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元 Yuan · 散曲 Sanqu song

清江引·野兴

Clear River Song · Rustic Mood

马致远

Ma Zhiyuan

闲适leisure 隐逸Hermitage 写景landscape

林泉隐居谁到此？
有客清风至。
会作山中相，不管人间事。
争甚么半张名利纸？

Who comes to this forest-spring retreat? Only a guest, the clear wind, arrives.
I can be a minister among the hills, caring naught for the world's affairs.
Why contend for half a sheet of fame-and-gain paper?

Listen

Meaning

In this deep forest-spring retreat, who ever comes? Only the clear wind arrives like a guest of the heart. I shall be a minister among the mountains, no longer heeding the world's rights and wrongs. Why contend for that half-sheet of paper covered with fame and gain?

幽深的林泉隐居之地，有谁会来到这里？只有清风如同知己的客人翩然而至。我且做个隐居山林的宰相，再不去管那人间的是非得失。又何必去争夺那半张写满名利的薄纸呢？

Appreciation

This song writes the pleasure of retirement in sparse, pale strokes, pure white description yet with distant spirit. The opening 'Who comes to this forest-spring retreat?' begins with a question, abrupt and with aftertaste; 'Only a guest, the clear wind, arrives' makes the wind a visiting friend, the state of self-forgetting with nature alive on the page. 'A minister among the hills' and 'caring naught for the world's affairs' use allusion without a seam, showing the retiree's breast. It closes with 'Why contend for half a sheet of fame-and-gain paper?', folk speech entering the song, both jesting and proud, its edge seen within the plain—concentrating Ma Zhiyuan's small-lyric manner of clear, spacious, world-detached, making the vulgar elegant.

【白话串讲】马致远隐居林泉：“有客清风至”——来的客人是清风。“争甚么半张名利纸”——争那半张名利纸干什么？元朝文人的通透，都在这一问里。【意象与手法】此曲以疏淡之笔写隐逸之趣，纯用白描而风神自远。起句「林泉隐居谁到此」以设问开篇，突兀而有余味；「有客清风至」将清风拟作相访之客，物我两忘之境跃然。「山中相」「不管人间事」用典无痕，见出隐者胸襟；结以「争甚么半张名利纸」，俚语入曲，亦谐亦傲。【情感与主旨】马致远（约1250—1321后），号东篱，大都人，元代散曲大家，与关汉卿、白朴、郑光祖并称「元曲四大家」。《清江引·野兴》是其晚年退隐后所作组曲之一，写隐居林泉、清风为友的闲适生活，表达对名缰利锁的厌弃与对自由心境的珍视。【名句点睛】中高考赏析可侧重：一、形象鉴赏——把握「隐者」超然物外、傲岸诙谐的自我形象；二、「争甚么半张名利纸」的口语化反问与「以俗为雅」的元曲本色。

Background

Ma Zhiyuan (c. 1250–after 1321), style Dongli, of Dadu, a great master of Yuan sanqu, ranked with Guan Hanqing, Bai Pu and Zheng Guangzu as the 'Four Masters of Yuan Drama'. 'Clear River Song · Rustic Mood' is one of a group written in his late retirement. Ma all his life craved office yet long stuck in low posts, once serving as a provincial clerk in Jiang-Zhe; only around fifty did the wish to retire stir, and he went back to field and garden. This song was written just as he left office and gave himself to forest and spring, using the retired life to express his disgust at the fetters of fame and his cherishing of a free mind.

马致远（约1250—1321后），号东篱，大都人，元代散曲大家，与关汉卿、白朴、郑光祖并称「元曲四大家」，有「曲状元」之誉。马致远早年热衷功名，然久困下僚，仅任江浙行省务官等小职，仕途偃蹇，五十岁左右渐萌退志，终归隐田园。《清江引·野兴》即其晚年退隐后所作组曲，凡多首，皆写林泉之趣与功名之厌。此曲写隐居林下、清风为友的闲适生活，以「山中相」自况，以「半张名利纸」笑傲功名，集中体现元人散曲「以俗为雅、直抒胸臆」的特色。元代文人仕进之路逼仄，科举长期停废，隐逸成为普遍的精神归宿，马致远此曲正是元代士人「归隐情结」的艺术结晶，与《天净沙·秋思》的悲凉羁旅恰成对照，一旷达一悲凉，可见其情怀的两面。马致远归隐，有深层的时代原因：元代前期科举长期停废，文人仕进无门，所谓「九儒十丐」，士人地位一落千丈，遂多寄情曲词、托身林泉。马致远早年「二十年漂泊生涯」，历尽仕途蹭蹬，晚年得「东篱」之号（取陶渊明「采菊东篱下」之意），其《清江引·野兴》组曲正是这种「由仕而隐」的人生总结。此曲写清风为客、山林自足，与《天净沙·秋思》的「古道西风瘦马」恰成对照——秋思是羁旅之悲的极致，野兴是归隐之乐的极致，二者合观，正是元代士人「出」与「处」的完整心理图谱。

Art

This song writes the pleasure of retirement in sparse, pale strokes, pure white description yet with distant spirit. The opening 'Who comes to this forest-spring retreat?' begins with a question, abrupt and with aftertaste; 'Only a guest, the clear wind, arrives' makes the clear wind a visiting friend, the state of self-forgetting with nature alive on the page. 'A minister among the hills' and 'caring naught for the world's affairs' use allusion without a seam, showing the retiree's breast. It closes with 'Why contend for half a sheet of fame-and-gain paper?', folk speech entering the song, both jesting and proud, its edge seen within the plain—concentrating Ma Zhiyuan's small-lyric manner of clear, spacious, world-detached, making the vulgar elegant.

此曲以疏淡之笔写隐逸之趣，纯用白描而风神自远。起句「林泉隐居谁到此」以设问开篇，先写隐居之地的幽僻——无人问津，唯其如此，方是真正的林泉；「有客清风至」接以作答，清风本是无形之物，此处拟作翩然而至的访客，物我两忘之境跃然纸上，一个「至」字写尽清风如约而来的亲切。中二句「会作山中相，不管人间事」以「山中相」自许，表明弃绝尘累、超然物外的志向，语气从容自负；结句「争甚么半张名利纸」以俚语反问收束，将功名一笔勾销，亦谐亦傲，于平淡中见锋棱。全曲由问而答、由答而志、由志而嘲，层层推进，语言本色当行，集中体现马致远小令清丽旷达、以俗为雅的艺术风貌，是元散曲「豪辣灏烂」与「清丽雅正」两格交融的佳构。此曲在章法上还见「以小见大」之妙：全曲五句，由「林泉」而「清风」而「山中相」而「名利纸」，意象由实入虚、由景入志，层层收拢；「谁到此」的设问、「有客清风至」的奇答、「争甚么」的反诘，三问三转，如曲水流觞，自然而跌宕。尤妙者，通篇无一「隐」字「逸」字，而隐逸之趣弥漫全曲；无一「嘲」字「讽」字，而功名之轻自现，正是散曲「本色当行」而「意在言外」的上乘境界。

Allusions

The allusion here is apt and natural. 'Minister among the hills' comes from the Southern History, Biography of Tao Hongjing: Emperor Wu of Liang summoned Tao yet he would not come forth, but whenever the state faced rites or war he was consulted, and men of the time called him the 'Minister in the Hills'. Ma Zhiyuan compares himself to Tao Hongjing, at once naming his retired identity and hinting the scholar's feeling of 'body in the rivers-and-lakes, yet mind on the realm'. 'Half a sheet of fame-and-gain paper' uses the worldly official document as contrast, against the 'minister among the hills', highlighting his scorn of gain—allusion without being stuck in it, the meaning beyond the words.

「山中相」典出《南史·陶弘景传》：陶弘景隐于句容茅山，梁武帝屡加礼聘而不出，然国家每有大事辄就咨询，时人谓之「山中宰相」。马致远以陶弘景自况，既点明隐居身份，又暗含士人「身在江湖、心存魏阙」的复杂情怀——此处则偏于超脱，言只做山中闲相、不复过问人间。同时「山中」二字暗承「山栖谷饮」的隐逸传统（语本《晋书》），与「林泉」互文。「名利纸」以世俗功名文书为喻，与「山中相」形成对照，凸显对利禄的蔑视。全曲用典精当而自然，融化于口语之间，用典而不滞于典，意在言外，正是元曲「借古语而化俗言」的高妙。除陶弘景之典外，「林泉」亦有其传统：《北史·韦夐传》「所居之宅，枕带林泉」已开「林泉」指隐居之地的用法，宋人郭熙《林泉高致》更以「林泉之志」为山水画的灵魂；「清风」为友则遥承陶渊明「清风吹我襟」、李白「清风明月不用一钱买」的物我两忘之趣。「半张名利纸」之「纸」，更暗指官场文书（告身、诰敕），以「半张」写其轻，以「纸」写其虚，正是元曲「借俗语而化雅意」的典型。

Commentary

Yuan sanqu scholar Sui Shusen said Ma Zhiyuan's small lyrics are 'bold yet also clear and lovely'. Ming Zhu Quan's Correct Tone of the Grand Harmony praises his words as 'like a phoenix crying at sunrise', and ranks him 'above the host of talents'. This song writes retirement without falling into barren stillness, showing bone within the sparse; predecessors mostly call it 'natural from the mouth, not a single awkward phrase', enough to show Dongli's typical place among the Yuan clear-and-lovely school.

明代朱权《太和正音谱》评马致远曲「如朝阳鸣凤」，又谓「其词典雅清丽，可与灵光景福相颉颃」，誉其「宜列群英之上」，推为元曲之冠。任讷《散曲概论》称其「豪放之中而兼清丽」。此曲写隐逸而不落枯寂，于疏淡中见风骨，前人多称其「自然脱口，无一涩语」。与关汉卿「我是个蒸不烂、煮不熟、捶不匾、炒不爆、响珰珰一粒铜豌豆」的激越抗争相比，马致远此曲以「不争」为高，一刚烈一超脱，恰见元曲精神的两极。就隐逸文学传统而言，此曲承陶渊明「归去来兮」之旨而更添诙谐，下启明代山人曲风，是元代散曲「归隐」母题中最具神采的作品之一。就散曲史而言，此曲与《双调·蟾宫曲·叹世》等并为马致远小令的代表，元明曲选（如《太平乐府》《乐府新声》）皆录之；任讷《曲谐》谓东篱「于豪放中见清丽，于旷达中见沉郁」，此曲正是「清丽旷达」一面的典范。后世如明代王磐《朝天子·咏喇叭》之讽世、清代厉鹗散曲之清雅，皆在「东篱风范」的笼罩之下；此曲「争甚么半张名利纸」一问，更成为元曲中蔑视功名的经典声音，与关汉卿《不伏老》之「响珰珰一粒铜豌豆」并垂不朽。

Prosody

Form Sanqu · double-mode Clear River Song (small lyric)散曲·双调清江引（小令）

Rhyme Rhymes on 'arrives, affairs, paper' (zhi-si rhyme; northern song merges entering-tone into the three tones, level-oblique mixed)押「至、事、纸」（支思韵，北曲入派三声，平仄混押）

Tone pattern Double mode; line-pattern 7,5,5,5,7; first line may not take rhyme双调，句式为七、五、五、五、七，首句可不入韵

Reading note Clear River Song is also called River-Water Song; a common northern double-mode tune, neat lines, fit for scene and feeling.此曲为北曲双调《清江引》（又名《江儿水》）小令，共五句，句式七、五、五、五、七，是双调中短小精悍的常用曲牌。《清江引》格律上首句可不入韵，第二、四、五句押韵，本曲押「至、事、纸」三韵，属支思韵部；北曲入派三声，平仄可以通押，故「至（去声）、事（去声）、纸（上声）」混押而不拘，这正是北曲与南曲、与诗词用韵的重大区别，可见散曲声律的自由与灵活。句式上以七言领起、五言相承、七言收束，长短错落，读来流转如歌：「林泉隐居谁到此」七言顿挫，「有客清风至」五言急促，「会作山中相，不管人间事」两个五言如对话，「争甚么半张名利纸」七言反问收煞，全曲声情由问而答、由缓而急，与内容的层层推进相合。曲体区别于诗词的另一特色是衬字与口语的运用——「会作」「争甚么」等口语虚词入曲，正是散曲「不避俚俗、本色当行」的声律风貌，马致远此曲以清丽之笔写豪放之情，曲牌的声情与隐逸的内容相得益彰，是《清江引》小令中的名篇。

Line by line

林泉隐居谁到此？

Who comes to this forest-spring retreat?

幽深的林泉隐居之地，有谁会来到这里？

In forest and spring I dwell in hiding — who ever comes here?

设问起笔，先言隐居之孤寂无人，是全曲的破题之笔。「林泉隐居」四字点明隐居之地与身份——林泉即山林泉石，是传统隐逸的象征；「谁到此」以设问写此地之幽僻——无人问津、人迹罕至。此句的妙处在于以「无人」写「真隐」：真正的林泉之隐，本不求人知、不慕人至，唯其无人问津，方见隐居之彻底。设问起笔，突兀而有余味，为下文「有客清风至」的奇想作了铺垫——人不到而清风到，正是隐者与自然的深契。

The opening asks, first naming the loneliness of the retreat, the song's statement of theme. 'In forest and spring I dwell in hiding' fixes the place and the stance — forest and spring, hills and streams, the classic symbol of retreat; 'who ever comes here?' asks after the place's remoteness — unvisited, untrodden. The genius lies in writing 'true retreat' through 'no one': the true hermit of hill and stream asks no knowledge, wants no visitors; precisely because none come, the retreat is complete. The opening question, abrupt and lingering, primes the fantasy of 'a guest arrives — the clear wind': man does not come, the clear wind comes, the deep accord between recluse and nature.

有客清风至

Only a guest, the clear wind, arrives.

只有清风如同客人翩然而至。

Only the clear wind comes like a guest on light wings.

以清风为客，拟人手法写出与自然为友的恬淡襟怀，是全曲最见神韵的一句。清风本是无形之物，此处拟作翩然而至的访客——「有客」二字写清风如约而来，似有知交之情；「至」字写清风之到来，如访客之登门，亲切而生动。人迹不到而清风自来，正是隐者与自然两忘的境界：清风即知己，山林即宾朋。此句以实写虚、化无形为有形，将一个「无人问津」的幽僻之所写得生意盎然，隐者的恬淡与自足俱在其中。

This line makes the clear wind a guest, personification writing the calm of a heart friends with nature, the song's most spiritual line. The wind, a thing invisible, is cast as a caller arriving on light wings — 'there is a guest' writes the wind's punctual coming, as if a friend; 'arrives' its coming, like a visitor at the door, warm and vivid. Human footstep nowhere, the wind of itself — the realm of recluse and nature forgetting each other: the clear wind the confidant, the hills and forests the friends. Solid writing the void, the invisible made palpable, turning the unvisited retreat into a place alive with life — the recluse's calm and self-sufficiency all within.

会作山中相，不管人间事

I can be a minister among the hills, caring naught for the world's affairs.

我且做个隐居山林的宰相，再不去管那人间的是非得失。

I shall be the prime minister hidden in the hills, and care no more for the affairs of men.

化用陶弘景「山中宰相」典故，表明弃绝尘累、超然物外的志向，是全曲的立意所在。「会作」写胜任、甘愿——隐于山中，自得其乐，如宰相之安然于位；「山中相」典出陶弘景隐茅山而受梁武帝咨询之事，此处反其意而用之：不做人间宰相，只做山中闲相；「不管人间事」直写决绝——人间的功名是非、得失荣辱，一概不再过问。两句一正一反，以「山中」对「人间」，划出隐与仕的界限，语气从容而立场坚定，隐者的胸襟与傲骨并见。

The line adapts the allusion of Tao Hongjing, the 'prime minister of the mountains,' declaring the resolve to cast off the world's bonds and stand beyond things, the very intent of the song. 'I will be' writes fitness and willingness — hidden in the hills, at ease as a prime minister on his seat; 'prime minister of the mountains' draws on Tao Hongjing, who retired to Maoshan yet was consulted by the Emperor of Liang, here reversed: not prime minister of the world, but the idle minister of the hills; 'take no account of the world's affairs' the outright resolve — the world's fame and right and wrong, gain and loss, no longer reckoned. Two lines, one positive one negative, 'mountains' against 'world,' drawing the line between retreat and office, the tone calm, the stance firm, the recluse's breadth and spine together.

争甚么半张名利纸？

Why contend for half a sheet of fame-and-gain paper?

又何必去争夺那半张写满名利的薄纸呢？

Why fight over half a sheet of paper of fame?

俚语入曲，以反问作结，洒脱俏皮，将傲岸诙谐写活，是全曲的豹尾。「争甚么」为元代口语，义为「争什么、何必争」，以反问语气收束，轻描淡写间将功名一笔勾销；「半张名利纸」以「半张」「纸」写功名之轻——世人趋之若鹜的功名富贵，不过半张薄纸，轻蔑之至。此句以俗语写雅意，亦谐亦傲：谐者，玩笑口吻、举重若轻；傲者，视名利如纸、不屑一顾。全曲由「谁到此」的设问到「争甚么」的反问，首尾呼应，隐者的超然与风趣跃然纸上。

The closing in vernacular, a rhetorical question, carefree and wry, writing pride alive — the leopard's tail of the song. 'Why fight over' is Yuan colloquialism, 'what worth the fighting,' closing in a question, brushing fame aside with a light touch; 'half a sheet of paper of fame' — 'half a sheet,' 'paper,' writing fame's lightness: the rank and wealth men swarm after are but half a sheet, contempt at the extreme. The line writes elegant meaning in vernacular, both wry and proud: wry in the joking tone, the weightless handling; proud in treating fame as paper, beneath notice. From the opening question 'who ever comes here?' to the closing 'why fight over?' the首尾 echo, the recluse's detachment and wit springing from the page.

Study

Word focus

至 The word 'arrives' is extremely plain yet rich; it makes the formless clear wind like a friend come by appointment, adding warmth and life. 「有客清风至」之「至」，一字极简而意丰，是全曲炼字的妙笔。「至」本指到来，此处写清风之至——清风无形，本无所谓「至」与「不至」，而着一「至」字，便将清风拟作如约而来的客人，赋予无形之风以人的行动与情意：如访客之登门，翩然而来，亲切自然。此字与「有客」相配，化虚为实、化无形为有形，将「林泉隐居」的孤寂之境写得宾至如归的温馨，隐者与清风为友的恬淡襟怀由此跃然纸上，一字而境界全出。

争甚么 'Why contend' is colloquial; closing on a rhetorical question, it both dissolves the weight of fame and shows the author's pride and jest—elegant within the vulgar. 「争甚么」为口语虚词，以反问语气收束全曲，是元曲「以俗为雅」的典型用语。「争」即「怎」，「争甚么」义为「争什么、何必争」，口语色彩极浓，如当面诘问、如自言自语，语气洒脱俏皮；以反问出之，不待回答而答案自明——名利本不值一争。此三字将前面「山中相」「不管人间事」的严肃立场化为一缕轻嘲，既消解了名利的重量，又透出作者的傲岸与诙谐，俗中见雅、雅中带谐，正是散曲本色当行的语言，也是「曲状元」马致远驾驭口语的绝活。

山中相 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「会作山中相」之「山中相」，用陶弘景「山中宰相」之典而反其意，是全曲用典的枢纽。「山中宰相」本指隐于山中的高士而受朝廷咨询，马致远此处自许「山中相」，只取「山中」之隐逸与「相」之自得，而弃其「受咨询」的用世之意——不做朝廷的相，只做山中的相；不管人间事，只理林泉趣。此词以古人之典写今日之志，用典而不滞于典，既点明隐居身份，又见出超然物外的气度，与结句「半张名利纸」相呼应，一尊一卑、一雅一俗，隐者的取舍尽在其中。