All poems

元 Yuan · 曲 Qu song

沉醉东风·秋景

Intoxicated in the East Wind · Autumn Scene

卢挚

Lu Zhi

元曲Yuan Qu 山水Landscape 秋景Autumn Scene 旷达Open-mindedness

挂绝壁松枯倒倚，落残霞孤鹜齐飞。
四围不尽山，一望无穷水。
散西风满天秋意。
夜静云帆月影低，载我在潇湘画里。

On a steep cliff a withered pine hangs upside down,
Lone wild duck flies with fading sunset clouds.
Endless mountains all around,
Boundless water stretches out.
The west wind scatters autumn feeling across the sky.
In the quiet night, clouds sail low beneath the moon,
Carrying me into a Xiaoxiang painting.

Listen

Meaning

A withered pine hangs from a cliff; a lone wild duck flies with fading sunset clouds. Endless mountains and boundless water surround. The west wind fills the sky with autumn. At night, under the low moon, the misty sails seem to carry me into a Xiaoxiang painting.

枯松倒挂在绝壁上，残霞里孤鹜与落霞齐飞；四周是望不到边的山，一望是无穷的水。西风吹散漫天秋意。夜静时云帆低垂、月影沉沉，仿佛载着我飘进了潇湘的画图之中。

Appreciation

The poem moves from day to night, from reality to imagination, presenting autumn scenery as both grand and ethereal. The lines allude to Wang Bo's famous couplet but add a desolate touch. The final line transforms the actual scene into a painting, expressing the poet's immersion in nature and carefree spirit.

【白话串讲】卢挚坐船看秋景：悬崖上的枯松、天边的孤鹜、西风里的落叶。夜静了，月亮低低挂在天上，他说——我这是在潇湘的画里。【意象与手法】此曲以空间与时间的双重展开取胜：起二句化用王勃「落霞与孤鹜齐飞」而更添萧散，写秋山暮景之奇丽；「四围不尽山，一望无穷水」以对仗与夸张拓开巨幅空间；「散西风满天秋意」将抽象秋意具象化；结句由昼入夜、由实入虚，以「画里」收束，化实景为画境，章法浑成，旷达闲适。【情感与主旨】卢挚为元初名臣、文章名家，官至翰林学士，与姚燧并称「姚卢」，然其散曲多写闲适隐逸、自然山水，清丽疏淡。此曲当为舟行潇湘、秋日览胜之作，于秋景中见旷达：山水之雄阔、秋意之萧散、夜月之清美，皆入画图，寄托作者摆脱官务、纵情山水的超然情怀。【名句点睛】常考「落残霞孤鹜齐飞」对王勃名句的化用与出新；「四围不尽山，一望无穷水」的空间拓展与对仗；「散」字的炼字效果；结句「载我在潇湘画里」的以画喻景与情景交融。

Background

Lu Zhi was a prominent early Yuan official and literary figure, known for his pure and elegant sanqu. This poem was likely written while he was traveling in the Xiaoxiang region, blending the beauty of southern landscapes with a northern openness. It reflects the Yuan literati's attitude of finding solace in nature.

卢挚（约1242—1314），字处道，一字莘老，号疏斋，又号嵩翁，涿郡（今河北涿州）人，元初名臣、文章名家，官至翰林学士承旨，与姚燧并称「姚卢」。他身居高位，而于诗文书画、散曲皆所擅长，其散曲多写闲适隐逸、自然山水，风格清丽疏淡，为元初曲坛翘楚。此曲题作「秋景」，当为舟行潇湘、秋日览胜之作，约作于其宦游江南期间。元初文人承宋金遗绪，于散曲中寄兴山水、陶写性情，卢挚此首融南朝山水之秀与北人开阔之气，于秋景中见旷达，是其散曲代表作。潇湘一带洞庭烟波、九嶷云树，向为文人画家吟咏图写之地，卢挚行舟其间，暮景残霞、夜月云帆，触目成画，遂有此作。曲中「潇湘画里」之语，既写实景如画，亦见作者于山水间自得其乐、超然物外的襟怀。元曲于诗词之后别开生面，小令短章尤宜即景抒怀，卢挚身为馆阁重臣而心寄江湖，其曲遂有「身居魏阙、心存江海」的意味；此曲写秋景而不悲秋，正见其襟怀之旷，也可见元初文人在异族统治下借山水自遣的共同心态。

Art

The poem excels in spatial and temporal progression: the first two lines depict danger and beauty; the parallel lines expand space; 'scatters autumn feeling' makes the abstract tangible. The end transitions from day to night, from real to imaginary, using 'painting' as a metaphor, leaving lingering resonance.

此曲艺术之妙，在于以空间与时间的双重展开构建一幅完整的秋江画卷。空间上，起二句「挂绝壁松枯倒倚，落残霞孤鹜齐飞」一险一丽：枯松倒挂绝壁，写山之奇险；残霞孤鹜齐飞，写天之绚烂，化用王勃「落霞与孤鹜齐飞」而点以「残」字，萧散过之。「四围不尽山，一望无穷水」以对仗与夸张拓开巨幅空间，四围皆山、一望皆水，天地为之包举；「散西风满天秋意」将抽象的秋意具象化为可感可触的「满天」，一个「散」字写秋意弥漫充盈。时间上，全曲由白日的山景、暮色的霞鹜，推进到「夜静云帆月影低」的夜景，再由实入虚，以「载我在潇湘画里」收束——行舟之人不觉身在舟中，而觉身在画中，主客体交融，化实景为画境。全曲七句，句句写景而句句含情，末句点醒，旷达闲适之情沛然溢出，章法浑成，是元人山水小令中不可多得的佳构。再细味其炼句，则首句「挂」字、次句「残」字、三句「散」字、结句「载」字，皆以动词领起，句句有眼、字字有力，全曲由这四处动词撑起骨架，故虽句句写景，读来却一气流转、无堆砌之感，正是元曲小令「以意运笔」的佳构。

Allusions

'Lone wild duck flies with fading sunset clouds' is an adaptation of Wang Bo's 'a single wild duck flies with the setting sun' from Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng. 'Xiaoxiang' refers to the Xiao and Xiang rivers in Hunan, often associated with beautiful landscapes and 'Eight Views of Xiaoxiang' paintings.

此曲用典不多而极精，最著者是化用王勃《滕王阁序》「落霞与孤鹜齐飞，秋水共长天一色」的千古名句。王勃原句以「齐飞」「一色」写秋日傍晚水天一色的壮美，卢挚截取「孤鹜齐飞」而缀以「落残霞」三字，将「落霞」变为「残霞」，添一「残」字，则王勃的明丽变为苍茫，盛唐的昂扬变为元人的萧散，正是化用成句而自出新意的典范。「潇湘」本指湖南湘江与潇水流域，《楚辞》中「洞庭波兮木叶下」已开其端，后世以「潇湘」代指江南山水，宋代更有「潇湘八景」（潇湘夜雨、洞庭秋月、远浦归帆等）之目，皆入画图；结句「载我在潇湘画里」即借此画意，将实景升华为可游可居的艺术之境。「云帆月影」意象亦承唐诗传统，李白「云帆济沧海」、张若虚「江流宛转绕芳甸」皆以云帆月影写行旅之美，卢挚拈来入曲，天然凑泊，与「绝壁」「孤鹜」等意象共同织成秋江画卷。此外，「孤鹜」之「孤」亦有深意：孤鹜与残霞齐飞，孤影与苍茫相伴，写景之中暗含作者孤高的情怀；而「云帆」则使人联想李白「长风破浪会有时，直挂云帆济沧海」的豪情，卢挚却以「月影低」化其昂扬为清冷，一正一反，见其转益多师的功力。

Commentary

Ming critic Wang Shizhen praised Yuan qu for its grand beauty, ranking Lu Zhi alongside Yao Sui. Modern scholar Ren Ne noted Lu's xiaoling as 'pure and beautiful, like orchids on a cliff.' This poem, integrating past masters' phrases while innovating, is seen as a peak of Yuan landscape xiaoling.

元人论曲，多以「清丽」「豪放」两派相衡，卢挚与姚燧并称「姚卢」，被推为元初散曲清丽派的代表。明人王世贞《曲藻》称元曲「鸿丽」，而于卢挚、姚燧诸家特致推许；近人任讷《散曲概论》谓其小令「清丽」，以「如秋兰被崖」喻之，正就其疏淡清雅而言。此曲熔铸前人名句而能自出机杼，于疏淡中见雄阔：险峻的绝壁、开阔的山水、萧散的秋意、清美的夜月，四者并存而浑然一体，既见北人的雄放，又见江南的清丽，正是元初南北文风交融的产物。论者多以之见元人写山水小令之高处：不以辞藻取胜，而以意境见长，写景如在目前，抒情含而不露，较之唐诗宋词，别有一种直率疏朗的风调。此曲与白朴《沉醉东风·渔夫》、马致远《天净沙·秋思》并读，可见元曲写秋的三副笔墨。就曲史而言，元人写山水小令，多取「清丽」一路，而卢挚此曲于清丽中兼有雄阔，实为难得；后人论元曲以「沉郁顿挫、慷慨激昂」许之者虽多，然如卢挚这般「疏淡清远」之作，正是元曲多样性的体现，其以诗入曲、以画入曲的尝试，更为后世曲家开无数法门。

Prosody

Form Northern Qu in Double Mode 'Intoxicated in the East Wind,' with pattern 77, 33, 7, 77; frequent parallelism (first two lines, middle two, last two).北曲双调《沉醉东风》，句式七七、三三、七、七七，多用对仗

Rhyme Primarily the Qiwei rhyme of Zhongyuan Yinyun; rhyming words: yi, fei, shui, yi, di, li.依《中原音韵》齐微韵为主，韵脚：倚、飞、水、意、低、里

Tone pattern Northern Qu mixes level and oblique tones; three parallel couplets create a rhythmic and pictorial effect.北曲平仄通押（平韵为主），节奏疏朗；三处对仗（绝壁—残霞、四围—一望、云帆—月影）如画。

Reading note Writing on autumn landscape, it incorporates Wang Bo's famous line into qu, moving from dusk to night, ending with the imagined 'Xiaoxiang painting,' expressing open-mindedness and leisure.此曲为北曲双调《沉醉东风》小令，定格句式为七七、三三、七、七七七句，句式长短错落，天然适合写景抒情。全曲押《中原音韵》齐微韵：「倚、飞、水、意、低、里」六韵，韵字皆细响清亮之音，读来绵邈悠长，与秋江夜月的清美情调相称。曲律上，北曲平仄通押，此曲以平韵为主，节奏疏朗；句中多用衬字虚词（如「散」「载我」），使板滞的句式生出流动之势。此曲最见功力的是三处对仗：首二句「挂绝壁松枯倒倚，落残霞孤鹜齐飞」一险一丽相对，「四围不尽山，一望无穷水」三三对句整饬如律诗，「夜静云帆月影低，载我在潇湘画里」一景一情相对，三处对仗如画幅的边框，将全曲勾连成浑然整体。元曲小令不似诗词讲求严格的平仄黏对，而以声情自然为宗，此曲句句合律、处处对仗而全无斧凿痕，正是元人「以曲法写诗境」的典范，也是《沉醉东风》这一曲牌中最具代表性的作品之一。

Line by line

挂绝壁松枯倒倚，落残霞孤鹜齐飞。

A withered pine hangs from a cliff; a lone duck flies with fading clouds—bold scene with allusion to Wang Bo.

枯松倒挂在绝壁上，残霞里孤鹜与落霞齐飞。

A withered pine hangs, leaning upside down, from the sheer cliff; the fading sunset and a lone wild duck fly together.

起二句以对仗写秋日山水的奇丽，一险一丽、一刚一柔。「挂绝壁松枯倒倚」写枯松倒挂于绝壁之上：「挂」字写出松之悬空，「倒倚」写其姿态之奇，枯松本是萧索之物，一经倒挂绝壁，便生出险峻苍劲的力感，开篇即见气势。对句「落残霞孤鹜齐飞」化用王勃《滕王阁序》「落霞与孤鹜齐飞」而自出新意：王勃写「落霞」之明丽，卢挚写「残霞」之苍茫，添一「残」字，秋暮的萧瑟便扑面而来；「孤鹜」即孤飞的野鸭，「齐飞」写残霞与孤鹜在天际相伴而下，画面绚烂而孤清。两句一写山之险、一写天之远，色彩一冷一暖，共同构成秋暮的立体画卷，也为全曲定下萧散旷达的基调。首句对仗工整而不失自然，是元曲中「以诗入曲」的典型。

The opening couplet writes the strange beauty of autumn mountains and waters: one perilous, one fair; one hard, one soft. 'A withered pine hangs, leaning upside down, from the sheer cliff' — the word 'hangs' renders the pine suspended in air; 'upside down' its strange posture; the withered pine, a bleak thing, once hung from the sheer cliff, gains a stern, vigorous force — grandeur from the first line. The answering line adapts Wang Bo's 'sunset and a lone duck fly together' from the Pavilion of Prince Teng with a new turn: Wang Bo's sunset is bright; Lu Zhi's 'fading sunset' is vast — the added word 'fading' breathes the autumn dusk straight at the reader; the lone duck flies down beside the fading glow, brilliant and solitary at once. One line the perilous mountain, one the far horizon; cool against warm — a stereoscopic autumn dusk, fixing the song's loose, open tone, and a typical Yuan qu bringing poetry into song.

四围不尽山，一望无穷水。

Endless mountains all around, boundless water stretches out—expands space with parallelism.

四围是望不到边的山，一望是无穷的水。

Mountains unending all around; waters boundless as far as the eye reaches.

此二句以三三对句写山水之开阔，是全曲空间最大的展开。「四围不尽山」写四周皆山、绵延不尽，「一望无穷水」写放眼望去、水天无际，「不尽」「无穷」对举，以双重的否定写空间的无限，天地之阔、山水之雄尽收眼底。两句皆用「一」字起势（四围、一望），节奏整饬，而「山」「水」对举，一高一低、一静一动，构成巨幅的山水长卷。此二句的妙处在于以「大」衬「小」：在无尽山水之间，一叶云帆、一个行舟之人显得何等渺小，而正是这渺小的「我」，即将在结句「载我在潇湘画里」中点醒全曲——人虽渺小而胸次自阔，山水之雄阔正是旷达情怀的写照。两句写景极简而气象极大，是元曲中「以少总多」的典范，也是全曲由「写景」转向「写情」的枢纽。

These two three-character lines unfold the widest space in the song. 'Mountains unending all around' — hills on every side, stretching without end; 'waters boundless as far as the eye reaches' — horizon merging with water; 'unending' and 'boundless' set against each other, two negatives writing the infinite, the breadth of heaven and earth taken in at a glance. Both open with 'round about' and 'far as the eye,' measured rhythm, and mountain against water, high and low, still and moving — a giant landscape scroll. The genius lies in the small set against the great: amid unending mountains and waters, a single cloud-sail, a single traveler, how small; yet it is this small 'I' whom the closing line, 'bearing me within the painting of Xiao-Xiang,' awakens — small in body, broad in heart, the grandeur of hill and water the mirror of an open mind. Scenery in the fewest words, the grandest aura — the hinge by which the song turns from landscape to feeling.

散西风满天秋意。

The west wind scatters autumn feeling across the sky—vivid personification of autumn.

西风吹散漫天秋意。

The west wind scatters autumn feeling across the whole sky.

此句是全曲的炼字之眼，将抽象的「秋意」写得可感可触。「散」字是全句的关键：西风一吹，秋意便弥漫满天，一个「散」字写秋意的扩散、充盈与无所不在，比「满」「浓」「深」都更具动态与弥漫感——秋不是某一处的点缀，而是被西风「散」向天地四方的整体氛围。「满天」与「散」配合，写秋意的空间覆盖，与上句「四围不尽山，一望无穷水」的巨幅空间相衔接，使山水之开阔与秋意之弥漫融为一体。此句在章法上是一个顿挫：前写山水之形，此写秋意之气，由具体到抽象、由视觉到感觉，全曲的境界为之一转；「西风」又暗示时令将暮，为下句「夜静云帆月影低」的夜景过渡埋下伏笔。七字写尽秋的苍茫与萧散，而无一悲凉之语，正是作者旷达襟怀的流露。

This line is the poem's crafted eye, making abstract 'autumn feeling' palpable. The key word is 'scatters': the west wind blows, and autumn feeling fills the whole sky — one verb rendering diffusion, fullness, omnipresence, more dynamic and pervasive than 'fills' or 'deepens': autumn is no local ornament, but an atmosphere scattered by the wind to all quarters of heaven and earth. 'Whole sky' answers 'scatters,' covering space, joining the vast space of the preceding 'mountains unending, waters boundless' until openness of water and hill merges with the diffusion of autumn mood. Structurally the line is a turning: before, the shapes of hill and water; here, the breath of autumn feeling — concrete to abstract, sight to sensation, the song's realm shifting; the 'west wind' hints the season's end, seeding the night scene to come. Seven characters write autumn's vastness and looseness, not one word of grief — the open breast of the poet.

夜静云帆月影低，载我在潇湘画里。

In the quiet night, cloud sails low beneath the moon, carrying me into a Xiaoxiang painting—shifts from reality to painting, showing leisure.

夜静云帆低垂月影，仿佛载我在潇湘画中。

At night, all is still; the cloud-sail low in the moon's pale glow — it bears me within the painting of Xiao-Xiang.

结二句由昼入夜、由实入虚，是全曲情感的点睛与境界的升华。「夜静云帆月影低」写夜景：夜静、云帆、月影，三个意象并置，静中有动、明中有暗，「低」字写月影低垂、帆影沉沉的清美，秋夜的静谧与行舟的悠然尽在其中。「载我在潇湘画里」是全曲的结穴：「载我」点出行舟之人的在场，「潇湘画里」以画喻景，将眼前实景与「潇湘八景」的画意接通——行舟之人不觉身在舟中，而觉身在画中，物我两忘、主客交融。至此，前文的绝壁残霞、山水西风，皆被收摄于一幅「潇湘画」中，旷达闲适之情沛然溢出：身是画中人，心是画外客，这正是元人山水曲的最高境界。全曲以「画里」收束，化实为虚、以景结情，余韵悠长。

The closing two lines pass from day to night, from solid to void, the song's emotional eye and its lifted realm. 'At night, all is still; the cloud-sail low in the moon's pale glow' — night stillness, cloud-sail, moon-shadow, three listed images, motion within stillness, light within dark; 'low' renders the hanging moon, the sinking sail, the quiet beauty of the autumn night and the unhurried boat. 'It bears me within the painting of Xiao-Xiang' is the song's settling point: 'bears me' marks the traveler's presence; 'the painting of Xiao-Xiang' likens the scene to painting, joining the real view to the Pictorial Eight Views of Xiao and Xiang — the traveler feels himself, not in a boat, but within a painting, self and world forgotten, subject fused with scene. Now the sheer cliffs, fading glow, mountains, waters, and west wind are all gathered into one 'Xiao-Xiang painting,' open leisure overflowing: a man in the painting, a heart beyond the painting — the highest realm of Yuan landscape song, closing in 'within the painting,' solid turned to void, feeling closed in scene, long in aftertone.

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Word focus

挂 / 倒倚 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「挂绝壁松枯倒倚」之「挂」与「倒倚」，是写枯松险姿的炼字。「挂」字写松之悬空，仿佛被无形之力悬置在绝壁之上，写出松与壁若即若离的险绝；「倒倚」二字更进一层，「倒」写松身倒挂之态，「倚」写松根攀附之姿，一倒一倚，枯松便有了挣扎求生、倒挂不坠的倔强生命力。二字皆以动写静，将一株枯松写得如在目前：苍崖百丈，枯松倒挂，其势险、其姿奇、其神倔。若换作「长」「生」等字，则平板无奇；唯「挂」「倒倚」写出峭拔的视觉冲击，与对句「落残霞孤鹜齐飞」的绚烂形成刚柔对照。此二字为全曲开篇定下「奇险」的基调，也暗含作者于山水间见峥嵘骨相的审美趣味，是元曲炼字「以险取胜」的例证。

齐飞 Fly together: an allusion to Wang Bo's line, naturally integrated. 「落残霞孤鹜齐飞」之「齐飞」二字，直接化用王勃《滕王阁序》「落霞与孤鹜齐飞」，是全曲最见用典功力的地方。「齐飞」本写两种飞物相伴同飞，王勃以之写落霞（本不能飞）与孤鹜同飞的幻觉之美，卢挚沿用而点以「残」字，意境遂变：王勃的「落霞」明丽壮阔，卢挚的「残霞」苍茫萧瑟；「齐飞」之意不变，而情调由盛唐的昂扬变为元人的萧散。此二字之妙，在于「借成句而自出新意」：读者一见便知出处，故有熟悉的亲切；细味又觉其意新，故有出蓝的惊喜。若不用典，则「残霞孤鹜」只是普通写景；着一「齐飞」，便接通了王勃的千古名句，为短短七字的小令平添了厚重的文化底蕴，是「化用成句」的典范，也是元曲「以诗入曲」传统的精彩体现。

散 Scatter: makes the abstract autumn feeling tangible and vast. 「散西风满天秋意」之「散」字，是全曲的句眼，也是炼字的妙处所在。「散」本写物之分散、散布，此处写西风将秋意「散」向满天，一个「散」字至少有三层妙处：其一，写秋意的弥漫，「散」比「满」「充」更富动态，仿佛西风一吹，秋意便如水墨般在天地间洇开，无所不至；其二，写秋意的轻盈，秋不是压下来的（那该用「压」），而是被风吹散、弥漫开来的，正合秋气的清冷萧疏；其三，写诗人的感受，由视而感，山水之形因「散」而化为秋意之气，抽象的情绪具象化了。此字又暗含「散淡」之意，与结句「载我在潇湘画里」的闲适遥相呼应——秋意散满天，人心亦随之散淡超然。一字而具形、势、情三重功效，是「炼字传神」的典型。