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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

木兰花

Mulanhua (Magnolia Blossom)

钱惟演

Qian Weiyan

城上风光莺语乱。
城下烟波春拍岸。
绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断。
情怀渐变成衰晚。
鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换。
昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅。

On the city wall the spring scene, orioles warble in clamorous song;
below the wall the misty waves, spring waters beat upon the shore.
Green willows and fragrant grasses — when will they ever cease?
My tear-dimmed eyes and grief-torn heart have already broken before them.
My feelings slowly turn to those of failing years.
In the luan mirror I am startled to find my ruddy cheeks secretly changed.
In former years, often sick, I wearied of the fragrant cup;
today I only fear the fragrant cup is filled too shallow.

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Meaning

Written in Qian Weiyan's old age, this lyric mourns the passing of spring as a mirror of his own decline. The endless greenery of spring becomes an unbearable contrast to his grief-worn heart, while the mirror reveals a face he no longer recognizes. His final turn to wine — once shunned for health's sake, now feared to run out — shows a man seeking to drown his sorrows in drink.

城上风光，莺语纷乱。城下烟波，春潮拍岸。绿杨芳草几时能休，泪眼愁肠，先已断绝。情怀渐渐变成衰晚。鸾镜中的朱颜，惊觉暗换。昔年多病，厌弃芳尊；今日芳尊，惟恐酒浅。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The first stanza opens with a broad spring panorama: orioles clamoring on the city wall above, spring tides slapping the bank below. Yet the poet, instead of delighting, asks when the green willows and fragrant grasses will ever end — for his heart is already broken. The second stanza turns inward: his mood decays with age, and the mirror reveals a countenance secretly exchanged. The closing couplet reverses his lifelong habit: once illness made him loathe wine; now he dreads an empty cup. [Structure] The lyric moves from outer scene to inner feeling, from spring's abundance to personal decay, and finally to wine as refuge — a three-stage descent from landscape to self to solace. [Imagery] The device of writing sorrow through joyous scenery is masterful: the louder the orioles and the higher the spring tides, the lonelier the aging poet feels. The single word startled in the mirror line captures the shock of self-recognition, while shallow at the close compresses a lifetime of regret into one anxious glance at the cup.

【白话串讲】钱惟演写《木兰花》：“城上风光莺语乱。城下烟波春拍岸”——“绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断”——“情怀渐变成衰晚。鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换”——“昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅”——他写春暮——泪眼愁肠先已断。【意象与手法】 “城上风光莺语乱。城下烟波春拍岸”写春光之盛；“绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断”写春恨之深；“情怀渐变成衰晚。鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换”写衰年之叹；结以“昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅”写借酒消愁。于伤春中见衰年之悲。【情感与主旨】钱惟演晚年之作，写衰年之感与惜时之叹，由伤春而及自伤，以“今日芳尊惟恐浅”写借酒浇愁之况，是宋初词中的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断”以泪眼愁肠写春恨；“昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅”以芳尊惟恐浅写借酒消愁。

Background

Qian Weiyan (977–1034), courtesy name Xisheng, was a native of Lin'an (modern Hangzhou). The son of Qian Chu, the last king of Wuyue, he served the Northern Song and rose to the rank of commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs. A leading figure of the Xikun style, he was famed for ornate, allusive verse. This Mulanhua lyric is generally regarded as a work of his later years, after demotion, when his ardor for office had cooled and he brooded on the approach of old age. Written within the early Song tradition of seasonal and 'boudoir' lyrics, it stands out for folding public grandeur into private sorrow.

《木兰花》为北宋词人钱惟演所作词。钱惟演（977—1034），字希圣，临安（今浙江杭州）人，吴越王钱俶之子，北宋初年词人，「西昆体」代表作家之一，官至枢密使。此词为钱惟演晚年之作。词中「城上风光莺语乱，城下烟波春拍岸」写春光之盛；「绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断」写春恨之深；「情怀渐变成衰晚。鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换」写衰年之叹；「昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅」写借酒消愁之况。钱惟演晚年贬谪，宦情衰晚，此词写其衰年之感与惜时之叹，于伤春中见衰年之悲，是宋初词中的名篇，也是「西昆体」词人写感伤之作的典型体现。此篇《木兰花》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《木兰花》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's craft lies in its mutual generation of scene and emotion. Stanza one pairs two panoramic couplets — orioles on the wall, tides below it — establishing spring's brilliance, only to let the speaker's tear-dimmed eyes cut through it. The contrast between spring's infinitude ('when will they cease?') and the heart that breaks before them gives the sorrow its measure. Stanza two uses the mirror as pivot: the ruddy cheeks secretly changed make aging an event of shock rather than gradual process. The finale is built on a perfect antithesis — in former years against today — converting a change in drinking habits into a history of the soul, from protecting the body to drowning grief. Economy is total: four short stanzas carry a complete arc from scenery to resignation.

此词艺术上以「情景相生、于伤春见衰年」见长。全词上片写春景与春恨，下片写衰年之感。上片「城上风光莺语乱，城下烟波春拍岸」写春光之盛：城上风光，莺语纷乱；城下烟波，春潮拍岸。写春景之明媚热闹；「绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断」写春恨之深：绿杨芳草几时能休，泪眼愁肠先已断绝。以绿杨芳草写春光之无尽、以泪眼愁肠写春恨之深。下片「情怀渐变成衰晚。鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换」写衰年之叹：情怀渐渐变成衰晚，鸾镜中的朱颜惊觉暗换；「昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅」写借酒消愁之况：昔年多病厌弃芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐酒浅。全词情景相生，于伤春中见衰年之悲，是宋初词中的名篇。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

The imagery draws on the lyric tradition: oriole talk conventionally signals spring's vitality, echoing Wei Yingwu's oriole lines. The luan mirror — a mirror inlaid with the luan bird — is the classic boudoir mirror before which a woman checks her fading looks; Qian turns it on his own aging. Ruddy face is the standard trope for youth, and fragrant cup for wine appears throughout Tang-Song verse. None of these are hard allusions; Qian absorbs them so seamlessly that the borrowed diction becomes personal testimony, which is precisely the Xikun masters' ideal of allusion without visible seam.

词中「莺语」「鸾鉴」「朱颜」「芳尊」等语，皆含典故故实。「莺语」写黄莺之鸣，古诗词多以莺语写春之生机（韦应物「上有黄鹂深树鸣」）；「鸾鉴」指饰有鸾鸟图案的镜子，为闺中妆镜，「鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换」写对镜惊觉容颜暗换；「朱颜」指青春红润之容颜，「朱颜暗换」写容颜已老；「芳尊」指盛美酒的酒杯，「昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅」写从厌酒到惟恐酒浅之变。词人以莺语、鸾鉴、朱颜、芳尊等意象入词，不着痕迹，而把春景之美与衰年之悲写得真切可感，是善于熔铸意象的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

This Mulanhua is the best-known survivor of Qian Weiyan's lyric output and a fixture of anthologies from Song times on. Critics prize the closing couplet — once shunned for illness, now dreaded shallow — as a supreme instance of feeling conveyed through reversal of habit. Later readers, from Qing anthologists to modern scholars, have read the piece as the confession of a fallen aristocrat: the last king's son, demoted in old age, measuring his decline against spring's indifference. Its frankness about aging gave later ci writers a new emotional register beyond the boudoir conventions of the Five Dynasties.

这首《木兰花》，是钱惟演晚年之作，写衰年之感与惜时之叹，于伤春中见衰年之悲。上片写春景与春恨：「城上风光莺语乱，城下烟波春拍岸」——城上风光，莺语纷乱；城下烟波，春潮拍岸。写春景之明媚热闹：城上莺语纷乱，城下春潮拍岸，一片生机盎然的春光。然而这热闹的春光，正反衬其内心的落寞；「绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断」——绿杨芳草几时能休，泪眼愁肠，先已断绝。绿杨芳草，年年生长，几时能休；而看这春光的人，已是泪眼愁肠，先已断肠。春光无尽而愁肠先断，正是以景之无穷写情之深痛。下片写衰年之叹：「情怀渐变成衰晚。鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换」——情怀渐渐变成衰晚。鸾镜中的朱颜，惊觉暗换。情怀渐衰，镜中朱颜暗换，「惊」字写其对衰老之惊觉——忽然发现，自己已垂垂老矣；「昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅」——昔年多病，厌弃芳尊；今日芳尊，惟恐酒浅。昔年因病厌酒，今日却惟恐酒浅，从厌酒到恐酒浅，正是从惜身到借酒消愁之变——惟恐酒浅，正是想借酒浇愁、浇这衰年之愁。这一结，以「惟恐浅」写尽衰年借酒消愁之况，是全词最动人处。全词情景相生，于伤春中见衰年之悲，正是宋初词写感伤之情的名篇，也是钱惟演「西昆体」词人的感伤之作。

Prosody

Form Ci (lyric) on the Mulanhua tune — a double-diao (two-stanza) form of fifty-six characters, four lines to each stanza.词（木兰花，双调）

Rhyme The lyric rhymes in oblique (falling) tones: in the first stanza luan, an and duan belong to the oblique han rhyme group, with wan of the same family; in the second stanza huan and qian rhyme in the xian group. The hard, falling rhyme sounds are unusually expressive for a spring lyric, giving the lament a clipped, choking cadence.此词为《木兰花》调，双调五十六字，上片下片各四句。押仄声韵：上片「乱」「岸」「断」押翰部韵，「晚」韵；下片「换」「浅」押铣部韵。词体依词谱而定，句式长短错落，音节随情起伏，正与写衰年之叹的感伤相称，也见其以词写伤春感伤的自然。

Tone pattern Line lengths alternate between seven- and five-character units, so the cadence swings with the feeling: the panoramic couplets move with spring's bright bustle; the line about green willows slows into a grieving question; the line about feelings turning to failing years drags with the syllables of decay; and the closing couplet settles into the flat, rueful measure of an old drinker.句式上，上片「城上风光莺语乱，城下烟波春拍岸」写春景，音节明快；「绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断」写春恨，音节沉痛；下片「情怀渐变成衰晚」写衰年，音节迟缓；「鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换」写对镜惊老，音节顿挫；「昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅」写借酒消愁，音节感慨。全词音节随情起伏，由明快而沉痛、由迟缓而感慨，正合词体「长短句」之妙，读来如衰年之人感春伤怀之音，感伤而动人。

Reading note As an early Song Mulanhua lyric, the piece shows how the form's short stanzas suit concentrated emotion. The poet matches sound to sense throughout: the oblique rhymes give the spring lament a hard edge unusual in seasonal verse, and the final couplet's parallel structure (former years against today) lets the tone-pattern itself enact the reversal of a lifetime, closing the poem on a note of rueful self-mockery rather than open weeping.此词为《木兰花》调，是钱惟演晚年之作，也是宋初词写感伤之情的名篇。全词的艺术特色在于「情景相生、于伤春见衰年」：上片「城上风光莺语乱，城下烟波春拍岸」写春光之盛，「绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断」以春光之无尽写春恨之深；下片「情怀渐变成衰晚。鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换」写衰年之叹，「昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅」写借酒消愁之况。全词情景相生，于伤春中见衰年之悲。尤为精妙者，是「昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅」以昔年与今日之对写从厌酒到恐酒浅之变，借酒消愁之意宛然；而「鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换」一「惊」字，写尽对衰老之惊觉，正是宋初词人于词中写衰年之感伤的典范，为历代词选所常收。

Line by line

城上风光莺语乱。

On the city wall the spring scene, orioles warble in clamorous song.

城上风光，莺语纷乱；城下烟波，春潮拍岸。

Above the walls, the scenery is fair and the orioles' cries are tangled; below the walls, the misty waters and the spring tide beat the bank.

首二句写春光之盛，起笔即见春景之明媚。「城上风光莺语乱」写城上风光、莺语纷乱，「城上风光」写城上之春景，「莺语乱」写黄莺纷乱鸣叫，一片生机；「城下烟波春拍岸」写城下烟波、春潮拍岸，「城下烟波」写城下之烟波浩渺，「春拍岸」写春潮拍打堤岸。两句一写城上之莺语、一写城下之春潮，上下一片明媚热闹的春光，写尽春景之盛。然这热闹的春光，正为后文写春恨、衰年作反衬——以春光之盛反衬心境之衰，是「以乐景写哀情」的妙笔。

The opening two lines write the spring's splendor, the fair scene present at the first stroke. Above the walls, the scenery is fair and the orioles' cries are tangled writes the wall-top spring and the tangled orioles, a stir of life; below the walls, the misty waters and the spring tide beat the bank writes the city foot's mist and the tide's beating. Two lines, one the orioles above the wall, one the tide below, the upper and lower a bright, bustling spring, exhausting the splendor. And this bustling spring precisely sets off the below's spring grief and the old age — writing the mood's decline through the spring's splendor, precisely the wondrous brush of writing grief through delighted scene.

绿杨芳草几时休，泪眼愁肠先已断。

Green willows and fragrant grasses — when will they ever cease? My tear-dimmed eyes and grief-torn heart have already broken before them.

绿杨芳草几时能休，泪眼愁肠，先已断绝。

The green willows and fragrant grass — when will they end? The tearful eyes and the grief-stricken bowels are broken already.

此二句写春恨之深，是全词由景入情的关键。「绿杨芳草几时休」写绿杨芳草几时能休，「绿杨芳草」写春色之浓，「几时休」写其年年生长、无有尽时；「泪眼愁肠先已断」写泪眼愁肠先已断绝，「泪眼愁肠」写其伤心之深，「先已断」写其先于春光之休而断肠。两句以绿杨芳草之无尽写春光之无穷、以泪眼愁肠之先断写其春恨之深——春光年年无尽，而看春光之人已先断肠。以景之无穷衬情之深痛，含蓄而有力，是「以景写情」的典范之笔。

These two lines write the spring grief's depth, the ci's key turn from scene to feeling. The green willows and fragrant grass — when will they end? writes the spring's lushness and the endless growing; the tearful eyes and the grief-stricken bowels are broken already writes the grief's depth and the breaking before the spring's end. Two lines, the spring's endlessness and the eyes' early breaking, writing the spring's infinitude and the grief's depth — the spring year after year without end, and the spring's watcher already broken. Setting the scene's infinitude against the feeling's deep pain, restrained and forceful, precisely the model brush of writing feeling through scene.

鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换。

In the luan mirror I am startled to find my ruddy cheeks secretly changed.

情怀渐渐变成衰晚。鸾镜中的朱颜，惊觉暗换。

The mood slowly turns to old age; in the bronze mirror, the red face has secretly changed, to my start.

此二句写衰年之叹，是全词写叹的关键。「情怀渐变成衰晚」写情怀渐渐变成衰晚，「情怀渐变」写其心境之渐变，「成衰晚」写其衰迈迟暮；「鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换」写鸾镜中的朱颜惊觉暗换，「鸾鉴」写其对镜，「朱颜暗换」写容颜在不经意间已老，「惊」写其对衰老之惊觉。两句一写心境之衰、一写容颜之老，以「渐变成衰晚」写其渐变、以「惊暗换」写其惊觉，写尽衰年之叹——忽然对镜，惊觉容颜已老。以「惊」写老，含蓄而有力，是「以镜写老」的点睛之笔。

These two lines write the old-age sigh, the key of the ci's sigh. The mood slowly turns to old age writes the temper's gradual change and the old age; in the bronze mirror, the red face has secretly changed, to my start writes the mirror and the startled change. Two lines, one the mood's decline, one the face's aging, writing the gradual change and the startled knowing, exhausting the old-age sigh — suddenly before the mirror, startled at the aged face. Writing age through the start, restrained and forceful, precisely the telling stroke of writing age through the mirror.

昔年多病厌芳尊，今日芳尊惟恐浅。

In former years, often sick, I wearied of the fragrant cup; today I only fear the fragrant cup is filled too shallow.

昔年多病，厌弃芳尊；今日芳尊，惟恐酒浅。

In former years, often ill, I disdained the wine cup; today I fear only that the cup is not full.

尾二句写借酒消愁之况，是全词立意的落点。「昔年多病厌芳尊」写昔年多病、厌弃芳尊，「昔年多病」写其当年因病而少饮，「厌芳尊」写其厌酒；「今日芳尊惟恐浅」写今日芳尊惟恐酒浅，「今日」与「昔年」相对，「惟恐浅」写其惟恐酒少。两句以昔年与今日相对，从「厌芳尊」到「惟恐浅」，正是从惜身到借酒消愁之变——当年因病厌酒，今日却惟恐酒浅，想借酒浇这衰年之愁。以「惟恐浅」写其借酒消愁之况，含蓄而深挚，是全词最动人处，也是「以酒写愁」的点睛之笔。

The last two lines write the wine-for-grief state, the landing of the ci's theme. In former years, often ill, I disdained the wine cup writes the old ill years' light drinking and the cup's dislike; today I fear only that the cup is not full writes the today and the fear. Two lines, the old and the today set against, from the disdained cup to the feared-shallowness, precisely the change from the treasuring of health to the wine-for-grief — the old dislike of wine through illness, today the fear the wine too shallow, wishing to drown the old-age grief in wine. Writing the wine-for-grief through the feared shallowness, restrained and deep, the ci's most moving place, and the telling stroke of writing grief through wine.

Study

Word focus

乱 Clamor describes the orioles' calls rising one over another; the word makes spring's noise almost overwhelming, a deliberate foil to the speaker's inner desolation — one syllable that paints the whole bustling scene. 「乱」字写莺语纷乱，是写春景之盛的关键。「城上风光莺语乱」着一「乱」，写黄莺纷乱鸣叫——着一「乱」字，写莺声之此起彼伏、热闹纷繁，见春之生机。一字写尽春景之热闹，为后文写春恨、衰年作反衬，是「以一字写景」的妙笔。「乱」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

惊 Startled captures the shock of suddenly recognizing one's own aging in the mirror; it turns the slow theft of youth into a moment of acute alarm, and is the emotional hinge of the lyric's lament for declining years. 「惊」字写对衰老之惊觉，是写衰年之叹的关键。「鸾鉴朱颜惊暗换」着一「惊」，写对镜惊觉容颜暗换——着一「惊」字，写其在不经意间忽见容颜已老的震惊，见其对衰老之猝不及防。一字写尽衰年之叹，是「以一字写老」的点睛之词。「惊」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

浅 Shallow voices the old man's fear that the wine in his cup is too little; measured against his former loathing of the cup, the single word exposes how completely drink has become his refuge from sorrow. 「浅」字写惟恐酒浅，是写借酒消愁之况的关键。「今日芳尊惟恐浅」着一「浅」，写今日惟恐酒浅——着一「浅」字，以恐酒少写其欲多饮以消愁，见其愁之深。一字写尽借酒消愁之况，与「昔年厌芳尊」相对，写尽从厌酒到恐酒浅之变，是「以一字写愁」的点睛之词。「浅」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

木兰花