清 Qing · 传奇 Tale
桃花扇·哀江南
The Peach Blossom Fan · Lament for the South
〔北新水令〕山松野草带花桃，猛抬头秣陵重到。
残军留废垒，瘦马卧空壕；
村郭萧条，城对着夕阳道。
〔驻马听〕野火频烧，护墓长楸多半焦。
山羊群跑，守陵阿监几时逃。
鸽翎蝠粪满堂抛，枯枝败叶当阶罩；
谁祭扫，牧儿打碎龙碑帽。
〔沉醉东风〕横白玉八根柱倒，堕红泥半堵墙高。
Show full original poem
〔北新水令〕山松野草带花桃，猛抬头秣陵重到。
残军留废垒，瘦马卧空壕；
村郭萧条，城对着夕阳道。
〔驻马听〕野火频烧，护墓长楸多半焦。
山羊群跑，守陵阿监几时逃。
鸽翎蝠粪满堂抛，枯枝败叶当阶罩；
谁祭扫，牧儿打碎龙碑帽。
〔沉醉东风〕横白玉八根柱倒，堕红泥半堵墙高。
碎琉璃瓦片多，烂翡翠窗棂少，舞丹墀燕雀常朝。
直入宫门一路蒿，住几个乞儿饿殍。
〔折桂令〕问秦淮旧日窗寮，破纸迎风，坏槛当潮，目断魂消。
当年粉黛，何处笙箫？
罢灯船端阳不闹，收酒旗重九无聊。
白鸟飘飘，绿水滔滔，嫩黄花有些蝶飞，新红叶无个人瞧。
〔沽美酒带太平令〕俺曾见金陵玉殿莺啼晓，秦淮水榭花开早，谁知道容易冰消！
眼看他起朱楼，眼看他宴宾客，眼看他楼塌了！
这青苔碧瓦堆，俺曾睡风流觉，将五十年兴亡看饱。
那乌衣巷不姓王，莫愁湖鬼夜哭，凤凰台栖枭鸟。
残山梦最真，旧境丢难掉，不信这舆图换稿。
诌一套《哀江南》，放悲声唱到老。
Remaining troops keep the wasted rampart; a lean horse lies in the empty moat;
The village is desolate; the city faces the sunset road.
[Zhu Ma Ting] Wild fire often burns; the long catalpas guarding the tomb half charred.
Goats run in flocks; when did the tomb-eunuchs flee?
Pigeon feathers, bat dung flung through the hall; dead branches and fallen leaves shroud the steps;
Who comes to sacrifice? A cowherd has smashed the dragon-stele's cap.
[Chen Zui Dong Feng] The eight white-jade pillars lie toppled; the red clay wall has fallen, half high.
Broken glazed tiles many; rotten jade-grille windows few; swallows and sparrows hold court on the vermilion steps.
Straight into the palace gate, a road of wormwood; a few beggars and the starved dwell there.
[Zhe Gui Ling] I ask of Qinhuai's old window-bays: torn paper meets the wind, broken rails face the tide - the eye breaks, the soul fails.
Where are the singing-girls of those years, the pipes and strings?
The lantern-boats at Double-Fifth no longer revel; the wine-flags at Double-Ninth are furled, listless.
White birds drift; green water rushes; tender yellow chrysanthemums with a few butterflies; new red leaves no one regards.
[Gu Mei Jiu with Tai Ping Ling] I once saw Jinling's jade halls where orioles sang at dawn, Qinhuai's waterside bowers where flowers opened early - who knew splendour easily melts like ice!
I watched him raise the vermilion tower; watched him feast his guests; watched his tower fall!
On this moss-and-jade ruin-heap I once slept my romantic dream, having seen full fifty years of rise and fall.
The Street of Mansions no longer bears the Wang name; at Mochou Lake ghosts weep at night; on Phoenix Terrace owls roost.
The broken hills in dream are truest; the old scene cannot be cast off; I cannot believe the map has changed its page.
I cobble a 'Lament for the South', and sing my grief to the end of my days.
Meaning
[Bei Xin Shui Ling] Hillside pines and wild grass mixed with peach twigs; I lift my head and suddenly am back at Muling (Nanjing). Remnant troops hold the wasted ramparts; a lean horse lies in the empty moat; village and wall are desolate, the old city facing the sunset road. [Zhu Ma Ting] Wild fires burn often; the long catalpas guarding the tombs are half charred. Flocks of goats run; when did the tomb eunuchs flee? Pigeon feathers and bat dung are flung through the halls; dead branches and fallen leaves shroud the steps; who still comes to sacrifice - a cowherd has smashed the dragon-stele's cap. [Chen Zui Dong Feng] The eight white-jade pillars lie toppled; the red clay wall has fallen, half standing. Broken glaze tiles many, rotten jade windows few; swallows and sparrows hold court on the vermilion steps. Straight into the palace gate, a road of wormwood; a few beggars and the starved dwell there. [Zhe Gui Ling] I ask of Qinhuai's old window-bays, torn paper meets the wind, broken rails face the tide, the eye breaks and the soul fails. Where are those years' singing-girls, the pipes and strings? The lantern-boats at Double Fifth no longer revel; the wine-flags at Double Ninth furled and listless. White birds drift, green water rushes; tender yellow chrysanthemums with a few butterflies; new red leaves no one regards. [Gu Mei Jiu with Tai Ping Ling] I once saw Jinling's jade halls where orioles sang at dawn, Qinhuai's bowers where flowers opened early - who knew such splendour easily melts like ice! I watched him raise the vermilion tower, watched him feast his guests, watched his tower fall! On this moss-and-jade ruin-heap I once slept my romantic dream, having seen full fifty years of rise and fall. The Street of Mansions no longer bears the Wang name; at Mochou Lake ghosts weep at night; on Phoenix Terrace owls roost. The broken hills in dream are truest; the old scene cannot be cast off; I cannot believe the map has changed its page. I cobble a 'Lament for the South' and sing my grief to the end of my days.
〔北新水令〕山间松树野草夹杂着带花的桃枝，猛抬头又回到了金陵故都。残兵留在荒废的营垒，瘦马卧在空寂的战壕；村郭一片萧条，古城正对着夕阳斜照的大道。 〔驻马听〕野火频频焚烧，护墓的长楸多半焦枯。山羊成群奔跑，守陵的太监几时逃散。鸽翎蝠粪抛满厅堂，枯枝败叶罩住石阶；有谁还来祭扫，牧童已打碎了龙碑的帽顶。 〔沉醉东风〕横倒的白玉八根柱，堕落的红泥半堵墙。碎琉璃瓦片多多，烂翡翠窗棂寥寥，燕雀在丹墀上如常朝拜。直入宫门一路蒿草，住着几个乞儿饿殍。 〔折桂令〕试问秦淮旧日窗寮，破纸迎风，坏槛临潮，令人目断魂消。当年的歌女，何处还有笙箫？端阳灯船不再喧闹，重九酒旗收起无聊。白鸟飘飘，绿水滔滔，嫩黄的菊花有几只蝶飞，新红的枫叶无人瞧看。 〔沽美酒带太平令〕俺曾见金陵玉殿黄莺啼晓，秦淮水榭百花早开，谁料想繁华容易冰消！眼睁睁看他起朱楼，看他宴宾客，看他楼塌了！这青苔碧瓦的废堆，俺曾睡着风流的觉，将五十年的兴亡看个饱。那乌衣巷已不姓王，莫愁湖有鬼夜哭，凤凰台栖着枭鸟。残山入梦最真切，旧景难抛难掉，不信这江山换了稿。诌一套《哀江南》，放悲声唱到老。全曲借重游金陵所见，由城郊写到陵寝、宫阙、秦淮，层层写尽故都的荒凉，把五十年兴亡之痛凝于一唱三叹的悲歌之中。
Appreciation
This suite is structured by spatial progression: the first aria writes the desolation of the suburban wilds, the next the ruin of the tombs, the third the collapse of the old palace, the fourth the coldness of Qinhuai, and the last sums the rise and fall. In art it favours contrast - the former 'jade halls where orioles sang', 'waterside bowers where flowers opened' against the present 'melted like ice', 'the tower fallen'; it favours repeated lines, 'I watched him raise the vermilion tower, watched him feast his guests, watched his tower fall' three clauses in succession, like weeping and complaint, pouring out the pain of glory's mutability. The language is of native grain, unornamented yet pierces the paper.
【白话串讲】 《桃花扇》结尾，苏昆生重游南京：“残军留废垒，瘦马卧空壕”——当年繁华的南京，如今“鸽翎蝠粪满堂抛，枯枝败叶当阶罩”。“眼看他起朱楼，眼看他宴宾客，眼看他楼塌了”——明清易代的苍凉，都在这一句。 【意象与手法】 套曲以空间推移结构全篇：首曲写城外郊野萧条，次曲写陵寝残破，三曲写故宫倾颓，四曲写秦淮冷落，末曲总括兴亡。艺术上善用今昔对比，昔日玉殿莺啼、水榭花开对照眼前冰消楼塌；善用叠句，眼看他三叠蝉联，如泣如诉；语言本色当行，残军瘦马、鸽翎蝠粪皆寻常物事，不假雕饰而力透纸背。 【情感与主旨】 孔尚任《桃花扇》三易其稿，康熙三十八年成，演南明弘光朝兴亡，以侯方域、李香君之情事系国家之痛。剧末《余韵》出，以老艺人苏昆生唱此套曲收束，借重游金陵所见荒凉，抒天翻地覆之慨，寄亡国之痛于渔樵闲话，为全剧点睛之笔，也是清初遗民情怀的集中流露。 【名句点睛】 高频考点：一、分析眼看他起朱楼，眼看他宴宾客，眼看他楼塌了三叠句的修辞与情感；二、今昔对比手法的运用与效果；三、乌衣巷、莫愁湖、凤凰台等典故的用意；四、套曲以空间推移写兴亡的章法。作答时须结合南明覆亡的历史与遗民视角。
Background
Kong Shangren (1648-1718), style Pinzhi, name Dongtang, of Qufu in Shandong, the sixty-fourth generation descendant of Confucius. His The Peach Blossom Fan, drafted three times, was completed in 1699, dramatizing the rise and fall of the Southern Ming Hongguang court, tying the state's pain to the love of Hou Fangyu and Li Xiangjun. At the play's close, the 'Leftover Echo' scene ends with the old ritual-master singing the 'Lament for the South' suite, borrowing a re-visit to Nanjing's desolation to voice the 'heaven-overturned, earth-overthrown' sigh, lodging the pain of the lost state in the idle talk of fisher and woodcutter - the pointing eye of the whole play.
孔尚任（一六四八至一七一八），字聘之，又字季重，号东塘、岸堂，山东曲阜人，孔子六十四代孙，清初著名戏曲家，与洪昇并称南洪北孔。他早年隐居石门山读书，康熙二十三年康熙帝南巡至曲阜祭孔，孔尚任进讲经义，被破格擢为国子监博士，次年随工部侍郎孙在丰赴淮扬疏浚黄河，历时四年，期间遍游金陵、扬州，凭吊南明故迹，结交明遗民，亲见秦淮风物的兴废，为创作《桃花扇》积累了深厚的生活与史料基础。他历经十余年，三易其稿，于康熙三十八年（一六九九）成《桃花扇》传奇，借复社文人侯方域与秦淮名妓李香君的爱情离合，写南明弘光一朝兴亡，所谓借离合之情，写兴亡之感。剧末《余韵》一出，安排老赞礼、柳敬亭、苏昆生三位遗民渔樵闲话，以苏昆生所唱《哀江南》套曲收束全剧，当年秦淮河畔的繁华风流，如今只剩残军废垒、瘦马空壕、断柱残墙，五十年兴亡尽付悲歌，是全剧点睛之笔，也是清初遗民情怀与历史反思的集中呈现。
Art
The suite is structured by spatial progression: the first aria writes the suburban wilds' desolation, the next the tombs' ruin, the third the old palace's collapse, the fourth Qinhuai's coldness, the last sums rise and fall. In art it favours contrast - the former 'jade halls where orioles sang', 'waterside bowers where flowers opened' against the present 'melted like ice', 'the tower fallen'; it favours repeated lines, 'I watched him raise the vermilion tower, watched him feast his guests, watched his tower fall' three clauses in succession, like weeping and complaint, pouring out the pain of glory's mutability. The language is of native grain, unornamented yet pierces the paper.
《哀江南》为北曲套数，五支曲牌以空间推移结构全篇，层次分明：〔北新水令〕写城外郊野，残军废垒、瘦马空壕，总写金陵的萧条；〔驻马听〕写孝陵残破，野火焦楸、牧儿碎碑，悼亡国之君；〔沉醉东风〕写故宫倾颓，柱倒墙堕、燕雀朝舞丹墀，讥繁华之逝；〔折桂令〕写秦淮冷落，破纸坏槛、灯船酒旗俱歇，伤风流之散；〔沽美酒带太平令〕总括五十年兴亡，眼看他起朱楼，眼看他宴宾客，眼看他楼塌了，将盛衰之变倾泻而出。艺术上最见功力者有三：一是今昔对比，昔日玉殿莺啼、水榭花开对照眼前青苔碧瓦、饿殍乞儿，以乐衬哀，倍增其哀；二是叠句蝉联，眼看他三叠而下，如泣如诉，语气一气贯注，把兴亡之痛写得力透纸背；三是本色当行，通篇用口语白话，残军瘦马、鸽翎蝠粪、乞儿饿殍皆寻常物事，不假雕饰而境界全出，正是曲体当行的本色语言。此外，套曲以猛抬头领起、以放悲声收束，首尾呼应，悲声一路唱到老，正是全曲情感由惊到悲、由悲到唱的发展脉络。
Allusions
'The Street of Mansions', 'Mochou Lake', 'Phoenix Terrace' are all Jinling sights, darkly using the Tang meditation moods of Liu Yuxi's 'the Street of Mansions faces the setting sun' and Li Bai's 'on Phoenix Terrace the phoenix once played', and with 'the Street of Mansions no longer bears the Wang name' pointing the fall of the great houses. 'Dragon-stele cap' means the stone tablet before an emperor's tomb; 'tomb-eunuch' uses the sense of Bai Juyi's 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' - 'the Pear-Garden lads white-haired, the chamber eunuchs and maidens old'. Borrowing the classical to write the present decline, mourning the past and grieving the time, its meaning is deep.
《哀江南》用典密而不滞，多取金陵故实与唐人怀古诗意。乌衣巷为东晋王谢大族聚居之地，刘禹锡《乌衣巷》旧时王谢堂前燕，飞入寻常百姓家，写世家零落，曲中那乌衣巷不姓王直承其意，点出豪门世族的灰飞烟灭。凤凰台用李白《登金陵凤凰台》凤凰台上凤凰游，凤去台空江自流之句，以凤去台空写繁华难再，曲中凤凰台栖枭鸟以枭鸟代凤凰，盛衰之变触目惊心。莫愁湖为金陵名胜，相传卢莫愁居此，本为风流渊薮，曲中莫愁湖鬼夜哭以鬼哭写昔日欢场的阴森，反用其典而愈见凄凉。龙碑帽指帝王陵寝前石碑的碑首，阿监一词用白居易《长恨歌》椒房阿监青娥老之语，指守陵太监，以唐典写明事，皆自然融化。金陵玉殿、秦淮水榭、灯船酒旗等意象，更汇合六朝以来金陵繁华的文学记忆，借古写今，怀古伤时，使亡国之痛获得了深厚的历史纵深。全曲用典皆取金陵本土故实，以眼前之景印证典籍之文，故典不隔而情愈真。
Commentary
Liang Qichao's Fiction Talks praises The Peach Blossom Fan as 'the absolute masterpiece of historical drama'. The 'Lament for the South' suite, though Wang Guowei did not treat it specially, later critics of the qu all rank it 'a song for the ages'. The modern Wu Mei's Gu Qu Chu Tan calls it 'immersed and grave, desolate and cold, readable as a record of the southern flight', writing history in the qu, worthy to shine with Du Fu's 'Autumn Meditation' before and after.
《桃花扇》成书后风行一时，孔尚任旋因文字贾祸罢官，然其历史地位终为后世所公认。梁启超《小说丛话》誉《桃花扇》为中国历史剧之绝作，以为其借儿女之情写兴亡之感，结构之工、思想之深，冠绝古今。此《哀江南》一套，后世论曲者皆推为千古绝唱，近人吴梅《顾曲麈谈》称其沉郁悲凉，可作南渡录读，以为其以曲写史，足与杜甫《秋兴》八首后先辉映。王国维论元曲主自然，孔尚任此套本色当行、不假雕饰，正合曲体之正轨，而其苍凉慷慨又过之。今人评此套曲，多推眼看他起朱楼，眼看他宴宾客，眼看他楼塌了三句为兴亡母题的极致表达，以为其以最朴素的语言道尽盛衰无常，已成为中国文学中感慨兴亡的经典话语。在戏曲史上，《哀江南》以遗民之口唱兴亡之悲，上承元杂剧的苍凉，下开清代历史剧反思一代兴亡的传统，其历史意识与艺术成就，至今仍为治戏曲史者所称道。
Prosody
Line by line
残军留废垒，瘦马卧空壕
Remnant troops keep the wasted rampart; a lean horse lies in the empty moat;
残兵留在荒废的营垒，瘦马卧在空寂的战壕。
Broken troops linger by the ruined ramparts; a lean horse lies in the empty moat.
两句以白描写金陵城郊的兵燹残迹，是全套曲开篇的点睛。残军、废垒、瘦马、空壕四组偏正短语两两相对，残废瘦空四个形容词，把战后的荒凉写得触目惊心，营垒已废而残兵犹留，战壕已空而瘦马独卧，人马的萧条与城郭的破败相互映衬。残与瘦尤见炼字之工，残写兵之余存，瘦写马之困顿，皆以一字传神，不加渲染而境界全出。两句对仗工整，音节短促，与套曲开篇猛抬头秣陵重到的惊呼相应，一抬头便见如此荒凉，五十年前的金陵繁华尽成追忆，为全篇定下苍凉的基调。
The two lines paint in plain strokes the war-scarred outskirts of Jinling, the opening touch of the suite. Broken troops, ruined ramparts, lean horse, empty moat: four noun phrases paired in two, the four adjectives broken, ruined, lean, empty making the post-war desolation shock the eye — the fort fallen yet broken soldiers remain, the moat empty yet the lean horse lies alone, the forlornness of men and horses set off against the ruin of the walls. The words broken and lean show most the forging of the brush: broken writes the remnant soldiery, lean writes the horse's exhaustion, each one character carrying the scene, no ornament and the realm complete. The couplet is tight, the rhythm short, answering the opening cry of the suite — I raise my head, Moling returned to; at one look, such desolation, the Jinling splendor of fifty years past all memory, fixing the bleak tone of the whole.
横白玉八根柱倒，堕红泥半堵墙高
The eight white-jade pillars lie toppled; the red clay wall has fallen, half high.
横倒的白玉八根柱，堕落的红泥半堵墙。
Eight white jade pillars lie fallen; half a wall of red mud still stands high.
两句写故宫的倾颓，以色彩的强烈反差造成触目惊心的效果。白玉柱本为宫阙的华贵装饰，如今横倒在地；红泥墙本为殿宇的庄严屏障，如今半堵堕毁。白与红的鲜明色彩，在废墟中愈显刺眼，越是华贵的遗物，越是衬出毁灭的彻底。横与堕两个动词，写柱之倒、墙之塌的动态，仿佛当年坍塌的瞬间犹在眼前；八根柱与半堵墙的数量对比，更见残破之甚。此二句以物写史，不着一悲字而悲情自见，与下文碎琉璃瓦片多、烂翡翠窗棂少同一机杼，皆以宫廷珍物的零落写朱明王朝的覆亡。
The two lines write the collapse of the old palace, the strong contrast of colors making the ruin shock. The white jade pillars were the palace's noble adornment, now fallen across the ground; the red mud walls the hall's solemn screens, now half brought down. The bright colors of white and red glare the more in the ruins: the nobler the relic, the more thorough the destruction. The verbs fallen and brought down write the dynamics of the toppling pillars and collapsing walls, as if the instant of their fall still before the eyes; the numbers eight pillars and half a wall set against each other, the wreck the more extreme. The lines write history through objects, not a word of grief and grief of itself present, the same loom as the shattered glazed tiles and the rotten lattice windows below — the fallen court treasures figure the fall of the Ming.
眼看他起朱楼，眼看他宴宾客，眼看他楼塌了！
We watch him raise the crimson tower, we watch him feast his guests, we watch the tower collapse!
眼睁睁看他起朱楼，看他宴宾客，看他楼塌了！
I watched him build the crimson tower, I watched him feast his guests, I watched the tower fall to ruin!
三句叠唱，是全套曲情感的爆发点，也是中国文学写兴亡的千古名句。三个眼看他蝉联而下，如泣如诉，起朱楼写权贵营造的盛时，宴宾客写其煊赫的繁华，楼塌了写其倾覆的结局，一盛一衰之间，三句一气贯注，不假修饰而力透纸背。眼看他三字，写旁观者的亲见与无奈，不是听人说，不是读史书，而是眼睁睁看着繁华在自己眼前崩塌，见证者的悲慨尽在其中。此三句以最朴素的口语写最深刻的兴亡，把五十年兴亡浓缩为楼起楼塌的瞬间，其概括力与感染力，后世论者以为空前绝后，已成为感慨盛衰无常的经典话语。
The three lines of repeated chant are the eruption of the suite's feeling, and an immortal line of Chinese literature on rise and fall. The three we watch him run on like a chain, lamenting: raise the crimson tower writes the splendor of the powerful man's building, feast his guests his dazzling glory, the tower collapses his overthrow; rise and fall between, the three lines flowing in one breath, no ornament and force piercing the paper. The three words we watch write the eyewitness's seeing and helplessness — not told by others, not read in histories, but watching the splendor crumble before one's own eyes, the witness's grief all within. The three lines write the profoundest rise and fall in the plainest speech, condensing fifty years into the instant of the tower's rising and falling; their sweep and force, later critics say, are unmatched, and they have become the classic phrase for the mutability of splendor.
残山梦最真，旧境丢难掉
The broken hills in dream are truest; the old scene cannot be cast off;
残山入梦最真切，旧景难抛难掉。
The shattered hills are truest in dreams; the old scenes are hard to cast away.
两句写遗民对故国的刻骨追怀，是全套曲情感最深处。残山指残破的故国山河，亡国之后，山河已非，唯余残山，然而正是这残山，在梦中却最为真切，梦中的故国山水比眼前的现实更真实，可见遗民心中故国之重；旧境丢难掉写昔日景象刻骨铭心，想丢而丢不掉，丢字下得沉痛，仿佛不是不愿忘，而是忘不掉、舍不去。两句以梦写痛，把亡国之悲从眼见之荒凉深入到心念之执著，与下文不信这舆图换稿的倔强呼应，故国之思，至死不移，正是清初遗民情怀的典型写照，也是全套曲情感的最后升华。
The two lines write the loyalist's bone-deep remembrance of the fallen kingdom, the deepest point of the suite's feeling. The shattered hills mean the ruined hills and rivers of the fallen state; after the loss, the land is no more, only shattered hills remain — yet precisely these shattered hills are truest in dreams, the homeland landscape in the dream more real than the reality before the eyes, showing how heavy the fallen kingdom weighs in the loyalist's heart. The old scenes are hard to cast away writes the old sights etched in the bones, wanting to discard and unable; the word cast away is laid with grief, as if not unwilling to forget, but unable to forget, unable to let go. The two lines write pain through dreams, carrying the grief of a lost country from the desolation seen to the fixation held, answering the stubbornness of I will not believe this map has changed below; the longing for the fallen state, unshaken to death, precisely the typical portrait of the early Qing loyalist, and the final elevation of the suite's feeling.
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Related Reading
Both write the felt change of Qinhuai past and present; one immersed and grieving, one spirit-resonance - different styles, same topic.
王士禛《秦淮杂诗》写清初秦淮风物，年来肠断秣陵舟，梦绕秦淮水上楼，以空灵含蓄的笔致写故国之思，正合其神韵说的主张，意在言外；孔尚任《哀江南》则以残军瘦马、断柱残墙的直笔写尽荒凉，眼看他楼塌了的悲歌如裂帛之声，沉痛激越。同是清初人写金陵兴亡，一含蓄一质直，一神韵一本色，风格迥异而情怀相通，并读可见清初怀古伤时之作的两大路数，也可见神韵说与曲体本色在抒写兴亡时的不同力量。
马嵬 Mawei 袁枚 · 同借史事抒兴亡之慨，一议一唱 Same (historical meditation, grieving the time, writing dynastic rise and fall)Both voice the sigh of rise and fall through concrete history; compare their lyric modes and views of history.
袁枚《马嵬》石壕村里夫妻别，泪比长生殿上多，以议论翻案写安史之乱中百姓的苦难，认为民间生离死别之苦远过于帝王爱情之悲，见解犀利；孔尚任《哀江南》则以老艺人的悲歌写南明覆亡，残军瘦马、乞儿饿殍，同样把目光投向乱世中的小人物，那乌衣巷不姓王，莫愁湖鬼夜哭的今昔对照，亦含历史反思。二诗一曲，一以议论见史识，一以歌唱传悲情，然皆超越帝王兴亡的表层，深入到百姓命运的深层，可见清代文人历史意识的深化。
山坡羊·潼关怀古 Sheep on the Slope, Meditating on the Past at Weiyang 张养浩 · 同以怀古写兴亡，一叹百姓一哭故国 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
张养浩《山坡羊·潼关怀古》峰峦如聚，波涛如怒，山河表里潼关路，以兴，百姓苦；亡，百姓苦收束，把历代兴亡的实质归结为百姓的苦难，是元曲怀古的绝唱；孔尚任《哀江南》则以遗民之口哭故国，眼看他起朱楼，眼看他宴宾客，眼看他楼塌了，把五十年兴亡的见证写得刻骨铭心。张曲重历史规律的概括，孔曲重个人记忆的追怀，一理性一感性，一咏史一抒情，然皆以兴亡为主题，皆以本色当行的曲语写苍凉悲慨，前后辉映，可见怀古兴亡之慨在元明清曲中的一脉相承。