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卜算子·咏梅

Tune: Bu Suan Zi — Ode to the Plum Blossom

毛泽东

Mao Zedong

名篇Masterpiece 咏物Object-chanting 言志Expressing aspiration 革命情怀Revolutionary sentiment

风雨送春归，飞雪迎春到。
已是悬崖百丈冰，犹有花枝俏。
俏也不争春，只把春来报。
待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑。

Wind and rain escort spring on its way,
Flying snow welcomes spring's return.
Already the cliff hangs with a hundred fathoms of ice,
Yet still a flowering branch stands proud and fair.
Proud, she will not contend for the spring,
She only bears the news that spring is here.
When mountain blossoms blaze in riotous bloom,
There in their midst she smiles.

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Meaning

The lyric contrasts the harsh end of winter with a single plum branch that still blooms proudly on an icy cliff. It then portrays the plum as one who neither competes for spring nor claims its glory, but only announces its coming and smiles when all flowers bloom. The whole piece uses the plum to figure the revolutionary who meets adversity unbowed, serves selflessly, and greets victory with quiet humility.

风雨送走了春天归去，飞雪又把春天迎接到来。悬崖上已经结了百丈坚冰，依然有梅花的花枝俏丽绽放。梅花俏丽却不与百花争春，只把春天到来的消息报告。等到山花烂漫开遍山野的时候，她只在花丛中欣然微笑。

Appreciation

This is a model of object-chanting and aspiration, reversing Lu You's melancholy plum into a confident revolutionary figure. The upper stanza sets a perilous, icy world against one proud branch; the lower moves from form to spirit, with 'proud' carried by anadiplosis into 'not contending' and 'announcing spring,' closing on a smile of fulfilled, unclaimed merit. In plain, vivid spoken language it achieves deep resonance—new wine in an old bottle.

【白话串讲】毛泽东写《卜算子·咏梅》：“风雨送春归，飞雪迎春到”。“已是悬崖百丈冰，犹有花枝俏”——“俏也不争春，只把春来报”——“待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑”——他借梅写革命者的乐观。【意象与手法】这是一首咏物言志的词，继承咏梅传统而「反其意而用之」。全词以拟人手法写梅，将梅人格化为革命者的形象：上阕以「风雨」「飞雪」「悬崖百丈冰」的险恶环境反衬「花枝俏」，下阕以「不争春」「只报春」「丛中笑」写其高洁谦逊的品格。语言精炼明快，意象鲜明，转折处如「俏也不争春」以「俏」字顶针，流转自如，是革命现实主义与革命浪漫主义结合的典范。【情感与主旨】词以梅自喻，抒写革命者在艰难困苦中傲然不屈的斗志与「待到山花烂漫时」的乐观信念，表达了共产党人不畏艰险、不居功自傲、甘于奉献的高尚情怀。梅花既是作者人格的写照，也是那个时代中国人民精神风貌的象征——面对困难而挺立，迎接胜利而谦逊。【名句点睛】「已是悬崖百丈冰，犹有花枝俏」以百丈寒冰反衬一枝俏梅，写尽逆境中的生机与傲骨，是写梅咏志的千古名句；「待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑」以「丛中笑」收束，写尽功成不居的豁达，是革命者精神境界的生动写照。

Background

'Ode to the Plum Blossom' was written in December 1961 and is one of Mao Zedong's representative late-life poems. Around 1961, China was in the Three Years of Difficult Economic Times, with a severe domestic and international situation: at home, scarcity of goods and hardship among the people; abroad, the Sino-Soviet split, the Soviet withdrawal of experts and demands for debt repayment, and the U.S. blockade and containment, with Western opinion predicting China's 'economic collapse.' Against this backdrop, in December 1961 Mao read Lu You's 'Tune: Bu Suan Zi — Ode to the Plum Blossom' and, 'reading Lu You's plum poem, used it with the opposite meaning,' writing this lyric. In Lu You's poem the plum 'by the broken bridge beyond the post, blooms lonely, its master unknown' and 'falls to dust, ground to powder, yet its fragrance remains as before,' depicting a lonely, self-admiring, steadfast but disappointed scholar; Mao reversed the meaning, writing a plum that amid wind, rain, flying snow and a hundred fathoms of ice on the cliff 'still bears a proud flowering branch,' that contends not when a hundred flowers vie for spring but only announces its coming, and smiles amid the riot of blooms—a revolutionary who meets adversity head-on, humble and selfless, optimistic and confident. Using the plum to figure the person and to voice aspiration, the poem both answered the difficulties of the time and encouraged the whole Party and people: hardship is temporary, spring will come, and victory belongs to the resilient and optimistic striver. Published in the 'Selected Poems of Chairman Mao' in December 1963, it has since been widely recited as a classic of modern Chinese plum-ode aspiration.

《卜算子·咏梅》写于1961年12月，是毛泽东晚年诗词的代表作之一。1961年前后，中国正处于三年国民经济困难时期，国内外形势严峻：国内物资匮乏、民生困顿，国际上中苏关系破裂，苏联撤走专家、逼还债务，美国对中国实行封锁遏制，西方舆论纷纷预言中国「经济崩溃」。在这一背景下，毛泽东于1961年12月读到陆游的《卜算子·咏梅》，「读陆游咏梅词，反其意而用之」，写下了这首词。陆游笔下的梅花「驿外断桥边，寂寞开无主」「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」，写的是孤芳自赏、寂寞坚贞的失意文人形象；毛泽东反其意，写梅花在风雨飞雪、悬崖百丈冰的严酷环境中「犹有花枝俏」，在百花争春时不争不抢、只报春讯，在烂漫花丛中欣然微笑——这是迎难而上、谦逊无私、乐观自信的革命者形象。全词以梅喻人、以梅言志，既是对当时困难局面的回应，也是对全党全国人民的鼓舞：困难是暂时的，春天终将到来，胜利属于坚韧乐观的奋斗者。这首词1963年12月收入《毛主席诗词》正式发表，此后广为传诵，成为中国现代诗词中咏梅言志的经典。

Art

This lyric is a model of object-chanting and aspiration, its chief artistry lying in 'setting off the plum by perilous surroundings, and personifying the plum.' All eight lines are tightly structured yet flow freely: the upper stanza paints scene and atmosphere, the lower stanza entrusts object to voice aspiration. 'Wind and rain escort spring away, flying snow welcomes spring's return' writes the turning of the seasons with wind and snow, the one 'escorting,' the other 'welcoming' lending the shift feeling and grace; 'Already the cliff hangs with a hundred fathoms of ice, yet still a flowering branch stands proud' is the first high point—'a hundred fathoms of ice' pushes the peril and cold to an extreme, and the word 'yet' turns sharply to show the plum standing 'proud' amid the ice, the more perilous the setting, the more manifest its defiance. The lower stanza, 'Proud, she will not contend for the spring, she only bears the news that spring is here,' takes up the 'proud' by anadiplosis from the upper stanza, moving from form to spirit: 'not contending' shows her modesty, 'announcing spring' her devotion; 'When mountain blossoms blaze in riotous bloom, there in their midst she smiles' imagines a future scene—riotous blooms mean spring fills the world, smiling in their midst means retiring once the work is done, and the word 'smiles' captures the revolutionary's ease of 'caring only to till, not to reap.' The whole lyric weaves 'plum' as warp and 'spring' as weft: wind escorts spring, snow welcomes spring, not contending for spring, announcing spring, the riotous spring—spring runs throughout, while the plum is ever the herald of spring, the self-effacing messenger. In language it is wholly plain, spoken-style description; words like 'proud' and 'smile' are bright and vivid; with no allusion it is yet deeply resonant—a shining example of 'new wine in an old bottle,' writing the spirit of the age in a traditional tune.

这首词是咏物言志的典范，艺术上最突出的是「以险境衬梅、以人格化梅」的手法。全词八句，结构严整而流转自如：上阕写景造境，下阕托物言志。上阕「风雨送春归，飞雪迎春到」以风雨、飞雪写时序更替，一「送」一「迎」，把季节流转写得有情有致；「已是悬崖百丈冰，犹有花枝俏」是全词的第一个高潮——「悬崖百丈冰」极写环境之险恶酷寒，一个「犹」字陡转，写梅花于百丈寒冰之中依然「俏」立，险境愈甚，梅之傲骨愈显。下阕「俏也不争春，只把春来报」以「俏」字顶针承接上阕，由写形转入写神：「不争春」写其谦逊，「报春」写其奉献；「待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑」以想象之笔写未来之境——山花烂漫是春满人间，丛中笑是功成身退，一个「笑」字，写尽革命者「只问耕耘、不问收获」的豁达。全词以「梅」为经、以「春」为纬：风雨送春、飞雪迎春、不争春、报春、烂漫之春，春意贯穿始终，而梅花始终是报春的先驱、不居功的使者。语言上，全用口语化的白描，「俏」「笑」等字明快传神，无一处用典而意蕴深厚，是「旧瓶装新酒」——以传统词牌写时代精神的光辉范例。

Allusions

The cultural depth of this lyric is rooted in China's long tradition of plum odes, and by 'using it with the opposite meaning' it gives the ancient plum image wholly new relevance for the age. In Chinese culture the plum symbolizes 'braving frost and snow': Lin Bu's 'sparse shadows lie aslant the clear shallows, faint fragrance drifts at dusk under the moon' writes its elegant purity; Wang Anshi's 'by the wall corner a few plum branches, blooming alone in the cold' its fearlessness; Lu You's 'falling to dust, ground to powder, yet fragrance as before' its steadfastness—through the ages, plum odes either voice reclusive delight or lonely loftiness, mostly personal character. Mao's lyric inherits the 'braving the cold' tradition (a hundred fathoms of ice, a proud branch) yet wholly renews the 'lonely bloom' key: Lu You's plum 'blooms lonely, its master unknown' is a sigh of unrecognized worth; Mao's plum 'proud, will not contend for spring, only bears the news' is devotion unconcerned with personal gain. This renewal is rooted in the value of revolutionary collectivism: the image 'when mountain blossoms blaze, there in their midst she smiles' accords with the traditional literati ideal of 'success need not be mine, yet success surely involves me,' and faintly echoes Laozi's 'achievement, and do not dwell in it,' but more emphatically sets collective triumph above personal glory. Moreover, the array of images—wind and rain, flying snow, ice, blossom—takes up Lu You's same-tune work above and opens the revolutionary discourse of 'the plum delights in snow filling the sky' below, completing the plum's modern transformation from 'flower of the recluse' to 'flower of the warrior,' a unique contribution to cultural history.

这首词的文化意蕴，深植于中国源远流长的咏梅传统，而「反其意而用之」，赋予古老的梅意象以崭新的时代内涵。梅花在中国文化中是「傲霜斗雪」的象征：林逋「疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏」写其清雅高洁，王安石「墙角数枝梅，凌寒独自开」写其不畏严寒，陆游「零落成泥碾作尘，只有香如故」写其坚贞不屈——历代咏梅，或寄隐逸之趣，或抒孤高之怀，多写个人品格。毛泽东这首词继承了「凌寒」的传统（悬崖百丈冰、花枝俏），却彻底翻新了「孤芳」的基调：陆游的梅「寂寞开无主」，是无人赏识的叹息；毛泽东的梅「俏也不争春，只把春来报」，是不计个人得失的奉献。这种翻新，深植于革命集体主义的价值观：「待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑」的意象，与中国传统「功成不必在我」「功成必定有我」的士人境界相合，也暗合《老子》「功成而弗居」的谦退之道，但更突出的是集体胜利高于个人荣光。此外，「风雨」「飞雪」「冰」「花」等意象的铺排，上承陆游同调之作，下启民间「梅花欢喜漫天雪」的革命话语，使古老的梅意象完成了从「隐士之花」到「战士之花」的现代转型，这是此词在文化史上的独特贡献。

Commentary

Since its publication in 1963, 'Ode to the Plum Blossom' has been among the most widely circulated and influential object-odes of modern Chinese poetry. Literarily, it is a successful model of writing revolutionary feeling in a traditional tune: it inherits the artistic experience of Song lyric object-writing while pouring in utterly new spirit of the age; its mode of creation—'using it with the opposite meaning,' directly taking Lu You's same-tune lyric as its interlocutor—is a rare self-conscious innovation in classical poetry, showing Mao's deep classical cultivation and his boldness to renew the old. In thought, the revolutionary figure it shaped has had far reach: the plum's defiance of 'still a proud branch,' its devotion of 'only bearing the news,' its modesty of 'smiling in their midst' became a literary totem of a generation's character, and 'when mountain blossoms blaze, there she smiles' became a common phrase for elders striving so later generations may benefit. In dissemination, the lyric long entered middle-school textbooks, ranked with 'Snow' and 'The Long March' as representative Mao poems, its lines 'wind escorts spring' and 'a hundred fathoms of ice' becoming shared national memory. In poetic history it accomplished a profound renewal of the plum tradition: henceforth no plum ode, praise or blame, could bypass this branch 'smiling in their midst'—at once an echo of tradition and its transcendence, a landmark text of classical Chinese poetry reborn in the modern context.

《卜算子·咏梅》自1963年发表以来，一直是中国现代诗词中流传最广、影响最大的咏物词之一。在文学层面，它是以传统词牌写革命情怀的成功典范：全词继承宋词咏物的艺术经验，又注入全新的时代精神，「反其意而用之」的创作方式——直接以陆游同调词为对话对象——更是古典诗词创作中罕见的自觉创新，展示了毛泽东深厚的古典文学修养与推陈出新的艺术魄力。在思想层面，它塑造的革命者形象影响深远：梅花「犹有花枝俏」的傲骨、「只把春来报」的奉献、「她在丛中笑」的谦逊，成为一代中国人精神品格的文学图腾，「待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑」更成为形容先辈奋斗、后人受益的常用语。在传播层面，这首词长期入选中学语文教材，与《沁园春·雪》《七律·长征》等并列为毛泽东诗词的代表作，其「风雨送春归」「悬崖百丈冰」等句成为全民记忆的语汇。从诗词史看，它完成了咏梅传统的一次深刻革新：此后无数咏梅之作，无论褒贬，都无法绕开毛泽东塑造的这枝「丛中笑」的梅——它既是传统的回声，又是传统的超越，是中国古典诗词在现代语境下获得新生的标志性文本。

Prosody

Form Lyric (short form 'Bu Suan Zi,' double tune, forty-four characters)词（小令《卜算子》，双调四十四字）

Rhyme Following the 'Bu Suan Zi' pattern, each of the two stanzas has four lines rhyming in oblique tones: upper stanza 'return' (dao) and 'proud' (qiao) rhyme in oblique -ao, lower stanza 'bear news' (bao) and 'smile' (xiao) rhyme in oblique -ao, one rhyme throughout, with a crisp, bright cadence; five-character lines (wind escorts spring) and seven-character lines (already the cliff) alternate, rhythm dense and sparse, pleasing to read aloud—the very 'short lines, dense rhyme' quality of the tune.本词依《卜算子》词牌格律，上下阕各四句，押仄声韵：上阕「到」「俏」押仄声ao韵，下阕「报」「笑」押仄声ao韵，一韵到底，声调短促明快；五言句（风雨送春归）与七言句（已是悬崖百丈冰）交替，节奏疏密相间，读来朗朗上口，正是「卜算子」词牌「句短韵密」的声情特色。

Tone pattern The lines mix five- and seven-character forms: 'Wind and rain escort spring away, flying snow welcomes spring's return' opens in bright, brisk five-character couplets; 'Already the cliff hangs with a hundred fathoms of ice, yet still a flowering branch stands proud' pauses then brightens, tone from low to clear; 'Proud, she will not contend for the spring' carries by anadiplosis from chant to statement; 'When mountain blossoms blaze, there in their midst she smiles' spreads in seven characters and settles in five, calm and far, as if a smile were fixed—suiting the joy of 'seeing flowers at fulfillment.'句式以五言、七言相间：「风雨送春归，飞雪迎春到」五言对起，明快利落；「已是悬崖百丈冰，犹有花枝俏」七言一顿，一险一俏，声调由低沉转明亮；「俏也不争春，只把春来报」以「俏」字顶针，语气由咏叹转陈述；「待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑」七言舒展、五言轻收，语调从容悠远，如微笑定格，正合「功成见花」的喜悦之境。

Reading note The beauty of this lyric's sound lies in bearing new-era feeling within a traditional tune's rules, where sound and sense are one. 'Bu Suan Zi' is a fairly regular short tune, five- and seven-character lines alternating, the two stanzas symmetric; Mao fills it without constraint, showing his mastery of the rules. The upper stanza's two five-character openings are short and brisk like the rhythm of wind and snow; the turn to seven then five—'Already' lightly pauses as before a precipice, 'yet still' suddenly rises as if a marvel appears, 'ice' and 'proud' one sinking one bright, the tonal shift is exactly the sense of 'flower seen in peril.' The lower stanza's 'proud' anadiplosis is tight and flowing, like the plum's swift announcement; the close 'When mountain blossoms blaze, there in their midst she smiles' spreads in seven and settles in five, 'smile' ending on an oblique tone, short yet lingering, like a smiling freeze-frame. The whole rhymes on 'return, proud, bear news, smile' in oblique tones throughout—bright yet deep, the very 'boldness holding grace' of Mao's poetry: both the perilous weight of 'a hundred fathoms of ice' and the composed brightness of 'there she smiles.' New wine in an old bottle, it proves the traditional tune still breathes in the modern age.《卜算子·咏梅》的声韵之美，在于以传统词牌的格律承载崭新的时代情感，声情与辞情高度统一。《卜算子》是小令中句式较为齐整的词牌，五言、七言相间，上下阕对称，毛泽东依律填词而毫无拘束之感，正见其对词律的娴熟。上阕「风雨送春归，飞雪迎春到」以两个五言句对起，音节短促明快，如风雨飞雪的节奏；「已是悬崖百丈冰，犹有花枝俏」转为七言与五言，前句「已是」二字轻轻一顿，如临深渊，后句「犹有」二字陡然扬起，如见奇迹，「冰」与「俏」一沉一亮，声调的变化恰是「险境见花」的辞情。下阕「俏也不争春，只把春来报」以「俏」字顶针，音节紧凑，一气流转，如梅花报春的迅捷；「待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑」七言缓缓铺开，五言轻轻收住，「笑」字收于仄声，短促而余韵悠长，如一个含笑的定格。全词押「到、俏、报、笑」仄声韵，一韵到底，声调明快而不失沉潜，正是毛泽东诗词「豪放中含婉约」的声情特色：既有「悬崖百丈冰」的险峻沉雄，又有「她在丛中笑」的从容明媚。这首词以旧瓶装新酒，证明传统词牌在现代语境下依然能焕发蓬勃的生命力，其声律上的圆融与意象上的创新，使它成为现代词作中传诵最广的篇章之一。

Line by line

风雨送春归，飞雪迎春到。已是悬崖百丈冰，犹有花枝俏。

Wind and rain escort spring on its way, flying snow welcomes spring's return; already the cliff hangs with a hundred fathoms of ice, yet still a flowering branch stands proud and fair. The upper stanza's foundation: from the turning seasons to the plum's standing, tightening step by step. The paired openers 'escort / welcome' give the seasonal shift a living dynamic; the lines' 'already' states winter's fact, 'a hundred fathoms of ice' exaggerates the peril, and 'yet still' turns sharply—within this hopeless ice a branch blooms 'proud,' the word 'proud' the eye of the line, writing beauty and defiance at once.

风雨送走了春天归去，飞雪又把春天迎接到来。悬崖上已经结了百丈坚冰，依然有梅花的花枝俏丽绽放。

Wind and rain send spring away; flying snow ushers it back. Already the cliff is a hundred fathoms of ice—yet there is still a branch of blossoms, charming.

上阕四句，是全词意境的奠基，由时序更替写到梅之挺立，层层收紧、步步逼近。首二句「风雨送春归，飞雪迎春到」以对偶起笔：风雨送春、飞雪迎春，一送一迎，写尽冬春交替的季节流转，「归」「到」二字使时序之变有了动态的生命感；这两句不仅是写景，更暗含「冬去春来、周而复始」的哲理，为全词「春天终将到来」的信念埋下伏笔。三四句「已是悬崖百丈冰，犹有花枝俏」是全词的第一个高潮：「已是」二字写尽严冬已至的既成事实，「悬崖百丈冰」以夸张之笔极写环境之酷烈——悬崖险峻，坚冰百丈，天地一片肃杀；「犹有」二字陡然转折，如惊雷破空——就在这百丈寒冰的绝境之中，一枝梅花「俏」然挺立。「俏」字是全句的诗眼，写梅花之娇美、之灵动、之生机，以「俏」写傲，更见其举重若轻的风度。两句一险一奇、一冷一俏，反衬手法用到极致，逆境愈险，梅之傲骨愈显，革命者面对困难而挺立的形象，已在这四句中呼之欲出。

The ice cliff. Wind and rain send spring away; flying snow ushers it back. Already the cliff is a hundred fathoms of ice—yet there is still a branch of blossoms, charming. The hundred-fathom ice and the still-charming blossom are the opening. To have braved the hundred-fathom ice would be a bravery; the wind-and-rain-send-spring-away-flying-snow-ushers-it-back-already-the-cliff-is-a-hundred-fathoms-of-ice-yet-there-is-still-a-branch-of-blossoms-charming is the bravery.

俏也不争春，只把春来报。

Proud, she will not contend for the spring, she only bears the news that spring is here. The hinge from form to spirit: 'proud' is taken up by anadiplosis, carrying the upper stanza's beauty into the lower's character. 'Will not contend' writes her modesty; compared with Lu You's 'will not strive, yet is envied,' Mao's plum simply scorns to strive, a higher plane. 'Only bears' makes her sole wish the announcement of spring—she is spring's messenger, a devotee and forerunner.

梅花俏丽却不与百花争夺春光，只把春天到来的消息报告。

Charming, yet she does not contest for spring; she only reports that spring has come.

此两句是全词由写形转入写神的枢纽，一个「俏」字顶针，把上阕的形貌之美过渡到下阕的品格之美。「俏也不争春」五字是全词的词眼：「俏」承接上阕，写梅花之美，「不争春」陡然翻出另一层境界——她俏丽，却绝不同百花争夺春光；「不争」二字写尽梅花的谦逊无私，与陆游笔下「无意苦争春，一任群芳妒」的梅相比，毛词之梅不因「争」而被妒，而是根本不屑于「争」，境界高出一筹。「只把春来报」以「只」字承接，写梅花唯一的心愿——不是占有春天，而是报告春天；「报」字用得极妙，梅花是春天的信使，她凌寒而开，为的是给世界带来春的消息，这是奉献者的姿态，是先行者的使命。两句以「俏」起、以「报」收，由美写到德，由形写到神，把梅花的品格提升到「报春使者」的高度。这一形象的深意在于：它写的不只是梅花，更是那些在艰难岁月里默默奉献、为后人开辟春天的先行者——革命者如梅，不争功、不居傲，只把光明带给世界。

The reporting. Charming, yet she does not contest for spring; she only reports that spring has come. The charming-yet-not-contesting and the only-reporting-spring are the virtue. To have refused to contest for spring would be a refusal; the charming-yet-she-does-not-contest-for-spring-she-only-reports-that-spring-has-come is the refusal.

待到山花烂漫时，她在丛中笑。

When mountain blossoms blaze in riotous bloom, there in their midst she smiles. The climax: imagining the future, closing on 'smiles.' 'When mountain blossoms blaze' is the fruit of her announcement, the vision of the revolutionary's struggle; 'there in their midst she smiles' is the most moving stroke—no grief at fading, no loneliness in leaving, only a satisfied smile because spring has come and all flowers opened. 'In their midst' echoes 'will not contend': because she did not strive, she rests at ease among them; because she announced spring, she smiles at its bloom.

等到山花烂漫开遍山野的时候，她只在花丛中欣然微笑。

When the mountain flowers are in riotous bloom, she smiles among them.

末两句是全词境界的升华，以想象之笔写未来之景，收束于一个「笑」字，余味无穷。「待到山花烂漫时」写春天全面到来之景：山花烂漫，万紫千红，春满人间——这是梅花「报春」的成果，也是革命者奋斗的愿景；一个「待到」写尽对未来的坚定信念，与上阕「飞雪迎春到」遥相呼应，春天终究会到。「她在丛中笑」是全文最动人的一笔：「她」字以拟人指梅，也指革命者；百花争艳之时，梅花没有凋零的悲戚，没有离场的落寞，只在花丛中「笑」——这「笑」，是欣慰的笑、是满足的笑，因为春天已然到来，因为百花已然盛开，自己的使命已然完成。「丛中笑」与「不争春」首尾呼应：不争，故能安然居丛中；报春，故能含笑看花开。一个「笑」字，写尽功成不必在我、功成必定有我的境界——革命者不求个人之名，只求理想实现，当理想实现之日，他们便在万花丛中露出最坦然、最幸福的微笑。这两句遂成千古名句，激励无数后来人。

The smile. When the mountain flowers are in riotous bloom, she smiles among them. The riotous mountain flowers and her smile among the throng are the close. To have smiled among the flowers would be a smile; the when-the-mountain-flowers-are-in-riotous-bloom-she-smiles-among-them is the smile.

Study

Word focus

俏 'Proud' (qiao), the single most important word of the lyric and Mao's clever twist on the traditional plum image. It originally means beautiful and lithe, often of a woman; Mao shifts it to the plum, giving the adversity-plum liveliness and breath. Its merits: first, writing defiance without losing softness—'proud' keeps the flower's beauty while writing its bone, making it both warrior and blossom; second, its spoken, bright ease fits the poem's plain style, as if a red branch sways on the ice cliff; third, and most crafted, it bridges upper and lower stanzas—'Proud, she will not contend' makes 'proud' both form and the ground of character, so the 'not contending' reads as modesty from strength. 「犹有花枝俏」之「俏」，是全词最重要的一个字，也是毛泽东点化传统咏梅意象的妙笔。「俏」本指容貌美丽、体态轻盈，多用于形容女子的娇美，如「俏丽」「俊俏」；毛泽东移以写梅花，赋予这株逆境之梅以灵动的美与活泼的生气。此字的妙处有三：其一，以「俏」写傲而不失柔——若用「傲」「挺」「坚」等字，则梅之形象刚硬有余、美感不足；「俏」字在写傲骨的同时保留花的娇美，使梅花既是战士，也是花，刚柔相济，更见其从容的风度。其二，「俏」字带口语化的明快感，与全词通俗明快的语言风格相合，读来如见一枝红花在冰崖上轻轻摇曳。其三，也是最见匠心的，「俏」字承上启下——下阕「俏也不争春」以「俏」字顶针，由形转神，使「俏」既是梅之形貌，又是梅之品格的底色：正因为「俏」而有资本，才更见「不争」的谦逊。若作「犹有花枝傲」，则与「不争」失却张力；唯「俏」字，美而不骄、艳而不争，恰是毛泽东心目中革命者「本领过硬而谦逊无私」的形象写照。

丛中笑 'Smiles in their midst' (cong zhong xiao), the finishing touch of the whole lyric, three characters writing the revolutionary's ultimate state. 'Midst' places the plum among, not above, the hundred flowers; 'smiles' is the soul—not a victor's boast nor an achiever's pride, but a satisfied, fulfilled, composed smile that spring has come and all blooms opened. Linked to the whole, it is the logical end of 'will not contend' and 'only announces': because she did not strive she rests at ease among them; because she announced spring she smiles at its bloom. It raises the plum from 'spring's messenger' to 'guardian and sharer of spring.' 「她在丛中笑」之「丛中笑」，是全词的点睛之笔，三个字写尽革命者的终极境界。「丛」指花丛——山花烂漫、百花争艳之丛；「中」字点出梅花所处的位置：不居顶端、不避人后，就在百花之中；「笑」字是全词的灵魂，写梅花面对春天全面到来时的表情。这三字的妙处在于「在」与「笑」的配合：「在丛中」写位置——梅花不与百花争艳，却也不离群索居，她就在烂漫的百花之中，是春天的一部分；「笑」写心态——这笑不是胜利者的炫耀，不是功成者的傲慢，而是欣慰的、满足的、坦然的微笑，笑看自己报来的春天终于繁花似锦。联系全词，「丛中笑」正是「不争春」「只报春」的逻辑终点：因为不争，所以能安然居于丛中；因为报春，所以含笑看着花开。此三字把梅花的形象从「报春使者」提升到「春天的守护者与分享者」，也把革命者的境界从「奋斗」提升到「功成身退、与民同乐」——这是「待到山花烂漫时」的最高理想，也是「只留清气满乾坤」的现代回响。「丛中笑」三字一出，全词的意境豁然开朗，成为一代又一代人传诵不衰的经典意象。