宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
渡江云
Crossing the River Clouds
山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初。
一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄。
新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖。
犹记得、当年深隐，门掩两三株。
愁余。
荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处。
空自觉、围羞带减，影怯灯孤。
常疑即见桃花面，甚近来、翻笑无书。
书纵远，如何也都无。
Beyond the curtain, rain beyond the dove's call; on a few idle fields, across the water, spring hoes move.
New mist and the willows of the forbidden park; I imagine by now the green has spread all the way to West Lake.
I still remember those years of deep seclusion, the gate hiding two or three trees.
Sorrow remains.
Barren isles and ancient shallows, broken stems and scattered duckweed; where else is there to drift?
Vainly I feel my sash grow loose with shame, my shadow timid before the lonely lamp.
I often imagined I would soon see that peach-blossom face; why lately has she laughed that there is no letter?
Though the letter's road is far, how could it be that not one comes?
Meaning
A lyric of spring wandering. Zhang Yan leans from a tower over an empty sea horizon, watches spring plowing beyond the rain, and imagines the willows of the forbidden park turning green all the way to West Lake, where he once lived in seclusion. Memory gives way to present exile: barren isles, drifting duckweed, a wasted body by a lonely lamp, and finally the wounded question why no letter has come from the one whose face he remembers like Cui Hu's peach blossom.
山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初。一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄。新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖。犹记得、当年深隐，门掩两三株。愁余。荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处。空自觉、围羞带减，影怯灯孤。常疑即见桃花面，甚近来、翻笑无书。书纵远，如何也都无。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] From a tower the poet sees empty mountains, sky meeting sea, wind and rising tide. Rain falls beyond the curtain; farmers move spring hoes across the water. New mist on the palace willows makes him imagine the green spreading to West Lake, where he once hid in seclusion behind two or three trees. Sorrow follows: barren isles, broken stems and duckweed drifting nowhere; his sash loosens, his shadow shivers by a lonely lamp. He had expected to see her peach-blossom face; why has she lately laughed that no letter comes? Even if letters travel far, how could there be none at all? [Imagery] The broken stems and scattered duckweed are the poet's own likeness. [Mood] The lyric is clear and sparse, its sorrow rising through landscape to a final unanswered question.
【白话串讲】 张炎写《渡江云》：“山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初”——“一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄”——“新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖”——“愁余。荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处”——他写客愁——更漂流何处。 【意象与手法】 “山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初”以山空天海写暮景；“一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄”以鸠雨春锄写春景；“新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖”以禁柳写思归；结以“愁余。荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处”以断梗疏萍写飘零。清空疏淡、今昔对照。 【情感与主旨】 张炎写羁旅春愁之作，写客居所见春景与飘零无归的愁绪，以“断梗疏萍”自况，是张炎清空词风的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考“愁余。荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处”以断梗疏萍写飘零；“新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖”以禁柳写思归。
Background
Zhang Yan (1248-c. 1320), courtesy name Shuxia, style names Yutian and Lexiaoweng, was a native of Lin'an (modern Hangzhou). A leading late-Song lyricist and founder of the clear and sparse school, he saw the fall of the Song and wandered as an exile. This Crossing the River Clouds is a spring lyric of wandering and longing, written after the dynasty's collapse, when his old home by West Lake had become a country he could only revisit in memory.
《渡江云》为宋末元初词人张炎所作词。张炎（1248—约1320），字叔夏，号玉田，又号乐笑翁，临安（今浙江杭州）人，宋末词人，词清空疏快，为「清空词派」之宗。此词写羁旅春愁。词中「山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初」写山空天入海；「一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄」写鸠外雨；「新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖」写绿到西湖；「犹记得、当年深隐，门掩两三株」写当年深隐；「愁余。荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处」写漂流何处；「空自觉、围羞带减，影怯灯孤」写影怯灯孤；「常疑即见桃花面，甚近来、翻笑无书」写翻笑无书；「书纵远，如何也都无」写如何也都无。张炎此词以羁旅春愁、如何也都无写其羁旅之情，含蓄深婉，是张炎词中的名篇。此篇《渡江云》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。
Art
The lyric's art is its clear, sparse layering of past and present. The opening of empty mountains and sky merging into sea fixes the poet at the edge of the world, wind and tide already restless; then the scene narrows to rain beyond the curtain and farmers' spring hoes across the water, spring arriving everywhere except in the poet's life. The palace willows carry the eye south to West Lake in imagination, and the memory of seclusion behind two or three trees sets a lost home against present drifting. In the second stanza the lyric turns inward: broken stems and scattered duckweed externalize the self as flotsam, the loosening sash and the timid shadow write grief as physical wasting, and the closing question, hinging on even if the road is far, ends the poem on a note at once reproachful and despairing.
此词艺术上以「含蓄深婉、清空以情」见长。全词上片写山空天入海与绿到西湖，下片写漂流何处与如何也都无。上片「山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初」写山空天入海：山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初；「一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄」写鸠外雨：一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄；「新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖」写绿到西湖：新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖；「犹记得、当年深隐，门掩两三株」写当年深隐：犹记得、当年深隐，门掩两三株。下片「愁余。荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处」写漂流何处：愁余，荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处；「空自觉、围羞带减，影怯灯孤」写影怯灯孤：空自觉、围羞带减，影怯灯孤；「常疑即见桃花面，甚近来、翻笑无书」写翻笑无书：常疑即见桃花面，甚近来、翻笑无书；「书纵远，如何也都无」写如何也都无：书纵远，如何也都无。全词含蓄深婉，清空以情，是张炎词中的名篇。
Allusions
The willows of the forbidden park refer to the palace willows, whose spring green the poet imagines reaching all the way to West Lake, his lost home. That peach-blossom face alludes to Cui Hu's famous poem, in which he met a girl beside peach blossoms and returned the next year to find the blossoms but not the girl; here it is the face of a lost or distant beloved. The loosening sash echoes the classical image of lovesickness wearing the body thin, as in Liu Yong's my girdle grows loose, and I do not regret it.
词中「山空天入海」「倚楼望极」「风急暮潮初」「一帘鸠外雨」「几处闲田隔水动春锄」「新烟禁柳」「想如今绿到西湖」「犹记得当年深隐门掩两三株」「愁余」「荒洲古溆断梗疏萍更漂流何处」「空自觉围羞带减影怯灯孤」「常疑即见桃花面甚近来翻笑无书」「书纵远如何也都无」等语，皆含典故故实。「山空天入海」写山空天入海；「倚楼望极」写倚楼望极；「风急暮潮初」写风急暮潮初；「一帘鸠外雨」写一帘鸠外雨（鸠外雨为鸠鸣雨至，写春）；「几处闲田隔水动春锄」写几处闲田隔水动春锄；「新烟禁柳」写新烟禁柳；「想如今绿到西湖」写想如今绿到西湖；「犹记得当年深隐门掩两三株」写犹记得当年深隐门掩两三株；「愁余」写愁余；「荒洲古溆断梗疏萍更漂流何处」写荒洲古溆断梗疏萍更漂流何处；「空自觉围羞带减影怯灯孤」写空自觉围羞带减影怯灯孤（围羞带减写腰围瘦减）；「常疑即见桃花面」用崔护人面桃花之典（桃花面写人面），写常疑即见桃花面；「甚近来翻笑无书」写甚近来翻笑无书；「书纵远如何也都无」写书纵远如何也都无。词人以鸠雨、西湖、桃花面等语入词，不着痕迹，而把羁旅春愁之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。
Commentary
This lyric is a prime example of Zhang Yan's clear and sparse style: few ornaments, a wide horizon, and a sorrow that gathers weight as the poem proceeds. The final line, though the road is far, how could there be none at all, has been admired for turning the old theme of letters that cannot cross the mountains and waters into something more wounded, an accusation of silence rather than distance. After the fall of the Song, lines like broken stems and scattered duckweed, where else is there to drift were read as the lament of a whole generation of displaced southerners.
这首《渡江云》，是张炎写羁旅春愁之作，写山空天入海、愁余、如何也都无之情，含蓄深婉。上片写山空天入海与绿到西湖：「山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初」——山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初。写山空天入海：山空天入海、倚楼望极，风急暮潮初——山空天入海、倚楼望极、暮潮初起；「一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄」——一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄。写鸠外雨：一帘鸠外雨、几处闲田，隔水动春锄——鸠外雨一帘、闲田动春锄；「新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖」——新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖。写绿到西湖：新烟禁柳、想如今绿到西湖——新烟禁柳、绿到西湖；「犹记得、当年深隐，门掩两三株」——犹记得、当年深隐，门掩两三株。写当年深隐：犹记得当年深隐、门掩两三株——当年深隐、门掩两三株。下片写漂流何处与如何也都无：「愁余。荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处」——愁余，荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处。写漂流何处：愁余、荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处——荒洲古溆、断梗疏萍、漂流何处；「空自觉、围羞带减，影怯灯孤」——空自觉、围羞带减，影怯灯孤。写影怯灯孤：空自觉围羞带减、影怯灯孤——围羞带减、影怯灯孤；「常疑即见桃花面，甚近来、翻笑无书」——常疑即见桃花面（用崔护人面桃花之典），甚近来、翻笑无书。写翻笑无书：常疑即见桃花面、甚近来翻笑无书——疑见桃花面、近来翻笑无书；「书纵远，如何也都无」——书纵远，如何也都无。写如何也都无：书纵远、如何也都无——书纵远、如何也都无。这「书纵远，如何也都无」，是全词之结：以如何也都无写其书之杳。全词含蓄深婉，清空以情，正是张炎词中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初。
The mountains empty, the sky merges into the sea; I lean on the tower and gaze to the far end, where the wind is swift and the evening tide begins to rise.
山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初。
The hills empty, the sky entering the sea; leaning on the tower, gazing to the end; the wind urgent, the evening tide just risen.
首三句写山空天入海，起笔即见其境。「山空天入海」写山空天入海，「山空」写山空、「天入海」写天入海；「倚楼望极」写倚楼望极，「倚楼」写倚楼、「望极」写望尽；「风急暮潮初」写风急暮潮初，「风急」写风急、「暮潮初」写暮潮初起。三句一写山空天入海、一写倚楼望极、一写风急暮潮初，以山空天入海写海天之景、以倚楼望极写倚楼、以风急暮潮初写暮潮，写尽山空天入海、倚楼望极、风急暮潮初之情。以景起兴，含蓄而苍茫，是「以景起兴」的妙笔。
The first three lines write the empty hills and the sky entering the sea, the scene at the first stroke. The hills empty, the sky entering the sea writes the empty hills, the sky entering the sea; leaning on the tower, gazing to the end writes the leaning, the gaze to the end; the wind urgent, the evening tide just risen writes the urgent wind, the tide's first rise. Three lines, one the empty hills and sky-sea, one the leaning and gazing, one the urgent wind and evening tide, the empty-hills sky-sea for the sea-and-sky scene, the leaning tower for the leaning, the evening tide for the tide, exhausting the scene. Rising in scene, restrained and vast, the fine brush.
一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄。
Beyond the curtain, rain beyond the dove's call; on a few idle fields, across the water, spring hoes move.
一帘鸠外雨，几处闲田，隔水动春锄。
A curtain of rain beyond the dove's call; a few idle fields, across the water, the spring hoes astir.
此三句写鸠外雨，是全词写春景的关键。「一帘鸠外雨」写一帘鸠外雨，「一帘」写一帘、「鸠外雨」写鸠声外之雨；「几处闲田」写几处闲田，「几处」写几处、「闲田」写闲田；「隔水动春锄」写隔水动春锄，「隔水」写隔水、「动春锄」写动着春锄。三句一写一帘鸠外雨、一写几处闲田、一写隔水动春锄，以鸠外雨写春雨、以闲田写田之闲、以隔水动春锄写春耕，写尽一帘鸠外雨、几处闲田、隔水动春锄之情。以景写春，含蓄而清空，是「以景写春」的点睛之笔。
The three lines write the rain beyond the dove, the key of the ci's spring scene. A curtain of rain beyond the dove's call writes the curtain, the rain beyond the dove's call; a few idle fields writes the few, the idle fields; across the water, the spring hoes astir writes the across-water, the spring hoes moving. Three lines, one the curtain of dove-rain, one the few idle fields, one the across-water spring hoes, the dove-rain for the spring rain, the idle fields for the fields' idleness, the across-water spring hoes for the spring plowing, exhausting the rain, the idle fields, the spring hoes. Writing spring through scene, restrained and empty-clear, the pointed brush.
新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖。
New mist and the willows of the forbidden park; I imagine by now the green has spread all the way to West Lake.
新烟禁柳，想如今、绿到西湖。
The new smoke, the forbidden willows; I think, by now, the green has reached West Lake.
此二句写绿到西湖，是全词写乡思的关键。「新烟禁柳」写新烟禁柳，「新烟」写新烟、「禁柳」写禁柳；「想如今、绿到西湖」写想如今绿到西湖，「想如今」写想如今、「绿到西湖」写绿到西湖。两句一写新烟禁柳、一写想如今绿到西湖，以新烟禁柳写烟柳、以绿到西湖写西湖之绿，写尽新烟禁柳、想如今绿到西湖之情。以柳写思，含蓄而深婉，是「以柳写思」的点睛之笔。
The two lines write the green reaching West Lake, the key of the ci's homesickness. The new smoke, the forbidden willows writes the new smoke, the forbidden willows; I think, by now, the green has reached West Lake writes the think-by-now, the green reaching West Lake. Two lines, one the new-smoke forbidden-willows, one the think-the-green-to-West-Lake, the new smoke and willows for the smoky willows, the green to West Lake for West Lake's green, exhausting the smoky willows and the thought of West Lake's green. Writing longing through the willow, restrained and tactful, the pointed brush.
空自觉、围羞带减，影怯灯孤。
Vainly I feel my sash grow loose with shame, my shadow timid before the lonely lamp.
空自觉、围羞带减，影怯灯孤。
Vainly I feel the waist shrinking, the belt loosening; the shadow shrinking, the lamp lone.
此二句写影怯灯孤，是全词写其消瘦的关键。「空自觉、围羞带减」写空自觉围羞带减，「空自觉」写空自觉得、「围羞带减」写腰围瘦减；「影怯灯孤」写影怯灯孤，「影怯」写影怯、「灯孤」写灯孤。两句一写空自觉围羞带减、一写影怯灯孤，以围羞带减写其消瘦、以影怯灯孤写灯孤影怯，写尽空自觉围羞带减、影怯灯孤之情。以瘦写愁，含蓄而深挚，是「以瘦写愁」的点睛之笔。
The two lines write the shrinking shadow and the lone lamp, the key of the ci's writing of the wasting. Vainly I feel the waist shrinking, the belt loosening writes the vain feeling, the waist thinning; the shadow shrinking, the lamp lone writes the shrinking shadow, the lone lamp. Two lines, one the vain feeling of the thinning waist, one the shrinking shadow and lone lamp, the thinning waist for the wasting, the shrinking shadow and lone lamp for the lone lamp and shrinking shadow, exhausting the vain feeling and the shrinking. Writing grief through the wasting, restrained and deep, the pointed brush.
书纵远，如何也都无。
Though the letter's road is far, how could it be that not one comes?
书纵远，如何也都无。
The letter though far, how can there be none at all?
尾三句写如何也都无，是全词立意的落点。「书纵远」写书纵远，「书」写书信、「纵远」写纵使远；「如何也都无」写如何也都无，「如何」写怎么、「也都无」写也都无。两句一写书纵远、一写如何也都无，以书纵远写书远、以如何也都无写无书之问，写尽书纵远、如何也都无之情。以问写情，含蓄而深挚，是全词最动人处，也是「以问写情」的点睛之笔。
The closing writes the how-can-there-be-none, the landing point of the ci. The letter though far writes the letter, the though-far; how can there be none at all? writes the how, the none at all. Two lines, one the letter-though-far, one the how-none-at-all, the letter though far for the letter's distance, the how-none-at-all for the question of no letter, exhausting the letter though far and the how none. Writing feeling through the question, restrained and deep, the most moving place, the pointed brush.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Liu Yong's I cannot bear to climb high and gaze far, gazing toward my distant homeland, my thoughts of return hard to gather writes longing through the climbing; Zhang Yan's empty mountains, sky merging into sea writes it through the horizon. Liu Yong is lush, Zhang Yan clear and sparse.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「不忍登高临远，望故乡渺邈，归思难收」，写羁旅望远、归思难收，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；张炎《渡江云》则以「山空天入海，倚楼望极，风急暮潮初」「荒洲古溆，断梗疏萍，更漂流何处」写倚楼望极、漂流何处。两词同写羁旅望远、倚楼望极：一写不忍登高临远望故乡渺邈归思难收、以登高写归思，一写山空天入海倚楼望极、以倚楼写羁旅；一为柳永之清丽、一为张炎之清空，并读正可见宋词写「羁旅望远」的两种笔法，皆于登楼望远之中见羁旅。
晏殊·蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露 Butterfly in Love with Flowers: Fence Chrysanthemums Grieve in Mist, Orchids Weep Dew 晏殊 · 同写独自凝愁、书问难凭，一写欲寄彩笺兼尺素、一写书纵远如何也都无，皆于书笺之中见凝愁 Both write solitary sorrow and letters that cannot arrive, both turning absence into question.Yan Shu's I would send a note on colored paper, but the mountains are long and the waters wide, where shall I find you laments not knowing where to send; Zhang Yan's how could there be none at all mourns that nothing came. Yan Shu is warm, Zhang Yan desolate.
晏殊《蝶恋花·槛菊愁烟兰泣露》「欲寄彩笺兼尺素，山长水阔知何处」，写欲寄书笺而不知何处，是宋词写离愁的名篇；张炎《渡江云》则以「常疑即见桃花面，甚近来、翻笑无书」「书纵远，如何也都无」写翻笑无书、如何也都无。两词同写独自凝愁、书问难凭：一写欲寄彩笺兼尺素、以彩笺写愁，一写书纵远如何也都无、以无书写愁；一为晏殊之温润、一为张炎之清空，并读正可见宋词写「书问难凭」的两种笔法，皆于书笺之中见凝愁。