宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
辛弃疾·水龙吟·过南剑双溪楼
Water Dragon Chant · Passing the Twin-Stream Tower at Nanjian
水龙吟·过南剑双溪楼举头西北浮云，倚天万里须长剑。
人言此地，夜深长见，斗牛光焰。
我觉山高，潭空水冷，月明星淡。
待燃犀下看，凭栏却怕，风雷怒，鱼龙惨。
峡束苍江对起，过危楼，欲飞还敛。
元龙老矣，不妨高卧，冰壶凉簟。
千古兴亡，百年悲笑，一时登览。
问何人又倩，狂歌痛饮，此中鲸饮。
And lean on heaven ten thousand li—I need a long sword.
They say that here, deep in the night, one often sees
Between the Dipper and the Ox a blazing light.
I feel the mountains towering, the pool empty, the water cold,
The moon bright, the stars grown pale.
I would burn the rhinoceros horn to peer below,
But leaning on the rail I shrink in dread
Lest the wind and thunder rage, the fish and dragons wail.
The gorge clenches the green river as the cliffs rise to meet;
It passes the tall tower, would soar, then folds its wings.
Yuanlong is old; no matter—lie at ease on high,
An ice-cool jug and a mat of bamboo.
A thousand ages of rise and fall, a hundred years of grief and laughter,
All caught in this single ascent.
I ask, who now, at another's call,
Sings mad songs and drinks in pain,
Swallowing the wine like a whale in these waters.
Meaning
Looking up he sees the floating clouds of the northwest and knows a long sword leaning on heaven is needed for ten thousand li. People say that in this place, deep at night, one often sees the blazing light between the Dipper and Ox stars. He only feels the mountains high, the pool empty and water cold, the moon bright and stars pale. He would burn the rhinoceros horn to look below, yet leaning on the rail he grows afraid, fearing the angry wind and thunder and the writhing fish and dragons. The gorge clenches the green river as the cliffs rise face to face; passing the perilous tower it seems to fly yet draws back. Like Chen Deng he is grown old; he may as well lie high and idle with an ice jug and a cool mat. A thousand ages of rise and fall, a hundred years of grief and laughter, all gathered in this one ascent. He asks who now bids him again to sing mad songs and drink in pain, swallowing wine like a whale in these waters.
抬头望见西北浮云，须仗倚天长剑万里。人说此地，夜深常现斗牛星间的冲天光焰。我只觉山势高峻、潭水空寒、月朗星淡。想要燃犀下照，凭栏却又生惧，怕那风雷震怒、鱼龙惨变。 峡谷紧束苍江相向而起，经过危楼，似欲飞起却又收敛。陈登般的豪气已老，不妨高卧、冰壶凉席。千古兴亡、百年悲笑，一时尽收登览。问何人又请我，狂歌痛饮，在此如鲸吞酒。
Appreciation
This long lyric opens on the tower's imposing and strange scene and a stern sword-qi. 'I lift my eyes to the northwest's floating clouds, and lean on heaven—I need a long sword' rises from the scene to allegory, hinting that the central plains are lost and must be reclaimed by the edge of a sword. 'They say that here... a blazing light between the Dipper and the Ox' borrows the legend of buried swords to fuse place and ambition. The longing to 'burn the rhinoceros horn and look below' yet the dread of 'wind and thunder, fish and dragons' shows both the will to probe the court's corruption and the fear of what lies in the deep. The lower part turns the river's 'clenching' and 'would fly yet folds' into an image of frustrated talent; 'Yuanlong is old' inverts the allusion of Chen Deng, seeming to rest yet hiding the grief of a hero in his late years. Sturdy in brush yet sinking and turning, it is a representative of Xin's bold manner.
【白话串讲】 辛弃疾路过南剑州双溪楼，传说这里有宝剑的光芒。他说：“举头西北浮云，倚天万里须长剑”——他想借这把剑，扫清西北的胡尘。可凭栏远望，“风雷怒，鱼龙惨”，拔剑，拔不动。 【意象与手法】 上片写楼外壮丽奇景与凛然剑气，“举头西北浮云，倚天万里须长剑”以景起兴，暗喻中原沦陷、须仗长剑收复 【情感与主旨】 此词作于宋孝宗淳熙元年（1174）辛弃疾任福建提点刑狱，途经南剑州（今福建南平）登双溪楼时 【名句点睛】 本词为辛词豪放一格的代表。考点：一、“举头西北浮云，倚天万里须长剑”的象征意蕴（浮云喻小人/敌骑，长剑喻北伐壮志）
Background
This lyric was written in the first year of Chunxi (1174) of Emperor Xiaozong, when Xin Qiji, as Judicial Commissioner of Fujian, passed through Nanjian Prefecture (today's Nanping, Fujian) and climbed the Twin-Stream Tower. The tower stands by the Sword Creek and Qiaochuan; legend holds that in the Jin dynasty Lei Huan found the precious swords Longquan and Tai'e here, and that a purple aura often shone between the Dipper and the Ox. Having returned to the South for over ten years without being employed, Xin climbed the tower, felt the sword-qi and the affairs of men, and used the past to give voice to his anger that his great ambition could not be fulfilled and to his resolve to serve the country.
此词作于辛弃疾任福建提点刑狱、途经南剑州（今福建南平）之时。关于具体年份，邓广铭《稼轩词编年笺注》系于宋光宗绍熙三年（1192），时辛弃疾五十三岁，已过知天命之年。绍熙二年末，闲居带湖近十年的辛弃疾被重新起用，出任福建提点刑狱，绍熙三年赴任，途经南剑州。南剑州地处闽北，剑溪、樵川二水在此会合，双溪楼即建于此地，下临深潭，形势险绝。词中「元龙老矣」一句，正合此时词人年过半百、屡起屡废的境况——他以东汉陈登（字元龙）自比，而着一「老」字，豪气尚在而心境已苍。此词与《水龙吟·登建康赏心亭》同为辛弃疾《水龙吟》调的双璧，一作于三十五岁壮年，一作于五十三岁暮年，前后十八年，心境已大不同。此词借南剑双溪楼的险绝山水与「剑」的传说起兴，把半生北伐壮志的消磨、英雄迟暮的悲凉，一齐寄寓在「燃犀下看」「元龙老矣」的典故与「鲸饮」的狂态之中，是辛弃疾晚年豪放词的代表作。还须辨明，部分教辅将此词系于「淳熙元年（1174）」实误，淳熙元年辛弃疾任江东安抚司参议官，驻建康，而福建提点刑狱之任在绍熙年间。邓广铭《稼轩词编年笺注》据词中「元龙老矣」及辛弃疾行迹，系于绍熙三年（1192），此说已成定谳。南剑州以「剑」名，双溪楼下即「剑潭」，相传为宝剑沉水之处，辛弃疾登楼，就地起兴，遂以「剑」贯穿全篇，寄托半生北伐之志。
Art
The upper part paints the tower's magnificent and strange scene and its stern sword-qi: 'I lift my eyes to the northwest's floating clouds, and lean on heaven—I need a long sword' rises from the scene to allegory, darkly meaning that the central plains have fallen and must be reclaimed by the sword's edge; 'burn the rhinoceros horn to look below' uses the tale of Wen Qiao to write the wish to probe the treacherous. The lower part's 'the gorge clenches the green river' and 'would fly yet folds' uses the river's movement as a figure for talent unshown. 'Yuanlong is old' inverts the allusion of Chen Deng (courtesy Yuanlong) and his lake-and-sea spirit, seeming on the surface to lie at ease yet containing the grief of a veteran in his late years. The brush is forceful, sinking and turning.
此词上片写景与传说交织，下片转入自我抒写，章法由奇入沉。起句「举头西北浮云，倚天万里须长剑」，举头见西北浮云，暗喻中原沦陷、敌氛未靖，遂生出「倚天万里须长剑」的豪想，以景起兴，气魄极大。「人言此地，夜深长见，斗牛光焰」，引入此地剑气的传说，为全词染上一层奇诡的神话色彩；「我觉山高，潭空水冷，月明星淡」，则以实景破虚想，山高、潭空、水冷、月淡，一片清冷，暗示「剑」终不可得。「待燃犀下看，凭栏却怕，风雷怒，鱼龙惨」，欲照水寻剑而终不敢，写尽欲有所为而有所惧的矛盾。下片「峡束苍江对起，过危楼，欲飞还敛」，写苍江被峡谷紧束、欲飞而敛，暗喻自己欲奋飞而受抑的处境；「元龙老矣，不妨高卧，冰壶凉簟」，以陈登之老自况，由豪转入闲，实则闲中藏愤；「千古兴亡，百年悲笑，一时登览」，把千古兴亡与百年悲笑并置，境界顿开；结以「问何人又倩，狂歌痛饮，此中鲸饮」，狂歌痛饮、鲸吞一醉，把悲愤推向极致。全词实虚相生、抑扬顿挫，是辛词「豪放而沉郁」的又一典范。此词章法上的一大特色是「实景与传说交织」。上片由「浮云」「长剑」的实景与豪想，转入「斗牛光焰」「燃犀下看」的传说与幻想，实与虚、眼前与历史交错；下片则由「峡束苍江」的实景，转入「元龙高卧」的典故，再归于「千古兴亡」的浩叹。虚实相生，今古交织，把一个登临的瞬间，拓展为上下千年的历史长卷，这正是辛弃疾怀古词的大家手笔。
Allusions
'The blazing light between the Dipper and the Ox' uses the Jin Shu tale of Lei Huan digging up swords at Fengcheng, whose precious aura shot between the Dipper and Ox, darkly figuring both talent and the will to recover the north. 'Burn the rhinoceros horn to look below' uses Wen Qiao's tale of burning a rhinoceros horn to illuminate water-demons, figuring the wish to see through treachery. 'Yuanlong lies high' inverts the allusion of Chen Deng (courtesy Yuanlong) and his 'lake-and-sea spirit', sighing at his own old age. 'Whale drinks' transforms Du Fu's 'he drinks like a long whale sucking the hundred rivers'. The allusions string together, merging the poet's private grievance into the rise and fall of history, with feeling laid deep.
此词用典繁密，皆服务于「剑」与「老」两大主题。其一，「倚天万里须长剑」化用宋玉《大言赋》「方地为车，圆天为盖，长剑耿耿倚天外」，又暗合李白《临江王节士歌》「安得倚天剑，跨海斩长鲸」之意，以「倚天长剑」喻扫清敌氛、恢复中原的雄心。其二，「斗牛光焰」用晋张华、雷焕故事：丰城剑气上冲斗牛之间，后掘地得龙泉、太阿二剑，见《晋书·张华传》。南剑州相传即宝剑沉水之处，辛弃疾用此典，既切地理，又寓「埋剑待发」之意。其三，「燃犀下看」用晋温峤燃犀角照牛渚矶水下怪物的故事，见《晋书·温峤传》，写欲探水中之秘而惧触怒神灵，暗喻欲有所作为而畏谗惧祸。其四，「元龙」用陈登字，见《三国志·魏书·陈登传》，刘备赞其「湖海之士，豪气未除」，辛弃疾自比陈登而叹其「老」，写英雄迟暮。「冰壶凉簟」化用王昌龄「一片冰心在玉壶」，以冰壶喻高洁。「鲸饮」则暗合杜甫「饮如长鲸吸百川」，写狂饮之态。诸典环环相扣，剑之埋、剑之寻、剑之不可得，实是北伐壮志之消磨的隐喻。关于「斗牛光焰」之典，或以为切「剑潭」之实，或以为喻「埋没之才」之憾，二解皆可通，而后者尤合辛弃疾自喻埋剑待发的心境。「元龙」之典，辛弃疾屡用之，其《水龙吟·登建康赏心亭》已自比陈登，此词再以「元龙老矣」自叹，前后呼应，可见「陈登」这一意象在辛词中几乎成为其自画像的符号。
Commentary
The Qing critic Chen Tingzhuo, in his White Rain Studio Lyric Remarks, said: 'Jiaxuan is least skilled at pretty lines, yet such sinking-and-turning works come straight at Dongpo.' The modern scholar Deng Guangming said of this lyric that 'it writes loyal wrath in sword-qi, showing desolation within the vast.' The upper part is wondrous and strange, the lower part grieved; it closes with the whale-drink, heroic yet with a pain that will not settle—fully the typical mind of a loyal scholar returned from the north.
此词为辛弃疾晚年名篇，历代选家多有收录。陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》评辛词「悲而壮」，又谓「稼轩词仿佛魏武诗」，此词「举头西北浮云，倚天万里须长剑」的悲壮、「千古兴亡，百年悲笑」的苍凉，正可作「悲而壮」的注脚。谭献《复堂词话》以「潜气内转」称辛词，此词由豪想转入清冷、由清冷转入闲放、再由闲放转入狂悲，情感的几次转折，正是「潜气内转」的体现。俞陛云《唐五代两宋词选释》评此词「音节高亮，笔力雄健」，并指出其「上片写景奇峭，下片感慨苍茫」的结构特点。就接受史而言，此词与《水龙吟·登建康赏心亭》并称，是考察辛弃疾晚年心境的重要文本。「举头西北浮云」一句，因兼有「浮云蔽日」与「长剑倚天」的双重寓意，历来为论者所重，被视为辛词「以剑写志」的经典开篇。还应指出，此词与《水龙吟·登建康赏心亭》同调而异时，一壮年一暮年，一建康一南剑，被并称为辛弃疾《水龙吟》双璧。陈廷焯《白雨斋词话》论稼轩词「悲而壮」，又谓「稼轩词仿佛魏武诗」，此词「举头西北浮云」的悲壮、「千古兴亡，百年悲笑」的苍凉，正可作「悲而壮」的注脚。龙榆生《唐宋名家词选》录此词，特标其「音节高亮，笔力雄健」。凡论辛弃疾晚年心境者，必举此词，可见其在稼轩词接受史上的重要位置。此词以「剑」起，以「饮」收，一剑一饮，皆辛弃疾悲愤人格的化身，是稼轩晚年最具力度的自画像之一。
Prosody
Line by line
举头西北浮云
I raise my head: the northwest is veiled in floating clouds.
抬头望见西北浮云
I lift my head and see the northwest veiled in drifting clouds.
起句六字，写登楼举头、西北见云，是写景，更是兴寄。「西北」是中原沦陷的方向，也是敌骑所在的方位；「浮云」既指天边之云，又暗用「浮云蔽日」的古意，喻谗佞当道、中原蒙尘。一个「举头」的动作，一个「西北」的方位，一个「浮云」的意象，三者叠加，登楼北望、忧国望中原的意蕴便尽在不言中。六字之中，景语与情语、实景与象征浑然一体，为全词奠定了「以剑写志」的悲壮基调。「浮云」一词尤须玩味——它既是眼前之景，又暗用「浮云蔽日」的古意，喻谗佞当道、中原蒙尘，故下句「须长剑」便有了明确的指向：剑要斩的，正是这蔽日的浮云。
The opening six characters, writing the tower-climb-and-head-raise and the northwest clouds, the scene-writing, and yet the uprising-entrustment. The northwest i.e. the Central Plains' fallen direction, and the enemy-cavalry's place; the floating clouds at once the horizon clouds, and yet secretly using the floating-clouds-veil-the-sun old meaning, the slanderers-in-power-and-the-Central-Plains' dust. The one head-raise's motion, one northwest's direction, one floating-cloud's image, the three's superposition, the tower's northward-gazing-and-the-country-anxiety's meaning's all within the unsaid. Six characters' within, the scene-words-and-feeling-words, the real-scene-and-symbol's seamless, establishing the whole ci's sword-writes-will's solemn tone. The floating-clouds word's the more to be savored — it's at once the present scene, and yet secretly using the floating-clouds-veil-the-sun old meaning, the slanderers-in-power-and-the-Central-Plains' dust, hence the below's need-a-long-sword's thus the clear direction: the sword's to smite, precisely this sun-veiling floating cloud.
倚天万里须长剑
Leaning on the sky, stretching ten thousand li, I need a long sword.
须仗倚天长剑万里
Leaning on the sky across ten thousand li, I need a long sword.
此句由「举头」的怅望转入「倚天」的豪想，是全词气魄最大的句子。要扫清这遮蔽西北的浮云，须得一把倚天而立的万里长剑——这「长剑」，既是杀敌报国的利器，更是词人胸中那腔不灭的北伐壮志。「倚天」「万里」两个夸张之辞，把剑的形象推到极致，剑之长可倚天，剑之威可万里，愈见其壮怀激烈。然而这终究只是「须」——是应当有而未尝有的愿望，豪想之下，藏着「无剑可用」的悲凉。「倚天」「万里」两个夸张之辞，把剑的形象推到极致，剑之长可倚天，剑之威可万里，愈见其壮怀激烈，而愈显其壮志难酬——剑只在想象中，不在手中。
This line from the head-raise's gazing's turning to the lean-on-the-sky's bold thought, the whole ci's atmosphere's greatest line. To sweep away this northwest-veiling floating cloud, must's a sky-leaning ten-thousand-li long sword — this long sword, at once the enemy-smiting-country-serving weapon, and yet the poet's breast's that unextinguished northern-expedition ambition. The lean-on-the-sky and ten-thousand-li two exaggeration words, pushing the sword's image to the extreme, the sword's length can lean the sky, the sword's awe can ten-thousand-li, the more seeing his fierce-heart's intensity. And yet this's ultimately only the need — the should-have-and-yet-never-had wish, beneath the bold thought, hiding the no-sword-to-use bleakness. The more seeing his fierce-heart's intensity, and yet the more revealing his ambition's hard-to-achieve — the sword's only in the imagination, not in the hand.
元龙老矣
Yuan Long is old now.
陈登般的豪气已老
Chen Yuanlong's proud spirit is old now.
「元龙老矣」四字，是全词情感的转折点，也是辛弃疾晚年心境的自我写照。陈登字元龙，是三国时「豪气未除」的湖海之士，辛弃疾素以之自比。而着一「老矣」，豪气犹在，人已迟暮——这是英雄最深的悲哀。上片的倚天长剑、燃犀下看，至此尽化为「不妨高卧」的自我宽解，实则是壮心难酬的无奈。四字之中，有自许，有自伤，有自嘲，百感交集，力透纸背。「老矣」二字，是全词最沉痛的自认——不是服老，而是被迫承认；不是甘于高卧，而是不得不高卧。豪气尚在，而时不我与，英雄迟暮的悲凉，尽在这四字之中。
The Yuan-Long-is-old-now four characters, the whole ci's emotional turning point, and Xin Qiji's later-years mind's self-portrait. Chen Deng, style name Yuanlong, the Three Kingdoms' proud-spirit-not-rid lake-and-sea man, Xin Qiji's habitually the self-comparison. And yet landing one old-now, the proud-spirit's as-ever and yet the person's already late — this's the hero's deepest grief. The first stanza's sky-leaning-sword and burning-torch-down-look, to here's all turned into the may-as-well-sleep-high self-comfort, actually's the lofty-ambition's hard-to-achieve helplessness. Four characters' within, the self-praise, the self-grief, the self-mockery, the hundred-feelings' interweaving, the force's through-the-paper. The old-now two words, the whole ci's most grief-stricken self-acknowledgment — not the accepting-old, and yet the forced-acknowledging; not the contented-sleep-high, and yet the must-sleep-high. The proud spirit's as-ever, and yet the time's not-with-me, the hero's late bleakness, all within these four characters.
千古兴亡
Ages of rise and fall.
千古兴亡
The rise and fall of a thousand ages.
「千古兴亡，百年悲笑」是全词的境界升华处。词人于双溪楼上一时登览，将千古的兴亡更替与自身的百年悲欢尽收眼底——时间之漫长（千古）与人生之短暂（百年）对举，历史的无情与个人的有情相撞，遂生出苍茫无边的悲慨。这一「千古兴亡」，不再是一己的失意，而是对整个人世代谢的观照，把辛弃疾的个人悲愤提升到了历史哲学的高度，也是此词超越一般登临词、直逼「念天地之悠悠」境界的关键。辛弃疾以「千古」对「百年」，以「兴亡」对「悲笑」，历史的无情与个人的有情相撞，遂有陈子昂式的苍茫。
The a-thousand-ages-rise-and-fall and hundred-years' grief-and-laughter is the whole ci's realm's sublimation place. The poet's at the Shuangxi tower's momentary viewing, the thousand ages' rise-and-fall's replacement and his own hundred-years' grief-and-joy's all within the gaze — the time's length (a thousand ages) and life's shortness (a hundred years) parallel, the history's ruthlessness and the person's feeling's collision, hence arising the boundless vast grief. This a-thousand-ages-rise-and-fall, no longer the individual's frustration, and yet the whole human world's change's contemplation, raising Xin Qiji's personal grief to the historical-philosophy height, and this ci's beyond-the-ordinary tower-ci, directly pressing the heaven-and-earth's endless-realm key. Xin Qiji's using the thousand-ages to the hundred-years, the rise-and-fall to the grief-and-laughter, the history's ruthlessness and the person's feeling's collision, hence the Chen-Zi'ang-style vastness.
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辛弃疾两首《水龙吟》，一登建康赏心亭，一过南剑双溪楼，同用此调，同写登临悲慨，而心境迥异。《登建康赏心亭》作于三十五岁壮年，「把吴钩看了，栏杆拍遍」，是失路英雄的悲愤；《过南剑双溪楼》作于五十三岁暮年，「元龙老矣，不妨高卧」，是迟暮英雄的苍凉。一以「吴钩」写志之未伸，一以「长剑」写志之难酬；一在「无人会，登临意」的激愤，一在「千古兴亡，百年悲笑」的浩叹。二词并读，恰可拼出辛弃疾从壮年到暮年的心路历程，也见其驾驭同一词牌、抒写不同人生阶段情感的功力。
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