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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

苏轼·临江仙·送钱穆父

Linjiang Xian · Seeing Off Qian Mufu

苏轼

Su Shi

豪放bold and unrestrained 送别seeing off

临江仙·送钱穆父一别都门三改火，天涯踏尽红尘。
依然一笑作春温。
无波真古井，有节是秋筠。
惆怅孤帆连夜发，送行淡月微云。
尊前不用翠眉颦。
人生如逆旅，我亦是行人。

Since we parted at the capital, three fires have changed;
You have trodden the red dust to the world's end.
Still you smile, and it is like the warmth of spring.
A true old well without waves, a bamboo of autumn with principle.
A lonely sail departs by night—how sad;
The moon is pale, the clouds thin, to see you off.
Before the cup no need for the green-browed to frown.
Life is like an inn; I too am a traveller.

Listen

Meaning

Since we parted at the capital, three years have passed by the changing of the fire; you have trodden the red dust to the world's end. Yet when we meet you still smile, warm as the breath of spring. Your heart is a true old well without waves; your principle is a bamboo of autumn with joints. Sad that the lonely sail departs by night; at the seeing-off there is only the pale moon and the thin clouds. Before the cup there is no need for the song-girl to knit her brows. Life is like a wayside inn; I too am but a traveller.

自京城一别，已历三度春秋改火；你踏遍天涯，走尽了红尘风浪。重逢时你依然淡然一笑，如春风般温煦。你心如古井无波，操守似秋竹有节。令人惆怅的是孤帆连夜启程，送行时分，唯有淡淡的月、微薄的云。宴前不必让歌女皱眉伤感。人生本如逆旅客舍，我也只是其中的一个行人罢了。

Appreciation

The upper stanza turns coldness into warmth with 'still you smile, and it is like the warmth of spring'; 'A true old well without waves, a bamboo of autumn with principle' likens Qian Mufu's calm heart and firm character to an old well and autumn bamboo, the allusion natural. The lower stanza 'pale moon, thin clouds' sets the parting sorrow with a clear scene, spare and implicit. The closing 'Life is like an inn; I too am a traveller' speaks straight from the breast, using the traveller-at-an-inn to liken life's drifting, raising a concrete parting to a philosophical thought on the human condition; the language is loose and pale yet the meaning deep, showing the bold, open and yet tender side of Su's lyrics.

【白话串讲】苏轼送别朋友钱穆父：“一别都门三改火，天涯踏尽红尘”——分别三年，各自天涯。“无波真古井，有节是秋筠”——说朋友的心像古井无波，节操像秋竹。“人生如逆旅，我亦是行人”——人生是客栈，我们都是过客。【意象与手法】上片以“一笑作春温”化冷漠为温情，“无波真古井，有节是秋筠”以古井秋竹喻钱穆父之心境高洁、操守坚贞，用典自然【情感与主旨】元祐六年（1091）春，苏轼于杭州送别好友钱勰（字穆父）。钱穆父此前出知越州，此次北归，二人于杭州相会又别【名句点睛】中高考常考本词的送别情怀与旷达胸襟。命题要点：①“无波真古井，有节是秋筠”运用比喻，赞友人淡泊高洁

Background

In the spring of 1091, Su Shi saw off his friend Qian Xie (styled Mufu) at Hangzhou. Qian had earlier been sent out as prefect of Yuezhou and was now returning north; the two met and parted again at Hangzhou. Su Shi, repeatedly demoted through life, was deeply close with Qian, and gave this lyric at parting. The upper stanza writes long separation and reunion and wandering the world's end; the lower writes the lonely sail departing by night and the open comfort amid pale moon and thin clouds. The whole lyric shows transcendence in parting, without the womanly clinging of wet handkerchiefs—just Su Dongpo's open-minded 'Life is like an inn; I too am a traveller.'

苏轼《临江仙·送钱穆父》作于宋哲宗元祐六年（1091）春。其时苏轼知杭州，友人钱勰自越州北归，途经杭州，二人相会又别，苏轼作此词送行。钱勰，字穆父，钱塘人，元祐初以龙图阁待制知开封府，元祐三年因论事忤执政，出知越州，元祐六年移知瀛洲，此即词中「天涯踏尽红尘」的仕途行迹。苏轼与钱勰同朝为官，气味相投，皆于元祐党争中屡有迁谪，故「一别都门三改火」不独记岁月之隔，亦含同病相怜之意。词中「改火」用古代寒食节改换新火之制，一岁一改，三改火即三年，可见自二人京城之别至杭州重聚，恰历三载。苏轼此时历经乌台诗案、黄州贬谪，又于元祐间数度出入朝廷，阅尽荣辱，故「人生如逆旅，我亦是行人」的慨叹，不是泛泛的送别套语，而是饱经浮沉后的彻悟。此词题曰送别，实则借送别以自道胸臆，是苏轼晚期词风由豪放转入旷达内敛的代表作之一。苏轼与钱勰的交往，可溯至元祐初同朝之时。钱勰为人刚直，出使高丽、典掌开封皆有政声，然亦因论事忤时相而外放，与苏轼「同是天涯沦落人」的遭际暗合。故此词虽短，而「天涯踏尽红尘」一句，实含两人共同的宦海之感，非泛泛的客套所能尽。钱勰后改知瀛洲，苏轼则于元祐间数度出入朝廷，二人终以文字相酬，此词遂成其患难之交的见证。

Art

此词以「送别」为骨，而意在「自适」。上片追忆与赞美，下片叙别与自解，章法井然。起句「一别都门三改火，天涯踏尽红尘」，以「三改火」的精确纪年与「踏尽红尘」的概括行程对举，一实一虚，写尽了钱穆父离京三年的宦海奔波。「依然一笑作春温」，一个「笑」字点出友人历经风霜而心志不改的温润，「作春温」以春之温煦喻其笑容，暖意顿生。接着「无波真古井，有节是秋筠」二句，以古井之无波、秋竹之有节双喻钱穆父的淡泊与坚贞，用典化白句而无痕。下片「惆怅孤帆连夜发，送行淡月微云」，写送别实景，孤帆、淡月、微云，皆是极淡的意象，衬出别情的清冷而不浓烈。「尊前不用翠眉颦」，劝歌女不必蹙眉，是苏轼以旷达化解离愁的惯用笔法。结句「人生如逆旅，我亦是行人」，由送人转而自道，把个体的离别放到人生如寄的宏大背景中，遂使全词的愁情升华为一种超脱。全词以理遣情，情在理中，是苏轼「寄至味于淡泊」的典范。细味此词，其「淡」并非无味，而是将浓情化入理语——上片「古井」「秋筠」的赞语，下片「淡月微云」的景语，皆是淡笔，而情之真挚自见。宋人论诗有「枯淡」一路，谓外枯而中膏，苏轼此词正是词中的「枯淡」之境，看似平易，实则咀嚼不尽。故陈廷焯以「高情远致」评之，正指其淡语之中，自有一段深情远韵。

Allusions

'A true old well without waves' transforms Bai Juyi's 'To Yuan Zhen'—'an old well of water without waves, a bamboo of autumn with joints'—using the well's stillness and the bamboo's joints to praise the friend's clear heart and firm character; 'autumn bamboo' is simply autumn bamboo. Also 'Life is like an inn' takes the old saying 'life is like an inn, I too am a traveller,' where 'inn' means a lodging, likening life to a sojourn. The whole lyric uses allusions without a trace, all melted from former poets into his own—both elegant and natural, showing Su's deep mastery of old matter.

此词用典化句，皆有所自而浑然无迹。「无波真古井，有节是秋筠」二句，直接脱化自白居易《赠元稹》诗「无波古井水，有节秋竹竿」。白居易此诗本为赠挚友元稹而作，以古井水之无波状心境之平静，以秋竹竿之有节状节操之坚贞。苏轼借以移赠钱穆父，既承白诗之意，又与「同心友」的语境暗合，一典而兼得写人与见志之效，且「筠」字换「竿」，更见文雅。「改火」用寒食节钻燧改火之制，出《论语·阳货》「钻燧改火」及《周礼》司爟氏「季春出火」之文，一岁一改，遂以「三改火」代三年。「红尘」本指闹市车马扬起的尘土，出班固《西都赋》「红尘四合，烟云相连」，后引申为俗世，此处指钱穆父所历的仕途风尘。「人生如逆旅」化用《庄子·知北游》「悲夫，世人直为物逆旅耳」及李白《春夜宴从弟桃花园序》「夫天地者，万物之逆旅也；光阴者，百代之过客也」。「我亦是行人」又与《古诗十九首》「人生天地间，忽如远行客」一脉相通。全词化用前人，而不着一丝牵强，正是东坡「用典如盐入水」的高妙。又「无波真古井，有节是秋筠」之「筠」字，本指竹之青皮，后遂为竹之雅称，苏轼易白氏「竹竿」为「秋筠」，一字之换，既避俚俗，又添秋意，与「秋筠」之节的时序感相合，愈见其于化用中的推敲之功。化白氏成句而能点铁成金，此正苏黄所谓「夺胎换骨」之法。

Commentary

Su Shi's lyric has long been admired for its openness. The Qing critic Chen Tingzhuo praises Su's lyrics as 'transcendent beyond things, like Liezi riding the wind'; this lyric's closing line shows the bearing best. The modern Wang Guowei says Su's lyrics 'in openness yield nothing to Bai Juyi.' To write parting yet not a mournful word, but comfort with 'traveller at an inn,' shows his breast fully. The word 'open-minded' is the best note to Su's life, and this lyric is one of its instances.

《临江仙·送钱穆父》在苏轼词中虽非最煊赫者，然其「人生如逆旅，我亦是行人」一句，已成千古传诵的名句，其接受史亦颇可观。宋人即已赏其旷达，黄庭坚论苏词尝有「东坡词，胸中无一事，故能超然」之叹，虽不专指此词，实可移评其结句的超脱。明代词学不振，然杨慎《词品》录东坡词多首，对此词「无波真古井，有节是秋筠」之化用白居易，特为表出，谓「东坡善翻古人语，青出于蓝」。清代词论家对此词评价尤高。刘熙载《艺概·词曲概》谓东坡词「无意不可入，无事不可言」，此词以送别为体而寓人生如寄之思，正是「无事不可言」的例证。陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》虽于东坡词偶有微词，然亦承认其「高情远致」为词家所不可及。近代俞陛云《唐五代两宋词选释》评此词「临分不作儿女态，语语达观而情弥深挚」，点出其「以达观写深情」的特质。今人对此词的接受，多聚焦于「人生如逆旅」的哲理，然细按其全篇，其动人处实在于「旷达之语」背后的「不舍之情」——苏轼越是说得超脱，越见其对友情的珍重，此正是此词历久不衰的根由。此外，此词在体制上为《临江仙》中的名篇，后世填此调者多化用「人生如逆旅」之意，元好问、纳兰性德词中皆有其痕，可见其名句的辐射力已溢出送别一体，而成为「人生如寄」母题的经典表达。

Prosody

Form Lyric, 'Linjiang Xian' double-tune fifty-four characters词（临江仙，中调）

Rhyme Level rhyme, three level rhymes per stanza (by ci-lin rhyme book)押平声韵，属词林正韵第六部（真文韵），上片韵脚为尘、温、筠，下片为云、颦、人，上下片各三平韵，一韵到底。

Tone pattern Level-oblique by tune, first line enters rhyme, level onset中调依谱填词，此词声调平缓悠远，与旷达词境相合。上片「依然一笑作春温」七字中「一笑」二字入声短促，其余皆平，读来有顿而后畅之致；下片「尊前不用翠眉颦」以「不用」二字去声领起，劝解之态宛然。

Reading note Su's 'Linjiang Xian' is loose, open and transcendent, not ornate; the closing line shows the spirit best.《临江仙》一词，双调，五十四字（此首），上下片各三平韵。苏轼此首用韵全押第六部真文韵，韵脚尘、温、筠、云、颦、人，皆属真文，音色浑厚而悠长，与「人生如逆旅」的深沉哲理正相配。此调上下片句式相同，皆七字、六字、七字、五字结构，平仄严整，读来有回环往复之感，最宜于低回咏叹。苏轼填此调，特重末句的收束之力：「无波真古井，有节是秋筠」以五字对偶收上片，斩截有力；「人生如逆旅，我亦是行人」以两个五字短句收全篇，一前一后，前句设喻、后句点题，声调由平转宕，戛然而止而余味不尽。宋人填《临江仙》，或缠绵（晏几道「落花人独立，微雨燕双飞」），或疏朗，苏轼此首以真文韵的厚重，配「淡月微云」的清空意象，声情与词境达到了一种「淡而远」的和谐，是词中声文合一的佳例。故清人论《临江仙》一词，每以东坡此作为「淡远」一格的代表，其声律之平缓悠长，正与「淡月微云」的词境互为表里。

Line by line

一别都门三改火，天涯踏尽红尘

Since we parted at the capital gate, three fires have been relaid; you have trod the world's ends through the dust.

自京城一别，已历三度春秋改火；你踏遍天涯，走尽了红尘风浪

Since the capital-gate parting, three years have passed by the cold-food fire change; you have trod the world's ends through the dust of travel.

两句一写时间，一写空间，合写钱穆父离京三年的仕途行迹。「三改火」用寒食改火之制，精确地记下别后岁月，看似平淡，实含久别重逢的感慨；「踏尽」二字下得有力，一个「尽」字写透了友人在天涯奔波、历遍风尘的辛劳，也暗含苏轼对其遭际的理解与同情。苏轼自己亦是「天涯踏尽」之人，从黄州到杭州，一路贬谪流离，故此二句看似写友，实则亦有自况之意。以纪年的精确与行程的概括相配，实虚相生，为下文「依然一笑」的温厚设下铺垫——正因历尽风霜，那一笑才显得格外可贵。

Two lines one writing time, one writing space, jointly writing Qian Mufu's out-of-capital three years' official tracks. The three-fires-relaid using the cold-food fire-change system, precisely recording the post-parting years, seeming plain, and yet carrying the long-parting's reunion feeling; the trod-through two words laid with force, the one jin word writing through the friend's world-end-running and dust-experiencing toil, and secretly Su Shi's understanding-and-sympathy for his lot. Su Shi himself also the world-end-trodden person, from Huangzhou to Hangzhou, the route's exile-and-drift, hence these two lines seeming writing the friend, and yet actually also carrying the self-portrait. Using the era's precision and the journey's summary's matching, the solid-and-void's mutual birth, storing the ground for the below's still-one-smile warmth — precisely because of the wind-and-frost's traversed, that smile's especially precious.

无波真古井，有节是秋筠

A true old well without waves, a bamboo of autumn with principle.

你心如古井无波，操守似秋竹有节

A wave-less well, truly; a bamboo with joints, the autumn bamboo.

此二句是全词刻画友人人格的工对，脱化自白居易「无波古井水，有节秋竹竿」。古井之水，沉寂无波，喻心境之淡泊宁静；秋日之竹，有节不屈，喻操守之坚贞不移。两句一写「内」的平静，一写「外」的挺拔，一柔一刚，共同勾勒出钱穆父历经风波而不改其度的品格。「真」「是」二字是断语，斩截有力，见出苏轼对友人的深知与激赏。而这一对友人的赞词，又何尝不是苏轼的自许——他一生数遭贬谪而志节不改，古井之静、秋筠之节，正是他所向往并践行的人格。以白句写人，而意兼自况，是此联的高妙处。

These two lines are the whole ci's character-portrait crafted couplet, derived from Bai Juyi's wave-less-ancient-well-water-and-jointed-autumn-bamboo-stalk. The ancient-well water's still-and-wave-less, the mind's detachment-and-peace metaphor; the autumn bamboo's jointed-and-unyielding, the integrity's loyalty-and-firmness metaphor. Two lines one writing the inner stillness, one writing the outer uprightness, one-soft-one-firm, jointly outlining Qian Mufu's storm-traversed-and-yet-not-altered character. The truly and is two words the judgment, decisive and forceful, seeing Su Shi's deep-knowing-and-admiring-the-friend. And this praise for the friend, and yet how not Su Shi's self-claim — his life's repeated exiles and yet the will's unchanged, the ancient-well's stillness and autumn-bamboo's jointedness, precisely the personality he aspired to and practiced. Using Bai's line for the person-writing, and yet the meaning's self-portrait also, this couplet's subtlety.

惆怅孤帆连夜发，送行淡月微云

Sorrowful, the lone sail sets out in the night; to speed you off, a pale moon and faint clouds.

令人惆怅的是孤帆连夜启程，送行时分，唯有淡淡的月、微薄的云

Sorrowful, the lone sail sets out in the night; to speed you off, a pale moon and faint clouds.

此二句写送别的具体场景。「孤帆」二字见出友人旅途的孤独，「连夜发」点出行色匆匆，一个「连夜」已含离别的仓促与无奈。「淡月微云」四字是极清冷的景物——月是淡的，云是微的，没有浓墨重彩的渲染，恰与苏轼此时克制的情感相应。二句之间，前句写人之去，后句写景之留，人去而景在，愈显空旷寂寥。值得注意的是，苏轼写别离，不着一个「泪」字、不写一句缠绵，只以孤帆、淡月、微云这些近乎无色的意象，勾勒出一幅清空的水墨送别图，其情之淡，正反衬出情之深。这种「以淡写浓」的笔法，是苏轼后期词的显著特征。

These two lines write the send-off's concrete scene. The lone-sail two words seeing the friend's journey's loneliness, the sets-out-in-the-night pointing out the hurried departure, the one night already carrying the parting's haste-and-helplessness. The pale-moon-and-faint-clouds four words the extremely cool scene — the moon's pale, the clouds' faint, no heavy-color rendering, precisely matching Su Shi's then restrained emotion. Between the two lines, the above writes the person's going, the below writes the scene's staying, the person's gone and the scene's remaining, the void-and-loneliness the clearer. Worth noting, Su Shi's writing the parting, not landing one tear word, not writing one lingering line, only using the lone-sail, pale-moon, faint-clouds these near-colorless images, outlining an empty ink-wash send-off picture, its feeling's plainness, precisely setting off the feeling's depth. This plain-writes-deep brush, Su Shi's later-period ci's notable feature.

人生如逆旅，我亦是行人

Life is like an inn; I too am a traveller.

人生本如逆旅客舍，我也只是其中的一个行人罢了

Life is like an inn; I too am only a traveler there.

结句是全词的哲理升华，也是千古名句。「逆旅」即客舍，人生如旅店，人人皆为过客，这一思想上承《庄子》、李白《春夜宴从弟桃花园序》。苏轼以此自解，也以此慰人：既然人生不过是一段寄居的旅程，那么离别又有何可悲？你我是同路人，此去不过各奔前程。此句的高妙，在于它并非故作旷达，而是苏轼一生数遭迁谪、颠沛流离后的真实彻悟——唯有把人生看作家家都须经过的逆旅，才能对眼前的聚散坦然处之。以「我亦是行人」的平实收束，将送别之情与人生之思打成一片，语淡而味厚，遂成苏轼旷达人格最凝练的注脚。

The close is the whole ci's philosophic sublimation, and the through-the-ages famed line. The inn i.e. the lodging house, life like an inn, everyone the passerby, this thought inheriting Zhuangzi and Li Bai's Spring Banquet at the Peach-and-Plum Garden Preface. Su Shi using this for the self-consolation and for the other's comfort: since life's nothing but a lodged journey, then the parting what grief? You and I fellow travelers, this going's only the each-to-our-way. This line's subtlety, in its not the feigned openness, and yet Su Shi's life's repeated relegations and displacements' true awakening — only by seeing life as the inn every household must pass, then able to take the present gathering-and-parting calmly. Using the I-too-am-only-a-traveler plain close, fusing the send-off feeling and the life thought into one, the words' plain and yet the savor's thick, hence becoming Su Shi's open personality's most condensed note.

Study

Word focus

踏尽 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「踏尽」之「踏」，是脚踏实地的行走，「尽」则言其穷尽、遍及。「天涯踏尽红尘」五字中，「踏尽」最见分量：它不是泛言「行走天涯」，而是说钱穆父一步步踏遍了天涯的路、尝尽了尘世的味。「踏」字的质感，让人想见其在宦途中风尘仆仆、奔波劳顿之状；「尽」字则把这番辛劳推到了极致，言其无处不到、无苦不尝。二字合用，写出了友人仕途的艰与远，也写出了苏轼对这份辛劳的深切体认。若易「踏尽」为「历遍」「走尽」，皆不及「踏」字之沉着有力，此正是东坡炼字于平实处见功力的明证。

春温 The phrase 'warmth of spring' (chunwen) turns the coldness of long separation into a gentle human warmth, fixing the friend's unhurried, soothing smile in a single image. 「春温」二字，以季节之温写笑容之暖，是极精妙的移觉。笑本无形，而「春温」二字赋予其温度与质感——友人历经风霜，重逢时的那一笑，竟如春风般温煦，暖意透纸。「作春温」的「作」字，表明这温暖是友人主动给出的，是他在尝遍世态炎凉后仍能对人报以温厚，尤见其心性的可贵。以「春」状情，是中国诗歌的传统，如「惠风和畅」「如沐春风」，苏轼此处化而用之，以一个「温」字落到触觉，把抽象的友情写得可感可触。三字之间，友人的豁达与苏轼的欣慰，尽在不言。

行人 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「行人」二字是全词的收束与题眼。行路之人，本为寻常字面，然置于「人生如逆旅」之后，其意顿深：既然人生是逆旅，那么包括你我在内的每一个人，都不过是这旅舍中来去匆匆的行人。这个「行人」，既指即将启程的钱穆父，也指苏轼自己，更泛指天下一切在人生路上奔波的人。以「行人」自况，便消解了离别的特殊悲感——你走，我也走，人生本就没有长驻之客，何必为一次分袂而伤怀？二字平白如话，却承载了苏轼对人生最透彻的体悟，使全词的愁情在哲理的高度上获得了超越。