All poems

五代 Five Dynasties · 词 Ci lyric

浪淘沙·往事只堪哀

Langtaosha (Waves Washing the Sands) · 'The Past Is Only Grief to Bear'

李煜

Li Yu

故国Lost Kingdom 悲慨Sorrowful Regret

往事只堪哀，对景难排。
秋风庭院藓侵阶。
一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来？
金锁已沉埋，壮气蒿莱。
晚凉天净月华开。
想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮！

The past is only fit for sorrow; facing the scene, I cannot shake it off.
Autumn wind in the courtyard—moss creeps across the steps.
Let the pearl blind hang idle, never rolled up—who comes the whole day long?
The golden locks lie sunk and buried; heroic spirit lost among the weeds.
At evening, cool and the sky is clear; the moon's bright light unfolds.
I dream of the jade towers and jewelled halls—their shadows vainly shine upon the Qinhuai!

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Meaning

Written after Li Yu was captured by the Song and taken north, this lyric voices the grief of a fallen ruler. Through a desolate courtyard and the imagined splendor of his lost southern capital, it contrasts the emptiness of the present with the vanished glory of the past.

往事只堪哀，对景难排。秋风庭院藓侵阶。一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来？金锁已沉埋，壮气蒿莱。晚凉天净月华开。想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮！

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poem opens with the speaker declaring that the past is only good for grieving and that no scene can dispel his sorrow. Autumn moss on the steps and an unrolled pearl screen mark an empty, friendless court. Below, the buried golden locks and heroic spirit lost in weeds evoke the fallen kingdom, while the moonlight and the imagined jade towers "vainly" shine upon the Qinhuai River. [Structure] The upper stanza stays in the present—grief, courtyard, solitude; the lower shifts to memory and the lost capital. [Imagery] Key images—moss at the threshold, the idle screen, buried locks, moonlit towers—build a progression from personal desolation to national ruin. The final line, "vainly shines upon the Qinhuai," is the emotional pivot: the river and moon are indifferent to the exile's pain. The whole lyric is a model of Li Yu's late style, where private feeling and public catastrophe fuse.

【白话串讲】李煜写《浪淘沙·往事只堪哀》：“往事只堪哀，对景难排”——“秋风庭院藓侵阶”——“一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来”——“金锁已沉埋，壮气蒿莱”——“想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮”——他写被囚后的哀愁。【意象与手法】此词写亡国之哀，以哀愁写亡国，是李煜的名篇。上阕写哀景：「往事只堪哀，对景难排」写往事只堪哀、对景难排——写尽往事的哀；「秋风庭院藓侵阶。一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来」写秋风庭院藓侵阶、一任珠帘闲不卷、终日谁来——写尽庭院的冷落；下阕写故国：「金锁已沉埋，壮气蒿莱」写金锁已沉埋、壮气蒿莱——写尽故国的沉埋；「晚凉天净月华开。想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮」写晚凉天净月华开、想得玉楼瑶殿影、空照秦淮——写尽故国的空照。全词以哀愁写亡国，写尽往事的哀与故国的空，是李煜的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写亡国之哀，以哀愁写亡国，是李煜的名篇。此词为李煜被俘入宋后所作，写亡国之君的哀愁。上阕写哀景：往事只堪哀，对景难排——写往事只堪哀、对景难排，写尽往事的哀；秋风庭院藓侵阶——写秋风庭院藓侵阶，写尽庭院的冷落；一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来——写一任珠帘闲不卷、终日谁来，写尽无人的寂寥；下阕写故国：金锁已沉埋，壮气蒿莱——写金锁已沉埋、壮气蒿莱，写尽故国的沉埋；晚凉天净月华开——写晚凉天净月华开，写尽秋夜的清冷；想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮——写想得玉楼瑶殿影、空照秦淮，写尽故国的空照。全词以哀愁写亡国——那「秋风庭院藓侵阶」写尽庭院的冷落，「空照秦淮」写尽故国的空，写尽往事的哀与故国的空，是理解李煜亡国词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「往事只堪哀，对景难排」写往事的哀；「秋风庭院藓侵阶」写庭院的冷落；「金锁已沉埋，壮气蒿莱」写故国的沉埋；「想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮」写故国的空；以及全词以哀愁写亡国、以今昔对照写亡国的手法。

Background

Li Yu (937–978), originally named Li Congjia, courtesy name Chongguang, was the last ruler of the Southern Tang and is known as Li Houzhu (the Later Lord Li). In 975 the Song army captured the Southern Tang capital; Li Yu was taken to Bianjing (modern Kaifeng) and given the humiliating title Marquis Who Disobeys Commands, later poisoned on the order of the Song emperor Taizong. This lyric belongs to his captivity period, when he wrote his most searing poems of lost kingship. As the final monarch of a short-lived state, his personal ruin became the matter of some of the most moving lyrics in Chinese literature, transforming the entertainer's song (ci) into serious literati expression.

此词写亡国之哀，以哀愁写亡国，是李煜的名篇。李煜（937—978），初名从嘉，字重光，南唐末代君主，世称李后主。宋太祖开宝八年（975），南唐亡，李煜被俘至汴京，封违命侯，后为宋太宗赐鸩而死。此词为李煜被俘入宋后所作，写亡国之君的哀愁。上阕写哀景：「往事只堪哀，对景难排」写往事只堪哀、对景难排——写尽往事的哀（往事只堪哀，对景难排）；「秋风庭院藓侵阶。一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来」写秋风庭院藓侵阶、一任珠帘闲不卷、终日谁来——写尽庭院的冷落（秋风庭院藓侵阶，一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来）。下阕写故国：「金锁已沉埋，壮气蒿莱」写金锁已沉埋、壮气蒿莱——写尽故国的沉埋（金锁已沉埋，壮气蒿莱）；「晚凉天净月华开。想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮」写晚凉天净月华开、想得玉楼瑶殿影、空照秦淮——写尽故国的空照（晚凉天净月华开，想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮）。全词以哀愁写亡国，写尽往事的哀与故国的空，是理解李煜亡国词的重要篇章。

Art

The artistry works on several levels. First, direct utterance: "The past is only fit for sorrow" states grief without ornament, letting the bare adverb carry the weight. Second, objective correlatives: moss creeping over the steps and the unrolled pearl screen externalise abandonment and isolation. Third, the rhetorical question "who comes the whole day long?" turns solitude into a silent accusation. Fourth, the closing "vainly shines" projects the speaker's loss onto the indifferent moon and river. Structurally the upper stanza fixes the eye on the prisoner's present; the lower leaps via "I dream of" to the lost capital at Jinling, contrasting solid present desolation with phantom past glory. This near/far, real/empty opposition is the hallmark of Li Yu's exile lyrics, raising private sorrow to universal pathos.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直抒写哀。「往事只堪哀，对景难排」以直抒写哀——那「只堪哀」「难排」写尽往事的哀，以直抒写尽亡国之哀。其二，以景物写冷落。「秋风庭院藓侵阶」以景物写冷落——那「藓侵阶」写尽台阶的苔藓，以景物写尽庭院的冷落。其三，以问句写寂寥。「终日谁来」以问句写寂寥——那「谁来」写尽无人的寂寥，以问句写尽故宫的冷落。其四，以空照写故国。「空照秦淮」以空照写故国——那「空照」写尽玉楼的空，以空照写尽故国的空幻。此外，此词上阕写眼前之哀，下阕写故国之思，由近及远，正是李煜亡国词「以哀写亡」的写法。四重手法，使此词以哀愁写亡国，写尽往事的哀与故国的空，是李煜的代表作。此词尤可注意其「以今写昔、以昔衬今」的对照：上阕「秋风庭院藓侵阶」「一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来」，极写眼前囚居之冷落——阶生苔藓、帘不卷、门无客，句句是今；下阕「想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮」，忽以「想得」二字腾空，追写故国金陵玉楼瑶殿之影，却是「空照」——昔日繁华与今日冷落，一实一虚、一近一远，相形之下，愈见今之不堪回首，而秦淮水月无情，更衬出亡国之君的孤绝，正是李煜「以追忆写沉痛」的高超。

Allusions

The phrase "golden locks lie buried" recalls the iron-chain defence of the Yangzi: in Liu Yuxi's "Meditation on the Past at Xisai Mountain," "a thousand-fathom iron chain sank to the river bed" marks the fall of Eastern Wu. Li Yu transforms "iron" into "golden," mourning his own lost defence of the Southern Tang. "Heroic spirit lost in weeds" (haolai, wild grass) images ambitions overgrown. "Jade towers and jewelled halls" echo the traditional "jade mansions" of palace poetry, while "Qinhuai" names the famous pleasure river of Jinling, already haunted in Du Mu's "mist-veiled cold water, moon-veiled sand." By weaving these allusions Li Yu places his personal catastrophe within the long Chinese tradition of laments for fallen dynasties.

此词的用语深植于亡国与哀愁的传统。「金锁已沉埋」令人想到「金锁」写铁锁的典故——刘禹锡《西塞山怀古》「千寻铁锁沉江底，一片降幡出石头」，写东吴以铁锁锁江而终亡，也令人想到「铁锁沉江」的意象；「壮气蒿莱」令人想到「壮气蒿莱」写壮志埋没的意象——蒿莱即野草，也令人想到「志气蒿莱」的意象；「玉楼瑶殿」令人想到「玉楼瑶殿」写琼楼玉宇的意象——也令人想到「琼楼玉宇」（苏轼）的意象；「秦淮」令人想到「秦淮」写金陵的意象——秦淮河为金陵名胜，也令人想到「烟笼寒水月笼沙」（杜牧）的意象；「月华开」令人想到「月华」写月光的意象——也令人想到「月华如练」的意象。全词化用金锁、壮气、秦淮的意象典故，以哀愁写亡国，正是李煜「哀感顽艳」而承亡国传统写哀愁的本领。又「金锁已沉埋」之典宜深味：刘禹锡《西塞山怀古》「千寻铁锁沉江底」，本写东吴以铁锁锁江而王濬楼船破之，金陵王气黯然；李煜化「铁锁」为「金锁」，自况南唐江防之失守、家国之沉埋，正是一语双关——既写锁之沉埋，又写心之沉埋；而「壮气蒿莱」以蒿莱（野草）写壮气之销尽，与《孟子》「其志也，浩然之气」相对成反讽，可见其用典而能自伤身世的深意。

Commentary

Critics rank this among Li Yu's finest exile lyrics. Wang Guowei, in "Renjian Cihua," praised Li Yu for transforming the entertainers' song into literati poetry; Qing readers noted that it "writes the fall of a kingdom through grief, pain striking to the bone." Its special value lies in condensing a whole lost world—past, grief, wind, court, moss, screen, locks, spirit, moon, towers, river—into a single short tune. Together with "Yu Meiren" ("When will the spring flowers and autumn moon end"), it forms the twin peak of his captivity work: one measures sorrow by "a river of spring water flowing east," the other by "the jade towers' vain shine upon the Qinhuai." For modern readers it remains the clearest window onto the agony of a deposed emperor.

此词历来被推为李煜亡国词的名篇，也是五代词写亡国哀愁的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：王国维《人间词话》谓李煜「变伶工之词而为士大夫之词」；清人评此词「以哀愁写亡国，沉痛入骨」。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以六韵的中调写尽往事的哀与故国的空——那往事，那哀，那景，那秋风，那庭院，那藓，那珠帘，那谁来，那金锁，那壮气，那蒿莱，那晚凉，那天净，那月华，那玉楼，那瑶殿，那秦淮，都写尽了李煜笔下的亡国之哀；那「空照秦淮」更以空照写尽故国的空幻。此词与李煜《虞美人·春花秋月何时了》（「问君能有几多愁」）同为亡国名篇，一写「恰似一江春水向东流」的愁（虞美人），一写「想得玉楼瑶殿影」的哀（浪淘沙）；又与刘禹锡《西塞山怀古》「一片降幡出石头」的亡国传统一脉相承，可见五代词写亡国的传统。对于今日读者，此词是理解李煜亡国词的窗口，也是中国词写亡国的经典——那空照秦淮的玉楼，穿越千年，仍在诉说着亡国的哀愁。

Prosody

Form Ci (lyric) · Langtaosha (Waves Washing the Sands) tune词·浪淘沙

Rhyme The Langtaosha tune has fifty-four characters in two stanzas. It rhymes on 'ai' (grief), 'pai' (ease), 'jie' (steps), 'lai' (come), 'lai' (weeds), 'kai' (unfold), 'huai' (Qinhuai)—all level-tone rhymes carried through to the end, producing a heavy, sorrowful music.《浪淘沙》双调五十四字，押「哀」「排」「阶」「来」「莱」「开」「淮」韵（平声），一韵到底，音节沉痛

Tone pattern Set to a level-tone rhyme sustained throughout, the tune's even, sinking cadence matches the weight of a fallen kingdom's grief.此词为《浪淘沙》调，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节沉痛，正合亡国的沉痛。

Reading note A fifty-four-character double-stanza ci. Upper stanza: 'The past is only fit for sorrow… who comes all day long?' Lower: 'The golden locks lie buried… vainly shine upon the Qinhuai.' Level rhymes run unbroken to the end, their mournful music suiting exile grief. The upper stays in the present, the lower in memory of the lost capital; reading should be slow and heavy, ending on a resonant sigh.此词为《浪淘沙》双调五十四字，上阕——「往事只堪哀，对景难排。秋风庭院藓侵阶。一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来」，下阕——「金锁已沉埋，壮气蒿莱。晚凉天净月华开。想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮」，押平声韵（哀、排、阶、来、莱、开、淮），一韵到底，音节沉痛。全词以哀愁写亡国：上阕写眼前之哀（往事只堪哀、秋风庭院藓侵阶、终日谁来），下阕写故国之思（金锁已沉埋、空照秦淮）。两阕由近及远，层层写尽往事的哀与故国的空，正是李煜亡国词以哀写亡的典型结构。诵读此词，宜以沉痛的语调读「往事只堪哀」的哀愁，以低回的语调读「空照秦淮」的故国，结句要读得沉痛而有余韵，方能传达出李煜的哀感顽艳。李煜词以「哀感顽艳」著称，此词正是其亡国词的典范。

Line by line

想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮

I dream of the jade towers and jewelled halls—their shadows vainly shine upon the Qinhuai.

想得玉楼瑶殿影，空照秦淮。

I picture the shadows of the jade towers and jasper halls; they shine in vain on the Qinhuai River.

此二句是全词写故国的核心，以想得玉楼瑶殿影写玉楼，以空照秦淮写空照，写尽故国的空幻，是千古名句。「想得玉楼瑶殿影」写想得玉楼瑶殿影——那「想得」写想得，「玉楼瑶殿影」写玉楼瑶殿影，写尽故国的楼殿；「空照秦淮」写空照秦淮——那「空照」写空照，「秦淮」写秦淮，写尽故国的空幻。这句的深意在于：它以「想得玉楼瑶殿影」的玉楼与「空照秦淮」的空照，写尽故国的空幻——想得玉楼瑶殿影，那「想得玉楼瑶殿影」写尽故国的楼殿——想得故国玉楼瑶殿之影，正是故国之思的写照，那「玉楼瑶殿」写尽故国的繁华；空照秦淮，那「空照秦淮」写尽故国的空幻——玉楼之影空照秦淮，正是繁华已逝的写照，那「空照」写尽故国的空幻；那「想得玉楼瑶殿影」写尽故国的楼殿，那「空照秦淮」写尽故国的空幻，一写楼殿，一写空照，写尽故国的空幻——玉楼瑶殿而空照秦淮，正是亡国的写照；此二句以楼殿、空照写尽故国的空幻，也让此二句成为全词写故国的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「我想念故国的宫殿」，则失其沉痛；唯以「想得玉楼瑶殿影」写楼殿、「空照秦淮」写空照，写尽故国的空幻，也让此二句成为全词写故国的核心。

The palaces. I picture the shadows of the jade towers and jasper halls; they shine in vain on the Qinhuai River. The pictured southern palaces and the vain light on the Qinhuai are Li Yu's lost kingdom. To have pictured the old palaces would be a memory; the pictured-jade-towers-jasper-halls-shadows against the shine-in-vain-on-the-Qinhuai-River is the memory.

一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来

I let the pearl blind hang idle, never rolled up—who comes the whole day long?

一任珠帘闲不卷，终日谁来。

I let the pearl curtain lie unrolled; all day long, who comes?

此二句是全词写寂寥的核心，以一任珠帘闲不卷写珠帘，以终日谁来写无人，写尽庭院的冷落，是千古名句。「一任珠帘闲不卷」写一任珠帘闲不卷——那「一任」写一任，「珠帘闲不卷」写珠帘闲不卷，写尽珠帘的冷落；「终日谁来」写终日谁来——那「终日」写终日，「谁来」写谁来，写尽无人的寂寥。这句的深意在于：它以「一任珠帘闲不卷」的珠帘与「终日谁来」的无人，写尽庭院的冷落——一任珠帘闲不卷，那「一任珠帘闲不卷」写尽珠帘的冷落——一任珠帘闲不卷，正是无人来而帘不卷的写照，那「闲不卷」写尽珠帘的冷落；终日谁来，那「终日谁来」写尽无人的寂寥——终日无客来，正是门庭冷落的写照，那「谁来」写尽无人的寂寥；那「一任珠帘闲不卷」写尽珠帘的冷落，那「终日谁来」写尽无人的寂寥，一写珠帘，一写无人，写尽庭院的冷落——珠帘闲卷而终日无客，正是囚居的写照；此二句以珠帘、无人写尽庭院的冷落，也让此二句成为全词写寂寥的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「没有人来看我」，则失其含蓄；唯以「一任珠帘闲不卷」写珠帘、「终日谁来」写无人，写尽庭院的冷落，也让此二句成为全词写寂寥的核心。

The curtain. I let the pearl curtain lie unrolled; all day long, who comes? The unrolled pearl curtain and the all-day-who-comes question are the captivity. To have described the deserted chamber would be a scene; the let-the-pearl-curtain-lie-unrolled against the all-day-long-who-comes question is the scene.

Study

Word focus

只只 (zhǐ), 'only / merely,' is the hinge of 'The past is only fit for sorrow.' It confines the entire past to grief alone, signalling helpless resignation—nothing remains of it but lament. In context it stresses both the exclusivity of sorrow and the speaker's powerlessness, pairing with 'cannot shake off' to voice a fallen ruler's despair. 「往事只堪哀」之「只」字是写哀愁的关键词，一个「只」字写尽往事的哀。只者，唯有、仅仅也。李煜以「往事只堪哀」写哀愁，这个「只」字至少有双重意味：其一，写往事之哀——那「往事只堪哀」写往事只堪哀，那「只」字写尽往事的哀——往事唯堪哀叹，正是亡国之哀的写照，那「只」字写尽往事的哀；其二，写无奈之叹——那「只」字更是写叹——只堪哀，正见无可奈何，那「只」字写尽哀愁的无奈。以「只」字写哀愁，正是李煜写亡国的枢纽——若换作「独」「空」等字，则或失其与「往事」「堪哀」的配合，或失其写只的意味；唯「只」字，以往事只堪哀写尽往事的哀与哀愁的无奈，与「对景难排」的难排相合，写尽亡国之哀，也让「往事只堪哀」成为全词写哀愁的名句。

空空 (kōng), 'vainly / emptily,' governs 'vainly shines upon the Qinhuai.' It marks the moonlight as pointless because the lost towers and their people are gone, deepening the sense of abandonment. The word turns a bright image into a token of absence, the emotional pivot of the closing line. 「空照秦淮」之「空」字是写故国的关键词，一个「空」字写尽故国的空幻。空者，徒然、空自也。李煜以「空照秦淮」写故国，这个「空」字至少有双重意味：其一，写照之空——那「空照秦淮」写空照秦淮，那「空」字写尽玉楼的空照——玉楼瑶殿之影空照秦淮，正是繁华已逝的写照，那「空」字写尽故国的空幻；其二，写悲之深——那「空」字更是写悲——空照，正见物是人非之悲，那「空」字写尽亡国的沉痛。以「空」字写故国，正是李煜写沉痛的枢纽——若换作「独」「自」等字，则或失其与「玉楼瑶殿影」的配合，或失其写空的意味；唯「空」字，以空照秦淮写尽玉楼的空照与亡国的沉痛，与「想得玉楼瑶殿影」的想得相合，写尽故国的空幻，也让「空照秦淮」成为全词写故国的名句。