宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
贺新郎·送胡邦衡待制赴新州
Congratulations to the Bridegroom·Seeing Off Assistant Director Hu Bangheng to Xinzhou
梦绕神州路。
怅秋风、连营画角，故宫离黍。
底事昆仑倾砥柱，九地黄流乱注。
聚万落千村狐兔。
天意从来高难问，况人情、老易悲如许。
更南浦，送君去。
凉生岸柳催残暑。
耿斜河、疏星淡月，断云微度。
万里江山知何处？
回首对床夜语。
雁不到、书成谁与？
目尽青天怀今古，肯儿曹、恩怨相尔汝！
举大白，听金缕。
In the sad autumn wind, bugle notes over camps blend,
And over the ruins of ancient palace walls.
Why should the Pillar of Kunlun fall
And muddy Yellow River overflow the nine states?
A thousand villages o’errun with foxes and hares.
Heaven’s will was always high, hard to enquire.
Men’s feelings change with age; my grief is deep like theirs.
Now at the Southern Riverside
I see you off with no hope to see you back.
We see departing summer’s breath
In willows shivering on the chilly river bank.
The Silver River slants in the sky,
Few stars shed pale light on clouds floating by.
Where can we find a land for you and me
‘Midst rivers and hills for miles and miles?
Looking back, we talked face to face in bed by night.
Where’s the wild goose to bring your letter,
Which can’t reach the northern land in flight?
Looking up to the blue sky, I recall the past and present time.
Could we like children talk of personal weal and woe
When things are as they are?
Let us now fill our cup
And listen to the Golden Song!
Meaning
The poet dreams of the lost Central Plains, grieves over the autumn scene of military camps and ruined palaces, and asks why the nation has collapsed with enemies rampant. Feeling that Heaven’s will is unfathomable and human feelings are fragile, he reluctantly sees off his friend Hu Quan, who is exiled for opposing the peace treaty. In the second stanza, he depicts the chilly parting scene under the stars, imagines the vast but inaccessible homeland, and then uplifts the mood by declaring that he will not dwell on personal grievances but rather drink to the tune of the Golden Song.
魂梦萦绕故都汴京之路。怅望秋风中连营的画角，故宫已长满离黍。为何昆仑天柱崩倾，九州黄流乱注，千万村落尽是狐兔横行？天意从来高远难问，何况人情易老，悲恨如许。更在这南方水滨，送君远去。岸柳生凉催退残暑，银河耿耿，疏星淡月，断云微微飘度。万里江山如今在何处？回首往昔对床夜语。大雁飞不到那里，写成书信又寄与谁？望尽青天，怀抱古今，岂肯像儿辈那样斤斤于个人恩怨！举起大白之杯，听唱《金缕》曲。
Appreciation
The poem begins with the dream of the Central Plains and uses grand images like the collapse of the Kunlun Pillar and the muddy Yellow River to symbolize the nation’s ruin, with 'foxes and hares' representing the invaders. The line 'Heaven’s will was always high, hard to enquire' adapts Du Fu’s verse with added bitterness. The second stanza blends sparse stars, faint moon, and drifting clouds to create a scene of cold parting, then suddenly rises with 'Looking up to the blue sky, I recall the past and present time' to show a broad-minded spirit, refusing to be entangled in personal grievances. The poem is a masterpiece of Southern Song patriotic lyricism, foreshadowing the bold style of Xin Qiji.
【白话串讲】 胡铨因上书请斩秦桧被贬，张元干在送别时写下这首词：梦里都是被金兵占领的中原。“天意从来高难问”——他一介布衣，用词为抗金志士壮行。 【意象与手法】 上片「梦绕神州路」领起，「昆仑倾砥柱」「九地黄流乱注」以宏大意象喻中原沦丧；「天意从来高难问」化用杜诗而沉痛翻进。下片「万里江山知何处」承上，「目尽青天怀今古，肯儿曹、恩怨相尔汝」振起全篇，以旷达豪迈之笔写士大夫胸襟，刚柔相济。 【情感与主旨】 此词作于南宋绍兴十二年（1142）。胡铨（字邦衡）因上书请斩秦桧等主和派，触怒高宗，被贬新州。张元干不顾险危，赋此词送行，伸张正义、痛斥和议，是南宋初年最负盛名的爱国词之一，亦开辛派豪放词先声。 【名句点睛】 重点考查「天意从来高难问」的用典与沉痛意蕴；考查「目尽青天怀今古，肯儿曹、恩怨相尔汝」所体现的胸襟气度。
Background
This poem was written in 1142, the 12th year of the Shaoxing reign of the Southern Song. Hu Quan (courtesy name Bangheng) was demoted to Xinzhou for petitioning to execute the pro-peace minister Qin Hui and others, angering Emperor Gaozong. Zhang Yuangan, risking peril, composed this farewell poem to uphold justice and denounce the peace treaty. It is one of the most famous patriotic lyrics of the early Southern Song and a precursor to the bold school of Xin Qiji.
张元干（1091—约1170），字仲宗，号芦川居士，福建永福人，两宋之际著名爱国词人。此词作于南宋绍兴十二年（1142）秋。此前四年，即绍兴八年（1138），枢密院编修官胡铨（字邦衡）愤然上书，请斩秦桧、王伦等主和派以谢天下，史称「戊午上高宗封事」，一时朝野震动。胡铨因此遭贬，先谪昭州，再徙新州（今广东新兴）。张元干本因力主抗金、支持李纲而得罪权贵，此时又挺身而出，不顾险危，于福州水边赋此词为胡铨送行，伸张正义、痛斥和议，甚至因此获罪除名。此词以送别寄家国之恨，把个人离情与中原沦丧的国难熔为一炉，是南宋初年最负盛名的爱国词之一，亦开辛弃疾一派豪放词先声。张元干早年即负才名，靖康之难后力主抗金，曾因支持李纲而遭贬，绍兴八年胡铨上书后，秦桧党羽遍布朝野，士人噤若寒蝉，独张元干敢为胡铨壮行，其词亦因此成为千古正气歌；词中「举大白，听金缕」的豪迈，正是乱世文人不屈风骨的写照。
Art
The first stanza opens with 'My soul haunts the road to the Divine Land,' and uses grand metaphors such as 'Pillar of Kunlun' and 'muddy Yellow River' to depict the fall of the Central Plains. The line 'Heaven’s will was always high, hard to enquire' adapts Du Fu’s poem with added mourning. The second stanza begins with the line 'Where can we find a land for you and me' as a transition, then 'Looking up to the blue sky, I recall the past and present time' lifts the tone, showing the poet’s broad-mindedness and loyalty, balancing strength and tenderness.
此词艺术上大开大合、刚柔相济。上片以「梦绕神州路」领起，直写故国之思；「怅秋风、连营画角，故宫离黍」以秋风中军营号角与故都荒芜叠印，苍凉满纸。「底事昆仑倾砥柱，九地黄流乱注。聚万落千村狐兔」连用三个宏大意象，以神话中天柱崩折、黄河泛滥、狐兔横行喻中原沦丧，惨景惊心。「天意从来高难问，况人情、老易悲如许」化用杜甫《暮春江陵送马大卿公恩命追赴阙下》「天意高难问」而沉痛翻进，把国事难问、人老易悲的双重悲哀凝于一问。下片「凉生岸柳催残暑」数句由悲转静，写送别时节的清冷夜景；「目尽青天怀今古，肯儿曹、恩怨相尔汝」则以阔大胸襟振起全篇，把私怨升华为怀抱古今的家国情怀；结以「举大白，听金缕」，豪饮壮歌，悲愤化为慷慨，余响不绝。全词以问起、以歌结，跌宕腾挪，是豪放词中不可多得的精品。词中「怅」「况」「更」「举」等领字提挈语气，一问再问、一叹再叹，如层波迭起；上片以实写国难、下片以虚写别情，虚实相济，而「对床夜语」的温情反衬「雁不到」的孤绝，尤见回环吞吐之力。
Allusions
'Ruins of ancient palace walls' alludes to the 'Millet Shoots' poem in the Book of Songs, expressing grief over the desolate capital. 'Kunlun Pillar' uses the myth of the celestial pillar collapsing to symbolize the nation’s fall. 'Southern Riverside' comes from Jiang Yan’s 'Fu on Separation' ('Seeing you off at the southern riverbank, how sad it is!'), a common farewell allusion. 'Fill our cup' and 'Golden Song' derive from the 'Shuo Yuan' ('drink a large cup of wine') and the tune 'Golden Song,' using drinking to heighten the parting mood.
「故宫离黍」用《诗经·王风·黍离》之典：周大夫行役至宗周故都，见宫室尽为禾黍，作诗以寄故国之悲，此四字遂成亡国之思的代名词。「昆仑倾砥柱」以天柱崩折喻国家倾覆，暗用《淮南子》共工怒触不周山、天柱折地维绝的神话；「九地黄流乱注」以黄河决堤泛滥喻金兵南侵、中原糜烂。「南浦」出江淹《别赋》「送君南浦，伤如之何」，是送别之地的习用语。「对床夜语」化用韦应物「宁知风雪夜，复此对床眠」诗意，写往日友朋夜话之乐，反衬今日孤别之悲。「雁不到」写新州僻远、雁飞难达，暗用鸿雁传书之典而翻出「书成谁与」的绝望。末句「举大白，听金缕」中「大白」出《说苑》「饮不酹者，浮以大白」，「金缕」即《贺新郎》本调别名，以豪饮壮歌收束，用典繁密而皆切题。尤可注意者，「离黍」与「画角」一古一今：前者是《诗经》时代亡国之音的延续，后者是南宋军旅的现实之声，古典今事交织，使词中的家国之痛既有历史纵深，又具切肤之感，正是两宋之际词人「以词存史」的笔法。
Commentary
When this farewell poem was published, it shocked the imperial court and Zhang Yuangan was later persecuted and removed from office. Qing critic Chen Tingzhuo in his 'Baiyu Zhai Ci Hua' praised it as 'romantic and tragic, unmatched since the Northern Song.' The poem uses lyric poetry to discuss politics and express ideals, marking a turning point from personal emotions to national concerns in the history of ci poetry.
此词一出，朝野震动，张元干亦因此获罪除名，可见其胆识与风骨。清人陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》推为「风流悲壮，北宋以来，一人而已」，推崇备至。其以词议政、以词明志，把送别题材与家国兴亡熔于一炉，标志着词体由艳科走向家国兴亡，在词史上具有转折意义。上片「天意从来高难问」之问，与辛弃疾《永遇乐》「凭谁问，廉颇老矣，尚能饭否」的苍凉一问遥相呼应；「举大白，听金缕」的豪迈，又与岳飞《满江红》「壮志饥餐胡虏肉」的壮烈同气相求。此词与胡铨《好事近》词、陈亮《水调歌头》等，共同构成了南宋初年爱国词的高峰，其激昂悲壮的格调，直接滋养了辛派词人，是研究南宋词风转变的枢纽之作。近代以来，此词更被视为民族气节的象征，入选多种词选与教材；论者或取其「天意从来高难问」的沉痛，或赏其「举大白，听金缕」的豪迈，而皆服其以一人之词写一国之气。张元干以一介布衣词人身陷罗网而不改其志，其人其词，足为千古文人立范。
Prosody
Line by line
梦绕神州路。怅秋风、连营画角，故宫离黍。
My soul haunts the road to the Divine Land. In the sad autumn wind, bugle notes over camps blend, and over the ruins of ancient palace walls. — 'Soul haunts' reveals persistent thoughts of restoration; 'ruins of ancient palace walls' (Li Shu) alludes to the Book of Songs, implying the pain of lost territory.
魂梦萦绕故都汴京之路，怅望秋风中连营画角，故宫长满离黍。
In dreams my spirit winds the road to the Central Plain. In grief, the autumn wind, the painted bugles of joined camps, the old palace grown with millet.
「梦绕神州路」以「绕」字写魂牵故都、须臾不离，梦中之思尚且如此，醒时之痛可知。「怅秋风、连营画角，故宫离黍」三句叠印两个时空：眼前是秋风阵阵、营垒连片、号角呜咽的军旅景象，心中是故都汴京宫阙荒芜、禾黍离离的沦丧惨状。画角之声与离黍之景，一今一昔、一声一色，交织成苍凉满纸的家国之恸。起笔即以梦境领起全篇，把个人之愁与家国之痛融为一体，定下全词悲壮沉郁的基调。
The spirit winds the road to the Central Plain in dreams uses the word wind to write the soul's unbroken circling of the old capital, not a moment's release — if even the dream is thus, the waking pain may be known. In grief, the autumn wind, the painted bugles of joined camps, the old palace grown with millet overlays two times and spaces: before the eyes, the autumn wind, the joined camps, the muffled bugles; in the heart, the old capital's palace ruined, the millet rank. The bugle's sound and the millet's sight, one present one past, one sound one sight, woven into a desolate page of grief for the state. The opening leads the whole ci in dream, fusing personal grief with national pain, fixing the ci's somber, heroic tone.
底事昆仑倾砥柱，九地黄流乱注。聚万落千村狐兔。
Why should the Pillar of Kunlun fall and muddy Yellow River overflow the nine states? A thousand villages o’errun with foxes and hares. — Three questions and one metaphor: using mythical collapse to symbolize national disaster, a vivid depiction of the occupied region.
为何昆仑天柱崩倾，九州黄流乱注，千万村落尽是狐兔横行？
Why did the Kunlun pillar fall, the yellow flood pour over the nine lands? Foxes and rabbits gather in ten thousand villages.
三句连用宏大意象，以神话与现实互喻国难：「昆仑倾砥柱」以共工触山、天柱崩折写国家大厦倾覆，「九地黄流乱注」以黄河泛滥写金兵铁蹄蹂躏中原，「聚万落千村狐兔」以狐兔横行写村落荒芜、生灵涂炭。三问一譬，层层逼进，气势奔涌如决堤之水。「底事」一词直指造成这一切的罪魁——正是当权者的屈膝求和，才使神州陆沉。此数句以惊人的意象密度，写出了南宋初年沦陷区的惨象实录，是词史上写亡国之痛最惊心动魄的笔墨之一。
The three lines use grand imagery, myth and reality figures of the national disaster. The Kunlun pillar fallen writes the state's roof overturned through the Gonggong allusion; the yellow flood poured over the nine lands writes the Jin cavalry's trampling the central plain through the Yellow River flood; foxes and rabbits gathered in ten thousand villages writes the depopulated hamlets and the suffering people. Three questions and one metaphor, advancing layer on layer, the force rushing like a broken dam. The word why points straight at the culprit — the court's kneeling for peace, that made the land sink beneath the water. The lines, with their astonishing density of imagery, are a documentary of the occupied lands in the early Southern Song, among the most harrowing pages in the ci's history of the grief for a fallen state.
天意从来高难问，况人情、老易悲如许。
Heaven’s will was always high, hard to enquire. Men’s feelings change with age; my grief is deep like theirs. — Adapts Du Fu's 'Heaven's will is high and hard to ask,' merging national sorrow with personal lament, deep and stirring.
天意从来高远难问，何况人情易老，悲恨如许。
Heaven's will has ever been high and hard to question; how much more human feeling, aging into such grief.
化用杜甫「天意高难问，人情老易悲」，而沉痛更进一层。天意高远难问，暗指朝廷主和决策的高深莫测、令人无从置喙；「人情老易悲」则写岁月催人、志士易老，恢复无望而白发已生，悲恨深重如许。「从来」「如许」两个虚词加重语气，把对朝廷的怨望、对时局的忧愤、对年华的怅惘凝于两句之中。此联既是对友人远谪的宽慰，更是对国事的深悲，字字沉郁，是南宋爱国词中化用杜诗而能自出机杼的典范。
Drawing on Du Fu's heaven is high and hard to ask, human feeling ages easily into grief, and yet deepening the grief. Heaven's will has ever been high and hard to question hints at the court's peace policy, unfathomable, beyond any voice; human feeling, aging into such grief writes the years hastening the man, the restoration hopeless and the white hairs grown, the grief heavy as this. The two function words ever and such weight the tone, gathering the resentment at the court, the anger at the times, the wistfulness over the years into two lines. The couplet is at once the comfort of a friend far exiled, and the deep grief for the state, every word somber, the model of Southern Song patriotic ci's drawing on Du's verse and yet making it new.
目尽青天怀今古，肯儿曹、恩怨相尔汝！
Looking up to the blue sky, I recall the past and present time. Could we like children talk of personal weal and woe when things are as they are? — Expansive mind rising above private grievances, showing the loyalist’s priority on state affairs, an extraordinary touch in a farewell poem.
望尽青天，怀抱古今，岂肯像儿辈那样斤斤于个人恩怨！
My eyes take the blue sky, my heart holds past and present; how could I bicker like children over personal grudges!
此句是全词精神境界的巅峰。「目尽青天」以极目远眺的阔大动作，写出胸襟的开阔；「怀今古」则把个人际遇放入历史长河之中，一己之贬谪、一时之冤屈，皆不足以动其心志。「肯儿曹、恩怨相尔汝」以反问表决绝——岂肯像小儿女那样，斤斤计较于个人恩怨得失？友人远谪，不诉离情，不叹冤屈，而以家国大义相勉，正见忠义之士以国事为重的气度。此联将送别词的格局从个人悲欢一举提升到怀抱古今的高度，是词史上少见的大丈夫语。
This is the peak of the ci's spiritual realm. My eyes take the blue sky writes the breadth of the far gaze; my heart holds past and present places the personal lot in the long river of history — one man's exile, one moment's injustice, none enough to move his resolve. How could I bicker like children over personal grudges! uses the rhetorical question for resolve: how could he, like a child, haggle over personal spite? The friend exiled far, and yet no parting sorrow, no sigh for the injustice, only the encouragement by the great cause of the state — the bearing of the loyal man who puts the nation first. The couplet raises the farewell ci's scale from personal grief at once to the height of holding past and present, the rare words of a great man in the ci's history.
举大白，听金缕。
Let us now fill our cup and listen to the Golden Song! — Ends with bold drinking and song, turning grief into heroism, with vigor worthy of Su Shi and Xin Qiji.
举起大白之杯，听唱《金缕》曲。
Lift the great cup; listen to the Gold Thread song.
全词以豪饮壮歌戛然收束。「大白」为古时大酒杯，「举大白」本是罚酒之典，此处化为痛饮壮别的姿态；「听金缕」点出《贺新郎》本调，暗含这支歌即为此词、此情而作。悲愤至极，不诉之于哭，而诉之于酒与歌，把一腔热血化为慷慨激昂的声情，正是词人性格的写照。五字收束，言尽而意不尽：杯酒入喉、歌声起处，家国之恨与友朋之谊尽在其中。此结句刚健之气直追苏轼、辛弃疾，余响回荡千年。
The ci ends abruptly in the fierce drinking and the bold song. The great cup is the ancient large cup, lifting the great cup by nature a forfeit-cup allusion, here turned into the posture of drinking deep at the bold farewell; listen to the Gold Thread names the tune of the He Xin Lang, hinting that this song was made for this occasion, this feeling. Grief at the extreme, and yet not voiced in weeping, but in wine and song, the hot blood turned into impassioned sound, the portrait of the poet's character. Five characters close, the words ended and the feeling not: the cup to the throat, the song rising, the grief for the state and the friendship all within. The closing's vigor stands with Su Shi and Xin Qiji, the aftertone ringing a thousand years.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Yue Fei's 'wrath bristling' and this poem's 'fill our cup and listen to the Golden Song' both express passionate grief and heroism; they can be read together to appreciate the spirit of the Southern Song revival.
岳飞「怒发冲冠，凭栏处、潇潇雨歇」与此词「举大白，听金缕」皆慷慨悲愤，把个人命运与国家存亡熔于一炉：岳飞以武将之笔直抒「靖康耻，犹未雪」的激愤，张元干以文士之笔写「故宫离黍」的沉痛，一直接一含蓄，一壮烈一悲凉，而爱国赤诚如出一辙，皆以家国为重、生死以之。两词并读，可见南宋初年词坛上下同仇敌忾的「中兴之气」。
永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古 Eternal Joy·Thinking of the Past at Jingkou’s North Pavilion 辛弃疾 · 同写家国兴亡之慨 Both express the grief of national rise and fallXin Qiji's 'Who will ask if Lian Po is old' and this poem's 'Heaven’s will hard to enquire' both are deep and melancholy, conveying the pain of failed restoration.
辛弃疾「凭谁问，廉颇老矣，尚能饭否」与张元干「天意从来高难问」皆以问句写恢复无望之痛，沉郁顿挫，一脉相承。差异在于：张词作于南宋初年，尚存悲愤慷慨之气；辛词作于南宋后期，更多英雄迟暮之悲。张元干以送别寄国难，开辛派先声；辛弃疾以怀古写悲愤，集其大成。两词对照，可见爱国词从发轫到成熟的演进轨迹。