宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
水调歌头·黄州快哉亭赠张偓佺
Prelude to Water Melody — At the Kuaizai Pavilion in Huangzhou, for Zhang Woquan
落日绣帘卷，亭下水连空。
知君为我新作，窗户湿青红。
长记平山堂上，欹枕江南烟雨，杳杳没孤鸿。
认得醉翁语，山色有无中。
一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰。
忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁。
堪笑兰台公子，未解庄生天籁，刚道有雌雄。
一点浩然气，千里快哉风。
below the pavilion, water merges with the sky.
I know you have built it new for me,
its windows still wet with green and red.
I long remember the Pingshan Hall,
pillowing on Jiangnan's misty rain, a lone goose fading far out of sight.
I recognize the Drunkard's words:
'the mountains' colors are there, and not there.'
A thousand acres of water,
all mirror-clean,
reflecting the green peaks.
Suddenly waves rise,
tossing a one-leaf boat with its white-haired old man.
How laughable the young lord of Lan Terrace —
he never understood Zhuangzi's heavenly music,
and insisted the wind had a male and female part.
One speck of vast breath within me,
and the swift wind blows a thousand miles.
Meaning
Written for the friend who built a pavilion on the Yangtze at Huangzhou, the lyric opens on a vast water-and-sky view, recalls Ouyang Xiu's Pingshan Hall through misty rain, and sets the river's glassy calm against the sudden storm that tosses a lone old boatman. Laughing at Song Yu's distinction of male and female winds, Su Shi ends with the poem's famous creed: one breath of moral vastness in the breast makes any wind a thousand-mile joy.
落日绣帘卷，亭下水连空。知君为我新作，窗户湿青红。长记平山堂上，欹枕江南烟雨，杳杳没孤鸿。认得醉翁语，山色有无中。一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰。忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁。堪笑兰台公子，未解庄生天籁，刚道有雌雄。一点浩然气，千里快哉风。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Rolling up the curtain at sunset, the poet sees water and sky merge below the pavilion his friend has just built for him, its paint still wet. The scene recalls the Pingshan Hall in Yangzhou, where he once pillowed against the Jiangnan rain and watched a lone goose vanish — and Ouyang Xiu's words about mountain colors being both present and absent. Then the river itself: a thousand acres glass-flat, mirroring green peaks, until a sudden wave lifts a leaf-boat with a white-haired fisherman dancing in it. Song Yu called winds male and female; Zhuangzi knew better. Let a man hold one speck of vast, upright breath in his chest, and every wind that blows is a thousand-mile joy. [Structure] The lyric follows the shuidiaotou pattern exactly: four four-line sentences above the middle, four below. Above: scene, the friend's gift, memory of Pingshan Hall, Ouyang Xiu's phrase. Below: the river's calm, the sudden wave, the laugh at Song Yu, and the creed. The movement runs from looking, to remembering, to riding the wave, to understanding. [Imagery] Water is the poem's element: it merges with the sky, lies mirror-flat, mirrors peaks, and suddenly rears into waves. Against it stand the embroidered curtain of civilization and the one-leaf boat of the fisherman — and above it all, the 'vast breath' that turns weather into joy.
【白话串讲】 苏轼写《水调歌头·黄州快哉亭赠张偓佺》：“落日绣帘卷，亭下水连空”——“知君为我新作，窗户湿青红”——“一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰”——“忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁”——“一点浩然气，千里快哉风”——他写快哉亭——一点浩然气，千里快哉风。 【意象与手法】 此词写快哉亭的壮阔与旷达的胸怀，以景写胸襟，是苏轼的名篇。上阕写快哉亭的景色：「落日绣帘卷」写落日绣帘卷，「亭下水连空」写亭下水连空，「知君为我新作」写知君为我新作，「窗户湿青红」写窗户湿青红，「长记平山堂上」写长记平山堂上，「欹枕江南烟雨」写欹枕江南烟雨，「杳杳没孤鸿」写杳杳没孤鸿，「认得醉翁语」写认得醉翁语，「山色有无中」写出色有无中；下阕写快哉亭的壮阔与旷达：「一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰」写一千顷都镜净倒碧峰，「忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁」写忽然浪起掀舞一叶白头翁，「堪笑兰台公子，未解庄生天籁，刚道有雌雄」写堪笑兰台公子未解庄生天籁刚道有雌雄，「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」写一点浩然气千里快哉风。全词以景写胸襟、以议论写旷达，写尽旷达的胸怀，是苏轼的代表作。 【情感与主旨】 此词写快哉亭的壮阔与旷达的胸怀，以景写胸襟，是苏轼的名篇。此词作于宋神宗元丰六年（1083），苏轼被贬黄州时，为友人张偓佺（张怀民）所筑快哉亭而作。此词写快哉亭：落日绣帘卷，亭下水连空——写落日卷帘、亭下水天相接；知君为我新作，窗户湿青红——写知君为我新作，窗户润湿青红之色；长记平山堂上，欹枕江南烟雨，杳杳没孤鸿——写长忆扬州平山堂上，欹枕望江南烟雨、孤鸿杳杳；认得醉翁语，山色有无中——写认得醉翁（欧阳修）之语「山色有无中」；一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰——写千顷江水如镜净、倒映碧峰；忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁——写忽然浪起，掀舞一叶小舟中的白头翁（渔翁）；堪笑兰台公子，未解庄生天籁，刚道有雌雄——写堪笑兰台公子（宋玉）未解庄生（庄子）天籁，刚道有雌雄（宋玉《风赋》分雄风雌风）；一点浩然气，千里快哉风——写一点浩然之气，千里快哉之风。全词以景写胸襟——那「亭下水连空」写尽快哉亭的壮阔，「一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰」写尽江水的明净，「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」写尽旷达的胸襟，写尽旷达的胸怀，是理解苏轼黄州时期词风的重要篇章。 【名句点睛】 常考「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」写旷达的胸襟；「一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰」写江水的明净；「认得醉翁语，山色有无中」化用欧阳修之语；「堪笑兰台公子，未解庄生天籁，刚道有雌雄」用宋玉庄子之典写旷达；以及全词以景写胸襟、以议论写旷达的手法。
Background
Su Shi (1037–1101), courtesy name Zizhan, studio name Dongpo Jushi, was born in Meishan (present-day Sichuan). The greatest literary all-rounder of the Northern Song, he was exiled to Huangzhou in 1080 after the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial, and there, as a commoner with a nominal title, he farmed the Eastern Slope and wrote many of his masterpieces. In 1083 his friend Zhang Huaimin (also known as Zhang Woquan) built the Kuaizai Pavilion — 'Swift Joy Pavilion' — on the Yangtze bank at Huangzhou, and Su Shi wrote this lyric for it. The pavilion's name echoes the 'swift wind' of Song Yu's 'Rhapsody on the Wind,' and the poem transforms a place name into a state of mind.
此词写快哉亭的壮阔与旷达的胸怀，以景写胸襟，是苏轼的名篇。苏轼（1037—1101），字子瞻，号东坡居士，眉州眉山（今四川眉山）人，北宋伟大的文学家，是宋词豪放派的代表。此词作于宋神宗元丰六年（1083），苏轼被贬黄州时，为友人张偓佺（张怀民）所筑快哉亭而作。此词写快哉亭：「落日绣帘卷，亭下水连空」写落日卷帘、亭下水天相接——写快哉亭的壮阔；「知君为我新作，窗户湿青红」写知君为我新作，窗户润湿青红之色——写张偓佺为苏轼新筑快哉亭；「长记平山堂上，欹枕江南烟雨，杳杳没孤鸿」写长忆扬州平山堂上，欹枕望江南烟雨、孤鸿杳杳——由快哉亭忆及扬州平山堂；「认得醉翁语，山色有无中」写认得醉翁（欧阳修）之语「山色有无中」——化用欧阳修《朝中措》「平山栏槛倚晴空，山色有无中」；「一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰」写千顷江水如镜净、倒映碧峰——写江水的明净；「忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁」写忽然浪起，掀舞一叶小舟中的白头翁（渔翁）——写浪起的壮阔；「堪笑兰台公子，未解庄生天籁，刚道有雌雄」写堪笑兰台公子（宋玉，曾为楚襄王作《风赋》，分雄风雌风），未解庄生（庄子）天籁，刚道有雌雄——用宋玉、庄子之典写旷达；「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」写一点浩然之气，千里快哉之风——写旷达的胸襟。全词以景写胸襟，写尽旷达的胸怀，是理解苏轼黄州时期词风的重要篇章。
Art
The lyric's artistry is in its joinery. The opening couplet fuses three elements — sunset, rolled curtain, merged water and sky — into a single act of seeing. The middle of the upper stanza performs a double memory: the Pingshan Hall built by his mentor Ouyang Xiu at Yangzhou, and Ouyang's own line about mountain colors being 'there and not there,' so one exile's river becomes the mirror of another's. The lower stanza is built on violent contrast — 'a thousand acres all mirror-clean' followed instantly by 'suddenly waves rise' — and the white-haired boatman dancing in the surf is the poem's living image of the creed to come. Then the lyric turns argumentative: laughing at Song Yu's male and female winds through Zhuangzi's heavenly pipes, it grounds joy not in weather but in the 'one speck of vast breath' within — the Mencian moral energy — and the thousand-mile wind that answers it.
此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以景写壮阔。起二句「落日绣帘卷，亭下水连空」以景写壮阔——那「落日绣帘卷」写尽落日卷帘，「亭下水连空」写尽亭下水天相接，以景写尽快哉亭的壮阔。其二，以联想写景致。「长记平山堂上，欹枕江南烟雨，杳杳没孤鸿。认得醉翁语，山色有无中」以联想写景致——那「长记平山堂上」由快哉亭联想平山堂，「山色有无中」化用欧阳修之语，以联想写尽烟雨山色的景致。其三，以对比写气象。「一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰。忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁」以对比写气象——那「一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰」写尽江面的平静，「忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁」写尽浪起的壮阔，以对比写尽快哉亭的气象。其四，以议论写旷达。「堪笑兰台公子，未解庄生天籁，刚道有雌雄。一点浩然气，千里快哉风」以议论写旷达——那「堪笑兰台公子」用宋玉之典写未解天籁，「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」写尽浩然之气与快哉之风，以议论写尽旷达的胸襟。四重手法，使此词以景写胸襟、以议论写旷达，写尽旷达的胸怀，是苏轼的代表作。
Allusions
'Drunkard' is Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi's patron and the builder of Pingshan Hall at Yangzhou; 'the mountains' colors are there, and not there' is from Ouyang Xiu's 'Song of the Morning Court at Pingshan' ('the railing of Pingshan leans against the clear sky, the mountains' colors are there and not there'), itself echoing Wang Wei's 'the river flows beyond heaven and earth, the mountains' colors are there and not there.' The 'young lord of Lan Terrace' is Song Yu, who as a Hanlin official wrote the 'Rhapsody on the Wind' for King Xiang of Chu, distinguishing the king's 'male wind' from the commoner's 'female wind.' Zhuangzi's 'heavenly pipes' are the sounds of the earth's hollows, the cosmic music that knows no such distinctions. 'Vast breath' is Mencius' 'I am good at nourishing my vast breath,' the moral energy built up by righteousness. And 'Swift Joy Pavilion' takes its name from Song Yu's own exclamation — 'How swift is this wind!'
此词的用语深植于山水旷达与用典的传统。「落日绣帘卷」令人想到「落日」写夕阳的意象——「落日故人情」，也令人想到「绣帘卷」写卷帘的意象；「亭下水连空」令人想到「水连空」写水天相接的意象——「秋水共长天一色」（王勃）；「知君为我新作」令人想到「新作」写新建的意象；「窗户湿青红」令人想到「青红」写青红彩色的意象——「湿青红」写新刷的油漆润湿；「平山堂上」令人想到「平山堂」写扬州名胜的意象——欧阳修所建，也令人想到「欹枕江南烟雨」写倚枕望江南的意象；「杳杳没孤鸿」令人想到「孤鸿」写孤雁的意象——「孤鸿海上来」，也令人想到「杳杳没」写消失在远方的意象；「认得醉翁语，山色有无中」化用欧阳修《朝中措》「平山栏槛倚晴空，山色有无中」——写认得醉翁（欧阳修）之语，令人想到「醉翁」写欧阳修的称号——「醉翁之意不在酒」，也令人想到「山色有无中」写出色若有若无的意象——「江流天地外，山色有无中」（王维）；「一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰」令人想到「千顷」写广大水面的意象，也令人想到「镜净」写水面如镜的意象——「湖光秋月两相和，潭面无风镜未磨」，更令人想到「倒碧峰」写山峰倒映的意象；「忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁」令人想到「浪起」写波浪翻涌的意象，也令人想到「白头翁」写渔翁的意象；「堪笑兰台公子」用宋玉之典——宋玉《风赋》为楚襄王作赋，分雄风雌风，宋玉曾任兰台之官，令人想到「兰台公子」写宋玉，也令人想到「雄风雌风」的典故；「未解庄生天籁」用庄子之典——《庄子·齐物论》论天籁，令人想到「天籁」写自然之声的意象——「天籁之音」，也令人想到「庄生天籁」的典故；「刚道有雌雄」令人想到「雌雄」写雄风雌风的意象——「刚道有雌雄」正写宋玉强分雌雄；「一点浩然气」令人想到「浩然之气」写正气的意象——《孟子》「我善养吾浩然之气」，也令人想到「浩然正气」写旷达的正气；「千里快哉风」令人想到「快哉风」写快意之风的意象——「快哉此风」（宋玉《风赋》），也令人想到「千里快哉风」写千里快意的意象。全词化用平山堂、醉翁、山色有无中、兰台公子、庄生天籁、浩然之气、快哉风的典故与意象，以景写胸襟、以议论写旷达，正是苏轼「豪放旷达」而善用典、承山水旷达传统写胸襟的本领。
Commentary
The closing couplet — 'One speck of vast breath within me, and the swift wind blows a thousand miles' — has become one of the most famous lines in Chinese literature, a creed of the Huangzhou exile: happiness is not a matter of place or weather but of the breath within the breast. Qing critics placed the lyric at the head of Su Shi's bold-and-free ci, and it is traditionally read with 'Calming the Waves' ('A rain cloak lets me live out my misty days') as the two faces of his Huangzhou serenity. For later readers the poem also stands as a quiet act of friendship: a pavilion, a banquet, a naming — the whole apparatus of exile turned into an occasion of joy.
此词历来被推为苏轼豪放词的名篇，也是宋词写景旷达的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以景写胸襟、以议论写旷达，豪放旷达」；近人更指出「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」写旷达的胸襟，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以十二句的中调写尽快哉亭的壮阔与旷达的胸怀——那落日的绣帘，那水连空的亭下，那知君为我新作的青红窗户，那平山堂上的烟雨孤鸿，那醉翁的山色有无，那镜净倒碧峰的千顷，那浪起掀舞的白头翁，那堪笑的兰台公子，那未解的庄生天籁，那浩然的一点气，那快哉的千里风，都写尽了苏轼旷达的胸怀；那「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」更写尽旷达的胸襟。此词与苏轼的《水调歌头·明月几时有》（「明月几时有？把酒问青天」）同为《水调歌头》名篇，一写中秋怀人，一写快哉亭旷达；又与《定风波》（「一蓑烟雨任平生」）的旷达一脉相承，可见苏轼旷达词风的丰富。对于今日读者，此词是理解苏轼黄州时期词风的窗口，也是中国词写旷达的经典——那千里的快哉风，穿越千年，仍在诉说着一点浩然气的旷达。
Prosody
Line by line
一千顷，都镜净，倒碧峰
A thousand acres of water, all mirror-clean, reflecting the green peaks.
千顷江水，都如镜净，倒映碧峰。
A thousand qing of river, all mirror-clear, reflecting the green peaks.
此三句是全词写景的核心，以镜净写江平，以倒碧峰写峰影，写尽江水的明净壮阔，是千古名句。「一千顷」写千顷江水——那「一千顷」写尽江面的广阔；「都镜净」写都如镜净——那「都镜净」写尽江面如镜的明净；「倒碧峰」写倒映碧峰——那「倒碧峰」写尽碧峰倒映，写尽峰影的清晰。这句的深意在于：它以「一千顷」的广阔与「都镜净，倒碧峰」的明净，写尽江水的明净壮阔——一千顷的江水，那「一千顷」写尽江面的广阔无垠；都如镜净，那「都镜净」写尽江面如镜的明净——水平如镜，澄澈明净，那「都镜净」写尽江水的平静；倒映碧峰，那「倒碧峰」写尽碧峰倒映的清晰——江水澄澈，碧峰倒映，那「倒碧峰」写尽江天澄澈的明净；那「一千顷」写尽江面的广阔，那「都镜净，倒碧峰」写尽江水的明净，一写广阔，一写明净，写尽快哉亭下江水的明净壮阔——这是浪起之前的平静，与下文「忽然浪起，掀舞一叶白头翁」的壮阔相对照，正见快哉亭气象的多变；此三句以镜净倒碧峰写尽江水的明净，是苏轼写景的妙笔，也让此三句成为全词写景的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「江水又平又清」，则失其景象；唯以「一千顷」写广阔、「都镜净，倒碧峰」写清澈，写尽江水的明净壮阔，也让此三句成为全词写景的核心。
The three lines are the scenic core of the ci, writing the river's calm through all mirror-clear and the peaks' reflection through reflecting the green peaks, exhausting the clear grandeur of the river below the Kuaizai Pavilion, an immortal line. A thousand qing writes the river's breadth; all mirror-clear writes the mirror-like clarity; reflecting the green peaks writes the clear peak-shadow. The deep meaning: the vast expanse and the mirror-clear water exhausting the river's brightness — this is the calm before the waves rise, set against the later suddenly the waves rise, tossing the white-haired old man, showing the Pavilion's changing moods. Were it said plainly the river is flat and clear, the scene would be lost; only through the mirror-clear and the inverted peaks is the clarity exhausted, making the lines the scenic core of the ci.
一点浩然气，千里快哉风
One speck of vast breath within me, and the swift wind blows a thousand miles.
一点浩然之气，千里快哉之风。
One thread of the vast, righteous spirit; a thousand li of the joyous wind.
此二句是全词的收束，以浩然气写胸襟，以快哉风写旷达，是千古名句。「一点浩然气」写一点浩然之气——那「一点浩然气」化用《孟子》「我善养吾浩然之气」，写尽浩然的正气；「千里快哉风」写千里快哉之风——那「千里快哉风」写尽千里快意的风，写尽旷达的快意。这句的深意在于：它以「一点浩然气」的正气与「千里快哉风」的快意，写尽旷达的胸襟——一点浩然之气，那「一点浩然气」化用《孟子》的浩然之气，写尽胸中的正气——只要胸中有一点浩然之气，便能宠辱不惊、超然物外；千里快哉之风，那「千里快哉风」写尽千里的快哉之风——快哉亭上，快哉之风，正是浩然之气带来的快意；那「一点浩然气」写尽胸襟的正气，那「千里快哉风」写尽快意的心境，一写正气，一写快意，写尽旷达的胸襟——这正是「快哉」的真谛：不必如宋玉分雄风雌风，只要胸有浩然之气，则何处无快哉之风？此二句上承「堪笑兰台公子」的议论，以浩然气、快哉风收束，写尽旷达的胸襟，也让此二句成为全词收束的千古名句。若换作直说「心胸开阔就快乐」，则失其化用；唯以「一点浩然气」化用孟子写正气、「千里快哉风」写快意，写尽旷达的胸襟，也让此二句成为全词的收束与千古名句。
The two lines are the close of the ci, writing the breadth of mind through one thread of the vast, righteous spirit and the magnanimity through a thousand li of the joyous wind, an immortal line. One thread of the vast, righteous spirit transforms the Mencian I am good at nourishing my vast, righteous spirit, writing the inner upright air; a thousand li of the joyous wind writes the far-reaching pleasure. The deep meaning: with but a thread of the vast spirit in the breast, one stands above favor and disgrace, beyond things; the joyous wind on the Kuaizai Pavilion is precisely the pleasure the vast spirit brings. This is the true meaning of joyous: no need to distinguish the male and female winds of Song Yu; with the vast spirit within, where is there not a joyous wind? Were it said plainly a broad mind brings happiness, the allusive grace would be lost; only through the Mencian allusion and the joyous wind is the magnanimity exhausted, making the lines the immortal close of the ci.
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Su Shi's 'Prelude to Water Melody — When Will the Moon Be Clear and Bright?' — 'When will the moon be clear and bright? I lift my cup and ask the blue sky' and 'May we live long, sharing the moon's beauty though a thousand miles apart' — is his most famous lyric, written at Mid-Autumn in Mizhou. This 'Prelude to Water Melody' instead writes 'Water merges with the sky below the pavilion' and 'One speck of vast breath within me, and the swift wind blows a thousand miles' at the Kuaizai Pavilion in Huangzhou. Both are Su Shi's shuidiaotou: one asks the moon on behalf of loved ones far away, the other finds the swift wind in his own breast; one writes the sorrow of parting through the moon, the other joy through the wind. Read together, they show the two faces of the tune in Su Shi's hands.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「明月几时有？把酒问青天」「但愿人长久，千里共婵娟」写中秋怀人，是苏轼最著名的词。此词《水调歌头·黄州快哉亭》则「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」写快哉亭的旷达。同为苏轼水调歌头，一写「明月几时有」的月下怀人（明月几时有），一写「亭下水连空」的快哉亭旷达（快哉亭）；一以「人有悲欢离合」写感慨，一以「堪笑兰台公子」写旷达。两词对读，可见苏轼水调歌头的两种面貌。
定风波·莫听穿林打叶声 Calming the Waves — Never Mind the Rain Beating through the Trees 苏轼 · 同苏轼黄州旷达，一风雨一快哉 Both are Su Shi's Huangzhou lyrics of transcendence — one in a rainstorm, one at the Kuaizai Pavilion.Su Shi's 'Calming the Waves' — 'Never mind the rain beating through the trees, why not whistle and sing and walk slowly' and 'A rain cloak lets me live out my misty days' — writes transcendence in a rainstorm, another of his Huangzhou masterpieces. This 'Prelude to Water Melody' instead writes 'One speck of vast breath within me, and the swift wind blows a thousand miles' at the Kuaizai Pavilion. Both are Huangzhou lyrics of transcendence: one walks on through the storm with 'neither rain nor shine,' the other rides the river's sudden waves on the vast breath within; one finds ease in a rain cloak, the other in a gust of wind. Read together, they show the richness of Su Shi's Huangzhou serenity.
苏轼《定风波·莫听穿林打叶声》「莫听穿林打叶声，何妨吟啸且徐行」「一蓑烟雨任平生」写风雨中的旷达，是苏轼的名篇。此词《水调歌头·黄州快哉亭》则「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」写快哉亭的旷达。同为苏轼黄州旷达词，一写「一蓑烟雨任平生」的风雨旷达（定风波），一写「一点浩然气，千里快哉风」的快哉旷达（快哉亭）；一以「也无风雨也无晴」写超脱，一以「未解庄生天籁」写通达。两词对读，可见苏轼黄州旷达词的丰富。