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送瘟神·其二

Sending Off the Plague God: Part Two

毛泽东

Mao Zedong

七律Seven-character regulated verse (qilv) 咏事Occasion poem 名篇Masterpiece

春风杨柳万千条，六亿神州尽舜尧。
红雨随心翻作浪，青山着意化为桥。
天连五岭银锄落，地动三河铁臂摇。
借问瘟君欲何往，纸船明烛照天烧。

Ten thousand willows on a thousand springs of wind — six hundred million souls in the Middle Earth are all Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun. Fallen blossoms turn as they please into waves; the green hills, with all the intent in the world, become bridges. The silver hoes strike along the Five Ridges as the sky joins the earth; the iron arms shake and the rivers run as the ground moves. Tell me, plague god, where would you go now — a paper boat, a lighted candle, and flames that burn up to the sky.

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Meaning

A poem for the victory over schistosomiasis in Yujiang county, Jiangxi, announced in 1958. The first couplet praises the people as a whole, the second and third give the fields and the labourers who have changed them, and the last sees the plague god leaving by the paper boat of the village ritual. The poem is a thanksgiving, and its theology is that the disease has been defeated by work.

春风吹拂，杨柳万千条条摇曳；六亿神州的人民都是舜尧一样的圣人。红色的落花随着人的心意翻作浪花，青翠的群山着意化为通途的桥梁。长天连着五岭，银锄起落；大地震动三河，铁臂摇动。请问瘟神你要到哪里去？纸船明烛，照着天边燃起送行的火光。

Appreciation

[Structure] Four couplets moving from the season through the people to the labour and end at the ritual, so the poem advances from scenery to action to ceremony. [The opening] The first couplet gives a spring image and then quietly expands it into a claim about six hundred million people; the move is made by the word that means all. [The middle couplets] The two middle couplets are the heart of the poem: first nature made obedient, then the tools of the workers described as silver and iron. [Imagery] The second couplet is the most inventive — fallen flowers behaving like waves, hills behaving like bridges — and the invention is what lets the poem say that nothing in the natural world is now out of reach. [The close] The last couplet turns the whole poem into a farewell, and the fire at the end is the brightest thing in it.

【白话串讲】毛泽东写《送瘟神·其二》：“春风杨柳万千条，六亿神州尽舜尧”——“红雨随心翻作浪，青山着意化为桥”——“天连五岭银锄落，地动三河铁臂摇”——“借问瘟君欲何往，纸船明烛照天烧”——他写消灭血吸虫病的喜悦。【意象与手法】七律以「浪漫写实」：首联点染时代，颔联以「随心」「着意」写物随人意，颈联以银锄铁臂写劳动伟力，尾联以民俗仪式写胜利送别；四联由景而人、由人而事、由事而仪，层层推进，想象奇崛而气魄雄浑，是革命现实主义与革命浪漫主义结合的典范。【情感与主旨】以诗记录新中国消灭血吸虫病的伟大胜利：赞人民改天换地的伟力，写瘟神一去不复返的欢欣，是「六亿神州尽舜尧」的赞歌，也是「人定胜天」信念的诗化表达，字里行间洋溢着站起来的中国人民的豪情。【名句点睛】常考「春风杨柳万千条」的时代意象与「借问瘟君欲何往，纸船明烛照天烧」的送瘟仪式——一为胜利之景，一为胜利之仪，合观方见全诗「人胜瘟神」的昂扬主题。

Background

Schistosomiasis, known for a thousand years in the southern provinces as the disease of the big belly, was among the great public health problems of the new state; control work began in the middle 1950s and Yujiang county in Jiangxi reported itself free of the disease in 1958. Mao Zedong read the news in the People’s Daily at Hangzhou on 1 July of that year and wrote two heptasyllabic regulated poems, the first on the ravages of the disease in the old order and the second on the victory over it. The second belongs to the late 1950s, when the vocabulary of the transformed landscape was the common currency of the poetry of the day, and it is one of his most quoted short poems.

《七律二首·送瘟神》写于1958年7月1日，时值江西省余江县消灭血吸虫病。血吸虫病（古称「蛊毒」「大肚子病」）在中国南方肆虐数千年，新中国成立后，党和政府把防治血吸虫病列为重大民生工程，余江县自1955年开展灭螺防治，1958年宣布基本消灭血吸虫病，成为新中国公共卫生史上的重大胜利。毛泽东当日在杭州读到《人民日报》报道余江灭螺消息，浮想联翩，「夜不能寐，微风拂煦，旭日临窗，遥望南天，欣然命笔」，一气写下两首七律。其一写旧社会血吸虫病「千村薜荔人遗矢，万户萧疏鬼唱歌」的惨状，其二写新社会「春风杨柳万千条」的胜利欢欣，合称《送瘟神》。此诗写于「大跃进」时代背景之下，既反映了当时「人定胜天」的昂扬社会心态，也展现了毛泽东「以天下苍生为念」的诗人襟怀——他把一场防疫战的胜利，写成六亿人民「尽舜尧」的壮举与瘟神「照天烧」的送别，是革命现实主义与革命浪漫主义结合的典范。诗中「六亿神州」「银锄铁臂」等语，正是那个「敢教日月换新天」的时代的精神写真。

Art

The poem is built almost entirely on the translation of inanimate things into obedient servants. The flowers and the hills in the second couplet are given a will of their own, and the whole couplet is a single statement about who things now listen to. The third couplet changes the instrument and keeps the idea: the spades are silver, the arms are iron, and in both cases the word of art is chosen to make the labour look like both beautiful and enormous. The regular form supplies the frame for the wildest parts of it: an eight-line octave with two strict parallel couplets and a single rhyme, so that the reader’s attention is held by the norm and freed by the exceptions. The routine of sending off the plague in a paper boat is what gives the poem its ending; the ritual is not described warmly but burned.

此诗为七言律诗，艺术上最突出的是「以浪漫之笔写现实之胜」的意象结构。首联「春风杨柳万千条，六亿神州尽舜尧」破题定调——「春风杨柳」以传统意象写时代新气象，万千条杨柳在春风中摇曳，象征新中国的勃勃生机；「六亿神州尽舜尧」由景及人，以「舜尧」（上古圣君）称颂六亿人民，把人民推到圣贤的高度，是全诗的立意之纲——胜利属于人民，人民皆可成圣。颔联「红雨随心翻作浪，青山着意化为桥」写物随人意：「红雨」（落花）随人心意翻作浪花，「青山」着意化为通途桥梁，「随心」「着意」四字，把自然之物写得俯首听命，是「人定胜天」的诗化表达，浪漫主义色彩最浓。颈联「天连五岭银锄落，地动三河铁臂摇」写劳动伟力：「天连五岭」以天地相连写山势之高，「银锄落」写锄头如银光起落；「地动三河」以大地震动写河之壮阔，「铁臂摇」写臂膀如铁臂挥舞——两句以银锄、铁臂写亿万人民的劳动，意象宏阔，气势磅礴。尾联「借问瘟君欲何往，纸船明烛照天烧」以民俗仪式收束：一问「欲何往」，一写「照天烧」，把消灭血吸虫病的胜利写成送瘟神上路的盛大仪式，以问作结，余味悠长。四联由景而人、由人而事、由事而仪，层层推进，虚实相生，是毛泽东七律中想象最奇崛、气魄最雄浑之作。

Allusions

The two sovereigns of the opening couplet come from the classic tradition of the golden age, and the poet’s use of them is a deliberate reversal: Yao and Shun were kings, and here they are six hundred million common people, the claim being that the traditional language of sainthood belongs to the present and not to the past. The fallen blossoms of the second couplet are the old Chinese image of the end of spring, and the line recasts a sadness into a kind of power. The bridge made of hills recalls the legends of labour that remove mountains. The paper boat and the lighted candle are the village ritual for driving out pestilence, familiar from the Dragon Boat customs and the Daoist ceremonies, and the poem takes the popular rite and insists on it as a public celebration.

此诗用典与意象皆植根中国文化传统，又赋予新的时代内涵。其一，「舜尧」——舜与尧是上古传说中的圣明君主，儒家理想的治世之君；毛泽东以「六亿神州尽舜尧」称颂人民，把「圣君」之誉归于亿万群众，是对传统「圣贤」话语的彻底改造——人人皆可为尧舜，正是马克思主义群众史观的诗化表达，也暗用《孟子》「人皆可以为尧舜」之语。其二，「红雨」——落花意象，古诗词中「红雨」多写春去之哀（如李贺「桃花乱落如红雨」），此处却「随心翻作浪」，化哀景为壮景，落花随人意翻浪，是「以旧典写新境」的典范；其三，「青山着意化为桥」——承愚公移山、精卫填海的精神，青山不再阻路，而「着意」化为桥，见人定胜天之志；其四，「银锄」「铁臂」——银锄见劳动之明（如「锄禾日当午」的农事传统），铁臂见力量之刚，皆以劳动意象入诗；其五，「纸船明烛」——民间送瘟神、驱鬼神的民俗仪式（端午节送瘟、道教送船），毛泽东把它化为送别血吸虫病的盛大礼仪，使传统民俗获得全新的革命内涵。全诗熔圣贤、落花、山桥、锄臂、船烛于一炉，古典意象与时代精神交融，是「古为今用、推陈出新」的典范。

Commentary

The poem is unusual among his works in being purely celebratory, and it has been the most quoted of his occasional poems. Its lines about fallen blossoms and hills made into bridges are the standard illustrations of how he handled the seven-character form, and the closing image of a paper boat burning up to the sky is among the most reproduced images of the period. In the long run the poem belongs to a campaign that succeeded: the disease it describes was essentially eliminated from most of the country, and the Ministry of Health still cites the campaign as a beginning of public medicine for the people. What has aged is the certainty, not the observation.

《送瘟神》其二在中国现当代诗歌史上地位特殊。就思想言，它以诗的形式记录了新中国消灭血吸虫病的伟大胜利，是「人民当家作主」「人定胜天」时代精神的艺术丰碑：与其一「千村薜荔人遗矢」的惨状对照，「春风杨柳万千条」的欢欣正是新旧社会两重天的历史见证，「六亿神州尽舜尧」更把人民群众推到历史创造者的高度，是马克思主义群众史观最昂扬的诗化表达。就艺术言，此诗实现了古典诗歌形式（七律）与现代生活内容（防疫战争、群众运动）的完美嫁接：颔联「随心」「着意」的浪漫想象、颈联「银锄」「铁臂」的劳动意象、尾联「纸船明烛」的民俗仪式，皆以古典意象承载时代精神，是「革命现实主义与革命浪漫主义相结合」的典范之作。就影响言，此诗与《七律·长征》《沁园春·雪》等并为毛泽东诗词代表作，「春风杨柳万千条」「六亿神州尽舜尧」「纸船明烛照天烧」等句广为传诵，成为那个火红年代的集体记忆。在血吸虫病已基本消除的今天重读此诗，既见当年的豪情与斗志，也见共产党人「以人民健康为念」的初心，其精神力量超越时代而常新。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated poem (qilv); the standard eight lines in four matched couplets七言律诗（近体诗，毛泽东七律代表作）

Rhyme One rhyme throughout, in the Xia branch — tiao, yao, qiao, yao, shao — and rhymes at the end of every line. The sound is open and long, which fits a poem that closes on a flame, and the single unbroken rhyme is what keeps the four couplets in one breath.此诗为七律，押平声「萧」韵（条、尧、桥、摇、烧），一韵到底，声韵宏亮开阔。首联「条」「尧」起韵，颔联「桥」、颈联「摇」、尾联「烧」继之，平声韵脚如钟磬长鸣，与全诗昂扬欢欣的格调相配；颔联「红雨、青山」「随心、着意」对仗工整，颈联「天连五岭、地动三河」「银锄落、铁臂摇」气势对举，声情随对仗而起伏。

Tone pattern The seven-character line is read in a two-two-three rhythm, and the poem keeps to the orthodox alternation of level and oblique tones. The voice rises from bright in the opening to a more violent energy in the third couplet, where four characters in a row carry the weight, and ends on three characters that climb.七律句式为二二三节奏，此诗平仄谐畅，声调随情感昂扬：首联明快（「春风杨柳」「尽舜尧」），颔联浪漫（「随心」「着意」），颈联雄浑（「天连五岭」「地动三河」），尾联热烈（「照天烧」），四联由明快而浪漫、由雄浑而热烈，一气呵成，读来铿锵有力、意气风发。

Reading note The poem shows the form being used to carry a subject that had no place in it before, and the way it works is by keeping the metrical obligations exactly and letting the vocabulary break the decorum. The parallel couplets are perfectly regular, which is why the strange phrases in them arrive as strange; the regulated line is a grid, and the poem is a set of things placed on it. The last three characters set the closing note for the whole piece: a noun, a verb, and a verb that means burning upward.《送瘟神》其二作为七律，严守近体诗格律：全诗八句四联，押平水韵「下平二萧」韵，首句入韵（条），中间两联对仗（颔联「红雨、青山、随心、着意、翻作浪、化为桥」，颈联「天连、地动、五岭、三河、银锄落、铁臂摇」），平仄合律，是毛泽东七律中格律精严之作。但此诗的声律之美不止于「合律」，更在于「以声写情」：首联「春风杨柳万千条」七字以平平仄仄仄平平起，音节轻快明丽，如春风拂面；「六亿神州尽舜尧」以仄仄平平仄仄平继之，声调开阔，如钟磬齐鸣；颔联「红雨随心翻作浪，青山着意化为桥」，仄仄平平平仄仄对平平仄仄仄平平，一抑一扬，节奏舒展而浪漫；颈联「天连五岭银锄落，地动三河铁臂摇」转雄浑，其中「地动三河」四字连用仄声「地、动、三」与平声「河」，音节短促有力，如铁臂挥落，写尽劳动之壮；尾联「借问瘟君欲何往，纸船明烛照天烧」以「借问」领起，一问一答，「照天烧」三字以仄平平收束，声调高昂，如烈焰冲天，余音燎原。毛泽东深谙「声情相应」之道，全诗读来抑扬顿挫、意气风发，是七律这一传统形式承载现代革命内容的绝佳示范。

Line by line

春风杨柳万千条，六亿神州尽舜尧。

Ten thousand willows on a thousand springs of wind; six hundred million souls in the Middle Earth are all Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun.

春风吹拂，杨柳万千条条摇曳；六亿神州的人民都是舜尧一样的圣人。

Spring breeze on willows in countless threads; the six hundred million of China are all Shun and Yao.

首联是全诗的破题与定调，一景一人，双管齐下。「春风杨柳万千条」以传统意象写时代新气象——春风是新时代的春风，杨柳是生机勃发的杨柳，「万千条」极言杨柳之盛，也暗喻新生事物之繁茂，一片欣欣向荣；「六亿神州尽舜尧」由景及人，以「舜尧」（上古圣君）称颂六亿人民——「尽」字总括无遗，把全部人民都推到圣贤的高度，是全诗的立意之纲：胜利属于人民，人民皆可成圣。此联的深意在于：其一，「春风杨柳」与其一「千村薜荔」构成新旧社会的鲜明对照，一悲一喜、一暗一明，两首诗合观方见历史巨变；其二，「尽舜尧」不是恭维而是确信——消灭千年瘟神，正是人民伟力的明证，「人皆可以为尧舜」的古老理想在新中国成为现实。两句一景一人，虚实相生，为全诗的胜利欢欣定下昂扬的基调。

The people. Spring breeze on willows in countless threads; the six hundred million of China are all Shun and Yao. The spring willows and the six-hundred-million-all-Shun-Yao are the opening. To have been all Shun and Yao would be an all; the spring-breeze-on-willows-in-countless-threads-the-six-hundred-million-of-china-are-all-shun-and-yao is the all.

红雨随心翻作浪，青山着意化为桥。

Fallen blossoms turn as they please into waves; the green hills, with all the intent in the world, become bridges.

红色的落花随着人的心意翻作浪花，青翠的群山着意化为通途的桥梁。

Red rain turns to waves at will; green mountains, on purpose, become bridges.

颔联是全诗想象力的高峰，以「物随人意」写人定胜天。「红雨」即落花——古诗词中「红雨」多写春去之哀（如李贺「桃花乱落如红雨」），此处却「随心翻作浪」：落花不再是伤春之物，而随人的心意翻作浪花，化哀景为壮景，一字之转，气象全变；「青山着意化为桥」——青山本为阻隔，却「着意」（特意）化为通途的桥梁，山不再挡路，而俯首听命。「随心」「着意」四字是全联的诗眼：它们把自然之物写得有情有性、听人驱使，是天人关系的彻底翻转——不是人服从自然，而是自然服从人。此联的深意在于：它把消灭血吸虫病的现实胜利，升华为「人定胜天」的普遍信念——当人民组织起来，落花可以翻浪，青山可以成桥，世间没有不可战胜的困难。两句对仗工整，「红雨」对「青山」、「随心」对「着意」、「翻作浪」对「化为桥」，色彩明丽，气势浪漫，是「革命浪漫主义」的极致。

The rain. Red rain turns to waves at will; green mountains, on purpose, become bridges. The red rain turning to waves and the green mountains becoming bridges are the couplet. To have turned the rain to waves would be a turning; the red-rain-turns-to-waves-at-will-green-mountains-on-purpose-become-bridges is the turning.

天连五岭银锄落，地动三河铁臂摇。

The silver hoes strike along the Five Ridges as the sky joins the earth; the iron arms shake and the rivers run as the ground moves.

长天连着五岭，银锄起落；大地震动三河，铁臂摇动。

Sky meets the Five Ranges, silver hoes fall; earth shakes the Three Rivers, iron arms swing.

颈联由想象转入劳动，以银锄铁臂写亿万人民的改天换地。「天连五岭」以天地相连写五岭之高峻——五岭（大庾岭等五岭）连绵与天相接，而「银锄落」三字，写劳动人民在崇山峻岭间挥锄，锄光如银、起落如飞，人的劳动与天的高远形成对照，愈见人定胜天之志；「地动三河」以大地震动写三河之壮阔——三河（泛指黄河等大河），而「铁臂摇」三字，写人民以铁一般的臂膀摇动山河，地动山摇，势不可当。两句以「天连」「地动」写天地之伟，以「银锄」「铁臂」写人民之力，天高地阔与人力无穷两相对峙，最终人力胜出——正是「敢教日月换新天」的诗化表达。此联的深意在于：它不写防疫本身，而写防疫背后的亿万劳动——消灭血吸虫病与改天换地是同一场斗争，「银锄落」「铁臂摇」正是「六亿神州尽舜尧」的具体展开，是全诗由想象落回现实、由浪漫归于豪迈的枢纽。

The hoes. Sky meets the Five Ranges, silver hoes fall; earth shakes the Three Rivers, iron arms swing. The silver hoes on the Five Ranges and the iron arms shaking the Three Rivers are the labor. To have swung the iron arms would be a swinging; the sky-meets-the-five-ranges-silver-hoes-fall-earth-shakes-the-three-rivers-iron-arms-swing is the swinging.

借问瘟君欲何往，纸船明烛照天烧。

Tell me, plague god, where would you go now — a paper boat, a lighted candle, and flames that burn up to the sky.

请问瘟神你要到哪里去？纸船明烛，照着天边燃起送行的火光。

Where is the Plague Lord bound? Paper boats and bright candles burn, lighting up the sky.

尾联是全诗的收束，以送瘟神的民俗仪式写胜利的狂欢。「借问瘟君欲何往」一个「借问」，把瘟神当作送别的对象——昔日的凶神恶煞，今日竟被「问」其去向，气定神闲中透着必胜的从容，「瘟君」的「君」字是戏谑的尊称，愈尊愈见轻蔑；「纸船明烛照天烧」写送瘟仪式——纸船（送神之船）明烛（送神之烛）燃起照天大火，把瘟神送上天去，「照天烧」三字，火光冲天，如庆典之焰火，如胜利之礼炮。此联的深意在于：其一，它把一场防疫战的胜利，写成民俗式的送别仪式——千年肆虐的瘟神，在人民的胜利面前只能「欲何往」而去，读来痛快淋漓；其二，「照天烧」与全诗的「春风」「红雨」「青山」呼应，明烛之光照亮天边，正是「六亿神州尽舜尧」的辉煌图景；其三，以问作结、以火收束，问得潇洒、烧得热烈，把全诗的胜利豪情推向最高潮，是「豹尾」式的收束。

The burning. Where is the Plague Lord bound? Paper boats and bright candles burn, lighting up the sky. The where-is-the-Plague-Lord-bound and the paper-boats-bright-candles-burning-the-sky are the close. To have burned the boats would be a burning; the where-is-the-plague-lord-bound-paper-boats-and-bright-candles-burn-lighting-up-the-sky is the burning.

Study

Word focus

舜尧 Yao and Shun, the two sage-kings of the classical tradition. The poet's use of them inverts the conventional hierarchy, since the names that formerly denoted rulers now denote six hundred million people, which is the poem's most consequential word. 「六亿神州尽舜尧」之「舜尧」二字，是全诗的立意之眼，也是传统圣贤话语的彻底改造。「舜尧」即舜与尧，上古传说中的圣明君主，儒家理想的治世之君——「尧舜之治」在中国文化中是政治理想的最高符号；毛泽东以「六亿神州尽舜尧」称颂人民，把「圣君」之誉归于亿万群众，一字之转，乾坤倒置：圣贤不再是高高在上的君主，而是普普通通的人民群众。此词还暗用《孟子》「人皆可以为尧舜」之语——人人皆可为圣贤，本是儒家修身的理想，毛泽东把它落实为「人民创造历史」的唯物史观：消灭千年瘟神，正是人民伟力的明证，故「尽舜尧」不是溢美而是实录。此词的艺术力量在于「以圣喻民」的巨大反差：六亿「凡人」皆为「圣君」，把新中国人民的地位推到历史最高点，是那个「六亿神州尽舜尧」时代的集体豪情的最凝练表达。

随心 As the heart directs, at will. The word is what makes the flowers and the hills seem to obey, and because it appears in a parallel position in the next line it governs both halves of the couplet. 「红雨随心翻作浪」之「随心」二字，与下句「着意」对举，是颔联的诗眼，也是「人定胜天」信念的诗化表达。「随心」训随着心意——落花（红雨）不是自然飘落，而是「随人心意」翻作浪花，自然之物竟有了人的意志、听了人的指挥；一个「随」字，把天与人的关系彻底翻转：不是人随天意，而是物随人心。此词有三层深意：其一，写时代气象——新中国人民意气风发，万物皆在人的掌握之中，红雨翻浪正是「敢教日月换新天」的微观写照；其二，化哀为壮——「红雨」本是伤春之哀景（李贺「桃花乱落如红雨」），「随心」一转，哀景变壮景，落花随人意翻浪，悲情荡然无存，只有昂扬；其三，与「着意」对举——「随心」写花之随人，「着意」写山之从人，一花一山，皆听命于人，人与自然的关系在此达到完全的和谐与从属。「随心」二字，浪漫之极，也豪迈之极，是毛泽东诗词「以意役物」的典范。

照天烧 Burning up to the sky. The three characters carry the poem's ending: light, height and consumption at once, so that the farewell to the plague is given as an image of fire rather than of departure. 「纸船明烛照天烧」之「照天烧」三字，是全诗收束的诗眼，以冲天火光写胜利的狂欢。「照」训照耀，「天」指天际，「烧」训燃烧——纸船明烛燃起的大火，照彻天边，如火炬、如礼炮，把送瘟神的仪式推向最高潮。此词的妙处有三：其一，以「烧」写送——民间送瘟神以纸船明烛焚烧送之，毛泽东取其民俗意象而赋新意：烧的不是纸船，而是千年瘟神，「烧」字痛快淋漓，如秋风扫落叶；其二，以「照」写光——火光「照天」，与全诗「春风」「红雨」「青山」的明丽色调呼应，明烛之光冲天而起，正是「六亿神州尽舜尧」的光辉图景，胜利的喜气化为通天的火光；其三，以「天」写势——火照天际，空间无限开阔，把一场防疫战的胜利升华为改天换地的壮举。三字连读，音节响亮、气势冲天，把全诗的胜利豪情推向顶点，以冲天火光收束千年瘟神的送别，是「豹尾」式的收官。