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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

南乡子·登京口北固亭有怀

Southern Countryside Song: Recalling the Past at Beigu Pavilion, Jingkou

辛弃疾

Xin Qiji

爱国Patriotic 怀古Nostalgic for the Past 豪放Heroic and Unrestrained

何处望神州？
满眼风光北固楼。
千古兴亡多少事？
悠悠。
不尽长江滚滚流。
年少万兜鍪，坐断东南战未休。
天下英雄谁敌手？
曹刘。
生子当如孙仲谋。

Where to look for the lost Central Plains?
Only the view from Beigu Tower fills the eyes.
How many dynastic rises and falls through the ages?
Endless,
The mighty Yangtze rolls on and on.

In youth he led thousands of armored men,
Holding the southeast, war never ceased.
Among the world's heroes, who was his rival?
Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
To have a son, he should be like Sun Zhongmou.

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Meaning

The poet gazes from Beigu Pavilion towards the lost Central Plains, lamenting the endless rise and fall of dynasties like the flowing Yangtze. He recalls the young Sun Quan who ruled the southeast and fought without rest, praising him as the ideal hero, implying criticism of the current court's lack of such leaders.

从哪里能望见中原故土？眼前只有北固楼上的满眼风光。千百年来兴亡更替有多少事？悠悠不尽，只有那奔流不息的长江水滚滚东去。想当年孙权年少便统率万千兵马，据守东南征战不休。天下英雄谁是他的对手？只有曹操和刘备。生儿子就该像孙仲谋那样。

Appreciation

The poem contrasts the eternal river with the fleeting glories of history, using the heroic figure of Sun Quan to highlight the poet's patriotic concern for his country's perilous state. The style is bold and vigorous, with a rhythmic use of rhetorical questions and direct quotations.

【白话串讲】 “天下英雄谁敌手？曹刘。生子当如孙仲谋”——辛弃疾站在北固楼上，怀念少年英雄孙权：年纪轻轻就坐断东南。他是在借孙权，感叹自己空有一身本事。【意象与手法】上片“千古兴亡多少事？悠悠。不尽长江滚滚流”以设问接景语，化用杜甫“不尽长江滚滚来”，气势苍茫，时空交错【情感与主旨】此词作于宋宁宗开禧元年（1205），辛弃疾任镇江知府，登北固亭北望中原【名句点睛】常考“神州”所指（中原/沦陷区）；“悠悠”“滚滚”的意境与用典（杜甫）；孙权形象塑造与“曹刘”侧面烘托手法

Background

This poem was written in 1205 when Xin Qiji served as prefect of Zhenjiang. He ascended Beigu Pavilion and looked northward, feeling both hope for the planned Northern Expedition and worry about inadequate leadership. The poem expresses his nostalgia for the past and his anxiety for the future.

此词作于辛弃疾晚年出镇京口（今江苏镇江）时期。关于具体年份，邓广铭《稼轩词编年笺注》系于宋宁宗嘉泰四年（1204），亦有选本作开禧元年（1205）。嘉泰四年正月，韩侂胄谋议北伐，起用一批主战派旧臣，六十五岁的辛弃疾由闲居二十年的铅山家中被召，先任浙东安抚使，再调知镇江府，驻守江防重镇京口。北固亭在镇江东北的北固山上，下临长江，东眺扬州，北望中原，自古为登临怀古之地。辛弃疾登亭北望，眼前江水东流，心中翻涌的是南渡以来六十余年未复中原的积郁。此词与《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》大约作于同一时期，两首同题登临之作，一写孙权威震江东，一写刘裕金戈铁马，都借京口历史人物寄托恢复之志。所不同者，《永遇乐》沉郁顿挫，以史为鉴；此词则以问答起笔，气大声宏，末句「生子当如孙仲谋」更是直白酣畅。词中「神州」指沦陷的中原故土，这是南宋士人心头最沉重的词——陆游「但悲不见九州同」、张孝祥「长淮望断，关塞莽然平」，皆同一悲慨。辛弃疾南归已四十余年，从少年到暮年，收复之愿始终未酬，登亭之际，眼前的「满眼风光」与心中的「中原陆沉」形成对照，遂有此沉郁豪壮之作。词中「满眼风光」与「何处望神州」一正一反，北固楼的风光越是明媚，中原故土便越显渺茫，眼前之景与心中之痛的巨大反差，正是全词悲慨的起点，也是辛弃疾晚年登临词共同的抒情结构。

Art

The upper stanza uses a rhetorical question followed by a description of the rolling river, creating a vast historical perspective. The lower stanza employs the imagery of armor, rhetorical questions, and a direct quotation from Cao Cao to glorify Sun Quan, all within a tightly structured and powerful form.

此词上片写景怀古，下片论史言志，章法先开阔后凝聚，收束于一个斩钉截铁的论断。起句「何处望神州」以问领起，不写登楼而先问中原何在，将读者的视线直接引向沦陷区，北固楼的「满眼风光」反而成了无处望神州的映衬。「千古兴亡多少事」再发一问，「悠悠」二字为答，时间之绵长与兴亡之无尽，尽在其中；接以「不尽长江滚滚流」，从杜甫《登高》化出，以空间的永恒流动对应时间的无尽绵延，一问一答之间，把个体的登临悲慨提升为历史兴亡的浩叹。下片转入具体史事，「年少万兜鍪」五字写孙权十九岁继承父兄基业、坐断东南的气象，「坐断东南战未休」写其割据江东、与曹刘争衡的雄图。笔锋一转，「天下英雄谁敌手？曹刘」，借曹操「今天下英雄，唯使君与操耳」之语作反衬，抬高孙权；末句「生子当如孙仲谋」直接引曹操原话，借敌国枭雄之口盛赞孙权，而弦外之音正是对南宋朝廷无一「孙仲谋」的嘲讽。全词设问三度（何处望、多少事、谁敌手），层层推进，问答体造成口语般的顿挫，与《永遇乐》的典雅用典恰成对照，见出辛词豪放中亦能出之以质直的一面。此外，上片纯写景而情在其中，下片纯咏史而志在其外，两片之间以「悠悠」与「滚滚」的声口相接，气脉不断，章法严整而不板滞，正见稼轩晚年炉火纯青的造诣。

Allusions

'The helmet of ten thousand men' (兜鍪) symbolizes military might. 'Cao Cao and Liu Bei' alludes to the famous line from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms where Cao Cao said the only heroes in the world were himself and Liu Bei. 'A son should be like Sun Zhongmou' quotes Cao Cao's praise of Sun Quan, highlighting his prowess.

此词用典集中于下片，皆出《三国志》裴松之注。其一，「天下英雄谁敌手？曹刘」化用《三国志·蜀书·先主传》所载曹操之语「今天下英雄，唯使君与操耳」，此语本为曹操试探刘备，辛弃疾反用其意，以曹刘并列为孙权之「敌手」，愈见孙权之雄。其二，「生子当如孙仲谋」直引《三国志·吴书·吴主传》裴注引《吴历》：曹操见孙权军伍整肃，叹曰「生子当如孙仲谋，刘景升儿子若豚犬耳」。曹操此语本赞孙权治军有方，讥刘表之子庸懦，辛弃疾移用于此，表面咏史，实则以「豚犬」暗刺南宋当国者。其三，上片「不尽长江滚滚流」化用杜甫《登高》「无边落木萧萧下，不尽长江滚滚来」，杜诗写夔州秋景之萧瑟，辛词借其「滚滚」之势以状兴亡之无尽，化悲秋为怀古，承其意而变其境。「悠悠」二字可上溯《诗经·王风·黍离》「悠悠苍天」与《诗经·邶风·终风》「悠悠我思」，又暗合《论语·子罕》「逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜」的时间之叹，将「江水—时间—兴亡」熔于一炉。学界对此词下片是否「以孙权自况」有歧说：一说辛弃疾以孙权期许南宋，望有英主兴起；一说纯咏史以讽今。揆诸嘉泰年间韩侂胄仓促北伐的背景，辛弃疾对北伐既望又忧，此词的孙权书写，恐兼有期许与警示双重意味。而「满眼风光」与「不尽长江」一静一动，恰见怀古词以「景」运「史」、以「史」证「情」的章法，这也是稼轩怀古词区别于一般咏史词的关键所在。

Commentary

Critics praise this poem for its tragic grandeur and succinct power. It is often paired with Xin Qiji's other masterpiece, 'Eternal Joy, Recollecting the Past at Beigu Pavilion,' as twin masterpieces of the nostalgic ci poem style.

此词为辛弃疾晚年怀古名篇，历代词选多所收录。清初朱彝尊《词综》、张惠言《词选》等虽取向不同，于此词多不能舍。评点方面，陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》推稼轩词「仿佛魏武诗」，又谓其「气魄极雄大，意境却极沉郁」，可移评此词。周济《介存斋论词杂著》论稼轩「敛雄心，抗高调，变温婉，成悲凉」，正见此词于豪放中寓悲凉的品格。杨慎《词品》称辛词「慷慨纵横，有不可一世之概」，此词「生子当如孙仲谋」一句，正是「不可一世」的最好注脚。就接受史而言，此词与《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》同为「京口」书写的双璧，后世凡论辛弃疾镇江任上之作，无不并举。近人俞陛云《唐五代两宋词选释》评其「借古讽今，音节高亮」，唐圭璋《唐宋词简释》亦以「雄壮」「沉痛」标其风格。在传播层面，「生子当如孙仲谋」一句自晚清以来因民族危亡背景而广为传诵，与「天下兴亡，匹夫有责」等语并列为鼓动人心之辞。今人叶嘉莹论辛词，特拈「英雄失路」为稼轩词之根底，此词表面咏孙权之得志，暗处正写自身之失路，一扬一抑之间，正是其沉郁所在。要之，此词之所以传诵不衰，正在于它把「借古讽今」的怀古常格，写得既有历史的厚重、又有现实的锋芒，既有豪放的声口、又有沉郁的内核，短章而涵大义，是辛弃疾晚年词艺臻于化境的明证。

Prosody

Form Ci poem to the tune of 'Nanxiangzi', 56 characters with two stanzas, each having four lines and two level-rhyme endings (last line of second stanza adds one more rhyme).南乡子，双调五十六字，上下片各四平韵

Rhyme Follows the Level Rhyme of the Twelfth Rhyme Category, with rhyming words: zhou, liu (first stanza); xiu, liu, mou (second stanza).全词通押平水韵下平十一尤，韵脚为州、楼、悠、流、鍪、休、刘、谋八字，一韵到底，首句入韵

Tone pattern Rhetorical question style with three questions and three answers. Level rhymes create a heroic tone suitable for nostalgic praise.此调为双调平韵格，上片五句四平韵，下片五句四平韵，上下片结句均为二字句叠韵。辛词上片「何处望神州」平平仄平平，「满眼风光北固楼」仄仄平平仄仄平，下片「年少万兜鍪」平仄仄平平，句式以七言为主，间以二字短句，节奏先长后短，收束有力。

Reading note Climbing high to recall the past, contrasting Sun Quan's youthful defense of the southeast with the Southern Song's compromise, ending with Cao Cao's quotation to blend heroism and melancholy.《南乡子》有单调、双调两体。单调创自欧阳炯，双调则从冯延巳一体而来，上下片各五句四平韵。辛弃疾此词为双调正格，用韵极工整，八个韵脚同押平水韵下平十一尤，一韵到底，读来声气连贯、一气呵成。尤韵属开口呼，音色清亮悠长，与「悠悠」「滚滚」的浩渺意境正相配合，字音响亮而情感沉郁，形成声情之间的张力。此调最具特色处在于上下片第四句均为二字短句（悠悠、曹刘），二字独立成句且入韵，节奏陡顿，如鼓点敲击，使全词在七言长句的铺展之后收得短促有力，正合辛弃疾豪放质直、掷地有声的语言风格。二字句在格律上承担「换气」的功能，读时须略作停顿，方能见其顿挫之美。清人论此调，多谓其「宜于感慨」，辛弃疾以之写登临怀古，恰与词牌声情相得益彰。较之《永遇乐》的仄韵峭劲，《南乡子》平韵宽缓，故辛弃疾同写京口怀古，此词显得更为疏朗俊爽，而《永遇乐》则更为沉郁顿挫，二调声情之别，正可互证稼轩词声律造诣之深。

Line by line

何处望神州

Where can I gaze toward the Divine Land?

从哪里能望见中原故土？

From where can I gaze toward the central plain?

起句以问句破空而来，不落「登临」套语。「神州」本《史记·孟子荀卿列传》邹衍所言「赤县神州」，此处特指沦陷的中原故土。一个「望」字写尽渴望，一个「何处」道尽绝望——中原不可见，非因距离之远，实因山河之失。辛弃疾此时身在镇江，距淮河前线仅数百里，故土近在咫尺而不得归，「何处望神州」便不是地理之问，而是政治之问、命运之问。以问起笔，先声夺人，全词苍茫沉郁的基调由此奠定。这一问还暗含「登楼本为望神州」的潜台词——北固楼本是北望中原的胜地，如今登楼却无处可望故土，胜地遂成伤心地，一开篇便写尽了山河破碎、恢复无望的沉痛。

The opening comes as a question breaking through the air, not falling into the climb's set phrases. The Divine Land by nature the Red County Divine Land of Zou Yan in the Records, here specifically the occupied central plain. The one word gaze exhausting the longing, the one word from where exhausting the despair — the central plain invisible, not for the distance, but for the land's loss. Xin Qiji at this time in Zhenjiang, hundreds of li from the Huai front, the homeland near at hand and yet not returnable, hence Where can I gaze toward the Divine Land? not a geographical question, but a political one, a fate's question. Rising on the question, the voice striking first, the whole ci's vast, somber tone hence set. This question also secretly carries the subtext: the climb was meant to gaze at the Divine Land — the Beigu tower by nature the northward-gazing spot, and now climbing it and nowhere to gaze at the homeland, the scenic spot hence a grief spot, the opening exhausting the broken land and the unrecoverable grief.

不尽长江滚滚流

Only the endless Long River rolls ceaselessly east.

只有那奔流不息的长江水滚滚东去

Only the Long River's waters flow on, rolling east without end.

此句承「悠悠」而来，从时间的浩叹转入空间的壮景。长江东流，不舍昼夜，既是眼前实景，又是兴亡更迭的象征——江水亘古如斯，而人事代谢无常。化用杜甫「不尽长江滚滚来」，杜诗以之写秋气萧森，辛词以之写兴亡无尽，语面相同而意脉各别。江水滚滚与上句「悠悠」一纵一横，构成时空交织的阔大境界，为下片转入孙权的具体史事蓄势。同时，长江既是眼前实景，又暗喻历史长河，江水东去与孙权的「坐断东南」形成空间与时间上的双重呼应，使上下片由景入史、由史入情的转换显得自然无痕。

This line inherits the endless above, turning from the time's long sigh to the space's grand scene. The Long River flows east, day and night, at once the present scene and the symbol of the rise-and-fall's turns — the river as of old, and the human affair's ceaseless change. Borrowing Du Fu's the endless Long River rolls rolling down, Du's line for the autumn's gloom, Xin's for the endless rise and fall, the words the same and the veins each. The river's rolling and the above's endless, one vertical one horizontal, forming the time-space interwoven broad realm, storing the force for the second stanza's turning to Sun Quan's concrete history. Meanwhile, the Long River at once the present scene and the secret metaphor of the historical long river, the river's eastward flow and Sun Quan's holding the southeast forming the space-and-time double echo, making the upper-to-lower stanza's turning from scene to history and history to feeling natural and without trace.

年少万兜鍪

In his youth he commanded ten thousand helmets.

想当年孙权年少便统率万千兵马

I think of Sun Quan in his youth, commanding ten thousand troops.

「兜鍪」本指战士头盔，借代兵马，以「万兜鍪」写孙权麾下兵甲之盛。「年少」二字分量极重——孙权十八岁领江东，十九岁承兄业，少年而能坐断东南，与辛弃疾本人二十三岁率五十骑闯入金营、生擒叛将张安国的少年壮举遥相呼应。词人特拈「年少」，既是对孙权的追慕，也是对自我少年功业的回望，更是对朝廷中尸位素餐者的反照。辛弃疾特拈「年少」，还暗含一层今昔对照的悲凉——孙权少年而能雄据江东，自己少年时也曾闯营擒贼，而如今满朝文武，竟无一人能承当收复大业，追慕与痛惜，尽在二字之中。

Helmets by nature the warrior's helmet, metonym for the troops, the ten thousand helmets writing Sun Quan's armed might. The two words in his youth the weight extreme — Sun Quan taking the Jiangdong at eighteen, inheriting his brother's cause at nineteen, and in youth able to hold the southeast, echoing Xin Qiji's own twenty-three's ride of fifty riders into the Jin camp and the capture of the traitor Zhang Anguo. The poet's singling out the youth, at once the admiration of Sun Quan, the looking back on his own youth's feat, and the mirror held to the court's place-holders. The singling out also secretly carries the present-and-past contrast's bleakness — Sun Quan in youth able to dominate the Jiangdong, himself in youth once breaking the camp and seizing the traitor, and now the whole court, not one man able to shoulder the recovery, the admiration and the grief all within the two words.

生子当如孙仲谋

Raise a son and he should be like Sun Zhongmou.

生儿子就该像孙仲谋那样

A son should be raised to be like Sun Zhongmou.

末句径用曹操原话作结，是全词最直白也最沉痛处。曹操以敌国之主的身份赞孙权，已见孙权之雄；辛弃疾再以「生子」二字落脚，讽刺之意立现——南宋之君既不能复中原，又无一人可比孙权，「生儿子就该像孙仲谋」的反语，实是「为何无一人如孙仲谋」的悲愤。以口语入词而力透纸背，豪放之中藏着失路英雄的绝望，可谓一句千钧。词人不直斥南宋无人，而借曹操之言侧击，反语出之，讥刺愈深；同时「孙仲谋」又与开篇「何处望神州」遥相呼应，望神州而思仲谋，思仲谋而悲时无英雄，首尾回环，章法精严。

The close directly uses Cao Cao's own words, the ci's most direct and most grief-stricken place. Cao Cao as the enemy ruler praising Sun Quan, already showing Sun Quan's heroism; Xin Qiji landing on the two words raise a son, the irony at once present — the Southern Song ruler neither recovering the central plain nor having one man comparable to Sun Quan, the raise-a-son-as-Sun-Zhongmou reverse saying, in truth the why-is-there-not-one-like-Sun-Zhongmou grief. The colloquialism in the ci and yet the force through the paper, the heroism hiding the lost-road hero's despair, one word the weight of a thousand jun. The poet not directly charging the Southern Song's having no one, but striking sideways through Cao Cao's words, the reverse saying the deeper the satire; meanwhile Sun Zhongmou echoing the opening Where can I gaze toward the Divine Land? — gazing at the Divine Land and thinking of Zhongmou, thinking of Zhongmou and grieving the age's no hero, the head and tail circling, the craft rigorous.

Study

Word focus

神州 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「神州」一词是理解全词的关键。邹衍以「赤县神州」指中国，后世遂以「神州」为华夏故土的代称。南渡以后，中原沦于金人之手，「神州」便专指那片可望而不可即的沦陷区，成为南宋士人最沉重的政治词汇。辛弃疾以「何处望神州」发问，将「神州」置于全词之眼——此后满眼风光、千古兴亡、长江东流，无不是围绕「神州」而展开的情感辐射。词人不言「中原」而言「神州」，因「神州」更具华夏正统的意味，愈见其家国沦丧之痛。正因「神州」二字分量极重，全词的情感才不止于个人的登临感慨，而升华为一代人对中原故土与华夏正统的共同追念。

悠悠 The reduplicated word 'youyou' conveys endlessness and vastness, echoing the river. 「悠悠」二字是全词的点睛之笔。它既是「千古兴亡多少事」的答语，又是一个独立成句的韵脚，一字顿挫，声情并茂。「悠悠」兼摄时间之悠长与空间之悠远，可上溯《诗经·王风·黍离》「悠悠苍天」，又暗含《论语》「逝者如斯夫」的流水之叹。辛弃疾以叠字作答设问，以少总多，千言万语的兴亡感慨凝为两字，再以「不尽长江滚滚流」展开，虚实相生，正见词家以虚驭实的功力。叠字之中，时间的绵长、空间的悠远、心绪的怅惘三者交汇，读来声调悠长，与下句「滚滚」的奔涌之势相映，一静一动，愈见境界之苍茫。

坐断 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「坐断」意为据守、占据，是六朝以来习语。孙权「坐断东南」，一个「坐」字写出其据江东而从容自若的姿态，一个「断」字写出其割据一方、不容侵犯的威势，二字相合，少年英主的雄姿跃然纸上。此词若换作「割据」「占据」，则质实而无神采；「坐断」既有坐镇之从容，又有斩断之决绝，与下句「战未休」的进取之势相连，把孙权「年少」而能稳据东南的非凡气象写得虎虎有生气。而「坐断」所据者，正是下句「东南」半壁江山——以「断」字写割据之坚，反照今日南宋偏安之局，孙权之雄与朝廷之懦，遂在字里行间形成尖锐的对照。