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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

临江仙·探梅

Linjiangxian: Searching for the Plum Blossoms

辛弃疾

Xin Qiji

咏梅Plum-blossom theme

老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村。
一枝先破玉溪春。
更无花态度，全有雪精神。
剩向空山餐秀色，为渠著句清新。
竹根流水带溪云。
醉中浑不记，归路月黄昏。

Old now, my heart for flowers has grown indifferent —
yet still, for the plum, I circle the river village.
A single branch first breaks the spring of Yuxi.
No flower's airs at all: it has the whole spirit of snow.
Better to feed on the bare hill's beauty,
to write one fresh line for its sake.
Water runs below the bamboo roots, bearing cloud and stream.
Drunk, I quite forget the road back — moon, dusk.

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Meaning

An ageing Xin Qiji, retired in the mountains of Shangrao, confesses that age has blunted his love of blossoms, yet he still walks out to the river village for the plum. A single branch 'first breaks' the spring of Yuxi, and the flower he honours has none of a flower's coquetry, but the entire spirit of snow. So he lingers on the empty hill feeding on its beauty and writes a fresh line for the plum's sake; among bamboo roots, running water and stream-cloud, he drinks and forgets the way home. The poem is a quiet celebration of an old man's stubborn, uncommercial love of plainness.

老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村。一枝先破玉溪春。更无花态度，全有雪精神。剩向空山餐秀色，为渠著句清新。竹根流水带溪云。醉中浑不记，归路月黄昏。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The speaker opens by conceding that years have blunted his love of flowers, then immediately contradicts himself: for the plum, he still circles the river village. That contradiction is the engine of the whole piece. [Structure] The upper stanza moves from the general to the singular — from all flowers to one branch — and in doing so converts apparent depletion into concentration: the more indiscriminate appetite has faded, the more singular this one is. The lower stanza turns from appetite to vision: he feeds on the hill's beauty, writes a line, and finally loses himself in drink until the road home disappears. [Imagery] The celebrated couplet 'No flower's airs at all; it has the whole spirit of snow' is built on antithesis — blossom against snow, allure against austerity. The plum is defined, here, by negation: it is not what a flower is. [Closing effect] The last line withholds the drunkard's destination and lets the moonlit dusk close the poem, so feeling ends in a picture rather than in a claim. Plainness becomes, in this poem, the highest form of praise.

【白话串讲】辛弃疾写《临江仙·探梅》：“老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村”——“一枝先破玉溪春”——“更无花态度，全有雪精神”——“剩向空山餐秀色，为渠著句清新”——“醉中浑不记，归路月黄昏”——他探梅——更无花态度，全有雪精神。【意象与手法】此词写咏梅，以闲适写咏梅，是辛弃疾的名篇。上片写爱梅：「老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村。一枝先破玉溪春。更无花态度，全有雪精神」写老去惜花心已懒、爱梅犹绕江村、一枝先破玉溪春——写尽爱梅的深情；下片写赏梅：「剩向空山餐秀色，为渠著句清新。竹根流水带溪云。醉中浑不记，归路月黄昏」写剩向空山餐秀色、醉中浑不记——写尽赏梅的醉意。全词以闲适写咏梅，写尽爱梅的深情与赏梅的醉意，是辛弃疾的代表作。【情感与主旨】此词写咏梅，以闲适写咏梅，是辛弃疾的名篇。此词写辛弃疾闲居上饶时探梅之作。辛弃疾晚年闲居带湖、瓢泉，与山水为邻。此词写老去惜花之心已懒，独于梅花犹绕江村探访；见一枝梅先破玉溪（信江上游之溪）之春，无花的娇艳态度，全有雪的清神；遂向空山餐秀色，为梅花著句清新；竹根流水带溪云，醉中不记归路，唯见月黄昏。此词写爱梅：老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村——写老去惜花心已懒、爱梅犹绕江村，写尽爱梅的深情；一枝先破玉溪春——写一枝先破玉溪春，写尽破春的梅枝；更无花态度，全有雪精神——写更无花态度、全有雪精神，写尽梅的品格；剩向空山餐秀色，为渠著句清新——写剩向空山餐秀色、为渠著句清新，写尽赏梅的清兴；竹根流水带溪云——写竹根流水带溪云，写尽溪云的景致；醉中浑不记，归路月黄昏——写醉中浑不记、归路月黄昏，写尽赏梅的醉意。全词以闲适写咏梅——那「更无花态度，全有雪精神」写尽梅的品格，「归路月黄昏」写尽赏梅的醉意，写尽爱梅的深情与赏梅的醉意，是理解辛弃疾咏梅词的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「一枝先破玉溪春」写破春的梅枝；「更无花态度，全有雪精神」写梅的品格；以及全词以闲适写咏梅、以对举写梅品的手法。

Background

Xin Qiji (1140–1207), courtesy name You'an, so-called Jiaxuan, was born in Licheng, modern Jinan, and became the greatest cihua writer of the Southern Song, paired with Su Shi as the two great bold-freedom poets. In his last decades he lived retired at Lake Dai and at Piaoquan in Shangrao, living among hills and streams. This ci is the product of that life: the 'river village' he circles for the plum is his own neighbourhood, and Yuxi — here the upper course of thexin River — runs beside it. Plum verse was by then a fully established mode of Song lyrics, from Lin Bu's 'hidden or crosswise shadow' to Lu You's 'ground to dust.' Xin's particular contribution is to write the old age of a celebrated patriot rather than the youthful sorrows of a recluse.

此词写咏梅，以闲适写咏梅，是辛弃疾的名篇。辛弃疾（1140—1207），字幼安，号稼轩，历城（今山东济南）人，南宋词人，与苏轼并称「苏辛」，为豪放词代表。此词写辛弃疾闲居上饶时探梅之作。辛弃疾晚年闲居带湖、瓢泉，与山水为邻。此词写老去惜花之心已懒，独于梅花犹绕江村探访；见一枝梅先破玉溪（信江上游之溪）之春，无花的娇艳态度，全有雪的清神；遂向空山餐秀色，为梅花著句清新；竹根流水带溪云，醉中不记归路，唯见月黄昏。此词写爱梅：「老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村」写老去惜花心已懒、爱梅犹绕江村——写尽爱梅的深情（老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村）；「一枝先破玉溪春」写一枝先破玉溪春——写尽破春的梅枝（一枝先破玉溪春）；「更无花态度，全有雪精神」写更无花态度、全有雪精神——写尽梅的品格（更无花态度，全有雪精神）；「剩向空山餐秀色，为渠著句清新」写剩向空山餐秀色、为渠著句清新——写尽赏梅的清兴（剩向空山餐秀色，为渠著句清新）；「竹根流水带溪云」写竹根流水带溪云——写尽溪云的景致（竹根流水带溪云）；「醉中浑不记，归路月黄昏」写醉中浑不记、归路月黄昏——写尽赏梅的醉意（醉中浑不记，归路月黄昏）。全词以闲适写咏梅，写尽爱梅的深情与赏梅的醉意，是理解辛弃疾咏梅词的重要篇章。

Art

Four crafts can be isolated here. First, contrast used as a wedge: 'old and indifferent to flowers' against 'still walking to the river village for the plum' — the contrast makes the second clause surprising, and therefore memorable. Second, antithesis for character: 'no flower's airs' and 'the whole spirit of snow' set blossom against frost in a single couplet, and the two clauses balance so exactly that the plum is measured by what it lacks. Third, plain description: 'water runs below the bamboo roots, carrying cloud' reports a scene without comment, and the comment arrives only through implication. Fourth, the scenic close: the poem ends on moon and dusk, so the reader is left outside with a drunk man who has lost his way. Two single characters carry extra weight: the 'first' in 'a single branch first breaks the spring' makes the plum the earliest herald of the year, and the 'feed' in 'feeding on the hill's beauty' treats aesthetic delight as hunger — the whole poem is enough to make hunger of sight.

此词的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以反衬写爱梅。「老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村」以反衬写爱梅——那「心已懒」「犹绕江村」写尽惜花懒而爱梅勤的反衬，以反衬写尽爱梅的深情。其二，以对举写梅品。「更无花态度，全有雪精神」以对举写梅品——那「无花态度」「有雪精神」写尽梅的品格，以对举写尽梅的高洁。其三，以白描写溪景。「竹根流水带溪云」以白描写溪景——那「竹根流水」「带溪云」写尽溪云的景致，以白描写尽赏梅的清兴。其四，以景结写醉意。「归路月黄昏」以景结写醉意——那「月黄昏」写尽黄昏的月色，以景结写尽赏梅的醉意。此外，此词上片写爱梅的深情，下片写赏梅的醉意，由爱及醉，正是咏梅词「以梅写人」的写法。四重手法，使此词以闲适写咏梅，写尽爱梅的深情与赏梅的醉意，是辛弃疾的代表作。此词还善于以「一枝先破玉溪春」的「先」字写梅之报春——那「先破」写尽梅开之早，正是「一花先破春」的写照，以「先」字写尽梅的品格。又善以「剩向空山餐秀色」的「餐」字写出色可餐——餐秀色，正见对梅的痴赏，以「餐」字写尽赏梅的清兴。

Allusions

The vocabulary belongs to the long tradition of plum and reclusive ease. 'xihua,' the phrase for cherishing blossoms, recalls the whole lineage of flower-lovers and, more especially, Xin's own 'I once feared that spring would come too early.' 'Yuxi' names the stream of the upper Xin River and simultaneously evokes Li Shangyin, who took 'Yuxi' as his poetic name as Li Yuxi. 'snow's spirit' (xue jingshen) pairs the plum with snow in the familiar rivalry of 'the plum yields to snow in whiteness, but snow loses to the plum in fragrance.' 'empty mountains' (kongshan) descends from Wang Wei's 'In empty mountains no one is seen.' 'xiuse kecan' draws on the stock phrase xiuse kecan, 'beauty so fine it might be eaten'. And the phrase 'moon at dusk' (yue huanghun) returns readers directly to Lin Bu's line 'shadowy tracery over clear shallow water, faint fragrance moving in the moon at dusk.

此词的用语深植于咏梅与闲适传统。「惜花」令人想到「惜花」写惜花的意象——也令人想到「惜春长怕花开早」（辛弃疾）的意象；「玉溪」令人想到「玉溪」写溪水的意象——信江上游称玉溪，也令人想到李商隐号玉谿生的意象；「雪精神」令人想到「雪精神」写雪梅的意象——也令人想到「梅须逊雪三分白，雪却输梅一段香」（卢梅坡）的意象；「空山」令人想到「空山」写空山的意象——也令人想到「空山不见人」（王维）的意象；「餐秀色」令人想到「餐秀色」写出色可餐的意象——也令人想到「秀色可餐」的成语；「月黄昏」令人想到「月黄昏」写月色的意象——也令人想到「疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏」（林逋）的意象。全词化用惜花、玉溪、雪精神、空山、餐秀色、月黄昏的意象，以闲适写咏梅，正是辛弃疾「以文为词」而善写情、承咏梅传统写品格之本领。「玉溪春」令人想到「玉溪」为信江上游之溪——也令人想到李商隐号玉谿生，以玉溪写溪水之清；「竹根流水带溪云」令人想到「竹根」写竹根的意象——也令人想到「苍苍竹林寺」（刘长卿）的意象，以竹根流水写探梅之地的清幽。

Commentary

This ci has long been ranked among the finest of Xin's plum lyrics and among the finest short lyrics on the flower's character. Qing readers praised it as 'plum verse written in an easy, leisurely mood, naturally high and clean,' and modern readers single out 'no flower's airs, the whole spirit of snow' as the couplet that defines the poem. Its special place in the history of the form is that it achieves this in barely sixty characters: the poem passes from the poet's weariness to the flower's purity to the poet's own lost bearings, and never once raises its voice. It is often read beside Xin's 'Gutian Tian: Written on behalf of a friend' — that one on the tender green of mulberry leaves, this one on snow's austerity — and beside the whole hermitic line of Lin Bu. For the modern reader it remains the best short window onto how a patriotic, forceful poet could spend his old hours with a single branch of blossom.

此词历来被推为辛弃疾咏梅词的名篇，也是宋词写梅品与闲适的代表。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「以闲适写咏梅，高洁自然」；近人更指出「更无花态度，全有雪精神」写梅的品格，是此词的名句。在词史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以五十八字的词写尽爱梅的深情与赏梅的醉意——那老去，那惜花，那心已懒，那爱梅，那犹绕江村，那一枝，那先破玉溪春，那更无花态度，那全有雪精神，那空山，那餐秀色，那为渠著句，那清新，那竹根，那流水，那带溪云，那醉中，那浑不记，那归路，那月黄昏，都写尽了辛弃疾笔下的探梅；那「更无花态度，全有雪精神」更以对举写尽梅的品格。此词与辛弃疾《鹧鸪天·代人赋》（「晚日寒鸦一片愁」）同为写景名篇，一写「陌上柔桑破嫩芽」的春景（鹧鸪天代人赋），一写「更无花态度」的梅品（临江仙探梅）；又与林逋《山园小梅》「疏影横斜水清浅」的咏梅传统一脉相承，可见宋词写梅的传统。对于今日读者，此词是理解辛弃疾咏梅词的窗口，也是宋词写梅品格的经典——那月黄昏的归路，穿越千年，仍在诉说着爱梅的深情。

Prosody

Form Ci form: Linjiangxian (a short, six-tone lyric of ten lines to a stanza)词·临江仙

Rhyme A song lyric rhmed in the level tones throughout, on the sounds rendered here as 'village,' 'spring,' 'spirit,' 'fresh,' 'cloud' and 'dusk' (the Chinese rhyme group of nasal endings in -n), one unbroken rhyme for the whole piece.词牌临江仙，押「村」「春」「神」「新」「云」「昏」等韵，平韵一韵到底

Tone pattern The rhyme scheme and the even rhythm of the lines give the verse the clear, soft cadence appropriate to a delicate subject; there is no harsher, more forceful pattern anywhere in the piece, which suits an easy, leisurely mood dealing with an old man's love.此词为临江仙，平韵一韵到底，音节清婉，正合咏梅的清婉。

Reading note The piece follows the standard Linjiangxian shape: the first stanza holds five lines — 'Old now ... love of flowers has grown indifferent, yet still I circle the river village. A single branch first breaks the spring of Yuxi. No flower's airs at all, it has the whole spirit of snow' — and the second holds five more — 'Better to feed on the bare hill's beauty, to write one fresh line for its sake. Water runs below the bamboo roots, bearing cloud and stream. Drunk, I quite forget the road back, moon, dusk.' Both stanzas keep the same metre and keep the single level rhyme, so the whole lyric carries one sustained, unhurried musical line. Read 'no flower's airs, the whole spirit of snow' in a clear, unhurried voice, and take the last line slowly, pausing on 'moon at dusk' so the verse closes with the image rather than with a claim. That restraint is characteristic of Xin Qiji writing short lyrics, where the famous boldness is for once held in check.此词为《临江仙》词牌，上片五句——「老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村。一枝先破玉溪春。更无花态度，全有雪精神」，下片五句——「剩向空山餐秀色，为渠著句清新。竹根流水带溪云。醉中浑不记，归路月黄昏」，押平韵（村、春、神、新、云、昏），一韵到底，音节清婉。全词以闲适写咏梅：上片写爱梅的深情（老去惜花心已懒、全有雪精神），下片写赏梅的醉意（剩向空山餐秀色、归路月黄昏）。词体短章，前写爱梅，后写醉意，以「归路月黄昏」写尽赏梅的醉意，正见辛弃疾「以文为词」的本色。诵读此词，宜以清婉的语调读「更无花态度，全有雪精神」的梅品，以悠然的语调读「归路月黄昏」的醉意，结句要读得清婉而有余韵，方能传达出辛弃疾的高洁自然。辛弃疾词以「豪放」著称，此词正是其咏梅词的典范。

Line by line

更无花态度，全有雪精神

No flower's airs at all: it has the whole spirit of snow.

更无花态度，全有雪精神。

No flower's airs or graces; all of it the spirit of snow.

此二句是全词写梅品的核心，以更无花态度写无花态度，以全有雪精神写雪精神，写尽梅的品格，是千古名句。「更无花态度」写更无花态度——那「更无」写更无，「花态度」写花态度，写尽无花的娇态；「全有雪精神」写全有雪精神——那「全有」写全有，「雪精神」写雪精神，写尽雪的清神。这句的深意在于：它以「更无花态度」的无花态与「全有雪精神」的雪神，写尽梅的品格——更无花态度，那「更无花态度」写尽无花的娇态——更无花态度，正是无娇艳之态的写照，那「花态度」写尽梅的品格；全有雪精神，那「全有雪精神」写尽雪的清神——全有雪精神，正是全具冰雪之神的写照，那「雪精神」写尽梅的品格；那「更无花态度」写尽无花的娇态，那「全有雪精神」写尽雪的清神，一写无，一写有，写尽梅的品格——无娇艳而具冰雪，正是梅之高洁的写照；此二句以花态、雪神写尽梅的品格，也让此二句成为全词写梅品的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「梅花不娇艳，但很有精神」，则失其清峻；唯以「更无花态度」写无花态度、「全有雪精神」写雪精神，写尽梅的品格，也让此二句成为全词写梅品的核心。

The plum. No flower's airs or graces; all of it the spirit of snow. The absence of flower coquetry against the presence of snow spirit is Xin Qiji's plum. To have described the plum's austerity would be a portrait; the no-flower-airs-or-graces against the all-snow-spirit is the portrait.

老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村

Old now, my heart for flowers has grown indifferent — yet still, for the plum, I circle the river village.

老去惜花心已懒，爱梅犹绕江村。

Grown old, my heart for flowers has grown lazy; but for the plum I still circle the riverside village.

此二句是全词写爱梅的核心，以老去惜花心已懒写心已懒，以爱梅犹绕江村写犹绕江村，写尽爱梅的深情，是千古名句。「老去惜花心已懒」写老去惜花心已懒——那「老去惜花」写老去惜花，「心已懒」写心已懒，写尽惜花的已懒；「爱梅犹绕江村」写爱梅犹绕江村——那「爱梅犹」写爱梅犹，「绕江村」写绕江村，写尽爱梅的绕村。这句的深意在于：它以「老去惜花心已懒」的已懒与「爱梅犹绕江村」的犹绕，写尽爱梅的深情——老去惜花心已懒，那「老去惜花心已懒」写尽惜花的已懒——老去惜花，正是年老懒花的写照，那「心已懒」写尽爱梅的深情；爱梅犹绕江村，那「爱梅犹绕江村」写尽爱梅的绕村——爱梅犹绕，正是独爱梅花的写照，那「绕江村」写尽爱梅的深情；那「老去惜花心已懒」写尽惜花的已懒，那「爱梅犹绕江村」写尽爱梅的绕村，一写已懒，一写犹绕，写尽爱梅的深情——惜花已懒而独绕江村，正是独钟于梅的写照；此二句以已懒、犹绕写尽爱梅的深情，也为下文的梅枝作铺垫，也让此二句成为全词写爱梅的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「老了不爱花了，但还是爱梅花」，则失其对照；唯以「老去惜花心已懒」写心已懒、「爱梅犹绕江村」写犹绕江村，写尽爱梅的深情，也让此二句成为全词写爱梅的核心。

The circling. Grown old, my heart for flowers has grown lazy; but for the plum I still circle the riverside village. The aged laziness for other flowers against the still-circling love for the plum is the preference. To have said he loved only the plum in old age would be a preference; the old-flower-heart-grown-lazy against the plum-love-still-circling-the-riverside-village is the preference.

Study

Word focus

懒 'Old now, my heart for flowers has grown indifferent' — the word lǎn, 'indifferent, sluggish,' is the pivot of the poem. It names the general fading of feeling with age, yet it is immediately narrowed: what has gone slack is the love of flowers in general, not of the plum. The word therefore supplies the poem's central contrast — a heart grown cold to everything, still walking out of its way for one thing. 「老去惜花心已懒」之「懒」字是写爱梅的关键词，一个「懒」字写尽惜花的已懒。懒者，慵懒、无意也。辛弃疾以「老去惜花心已懒」写爱梅，这个「懒」字至少有双重意味：其一，写心之懒——那「老去惜花心已懒」写老去惜花心已懒，那「懒」字写尽惜花的已懒——心已懒，正是惜花心懒的写照，那「懒」字写尽爱梅的深情；其二，写情之专——那「懒」字更是写专——懒，正见对众花之疏而独钟于梅，那「懒」字写尽梅的品格。以「懒」字写爱梅，正是辛弃疾写咏梅的枢纽——若换作「倦」「疏」等字，则或失其与「老去惜花」「心已懒」的配合，或失其写懒的意味；唯「懒」字，以老去惜花心已懒写尽惜花之心懒与爱梅之独钟，与「爱梅犹绕江村」的犹绕相合，写尽爱梅的深情，也让「老去惜花心已懒」成为全词写爱梅的名句。

全 'It has the whole spirit of snow' — the adverb quán, 'entirely, in full,' makes the praise unconditional. The plum does not borrow a little of snow's purity; it possesses snow's spirit completely. Paired with gengwu ('not ... at all') in the preceding clause, quán gives the couplet its balanced, unforgiving exactness: nothing of the flower, everything of the snow. 「全有雪精神」之「全」字是写梅品的关键词，一个「全」字写尽雪神的全具。全者，完全、全都也。辛弃疾以「全有雪精神」写梅品，这个「全」字至少有双重意味：其一，写神之全——那「全有雪精神」写全有雪精神，那「全」字写尽雪神的全具——全有雪精神，正是全具冰雪之神的写照，那「全」字写尽梅的品格；其二，写品之高——那「全」字更是写高——全，正见品格的完足，那「全」字写尽梅的高洁。以「全」字写梅品，正是辛弃疾写咏梅的枢纽——若换作「尽」「俱」等字，则或失其与「更无花态度」「雪精神」的配合，或失其写全的意味；唯「全」字，以全有雪精神写尽雪神之全具与品格之完足，与「更无花态度」的无花态相合，写尽梅的品格，也让「全有雪精神」成为全词写梅品的名句。