清 Qing · 词 Ci lyric
卖花声·雨花台
Selling-Flower Song · Rain-Flower Terrace
衰柳白门湾，潮打城还。
小长干接大长干。
歌板酒旗零落尽，剩有渔竿。
秋草六朝寒，花雨空坛。
更无人处一凭栏。
燕子斜阳来又去，如此江山。
Little Changgan joins Great Changgan.
Song-boards and wine-flags all fallen to ruin; only a fishing rod remains.
Autumn grass, cold with the Six Dynasties; the Flower-Rain empty altar.
And where no one is, I lean alone on the rail.
Swallows in the slanting sun come and go; such is the land and hills.
Meaning
Withered willows at the White-Gate bay; the tide beats the city wall and falls back. Little Changgan joins Great Changgan. Song-boards and wine-flags are all fallen to ruin; only a few fishing rods remain. Autumn grass carries the chill of the Six Dynasties; the Flower-Rain Terrace is an empty altar. And in the place where no one is, I lean alone on the rail. Swallows in the slanting sun come and go; such is this land and hills.
衰败的杨柳立在白门水湾，潮水拍打城墙又退了回去，小长干连着大长干。歌板与酒旗都已零落殆尽，只剩下几根钓鱼竿。秋天的衰草带着六朝的寒意，雨花台上讲经的祭坛早已空寂，更在无人之处独自凭栏。燕子在斜阳里飞来又飞去，这样的江山啊。
Appreciation
This lyric uses the tune 'Selling-Flower Song' (that is, 'Waves Wash the Sand'), short in length yet vast in capacity. The upper part opens with 'withered willows' and 'the tide beats the wall and falls away', transforming Liu Yuxi's 'the tide beats the empty city, returning in loneliness'; 'Song-boards and wine-flags all fallen to ruin; only a fishing rod remains' contrasts past and present, writing splendour and desolation in two phrases. The lower part, 'Autumn grass, cold with the Six Dynasties' in five words, overshadows a thousand years; 'the Flower-Rain empty altar' names the place. The closing 'Swallows in the slanting sun come and go; such is the land and hills' blends scene into feeling, using the heartless flying swallows to set off the feeling human, implicit and reserved, gaining the clear-void manner of Jiang Kui and Zhang Yan, without a trace of clamour.
【白话串讲】 “衰柳白门湾，潮打城还”——朱彝尊登南京雨花台：衰柳、潮水打着城墙。“歌板酒旗零落尽，剩有渔竿”——当年的歌板酒旗都零落了。“燕子斜阳来又去，如此江山”——如此江山，让人心痛。 【意象与手法】 词用《卖花声》（即〔浪淘沙〕）小令，篇幅短小而容量宏大。上片以「衰柳」「潮打城还」破题，化用刘禹锡「潮打空城寂寞回」；「歌板酒旗零落尽，剩有渔竿」以今昔对照，繁华与萧索两字写尽。下片「秋草六朝寒」五字笼罩千古，「花雨空坛」点题。结句「燕子斜阳来又去，如此江山」融景入情，以飞燕之无情反衬人之有情，含蓄蕴藉，得白石、玉田清空之致而无叫嚣之态。 【情感与主旨】 朱彝尊，清初浙西词派开创者，此词约作于清初游览南京雨花台时。雨花台在南京城南，为登临胜地；白门为南京别称，长干为里巷名，皆六朝以来繁华之地。朱彝尊入清不仕，以布衣终，词中多寓故国之思。此篇借金陵六朝旧址之荒凉，暗写明亡后的山河变色，表面吊古，实则伤今，「如此江山」四字，千回百转，是遗民词的典型腔调。 【名句点睛】 常考「歌板酒旗零落尽，剩有渔竿」的盛衰对比、「秋草六朝寒」的以景涵史，以及结句「如此江山」化用刘禹锡「旧时王谢堂前燕」而以淡语写沉哀的含蓄之美。
Background
Zhu Yizun, founder of the early-Qing Zhexi lyric school, wrote this lyric about when he toured Nanjing's Rain-Flower Terrace early in the Qing. The Rain-Flower Terrace lies south of the city, a famous climbing spot; White-Gate is a byname of Nanjing, Changgan a lane-name, both flourishing places since the Six Dynasties. Zhu Yizun did not serve under the Qing, ending as a commoner, and his lyrics often lodge thoughts of the fallen state. This piece borrows the desolation of Jinling's Six-Dynasties ruins to darkly write the changed rivers and hills after the Ming's fall; on the surface mourning the past, in truth grieving the present - the four words 'such is the land and hills' turn a thousand times, the typical tone of a loyalist lyric.
朱彝尊（1629—1709），字锡鬯，号竹垞，秀水（今浙江嘉兴）人，清初著名学者、诗人、词人，浙西词派的开创者。朱彝尊生当明清鼎革之际，明亡时年方十六，入清后一度以布衣终老，康熙十八年虽举博学鸿词、授翰林院检讨，然始终以遗民情怀自持，词中多寓故国之思。此词作于清初游览南京雨花台时。雨花台在南京城南，相传梁武帝时云光法师在此讲经，天降花雨，故名；白门为南京别称（建康西门），长干为金陵里巷，皆六朝以来繁华歌舞之地。明太祖建都南京，太祖、成祖陵寝即在钟山，南明弘光朝亦都于此，旋为清军所破，山河易主之痛尤切。朱彝尊早岁尝与同里抗清志士交游，其《静志居诗话》中屡述明季遗事，故国之思郁结于胸；康熙初年，清廷已定鼎中原，江南士人由激烈抗清转为黍离之悲，登临怀古遂成为寄托遗民之思的重要方式。朱彝尊登临此地，见衰柳、空坛、秋草、斜阳，六朝金粉之地的风流繁华早已消歇，而明室之亡又添一层新恨，遂借吊古以伤今，发为「如此江山」的深沉喟叹，是遗民词借金陵故实写兴亡之感的典型之作。
Art
The lyric uses the tune 'Selling-Flower Song' (that is, 'Waves Wash the Sand'), short yet vast in capacity. The upper part opens with 'withered willows' and 'the tide beats the wall and falls away', transforming Liu Yuxi. 'Song-boards and wine-flags all fallen to ruin; only a fishing rod remains' contrasts past and present, splendour and desolation in two phrases. The lower part, 'Autumn grass, cold with the Six Dynasties' in five words overshadows a thousand years; 'the Flower-Rain empty altar' names the place. The close 'Swallows in the slanting sun come and go; such is the land and hills' blends scene into feeling, using the heartless flying swallows to set off the feeling human, implicit and reserved, gaining the clear-void manner of Jiang Kui and Zhang Yan, without clamour.
词用《卖花声》（即〔浪淘沙〕）小令，双调五十四字，篇幅短小而容量宏大，是「以少总多」的典范。上片以「衰柳白门湾」破题：衰柳立于白门水湾，一个「衰」字已定全词基调，柳衰则城衰，城衰则国事可知。「潮打城还」化用刘禹锡《石头城》「潮打空城寂寞回」，潮水拍城而还，日复一日，城却一空千年；「小长干接大长干」以地名连写，写金陵里巷之深长，昔日繁华尽在「接」字中绵延。「歌板酒旗零落尽，剩有渔竿」是上片点睛：歌板（歌场用具）与酒旗（酒肆招牌）是市井繁华的表征，如今「零落尽」，只剩钓鱼竿，「尽」与「剩」的对举，把今昔盛衰写尽。下片「秋草六朝寒」五字笼罩千古：六朝繁华只剩秋草，一「寒」字兼秋意与历史寒意；「花雨空坛」点题，讲经台空，花雨不再，神圣与繁华同归寂灭。「更无人处一凭栏」写登临之孤寂，无人可语，只身凭栏；结句「燕子斜阳来又去，如此江山」融景入情，以燕之无情反衬人之有情，四字收束，悲慨无尽，得白石、玉田清空之致而无叫嚣之态。
Allusions
The lyric uses many Jinling tales. 'White-Gate' was originally the western gate of Jiankang, borrowed for Nanjing; 'Changgan' from the 'Changgan Song', a Jinling lane. 'The tide beats the wall and falls away' transforms Liu Yuxi's 'Stone City' - 'the tide beats the empty city, returning in loneliness'. 'Six Dynasties' refers to the Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin, Song, Qi, Liang and Chen all capital at Jinling, later called 'Six-Dynasties gold-powder' for its splendour. 'Flower-Rain' is the Rain-Flower Terrace, where legend says in Liang Wudi's time the monk Yun Guang preached and heaven rained flowers. 'Swallows in the slanting sun' darkly uses Liu Yuxi's 'The Street of Mansions' - 'the swallows of the Wang and Xie halls now enter common homes' - writing change through swallows, a continuant bloodline.
此词用金陵故实极密而皆化于无痕。「白门」本建康城西门，南朝乐府《杨叛儿》「暂出白门前，杨柳可藏乌」已见其名，后世遂以白门代指金陵；「长干」出《长干曲》，为金陵里巷，李白《长干行》「同居长干里，两小无嫌猜」写尽市井风物。「潮打城还」直化刘禹锡《石头城》「山围故国周遭在，潮打空城寂寞回」，刘诗写金陵之衰，朱词再化一层，潮打之城已非唐时空城，而是明清之际的新亡之都，历史层层叠加。「六朝」指东吴、东晋、宋、齐、梁、陈六代皆都金陵，「六朝金粉」遂成繁华艳丽的代称，此处「秋草六朝寒」，以秋草接六朝，把千年的繁华收束于一片寒草。「花雨」用雨花台得名的传说：梁武帝时云光法师讲经，感动天雨花；「空坛」写讲经台之空，神圣传说亦成陈迹。「燕子斜阳」暗用刘禹锡《乌衣巷》「旧时王谢堂前燕，飞入寻常百姓家」，以燕之来去写人事之代谢，血脉相承，而「如此江山」四字又加一层遗民的沉痛，古意今情，交叠为一。
Commentary
Zhu Yizun's lyric theory honours Jiang and Zhang, prizing 'clear-void'; this lyric best catches its spirit. Tan Xian judges the four words 'such is the land and hills' as 'looking up and down, desolate and cold', a true judgement. Beside the Southern-Song Xin and Liu's freely-poured grief, the Zhexi school writes deep sorrow in pale words, opening another realm. Some blame it as too implicit, its edge wholly sheathed; yet a loyalist must speak so. To read this lyric one must know its wonder of 'not a word written, yet all grace won', and not fail the author's painstaking heart.
朱彝尊论词宗南宋姜夔、张炎，标举「清空」，谓「词至南宋始极其工」，此词正其理论的最佳实践：不堆砌故实，不直抒悲慨，而以淡语写沉哀，含而不露。清人谭献《箧中词》评「如此江山」四字「俯仰悲凉」，诚为的论——四字貌似平淡，实含无限低回，江山如故而人事全非，遗民之痛尽在其中。较之南宋辛弃疾、刘过之悲慨淋漓，浙西词派以清空写家国之恨，另辟一境：辛词如怒涛拍岸，朱词如秋水涵虚，一显一隐，各极其致。或讥浙西词过于含蓄、锋芒尽敛，然遗民立言，不得不尔——直说则祸至，唯有托于景物、托于古人。就文学史价值而言，此词是清词「以词存史」的标本：金陵六朝的兴亡、明室的覆灭、遗民的哀思，尽凝于五十四字之中；其以燕子、斜阳、潮水等恒常之景写历史之变的手法，上承刘禹锡，下启清中后期怀古词，是金陵怀古谱系中承前启后的名篇。今人选清词，此阕为必录之作，其以短章写兴亡的成就，足与张炎《高阳台·西湖春感》等宋末遗民词并观，而无其过露之迹。
Prosody
Line by line
歌板酒旗零落尽，剩有渔竿。
The song-boards and wine-banners are all fallen and gone; there remain but fishing rods.
歌板与酒旗都已零落殆尽，只剩下几根钓鱼竿。
The song clappers and wine banners have rotted away entirely; only fishing rods are left.
此句是全词盛衰对比的核心，以两组意象写尽金陵繁华的消歇。「歌板」是歌场击节之具，「酒旗」是酒肆招客之幡，二者是市井声色繁华的表征，六朝以来金陵秦淮两岸，歌板不绝、酒旗如林；如今却「零落尽」——「尽」字写消亡之彻底，无一幸存。下句「剩有渔竿」以「剩」字相承，繁华之物尽去，唯余渔竿，钓竿是隐逸与冷落的象征，与歌板酒旗的繁华恰成两极。更妙在「渔竿」不写人而钓者自见：昔日笙歌之地，今日唯渔人独钓，市井的喧闹变为江湖的寂静，时代之变寓于物象之变。两句一「尽」一「剩」，数字对照中见出历史的分量，是「以物写史」的典范笔法，与刘禹锡「旧时王谢堂前燕」同一机杼。
The line is the core of the ci's contrast of splendor and decay, writing the passing of Jinling's glory in two sets of images. The song-boards are the clappers that beat time in the singing halls; the wine-banners the streamers that lure guests to the wineshops; the two are the marks of the market's music and glamour, and since the Six Dynasties, on the banks of the Qinhuai at Jinling, song-boards unending, wine-banners like a forest; now they are all fallen and gone — the word all writes the completeness of extinction, not one surviving. The next line, there remain but fishing rods, follows on the word remain: the things of splendor all gone, only the fishing rod left, the rod the symbol of the recluse and the desolate, the very opposite pole of the song-boards and wine-banners. Still more exquisite is that the fishing rod is written without the fisherman, and the fisherman appears of himself: where there was song and flute, today the fisherman alone angles, the market's uproar turned to the river's stillness, the change of the age lodged in the change of objects. Two lines, all and remain, numbers set against each other, and the weight of history appears; it is the model brush of writing history through objects, the same loom as Liu Yuxi's swallows of old, in the halls of the Wang and Xie.
秋草六朝寒，
Autumn grasses carry the chill of the Six Dynasties,
秋天的衰草带着六朝的寒意。
The autumn grass holds the cold of the Six Dynasties,
此句五字笼罩千古，是全词最凝练的一笔。「秋草」写眼前之景：雨花台上秋草连天，衰败荒凉；「六朝」写历史纵深：东吴、东晋、宋、齐、梁、陈六代繁华，尽在这片土地上聚散兴亡；「寒」字将二者绾合——秋草之寒本自然，经「六朝」一点，便成了历史之寒：六朝的繁华、歌舞、金粉，如今只剩一片寒草，千年岁月凝于一「寒」字之中。五字的结构是「意象＋朝代＋感觉」，以最短的篇幅完成景、史、情的三重叠加，正见小令炼句之功。若作「秋草满台寒」，便只写眼前景；唯「六朝」二字，把个人登临的秋感放大为千古兴亡的寒潮，读者于此可会心于遗民词人登高望远时的全部心事。
The five characters of the line overshadow all ages, the most condensed stroke of the ci. The autumn grass writes the scene before the eyes: on the Yuhuatai, autumn grasses stretch to the sky, withered and desolate. The Six Dynasties writes the depth of history: the Wu, the Eastern Jin, the Song, the Qi, the Liang, the Chen, the splendor of six courts, all gathered and scattered, risen and fallen, on this very land. The word chill binds the two together: the chill of autumn grass is natural, yet once marked by the Six Dynasties, it becomes the chill of history — the splendor, the song and dance, the gold and powder of the six courts, now but a field of chilly grass, a thousand years condensed in one chill. The five-character structure is image + dynasty + feeling, completing the triple overlay of scene, history, and emotion in the shortest space, showing the craft of the short song's forged line. Had it been written autumn grass fills the terrace, chill, it would only write the scene before the eyes; the two words Six Dynasties magnify the autumn feeling of the man climbing the height into the cold tide of a thousand years of rise and fall, and the reader may here read all the heart of the loyalist poet gazing from the height.
燕子斜阳来又去，如此江山。
Swallows come and go in the setting sun — and this is the rivers and hills we have.
燕子在斜阳里飞来又飞去，这样的江山啊。
Swallows fly in and out of the slanting sun — and such are the rivers and hills.
结句以景收情，是全词的悲慨之眼。「燕子斜阳」暗用刘禹锡《乌衣巷》「旧时王谢堂前燕，飞入寻常百姓家」：燕子年年来去，不辨朝代，不识兴亡，唯有斜阳依旧；「来又去」三字写燕之往复，正反衬江山之变、人事之非——燕无知而人有情，以燕之无情写人之有情，含蓄蕴藉。末四字「如此江山」陡然直呼，是全词唯一的直抒：江山还是这样的江山，而人事已非、故国已亡，六朝如此，朱明亦如此，千言万语尽于此四字。其妙在「不说破」：不写亡国之痛一字，而痛自在其中；谭献评此四字「俯仰悲凉」，正谓其吞吐含蓄、欲说还休。以燕结、以斜阳结、以江山结，层层递进，如秋水渐深，最终沉入「如此江山」的无尽低回。
The close ends emotion in scene, the sorrowful eye of the ci. The swallows in the setting sun secretly use Liu Yuxi's Black Swallow Lane: the swallows of old, in the halls of the Wang and Xie, now fly into the common people's homes; the swallows come and go year by year, knowing not the dynasties, recognizing not the rise and fall, and only the setting sun remains. The three words, come and go, write the swallows' going and returning, set precisely against the changing rivers and hills, the altered human lot — the swallow knows nothing and the man feels everything, writing the man's feeling through the swallow's lack of it, restrained and rich. The last four words, and this is the rivers and hills we have, break out in direct address, the only direct utterance of the ci: the rivers and hills are still such rivers and hills, yet the human lot is altered, the old country fallen; so it was with the Six Dynasties, so it is with the Ming; ten thousand words and ten thousand feelings all end in these four. The beauty lies in not spelling it out: not a word of the grief of a lost country, and the grief is there of itself; Tan Xian praised these four words as looking up and down in desolation, precisely for their held breath, their wanting to speak and holding back. Closing on the swallow, on the setting sun, on the rivers and hills, layer on layer, like the autumn water deepening, sinking at last into the endless low reverberation of such rivers and hills.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both mourn Jinling's Six-Dynasties ruins, writing the sigh of rise and fall.
清代金陵怀古之作极多，皆承六朝金粉的故实与遗民的情怀，《卖花声·雨花台》与同题《金陵怀古》诸作同吊金陵旧址、共写兴亡。然细较之，一般《金陵怀古》多铺陈故实，写六朝兴废，历史感有余而个人情愫略隔；朱彝尊此词却以「衰柳」「渔竿」「空坛」「燕子」等眼前景物出之，把六朝之叹与明亡之痛、个人之愁叠为一层，以清空之笔写沉哀之痛，不着一议论字而感慨自深。同是吊古，或质实（叙史）或空灵（写景），朱词正以其「以景写史」的含蓄，在清代金陵怀古的众多篇什中独标高格，亦见浙西词派「清空」理论在怀古题材上的成功实践。
乌衣巷 The Street of Mansions 刘禹锡 · 同以燕子写沧桑，血脉相承 Same (uses swallows to write change)'Swallows in the slanting sun' darkly uses its allusion; both write the change of generations through swallows.
刘禹锡《乌衣巷》「旧时王谢堂前燕，飞入寻常百姓家」与朱彝尊「燕子斜阳来又去，如此江山」同以燕子写历史沧桑，血脉相承。刘诗之燕是「见证者」：王谢堂前旧燕，今飞入百姓之家，以燕之来去写门第之变迁，含蓄隽永，是唐人怀古的绝唱；朱词之燕是「旁观者」：斜阳里来又去，不辨六朝与朱明，以燕之无知反衬人之有情。两诗之燕皆以「无情」写「有情」，而所写之「变」不同：刘诗写门阀贵族的兴替，朱词写王朝江山的易主，且朱词结以「如此江山」的直呼，比刘诗的含蓄更多一层遗民的沉痛。一唐一清，相隔近千年而机杼相同，正见「以燕写史」这一意象传统在怀古诗词中的强大生命力。
枫桥夜泊 Mooring by Maple Bridge at Night 张继 · 皆以清空之景寓深沉情思 Same (reflection)Both lodge deep feeling in a clear-void scene.
张继《枫桥夜泊》与朱彝尊《卖花声·雨花台》一为唐诗名篇、一为清词佳作，相隔数百年而艺术精神相通：皆以清空之景寓深沉之情。张诗写「月落乌啼霜满天，江枫渔火对愁眠」，以客船夜泊的孤寂写羁旅之愁，景物清冷，情思含蓄；朱词写「衰柳白门湾」「秋草六朝寒」「燕子斜阳」，以登临怀古的苍茫写兴亡之悲，意象清空，感慨沉郁。两作皆不直抒其情，而以景物的铺排让情感自然流出：张诗之愁由「夜半钟声」一锤定音，朱词之悲由「如此江山」四字总收。然愁之性质有别：张继是个人羁旅的夜愁，朱彝尊是遗民怀古的国愁；由夜泊之愁到江山之悲，正可见中国抒情诗由个人情思走向历史悲慨的深化过程。