命诗篇Revolutionary Verse 咏史诗Historical Elegy

钟山风雨起苍黄，百万雄师过大江。
虎踞龙盘今胜昔，天翻地覆慨而慷。
宜将剩勇追穷寇，不可沽名学霸王。
天若有情天亦老，人间正道是沧桑。

Over the Bell Mountain the storm has struck the colours blue and yellow; a hundred thousand gallant troops cross the great river.
The tiger crouches, the dragon coils, today fairer than of old; heaven and earth are turned over and the heart is stirred.
Use up the valour that is left in chasing the last bandits; do not emulate the hegemon who bought his name.
If heaven had feeling, heaven too would grow old; the right road under heaven is ever the road of the mulberry and the sea.

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Meaning

The poem was written immediately after the People's Liberation Army crossed the Yangtze and took Nanjing on 23 April 1949, and it does two things at once. It records the moment, and it answers the argument that the war should have stopped at the river. “Use up the valour that is left in chasing the last bandits” is the answer to those who urged a divided China; “do not emulate the hegemon who bought his name” takes the warning from the story of Xiang Yu, who let his enemy go for the sake of a reputation. The closing couplet lifts the whole thing into a philosophical statement: the right road of the world is a road of change, and change is what is happening.

钟山之上风雨骤起，局势苍黄剧变，百万雄师横渡长江。虎踞龙盘的南京形胜，今日胜过往昔；天翻地覆的变化，令人慷慨激昂。应当乘着余勇穷追残敌，不可学那沽名钓誉的霸王项羽（养虎遗患）。苍天若有情，也会因这历史巨变而衰老；人间的正道，正是沧海变桑田般不断更迭的革命进程。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A storm over the Bell Mountain has changed the sky from blue to yellow, and a hundred thousand brave soldiers have crossed the great river. The place that was a capital of kings is fairer than it ever was, and the world turned over and the heart is stirred. The poem then refuses the argument for stopping: the last remaining valour should be spent in chasing the defeated, and no one should imitate the hegemon who traded his name for mercy. The poem ends by saying that if heaven had feeling it too would grow old, and that the right road of this world is the road of change. [Structure] The octave proceeds in four stages: the news, the scene, the decision, the meditation. The first two lines are events; the second two are the place and the feeling of it; the third couplet is pure argument, set as a parallel pair of prohibitions; the last couplet is the generalization, and returns to the ethical register. [Imagery] The poem is sparing but exact. “Bell Mountain” fixes the place at Nanjing, “blue and yellow” gives the stormy sky a colour and thus the shock of the news; “tiger crouching, dragon coiling” are the old words for the city's defences, and they are inverted — it is better now than in former times. The last couplet produces the poem's two famous abstractions, heaven and the mulberry field, and in doing so turns a military victory into a statement about history.

【白话串讲】毛泽东写《七律·人民解放军占领南京》：“钟山风雨起苍黄，百万雄师过大江”。“虎踞龙盘今胜昔，天翻地覆慨而慷”——“宜将剩勇追穷寇，不可沽名学霸王”——“天若有情天亦老，人间正道是沧桑”——1949年解放军占领南京。【意象与手法】熔叙事、写景、议论、哲理于一炉：首联叙事如急风骤雨，颔联写景用典双关，颈联议论斩钉截铁，尾联以李贺句翻新出哲理；对仗精工（虎踞龙盘对天翻地覆、今胜昔对慨而慷），气魄雄浑，是七律旧体写革命新事的典范【情感与主旨】欢呼南京解放、讴歌人民战争，而更深一层是「将革命进行到底」的决断——宜将剩勇追穷寇、不可沽名学霸王，是对胜利时刻最清醒的战略告诫；「人间正道是沧桑」则把当下胜利纳入历史规律的必然，豪情与哲思并重【名句点睛】「天若有情天亦老，人间正道是沧桑」化用李贺「天若有情天亦老」而翻出新境：天本无情故不老，唯人间正道在沧桑更替中不断新生，成为革命历史观的凝练表达；「宜将剩勇追穷寇」亦成乘胜追击的代名词

Background

Mao Zedong wrote the poem at the end of April 1949 in his room at Shuangqing Villa on Fragrant Hill in Beiping, on news of the capture. The crossing of the Yangtze had begun on 20 April and Nanjing fell three days later, ending the rule of the Guomindang in the city. At that moment negotiations had just broken down and the slogan of a divided China was abroad; the poem's third couplet is the answer to it, and it is often read as a direct reply to those in China and abroad who argued for stopping the war at the river. It was first published in 1963 and became one of the most widely known of the poems.

《七律·人民解放军占领南京》作于1949年4月下旬，是毛泽东为南京解放这一历史性事件写下的即兴名篇。1949年4月20日夜，人民解放军百万雄师发起渡江战役，突破国民党军长江防线；4月23日，第三野战军解放南京，宣告国民党二十二年反动统治的覆灭。消息传来，毛泽东在北平香山双清别墅闻讯赋诗，诗中「百万雄师过大江」正是这一历史时刻的直接记录。当时正值国共和谈破裂，「划江而治」的主张甚嚣尘上——国际上有人劝中共「适可而止」，国内亦有「南北朝」之议；毛泽东力排众议，坚持「将革命进行到底」，命令百万雄师渡江，穷追残敌，一举解放全中国。此诗即作于这一历史转折点上，故诗中「宜将剩勇追穷寇，不可沽名学霸王」绝非泛泛的战争口号，而是对「划江而治」论调的正面回答，是对革命战略的清醒决断。1963年12月，此诗由人民文学出版社《毛泽东诗词》首次公开发表，随即传诵全国。作为旧体诗词写现代革命的典范，此诗把古典七律的格律、典故与人民解放战争的现实内容完美结合，是毛泽东诗词中「旧瓶装新酒」最成功的作品之一，也是研究其革命历史观与诗词艺术的重要文本。

Art

The poem's engineering is worth attention because everything looks effortless. The first couplet puts a storm and an army in the same seven syllables, the second turns the city's ancient reputation into a present comparison, and the third is the pivot, built as a strict parallel of two commands, one positive and one negative, both drawn from history. The fourth takes the whole argument and sets it against the sky, and this is where the poem is most modern: an abstract noun, “the right road,” is made the subject of a claim about universal process. The verse also manages to keep the register low — “use up,” “chasing,” “bought his name” — so that the grandeur of the closing generalization is not undermined by pedantry.

此诗艺术上的最大特色，是熔叙事、写景、议论、哲理于一炉，在严格的七律格律中写出磅礴的历史气魄。首联「钟山风雨起苍黄，百万雄师过大江」以叙事起笔：「风雨」「苍黄」写局势之剧变，「百万雄师」写军威之盛，「过大江」三字如剑出鞘，斩截有力；「钟山」点地，「大江」写势，一山一水之间，历史瞬间定格。颔联转入写景兼用典：「虎踞龙盘」写南京形胜（相传诸葛亮谓「钟山龙盘，石头虎踞，此帝王之宅」），「今胜昔」翻出新意——帝王之宅今日归于人民，故胜于往昔；「天翻地覆慨而慷」化用曹操《短歌行》「慨当以慷」写革命巨变引起的慷慨豪情，写景、用典、抒情三合为一。颈联是全诗的战略核心：「宜将剩勇追穷寇」用《左传》「余勇可贾」之典（剩勇即余勇），反《孙子》「穷寇勿迫」之常言，主张乘胜穷追；「不可沽名学霸王」以项羽鸿门宴纵敌、沽名钓誉终致垓下之败为戒，一正一反，斩钉截铁，把战略决断写入诗行。尾联「天若有情天亦老，人间正道是沧桑」由眼前战争升华为历史规律：借用李贺《金铜仙人辞汉歌》「天若有情天亦老」原句，翻出「天本无情故不老，人间正道在沧桑更替中不断新生」的哲理，把当下胜利纳入宇宙历史的必然进程。全诗由事入景、由景入议、由议入理，层层升格，气魄雄浑而思致深沉，是七律旧体写革命新事的典范。

Allusions

Five borrowed things carry the poem. “Tiger crouching, dragon coiling” comes from the record of the strategist Zhuge Liang looking at the site of Nanjing and calling it a place of kings; the poet returns the phrase to argue the present is better than the past. “The hegemon who bought his name” is Xiang Yu, who at the banquet of Hongmen let Liu Bang go in order not to be thought cruel, and who perished for it; the line is a warning against stopping short for the sake of a reputation. “If heaven had feeling, heaven too would grow old” is a line of Li He, used there for the sorrow of the fallen, and here reversed — the heavenly, being without feeling, does not age, so the human course of change is what endures. “The mulberry field” is the sea turned to mulberry fields in the tale of the immortal Mao Gu, the figure for the enormous and repeated changes of the world. “The valour that is left” is the old story of Qi's general trying to sell his remaining courage, a proverb about spending what is left on the last effort.

此诗用典密集而自然，熔铸历史、军事、哲学于一炉。其一，「虎踞龙盘」出《太平御览》引张勃《吴录》：诸葛亮使吴，观秣陵形胜，叹曰「钟山龙盘，石头虎踞，此帝王之宅也」——以龙虎喻南京地势之雄，毛泽东翻进一层：此帝王之宅，今日已归人民，故「今胜昔」，「昔」为封建王朝之兴替，「今」为人民革命之胜利，一典翻新，境界迥出。其二，「慨而慷」化用曹操《短歌行》「慨当以慷，忧思难忘」，变曹操之忧思为革命之慷慨，同字异情。其三，「剩勇」典出《左传·成公二年》齐晋鞍之战，齐将高固曰「欲勇者贾余余勇」，「余勇可贾」遂为成语；毛泽东以「宜将剩勇追穷寇」化用，主张一鼓作气、穷追残敌——此句又是对《孙子兵法》「穷寇勿迫」的故意反用，显示战略上的独立判断。其四，「沽名学霸王」用项羽故事：《史记·项羽本纪》载鸿门宴上项羽纵刘邦而去，又分封诸侯、衣锦还乡，终致垓下之围、乌江自刎——毛泽东以霸王为戒，警醒勿因虚名而纵敌，「不可沽名学霸王」遂成革命战略的千古警句。其五，「天若有情天亦老」直用李贺《金铜仙人辞汉歌》原句，而赋予新义：李贺以天若有情亦感汉亡之悲，毛泽东则言天本无情、故不因沧桑而老，唯人间正道在沧桑中前进——同句异义，化悲为壮，是「点铁成金」的典范。其六，「沧桑」用《神仙传》麻姑「东海三为桑田」之典，以沧海桑田喻历史巨变之必然。六典熔铸，古今打通，此诗遂成为用典艺术的高峰。

Commentary

This is the most admired of the poems in which Mao handled a contemporary event in a classical form, and it is often cited as the model of “old bottle, new wine.” Its felicities are specific: the colour of the storm, the ruined capital compared favourably with its own past, the two historical allusions used as arguments rather than as decoration, and the last couplet, which lifts an event into a principle without ever ceasing to sound like a sentence a man might speak. Guo Moruo said that the poetry of Mao Zedong “opens a new road within the old poetry,” and in this poem the claim is hard to resist, since the four classical resources are all turned to the purpose of justifying a modern decision. Its lines have passed into ordinary speech, and the poem has been in school anthologies for decades.

《七律·人民解放军占领南京》是毛泽东诗词中影响最广、评价最高的作品之一，历来被视为「以旧体诗写革命史诗」的巅峰。在文学层面，此诗以严格合律的七律写百万雄师过江的现实，被诗家推为「旧瓶装新酒」的典范——郭沫若评毛泽东诗词「于旧诗词中别开生面」，此诗尤甚：古典的格律、典故、意象与人民战争的全新内容完美结合，证明旧体诗词在现代语境中依然有强大的表现力。在思想层面，「宜将剩勇追穷寇，不可沽名学霸王」两句，把「将革命进行到底」的战略思想凝练为诗，成为此后一切乘胜追击、勿纵残敌之决断的经典表述；「天若有情天亦老，人间正道是沧桑」更把革命胜利上升为历史规律，成为革命历史观的文学宣言，被广泛引用。在传播层面，此诗1963年公开发表后即家喻户晓，入选中学语文教材数十年，「百万雄师过大江」「人间正道是沧桑」等句已成为日常语言中的时代记忆。文学史上，此诗与《沁园春·雪》《水调歌头·游泳》等同构毛泽东诗词的雄浑气象，而独以此诗以「诗史」之笔直录历史转折时刻，兼具史诗价值与哲理高度，堪称中国现代旧体诗的一座丰碑。

Prosody

Form Seven-part octave (regulated verse, the “yang” rhyme of the Old Sound system)七言律诗（近体诗，平水韵「阳」韵）

Rhyme The poem rhymes throughout in the broad open “-ang” class — blue and yellow, river, old, stirred, name, road of the mulberry and the sea. The single wide rhyme is what carries the poem's unhurried, thunderous tone, and it is the same choice the poet made in other poems about vast subjects.全诗八句四联，押平声「阳」韵，一韵到底：苍、江、慷、王、桑。韵脚皆开口洪亮之音（ang），声调开阔昂扬，正合「百万雄师过大江」的雄浑气魄；首句入韵（苍），中二联对仗（虎踞龙盘对天翻地覆，今胜昔对慨而慷；剩勇对沽名，追穷寇对学霸王），平仄合律，节奏铿锵。

Tone pattern The first couplet is quick and hard, the second slows into grandeur, the third is clipped and command-like, the fourth turns solemn and broad. The rise and fall follows the poem's argument — news, place, decision, principle — and the closing line, stretched on the open vowel, sounds like a statement about the world rather than about the war.七律格律严整：首联叙事，颔联写景，颈联议论，尾联哲理，起承转合章法井然。句式上「钟山风雨起苍黄」以三平起势，「百万雄师过大江」以仄收顿，颔联对仗工整如双峰并峙，颈联「宜将」「不可」对举如刀剑相击，尾联借句翻新如钟磬长鸣；语调由激越而慷慨、由斩截而深沉，声情与辞情高度统一。

Reading note The prosody of this poem is often held up as the best example of the form serving a modern subject. The rhyme is wide and single, the two middle couplets are strict parallels, and both of them hold two clauses of different weight — an exhortation and a prohibition, a general law and a particular story — inside one line. Nothing in the verse announces difficulty, and the vocabulary of the poem is deliberately plain: “use up,” “chasing,” “bolted,” “sea and mulberry.” The result is that the sound is as level as a statement of principle, which is the effect the poem is reaching for when it says that the course of the world is the course of change.《七律·人民解放军占领南京》在格律上是严格合律的七律典范，同时又是以古典声律写现代革命内容的成功实验。声律上，全诗押「阳」韵（苍、江、慷、王、桑），此韵部发音洪亮、气势开阔，正合「百万雄师过大江」的雄浑主题——毛泽东选韵之工，与《沁园春·雪》之「飘、滔、高、娆、骄」异曲同工，皆以开阔韵部写宏大题材。节奏上，首联「钟山风雨起苍黄，百万雄师过大江」仄起平收，句式「二三二」与「二二二一」交错，如战鼓急擂；颔联「虎踞龙盘今胜昔，天翻地覆慨而慷」对仗精工，平仄相间（仄仄平平平仄仄，平平仄仄仄平平），节奏平稳如双峰对峙；颈联「宜将剩勇追穷寇，不可沽名学霸王」以「宜将」「不可」领起，语气斩截，如刀剑交鸣；尾联「天若有情天亦老，人间正道是沧桑」以李贺原句入律——「天若有情天亦老」平仄为「平仄仄平平仄仄」，恰合律句，毛泽东信手拈来而天成合律，可见其对旧体声律的娴熟。全诗一韵到底、首句入韵、中二联对仗，是七律正格；而内容之新（渡江战役）、用典之活（虎踞龙盘、霸王、沧桑）、哲思之深（人间正道），使旧格律焕发出全新的生命力。此诗在声律与内容的结合上，达到了古典诗体写现代题材的极高成就，为旧体诗词的当代复兴提供了范例。

Line by line

钟山风雨起苍黄，百万雄师过大江。

Over the Bell Mountain the storm has struck the colours blue and yellow; a hundred thousand gallant troops cross the great river.

钟山之上风雨骤起，局势苍黄剧变；百万雄师横渡长江（南京宣告解放）。

Storm on Bell Mountain, world turned upside down; a million heroes cross the great river.

首联是渡江战役与南京解放的史诗式速写，十四字写尽一个历史时刻。「钟山风雨起苍黄」以写景起笔而实写时局：钟山即紫金山，代指南京；「风雨」既实写渡江时的天气，更象征革命风暴；「苍黄」双关——本义青黄之变（《墨子》「苍黄翻覆」喻变化无常），此处兼指局势之剧变，暗含「仓皇」之音，写国民党政权在革命风暴中的溃败。一句之中，地、时、势、声四者毕备。「百万雄师过大江」七字是千年未有之气象：历史上渡江者，或曹操之败于赤壁，或苻坚之败于淝水，唯此「百万雄师」一举成功；「过」字平实而力重千钧，不写厮杀而战局已定。两句一虚一实：上句写势，下句写事；上句以风雨苍黄渲染，下句以雄师直陈，节奏由渲染而斩截，把历史转折的瞬间定格为永恒的画面。此联一出，「百万雄师过大江」遂成解放战争最著名的诗句，也是中国诗歌史上以古典七律写现代战争的最高成就之一。

The crossing. Storm on Bell Mountain, world turned upside down; a million heroes cross the great river. The storm on Bell Mountain and the million heroes crossing the river are the opening. To have crossed the river would be a crossing; the storm-on-bell-mountain-world-turned-upside-down-a-million-heroes-cross-the-great-river is the crossing.

虎踞龙盘今胜昔，天翻地覆慨而慷。

The tiger crouches, the dragon coils, today fairer than of old; heaven and earth are turned over and the heart is stirred.

虎踞龙盘的南京形胜，今日胜过往昔；天翻地覆的革命巨变，令人慷慨激昂。

The crouching tiger and coiling dragon now outshine the past; heaven and earth overturned, we are moved to indignation.

颔联写金陵形胜与历史巨变，是首联叙事的升华。「虎踞龙盘」用诸葛亮「钟山龙盘，石头虎踞，此帝王之宅」之典，写南京地势之雄——六朝金粉、十代故都，皆以此为帝王之宅；而毛泽东接以「今胜昔」三字，石破天惊：昔日之南京，是封建王朝兴替的舞台；今日之南京，归于人民之手，故「胜于往昔」——一个「胜」字，把千百年帝王史一笔翻过，写尽新旧社会的本质区别。「天翻地覆慨而慷」以「天翻地覆」写革命之巨变，化用曹操《短歌行》「慨当以慷」而变其情：曹孟德之忧思，化为人民之慷慨。两句对仗精工：「虎踞龙盘」对「天翻地覆」（动物对天体，皆四字典重），「今胜昔」对「慨而慷」（今昔对慷慨，皆平仄相间），写景、用典、抒情三位一体。更妙在「虎踞龙盘」本写地形之静，而「天翻地覆」写革命之动，一静一动，把「形胜依旧而江山易主」的历史感写得淋漓尽致，是七律颔联中的神来之笔。

The tiger. The crouching tiger and coiling dragon now outshine the past; heaven and earth overturned, we are moved to indignation. The tiger-and-dragon-outshining and the heaven-and-earth-overturned are the couplet. To have outshone the past would be an outshining; the the-crouching-tiger-and-coiling-dragon-now-outshine-the-past-heaven-and-earth-overturned-we-are-moved-to-indignation is the outshining.

宜将剩勇追穷寇，不可沽名学霸王。

Use up the valour that is left in chasing the last bandits; do not emulate the hegemon who bought his name.

应当乘着余勇穷追残敌，不可学那沽名钓誉的霸王项羽（养虎遗患）。

We should use our remaining strength to pursue the beaten foe; we must not court fame like the Hegemon King.

颈联是全诗的战略核心，也是毛泽东对「划江而治」论调的最直接回答，两句一正一反，斩钉截铁。「宜将剩勇追穷寇」用《左传》「余勇可贾」之典：剩勇即余勇，谓乘战胜之余威穷追残敌——此句又是对《孙子兵法》「穷寇勿迫」的故意反用：兵法言穷寇勿迫（防其困兽犹斗），毛泽东却主张「宜将剩勇追穷寇」，因为对革命而言，纵敌即养患，穷寇不追，后患无穷。「不可沽名学霸王」用《史记·项羽本纪》之典：项羽鸿门宴上纵刘邦归去，沽「仁义」虚名，终致垓下之围、乌江自刎——「沽名」二字，直指那些以「和平」「仁义」之名主张划江而治者。两句「宜将」与「不可」对举，「追穷寇」与「学霸王」对照，正反相成，把「将革命进行到底」的战略思想凝练为千古警句。此联的价值远超一时一事：凡乘胜而不骄、勿因虚名而纵敌的道理，皆由此出，是政治智慧入诗的极致，也是全诗由叙事、写景转入议论的标志。

The pursuit. We should use our remaining strength to pursue the beaten foe; we must not court fame like the Hegemon King. The pursue-the-beaten-foe and the not-courting-fame-like-Xiang Yu are the strategic core. To have pursued the beaten foe would be a pursuit; the we-should-use-our-remaining-strength-to-pursue-the-beaten-foe-we-must-not-court-fame-like-the-hegemon-king is the pursuit.

天若有情天亦老，人间正道是沧桑。

If heaven had feeling, heaven too would grow old; the right road under heaven is ever the road of the mulberry and the sea.

苍天若有情，也会因这沧桑巨变而衰老；人间的正道，正是沧海变桑田般不断更迭的历史进程。

If heaven had feeling, heaven too would age; the world's true way is the changing of seas into fields.

尾联是全诗的哲学巅峰，由眼前战事升华为历史规律，十四字写尽革命的必然。「天若有情天亦老」直用李贺《金铜仙人辞汉歌》「衰兰送客咸阳道，天若有情天亦老」原句：李贺以天若有情亦会为汉亡而悲老，写亡国之恸；毛泽东接其句而翻其意——天本无情，故虽历尽沧桑而不老；唯人间有情、有正道，故在沧桑巨变中不断新生。「人间正道是沧桑」以「沧桑」用《神仙传》麻姑「东海三为桑田」之典，点破题旨：人间的正道，不是永恒不变，而正在于沧海桑田般的新陈代谢——旧制度必然灭亡，新社会必然诞生，此即历史规律。「天若有情天亦老」与「人间正道是沧桑」一虚一实：天无情而常存，人有情而更迭，以天之不老反衬人间之变，以沧桑之变证正道之常。两句对仗虽非严整（七律尾联可不求工对），而理趣浑成、境界高远，把一场战役的胜利写入宇宙历史的必然进程，是中国古典诗歌「以哲理收束」传统在革命语境中的最高呈现。

The way. If heaven had feeling, heaven too would age; the world's true way is the changing of seas into fields. The heaven-if-it-had-feeling-would-age and the sea-into-fields way are the close. To have been the way of seas into fields would be a way; the if-heaven-had-feeling-heaven-too-would-age-the-world's-true-way-is-the-changing-of-seas-into-fields is the way.

Study

Word focus

苍黄 “Blue and yellow” is the storm at the moment of the news, and it is also the old word for a change of complexion and for acting in haste; the poem uses it for the sky, in which the whole sky of Nanjing has altered colour. The two colours are the plainest possible and the effect is immediate: the reader sees the weather change and understands at once that something has happened, before being told what. 「钟山风雨起苍黄」之「苍黄」，是全诗起笔的诗眼，一字双关、一语数意。「苍黄」本义为青黄两种颜色，引申为变化剧烈、翻覆不定——《墨子·所染》「见染丝者而叹曰：染于苍则苍，染于黄则黄」，故「苍黄」常喻反复无常；又音近「仓皇」，暗含仓皇失措之意。毛泽东以「风雨起苍黄」写南京解放时的局势：既是写实（风雨交加、风云突变），又是写势（革命风暴使局势天翻地覆），更是写敌（国民党政权在风雨中仓皇溃败）——一个词，同时收摄了自然景象、历史变迁与敌方情态，容量极大。且「苍黄」与「钟山」搭配，色彩鲜明：钟山之青苍、风雨之昏黄，画面感极强，仿佛一幅浓墨重彩的历史油画。此字之妙，在于以最精炼的笔墨写出最复杂的时局，正是毛泽东诗词「炼字如金」的典型——一个「起」字承之，「起苍黄」三字，风雨骤起、局势陡变、仓皇奔逃，尽在其中。

剩勇 “The valour that is left” is the courage still standing after the victory, and the word “left” is the whole point: enough remains to finish the work, and that is why the poem can urge use. The phrase comes from the old story of a general willing to sell his remaining courage, and it is used here for the last effort of a campaign that has not ended. 「宜将剩勇追穷寇」之「剩勇」，是颈联战略决断的关键词，典出《左传·成公二年》「欲勇者贾余余勇」——齐将高固自称有剩余之勇可卖，「余勇可贾」遂成成语。毛泽东以「剩勇」代「余勇」，取其通俗，指战胜之余威、未竭之锐气：百万雄师过江之后，士气正盛、余勇可贾，正当乘势穷追，不可止步。「剩」字极见分寸：不是「全勇」——激战之后勇力已有所耗，故言「剩」；亦非「无勇」——尚有足够之力穷追残敌，故曰「剩勇」。此二字是对战局的清醒估计：既不自满于胜利，亦不低估己方实力，唯「宜将剩勇追穷寇」，把胜利转化为彻底胜利。「追穷寇」三字又是对《孙子兵法》「穷寇勿迫」的反用，显示毛泽东战略上的独立判断——兵法有常，而革命无例，乘胜追击正是「将革命进行到底」的诗化表达。一个「剩勇」，承古人之勇而铸新意，是旧典新用的典范。

沽名 “To buy a name” is to purchase a reputation, and it is the poem's judgment on the man who let his enemy go for the sake of appearances. The word is unlike the rest of the poem's vocabulary — cheap, practical, slightly contemptuous — and it is exactly right for an argument against vanity, since it strips the honour of its cost. 「不可沽名学霸王」之「沽名」，是全诗戒惧之心的凝练，二字写尽一种历史教训。「沽」为买，「沽名」即猎取虚名、求取虚誉，与「钓誉」同义连用为「沽名钓誉」。毛泽东以「沽名」写项羽：鸿门宴上，范增数次举玦暗示杀刘邦，项羽却「为人不忍」，纵虎归山，博得「仁义」虚名，终致垓下之围、自刎乌江——「沽名」二字，正是项羽败亡的性格根源：不是不能杀，而是要为「仁义」之名而不杀。「不可沽名学霸王」的深意在于：胜利时刻最易滋生沽名之心——以「和平」「仁慈」自居，主张划江而治、适可而止，正是现代的「沽名」；毛泽东以霸王为鉴，告诫全党全军：革命的彻底性不容虚名玷污。「不可」二字，语气斩截，如禁令、如戒律；「学霸王」三字，以史为镜，形象可感。二字之中，凝缩着项羽故事的全部教训，也凝缩着毛泽东对革命战略的清醒决断，是全诗议论部分的点睛之笔。

沧桑 “The mulberry and the sea” is the old tale of the immortal who found the sea changed into a field of mulberries, and the word for both together is the classical figure for the enormous changes of the world. The poem makes the figure into a verdict: what changes is not an accident but the right road, so the statement of the last line is about necessity rather than about weather. 「人间正道是沧桑」之「沧桑」，是全诗哲理的落点，典出晋代葛洪《神仙传》：麻姑自谓「接待以来，已见东海三为桑田」，后世遂以「沧海桑田」喻世事巨变。「沧桑」二字，本义沧海变桑田，其文化意蕴有三层：其一，变之巨——沧海与桑田，霄壤之别，形容变化之剧烈，正合「天翻地覆」的革命巨变；其二，变之常——沧海变桑田，循环不已、亘古如此，喻历史变化之必然；其三，变之新——桑田代沧海，是新生代旧朽，喻新事物战胜旧事物。「人间正道是沧桑」以「正道」冠之：人间的正道，正在于沧桑更迭——旧制度必然灭亡，新社会必然诞生，革命是历史的必然，这就是「正道」。此句以「沧桑」收束全诗，把南京解放这一具体事件升华为历史规律，与「天若有情天亦老」构成天与人的对照：天无情而不老，人间有道而常变，变中见常、常寓于变，正是革命历史观的哲学精华。「沧桑」二字，遂成为此诗思想高度的象征。