宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
贺铸·将进酒·城下路
He Zhu · Invitation to Wine · Under the City Wall
将进酒·城下路（小梅花）城下路，凄风露。
今人犁田古人墓。
岸头沙，带蒹葭。
漫漫昔时，流水今人家。
黄埃赤日长安道。
倦客无浆马无草。
开函关，掩函关。
千古如何，不见一人闲。
六国扰，三秦扫。
初谓商山遗四老。
驰单车，致缄书。
裂荷焚芰，接武曳长裾。
高流端得酒中趣。
深入醉乡安稳处。
生忘形，死忘名。
谁论二豪，初不数刘伶。
Now men plow fields on ancient graves.
By the shore sand, with reeds and rushes.
Endless past times, flowing water now become homes.
Yellow dust, red sun on Chang'an road.
Tired traveler has no drink, horse no grass.
Open Hangu Pass, close Hangu Pass.
Through ages, how is it no one is idle?
Six states in turmoil, three Qin swept away.
At first I thought four old men remained in Shangshan.
But swift carriage, a sealed letter sent.
They tear lotus robe, burn water chestnut dress,
One after another trail long gowns.
High-minded men truly grasp wine's delight.
Deep into the land of drunkards, a place of peace.
In life forget form, in death forget fame.
Who discusses the two worthies?
From the start they did not count Liu Ling.
Meaning
This poem reflects on historical change and the futility of worldly ambition. Through vivid imagery of ancient graves turned to farmland, the bustling but weary Chang'an road, and the forced departure of hermits, it contrasts the transience of power with the lasting freedom found in wine and oblivion, ultimately praising those who abandon fame and form.
城下的道路，凄冷的风露。今人在古人坟前犁田耕种。岸头的沙地，傍着蒹葭。漫漫昔日繁华，流水已逝，今成人家。 黄尘赤日下的长安大道，倦游的客子没有浆水，马也没有草料。函谷关开了又掩，千古以来，怎不见一个闲人。 六国纷争，三秦扫灭。原以为商山还遗下四位隐老。却驰着单车，送来书信，逼他们裂荷衣、焚芰服，接踵拖着长袍去仕宦。 高洁之士真正得了酒中真趣，深入醉乡求得安稳。生时忘形，死时忘名。谁还去评说那二豪，原本就不把刘伶算在内。
Appreciation
Set against ancient city walls and roads, the poem evokes a profound sense of historical rise and fall, commenting on scholars' choices in life. Written during He Zhu's later years when he was weary of officialdom, it contrasts the chase for status with the quiet refuge of drinking and forgetfulness.
【白话串讲】 “今人犁田古人墓”——贺铸感叹：今天的人，在古人的坟上犁田。“千古如何，不见一人闲”——千古以来，怎么没有一个人肯停下来。 【意象与手法】 一在句式：依《小梅花》三、四、七字错落，短促跳荡，音节拗峭如击筑，宜抒苍凉慷慨之情；二在章法：上片以景起（城下路、古人墓、流水人家），中片以事接（长安道、函谷关），下片以议论结（高流、刘伶），由景及事及理，层层推进；三在用典反衬：以商山四皓被迫出仕，反衬高流深入醉乡之超脱。 【情感与主旨】 贺铸（1052—1125），字方回，北宋卫州人，仕途蹭蹬，晚年退居苏州。此词调寄《将进酒》，因句式近古乐府《小梅花》而别称。全词怀古伤时、厌弃仕宦倾轧，与其《青玉案》绵婉异趣，是《东山词》中沉郁悲凉之别调。 【名句点睛】 命题方向：一、上片「今人犁田古人墓」「流水今人家」的今昔对比与兴亡之感；二、商山四皓典的用法与反衬；三、「开函关，掩函关」的象征；四、以刘伶《酒德颂》收束的意蕴。
Background
He Zhu (1052–1125), courtesy name Fanghui, was a Northern Song poet from Weizhou. Frustrated in his official career, he retired to Suzhou in his later years. This poem is set to the tune 'Invitation to Wine' (also known as 'Small Plum Flower'). The first stanza depicts an ancient road under the city wall, where graves have become farmland—a symbol of impermanence. The second stanza portrays the weary competition on the road to Chang'an, the capital, where no one is at leisure. The third stanza uses the story of the 'Four Graybeards of Shangshan' who were forced out of retirement, contrasting them with true recluses like Liu Ling who find peace in wine.
贺铸（1052—1125），字方回，号庆湖遗老，北宋卫州共城人，宋太祖贺皇后族孙。他出身贵胄而仕途蹭蹬，一生仅任右班殿直等微职，晚年退居苏州，以著书终老。贺铸词风格多样，既有《青玉案》「一川烟草，满城风絮，梅子黄时雨」的绵婉，又有此词的苍凉磊落。此词调寄《将进酒》，因句式近古乐府《梅花落》而又称《小梅花》，取首句「城下路」为题。词中写城下古道之沧桑、长安道上之奔竞、商山四皓之被迫出仕，归结于高流醉酒忘名之超脱，怀古伤时，厌弃仕宦倾轧。北宋末年，新旧党争绵延，士人进退失据，贺铸身历其境，故借古事浇胸中块垒，把对功名的幻灭与对自由的向往写成一曲苍凉的慷慨之歌。又贺铸晚年卜居苏州，自号庆湖遗老，其词集《东山词》中多咏史怀古之作，如《水调歌头·台城游》写六朝兴废，与此词并观，可见其借古人之酒杯浇胸中之块垒的一贯用心；而此词以乐府旧题、拗峭句式写尽古今奔竞之虚，正是其「悲秋」情怀与「侠骨」气质的结合，在宋词中别开生面，亦可见北宋末士人于党争倾轧中的幻灭感。
Art
The poem employs the short, irregular lines of the 'Small Plum Flower' meter, with alternating three-, four-, and seven-character lines, creating a vigorous and abrupt rhythm suitable for expressing desolate and heroic emotions. Structurally, it moves from scene (city road, graves, flowing water) to event (Chang'an road, Hangu Pass) to commentary (high-minded men, wine, forgetting fame). The use of allusions—the Four Graybeards' reluctant service and Liu Ling's disregard for the 'two worthies'—creates a stark contrast, reinforcing the theme of transcendence through intoxication.
此词艺术特色有三。其一在句式：依《小梅花》体，以三字句、四字句、七字句错落组合，短促跳荡，音节拗峭，如击筑高歌，宜抒苍凉慷慨之情，与一般长调的舒徐绵密迥异。其二在章法：上片以景起，写城下路、古人墓、流水人家，由眼前之景生兴亡之感；中片以事接，写长安道、函谷关，由行旅之艰到千古奔竞之叹；下片以议论结，写商山四皓、高流刘伶，由古事之讽到醉乡之归，由景及事及理，层层推进。其三在用典反衬：以商山四皓被征、裂荷焚芰而出仕，反衬高流深入醉乡、生忘形死忘名之超脱，一俗一雅、一假一真，褒贬自明。全词怀古伤今，沉着豪放，于《东山词》中别为一格。又此词以议论入词而不失词味：上片写景如史笔，中片叙事如乐府，下片议论如庄周，然句句押韵、声声入律，音节之拗峭正与内容之激越相称，如击筑悲歌，慷慨淋漓；且以「今人犁田古人墓」的直白、「初不数刘伶」的反用，把怀古的感慨写得既痛快又深沉，是豪放词中难得的声情并茂之作，其句式之新亦为词史添一异彩。
Allusions
The 'Four Graybeards of Shangshan' refer to four hermits who fled to Mount Shang at the end of Qin, later summoned by Emperor Gaozu of Han. The lines 'tear lotus robe, burn water chestnut dress' allude to the Qu Yuan's 'Li Sao' imagery of pure attire, symbolizing the abandonment of hermit ideals. The 'two worthies' come from Liu Ling's 'Ode to the Virtue of Wine', originally referring to a nobleman and a scholar-official; the poem subverts this by stating that true high-minded men do not even bother to discuss them, highlighting their complete detachment.
此词用典密集而精切。上片「今人犁田古人墓」暗含「白骨成丘」的兴亡意象，直用眼前之景写沧桑；「函谷关」用秦关之典，函谷关为秦之险关，开关掩关皆以时势，词人借「开函关，掩函关」写王朝更迭、关防易主，而「千古如何，不见一人闲」写尽世人永无休止的奔竞。中片「商山遗四老」指秦末避乱商山的东园公、绮里季、夏黄公、甪里先生四位隐士，汉高祖欲废太子，张良请四皓出山辅佐，词人云「初谓商山遗四老」，谓本以为尚有遗民可寻，谁知「裂荷焚芰，接武曳长裾」——用《楚辞·离骚》「制芰荷以为衣兮，集芙蓉以为裳」之意，言隐士撕毁荷衣、焚弃芰服，拖着官袍相继出仕，讽刺入骨。下片「二豪」出刘伶《酒德颂》「二豪侍侧，如蜾蠃之与螟蛉」，原指贵介公子与搢绅处士，词人反用其意，谓真正高流连二豪亦不屑评论，唯以酒为乡、以醉为安。又「倦客无浆马无草」写行旅之困，以「无浆」「无草」的贫乏写奔竞之劳，与下片「商山四皓」的被迫出仕呼应，皆是名利场中人不得自由的写照；「黄埃赤日长安道」写长安道上尘土蔽日，正是利禄之途的具象化，与前片「城下路」的荒凉对照，一城一野、一热一冷，写出世人趋利避害而终归一处的悖谬。
Commentary
He Zhu's style is diverse; Zhang Lei praised his poems as 'gorgeous like entering the halls of Jin and Zhang, seductive like admiring the beauty of Qiang and Shi.' This particular piece is desolate and heroic. Long Yusheng in his 'Patterns of Tang and Song Lyrics' takes He Zhu's 'Small Plum Flower' as a standard form. Tang Guizhang notes that it 'mourns the past and laments the present, deep and sorrowful, a distinctive style in the 'Dongshan Lyrics',' rivaling Su Shi's historical poems.
此词历来为论者所重。贺铸词风格多样，张耒称其「盛丽如游金、张之堂，妖冶如揽嫱、施之袂」，然此阕却苍凉磊落，别具一格，可见方回词风之多面。近人龙榆生《唐宋词格律》列《小梅花》一调，即以贺铸此词为格范，足见其在词律上的代表性。唐圭璋评贺铸此词「怀古伤今，沉郁悲凉，在《东山词》中别为一格」，谓其足与苏轼怀古之作并观。全词以乐府旧题的慷慨激越，写尽古今奔竞者的徒劳与高流醉乡的超脱，议论纵横而不失词之美，用典繁密而气脉贯通，是宋代咏史词中风格独特的名篇，也是理解贺铸「侠气」与「狂气」的重要作品。又近人夏承焘论宋词，谓「贺铸词多慷慨悲歌之气，于东坡、稼轩之间自成一格」，此词正是其「慷慨悲歌」的代表；全词由墓田沧桑写到醉乡超脱，由批判写到解脱，情感由悲而愤、由愤而旷，层次分明，正见方回于词中寄托的深沉人生思考，其价值不独在词史，亦在思想史，是理解北宋末年士人心态的重要文本，也是咏史词中别具风神的一篇。
Prosody
Line by line
城下路，凄风露。今人犁田古人墓。
The road below the wall, the wind and dew chill. Modern men plow the fields on the graves of the ancients.
城下的道路，凄冷的风露。今人在古人坟前犁田耕种。
The road below the city wall, the wind and dew so chill. Modern men plow their fields on the graves of the ancients.
起拍以三组短句写城下之景，兴亡之感扑面而来。「城下路」以地名起笔，如史笔直书，点出凭吊之地；「凄风露」三字写凄冷的秋风寒露，景中含情，定下苍凉基调；「今人犁田古人墓」是全词警策——今人竟在古人的坟茔上犁田耕种，坟茔化作田地，死者让位于生者，古与今在方寸之间重叠。七字写尽时间之无情、兴亡之无常：昔日的坟冢已平为良田，当年的王侯已化为尘土，而农人照样耕耘，仿佛一切都不曾发生。此句以强烈的今昔反差写历史沧桑，触目惊心，为全词的怀古定下基调，也是理解全词的钥匙。
The opening three short groups write the road below the wall, the sense of rise and fall pressing on the face. The road below the wall opens on the place-name, like a historian's brush, naming the ground of the elegy; the wind and dew chill write the cold autumn wind and dew, the scene holding the feeling, fixing the desolate tone; modern men plow the fields on the graves of the ancients is the ci's warning stroke — modern men plow on the ancients' very graves, the tombs turned to fields, the dead yielding to the living, past and present overlaying in a foot of ground. Seven characters write time's ruthlessness and rise-and-fall's mutability: the old tombs leveled to good fields, the old princes turned to dust, and the farmers plow on as if nothing had happened. The line writes the vicissitude through the violent contrast of old and new, heart-striking, fixing the ci's elegy tone, and the key to the whole piece.
岸头沙，带蒹葭。漫漫昔时，流水今人家。
The sand at the bank, bordered by reed grass. The old times stretched so long; the flowing water remains, and now are other men's homes.
岸头的沙地，傍着蒹葭。漫漫昔日繁华，流水已逝，今成人家。
The sand at the bank, fringed with reed and rush. The old times stretched so long; the flowing water flows on, and now there are other men's homes.
此三句承上片铺写城下之景，深化沧桑之感。「岸头沙，带蒹葭」写水岸沙滩、蒹葭丛生，一片荒凉萧瑟；「漫漫昔时」以叠字写昔日时光之悠远漫长——当年这里或许是繁华的水陆要道、车马喧阗；「流水今人家」陡转，如今流水依旧东逝，而岸边已住满了寻常人家。流水无情，人事全非，昔日之繁华与今日之寻常，在「流水」的见证下对照鲜明。「漫漫」与「今」遥遥相对，以昔时之漫漫写今日之苍茫，叠字与单字的对比，音节上也是一慢一急，声情相谐，把兴亡之感写得绵长而沉痛。
The three phrases continue the scene below the wall, deepening the sense of change. The sand at the bank, fringed with reed and rush writes the water-bank sand, the reed grass grown rank, a stretch of desolation; the old times stretched so long uses the doubled word for the bygone time's far and long — once this was perhaps the busy water-road, the carriages and horses loud; the flowing water remains, and now are other men's homes turns sharply — the water still flows east, and the bank is now filled with ordinary houses. The water ruthless, human affairs all changed, the bygone splendor and the present ordinariness set in sharp contrast under the water's witness. The long bygone set against the now, the doubled word against the single, in rhythm also one slow one quick, the sound and the feeling matched, the sense of rise and fall drawn out long and somber.
开函关，掩函关。千古如何，不见一人闲。
The Hangu Gate opened, the Hangu Gate shut. Through a thousand years, why is not one man idle?
函谷关开了又掩，千古以来，怎不见一个闲人。
The Hangu Pass opened, the Hangu Pass shut. Through all the ages, how is it not one man is idle?
此四句由景入议，是全词题旨的第一次点破。「开函关，掩函关」以函谷关之开掩写王朝之更迭：战国秦开函谷以攻六国，汉时开关以通天下，关之开掩，即天下之争战与易主，六字之中浓缩了千年兵戈；「千古如何，不见一人闲」以反诘写尽世人永无休止的奔竞——千古以来，开关掩关者、出入关防者，皆为功名利禄而奔波，竟无一个闲人。「不见一人闲」五字，骂尽古今汲汲于名利者，也道出词人对仕宦奔竞的彻底厌弃。以关之开掩写世人之奔忙，以小见大，议论沉痛，是全词由怀古转向抒怀的枢纽。
The four phrases move from scene to argument, the first statement of the ci's theme. The Hangu Pass opened, the Hangu Pass shut writes the dynasties' changes through the pass's opening and closing: Qin opened the pass to attack the six states, Han opened it to connect the realm, the pass's opening and closing is the realm's warfare and its change of masters, six characters compressing a thousand years of arms; through all the ages, how is it not one man is idle? uses the rhetorical question to write the world's endless rushing — through the ages, the openers and closers of the pass, the goers-in and out, all racing for rank and gain, and not one idle man. The five characters not one idle man condemn all the ages' seekers of fame, and speak the poet's thorough rejection of the official rush. Writing the world's busyness through the pass's opening and closing, the large through the small, the argument somber, the hinge of the ci's turn from elegy to self-expression.
驰单车，致缄书。裂荷焚芰，接武曳长裾。
They speed a single carriage, send a sealed letter. They tear the lotus coats, burn the water-chestnut robes, and trail their long official trains, one after another.
却驰着单车，送来书信，逼他们裂荷衣、焚芰服，接踵拖着长袍去仕宦。
They send off a lone carriage with a sealed letter; they tear the lotus-leaf coats, burn the water-chestnut robes, and trailing their long trains, troop out one after another.
此四句用商山四皓之典，讽刺隐士之被迫出仕。「驰单车，致缄书」写朝廷以单车简从、缄书相召，摆出礼贤的姿态；「裂荷焚芰」用《离骚》「制芰荷以为衣」之意，写隐士亲手撕毁荷衣、焚弃芰服——象征其抛弃隐逸之志；「接武曳长裾」写他们相继出仕、拖着官袍长裾——「接武」写一个接一个，「曳长裾」写仕宦之态，讽刺入骨。四句一气贯注：本以「初谓商山遗四老」的期望起，至此彻底破灭，原来所谓遗民隐士，一纸征书便纷纷出山。词人借古讽今，写尽名利场中无人能免的悲哀，也为下片高流醉乡的超脱预作反衬。
The four phrases use the four graybeards of Mount Shang allusion, satirizing the hermits' forced entry to office. They send off a lone carriage with a sealed letter writes the court's summoning with a single carriage and a sealed letter, the posture of honoring the worthy; they tear the lotus-leaf coats, burn the water-chestnut robes draws on the Li Sao's making coats of water-chestnut leaves, writing the hermits' own hands tearing the lotus coats and burning the rush robes — the symbol of their casting off the hermit's will; and trailing their long trains, troop out one after another writes their one after another taking office, trailing the official robes — the one after another the succession, the trailing-the-long-train the official bearing, the satire to the bone. The four phrases in one breath: beginning from the hope of the Mount Shang four old men, ending in the total collapse — the so-called remnant hermits, one letter of summons, and they troop down the mountain. The poet satirizes the present through the past, writing the sorrow of the fame-market where no one is exempt, and setting the foil for the second stanza's transcendence in the wine land.
生忘形，死忘名。谁论二豪，初不数刘伶。
In life, forget the form; in death, forget the name. Who speaks of the two grandees? From the first, Liu Ling was not counted among them.
生时忘形，死时忘名。谁还去评说那二豪，原本就不把刘伶算在内。
In life forget the body's form; in death forget the name. Who cares about those two grandees? From the first, Liu Ling was not numbered among them.
结拍是全词题旨的归宿，归于醉乡之超脱。「生忘形，死忘名」写高流之人生的态度：生时不拘形迹、放浪形骸，死时不恋声名、视之如空，八个字写尽对功名利禄的彻底看破；「谁论二豪」用刘伶《酒德颂》「二豪侍侧」之典，谓高流连贵介公子与搢绅处士都不屑置评；「初不数刘伶」反用其意——在《酒德颂》中，刘伶以大人先生自居，二豪为陪衬；词人却说本就不把刘伶算在二豪之内，意谓刘伶才是真正的高流，二豪何足道哉。全词由墓田之沧桑、关防之开掩、四皓之出仕，层层逼出此醉乡之归宿，于豪放中见旷达，戛然而止，余味无穷。
The closing is the resting place of the ci's theme, gathered into the transcendence of the wine land. In life, forget the body's form; in death, forget the name writes the high ones' way of being: in life unbound by form, dissolute; in death clinging to no name, regarding it as void, eight characters writing the thorough seeing-through of rank and gain; who speaks of those two grandees? uses Liu Ling's Wine's Eulogy allusion of the two grandees at his side, meaning the high ones disdain even the noble young and the gentry scholars; from the first, Liu Ling was not numbered among them reverses it — in the Wine's Eulogy, Liu Ling takes himself for the great man, the two grandees the foil; the poet says Liu Ling was never counted among the two grandees, meaning Liu Ling alone is the true high one, and the two grandees are not worth the mention. The whole ci, from the tomb-field's change, the pass's opening and closing, the four old men's taking office, drives layer by layer to this wine-land resting place, the open ease within the bold, ending abruptly, the aftertone unending.
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Both are from 'Dongshan Lyrics'; one is historical and heroic, the other is elegiac and tender, showing He Zhu's versatility.
《鹧鸪天·重过阊门万事非》与《将进酒·城下路》同出贺铸《东山词》，而风格迥异：《鹧鸪天》是悼亡词，「重过阊门万事非，同来何事不同归」悼念亡妻，以「空床卧听南窗雨，谁复挑灯夜补衣」的细节写生死之痛，哀婉缠绵，字字血泪；《将进酒》则是咏史词，以城下墓田、函谷开掩、四皓出仕写千古兴亡与名利之虚，苍凉磊落，议论纵横。一悼亡、一咏史；一婉约、一豪放。二词并读，可见贺铸词风之全：既能写绵婉入骨的深情，又能写慷慨沉郁的怀抱，正合张耒「盛丽妖冶」与「苍凉磊落」并存的评价。
贺铸·踏莎行·杨柳回塘 He Zhu · Treading on Grass · Willows by the Winding Pond 贺铸 · 同写孤寂身世之感 Same poetBoth convey a sense of lonely existence; one is meditative on objects, the other reflects on history, achieving similar effects through different means.
《踏莎行·杨柳回塘》以荷花自比，「杨柳回塘，鸳鸯别浦，绿萍涨断莲舟路」写荷花生于回塘深处、无人赏识，寄托怀才不遇、孤芳自赏的身世之感，咏物而不滞于物，哀婉含蓄；《将进酒·城下路》则直写怀古伤时，以今人犁田古人墓、千古不见一人闲的议论，写尽对名利奔竞的厌弃与对醉乡超脱的向往，慷慨激越。一以咏物写怀才不遇，一以咏史写看破红尘；一含蓄，一痛快。二词并观，可见贺铸对身世之感的不同表达方式：或以物自况，低回掩抑；或借古抒怀，淋漓酣畅，正是其词风多面的又一证明。