Zhou Bridge (范成大·州桥) by Fan Chengda · Chinese Poem Audio and Explanation

Meaning

The poem depicts the scene at Zhou Bridge in Bianjing (Kaifeng), where the elders of the occupied city wait year after year for the Song emperor to return. They suppress their tears and ask the Song envoy when the imperial army will truly arrive, conveying deep sorrow and a sense of betrayal.

州桥的南北两边就是当年的御街，汴京的父老年年盼望皇帝车驾回来。他们忍住眼泪、失声地问询宋朝的使者：什么时候才真的有王师（六军）打回来？

Appreciation

Using plain language, the poem captures the poignant longing of the people. The detail 'holding back tears and losing voice' vividly shows their pain. The final question ends with a query that reveals both hope and disappointment, making it a masterpiece of patriotic poetry from the Southern Song.

【白话串讲】范成大出使金国，在汴京的州桥上：“州桥南北是天街，父老年年等驾回”——汴京的父老，年年等着宋朝的皇帝回来。“忍泪失声询使者，几时真有六军来”——他们忍着泪问：什么时候，王师真的能来？【意象与手法】全诗仅四句二十八字，却凝重如鼎。首句「州桥南北是天街」平平叙出地理，暗含「这里本是宋土」之痛【情感与主旨】范成大，吴郡（今苏州）人，南宋中兴四大诗人之一【名句点睛】中高考常考：①分析「忍泪失声询使者」的细节描写，须答出以神态动作写父老悲喜交集中之痛

Background

Fan Chengda (1126–1193), a prominent poet of the Southern Song, was sent as an envoy to the Jin dynasty in 1170. Passing through the fallen capital Bianjing, he witnessed the people's yearning for the Song court and wrote this poem. The elders he describes are real citizens living under Jin rule, and the poem is a historical record of their sentiments.

《州桥》为南宋范成大所作，是写出使金国所见、感慨故都之悲的七绝。范成大（1126—1193），字致能，号石湖居士，吴县人，南宋诗人。此诗：州桥南北是天街，父老年年等驾回。忍泪失声询使者，几时真有六军来。全诗写汴京父老望王师，是范成大诗的名篇。

Art

The poem is a four-line quatrain of 28 characters, yet it carries great weight. The first line states the geography simply, implying the pain that this was once Song territory. The second line uses 'year after year' to show the long wait in vain. The third line sketches the elders' expression with stark realism. The fourth line ends with a question, blending hope and despair. The language is plain but every word is drenched in emotion.

《州桥》艺术上以父老之望的深沉与故都之悲的沉痛见长。全诗四句，层层写来：前二句写州桥天街——“州桥南北是天街，父老年年等驾回”写州桥天街、父老等驾回；后二句写父老询使者——“忍泪失声询使者，几时真有六军来”写忍泪询使者、几时六军来。全诗以父老之望写故都之悲，正是范成大诗沉痛的笔法。

Allusions

The 'Imperial Street' refers to the main road in Bianjing's imperial city. 'Six armies' (liu jun) is a classical term for the emperor's army, symbolizing the Song forces. The elders' question alludes to the long-standing desire for the restoration of the Song dynasty in the north.

《州桥》用典少而意象自明。“州桥”写汴京之州桥（天汉桥）；“天街”写京城御街；“父老”写汴京父老；“六军”写王师（天子六军）。全诗以这些意象写出使所见、故都之悲，不用深典而沉痛自见，正是范成大诗的笔法。

Commentary

This poem is often compared to Lu You's 'Showing to My Son' and Xin Qiji's works for its patriotic sentiment. Critics praise it as a 'poem of history' that encapsulates the pain of the occupied people. A modern scholar said it 'carries the weight of a long narrative in just 28 characters.'

《州桥》是范成大诗的名篇，也是南宋爱国诗中写故都之悲的代表作。此诗写汴京父老望王师，向为论者称道。论者多赏其父老之望的深沉与故都之悲的沉痛——“父老年年等驾回”写父老年年等驾回，其望之切、其悲之深；“忍泪失声询使者，几时真有六军来”写忍泪询使者、几时六军来，更见故都之悲。范成大出使金国，其诗以沉痛真挚著称，此诗正是其代表——以父老之望写故都之悲，正是其诗风。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Rhymed in -ai (jie, hui, lai)《州桥》为七言绝句，四句，押平声韵。此诗用韵：街、来（佳部），一韵到底，音节沉痛。

Tone pattern First line enters rhyme, level tone start and end七言绝句以音节沉痛、情致真挚见长。此诗写出使所见、故都之悲，音节沉痛而真挚。全诗以七言贯底，声调与故都之悲的内容相合，是范成大诗中沉痛真挚的一路。

Reading note A simple narrative with shallow words but deep feelings, a historical poem from the Jin mission.《州桥》为南宋范成大所作，是写出使金国所见、感慨故都之悲的七绝。此诗以“州桥南北是天街，父老年年等驾回”写故都天街、父老等驾，以“忍泪失声询使者，几时真有六军来”写父老忍泪询王师。以父老之望写故都之悲，正是范成大诗的名篇。

Line by line

州桥南北是天街，父老年年等驾回。

North and south of Zhou Bridge runs the Imperial Way; the elders year after year await the emperor's return.

州桥南北是天街，父老年年等着皇帝回銮。

North and south of Zhou Bridge runs the Imperial Way; the white-haired elders, year after year, wait for the imperial carriage to return.

前二句写州桥天街、父老等驾，是全诗故都之悲的起点。“州桥南北是天街”写州桥天街——“州桥南北”写州桥南北，“是天街”写是御街天街——州桥南北是天街；“父老年年等驾回”写父老等驾回——“父老年年”写父老年年，“等驾回”写等着皇帝回銮——父老年年等驾回。二句写州桥天街、父老等驾：州桥南北是天街，父老年年等驾回。以“州桥南北是天街”写汴京故都之天街犹在，以“父老年年等驾回”写父老年年盼王师回驾，正是范成大诗写故都之悲的起点——故都犹在，而父老空等。

The first couplet sets the poem's starting point — the grief over the lost capital. North and south of Zhou Bridge runs the Imperial Way names the central avenue of Bianjing, the old capital, still standing; the elders year after year await the emperor's return writes the northern elders, year after year, waiting for the sovereign's return. The presentment is plain: the old capital's streets remain, and the old men wait in vain. The two words year after year expand this single day's waiting into a decades-long vigil — a whole generation growing old on the same road, the waiting grown into a way of life. By naming the bridge and the avenue without any comment, Fan Chengda lets the place itself speak: the Imperial Way is the road the emperor once traveled, and now it is only the road of old men gazing north. The opening quietness is precisely its force — no outcry, only the patience of the years, storing the full weight of the question that follows.

忍泪失声询使者，几时真有六军来。

Stifling their tears, voice breaking, they ask the envoy: when, oh when, will the royal army truly come?

忍泪失声，询问使者：几时真有六军来？

Holding back their tears and losing their voices, they ask the envoy: when will the Six Armies really come?

末二句写父老询使者，是全诗故都之悲的归结。“忍泪失声询使者”写忍泪询使者——“忍泪失声”写忍泪失声，“询使者”写询问使者——忍泪失声询使者；“几时真有六军来”写几时六军来——“几时真有”写几时真有，“六军来”写六军（王师）来——几时真有六军来。二句写父老询使者：忍泪失声询使者，几时真有六军来。以“忍泪失声询使者”写父老忍泪失声、询之使者，以“几时真有六军来”写父老问几时真有王师来，正是范成大诗写故都之悲的归结——忍泪一问，故都之悲尽在其中。

The closing couplet is the poem's heart, the question that contains the whole grief. Stifling their tears, voice breaking, they ask the envoy writes the elders' emotion at its extreme — holding back tears and yet the voice breaks, the two words stifling and voice-lost showing the decades of longing finally forced out in speech; when, oh when, will the royal army truly come? uses the Six Armies for the imperial troops, the word truly the knife of the line — not when will troops come, but when will they truly come, carrying the bitter knowledge that the promise has been heard for years and never kept. The couplet records a real scene from Fan Chengda's 1170 embassy north: he met the aged people of the old capital, and this is their question put to the southern envoy. Its power lies in the plainness of the spoken word — no ornament, no rhetoric, only an old man's broken voice asking a childlike question that no envoy could answer. The poem ends mid-question, and that unanswered question has stood for eight centuries.

Study

Word focus

天街 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “州桥南北是天街”之“天街”，写京城御街，是全诗写故都之盛的关键词。“天街”写京城的御街——州桥南北是天街。这一词写故都之街：不是寻常之街，而天街；不是他处之路，而京城御街。以“州桥南北是天街”写汴京故都之天街犹在，正是范成大诗写故都之悲的笔法。

父老 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “父老年年等驾回”之“父老”，写汴京父老，是全诗写故都遗民之望的关键词。“父老”写年长的百姓（遗民）——父老年年等着皇帝回銮。这一词写故都之人：不是他乡之民，而父老；不是无望之人，而年年等驾回之遗民。以“父老年年等驾回”写父老年年盼王师，正是范成大诗写故都之悲的笔法。

忍泪失声 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “忍泪失声询使者”之“忍泪失声”，写忍泪失声，是全诗写父老之悲的关键词。“忍泪”写强忍眼泪，“失声”写失声哽咽——忍泪失声询问使者。这一词写父老之悲：不是可忍之悲，而忍泪失声；不是轻浅之痛，而哽咽难言。以“忍泪失声询使者”写父老忍泪失声、询之使者，正是范成大诗写故都之悲的笔法。

六军 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “几时真有六军来”之“六军”，写天子六军（王师），是全诗写故都遗民之望的归结词。“六军”写王师（古制天子六军）——几时真有六军来。这一词写王师之望：不是寻常之兵，而六军；不是可缓之盼，而年年空等之望。以“忍泪失声询使者，几时真有六军来”写父老忍泪问几时王师来，正是范成大诗写故都之悲的归结。

范成大·州桥