All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

桂枝香·金陵怀古

Cassia Branch Fragrance · Meditations on the Past at Jinling

王安石

Wang Anshi

怀古meditation on the past 咏史historical reflection 名篇masterpiece

登临送目。
正故国晚秋，天气初肃。
千里澄江似练，翠峰如簇。
归帆去棹残阳里，背西风、酒旗斜矗。
彩舟云淡，星河鹭起，画图难足。
念往昔、繁华竞逐。
叹门外楼头，悲恨相续。
千古凭高，对此漫嗟荣辱。
六朝旧事随流水，但寒烟、芳草凝绿。
至今商女，时时犹唱，后庭遗曲。

I climb and gaze, sending my sight afar.
It is late autumn in the old capital; the weather has just turned crisp and stern.
A thousand li of clear river like a white ribbon; green peaks clustered like arrowheads.
Homebound sails and departing boats in the setting sun, facing the west wind—the wine-flag stands aslant.
Painted boats in pale clouds, egrets rising from the Silver River—a picture cannot exhaust it.
I think of former times, when splendor was fiercely pursued.
I sigh: at the gate, atop the tower—sorrow and hatred successive.
Through a thousand ages, leaning high, one can only vainly sigh at glory and shame.
The old tales of the Six Dynasties follow the flowing water; only cold mist and lingering green grass remain.
To this day the singing girls still oft chant the lingering tune of the Back Garden.

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Meaning

Climbing high, I gaze into the distance. It is late autumn in the old capital Jinling; the weather has just turned bleak and clear. A thousand li of clear river is like a white ribbon, green peaks clustered like arrowheads. Homecoming sails and departing boats move in the setting sun, facing the west wind, the wine-flag standing aslant. Painted boats drift in pale clouds; egrets rise over the river like a silver stream—no painting can capture it all. I recall the past, when the Six Dynasties vied in splendor. I sigh at the gate and tower—sorrow and hatred unceasing. Through a thousand ages those who lean high can only idly lament glory and disgrace. The Six Dynasties' old affairs have gone with the flowing water, leaving only cold mist and the fixed green of fragrant grass. To this day the singing girls still chant, from time to time, the lingering tune of the Back Garden.

登上高处，放眼远望。正是故都金陵的晚秋时节，天气刚刚变得肃杀清凉。千里澄澈的江水像一条白练，青翠的山峰如箭簇般攒聚。归帆去船行驶在残阳里，迎着西风，酒旗斜斜地矗立。彩色的船只行在淡淡的云中，银河般的江面上白鹭飞起，这般画图也难以描画尽致。追念往昔，六朝在这里竞逐繁华。可叹门外楼头，亡国的悲恨接连不断。千古以来凭高眺望的人，对此只能空叹荣辱兴亡。六朝的旧事随流水而去，只余寒烟笼罩、芳草凝绿。至今那商女，还时时唱着《后庭花》的遗曲。

Appreciation

[Plain-Language Reading] Climbing high, I gaze into the distance. It is late autumn in the old capital Jinling; the weather has just turned bleak and clear. A thousand li of clear river is like a white ribbon, green peaks clustered like arrowheads. Homecoming sails and departing boats move in the setting sun, facing the west wind, the wine-flag standing aslant. Painted boats drift in pale clouds; egrets rise over the river like a silver stream—no painting can capture it all. I recall the past, when the Six Dynasties vied in splendor. I sigh at the gate and tower—sorrow and hatred unceasing. Through a thousand ages those who lean high can only idly lament glory and disgrace. The Six Dynasties' old affairs have gone with the flowing water, leaving only cold mist and the fixed green of fragrant grass. To this day the singing girls still chant, from time to time, the lingering tune of the Back Garden. [Imagery and Method] This lyric, written after Wang Anshi left the chancellorship and retired at Jinling, is a model of Song historical meditation. The first half paints scene: 'I climb and gaze' leads; 'A thousand li of clear river like a ribbon, green peaks like arrowheads' borrows Xie Tiao's line, writing Jinling's grandeur; 'Homebound sails… wine-flag stands aslant' writes the late-autumn river, motion and stillness intertwined; 'Painted boats… a picture cannot exhaust it' closes on scene. The second half meditates: 'I think of former times' turns to history; 'I sigh: at the gate, atop the tower' uses the fall of Chen; 'Through a thousand ages… vainly sigh' writes ages of mourners; 'The old tales of the Six Dynasties follow the flowing water' borrows earlier verse; 'To this day the singing girls… lingering tune of the Back Garden' borrows Du Mu's 'Mooring at Qinhuai,' warning the present with the singing girls. Scene above is grand, history below is deep—feeling and scene blended, critique lodged in lament; the finest of the Jinling-meditation kind. [Feeling and Theme] The lyric writes Wang Anshi's sight and thought from Jinling's wall, its aim to warn the age by the Six Dynasties' lesson. All six dynasties built at Jinling and fell in turn, their ruin from dissolute neglect and vain splendor; 'To this day the singing girls… lingering tune of the Back Garden,' going beyond Du Mu, points straight at the Northern Song court—if it takes not history's warning, the Six Dynasties' fall will repeat. The lyric both praises Jinling's grand rivers and mountains and mourns deeply the rise and fall of ages with anxious care for the present; it is the statesman Wang Anshi's masterpiece of judging the world through lyric. [Famous Lines] 'The old tales of the Six Dynasties follow the flowing water; only cold mist and lingering green grass remain' is a line of enduring fame: the flowing water writes history's irretrievability, the cold mist and grass write the eternity of the rivers and hills—the sense of things changed yet place the same, the most vast and deep line in Song meditation on the past.

【白话串讲】王安石登金陵写桂枝香：“登临送目。正故国晚秋，天气初肃”。“千里澄江似练，翠峰如簇”——“彩舟云淡，星河鹭起，画图难足”——“念往昔、繁华竞逐。叹门外楼头，悲恨相续”——“至今商女，时时犹唱，后庭遗曲”——他写金陵怀古。【意象与手法】此词为王安石罢相退居金陵后的怀古名篇，是宋词中咏史怀古的典范。上片写景：「登临送目」领起，点出观景之姿；「千里澄江似练，翠峰如簇」用谢朓诗句化入，写金陵江山之壮丽；「归帆去棹残阳里，背西风、酒旗斜矗」写晚秋江景，动静相生；「彩舟云淡，星河鹭起，画图难足」以景作结，叹江山如画。下片怀古：「念往昔、繁华竞逐」转入历史，「叹门外楼头，悲恨相续」用陈后主亡国旧事，「千古凭高，对此漫嗟荣辱」写历代凭吊者之感慨，「六朝旧事随流水」化用前人诗句，「至今商女，时时犹唱，后庭遗曲」化用杜牧《泊秦淮》，以商女犹唱警醒当世。全词上片写景壮阔、下片怀古深沉，情景交融，寓批判于咏叹，是「金陵怀古」题材中成就最高的作品。【情感与主旨】此词写王安石登金陵城楼的所见所感，主旨在于借六朝兴亡之教训讽喻当世。六朝皆建都金陵而相继灭亡，其亡国之因皆在荒淫误国、竞逐繁华；「至今商女，时时犹唱，后庭遗曲」一句，化用杜牧诗意而更进一层，直指北宋君臣若不以史为鉴，六朝覆辙必将重演。词中既有对金陵壮丽江山的赞美，更有对历史兴亡的深沉感慨与对当世的殷忧，是政治家王安石以词论世的杰作，体现了他作为改革家「鉴往知来」的历史眼光与忧国情怀。【名句点睛】「六朝旧事随流水，但寒烟、芳草凝绿」为千古名句：以流水之逝写历史之不可追，以寒烟芳草之依旧写江山之永恒，物是人非之感尽在其中，是宋词怀古中意境最苍茫、情思最深沉的名句。

Background

Wang Anshi (1021–1086), styled Jiefu, named Banshan, was a native of Linchuan in Fuzhou, a Northern Song statesman, thinker, and man of letters, and one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song. He served twice as chief councillor under Shenzong, promoting New Policies to enrich the state and strengthen the military, yet met repeated setbacks from conservatives; after his second dismissal in 1076 he retired to Jiangning (modern Nanjing), and the next year built a dwelling at the Banshan Garden on Zhongshan, styling himself Banshan. This lyric was written in his late retirement at Jinling. Jinling (modern Nanjing) was the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties—Wu, Eastern Jin, and the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen—who rose in splendor and fell in succession, since antiquity a wellspring of meditation on the past. In his late years Wang lodged at Jinling; climbing the city wall, facing the thousand-li clear river and the vast autumn, recalling the rise and fall of the Six Dynasties, he wrote this piece. At the time the Northern Song was impoverished and weak, beset by frontier troubles; Wang's reforms had failed, and his patriotic heart mingled with the sense of historical ruin, so the lyric praises the splendid rivers and mountains yet mourns bitterly the perdition wrought by 'vying in splendor,' implicitly warning the age by the Six Dynasties. It is Wang's most famous extant lyric and the crowning work of Song historical meditation, praised by critics as 'the crown of Jinling meditation.'

王安石（一零二一—一零八六），字介甫，号半山，抚州临川人，北宋政治家、思想家、文学家，「唐宋八大家」之一。他于神宗熙宁年间两度拜相，推行新法，志在富国强兵、改革积弊，然因保守派反对而屡遭挫折，熙宁九年（一零七六）第二次罢相，退居江宁（今江苏南京），次年筑室于钟山半山园，自号半山。此词即作于王安石晚年退居金陵时期。金陵（今南京）是六朝古都，东吴、东晋、宋、齐、梁、陈相继建都于此，繁华至极而后相继灭亡，自古为怀古咏史之渊薮；王安石晚年寓居金陵，登临城楼，面对千里澄江、苍茫秋色，追念六朝兴亡旧事，遂有此作。时值北宋积贫积弱、边患日亟，王安石推行新法而功败垂成，其忧国之心与历史兴亡之感相激荡，故词中既有对江山壮丽的赞美，更有对「繁华竞逐」导致亡国的沉痛反思，暗含以六朝为鉴、警醒当世之意。此词是王安石现存词作中最负盛名的一首，也是宋词咏史怀古的压卷之作，历代词评家推为「金陵怀古之冠」，其历史眼光与词艺境界皆臻于极致。

Art

In art this lyric excels by 'grand scene, deep history, strict structure, seamless allusion'—the pinnacle of Song historical meditation. In structure, the first half paints scene, the second half meditates; the three words 'I think of former times' turn naturally from scene to history. The first half moves from whole to part, near to far: 'I climb and gaze' leads; 'late autumn in the old capital' sets time and place; 'a thousand li of clear river like a ribbon, green peaks like arrowheads' writes hills and water; 'homebound sails… wine-flag stands aslant' the river scene; 'painted boats… a picture cannot exhaust it' closes on scene—Jinling's autumn written grand as a painting; 'like a ribbon,' 'like arrowheads,' 'stands aslant,' 'cannot exhaust' are finely wrought. The second half moves from general to specific, past to present: 'I think of former times' summarizes the Six Dynasties; 'I sigh: at the gate, atop the tower' cites Chen's fall; 'through a thousand ages… vainly sigh' writes ages of mourners; 'old tales follow the flowing water… lingering green grass' closes on scene; 'to this day the singing girls… lingering tune' ends borrowing Du Mu. Scene is grand, history deep, argument incisive; Xie Tiao and Du Mu are blended without trace—a model of 'writing history through lyric,' whose strict structure and vast reach are unmatched in Song meditation.

此词在艺术上以「写景壮阔、怀古深沉、章法谨严、化用无痕」见长，是宋词咏史怀古的艺术高峰。结构上，上片写景、下片怀古，两片之间以「念往昔」三字自然转接，由景入史，脉络分明。上片写景，由总到分、由近及远：「登临送目」总起，「正故国晚秋，天气初肃」点明时地，「千里澄江似练，翠峰如簇」写山水，「归帆去棹残阳里，背西风、酒旗斜矗」写江上之景，「彩舟云淡，星河鹭起，画图难足」以画图难足作结，把金陵秋色写得壮阔如画；「似练」「如簇」「斜矗」「难足」诸语，炼字精警。下片怀古，由泛到实、由古及今：「念往昔、繁华竞逐」总提六朝，「叹门外楼头，悲恨相续」用典写陈亡，「千古凭高，对此漫嗟荣辱」写历代同慨，「六朝旧事随流水，但寒烟、芳草凝绿」以景结情，「至今商女，时时犹唱，后庭遗曲」化用杜牧诗意收束全篇。全词写景则壮阔，怀古则深沉，议论则警策，化用谢朓、杜牧诗句而浑然无迹，是「以词写史」的典范，其章法之谨严、境界之阔大，在宋词怀古中罕有其匹。

Allusions

This lyric is dense yet seamless in allusion, a model of 'writing history through allusion.' First, 'clear river like a ribbon' borrows Xie Tiao's 'the clear river still as a ribbon,' using 'ribbon' (white silk) for the clear river, praising Jinling's beauty. Second, 'green peaks like arrowheads' uses 'cluster' (arrowhead) for peaks crowding, opposing 'ribbon' in a fine antithesis. Third, 'at the gate, atop the tower' uses Chen's fall—when the Sui general Han Qinhu reached the Zhuque Gate, Emperor Chen and his favorite Zhang Lihua were still feasting atop the Jieqi Tower; Du Mu wrote 'at the gate is Han Qinhu, atop the tower Zhang Lihua'—eight words condense the Six Dynasties' repeated perdition. Fourth, 'old tales of the Six Dynasties follow the flowing water' borrows Dou Gong's 'sorrowful, I ask of former times, only the river flows not back.' Fifth, 'lingering tune of the Back Garden' uses Du Mu's 'the singing girls know not the hatred of a fallen state, across the river still chant the Back Garden flower'—'Back Garden flower' is Chen's 'Jade Tree Back Garden Flower,' called the sound of a fallen state; 'to this day the singing girls…' points straight that the sound of ruin is not yet ended, warning the present. The allusions are fused into the meditation on Jinling—ancient for present use,自然 formed, the extreme of Song allusive art.

此词用典密集而化用无痕，是「以典写史」的典范。其一，「澄江似练」：化用谢朓《晚登三山还望京邑》「余霞散成绮，澄江静如练」，以「练」（白绢）喻澄澈江水，赞金陵江山之美，是千古写江名句的化用。其二，「翠峰如簇」：以「簇」（箭簇）喻山峰攒聚之状，与「似练」相对，一水一山，对仗精工。其三，「门外楼头」：用陈后主亡国旧事——隋将韩擒虎兵临朱雀门，陈后主与宠妃张丽华犹在结绮楼头宴乐，杜牧《台城曲》有「门外韩擒虎，楼头张丽华」；「叹门外楼头，悲恨相续」八字，浓缩六朝屡次亡国的教训。其四，「六朝旧事随流水」：化用窦巩《南游感兴》「伤心欲问前朝事，惟见江流去不回。日暮东风春草绿，鹧鸪飞上越王台」，以流水喻历史之逝，以寒烟芳草写江山依旧。其五，「后庭遗曲」：用杜牧《泊秦淮》「商女不知亡国恨，隔江犹唱后庭花」诗意——《后庭花》为陈后主所作《玉树后庭花》，世称亡国之音；「至今商女，时时犹唱，后庭遗曲」直指亡国之音至今未绝，警醒当世。诸典熔铸于金陵怀古的抒情脉络中，古为今用、浑然天成，是宋词用典艺术的极致。

Commentary

This lyric is the crowning work of Song historical meditation, esteemed through the ages. Yang Ti of the Song records Su Shi seeing it and sighing 'this old man is a fox-spirit,' jest though it was, enough to show its shock to the age; Yang Shen of the Ming called it 'first under heaven' among meditation lyrics, saying of the thirty-odd poets who set Gui Zhi Xiang to Jinling, only Wang was the absolute song. Critics prize the two halves: the first's 'clear river like a ribbon, green peaks like arrowheads' renews Xie Tiao; the second's 'gate and tower' and 'Back Garden' allude with incision, using the past to satirize the present. Its value lies not only in craft but in the statesman's historical vision: he writes the Six Dynasties not for antique feeling but to warn the age—'to this day the singing girls' points straight that if the Northern Song vies in splendor and heeds not the past, the Six Dynasties' calamity will repeat. This conscious 'taking history as mirror' lifts the lyric above ordinary nostalgia into political critique, a model of 'judging the world through lyric,' and the literary witness of Wang Anshi the reformer's patriotic heart.

此词是宋词咏史怀古的压卷之作，历代词评家推崇备至。宋代杨湜《古今词话》记苏轼见此词而叹曰「此老乃野狐精也」，虽为戏语，足见此词之惊动当世；明代杨慎《词品》推此词为「古今第一」怀古词，以为「金陵怀古，诸公寄调《桂枝香》者三十余家，惟王介甫为绝唱」。词评家极赏其上下片之工：上片「澄江似练，翠峰如簇」化用谢朓而自出新意，「彩舟云淡，星河鹭起」写景如画；下片「门外楼头」「后庭遗曲」用典精警，以古讽今。此词的价值，不仅在于词艺之精湛，更在于政治家王安石的历史眼光：他写六朝兴亡，不为发思古之幽情，而为警当世之覆辙——「至今商女，时时犹唱，后庭遗曲」，直指北宋若竞逐繁华、不鉴前史，六朝之祸必将重演。这种「以史为鉴、鉴往知来」的自觉，使此词超越了一般怀古词的感慨，而具有深刻的政治批判力量，是宋词中「以词论世」的典范，亦是王安石作为改革家忧国情怀的文学见证。

Prosody

Form Ci (Gui Zhi Xiang, double tone, 101 characters, five oblique rhymes per half)词（《桂枝香》，双调一百零一字，上下片各十句五仄韵）

Rhyme Oblique entering-tone rhyme (mu, su, cu, chu, zu, zhu, xu, ru, lu, qu), one rhyme throughout; the entering-tone feet are short and urgent, their voice suiting the grave lament of meditation.押仄声「屋沃」入声韵：目（mù）、肃（sù）、簇（cù）、矗（chù）、足（zú）、逐（zhú）、续（xù）、辱（rǔ）、绿（lǜ）、曲（qǔ），一韵到底，入声韵脚短促激越，声情与怀古之悲慨相称。

Tone pattern Gui Zhi Xiang's lines are long and short, uneven. The first half leads with the four-character 'I climb and gaze,' weighty; 'a thousand li of clear river like a ribbon, green peaks like arrowheads' is a six-character antithesis, open; 'facing the west wind—wine-flag stands aslant' closes with a three- and five-character check, rhythmic. The entering-tone feet are short, one rhyme throughout, urgent and deep, fitting the grave lament.《桂枝香》句式长短错落，上片以「登临送目」四字短句领起，凝重有力；「千里澄江似练，翠峰如簇」六字对偶，舒展开阔；「背西风、酒旗斜矗」以三、五字顿挫收束，音节跌宕。全词入声韵脚短促，一韵到底，声情激越沉郁，正合怀古悲慨之调。

Reading note Gui Zhi Xiang is a double-tone long lyric, 101 characters, ten lines per half with five oblique rhymes, its uneven lines suiting scene and history. Wang's trait here is 'leading with short lines, writing grave lament in entering tone': 'I climb and gaze' opens weighty; 'late autumn in the old capital' sets time and place; the two six-character antitheses open broad; 'homebound sails… wine-flag stands aslant' turns from seven to three-and-five, check and fall; 'painted boats… cannot exhaust it' closes the first half. The second half turns with 'I think of former times,' its lines uneven and urgent; 'old tales follow the flowing water… lingering green grass' closes on scene, slowing; 'to this day the singing girls' warns. The entering-tone rhyme (mu, su, cu, chu, zu, zhu, xu, ru, lu, qu) is short and urgent, matching the grave lament—one rhyme throughout, piercing the page. Sound and sense unite; it is the absolute song of the form.《桂枝香》为双调慢词，一百零一字，上下片各十句五仄韵，句式长短错落、富于变化，是适宜写景抒怀、咏史怀古的长调词牌。王安石此词在声律上的特点，是「以短句领起、以入声韵写悲慨」：起句「登临送目」四字短句，音节凝重，如登高而望，境界顿开；「正故国晚秋，天气初肃」以「正」字领起，点明时地，声调舒展；「千里澄江似练，翠峰如簇」两个六字句对偶，开阔舒展；「归帆去棹残阳里，背西风、酒旗斜矗」由七字转三、五字，顿挫跌宕，如目光由远及近、由水及岸；「彩舟云淡，星河鹭起，画图难足」以三、四、四字句收束上片，如画图渐次展开。下片「念往昔、繁华竞逐」以「念」字领起，转入怀古；「叹门外楼头，悲恨相续」「千古凭高，对此漫嗟荣辱」句式错落，声情激越；「六朝旧事随流水，但寒烟、芳草凝绿」以景结情，音节渐缓；「至今商女，时时犹唱，后庭遗曲」以「至今」领起，警醒作结。用韵上，押入声屋沃韵，韵脚「目」「肃」「簇」「矗」「足」「逐」「续」「辱」「绿」「曲」皆短促激越，与怀古悲慨的声情相合，一韵到底，力透纸背。全词声律与词境高度统一，是《桂枝香》词牌中的绝唱，亦是宋词长调「以声写情」的典范。

Line by line

登临送目。

The four-character opening is the lyric's fulcrum, writing the posture and breadth of gazing from on high. 'Climb and gaze' writes ascending Jinling's wall, the place of history's rise and fall, hiding the occasion of meditation; 'sending my sight' writes the far gaze, the word 'send' exquisite—the eye seems sent off with the river. The four words write action, mien, and bosom: the gazer is no common tourist but a statesman surveying rivers and hills and recalling history. This line leads the whole: all first-half scene issues from this 'sight,' all second-half history from this 'climb.' Opening with four short characters, weighty, the realm opens at once—setting the broad, deep tone of the lyric, a model of leading a long lyric with short lines.

登上高处，放眼远望，纵目四顾金陵的江山与秋色。

I climb the height and send my gaze afar.

起句四字，是全词的纲领，写尽登高远望的姿态与胸襟。「登临」写登上金陵城楼的动作，点明观景之所在——金陵为六朝古都，登临之地即历史兴亡之地，暗藏怀古之机；「送目」写纵目远望，「送」字下得极妙，目光如可送出，随江水远逝，望尽千里江山。四字既写动作，又写神态，更见胸怀：登临送目者，非寻常游客观景，而是政治家俯瞰江山、追怀历史的目光。此句领起全词，上片一切写景皆从此「目」中出，下片一切怀古皆从此「登临」中生；且以四字短句开篇，音节凝重，如登高而望，境界顿开。起句便定下全词阔大沉雄的基调，是宋词中以短句领起长调的典范。

The opening four characters are the program of the whole ci, the posture and the breadth of the high gaze. Climb writes the mounting of the Nanjing city wall, naming the place of the view — Nanjing, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, the place where rise and fall were watched through history, the hidden spring of the meditation on the past; send my gaze afar writes the far gaze, the word send exquisite, as if the gaze could be sent out, following the river into distance, taking in the thousand-li landscape. Four characters write the action, the bearing, and the breast: this climber who sends his gaze is no ordinary sightseer, but a statesman's eye looking down on the land and remembering history. The line leads the whole ci — all the scenic writing of the first stanza rises from this gaze, all the meditation of the second from this climb; and the four-character short phrase opens with a grave rhythm, the realm opening at once. It fixes the ci's grand, powerful tone, the model of the Song long lyric opened by a short phrase.

千里澄江似练，翠峰如簇。

These two lines write Jinling's grand rivers and hills, the core of the first-half scene, renewing Xie Tiao's 'clear river still as a ribbon' with new meaning. 'A thousand li of clear river like a ribbon' writes the river: 'thousand li' its breadth, 'clear' its purity, 'ribbon' (white silk) its stillness—a clear river like a ribbon before the eye. 'Green peaks like arrowheads' writes the hills: 'green' their color, 'cluster' (arrowhead) their crowding—peaks gathered like arrows, writing Jinling's encircling heights. One river, one hill; one horizontal, one vertical; the antithesis is fine, the scene open, Jinling's 'tiger crouch, dragon coil' written grand as painting. Especially 'like a ribbon' and 'like arrowheads' turn still to moving, void to solid, showing both verbal craft and vast weather. These two are the bone of the scene; the later sails and egrets unfold upon it—the grand scene prepares the second-half sorrow of rise and fall.

千里澄澈的江水像一条白练，青翠的山峰如箭簇般攒聚。

The thousand-li clear river is like white silk; the green peaks stand thick as arrowheads.

这两句写金陵江山之壮丽，是上片写景的核心，化用谢朓「澄江静如练」而自出新意。「千里澄江似练」写江：以「千里」写江之阔，以「澄」写江之清，以「练」（白绢）喻江之静，一幅澄澈如练的千里江图如在目前；「翠峰如簇」写山：以「翠」写山之青，以「簇」（箭簇）喻峰之聚，群山攒簇、如箭攒集，写出金陵群山环抱之势。两句一江一山、一水一陆、一横一竖，对仗精工，画面开阔，把金陵「虎踞龙盘」的形胜写得壮丽如画。尤其「似练」「如簇」两个比喻，化静为动、化虚为实，既见炼字之工，又见气象之大。此二句为全词写景之骨，后文归帆残阳、彩舟白鹭皆在此江山上展开，壮丽之景正为下片兴亡之感作铺垫——江山如此多娇，而据有者相继覆亡，对比之下，感慨自深。

The two phrases write the grandeur of the Nanjing landscape, the core of the first stanza's scenery, drawing on Xie Tiao's the clear river calm like silk and yet making it new. The thousand-li clear river is like white silk writes the river: the thousand-li the breadth, the clear the purity, the white silk the calm of the water, a thousand-li picture of clarity as if before the eyes; the green peaks stand thick as arrowheads writes the hills: the green the hills' blue, the arrowheads the clustered peaks, the mountains gathered around Nanjing like a bow drawn. Two lines, one river one hill, one water one land, one horizontal one vertical, the balanced couplet exact, the picture vast, writing Nanjing's tiger-crouching dragon-coiling terrain as grand as a painting. The two comparisons of like silk and like arrowheads turn stillness into motion, the virtual into the solid, showing both the polishing of words and the magnitude of the realm. These two lines are the bone of the ci's scenery — the returning sails, the setting sun, the painted boats, the white egrets all unfold on this river and hills; the grand scene preparing the grief of rise and fall below — land so fair, and yet its holders have fallen one after another.

归帆去棹残阳里，背西风、酒旗斜矗。

These two lines write the late-autumn river scene, motion and stillness together, the turn from still to moving scene. 'Homebound sails and departing boats in the setting sun' writes the boats coming and going in the sunset, 'setting sun' the dusk hour, tinting the grand hills with a vast twilight, hinting time's passing and splendor's brevity. 'Facing the west wind—the wine-flag stands aslant' writes the shore flag: the flag meets the west wind, standing aslant; 'facing' its against-the-wind pose, 'stands aslant' its leaning shape—the 'slant' writes the wind's motion and hints a tilting decay, with 'setting sun' foreshadowing the second-half grief. One water, one shore; one moving, one still; the 'setting sun,' 'west wind,' 'wine-flag' all carry autumn and dusk, hiding desolation within grandeur—the method of 'writing grief in happy scene,' transitioning to the second-half 'I think of former times.'

归帆去船行驶在残阳里，迎着西风，酒旗斜斜地矗立。

Homebound sails and passing oars in the setting sun; against the west wind, the wine flags lean upright.

这两句写晚秋江上之景，动静相生，是全词由静景入动景的转折。「归帆去棹残阳里」写江上行舟：归帆去棹，来来往往的船只行驶在残阳之中，「残阳」点明黄昏时分，为壮丽江山涂上一层苍茫的暮色，暗含时光流逝、盛景难驻之感；「背西风、酒旗斜矗」写岸上酒旗：酒旗迎着西风，斜斜地矗立，「背」字写酒旗逆风之态，「斜矗」写旗形之斜、旗竿之立，一个「斜」字，既写西风吹旗的动感，又暗含倾斜颓败之意，与前句「残阳」相映，为下片怀古的悲慨埋下伏笔。两句一水一岸、一动一静，画面层次分明；「残阳」「西风」「酒旗」诸意象，皆带秋意与迟暮之感，使壮丽江山中隐现苍凉，正是「以乐景写哀」的笔法，为转向下片「念往昔」的怀古作了情感与色调的过渡。

The two phrases write the late-autumn river scene, motion and stillness, the turning of the ci from still scenery to moving scene. Homebound sails and passing oars in the setting sun writes the boats on the river: the sails returning and the oars passing, the coming and going in the setting sun, the setting sun naming the dusk, washing the grand landscape in a melancholy twilight, carrying the sense of time's slipping and fair days' fleetness; against the west wind, the wine flags lean upright writes the wine flags on the bank: the flags facing the west wind, leaning and standing, the word against writing the flags turned to the wind, the leaning-upright the flag's slant and pole's stand, the one slant writing both the wind's motion and the suggestion of decline, set against the setting sun, foreshadowing the elegy below. Two lines, one water one shore, one motion one stillness, the layers clear; the setting sun, the west wind, the wine flag all carrying the autumn and the twilight, the grand land veiled in desolation, precisely the method of writing grief through a fair scene, the emotional and tonal transition to the second stanza's meditation.

六朝旧事随流水，但寒烟、芳草凝绿。

These two lines close the second-half meditation, the most vast and deep famous line of the lyric. 'The old tales of the Six Dynasties follow the flowing water' writes history's passing: the Six Dynasties' rise and fall have gone east with the river, irretrievable—borrowing Dou Gong's 'only the river flows not back,' using water for history, writing time's mercilessness and fortune's mutability. 'Only cold mist and lingering green grass remain' writes the hills unchanged: though the Six Dynasties fell, cold mist still shrouds, green grass still stays—things changed, nature eternal. The two oppose 'follow the flowing water' with 'lingering green': the passing of affairs is swift as water, the staying of nature long as grass—the sense of things changed yet place the same, to the extreme. Closing on scene, it joins the first-half grand hills with the second-half sorrow: the hills are the same, yet those who held them have turned to dust, leaving only cold mist and grass. Vast in realm, deep in feeling, the absolute song of scene-and-feeling joined in Song meditation.

六朝的旧事随流水而去，只余寒烟笼罩、芳草凝绿。

The old affairs of the Six Dynasties have gone with the flowing water; only cold mist and fragrant grass hold their green.

这两句是下片怀古的收束，亦是全词最苍茫深沉的名句。「六朝旧事随流水」写历史之逝：六朝兴亡的旧事，已随江水东流而去，不可复追——化用窦巩「惟见江流去不回」诗意，以流水喻历史，写出时间之无情、兴亡之无常；「但寒烟、芳草凝绿」写江山依旧：六朝虽亡，而寒烟依旧笼罩，芳草依旧凝绿，物是人非，唯自然永恒。两句以「随流水」与「凝绿」对照：人事之逝如流水之迅，自然之存如芳草之长，一逝一存、一虚一实，把「物是人非」的感慨写到极致。这两句以景结情，把上片壮丽的江山与下片兴亡的感慨合为一体：江山依旧是那个江山，而据有江山者已相继成尘，唯有寒烟芳草，年年凝绿。意境苍茫，情思深沉，是宋词怀古中情景交融的绝唱，亦是「金陵怀古」主题最凝练的概括。

The two phrases are the close of the second stanza's meditation, and the most desolate, deep-meaninged line of the ci. The old affairs of the Six Dynasties have gone with the flowing water writes history's passing: the rise and fall of the Six Dynasties have gone east with the river, beyond recall, drawing on Dou Gong's I see only the river flowing and returning not, the flowing water as history, writing time's ruthlessness and the mutability of rise and fall; only cold mist and fragrant grass hold their green writes the land's enduring: the Six Dynasties fallen, and the cold mist still veils, the fragrant grass still holds its green, the people gone and the nature unchanged. The two phrases set gone-with-the-flowing against holding-the-green: human affairs swift as the flowing water, nature enduring as the fragrant grass, the gone and the enduring, the void and the solid, writing the things-unchanged-and-the-people-changed grief to the utmost. The closing in scene fuses the grand landscape of the first stanza with the elegy of the second: the land still that land, and those who held it have turned to dust, only the cold mist and the fragrant grass, year after year holding their green. The realm desolate, the feeling deep, the elegy of Nanjing's past fused scene and feeling, the most compressed summary of the Nanjing theme.

Study

Word focus

簇 The word 'cluster' (cu) in 'green peaks like arrowheads' is the eye of the first-half hill-writing. Cu originally means 'arrowhead,' also 'to crowd, cluster'; here 'like arrowheads' compares the green peaks crowding—peaks like arrowheads densely raised, writing Jinling's encircling, tiger-crouch heights. Its excellence is threefold: first, it uses a martial image (arrowhead) for natural hills, hinting Jinling's ancient role as a contested stronghold, foreshadowing the second-half meditation; second, 'cluster' holds both 'dense' and 'upright,' writing both the peaks' number and their steepness, two realms in one word; third, opposed to 'like a ribbon' above—'ribbon' the river's straight length, 'cluster' the peaks' crowding steepness, one water one hill, one soft one hard, a fine and vivid antithesis. Had he used 'gather' or 'stand,' he would lose the arrowhead's steepness and martial hint; only 'cluster' writes shape through form, history through image—a model of Wang Anshi's verbal precision. 「翠峰如簇」之「簇」字，是上片写山的点睛之笔。「簇」本指箭簇（箭头），亦指攒聚、丛聚，此处以「如簇」喻青翠山峰攒聚之状：群山如箭簇般密集攒立，写出金陵群山环抱、虎踞龙盘的形胜。此字之妙有三：其一，以武备意象（箭簇）写自然之山，暗合金陵自古为兵家必争之地的历史底蕴，为下片怀古埋下伏笔；其二，「簇」字兼有「密集」与「耸立」二义，既写山之众多，又写峰之峻峭，一字而两境俱全；其三，与上句「似练」相对，「练」喻江之平直绵长，「簇」喻峰之攒聚耸立，一水一山、一柔一刚，对仗精工而形象鲜明。若换作「聚」「立」等字，则只写山形，失却箭簇的峻峭意象与武备的暗喻；唯「簇」字以形写势、以象寓史，是王安石炼字精警的典范。

漫 The word 'vain' (man) in 'through a thousand ages… one can only vainly sigh at glory and shame' is the emotional hinge of the second-half meditation. Man means 'in vain, to no purpose,' writing that ages of gazers can only sigh vainly at the Six Dynasties' rise and fall—'vainly sigh' exhausts the helplessness before history: glory and shame are past, and the mourner's sigh avails nothing. Its excellence is threefold: first, it writes history's irrevocability—the Six Dynasties fallen, sighing useless, 'vain' writes the inevitable through futility, showing history's law cannot be resisted; second, it writes the common plight of all meditators—ages of gazers, all 'vainly sigh,' deep feeling and helplessness together, hinting a slight satire of those who merely sigh; third, it bridges what comes before and after—'vainly sigh' both sums the Six Dynasties' lesson and leads to 'old tales follow the flowing water,' turning the grief from fervor to calm. Had he used 'empty' or 'merely,' the meaning is near yet the charm less; only 'vain' writes weight in lightness, depth in plainness—Wang Anshi's gift of 'depth in the plain.' 「对此漫嗟荣辱」之「漫」字，是下片怀古的情感枢纽。「漫」即空、徒然，写千古凭高之人面对六朝兴亡，只能徒然嗟叹荣辱——「漫嗟」二字，写尽对历史兴亡的无力与无奈：荣辱兴衰，已成陈迹，凭吊者纵有千般感慨，亦不过空叹而已。此字之妙有三：其一，写历史的不可改变——六朝已亡，嗟叹无益，「漫」字以徒然写必然，见出历史规律的不可抗拒；其二，写怀古者的普遍处境——千古以来，登临凭吊者代代不绝，而皆「漫嗟荣辱」，感慨之深与无力之甚并存，暗含对历代空发感慨者的微讽；其三，承上启下——「漫嗟」既总结六朝兴亡的教训，又引出下句「六朝旧事随流水」的苍茫，使怀古之情由激愤转入沉静。若换作「空」「徒」等字，则意虽相近而神韵稍逊；唯「漫」字以轻写重、以淡写浓，正是王安石「于平淡处见深沉」的炼字功力。