All poems

宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

西江月·夜行黄沙道中

Moon over the West River · Walking on the Yellow Sand Path at Night

辛弃疾

Xin Qiji

田园Pastoral 写景Scenery 闲适Leisure

明月别枝惊鹊，清风半夜鸣蝉。
稻花香里说丰年，听取蛙声一片。
七八个星天外，两三点雨山前。
旧时茅店社林边，路转溪桥忽见。

Bright moon startles crows on the branch,
Clear wind brings cicadas at midnight.
In rice flower scent, they talk of a good year,
Listen to the frogs' chorus in delight.
Seven or eight stars twinkle beyond the sky,
Two or three raindrops fall before the hill.
The old inn by the woods near the shrine,
Turning the stream bridge, I see it still.

Listen

Meaning

On a summer night, the poet walks alone on the Yellow Sand Path. Moonlight startles the crows, wind carries cicada songs, and the scent of rice flowers and frog croaks herald a good harvest. A few stars and raindrops appear, and then the familiar inn suddenly comes into view after crossing a bridge.

夜色里，一轮明月越过枝头，惊飞了栖宿的喜鹊；半夜里清风徐来，送来阵阵蝉鸣。稻花的清香随风弥漫，仿佛在低声诉说着丰年的喜悦，耳边更是一片喧腾的蛙声。抬头望去，天边只缀着七八个疏星，山前却已飘落两三点微雨。那座熟悉的茅店，就坐落在土地庙旁的树林边，走过溪桥拐过弯，它忽然出现在眼前。

Appreciation

This poem captures the quiet beauty of a summer night in the countryside. The interplay of sounds (crows, cicadas, frogs) and sights (moon, stars, rain) creates a vivid, tranquil scene. The line about rice flowers and frogs is especially famous for personifying nature with a sense of joy and expectation.

【白话串讲】夏天的夜里，辛弃疾走在乡村小路上，听蝉鸣蛙叫，闻稻花香，忽然就看见那家熟悉的小店。这首词没有大道理，只有最治愈的夏夜——原来英雄也有这样的温柔时刻。【意象与手法】全词用白描，以口语化短句串起夏夜行旅。上片侧重听觉——鹊惊、蝉鸣、蛙鼓，以声写静【情感与主旨】辛弃疾中年罢官后，长期闲居江西上饶带湖、瓢泉一带近二十年。黄沙岭是其常游之地【名句点睛】常考田园词清新明快的风格与“以动衬静”“多感官（视听嗅）描写”手法；名句“稻花香里说丰年，听取蛙声一片”

Background

After being dismissed from his official post, Xin Qiji lived in retirement near Lake Tai and Piao Spring in Jiangxi for nearly twenty years. The Yellow Sand Hill was a frequent destination. This poem, written during that period, shows a rare pastoral side of the poet, reflecting his closeness to rural life and farmers.

此词作于辛弃疾中年罢官、闲居江西上饶带湖（及 later 瓢泉）时期，约在淳熙八年（一一八一）后。黄沙岭在上饶西四十里，高约十五丈，岭上有黄沙塘，辛弃疾常游其间，并有《黄沙书院》等作，对当地风物极为熟悉。南宋士大夫罢官后多退居乡里，辛弃疾闲居上饶近二十年，虽壮志难伸，却在田园山水间获得精神慰藉，写下大量清新闲适的田园词，此词即其中名篇。词记夏夜独行黄沙道中的见闻感受，以白描写乡村夏夜的幽静与丰年之兆，与其豪放悲愤之作异调，展现稼轩词风多元的一面。在文学传统上，田园题材自陶渊明、王维、孟浩然以降，至宋已成重要一脉；以词写田园则始于苏轼、继以辛弃疾病居江西时的田园组词，此词以夏夜行旅的鲜活片段，将隐逸闲适传统融入词体，语言浅近如口语而意趣盎然，是宋词田园题材的代表作，亦折射出南渡文人于仕隐之间的矛盾与调适。

Art

The poem uses plain language and a casual tone, focusing on sensory details. The first stanza emphasizes hearing (crows, cicadas, frogs) to highlight the stillness of the night, while the second stanza shifts to sight (stars, rain, the inn). The sudden appearance of the inn at the end adds a touch of delightful surprise, making the journey feel like a spontaneous discovery.

此词以白描见长，全篇如行云流水，以口语化短句串起夏夜行旅的鲜活画面，章法自然无痕。上片侧重听觉与嗅觉：「明月别枝惊鹊，清风半夜鸣蝉」以「惊鹊」「鸣蝉」写夜之静中之动，视听交织；「稻花香里说丰年，听取蛙声一片」以稻香写嗅觉、以蛙声写听觉，「说丰年」三字将无生命的稻花与蛙声拟人化，仿佛天地同庆丰稔，由景及情，温馨喜悦。下片写天气与路径的微妙变化：「七八个星天外，两三点雨山前」以疏星微雨写夏夜将变之兆，数量词「七八」「两三」极见口语的轻灵；「旧时茅店社林边，路转溪桥忽见」写于拐弯处忽见熟悉茅店的惊喜，「忽见」收束全篇，余味悠然。全词多感官描写（视、听、嗅）并用，以动衬静、以闹写幽，意象皆取乡村寻常风物（鹊、蝉、稻、蛙、星、雨、茅店、社林），语言如话家常而生机盎然，体现辛词「清空一气」、于平淡中见真趣的艺术造诣。全篇如行云流水，以口语化短句串起夏夜行旅的鲜活画面。上片侧重听觉与嗅觉，明月别枝惊鹊清风半夜鸣蝉以惊鹊鸣蝉写静中之动，稻花香里说丰年听取蛙声一片以稻香写嗅觉、蛙声写听觉，说丰年将稻花蛙声拟人化；下片写天气与路径变化，七八个星天外两三点雨山前以疏星微雨写夏夜将变，旧时茅店社林边路转溪桥忽见写忽见熟悉茅店之喜。多感官描写、以动衬静。

Allusions

'Bright moon startles crows' echoes Su Shi's line 'The moon startles the crows but they do not settle on the branch.' 'Seven or eight stars' and 'two or three raindrops' use numbers in a sparse, sketch-like style borrowed from Tang poetry. The frog croaks are personified as talking about the harvest, a fresh and inventive twist.

词中意象多承田园诗与隐逸传统。「明月别枝惊鹊」化用曹操《短歌行》「月明星稀，乌鹊南飞」之鹊意象，而翻出新境——曹诗写战乱流离之苍凉，辛词写夏夜幽静之清新，同一乌鹊而境遇迥异，可见脱胎换骨之妙；「别枝」指乌鹊离枝惊飞，亦暗合「月落乌啼」一脉的夜栖意象。「鸣蝉」「稻花」「蛙声」皆田园诗常见母题，自《诗经·七月》「五月鸣蜩」、稻田蛙鸣的农事书写一脉相承。「社林」之「社」指土地神，古以春社秋社祭神，社林即社庙周围树林，点出乡村祭祀文化空间；「茅店」为村野客舍，承唐人「借问酒家何处有」式的乡村旅宿书写。字词训诂上，「别枝」一作「离别树枝」，指月光移动惊起栖鹊；「见」此处同「现」，出现之意（路转溪桥忽见即忽现）；「社林」即土地庙旁的树林。用典皆融化于白描，不见堆垛，最见辛词田园小品「以俗为雅」的功力。明月别枝惊鹊化用曹操短歌行月明星稀乌鹊南飞而翻出新境，曹诗苍凉此句清新，可见脱胎换骨之妙；别枝指月光移动惊起栖鹊。鸣蝉稻花蛙声皆田园诗常见母题，自诗经七月、稻田蛙鸣农事书写一脉相承。社林之社指土地神，社林即社庙周围树林，点出乡村祭祀文化；茅店为村野客舍。见此处同现，出现之意。用典皆融化于白描，不见堆垛，最见以俗为雅之功。

Commentary

Qing critic Chen Tingzhuo noted Xin's poems as 'grand in spirit but deep in feeling.' However, this piece is purely leisurely. Modern scholars see Xin's style as both vigorous and gentle; this poem demonstrates his soft side, showing a serene mind amidst stars and frogs, balancing the common perception of him as a heroic poet.

此词自南宋以来即与苏轼田园词并称为宋词清新闲适一路的代表，亦为辛弃疾词风「刚柔并济」的明证——论者每赏其豪放，而此词之明丽悠淡足以矫「辛词一味叫嚣」之偏见。明人卓人月《古今词统》、清人许昂霄《词综偶评》皆称其「清丽如画」。近人论辛词题材之广，必举其闲适田园之作，此词「稻花香里说丰年，听取蛙声一片」尤为传诵，成为描写乡村夏夜与丰收喜悦的经典名句，常见于中小学教材与田园书写。在传播史上，此词以「口语入词而不失雅致」树立了宋词白描小品的范式，其多感官、以动衬静的手法常被作为写景教学的范例。与《清平乐·村居》并为辛弃疾病居田园词双璧，展现了这位爱国志士在金戈铁马之外的柔情与对民生丰乐的关切，丰富了对辛弃疾精神世界的完整理解。此词与苏轼田园词并称宋词清新闲适一路代表，亦为辛弃疾词风刚柔并济的明证，可矫辛词一味叫嚣之偏见。清许昂霄词综偶评称其清丽如画。稻花香里说丰年成为描写乡村夏夜与丰收喜悦的经典名句，常见于教材。此词以口语入词而不失雅致，树立宋词白描小品范式，其多感官、以动衬静手法常作写景教学范例，与清平乐村居并为田园词双璧，展现志士柔情与对民生丰乐的关切。

Prosody

Form Ci: Moon over the West River (双调五十字, alternating level and oblique tones)词·西江月（双调五十字）

Rhyme Level tone (下平一先): chan, nian, qian, bian; Oblique tone: que, pian, wai, jian此词上片押先韵（蝉、年，古音同部），下片换押（前、见，先寒通押），上下片各两平韵、两叶仄韵（西江月体制要求平仄互押），声情轻灵明快，宜写闲适小景。

Tone pattern 50 characters in two stanzas, each with two level-rhyme lines followed by two oblique-rhyme lines; patterns of 6,6,7,6 characters.双调五十字，上下片各两平韵、两仄韵（平仄互押），句式以六言为主，间以「七八个星天外，两三点雨山前」之对句，节奏轻快流转。

Reading note The alternating rhymes give a flowing, clear sound, matching the leisurely mood. The numerical pairs (seven-eight, two-three) are light and graceful, typical of Xin's pastoral ci.《西江月》为双调小令，体制特殊，要求上下片平仄韵互押（两平两仄），音节轻灵跳宕，最宜写清新闲适的小景小品。辛弃疾此词上片「蝉、年」平韵轻扬，写明月清风、稻香蛙鼓；下片「前、见」先寒通押，写疏星微雨、忽见茅店，声情明快如行云流水。句式以六言为主，而「七八个星天外，两三点雨山前」以数量对句写夏夜将变之兆，口语轻灵，「七八」「两三」虚数中见真趣。全词依调布景，多感官（视听嗅）描写并用，以动衬静，声情与田园闲适之情浑然相生，是短调小令白描清丽的典范。西江月为双调小令，体制特殊，要求上下片平仄韵互押，音节轻灵跳宕，最宜写清新闲适小景。上片蝉、年平韵轻扬，写明月清风、稻香蛙鼓；下片前、见先寒通押，写疏星微雨、忽见茅店，声情明快如行云流水。句式以六言为主，而七八个星天外两三点雨山前以数量对句写夏夜将变之兆，口语轻灵，七八两三虚数中见真趣。全词依调布景，多感官描写并用，以动衬静，声情与田园闲适之情浑然相生。

Line by line

明月别枝惊鹊，清风半夜鸣蝉。

The bright moon startles the crows from their branches; in the clear breeze at midnight, cicadas sing. This couplet uses movement to show stillness, with visual and auditory imagery creating a vivid, tranquil summer night scene.

夜色里，一轮明月越过枝头，惊飞了栖宿的喜鹊；半夜里清风徐来，送来阵阵蝉鸣。

The bright moon crosses a branch and startles the magpie; the clear wind at midnight brings the cicada's song.

起笔两句写夏夜之幽静与生机，是全词清丽的底色。「明月别枝惊鹊」写月光移动、惊起枝头栖鹊，以「惊」字写静中之动，反衬夜之幽寂；「清风半夜鸣蝉」以蝉鸣写风之清凉，听觉与触觉交织。二句对仗工稳（明月对清风、别枝对半夜、惊鹊对鸣蝉），却出之以极自然的口语，毫无雕琢。它脱胎于曹操「月明星稀，乌鹊南飞」而全然翻新——曹诗苍凉，此句清新，可见辛词熔铸古意而能自出机杼。这两句奠定了全词「以动衬静、以声写幽」的手法基调，让读者未读丰年已先入清凉之境。

The opening two lines write the summer night's quietness and vitality, the whole ci's fresh-plain ground. The bright-moon-crosses-a-branch-and-startles-the-magpie writing the moonlight's moving and the branch-perched magpie's start, using the jing word for the stillness's within-motion, setting off the night's seclusion; the clear-wind-at-midnight-brings-the-cicada's-song using the cicada's song for the wind's cool, the hearing-and-touch's interweaving. Two lines' parallel craft firm (bright-moon-to-clear-wind, branch-to-midnight, startled-magpie-to-singing-cicada), and yet in the extreme natural colloquial, no carving. It derives from Cao Cao's the-bright-moon-among-few-stars-and-the-crows'-southward-flight's and yet the complete renewal — Cao's poem bleak, this line fresh, seeing Xin's ci's ancient-meaning-fusion-and-yet-self-original craft. These two lines establish the whole ci's motion-sets-off-stillness and sound-writes-seclusion method tone, letting the reader's not-yet-reading-the-good-harvest's first-entered-the-cool-realm.

稻花香里说丰年，听取蛙声一片。

In the fragrance of rice flowers, they talk of a good year; listen to the chorus of frogs. Personification attributes human joy to frogs, turning nature's sounds into a promise of harvest, warm and serene.

稻花的清香随风弥漫，仿佛在低声诉说着丰年的喜悦，耳边更是一片喧腾的蛙声。

In the fragrance of rice blossoms they tell of a good year; I hear the frogs' chorus all around.

此二句是全词最脍炙人口的名句，也是田园词以通感写喜悦的典范。「稻花香里」写嗅觉，「说丰年」却将稻花与蛙声拟人化——仿佛稻花在诉说、蛙群在预报丰年的喜讯，把无生命的自然写得有性灵、有欢欣。「听取蛙声一片」以喧腾的蛙鼓收束，以闹写幽、以声写乐，与前文「惊鹊」「鸣蝉」的细微声响连成夏夜的交响。这一句妙在将农人盼丰年的朴素心愿，托付给天地间的稻香与蛙鼓，不着一个「喜」字而喜悦满纸，既写出乡村夏夜的生机，也暗含词人对民生丰乐的由衷欣慰，是辛词田园小品「清空中有温度」的代表笔墨。

These two lines are the whole ci's most famed line, and the pastoral ci's synesthesia-writes-joy model. The in-the-fragrance-of-rice-blossoms writing the smell, the tell-of-a-good-year's and yet personifying the rice blossoms and frog chorus — as if the rice blossoms' telling and the frogs' forecasting the good-year news, turning the lifeless nature's into the feeling-spirit-and-joy. The I-hear-the-frogs'-chorus-all-around writing the clamoring frog-drum's close, using the noise for the seclusion and the sound for the joy, with the above's startled-magpie and singing-cicada's fine sounds' linking into the summer night's symphony. This line's wonder in entrusting the farmer's good-year hope to the heaven-and-earth's rice-fragrance and frog-drum, not landing one joy word and yet the joy's paper-full, at once writing the village summer night's vitality, and secretly carrying the poet's livelihood's-abundance heartfelt comfort, the Xin-ci pastoral-sketch's clear-within-warmth representative brush.

旧时茅店社林边，路转溪桥忽见。

The familiar thatched inn by the shrine woods, turning at the stream bridge, suddenly appears. The word 'suddenly' captures the surprise of discovery, ending the journey with a cozy welcoming scene.

那座熟悉的茅店，就坐落在土地庙旁的树林边，走过溪桥拐过弯，它忽然出现在眼前。

The old thatched inn by the shrine grove — as the road turns at the stream bridge, it suddenly appears.

结拍两句写行旅中的小惊喜，是全词悠然收束的点睛之笔。「旧时茅店社林边」以「旧时」二字唤起熟悉感与亲切感，点出词人常游黄沙道的熟稔；「路转溪桥忽见」写山行拐弯、过溪桥后茅店猝然入目的刹那惊喜，「忽见」（见同现）一字最见神韵——前文写星雨微落、似需觅处避雨，此处忽见旧店，如老友相逢，温馨熨帖。这一「忽」字使平淡的行旅有了情节般的起伏，余味悠然。它与上片「惊鹊」之「惊」遥相呼应（一惊一喜），结构圆融，于不经意间收束夏夜行旅的清新画卷，最见白描小令「自然如话而意趣不尽」的妙境。

The closing two lines write the journey's small surprise, the whole ci's leisurely close's telling stroke. The old-thatched-inn-by-the-shrine-grove using the old-time two words for the familiarity-and-friendliness's evocation, pointing out the poet's often-traveled-Huangsha-Road's intimacy; as-the-road-turns-at-the-stream-bridge-it-suddenly-appears writing the mountain-road's turning and the stream-bridge's after's the thatched inn's sudden-eye's split-second surprise, the hu-jian (jian tong xian) one word's the most seeing the spirit — the above's writing the fine-star-fine-rain's as-if-need-seeking-the-shelter, here's the old inn's sudden sight, like the old friend's meeting, warm-and-fitting. This one hu word's making the plain journey's plot-like rising-and-falling, the aftertaste leisurely. It and the first stanza's startled-magpie's jing's far echo (one-startle-one-joy), the structure's rounded, within the inadvertent's closing the summer-night-journey's fresh picture, the most seeing the plain-description short-verse's natural-like-speech-and-yet-delight's-endless wondrous realm.

Study

Word focus

说 talk; personifies the frogs as speaking of the harvest, a vivid and lively figure of speech. 「稻花香里说丰年」之「说」字，是全词拟人化与通感手法的枢纽。稻花本不能言，蛙声本为自然之鸣，词人却以一「说」字将二者人格化，仿佛稻花在悄语、蛙群在宣告丰年的将至。这一字把无形的喜悦与有形的稻香、蛙声绾合，使整幅夏夜田园图有了温度与欢欣。它不着「喜」「乐」等字而喜悦自见，是以少总多的炼字范例。若易以「嗅」「听」则质实无味，「说」字之妙正在于赋予自然以灵性，让天地同庆丰稔，最见辛词田园小品「清空中有情」的匠心。

忽见 suddenly appears; conveys the unexpected and joyful sight of the inn, adding a touch of surprise to the narrative. 「路转溪桥忽见」中「忽见」（见通现）二字，是全词收束的情绪高点。「忽」字写出山行拐弯、过桥之后茅店猝然入目的意外与欣喜，将平淡行旅点化为有情节起伏的小品；「见」同「现」，出现之意，古音去声，与「忽」组合强调「骤然呈现」的瞬间感。这一词呼应上片「惊鹊」之「惊」——一惊一喜，结构圆融。它使全词在夏夜清幽的铺陈之后，落于一个温暖而亲切的收束，余韵悠然。若无「忽」字，则「茅店在彼」只是陈述；正因有「忽」，方见行旅之趣与重逢旧识般的慰藉，是白描小令炼虚字以生神的范例。