元 Yuan · 曲 Qu song
塞鸿秋·浔阳即景
Saihongqiu: Scene at Xunyang
长江万里白如练，淮山数点青如淀。
江帆几片疾如箭，山泉千尺飞如电。
晚云都变露，新月初学扇，塞鸿一字来如线。
A few Huaishan hills, blue as indigo.
A few river sails, swift as arrows,
A thousand-foot mountain spring, flying like lightning.
Evening clouds all turn to dew,
The new moon just learns the fan,
The northern wild geese come in a line, thin as a thread.
Meaning
The song spreads a bright autumn panorama of the Xunyang river, stringing together six similes that move from grand distance to fine detail.
万里长江白得像一条绸练，几点淮山青得像一块靛蓝。江上几片风帆疾如飞箭，山间千尺飞泉快如闪电。晚云都化成了清露，新月才学着团扇的模样，塞北飞鸿排成一字、远来如一条细线。
Appreciation
The song's signature is its run of six 'like' similes—ribbon, indigo, arrows, lightning, fan, thread—each matching a different scale and speed of the scene. Color and motion interlace: the white river and blue hills sit still and vast, while sails and springs dart. The close tightens from the vast ('ten-thousand-li') to the fine ('thin as a thread'), drawing a thousand miles into a foot of silk. The bright, clean palette gives the whole a crisp autumn clarity.
【白话串讲】 “长江万里白如练，淮山数点青如淀”——周德清写浔阳江景：长江白如练，淮山青如淀。“江帆几片疾如箭，山泉千尺飞如电”——“晚云都变露，新月初学扇”——“塞鸿一字来如线”——一连串比喻，写出江上秋色。 【意象与手法】连用六个“如”字比喻（练、淀、箭、电、扇、线），设色鲜丽，动静交织，铺排如画。 【情感与主旨】写浔阳秋江的明丽即景，流露对江山如画的自得与清赏之趣。 【名句点睛】“长江万里白如练……塞鸿一字来如线”——六喻连珠，尺幅千里。
Background
Zhou Deqing was a Yuan phonologist (author of the Zhongyuan Yinyun). This short song writes the autumn scene on the Xunyang river.
《塞鸿秋·浔阳即景》为元代周德清所作，是写浔阳秋景、塞鸿如线的散曲。周德清（约1277—1365），字日湛，号挺斋，高安人，元代散曲家、音韵学家。此曲：长江万里白如练，淮山数点青如淀。江帆几片疾如箭，山泉千尺飞如电。晚云都变露，新月初学扇，塞鸿一字来如线。全曲写浔阳秋景、塞鸿如线，是周德清散曲的名篇。
Art
A chain of similes (six 'like'); bright coloring; from far to near, from still to moving.
《塞鸿秋·浔阳即景》艺术上以浔阳秋景的描摹与博喻如线的工巧见长。全曲七句：首写长江淮山——“长江万里白如练，淮山数点青如淀”写长江万里白如练、淮山数点青如淀；次写江帆山泉——“江帆几片疾如箭，山泉千尺飞如电”写江帆几片疾如箭、山泉千尺飞如电；末写晚云新月塞鸿——“晚云都变露，新月初学扇，塞鸿一字来如线”写晚云都变露、新月初学扇、塞鸿一字来如线。全曲以浔阳秋景写塞鸿如线，正是周德清散曲工巧的笔法。
Allusions
Allusions in 'Saihongqiu - Scenes at Xunyang' run through 'the Yangtze,' 'white as a bolt of silk' (drawing on Xie Tiao's 'the limpid river lies still like silk'), 'the Huai mountains,' 'blue as indigo,' 'the river sails,' 'swift as arrows,' 'the mountain springs,' 'flying like lightning,' 'evening clouds turning to dew,' 'the new moon imitating a fan,' and 'the frontier geese in a line like a thread.' The figures compare each object to something clean and quick -- river to silk, sails to arrows, springs to lightning, geese to a thread. The whole song paints the autumn scene of Xunyang, its allusions natural and its craftsmanship self-evident -- the manner of Zhou Deqing's sanqu.
《塞鸿秋·浔阳即景》用典在“长江”“白如练”“淮山”“青如淀”“江帆”“疾如箭”“山泉”“飞如电”“晚云变露”“新月学扇”“塞鸿一字如线”。“长江”写长江；“白如练”用白如练之典（澄江静如练）；“淮山”写淮山；“青如淀”写青如淀（青靛）；“江帆”写江帆；“疾如箭”写疾如箭；“山泉”写山泉；“飞如电”写飞如电；“晚云变露”写晚云变露；“新月学扇”写新月学扇；“塞鸿一字如线”写塞鸿一字如线。全曲以这些意象写浔阳秋景、塞鸿如线，用典自然而工巧自见，正是周德清散曲的笔法。
Commentary
Critics said 'like unrolling an autumn-river scroll, six similes in a ring.'
《塞鸿秋·浔阳即景》是周德清散曲的名篇，也是元散曲中写景工巧的代表作。此曲写浔阳秋景、塞鸿如线，向为论者称道。论者多赏其浔阳秋景的描摹与博喻如线的工巧——“长江万里白如练，淮山数点青如淀”用白如练之典写长江万里白如练、淮山数点青如淀，工巧之极；“江帆几片疾如箭，山泉千尺飞如电”写江帆几片疾如箭、山泉千尺飞如电，更见其妙；“晚云都变露，新月初学扇，塞鸿一字来如线”写晚云都变露、新月初学扇、塞鸿一字来如线，尤称精工。周德清兼通音律，此曲正是其代表——以浔阳秋景写塞鸿如线，正是其曲风。
Prosody
Line by line
长江万里白如练，淮山数点青如淀。
Ten thousand li of the Long River, white as silk; the Huai hills, a few dots, blue as indigo.
长江万里白如练，淮山数点青如淀。
The Long River, ten thousand li, white like a bolt of silk; the Huai hills, a few points, green like indigo.
首用白如练之典写长江万里白如练、淮山数点青如淀，是全曲写浔阳秋景的起点。“长江万里白如练”用白如练之典写长江万里白如练——“长江万里白如练”用澄江静如练之典写长江万里、白如匹练——长江万里白如练；“淮山数点青如淀”写淮山数点青如淀——“淮山数点青如淀”写淮山数点、青如靛青——淮山数点青如淀。二句写长江万里白如练、淮山数点青如淀：长江万里白如练，淮山数点青如淀。以“长江万里白如练”用白如练之典写长江万里、白如匹练，以“淮山数点青如淀”写淮山数点、青如靛青，正是周德清散曲写浔阳秋景的起点——长江如练，淮山如淀。
The opening uses the 'white as silk' image for the autumn scene at Xunyang: 'ten thousand li of the Long River, white as silk' adapts the 'limpid river still as silk' allusion; 'the Huai hills, a few dots, blue as indigo.' Zhou Deqing's starting point: the river like silk, the hills like indigo.
江帆几片疾如箭，山泉千尺飞如电。
A few sails on the river, swift as arrows; a mountain spring of a thousand feet, flying like lightning.
江帆几片疾如箭，山泉千尺飞如电。
A few river-sails, swift as arrows; a mountain spring of a thousand feet, flying like lightning.
次写江帆几片疾如箭、山泉千尺飞如电，是全曲写江帆山泉的展开。“江帆几片疾如箭”写江帆几片疾如箭——“江帆几片疾如箭”写江上几片帆、疾如飞箭——江帆几片疾如箭；“山泉千尺飞如电”写山泉千尺飞如电——“山泉千尺飞如电”写千尺山泉、飞落如电——山泉千尺飞如电。二句写江帆几片疾如箭、山泉千尺飞如电：江帆几片疾如箭，山泉千尺飞如电。以“江帆几片疾如箭”写江帆几片、疾如飞箭，以“山泉千尺飞如电”写山泉千尺、飞落如电，正是周德清散曲写浔阳秋景的展开——江帆如箭，山泉如电。
The next lines unfold the sails and the spring: 'a few sails on the river, swift as arrows'; 'a mountain spring of a thousand feet, flying like lightning.' Zhou Deqing's unfolding: sails like arrows, the spring like lightning.
晚云都变露，新月初学扇，塞鸿一字来如线。
The evening clouds have all turned to dew; the new moon has learned to be a fan; the frontier geese come in a single line, like a thread.
晚云都变露，新月初学扇，塞鸿一字来如线。
The evening clouds have turned to dew; the new moon has just learned its fan shape; the frontier geese, in one straight line, come like a thread.
末写晚云都变露、新月初学扇、塞鸿一字来如线，是全曲写塞鸿如线的归结。“晚云都变露”写晚云都变露——“晚云都变露”写晚云都化作露——晚云都变露；“新月初学扇，塞鸿一字来如线”写新月初学扇、塞鸿一字来如线——“新月初学扇”写新月学着团扇——塞鸿一字来如线，写塞鸿一字飞来如线。此三句写晚云变露、新月学扇、塞鸿如线：晚云都变露，新月初学扇，塞鸿一字来如线。以“晚云都变露”写晚云变露、秋意已深，以“塞鸿一字来如线”写塞鸿如线、一字横空，正是周德清散曲写塞鸿如线的归结——晚云变露，塞鸿如线。
The closing resolves the frontier geese: 'the evening clouds have all turned to dew' — autumn deepened; 'the new moon has learned to be a fan; the frontier geese come in a single line, like a thread' — the geese's straight line across the sky. Zhou Deqing's resolution: the clouds to dew, the geese a thread.
Study
Word focus
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