宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
满江红
To the Tune 'Man Jiang Hong'
暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落。
临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索。
几许渔人飞短艇，尽载灯火归村落。
遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊。
桐江好，烟漠漠。
波似染，山如削。
绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃。
游宦区区成底事，平生况有云泉约。
归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐。
Near the islets the knotweed mist is thin and pale; the wind in the reeds is desolate.
A few fishermen speed back in short boats, laden with lamplight, to their village homes.
For the traveler on the road, at such a sight his thoughts turn to the way back, grieving his life of drifting.
The Tong River is fair, its mist boundless;
the waves look dyed, the mountains cut sheer.
Around the Yanling rapids, egrets fly and fish leap.
What has my petty career in office amounted to, when all my life I have had a tryst with clouds and springs?
Go home then! — with one strain of Zhongxuan's chant of the campaign's joys.
Meaning
A traveler on the river at nightfall watches the fishermen's boats carry their lamplight home; the scene turns his heart toward his own return. Praising the beauty of the Tong River — its endless mist, its dyed waves, its sheer mountains, the egrets and leaping fish at the Yanling rapids — he asks what his petty official career has amounted to, remembering a lifelong pact with clouds and springs. The lyric closes with the resolution to go home. Written by a poet who lived through the fall of the Song, its grief for drifting is also grief for a lost world, and its 'return' carries the weight of the age.
暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落。临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索。几许渔人飞短艇，尽载灯火归村落。遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊。桐江好，烟漠漠。波似染，山如削。绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃。游宦区区成底事，平生况有云泉约。归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The evening rain has just stopped; the long river lies still and the sails come down for the night. Near the islets the knotweed mist is thin, the reed-wind desolate; a few fishermen hurry home in short boats full of lamplight. The sight turns the traveler's thoughts to the road back, and he grieves his life of drifting. Then the Tong River appears in its beauty — boundless mist, waves like dye, mountains like cut cliffs, egrets flying and fish leaping around the Yanling rapids. He asks what his trivial official career has amounted to, when all his life he promised himself clouds and springs. He resolves to go home. [Structure] The upper stanza writes the river scene and turns from scenery to feeling at the fishermen's lamplit boats; the lower stanza praises the Tong River and turns from praise to resolution at the Yanling rapids — the fishing ground of the ancient recluse Yan Guang. [Imagery] The poem's beauty is cool and quiet: thin knotweed mist, desolate reed-wind, lamplight on the water, dyed waves, cut cliffs — a landscape that argues for leaving office and going home.
【白话串讲】 蒋捷写《满江红》：“暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落”——“临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索”——“遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊”——“绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃”——他写漂泊——伤漂泊。 【意象与手法】 “暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落”写雨后江景；“临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索”写蓼烟苇风；“遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊”写伤漂泊；“绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃”以严陵滩写归隐之想；结以“归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐”以归去来写归志。以景写情、含蓄深婉。 【情感与主旨】 蒋捷写咏雨羁旅之作，写雨后江景与漂泊伤怀，借严陵滩写归隐之想，是蒋捷词中羁旅主题的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索”以蓼烟苇风写雨后江景；“归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐”以归去来写归隐之志。
Background
Jiang Jie (c. 1245 – c. 1305), courtesy name Shengyu, literary name Zhushan, was from Yangxian (present-day Yixing, Jiangsu). A lyricist of the late Song and early Yuan, he lived through the Mongol conquest and the fall of the dynasty, and his lyrics are haunted by the lost country; he is grouped among the former subjects who sang of the old world in exile. 'Man Jiang Hong' is a travel lyric on rain: standing on the banks of the Tong River (the Fuchun reach in present-day Zhejiang), he watches the fishermen return at night and turns from the grief of drifting to the resolve to go home. The 'Yanling rapids' of the lower stanza are where the Han recluse Yan Guang fished, refusing Emperor Guangwu's summons — the place-name itself is an argument for withdrawal.
《满江红》为宋末元初词人蒋捷所作词。蒋捷（约1245—约1305），字胜欲，号竹山，阳羡（今江苏宜兴）人，宋末词人，词多故国之思。此词写咏雨羁旅，为咏物之作。词中「暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落」写暮雨初收；「临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索」写蓼烟疏淡；「几许渔人飞短艇，尽载灯火归村落」写渔人飞短艇；「遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊」写念回程；「桐江好，烟漠漠。波似染，山如削」写桐江好；「绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃」写严陵滩畔；「游宦区区成底事，平生况有云泉约」写云泉约；「归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐」写归去来。蒋捷此词以咏雨羁旅、归去来写其羁旅之情，含蓄深婉，是蒋捷词中的名篇。此篇《满江红》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《满江红》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。
Art
The lyric works by the method 'writing feeling through scene.' The upper stanza paints a night scene of returning boats: rain just ceased, river still, sails dropping, knotweed mist thin and pale, reed-wind desolate — a landscape of cool desolation. Then the fishermen's short boats 'laden with lamplight' turn toward the village: the single detail of lamplight going home pierces the traveler, and the stanza turns on that image into 'grieving his drifting life.' The lower stanza reverses the method: first it praises the Tong River's beauty (mist boundless, waves dyed, mountains cut sheer), then it plants the Yanling rapids — the fishing ground of the recluse Yan Guang — under the flying egrets and leaping fish, so that the landscape itself becomes the summons to withdrawal. The closing couplet — 'What has my petty career in office amounted to, when all my life I have had a tryst with clouds and springs? Go home then!' — states the turn from grievance to resolution in plain speech. The whole lyric is built on the contrast between the fishermen going home and the official drifting on, and its language bears the restrained, deep manner of Jiang Jie's late lyrics.
此词艺术上以「含蓄深婉、以景写情」见长。全词上片写暮雨初收与渔人飞短艇，下片写桐江好与归去来。上片「暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落」写暮雨初收：暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落；「临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索」写蓼烟疏淡：临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索；「几许渔人飞短艇，尽载灯火归村落」写渔人飞短艇：几许渔人飞短艇，尽载灯火归村落；「遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊」写念回程：遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊。下片「桐江好，烟漠漠。波似染，山如削」写桐江好：桐江好，烟漠漠，波似染，山如削；「绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃」写严陵滩畔：绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃；「游宦区区成底事，平生况有云泉约」写云泉约：游宦区区成底事，平生况有云泉约；「归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐」写归去来：归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐。全词含蓄深婉，以景写情，是蒋捷词中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。
Allusions
Three allusions anchor the lyric. 'The Yanling rapids' (Yanling tan) are on the Fuchun River in present-day Zhejiang, where Yan Guang — an old friend of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han — fished after refusing repeated summons to office, the archetype of the recluse who chooses freedom over power. 'Clouds and springs' (yun quan) is the standard term for the recluse's landscape — clouds on the peaks, springs in the valleys — and the 'tryst' with them is the lifelong compact to retire. 'Go home then' (gui qu lai) echoes Tao Yuanming's great 'Return' — 'Return, ah! The fields will be overgrown with weeds, why not go home?' — the founding declaration of return-to-home literature. And 'Zhongxuan' is the courtesy name of Wang Can (177–217), whose 'Poems of the Campaign' (Congjun shi) sang of the military life; invoking him at the moment of going home is touched with irony — the wanderer quotes the campaign song only to choose the road back.
词中「暮雨初收长川静征帆夜落」「临岛屿蓼烟疏淡苇风萧索」「几许渔人飞短艇尽载灯火归村落」「遣行客当此念回程伤漂泊」「桐江好烟漠漠波似染山如削」「绕严陵滩畔鹭飞鱼跃」「游宦区区成底事平生况有云泉约」「归去来一曲仲宣吟从军乐」等语，皆含典故故实。「暮雨初收长川静征帆夜落」写暮雨初收长川静征帆夜落；「临岛屿蓼烟疏淡苇风萧索」写临岛屿蓼烟疏淡苇风萧索；「几许渔人飞短艇尽载灯火归村落」写几许渔人飞短艇尽载灯火归村落；「遣行客当此念回程伤漂泊」写遣行客当此念回程伤漂泊；「桐江好烟漠漠波似染山如削」写桐江好烟漠漠波似染山如削；「绕严陵滩畔鹭飞鱼跃」用严陵滩之典（严光钓于富春江严陵滩），写绕严陵滩畔鹭飞鱼跃；「游宦区区成底事平生况有云泉约」写游宦区区成底事平生况有云泉约（云泉约写归隐之约）；「归去来一曲仲宣吟从军乐」用仲宣从军之典（王粲字仲宣，作从军诗），写归去来一曲仲宣吟从军乐。词人以严陵滩、仲宣从军等典入词，不着痕迹，而把咏雨羁旅之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。
Commentary
Jiang Jie's 'Man Jiang Hong' is praised as a model of his 'bamboo-mountain' style — restrained, deep, and coldly clear. Its closing couplet, 'What has my petty career in office amounted to, when all my life I have had a tryst with clouds and springs? Go home then!' is the most quoted of his lyric declarations. Later anthologists place it among the finest travel lyrics of the late Song, admiring how the single detail of the fishermen's lamplight going home can pivot a whole stanza from landscape to lament, and how the Yanling rapids turn scenery into a summons. For a poet who had watched a dynasty fall, the road home could no longer be taken literally, which gives the ending its peculiar pathos: the return is wished for in a world that no longer exists. The lyric thus reads both as a timeless traveler's lament and as the late-Song loyalist's elegy for a lost homeland.
这首《满江红》，是蒋捷写咏雨羁旅之作，写暮雨初收、桐江好、归去来之情，含蓄深婉。上片写暮雨初收与渔人飞短艇：「暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落」——暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落。写暮雨初收：暮雨初收、长川静征帆夜落——暮雨初收、长川静、征帆夜落；「临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索」——临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索。写蓼烟疏淡：临岛屿蓼烟疏淡、苇风萧索——蓼烟疏淡、苇风萧索；「几许渔人飞短艇，尽载灯火归村落」——几许渔人飞短艇，尽载灯火归村落。写渔人飞短艇：几许渔人飞短艇、尽载灯火归村落——渔人飞短艇、灯火归村落；「遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊」——遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊。写念回程：遣行客当此念回程、伤漂泊——念回程、伤漂泊。下片写桐江好与归去来：「桐江好，烟漠漠。波似染，山如削」——桐江好，烟漠漠，波似染，山如削。写桐江好：桐江好烟漠漠、波似染山如削——桐江烟漠漠、波似染山如削；「绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃」——绕严陵滩畔（用严陵滩之典），鹭飞鱼跃。写严陵滩畔：绕严陵滩畔、鹭飞鱼跃——严陵滩鹭飞鱼跃；「游宦区区成底事，平生况有云泉约」——游宦区区成底事，平生况有云泉约。写云泉约：游宦区区成底事、平生况有云泉约——游宦成底事、平生有云泉约；「归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐」——归去来、一曲仲宣吟（用仲宣从军之典），从军乐。写归去来：归去来一曲仲宣吟、从军乐——归去来、一曲仲宣吟从军乐。这「归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐」，是全词之结：以归去来写其羁旅。全词含蓄深婉，以景写情，正是蒋捷词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落。
The evening rain has just ceased; the long river is still; the sails drop for the night.
暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落。
The evening rain just ceases; the long river is still, the traveler's sail dropped at night.
首三句写暮雨初收，起笔即见其景。「暮雨初收」写暮雨初收，「暮雨」写暮雨、「初收」写初停；「长川静」写长川静，「长川」写长川、「静」写平静；「征帆夜落」写征帆夜落，「征帆」写征帆、「夜落」写夜落。三句一写暮雨初收、一写长川静、一写征帆夜落，以暮雨初收写雨停、以长川静写川静、以征帆夜落写帆落，写尽暮雨初收、长川静、征帆夜落之情。以景起兴，含蓄而清丽，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。
The opening three lines write the evening rain's end, the scene at the first stroke. The evening rain just ceases writes the rain's stop — the evening rain, the first stop; the long river is still writes the river's calm — the long river, the stillness; the traveler's sail dropped at night writes the sail's lowering — the traveler's sail, the night drop. Three lines, one the rain's end, one the river's stillness, one the sail's drop, writing the stop, the calm, the lowering, exhausting the evening rain's end, the still long river, the night sail. Rising on scene, restrained and fair, precisely the wondrous brush of rising on scene.
临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索。
Near the islets the knotweed mist is thin and pale; the wind in the reeds is desolate.
临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡，苇风萧索。
By the islets, the smartweed mist sparse and thin; the reed wind desolate.
此三句写蓼烟疏淡，是全词写秋景的关键。「临岛屿、蓼烟疏淡」写临岛屿蓼烟疏淡，「临岛屿」写临岛屿、「蓼烟疏淡」写蓼烟疏淡；「苇风萧索」写苇风萧索，「苇风」写苇间之风、「萧索」写萧索。三句一写临岛屿、一写蓼烟疏淡、一写苇风萧索，以临岛屿写岛屿、以蓼烟疏淡写蓼烟、以苇风萧索写苇风，写尽临岛屿蓼烟疏淡、苇风萧索之情。以景写秋，含蓄而清冷，是「以景写秋」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the smartweed mist, the key of the ci's autumn scene. By the islets, the smartweed mist sparse and thin writes the islet and the mist — the by-the-islet the shore, the smartweed mist the thin vapor; the reed wind desolate writes the reed wind — the wind among the reeds, the desolation. Three lines, one the islet, one the thin mist, one the desolate wind, writing the shore, the vapor, the wind, exhausting the islet mist and the reed wind. Writing autumn through scene, restrained and cold, precisely the telling stroke of writing autumn through scene.
遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊。
For the traveler on the road, at such a sight his thoughts turn to the way back, grieving his life of drifting.
遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊。
It makes the traveler, at this moment, think of the way home, and grieve his drift.
此三句写念回程，是全词写其漂泊的关键。「遣行客、当此念回程」写遣行客当此念回程，「遣行客」写使行客、「当此念回程」写当此念回程；「伤漂泊」写伤漂泊，「伤」写伤、「漂泊」写漂泊。三句一写遣行客、一写当此念回程、一写伤漂泊，以遣行客写行客、以念回程写念归、以伤漂泊写伤漂泊，写尽遣行客当此念回程、伤漂泊之情。以客写愁，含蓄而深婉，是「以客写愁」的点睛之笔。
These three lines write the thought of the return road, the key of the ci's drift. It makes the traveler, at this moment, think of the way home writes the traveler and the thought — the makes the traveler, the at-this-moment return thought; and grieve his drift writes the grief — the grief, the drift. Three lines, one the traveler, one the return thought, one the drift grief, writing the wanderer, the home thought, the sorrow, exhausting the moment's return thought and the drift. Writing grief through the traveler, restrained and deep, precisely the telling stroke of writing grief through the traveler.
绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃。
Around the Yanling rapids, egrets fly and fish leap.
绕严陵滩畔，鹭飞鱼跃。
Around the bank of Yan Guang's ford, egrets fly and fish leap.
此二句写严陵滩畔，是全词以典写景的关键。「绕严陵滩畔」写绕严陵滩畔，用严陵滩之典写绕严陵滩畔；「鹭飞鱼跃」写鹭飞鱼跃，「鹭飞」写鹭飞、「鱼跃」写鱼跃。两句一写绕严陵滩畔、一写鹭飞鱼跃，以严陵滩畔写滩畔、以鹭飞鱼跃写鹭飞鱼跃，写尽绕严陵滩畔、鹭飞鱼跃之情。以典写景，含蓄而清丽，是「以典写景」的点睛之笔。
These two lines write the bank of Yan Guang's ford, the key of the ci's scene through allusion. Around the bank of Yan Guang's ford writes the ford's bank, using the Yan Ford allusion; egrets fly and fish leap writes the egret flight and the fish leap. Two lines, one the ford bank, one the egret and fish, writing the bank through the allusion, the motion through the flight and leap, exhausting the ford and the egrets and fish. Writing scene through allusion, restrained and fair, precisely the telling stroke of writing scene through allusion.
归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐。
Go home then! — with one strain of Zhongxuan's chant of the campaign's joys.
归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐。
Come home! A song of Zhongxuan's chant, the joy of the army.
尾三句写归去来，是全词立意的落点。「归去来、一曲仲宣吟」写归去来一曲仲宣吟，用仲宣从军之典写归去来一曲仲宣吟；「从军乐」写从军乐，「从军」写从军、「乐」写乐。三句一写归去来、一写一曲仲宣吟、一写从军乐，以归去来写归去、以一曲仲宣吟写仲宣之吟、以从军乐写从军之乐，写尽归去来、一曲仲宣吟、从军乐之情。以典写志，含蓄而深婉，是全词最动人处，也是「以典写志」的点睛之笔。
The last three lines write the come-home, the landing of the ci's theme. Come home! A song of Zhongxuan's chant, the joy of the army writes the Zhongxuan army allusion; the joy of the army writes the army's joy. Three lines, one the coming home, one the Zhongxuan chant, one the army joy, writing the return through the come-home, the chant through the allusion, the joy through the army, exhausting the return, the chant, and the joy. Writing the will through allusion, restrained and deep, the ci's most moving place, and the telling stroke of writing the will through allusion.
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Liu Yong's 'Eight Tones of Ganzhou' ('Facing the patter of evening rain spilling across the river sky — once washing the autumn clear') is the Song classic of the traveler's grief. Jiang Jie's 'Man Jiang Hong' answers with 'The evening rain has just ceased; the long river is still' and 'For the traveler on the road — at such a sight his thoughts turn to the way back, grieving his drifting life.' Both write of evening rain and the traveler: Liu Yong writes the rain while it falls, in the midst of homesickness; Jiang Jie writes the rain after it stops, gazing at the fishermen's lamplight and grieving his own homelessness. One is Liu Yong's clear splendor; the other Jiang Jie's restrained depth.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写暮雨羁旅、登高凝望，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；蒋捷《满江红》则以「暮雨初收，长川静、征帆夜落」「遣行客、当此念回程，伤漂泊」写暮雨初收、伤漂泊。两词同写暮雨羁旅、登高凝望：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写暮雨初收长川静征帆夜落、以暮雨写羁旅；一为柳永之清丽、一为蒋捷之深婉，并读正可见宋词写「暮雨羁旅」的两种笔法，皆于暮雨之中见羁旅。
浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯 Huanxi Sha: A New Song, a Cup of Wine 晏殊 · 同写羁旅感怀、归去之想，一写无可奈何花落去、一写归去来一曲仲宣吟从军乐，皆于羁旅之中见归去之想 Both write the traveler's lament and the wish to return — one 'helpless, the flowers fall away,' one 'Go home then! — one strain of Zhongxuan's chant.'Yan Shu's 'Huanxi Sha' ('Helpless, the flowers fall away; as if known before, the swallows return') writes the traveler's regret over passing springs. Jiang Jie's 'Man Jiang Hong' answers with 'What has my petty career in office amounted to, when all my life I have had a tryst with clouds and springs? Go home then!' Both write the traveler's lament and the wish to return: Yan Shu's is the gentle melancholy of the flowers and swallows; Jiang Jie's is the decisive withdrawal of one who has seen a dynasty fall. One is Yan Shu's mild warmth; the other Jiang Jie's restrained depth.
晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来」，写羁旅感怀，是宋词写惜时的名篇；蒋捷《满江红》则以「游宦区区成底事，平生况有云泉约」「归去来、一曲仲宣吟，从军乐」写云泉约、归去来。两词同写羁旅感怀、归去之想：一写无可奈何花落去、以花落燕归写惜时，一写归去来一曲仲宣吟从军乐、以归去写羁旅之想；一为晏殊之温润、一为蒋捷之深婉，并读正可见宋词写「羁旅归去」的两种笔法，皆于羁旅之中见归去之想。