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元 Yuan · 曲 Qu song

折桂令·荆溪即事

Zhe Gui Ling - An Occasion at Jingxi

乔吉

Qiao Ji

问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花？
老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆。
寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙。
白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦。

I ask the households on the stream at Jingxi:
Why is it that no household here plants plum trees?
An old tree props the door;
Flooded rushes circle the bank;
Bitter bamboo rings the fence.
The temple has no monk, and foxes tread on the tiles;
The office is idle, and crows and rats take the seat of office.
White water, yellow sand,
Leaning on the railing again and again,
Counting the crows as they cry.
Listen

Meaning

Qiao Ji's song set at Jingxi asks a question that turns into an indictment: why plant plum trees here when no household does? The old tree holding the door, the reeds round the bank, the bitter-bamboo fence, the temple with no monk and foxes on the roof, the office where crows and rats sit - all describe a village abandoned by people and taken over by animals. The song closes on the sight of white water and yellow sand, with a figure at the railing counting crows. In the spare manner of late Yuan sanqu, the poem reads as a satire on officialdom as much as on desolation.

问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花？老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆。寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙。白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦。

Appreciation

【Plain Paraphrase】The poet asks the households along the Jingxi stream why none of them plants plum trees. The answer is in the pictures that follow: an old tree propping the door, rushes round the bank, a fence of bitter bamboo; a temple with no monk and foxes on the tiles; an office with nothing to do and crows and rats in the seat of office. White water, yellow sand, a figure at the railing, counting crows.
【Structure】One question, then a catalogue; the catalogue is the answer, and its order runs from the domestic to the public.
【Imagery】Every image is a small ruin - a door propped, a roof unguarded, a seat occupied by vermin - and none of them is given a comment.

【白话串讲】 乔吉写《折桂令·荆溪即事》：“问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花”——“老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆”——“寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙”——“白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦”——他写荆溪即事——为甚人家，不种梅花。 【意象与手法】 “问荆溪溪上人家、为甚人家、不种梅花”写问荆溪溪上人家；“老树支门、荒蒲绕岸、苦竹圈笆”写老树支门；“寺无僧狐狸样瓦、官无事乌鼠当衙”写寺无僧狐狸样瓦；结以“白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦”写数尽啼鸦。含蓄深婉。 【情感与主旨】 乔吉写荆溪即事之作，写问荆溪人家为何不种梅花与寺无僧、官无事的荒芜，是乔吉曲中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花”写不种梅花；“寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙”写荒芜。

Background

Qiao Ji (c. 1280-1345), courtesy name Mengfu, sojourner at the Ormus, was a native of Taiyuan who spent his life among the theatres of Hangzhou and Yangzhou and wrote both sanqu and zaju. His songs survive in the collected Yuan sanqu; he is remembered for a compact, witty manner and for the number of short pieces on scenery. 'An Occasion at Jingxi', in the tune Zhe Gui Ling, is among his best-known songs and a standard example of the small song on a place.

《折桂令·荆溪即事》为元代散曲家乔吉所作散曲。乔吉（约1280—1345），字梦符，号笙鹤翁、惺惺道人，太原（今山西太原）人，元代散曲家、杂剧家。此曲写景感怀，为荆溪即事之作。曲中「问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花？」写问荆溪溪上人家，为甚人家，不种梅花；「老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆」写老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆；「寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙」写寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙；「白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦」写白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦。乔吉此曲以写景感怀、数尽啼鸦写其感怀之情，含蓄深婉，是乔吉曲中的名篇。此篇《折桂令·荆溪即事》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《折桂令·荆溪即事》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The song works by plain accumulation and by asking a question that nobody can answer. The question itself is a hinge: plum is the flower most associated with the cultivated household, and its absence measures the village's fall. The three parallel clauses that follow are pictures of decay taken in one breath. The couplet on the temple and the office sharpens the satire through negation - no monk, no business - so that the animals which have taken their place supply the joke. The final line, counting crows from a railing, leaves the reader to supply the feeling of a man with nothing to do.

此曲艺术上以「含蓄深婉、以景写情」见长。全曲由问荆溪溪上人家而老树支门而寺无僧狐狸样瓦。起「问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花？」写问荆溪溪上人家：问荆溪溪上人家，为甚人家，不种梅花；「老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆」写老树支门：老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆；「寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙」写寺无僧狐狸样瓦：寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙；结「白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦」写数尽啼鸦：白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦。全曲以景写情，由问荆溪溪上人家而数尽啼鸦，含蓄深婉，是乔吉曲中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

The plum carries the whole weight of Chinese poetic association - it is the flower of the recluse - so the question why no household plants one is a compressed complaint about the village's loss of cultivation rather than of agriculture. The temple without a monk and the office without business follow the traditional satirical manner of describing want as described in the anecdotal jottings of the Song and Yuan. White water, yellow sand and crows belong to the stock vocabulary of the desolate landscape, used here without irony at a place that has earned it.

曲中「问荆溪溪上人家为甚人家不种梅花」「老树支门荒蒲绕岸苦竹圈笆」「寺无僧狐狸样瓦官无事乌鼠当衙」「白水黄沙倚遍阑干数尽啼鸦」等语，皆含典故故实。「问荆溪溪上人家为甚人家不种梅花」写问荆溪溪上人家为甚人家不种梅花；「老树支门荒蒲绕岸苦竹圈笆」写老树支门荒蒲绕岸苦竹圈笆；「寺无僧狐狸样瓦官无事乌鼠当衙」写寺无僧狐狸样瓦官无事乌鼠当衙；「白水黄沙倚遍阑干数尽啼鸦」写白水黄沙倚遍阑干数尽啼鸦。曲人以苦竹、狐狸、乌鼠等语入曲，不着痕迹，而把写景感怀之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

The song has been anthologised since the Ming and is standard reading for late Yuan sanqu. Readers generally treat its dry catalogue of ruins as satire aimed at a world where offices were left vacant; the plum question is what makes the reading possible. Its fame rests less on a message than on its economy - ten lines, six images, one question - and modern commentaries often connect it to the social unrest of the late Yuan, when the examination system had nearly stopped and many posts stood unfilled.

这首《折桂令·荆溪即事》，是乔吉写景感怀之作，写问荆溪溪上人家、老树支门、寺无僧狐狸样瓦、数尽啼鸦之情，含蓄深婉。起「问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花？」——问荆溪溪上人家，为甚人家，不种梅花。写问荆溪溪上人家：问荆溪溪上人家、为甚人家、不种梅花——问溪上人家、不种梅花；「老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆」——老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆。写老树支门：老树支门、荒蒲绕岸、苦竹圈笆——老树支门、荒蒲绕岸、苦竹圈笆；「寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙」——寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙。写寺无僧狐狸样瓦：寺无僧狐狸样瓦、官无事乌鼠当衙——无僧狐狸样瓦、无事乌鼠当衙；结「白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦」——白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦。写数尽啼鸦：白水黄沙、倚遍阑干、数尽啼鸦——白水黄沙、倚遍阑干、数尽啼鸦。这「白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦」，是全曲之结：以数尽啼鸦写其感怀。全曲含蓄深婉，以景写情，正是乔吉曲中的名篇。

Prosody

Form Song (Sanqu, tune: Zhe Gui Ling)曲（散曲·折桂令）
Rhyme A sanqu song of ten lines in the Zhe Gui Ling tune. Rimes in the Jia-Ma group - jia, hua, ba, ya, sha, ya - fall at the close of the phrases, and the tune's fixed pattern permits the irregular phrase-lengths that give the song its colloquial ease.此曲为散曲，调名《折桂令》，共十句。押韵：「家」「花」「笆」「衙」「沙」「鸦」押家麻部韵。曲体依散曲而定，句式长短错落，音节随情起伏，正与写写景感怀的含蓄深婉相称，也见其以散曲写感怀的自然。
Tone pattern Sound: the asking line is slow and low; the parallel decay-clauses are cool and clipped; the close is long and drawn out. The pause before 'Counting the crows' gives the ending its weight.句式上，「问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花」写问荆溪溪上人家，音节低回；「老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆」写老树支门，音节清冷；「寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙」写寺无僧狐狸样瓦，音节沉郁；结「白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦」写数尽啼鸦，音节绵长。全曲音节随情起伏，由低回而清冷、由沉郁而绵长，正合散曲「自然」之妙，读来如写景感怀、数尽啼鸦之音，含蓄而动人。
Reading note Note: a sanqu small song on a place. Its prosody is that of the theatre - conversational, irregular, dependent on rime and on parallelism rather than on metre - and that looseness is what allows the dry catalogue to read as irony instead of description. The tune supplies the frame; the images do the work.此曲为散曲，是乔吉写景感怀之作，也是其曲中的名篇。全曲的艺术特色在于「含蓄深婉、以景写情」：「问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花」写问荆溪溪上人家、「老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆」写老树支门、「寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙」写寺无僧狐狸样瓦、「白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦」写数尽啼鸦。全曲含蓄深婉，以景写情。尤为精妙者，是「问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花」以问写情；而「老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆」写尽荒村之景，正是乔吉曲「含蓄深婉」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《折桂令·荆溪即事》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花？

I ask the households on the stream at Jingxi: / Why is it that no household here plants plum trees?

问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花？

I ask the dwellers on Jing Stream: why, among these households, is no plum tree planted?

起句写问荆溪溪上人家，起笔即见其问。「问荆溪溪上人家」写问荆溪溪上人家，「问荆溪」写问荆溪、「溪上人家」写溪上人家；「为甚人家」写为甚人家，「为甚」写为何、「人家」写人家；「不种梅花」写不种梅花，「不种」写不种、「梅花」写梅花。三句一写问荆溪溪上人家、一写为甚人家、一写不种梅花，以问荆溪溪上人家写问溪上人家、以为甚人家写为甚、以不种梅花写不种梅花，写尽问荆溪溪上人家、为甚人家、不种梅花之情。以问起兴，含蓄而深婉，是「以问起兴」的妙笔。

The opening asks the folk by Jing Stream, the question at once. 'I ask the folk by Jing Stream' — asking the riverside households; 'why, of all houses, do none plant the plum?' — why no plum? The question as springboard, reserved and deep — a fine stroke.

老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆。

An old tree props the door; / Flooded rushes circle the bank; / Bitter bamboo rings the fence.

老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆。

An old tree propping the gate, wild rushes winding the bank, bitter bamboo paling the yard.

此三句写老树支门，是全曲写荒村之景的关键。「老树支门」写老树支门，「老树」写老树、「支门」写支门；「荒蒲绕岸」写荒蒲绕岸，「荒蒲」写荒蒲、「绕岸」写绕岸；「苦竹圈笆」写苦竹圈笆，「苦竹」写苦竹、「圈笆」写圈笆。三句一写老树支门、一写荒蒲绕岸、一写苦竹圈笆，以老树支门写老树支门、以荒蒲绕岸写荒蒲绕岸、以苦竹圈笆写苦竹圈笆，写尽老树支门、荒蒲绕岸、苦竹圈笆之情。以景写荒，含蓄而深婉，是「以景写荒」的点睛之笔。

These three lines write the desolate village: 'an old tree props the gate,' 'wild rushes fringe the bank,' 'bitter bamboo makes the fence.' Writing desolation through scenery, reserved and deep — the telling stroke.

寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙。

The temple has no monk, and foxes tread on the tiles; / The office is idle, and crows and rats take the seat of office.

寺无僧狐狸样瓦，官无事乌鼠当衙。

The temple, monkless, leaves the foxes at play on the tiles; the yamen, idle, leaves crows and rats in charge.

此二句写寺无僧狐狸样瓦，是全曲写荒败之态的关键。「寺无僧狐狸样瓦」写寺无僧狐狸样瓦，「寺无僧」写寺无僧、「狐狸样瓦」写狐狸样瓦；「官无事乌鼠当衙」写官无事乌鼠当衙，「官无事」写官无事、「乌鼠当衙」写乌鼠当衙。两句一写寺无僧狐狸样瓦、一写官无事乌鼠当衙，以寺无僧狐狸样瓦写寺无僧狐狸、以官无事乌鼠当衙写官无事乌鼠，写尽寺无僧狐狸样瓦、官无事乌鼠当衙之情。以景写败，含蓄而深婉，是「以景写败」的点睛之笔。

These two lines write the ruin: 'the temple has no monks; foxes sport among the tiles' — the deserted shrine; 'the office has no business; crows and rats hold the yamen' — the abandoned court. Writing decay through scenery, reserved and deep — the telling stroke.

白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦。

White water, yellow sand, / Leaning on the railing again and again, / Counting the crows as they cry.

白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦。

White water, yellow sand; I have leaned on every balustrade, counted out every cawing crow.

结句写数尽啼鸦，是全曲立意的落点。「白水黄沙」写白水黄沙，「白水」写白水、「黄沙」写黄沙；「倚遍阑干」写倚遍阑干，「倚遍」写倚遍、「阑干」写阑干；「数尽啼鸦」写数尽啼鸦，「数尽」写数尽、「啼鸦」写啼鸦。三句一写白水黄沙、一写倚遍阑干、一写数尽啼鸦，以白水黄沙写白水黄沙、以倚遍阑干写倚遍阑干、以数尽啼鸦写数尽啼鸦，写尽白水黄沙、倚遍阑干、数尽啼鸦之情。以景写情，含蓄而深婉，是全曲最动人处，也是「以景写情」的点睛之笔。

The closing lands the song's meaning: 'white water, yellow sand'; 'I have leaned on every railing'; 'counted out every cawing crow.' Writing feeling through scenery, reserved and deep — the most moving point, the finishing stroke.

Study

Word focus

为甚 why; the colloquial interrogative that gives the song's opening its direct, conversational tone. 「为甚」写为甚人家，是写为何之态的关键。「为甚人家」着一「为甚」，写为何——着一「为甚」，写为甚人家，见其问之深。两字写尽为甚之态，是「以词写问」的妙笔。「为甚」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
荒蒲 wild reeds; the plants that have recovered the bank now that no one keeps the place. 「荒蒲」写荒蒲绕岸，是写荒蒲之态的关键。「荒蒲绕岸」着一「荒蒲」，写荒蒲——着一「荒蒲」，写荒蒲绕岸，见其蒲之荒。两字写尽荒蒲之态，是「以词写荒」的点睛之词。「荒蒲」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
样瓦 as the tiles; so that foxes tread the roof like it were theirs, and the temple belongs to no one. 「样瓦」写狐狸样瓦，是写样瓦之态的关键。「寺无僧狐狸样瓦」着一「样瓦」，写样瓦——着一「样瓦」，写狐狸样瓦，见其寺之败。两字写尽样瓦之态，是「以词写败」的点睛之词。「样瓦」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
数尽 to count to the end of; the counting of the crows that turns a ruined scene into a vigil. 「数尽」写数尽啼鸦，是写数尽之态的关键。「数尽啼鸦」着一「数尽」，写数尽——着一「数尽」，写数尽啼鸦，见其数之尽。两字写尽数尽之态，是「以词写尽」的点睛之词。「数尽」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of a Gaodie - Over the Silent Pool the Rain Descends on a Sky-wide Scene 柳永 · 同写登临感时、倚阑凝望，一写误几回天际识归舟、一写倚遍阑干数尽啼鸦，皆于登临之中见感时 Both write of leaning on a railing and taking in a scene that will not console - Liu Yong waiting for sails that never return, Qiao Ji counting crows - and both end on a figure unable to look away.

Liu Yong's 'Eight Beats of a Gaodie' has the famous line about a lady on her dressing tower watching, mistaking sail after sail for a returning boat, a watcher at a tower who mistakes every sail; Qiao Ji's line about leaning on the railing and counting the crows is the same watcher in a ruined village. One counts boats that should come, the other counts crows that have already gone. The two share a final posture of idle looking, and the difference between them is the difference between hope and having nothing left to hope for.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「想佳人妆楼颙望，误几回、天际识归舟」，写登临感时、倚阑凝望，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；乔吉《折桂令·荆溪即事》则以「白水黄沙，倚遍阑干，数尽啼鸦」「老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆」写倚遍阑干、数尽啼鸦。两曲同写登临感时、倚阑凝望：一写误几回天际识归舟、以凝望写羁旅，一写白水黄沙倚遍阑干数尽啼鸦、以阑干写感时；一为柳永之清丽、一为乔吉之清冷，并读正可见曲写「登临感时」的两种笔法，皆于登临之中见感时。

 浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯 Huanxisha - A Tune of the Western Stream: A New Song, a Cup of Wine 晏殊 · 同写感怀言志、无可奈何，一写无可奈何花落去、一写问荆溪溪上人家为甚人家不种梅花，皆于感怀之中见无可奈何 Both write of facing an unchanged scene and finding nothing to be done about it - Yan Shu over fallen flowers and returning swallows, Qiao Ji over a village that has gone to ruins - and both accept the turn of things without argument.

Yan Shu's 'Huanxisha', "nothing can be done about fallen flowers, and swallows return as though they knew", takes the seasons as they are and makes of them a small philosophy of resignation over a cup of wine; Qiao Ji's 'An Occasion at Jingxi' takes a village as it is and makes of it a comedy of absence. The contrast is between accepting change and ridiculing what change has left. Both songs are short, plain and unhurried, which is what makes the comparison fair.

晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来」，写感怀言志，是宋词小令的名篇；乔吉《折桂令·荆溪即事》则以「问荆溪溪上人家：为甚人家，不种梅花」「老树支门，荒蒲绕岸，苦竹圈笆」写不种梅花、老树支门。两曲同写感怀言志、无可奈何：一写无可奈何花落去、以花落燕归写惜时，一写问荆溪溪上人家为甚人家不种梅花、以问写感怀；一为晏殊之温润、一为乔吉之清冷，并读正可见曲写「感怀无可奈何」的两种笔法，皆于感怀之中见无可奈何。