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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

姜夔·疏影·苔枝缀玉

To the Tune 'Shu Ying' — Mossy Twig Adorned with Jade

姜夔

Jiang Kui

咏物Object poem 婉约refined (wanyue)

疏影苔枝缀玉，有翠禽小小，枝上同宿。
客里相逢，篱角黄昏，无言自倚修竹。
昭君不惯胡沙远，但暗忆、江南江北。
想佩环、月夜归来，化作此花幽独。
犹记深宫旧事，那人正睡里，飞近蛾绿。
莫似春风，不管盈盈，早与安排金屋。
还教一片随波去，又却怨、玉龙哀曲。
等恁时、重觅幽香，已入小窗横幅。

Mossy twig adorned with jade; a tiny kingfisher on the branch, sleeping together.
Met abroad we meet; at the fence corner at dusk, wordless it leans on the tall bamboo.
The bright consort unused to the far Hu sands, only secretly recalls south of the river, north of the river.
I think of the ring and pendant returning at moonlit night, turned into this flower's lonely purity.
I still recall the deep-palace old tale: that one in sleep, a plum flew near her moth-eyebrow.
Do not be like the spring wind, careless of her grace; early arrange a golden house.
Yet let a petal drift with the wave, and again blame the jade-dragon sad tune.
When that time comes, seek again the faint scent—it has entered the small window's horizontal scroll.

Listen

Meaning

A plum-blossom ci where the flower is figured as a beauty exiled from home (Lady Zhaojun); it laments rootlessness and lost grace, ending as the scent fixed only in a painting.

苔梅枝上点缀着如玉的白花，有一对小小的翠鸟，在枝头同宿。客居他乡与梅花相逢，在篱角黄昏时分，它默默无言，独自倚着修竹。梅花仿佛是不习惯胡地风沙的远嫁明妃，只暗自思念着江南江北的故土。想那佩戴环佩的昭君月夜魂归，化作这梅花一般幽独的清姿。还记得深宫旧事：那人在睡梦中，梅花飞近她翠绿的眉间。莫要像春风那样，不顾梅花盈盈的娇姿，及早为它安排金屋藏娇。却又任凭一片花瓣随波漂去，反倒埋怨玉笛吹出哀怨的《梅花落》。待到那时再寻觅幽香，梅花已绘入小窗的横幅画中了。

Appreciation

Figures the plum as a beauty, gathering Zhaojun's exile, Shouyang's plum-mark, the golden-house allusions to write the plum's form, soul, and fate layer by layer.

【白话串讲】姜夔写梅花：苔枝上缀着如玉的花。他把梅花比作昭君——“昭君不惯胡沙远，但暗忆、江南江北”。咏梅词的双璧之二，把梅花写出了家国之思。【意象与手法】此词以美人拟梅，博采昭君远嫁、寿阳梅花妆、金屋藏娇诸典，将梅之形、魂、遇层层写出。上片实写枝头翠禽、倚竹幽姿，转入月夜佩环归魂；下片由深宫旧事折入春风不管、落瓣随波，终以画幅横幅收束，章法虚实相生。【情感与主旨】《疏影》为姜夔自度曲，与《暗香》同为咏梅双璧，约作于南宋绍熙二年（1191）冬。姜夔借梅花拟古之去国美人，暗寓身世漂泊与家国之思，清空骚雅，寄托遥深。【名句点睛】常考：①托物言志手法——以梅喻去国怀乡之美人；②「昭君不惯胡沙远」用典的内涵；③「想佩环、月夜归来」化用杜诗之妙。

Background

With 'An Xiang' a twin pair on plum, composed winter 1191 when Jiang Kui, at Fan Chengda's invitation, stayed in Suzhou. He figures the plum as a beauty exiled, hinting his own drifting and homeland grief. 'Met abroad,' 'Zhaojun unused to Hu sands' are guest-memory and mourning disorder—clear, remote, deep.

《疏影》为姜夔自度曲，与《暗香》同为咏梅双璧，约作于南宋光宗绍熙二年（1191）冬。时姜夔应范成大（石湖）之邀客居苏州，范氏喜其新声，乞制此调，姜夔遂以咏梅作《暗香》《疏影》二词，范成大激赏之，并以歌妓小红相赠，「自作新词韵最娇，小红低唱我吹箫」即咏此事。其时南宋偏安江南，中原沦陷，姜夔一生布衣，漂泊依人，身世与心境俱有「客里相逢」的孤寂。他借梅花拟古之去国美人，以昭君远嫁、魂归故土之思，暗寓自身漂泊之慨与家国之痛，词中「客里相逢」「昭君不惯胡沙远」皆客中怀旧、念乱伤离之语。全词清空骚雅，寄托遥深，是南宋咏物词由「格物」转向「写魂」的标志性作品。南宋偏安，中原沦陷，词人身世与家国之痛交织，此词虽咏梅而寄托遥深：「昭君不惯胡沙远」之「胡沙」，既是汉家公主所历之胡地，亦是南宋士人所忧之胡骑，咏梅之词实含「举目山河异」的隐痛，这是理解此词「寄托」之说的关键，也是白石词「骚雅」的深层内涵。

Art

Figures the plum as a beauty, gathering Zhaojun, Shouyang, golden-house allusions to write form, soul, fate. Upper stanza real branch and kingfisher, then moonlit soul return; lower stanza old palace tale to spring wind careless, petal adrift, closing on the scroll. Virtual-real, dense yet clear, deep and winding—top object-praising ci.

此词以美人拟梅，博采昭君远嫁、寿阳梅花妆、金屋藏娇诸典，将梅之形、魂、遇层层写出，章法虚实相生。上片起笔实写枝头翠禽、苔枝缀玉，是梅之形；「客里相逢，篱角黄昏，无言自倚修竹」化杜甫《佳人》之境，写梅之孤洁，是梅之遇；继以「昭君不惯胡沙远」转入虚写，以远嫁明妃暗喻梅之去国怀乡，是梅之魂；「想佩环、月夜归来，化作此花幽独」更以魂归化花收束上片，实与虚、人与花打成一片。下片由深宫旧事（寿阳梅花妆）折入「莫似春风」的护惜之愿，再转「还教一片随波去」的零落之悲，终以「已入小窗横幅」由实入虚，落瓣化入画境。全词密丽中见清空，比兴深婉，层层转进，为咏物词之上乘。此外，全词以「想」「犹记」「莫似」「还教」「等恁时」等虚字领起转折，笔势盘旋而下，如回风舞雪；上片由实入虚（翠禽倚竹至魂归化花），下片由古及今（深宫旧事至小窗横幅），虚实古今交错，章法之精巧正合其「清空」之旨，为咏物词「遗貌取神」树立了典范。

Allusions

Opens with Zhaojun's exile—'unused to Hu sands' figures the plum's homeless longing; 'ring and pendant return at moonlit night' borrows Du Fu's 'pendant returns in moonlit soul' for soul into plum. Also Shouyang's plum-mark and the golden house—all around the plum's soul, apt and seamless.

此词用典密集而贴切无痕，是其「用事如水中着盐」的典范。首用王昭君出塞事：「昭君不惯胡沙远」以远嫁胡地的明妃暗喻梅花去国怀乡之孤，翻出新意；「想佩环、月夜归来」化用杜甫《咏怀古迹》「画图省识春风面，环佩空归月夜魂」，写昭君魂归故国、化作幽独之花，把历史悲剧与咏物之思熔于一炉。次用寿阳公主「梅花妆」事：「犹记深宫旧事，那人正睡里，飞近蛾绿」写梅花飞落公主眉间成妆的旧典，暗含美好易逝之叹。又用汉武帝「金屋藏娇」典：「早与安排金屋」写护惜芳姿之愿，反讽春风之无情。数典皆围绕梅魂展开，虚实相生，既见姜夔学养之深，又见其运典如己出的功力。「安排金屋」用汉武帝「金屋藏娇」事，其典本写宠爱之愿，姜夔反用为「莫似春风」的护惜之警，正见其善翻典故：同一典，陈阿娇之金屋是帝王之宠，梅花之金屋是词人之愿，一宠一愿，古意新用，典故的生命力正在这种翻新之中。

Commentary

Zhang Yan called Jiang's ci 'clear-empty, sao-elegant'—this piece the model. Zheng Wenzhao praised 'fat words made empty.' Yu Pingbo said 'allusions like salt in water, no trace.' 'An Xiang' and 'Shu Ying' are twin plum masters, deep in implication.

张炎《词源》评白石词「清空」「骚雅」，此篇最为典型：不着一滞重之语，而以空灵的笔法写梅之魂魄。郑文焯校笺极称其「以肥腻字面作空淡语」之妙，谓其善于以绮丽的字面写清空的意境。近人俞平伯谓其「用事如水中着盐，不见痕迹」。历代公认《暗香》《疏影》为咏梅双绝，托兴遥深，非徒摹写色香者可比；然亦有论者谓《疏影》用典稍密、辞意略晦，正可见咏物词在「格物」与「写魂」之间的张力。此词将咏物、咏史、身世之感打成一片，是南宋词「以清空救质实」的代表，对后世咏物词（如王沂孙、张炎）影响深远，在中国词学史上占有重要地位。此词与《暗香》并称咏梅双璧，历代论白石词者必及之：张炎以「清空」许白石，此词正是「清空」的极致；清人周济则谓「白石词如疏影横斜，暗香浮动」，以林逋咏梅名句评白石咏梅词，足见其词境与梅格之相合；今人论咏物词，亦以此词为「寄托遥深」的最高典范。

Prosody

Form Ci lyric to the tune 'Shu Ying', double tune, 110 characters, Jiang Kui's self-composed tune, oblique rhyme词·《疏影》双调一百一十字，姜夔自度曲，仄韵

Rhyme Oblique rhyme, rhymes su, zhu, du, lu, wu, qu, fu (entering-tone Wu rhyme)押仄韵，韵脚如「宿、竹、独；绿、屋、曲、幅」等（入声屋韵为主），入声短促，正合幽独哀婉的声情。

Tone pattern Per Jiang's side-notation, strict level-oblique, many twist-lines for clear sound依白石旁谱，平仄严整，句法长短错落，多拗句以协清音；上下片各五韵，声情由清丽转幽咽。

Reading note 'Shu Ying' with 'An Xiang' are Jiang Kui's Zhonglu-gong self tunes, dedicated to plum.《疏影》为姜夔中吕宫自度曲，与《暗香》同为咏梅双璧。此调为白石创制，附有旁谱，是现存最早的词乐谱之一，在词史与音乐史上皆有重要价值。体制上为双调一百一十字，上下片各五句五仄韵，句法以四、六、七言错落相间，如「苔枝缀玉」（四言）、「客里相逢，篱角黄昏」（四、四言）、「昭君不惯胡沙远」（七言），长短相间、疏密有致，正合「清空」的声情。用韵上，上片「宿、竹、独」与下片「绿、屋、曲、幅」皆入声韵，入声短促低回、一收即止，恰写幽独哀婉之情；姜夔又善用拗句，如「有翠禽小小」「早与安排金屋」等句，于平仄严整中见拗峭，声情与词情相生。此调后世词人罕能用之，唯张炎等数家偶有仿作，可见白石自度曲之精严独造，亦见其「以乐写词、词乐相谐」的艺术追求。

Line by line

苔枝缀玉，有翠禽小小，枝上同宿

Mossy twig adorned with jade; a tiny kingfisher on the branch, sleeping together.

苔梅枝上点缀着如玉的白花，有一对小小的翠鸟，在枝头同宿。

The mossy boughs are studded with jade; a pair of tiny emerald birds roost together on the branch.

起笔白描设色，以清丽意象奠定全词清空基调。「苔枝缀玉」写苔梅的枝干上缀着如玉的白花：苔枝见其古拙苍老，缀玉见其晶莹洁白，古与润、苍与白相映成趣，是梅之形的第一笔；「有翠禽小小，枝上同宿」更以翠鸟点缀其间，红梅翠禽，色彩明丽。而「同宿」二字暗藏机锋：翠鸟尚能同宿枝头，词人却「客里相逢」、孑然一身，物之相亲反衬人之孤寂，咏物之笔已含身世之慨。此句以极工细的笔触起笔，先立梅之清姿，为下文的用典与抒情张本，是白石「以清丽之笔起、以空灵之境收」的典型章法。

The opening draws the picture in plain lines and fresh color, laying the ci's lucid tone. The mossy boughs are studded with jade writes the mossy plum's branches set with jade-white blossoms: the mossy branch shows the ancient, gnarled stem, the studded jade the crystalline whiteness, the ancient and the moist, the rugged and the white answering each other, the first stroke of the plum's form; a pair of tiny emerald birds roost together on the branch adds the emerald birds to the picture, the red plum and the green bird, the color bright. And the two words roost together hide the stroke: the emerald birds can roost together on the branch, and the poet meets this flower only as a traveler, alone, the things' mutual love setting off the man's loneliness, the ode's brush already carrying the fate's sigh. The opening in the finest brush first sets the plum's clear bearing, storing ground for the allusions and the feeling below, the typical craft of Jiang Kui's opening in the fresh brush and closing in the ethereal realm.

昭君不惯胡沙远，但暗忆、江南江北

The bright consort unused to the far Hu sands, only secretly recalls south of the river, north of the river.

梅花仿佛是不习惯胡地风沙的远嫁明妃，只暗自思念着江南江北的故土。

The plum, like Zhaojun unaccustomed to the distant desert sand, can only secretly remember the south and north of the Yangtze.

以昭君远嫁喻梅之去国，用典无痕，将咏物转为身世之慨，是全词的关键转折。「不惯胡沙远」写昭君（梅魂）不习惯胡地的风沙，暗喻梅花本生于江南，却被移于他处、独对风霜；「但暗忆、江南江北」更写其只能暗自思念故土——「暗忆」二字幽深，把外露的乡思化为内敛的追忆，正合「幽独」的题旨。此句借昭君和亲的历史悲剧写梅花的去国怀乡，实则是姜夔自身漂泊依人、客居异乡的写照，也是南宋士人故土沦陷、中原未复的隐痛。咏梅至此已不写其形，而写其魂、其遇、其悲，词境由物及人、由今及古，一下子拓开，是「以典写魂」的绝妙一笔。

The Zhaojun far marriage as the metaphor for the plum's exile, the allusion without a trace, turning the ode into the fate's sigh, the key turn of the ci. Unaccustomed to the distant desert sand writes Zhaojun (the plum's soul) unaccustomed to the barbarian wind and sand, secretly figuring the plum born in the south of the river and yet moved elsewhere, alone facing the frost; can only secretly remember the south and north of the Yangtze writes the inward longing — the two words secretly remember deep and still, turning the open homesickness into the inward recollection, precisely answering the theme of quiet solitude. The line borrows the historical tragedy of Zhaojun's marriage to write the plum's exile and homesickness, in truth the portrait of Jiang Kui himself drifting, dependent on others, dwelling as a guest in a strange land, and the hidden wound of the Southern Song scholar's lost homeland, the central plain not recovered. The ode of the plum here writes no longer its form, but its soul, its lot, its grief, the realm turning from the thing to the man, from the present to the ancient, opening at once, the wondrous stroke of writing the soul through the allusion.

想佩环、月夜归来，化作此花幽独

I think of her pendants, returning on the moonlit night, transformed into this flower's quiet solitude.

想那佩戴环佩的昭君月夜魂归，化作这梅花一般幽独的清姿。

I think of her jade pendants, returning on the moonlit night, transformed into this flower's quiet solitude.

化用杜甫「环佩空归月夜魂」之句，写昭君魂归故国、化作幽独之花，是上片由实入虚的高潮。「想」字领起悬想，笔势由现实进入想象：「佩环、月夜归来」写昭君魂兮归来，环佩丁冬、月色清冷，画面凄美而空灵；「化作此花幽独」更点明眼前之梅即是归魂所化，人花一体，生死相通。一个「幽独」，既写梅花幽静孤独之态，更写昭君魂归后无人相知的悲凉，也暗合词人客居的身世。此句把咏史、咏物、抒情三重意蕴熔于一炉：昭君是梅，梅是词人，家国之思、身世之慨、咏物之情在此完全合一，是白石「清空骚雅」词境的最佳体现。

Borrowing Du Fu's pendants, in vain the moonlit night soul returns, writing Zhaojun's soul returning to the old land and transformed into the quiet, solitary flower, the peak of the first stanza's turn from the real to the imagined. The word think leads the imagining, the brush moving from reality into imagination: her jade pendants, returning on the moonlit night writes the soul's return, the pendants tinkling, the moonlight cold and clear, the picture sad and ethereal; transformed into this flower's quiet solitude names the present plum as the transformed returning soul, man and flower one, life and death joined. The one word quiet solitude writes at once the plum's still, lonely bearing, and the desolation of Zhaojun's returned soul, known by none, secretly answering the poet's guest-dwelling fate. The line fuses the ode of history, the ode of the thing, and the lyric into one furnace: Zhaojun is the plum, the plum is the poet, the longing for the country, the sigh of the fate, and the ode's feeling fully one here, the best showing of Jiang Kui's lucid, elegant realm.

莫似春风，不管盈盈，早与安排金屋

Be not like the spring wind, reckless of that graceful form; make ready a golden house for her, soon.

莫要像春风那样，不顾梅花盈盈的娇姿，及早为它安排金屋藏娇。

Do not be like the spring wind, careless of that graceful form; arrange a golden house for her in time.

下片由写梅之魂转入护梅之愿，用金屋藏娇之典反讽春风之无情。「莫似春风」以否定句式起笔，直呼春风之薄情：春风一来，百花零落，从不怜惜「盈盈」的娇姿；「早与安排金屋」反用汉武帝「金屋藏娇」事，希望及早为梅花安排庇护之所，莫待花落而后悔。此句的深层意蕴，既是惜梅之愿，也是自惜之慨：姜夔一生漂泊依人，深知情重易别、好景难留，故有此「护花」之愿；而「莫似春风」的告诫，又暗含对现实无情、人事易变的清醒认识。以虚写实、以愿写悲，柔情中自见沉痛，是白石婉约词笔中难得的一段直抒。

The second stanza turns from writing the plum's soul to the wish to protect it, using the golden-house allusion in reverse against the spring wind's ruthlessness. Be not like the spring wind opens in the negation, directly naming the wind's cruelty: when the spring wind comes, the hundred flowers fall, never sparing the graceful form; arrange a golden house for her in time reverses the Han emperor's golden house for the beautiful one, hoping to prepare the shelter for the plum in time, not waiting for the fall and the regret. The line's deep meaning is at once the wish to spare the plum and the self-pity: Jiang Kui's life of drifting dependence, knowing the depth of love and the ease of parting, the fair times' fleetingness, hence this wish to guard the flower; and the be-not-like-the-spring-wind admonition hides the lucid knowledge of the world's ruthlessness and the mutability of human affairs. Writing the real through the imagined, the grief through the wish, tenderness with the grief within, a rare passage of direct expression in Jiang Kui's graceful lyric brush.

等恁时、重觅幽香，已入小窗横幅

When that time comes, seek again the faint scent—it has entered the small window's horizontal scroll.

待到那时再寻觅幽香，梅花已绘入小窗的横幅画中了。

When that time comes and I seek the faint fragrance again, she has already entered the scroll beside the small window.

结处由实入虚，落瓣化入画境，余韵悠长，章法宕开一层。「等恁时」指等到花落春尽之时，「重觅幽香」写届时再想寻觅梅花的幽香，而梅花早已零落，唯余「小窗横幅」上的画影——花的实体虽逝，其幽香清姿却化入画幅，常驻窗前。此句的妙处在于「以画代花」：零落之悲被化解为艺术之永恒，物之消逝与美之留存并存，哀而不伤，正是白石「清空」意境的收束。同时，「小窗横幅」又暗合词人客居之所、倚窗看画的场景，咏梅而归于词人自身的生活，物我始终交融。结句以淡语写深情，不直说惋惜而惋惜自在画影之中，余味无穷，是咏物词「以虚结」的典范。

The close turns from the real to the imagined, the fallen petals entering the painted realm, the aftertone long, the craft opening a layer. When that time comes means the time when the flowers have fallen and spring is done; I seek the faint fragrance again writes the wish to seek the plum's scent then, and the plum already scattered, only the painted image on the scroll beside the small window remains — the flower's body gone, and its faint scent and clear bearing transformed into the picture, staying forever by the window. The line's beauty lies in the picture standing for the flower: the grief of the fall dissolved into the eternity of art, the thing's departure and the beauty's staying side by side, grief without wounding, precisely the close of Jiang Kui's lucid realm. At the same time, the scroll beside the small window secretly answers the poet's guest dwelling, the scene of leaning on the window and looking at the picture, the ode of the plum returning at last to the poet's own life, thing and self fused throughout. The close writes deep feeling in the plain words, not naming the regret and the regret within the painted image, the aftertone unending, the model of the ode-cib's closing in the imagined.

Study

Word focus

缀 'mossy twig adorned with jade'—the verb links twig and jade flower, light and apt, showing the plum's sparse, unforced adornment. 「苔枝缀玉」之「缀」字，以动词连缀苔枝与如玉之花，轻盈妥帖，写出梅花零星点缀、不事雕琢之态。缀有连缀、点缀之意，写花不是繁密地开满枝头，而是如珠玉般零星地点缀在苍老的苔枝上，一「缀」字兼有动态的依附感与静态的装饰美：仿佛玉是「缀」上去的，而非自然长成，暗写梅之清贵不群；同时，缀玉与苔枝相配，苍古与莹润对照，正见梅花老枝新花、枯中带润的风神。若用「开」「放」则直露，唯「缀」字写出梅花「枝上」的珍重之态与词人凝视的目光，是白石炼字「以虚字写实景、以轻笔写重物」的典型，一「缀」字已定全词清空之调。

暗忆 'secretly recalls'—Zhaojun (plum soul) remembers silently; 'secret' is deep, turning outer thought into inner feeling, fitting 'lonely purity.' 「但暗忆、江南江北」之「暗忆」二字，写昭君（梅魂）无声怀旧，「暗」字幽深，将外露之思化为内敛之情，契合「幽独」题旨。「忆」是思念，「暗」是其方式：不是声张的、直白的思念，而是在心底默默追忆——「暗」字既写回忆之私密无人可与言说，也写思念之深沉已化入骨髓，更暗含故国难归、思而不得的隐痛。此二字与前句「不惯胡沙远」相承：正因身在胡沙、故国难返，所以只能「暗忆」；与「江南江北」相配，一北一南，空间的距离即是思念的深度。白石以「暗」字写尽去国之思的隐忍与深沉，比直说「思乡」更见含蓄，是咏物词「以隐语写深情」的典范。

怨 'again blame the jade-dragon sad tune'—personifies; the petal drifting blames the flute, devotion shown in helplessness. 「又却怨、玉龙哀曲」之「怨」字，拟人写梅（词人）落瓣随波反怨笛曲，痴情毕现，于无可奈何中见执着。「玉龙哀曲」指笛曲《梅花落》，本是吹奏梅花凋落之曲，而花瓣既已随波而去，反倒怨那笛曲吹得太哀、催花太急——花之零落本是自然，词人却移怨于笛，正是不肯接受、不愿面对的痴情之语。此「怨」字无理而有情：怨得无理，正见爱之深、惜之切；怨笛曲而不敢怨春风，更见其将满腔哀怨转嫁于虚处的曲折心态。此字与上句「还教一片随波去」的「还教」（任凭）相对，一纵一怨，写出护花无力的无奈与执着，是白石以无理之语写至情之深的妙笔。