宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
苏轼·西江月·世事一场大梦
West River Moon: The World Is a Great Dream
西江月·世事一场大梦世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉？
夜来风叶已鸣廊。
看取眉头鬓上。
酒贱常愁客少，月明多被云妨。
中秋谁与共孤光。
把盏凄然北望。
At night the wind in the leaves already sighs through the corridor—see the brows, see the hair at the temples.
Wine is cheap, yet I mourn that guests are few; the bright moon is often hindered by clouds.
At mid-autumn, who shares this lonely light with me? Raising the cup, I look north, desolate.
Meaning
The world is like a great dream; in a life how many chills of autumn can there be? At night the wind and leaves already sound in the corridor—look at the brows and the white hair at the temples. Cheap wine, yet I grieve that guests are few and hard to gather; the bright moon is often blocked by drifting clouds. On the mid-autumn night, who shares this lonely light with me? Raising the cup, I gaze north, desolate.
世事如同一场大梦，人生能有几番秋凉？入夜风声树叶已在回廊鸣响，且看眉头与鬓边的白发。酒价低贱常愁客少难聚，明月多被浮云遮妨。中秋之夜谁与我共赏孤光？举起酒杯凄然向北遥望。
Appreciation
The lyric blends feeling into scene, building a cold, lone realm with images of 'great dream,' 'chills of autumn,' 'wind in the leaves,' and 'lonely light.' It opens with a question—'in a life how many chills of autumn'—using the question for a sigh. 'See the brows, see the hair at the temples' makes abstract time concrete as white hair at the brow, lifting the heavy with ease. The lower stanza, 'the bright moon is often hindered by clouds,' borrows scene to figure the wicked blocking the bright—both metaphor and omen. The close, 'raising the cup I look north, desolate,' ends on an act, its feeling trailing far; within a small frame lies the momentum of a thousand li. Written after the Wu Tai Poem Case and his banishment to Huangzhou, it is a representative of his Huangzhou 'disposing of feeling through reason' manner.
【白话串讲】 “世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉”——苏轼被贬后过中秋，感叹世事如梦。“酒贱常愁客少，月明多被云妨”——他不是愁酒贱，是愁没人懂。一个孤独的东坡。 【意象与手法】 全词融情于景，以「大梦」「秋凉」「风叶」「孤光」等意象营造清冷孤寂之境。设问起笔「人生几度秋凉」，以问代叹；「看取眉头鬓上」将抽象时光具象为鬓边白发；「月明多被云妨」借景喻奸邪蔽明，比兴双关；结句「把盏凄然北望」以动作收束。 【情感与主旨】 此词约作于宋神宗元丰三年（1080）苏轼因「乌台诗案」贬谪黄州之后，于中秋之夜感怀身世而作。「北望」暗寓对汴京朝廷与故人的牵念，是其黄州时期「以理遣情」风格的代表。 【名句点睛】 命题多聚焦：①「世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉」的设问手法与人生感慨；②「月明多被云妨」的比兴双关；③「北望」所寄的家国之情。
Background
This lyric was likely written after 1080, when Su Shi was banished to Huangzhou because of the Wu Tai Poem Case. The poet, worn in body and mind by the storms of office, composed it on a mid-autumn night, moved by his own fate. The upper stanza sighs that life is a dream and autumn chills whiten the temples; the lower writes cheap wine and few guests, the moon hindered by clouds, and the 'gaze north' quietly holds his tie to the court and old friends. The whole writes banishment's loneliness through a clear-autumn lone scene, a representative of his Huangzhou manner of 'disposing of feeling through reason.'
此词约作于宋神宗元丰三年（1080）中秋，苏轼因「乌台诗案」贬谪黄州（今湖北黄冈）之后。苏轼（1037—1101），字子瞻，号东坡居士，眉州眉山（今四川眉山）人，北宋文学巨匠，诗、词、文、书、画皆臻极境。元丰二年（1079），苏轼因诗文被指「讥讪朝政」，遭御史台（乌台）逮捕入狱，几至死地，史称「乌台诗案」；次年贬为黄州团练副使，本州安置，不得签书公事，形同软禁。此词即作于贬黄州的第一个中秋夜。中秋本是团圆佳节，而诗人身处贬所，举目无亲，唯有孤灯冷月为伴，遂感怀身世、叹人生如梦，写下这首《西江月》。词中「世事一场大梦」的感慨，是历经牢狱之灾、宦海风波后的彻骨之悟；「北望」则暗寓对汴京朝廷的眷念、对故人亲友的牵系，虽遭贬逐而忠爱之心未改。全词以清秋孤景写贬谪孤寂，以理遣情、悲而能旷，是其黄州时期词风转变初期的代表作，与《卜算子·黄州定慧院寓居作》《水调歌头》等并见其贬谪心境。
Art
The whole lyric blends feeling into scene, building a clear, cold, lone realm with images of 'great dream,' 'chills of autumn,' 'wind in the leaves,' and 'lonely light.' It opens with the question 'in a life how many chills of autumn,' using the question for a sigh; 'see the brows, see the hair at the temples' makes abstract time concrete as white hair, lifting the heavy with ease. The lower stanza's 'the bright moon is often hindered by clouds' borrows scene to figure the wicked blocking the bright—metaphor and omen at once. The close, 'raising the cup I look north, desolate,' ends on an act, its feeling trailing far; within a small frame lies the momentum of a thousand li.
此词艺术上最显著的特点，是以清冷意象营造孤寂之境，融情于景、以理遣情。上片起笔「世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉」以设问起势，把人生虚度之慨写得沉痛：「一场大梦」以梦喻世事之虚幻，「几度秋凉」以问代叹，叹人生经不起几度秋凉，妙在「秋凉」既指季节之凉，亦指仕途之凉、心境之凉，一字双关。「夜来风叶已鸣廊」写秋夜风叶之声，以动写静、以声写寂，渲染孤清氛围；「看取眉头鬓上」将抽象时光具象为眉头鬓边之白发，举重若轻。下片「酒贱常愁客少」写谪居门前冷落，「月明多被云妨」借景喻奸邪蔽明——明月被云遮，正如贤才被谗，比兴双关，炼字精警。「中秋谁与共孤光」再作设问，点出中秋孤影；结句「把盏凄然北望」以动作收束，余情渺渺。全词上下片皆以问句领起、以动作收结，结构对称而情感递进，尺幅中有千里之势。再就节奏言，上下片各以六字对句起、七字句承、六字句结，句式匀整而内藏起伏；「人生几度秋凉」「中秋谁与共孤光」两处设问遥相呼应，前问人生、后问中秋，由远及近、由泛及切，把「秋凉」之感一步步收束到「北望」的孤影上，章法谨严而情致婉转，正是小令「尺幅千里」的典范。
Allusions
The lyric's allusions are natural and spare. 'Lonely light' comes from the Chu Ci, 'Nine Songs': 'lone, I dwell with my lonely shadow,' quietly holding the grief of solitary far banishment. 'Gaze north' reworks Du Fu's 'ever by the North Star I look toward the capital,' lodging his attachment to the Bianjing court. 'Chills of autumn' grows from Li He's tragic-autumn line 'a youth's heart should grasp the clouds—who pities the cold, sitting and sighing.' Though the lyric shows few open allusions, every line has a source, revealing a deep, pent care for home and state beneath its plainness.
此词用典自然而精约，句句有源而如己出。「世事一场大梦」承庄子「人生如梦」之哲思（《庄子·齐物论》「方其梦也，不知其梦也」），亦开宋词「人生如梦」之滥觞，苏轼后来《念奴娇·赤壁怀古》「人生如梦，一尊还酹江月」正与此一脉相承。「秋凉」化用悲秋传统，自宋玉《九辩》「悲哉秋之为气也」以来，秋与悲凉相连，词人取以写身世之凉。「孤光」语出《楚辞·九章·惜往日》「弗省察而按实兮，听谗人之虚辞」之孤臣意象，及谢庄《月赋》「孤光自照」之意，暗含孤身远谪之悲。「北望」化用杜甫《秋兴八首》「每依北斗望京华」，寄寓对汴京朝廷与故人的眷恋，是「身在江湖，心存魏阙」的忠爱之忱。全词虽少显典，却将儒、道、楚辞、唐诗的传统化入寻常语中，于平易中见沉郁。此外，「夜来风叶已鸣廊」化用杜甫「无边落木萧萧下」的秋声意象与欧阳修《秋声赋》「闻秋声」的传统，以廊间风叶之声写秋之肃杀、心之萧瑟；「酒贱常愁客少」暗合白居易「门前冷落鞍马稀」的贬谪况味，写尽人情冷暖。全词取典皆化入寻常语中，与「大梦」「孤光」等意象一起，织成一张清冷孤寂的语义网络。
Commentary
The Qing critic Huang Su, in his Liaoyuan Lyric Selection, said 'this lyric writes the loneliness of exiled dwelling, with spirit running through every line.' The two words 'gaze north' overflow with loyal, loving devotion. The modern scholar Tang Guizhang said it 'writes a pent heart in clear, open words—the plainer, the deeper.' The upper stanza is grieved, the lower choked, yet it never loses the transcendent openness of 'Immortal Su'; it shares the same grain as the later 'Former Red Cliff Rhapsody': 'alas that our lives are but a moment.'
历代评家于此词评价甚高。清人黄苏《蓼园词选》评此词：「此词写谪居寂寥，一片神行。」又谓「北望」二字，忠爱之忱溢于言表。近人唐圭璋《唐宋词简释》谓其「以清旷语写沉郁心，愈浅愈深」——表面语浅（大梦、秋凉、白发、孤光），内里情沉（身世之悲、家国之思），正是东坡「外旷达而内沉郁」的特质。此词与《水调歌头·明月几时有》同写中秋月夜，而境界迥异：《水调歌头》作于密州，虽有「人有悲欢离合」之叹，终以「但愿人长久，千里共婵娟」的旷达收束；此词作于黄州贬所，虽有「人生几度秋凉」之问，而「凄然北望」的孤影终难排遣，可见同一轮中秋月下，东坡心境随遭际而变。上片悲慨、下片幽咽，然终不失坡仙超旷本色，与《前赤壁赋》「哀吾生之须臾，羡长江之无穷」同一机杼，是其「以理遣情」诗学的典范。从词史脉络看，此词上承李白「浮生若梦」、白居易「百年随手过」的人生感慨，下启辛弃疾「叹人生、不如意事，十常八九」的喟叹，是「人生如梦」母题由诗入词的关键节点；而「以理遣情」的写法，更为宋代词人面对人生苦难提供了「以哲思安顿悲情」的范式，其影响不限于东坡本人，而是泽被整个宋代词坛。
Prosody
Line by line
世事一场大梦，人生几度秋凉？
The world is a great dream; in a life how many chills of autumn?
世事如同一场大梦，人生能有几番秋凉？
The world's affairs are one great dream; how many autumn chills can a man know?
起笔以设问定全词基调，把人生虚度之慨写得沉痛而旷达。「世事一场大梦」以梦喻世事之虚幻——历尽乌台诗案的生死之劫，诗人彻悟世事如梦境般空幻不实，此语承庄子人生如梦之思，亦有自我宽解之意；「人生几度秋凉」以问代叹，「几度」二字写人生经不起几番秋凉，「秋凉」一词双关，既指季节之凉，亦暗指仕途之冷落、身世之凄凉。两句一问一叹，把「人生如梦」的哲思与「秋凉几度」的时感熔铸一体，悲慨之中自有达观。此联是东坡「以理遣情」的典型：以哲理之问化解情感之悲，问而不答，余味自深。
The opening using the rhetorical question for the whole ci's tone, writing the life's-frittered-away grief's solemn-and-yet-open. The world's-affairs-are-one-great-dream using the dream for the affairs' unreality — the Wutai poem case's life-death ordeal's traversed, the poet's awakening to the world's dream-like void, this saying inheriting Zhuangzi's life-as-dream thought, and carrying the self-consolation meaning; the how-many-autumn-chills-can-a-man-know using the question for the sigh, the how-many two words writing life's no-bearing-several-autumn-chills, the autumn-chill word double meaning, at once the season's chill and the official career's coldness and the lot's bleakness. Two lines one question one sigh, fusing the life-as-dream philosophic thought and the autumn-chill's-several time-sense into one, within the grief the own equanimity. This couplet Dongpo's reason-dispatches-feeling typical: using the philosophic question for the emotional grief's dissolution, the question's no-answer and the aftertaste's depth.
夜来风叶已鸣廊。看取眉头鬓上。
At night, wind in the leaves already sounds through the corridor; look now at my brows and temples.
入夜风声树叶已在回廊鸣响，且看眉头与鬓边的白发。
At night, wind in the leaves already sounds through the corridor; look now at my brows and temples.
两句由哲理之问转入眼前实景与自身写照。「夜来风叶已鸣廊」写秋夜之景：风声飒飒，落叶飘零，回廊间一片萧瑟之声，「鸣」字以声写秋，点出秋之深、夜之寂，以动衬静，愈显贬所之孤清；「看取眉头鬓上」由物及人：看那眉头鬓边，白发已生——年华老去、壮志消磨，尽在白发之中。「看取」二字以劝己的口吻写出，举重若轻，把无形的时光流逝具象为有形的白发，与「几度秋凉」呼应：秋凉几度，白发几缕，人生之秋与季节之秋同至。两句景与身对写，风叶之声与鬓边之白相映，孤寂苍凉之境立现。
Two lines from the philosophic question turning to the present real scene and the self-portrait. The at-night-wind-in-the-leaves-already-sounds-through-the-corridor writing the autumn-night scene: the wind's soughing, the leaves' falling, the corridor's a bleak sound, the ming word using sound for autumn, pointing out the autumn's depth and the night's stillness, motion-for-stillness, the exile-place's loneliness the clearer; the look-now-at-my-brows-and-temples from the thing to the person: look at the brows and temples, the white hair's already grown — the years' aging and the will's frittered, all within the white hair. The kanqu two words in the self-admonitory tone, the heavy-weight-lifted-light, turning the shapeless time-flow into the shaped white hair, echoing the how-many-autumn-chills: the autumn chills' several and the white hairs' few, the life's autumn and the season's autumn's simultaneous arrival. Two lines scene-and-self's mirror-writing, the wind-leaf sound and the temple's whiteness's mutual reflection, the lonely bleak realm at once present.
酒贱常愁客少，月明多被云妨。
Wine is cheap, yet I grieve the few guests; the bright moon is often dimmed by clouds.
酒价低贱常愁客人稀少，明月多被浮云遮妨。
Wine is cheap, yet I grieve the few guests; the bright moon is often dimmed by clouds.
过片两句对仗工整，一写人情之冷、一写时局之暗，皆以景语写心语。「酒贱常愁客少」写谪居的落寞：酒价虽贱，却愁客少——不是酒不好，而是人避嫌，贬谪之人门前冷落，世态炎凉尽在其中；「月明多被云妨」写明月被云遮挡，借景喻奸邪蔽明——明月之明喻贤者之才，浮云之妨喻谗佞之蔽，正合乌台诗案中苏轼遭人构陷的经历，比兴双关，炼字精警。两句一写「客少」之愁、一写「云妨」之叹，把身世之悲与政治之痛交织一处，看似写日常琐事与自然景物，实则字字有寄托，是东坡「以物写心」的妙笔。
The passing couplet's parallel craft firm, one writing the human-feeling's cold and one writing the times' darkness, both using scene-words for the heart-words. The wine-is-cheap-yet-I-grieve-the-few-guests writing the exile dwelling's desolation: the wine's cheap, and yet grieving the few guests — not the wine's not-good, and yet the people's suspicion-avoidance, the exile person's door's cold, the world's warmth-and-cold all within; the bright-moon-is-often-dimmed-by-clouds writing the bright moon's cloud-obscuring, using the scene for the wicked-obscuring-the-light — the bright moon's brightness the worthy's talent metaphor, the floating-cloud's obstruction the slanderer's obstruction metaphor, precisely matching the Wutai poem case's Su Shi's framed experience, the bi-xing double meaning, the character-refining's alertness. Two lines one writing the few-guests grief and one writing the cloud-obstruction sigh, weaving the lot's grief and the political pain into one, seeming writing the daily trifle and the natural scene, and yet every character's carrying the projection, Dongpo's thing-writes-heart wondrous brush.
中秋谁与共孤光。把盏凄然北望。
On Mid-Autumn, who shares this lonely light? I raise the cup and gaze north in sorrow.
中秋之夜谁与我共赏这孤光？举起酒杯凄然向北遥望。
On Mid-Autumn, who shares this lonely light? I raise the cup and gaze north in sorrow.
结句点出中秋题意，以设问与动作收束全词。「中秋谁与共孤光」以问写孤：中秋本是团圆佳节，而贬所无人与共，唯有孤月为伴——「孤光」既写月之孤悬，亦写人之孤影，人与月同孤，一问之中，凄凉自见；「把盏凄然北望」以动作收结：举杯对月，凄然北望，「北望」二字最堪玩味——北望汴京，是眷恋朝廷；北望亲友，是牵念故人，身在黄州而心向北方，忠爱之忱与孤独之感交织。「凄然」二字直写神态，收尽前文之悲。两句以问起、以动作结，情余言外，尺幅中有千里之势，是东坡贬谪词中含蓄蕴藉的收束。
The close pointing out the Mid-Autumn theme, using the question and the action for the whole ci's close. The on-Mid-Autumn-who-shares-this-lonely-light using the question for the loneliness: Mid-Autumn originally the reunion festival, and yet the exile's no one to share, only the lone moon's companion — the lonely-light at once writing the moon's lone hanging and the person's lone shadow, the person-and-moon's same-loneliness, within one question the bleakness self-seen; the I-raise-the-cup-and-gaze-north-in-sorrow closing on the action: the cup raised to the moon, the sorrowful north gaze, the north-gaze two words the most worthy of pondering — the north gaze toward Bianjing, the court's attachment; the north gaze toward relatives, the old friends' longing, the body in Huangzhou and the heart toward the north, the loyal love and the loneliness's interweaving. The sorrowful two words directly writing the expression, gathering the above's grief. Two lines opening on the question and closing on the action, the feeling beyond the words, within the small frame the thousand-li force, Dongpo's exile ci's reserved-close.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both write the open, transcendent send-off breast; one grieved, one open—see the shifts of Immortal Su's heart in banishment.
《临江仙·送钱穆父》「人生如逆旅，我亦是行人」与此词同出东坡之手，同写人生感慨，而一旷一悲、一送人一自伤：《送钱穆父》作于送别友人时，以「人生如逆旅」宽慰对方，语含旷达，是「以理遣情」的达观之作；《西江月》作于贬所中秋，以「世事一场大梦」自叹身世，「凄然北望」的孤影终难完全排遣，悲慨多于旷达。两词并读，可见东坡贬谪中的心境起伏：既有送人时的洒脱，亦有独处时的凄然，而其「以理遣情」的诗学一以贯之——无论悲旷，皆以哲思化解之，正见坡仙本色。
八声甘州·寄参寥子 Ba Sheng Gan Zhou: To Can Liao Zi 苏轼 · 同作者，同借秋景抒孤怀 Same author (Huangzhou banishment)Both written after the Huangzhou banishment, using autumn scene for a lone breast—compare the 'clear openness holding pent depth' manner.
《八声甘州·寄参寥子》「有情风万里卷潮来」与此词同作于贬谪时期，同借秋景抒孤怀，而笔法有别：《西江月》以「大梦」「秋凉」「孤光」等清冷意象写孤寂，含蓄内敛；《八声甘州》以「万里卷潮」「不用思量今古」的壮阔起笔，更见坡仙之超旷，然「白首忘机」中亦有孤怀难遣之处。两词合观，可见东坡贬谪词「清旷中含沉郁」的共同风格，以及其借秋景写怀抱的多样笔法——短调含蓄、长调开阔，皆臻化境，是研究东坡黄州时期词风的重要文本。
水调歌头·明月几时有 Prelude to Water Melody: How Long Will the Full Moon Appear? 苏轼 · 同作者，同写中秋明月 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
《水调歌头·明月几时有》与此词同写中秋明月，而境界迥异：《水调歌头》作于密州任上，虽有「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺」之叹，终以「但愿人长久，千里共婵娟」的祝福收束，旷达超逸；此词作于黄州贬所，虽有「世事一场大梦」的哲思，而「把盏凄然北望」的孤影终难排遣，沉郁悲凉。同一轮中秋月下，一旷一悲，正见东坡心境随遭际而变：密州时尚能以理遣情、推己及人，黄州初贬时则孤寂难掩。两词并读，可全面把握东坡中秋词的两种面貌，亦可窥见「乌台诗案」对其心理与词风的深刻影响。