宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric
玉楼春·戏林推
Jade Tower Spring: Teasing Secretary Lin
年年跃马长安市。
客舍似家家似寄。
青钱换酒日无何，红烛呼卢宵不寐。
易挑锦妇机中字。
难得玉人心下事。
男儿西北有神州，莫滴水西桥畔泪。
The inn is like home, home like a sojourn.
With green coins I trade for wine, days of nothing-else;
By red candles we shout at dice, nights without sleep.
Easy to read the words in the brocade wife's weave.
Hard to fathom the jade lady's heart.
A man has the divine land in the northwest; do not shed tears by the West-of-Water Bridge.
Meaning
A jocular gift to a friend, the lyric mocks his dissolute city life yet urges him to turn from petty romance to the lost homeland in the northwest.
年年跃马在长安市上。客舍倒像家、家倒像寄居。青钱换酒终日无所事事，红烛下呼卢赌博通宵不眠。容易挑出妻子织锦中的字（家书），难测歌妓心中的事。男儿眼中当有西北的神州（失地），莫要在水西桥畔空流儿女泪。
Appreciation
The lyric jests with a friend, Secretary Lin. The upper stanza writes his years of wandering the city and shouting at dice — a wild, loose life. The lower turns from 'easy to read the brocade wife's words' to advice: the wife's love is true and provable, the courtesan's heart hard to fathom; it ends with the sudden rise 'a man has the divine land in the northwest; do not shed tears by the bridge,' urging the friend not to drown in romance but to remember the lost land. The images 'Chang'an market,' 'green coins,' 'red candles and dice' write the wandering; 'brocade wife's words' uses the Su Hui palindrome allusion; the last two lines turn sharply, breaking the smallness of romance with the greatness of the state. It mocks yet advises, on the surface teasing the friend's romance, but in truth calling the man to restore the Central Plains — a deep state-and-home feeling.
【白话串讲】 刘克庄调侃朋友林推：“年年跃马长安市。客舍似家家似寄”——他常年在外浪荡。“青钱换酒日无何，红烛呼卢宵不寐”——“男儿西北有神州，莫滴水西桥畔泪”——他劝朋友：男子汉该想着收复中原，别在青楼落泪。 【意象与手法】 “长安市”“青钱”“红烛呼卢”写浪游；“锦妇机中字”用窦滔妻苏蕙回文典；末二句陡转，以家国之大破儿女之小。 【情感与主旨】 戏谑中寓劝勉，表面调侃友人风流，实则呼唤男儿当以恢复中原为念，家国情怀深沉。 【名句点睛】 “男儿西北有神州，莫滴水西桥畔泪”——于戏赠中陡然振起，以神州之大斥儿女之泪，遂成爱国名句。
Background
Liu Kezhuang was a late Southern Song heroic-school lyricist. This lyric jests with a Lin surname secretary (a subordinate official of a prefecture), advising him not to linger in pleasure but to mind the state's affairs.
《玉楼春·戏林推》为宋代刘克庄所作，是戏赠林推官、劝其立功边塞的词。刘克庄（1187—1269），字潜夫，号后村居士，莆田人，宋代词人。此词：年年跃马长安市。客舍似家家似寄。青钱换酒日无何，红烛呼卢宵不寐。易挑锦妇机中字。难得玉人心下事。男儿西北有神州，莫滴水西桥畔泪。全词戏赠林推官、劝其立功边塞，是刘克庄词的名篇。
Art
The Jade Tower Spring is a double-tune lyric. The upper stanza spreads the wild wandering; the lower turns to advice. It uses the Su Hui palindrome allusion to contrast the true wife and the false courtesan, and rises with the state-and-home line — hardness and softness aiding each other.
《玉楼春·戏林推》艺术上以林推行径的描摹与劝其立功的讽喻见长。全词分两片：上片写林推行径——“年年跃马长安市。客舍似家家似寄”写年年跃马长安市、客舍似家家似寄，“青钱换酒日无何，红烛呼卢宵不寐”写青钱换酒日无何、红烛呼卢宵不寐；下片写劝其立功——“易挑锦妇机中字。难得玉人心下事”写易挑锦妇机中字、难得玉人心下事，“男儿西北有神州，莫滴水西桥畔泪”写男儿西北有神州、莫滴水西桥畔泪。全词以林推行径写劝其立功边塞，正是刘克庄词讽喻的笔法。
Allusions
Chang'an stands for Lin'an (or cities generally); 'shout at dice' (hulu) means gambling; 'brocade wife's words' uses the allusion of Su Hui weaving a palindrome brocade to her husband Dou Tao; 'jade lady' means a courtesan; the divine land (shenzhou) means the lost Central Plains; the West-of-Water Bridge stands for pleasure quarters generally.
《玉楼春·戏林推》用典在“长安市”“锦妇机中字”“玉人”“神州”“水西桥”。“长安市”写长安市（京城市井）；“锦妇机中字”用苏蕙织锦回文之典（锦字回文）；“玉人”写玉人（美人）；“神州”写神州（中原故土）；“水西桥”写水西桥（冶游之地）。全词以这些典故写林推行径、劝其立功边塞，用典自然而讽喻自见，正是刘克庄词的笔法。
Commentary
The Qing critic Feng Xu said Liu's bold lyrics 'stand as a third foot of the tripod with Lu You and Xin Qiji'; this lyric writes the will to restore the realm in a joking tone, opening a new face.
《玉楼春·戏林推》是刘克庄词的名篇，也是南宋词中写劝勉志士的代表作。此词戏赠林推官、劝其立功边塞，向为论者称道。论者多赏其林推行径的描摹与劝其立功的讽喻——“年年跃马长安市。客舍似家家似寄”写年年跃马长安市、客舍似家家似寄，讽喻之妙；“青钱换酒日无何，红烛呼卢宵不寐”写青钱换酒日无何、红烛呼卢宵不寐，更见其戏；“男儿西北有神州，莫滴水西桥畔泪”用神州水西桥之典写男儿西北有神州、莫滴水西桥畔泪，尤见其庄。刘克庄为辛派词人，其词以豪放著称，此词戏谑中见庄重，正是其代表——以林推行径写劝其立功边塞，正是其词风。
Prosody
Line by line
年年跃马长安市。客舍似家家似寄。
Year after year I leap on horse through the Chang'an market. The inn is like home, home like a sojourn.
年年跃马长安市。客舍似家家似寄。
Year after year he gallops through the capital streets; the inn is his home, and home seems but a lodging.
首写年年跃马长安市、客舍似家家似寄，是全词写林推行径的起点。“年年跃马长安市”写年年跃马长安市——“年年跃马长安市”用长安市之典写年年跃马于京城街市——年年跃马长安市；“客舍似家家似寄”写客舍似家家似寄——“客舍似家家似寄”写客舍如家、家却如寄——客舍似家家似寄。二句写年年跃马长安市、客舍似家家似寄：年年跃马长安市。客舍似家家似寄。以“年年跃马长安市”用长安市之典写年年跃马、混迹市井，以“客舍似家家似寄”写客舍如家、家反如寄，正是刘克庄词写林推行径的起点——跃马长安，客舍如家。
The opening writes 'year after year galloping through the capital; inn as home, home as lodging,' the starting point of the ci's picture of Lin Tui's conduct. 'Year after year galloping through the capital streets' uses the allusion of the capital market to write his yearly galloping among the city thoroughfares. 'The inn is his home, and home seems but a lodging' writes the inn become home while home becomes a mere stopover. Two phrases write this: year after year galloping through the capital, inn as home and home as lodging. Using the capital-market allusion for galloping and mixing in the streets, and 'inn as home, home as lodging' for the inversion, is precisely the starting point of Liu Kezhuang's picture of Lin Tui — galloping in the capital, the inn his home.
青钱换酒日无何，红烛呼卢宵不寐。
Blue coins buy wine, days idled away; by red candles they shout at dice, sleepless all night.
青钱换酒日无何，红烛呼卢宵不寐。
Blue coins buy wine, and the day slips by doing nothing; by red candles they shout at dice and lie awake all night.
此二句写青钱换酒日无何、红烛呼卢宵不寐，是全词写林推沉湎的深化。“青钱换酒日无何”写青钱换酒日无何——“青钱换酒日无何”写以青钱换酒、日无所事——青钱换酒日无何；“红烛呼卢宵不寐”写红烛呼卢宵不寐——“红烛呼卢宵不寐”写红烛之下呼卢掷骰、彻夜不眠——红烛呼卢宵不寐。二句写青钱换酒日无何、红烛呼卢宵不寐：青钱换酒日无何，红烛呼卢宵不寐。以“青钱换酒日无何”写青钱换酒、日无所事，以“红烛呼卢宵不寐”写红烛呼卢、通宵聚赌，正是刘克庄词写林推沉湎的深化——换酒呼卢，日夜无度。
These two phrases write 'blue coins buy wine by day; red candles and dice at night,' deepening the ci's picture of Lin Tui's indulgence. 'Blue coins buy wine, the day idled away' writes exchanging copper for liquor and doing nothing all day. 'By red candles they shout at dice, sleepless all night' writes under the red candles shouting at the dice and gambling through the night. Two phrases write exchanging wine by day and dice by night. 'Blue coins buy wine, day after nothing' writes drinking and idleness; 'red candles, shouting dice, sleepless' writes gambling through the night. This is precisely the deepening of Liu Kezhuang's picture — wine and dice, day and night without measure.
易挑锦妇机中字。难得玉人心下事。
The broiding wife's woven letters are easy to read; hard to fathom is what a jade courtesan keeps in her heart.
易挑锦妇机中字。难得玉人心下事。
The broidering wife's shuttle letters are easy to interpret; the heart of a jade beauty is hard to truly know.
此二句用锦妇机中字、玉人之典写易挑锦妇机中字、难得玉人心下事，是全词写劝其归正的深化。“易挑锦妇机中字”用苏蕙织锦回文之典写易挑锦妇机中字——“易挑锦妇机中字”用苏蕙锦字回文之典写易挑锦妇机中回文之字——易挑锦妇机中字；“难得玉人心下事”用玉人之典写难得玉人心下事——“难得玉人心下事”用玉人（美人）之典写难得玉人心下之事——难得玉人心下事。二句写易挑锦妇机中字、难得玉人心下事：易挑锦妇机中字。难得玉人心下事。以“易挑锦妇机中字”用苏蕙锦字之典写家中锦字易知、情意真切，以“难得玉人心下事”用玉人之典写冶游玉人心思难测、不可久恋，正是刘克庄词写劝其归正的深化——锦字易挑，玉心难测。
These two use the allusions of the broidering wife's shuttle letters and the jade beauty to write 'easy to read the broidress; hard to know the jade one's heart,' deepening the ci's plea for him to return to the straight path. 'The broidering wife's woven letters are easy to read' uses Su Hui's palindrome brocade to write how the home-woven letters are clear and their affection true. 'Hard to fathom is what a jade courtesan keeps in her heart' uses the jade-beauty allusion to write how the thoughts of the women of pleasure are unfathomable and not to be long cherished. Two phrases: easy to read the broidress, hard to fathom the jade heart. This is precisely the deepening of the plea to return — the brocade letters easy to read, the jade heart hard to sound.
男儿西北有神州，莫滴水西桥畔泪。
A man has the divine land in the northwest; do not shed tears by the West-of-Water Bridge.
男儿西北有神州，莫滴水西桥畔泪。
A man has the lost Central Plain to the northwest; do not shed tears by the Shuixi Bridge.
末用神州水西桥之典写男儿西北有神州、莫滴水西桥畔泪，是全词写劝其立功的归结。“男儿西北有神州”用神州之典写男儿西北有神州——“男儿西北有神州”用神州（中原故土）之典写男儿西北尚有神州故土——男儿西北有神州；“莫滴水西桥畔泪”用水西桥之典写莫滴水西桥畔泪——“莫滴水西桥畔泪”用水西桥（冶游地）之典写莫在水西桥畔洒儿女泪——莫滴水西桥畔泪。二句写男儿西北有神州、莫滴水西桥畔泪：男儿西北有神州，莫滴水西桥畔泪。以“男儿西北有神州”用神州之典写男儿志在收复神州、西北故土，以“莫滴水西桥畔泪”用水西桥之典写莫沉儿女之情、洒泪桥畔，正是刘克庄词写劝其立功的归结——志在神州，莫洒儿泪。
The closing uses the allusions of the sacred land and the Shuixi Bridge to write 'to the northwest lies the sacred land; do not shed tears by the Shuixi Bridge,' the conclusion of the ci's exhortation to win merit. 'A man has the lost Central Plain to the northwest' uses the sacred-land allusion (the central homeland) to write that to the northwest there still lies the lost native soil. 'Do not shed tears by the Shuixi Bridge' uses the Shuixi Bridge allusion (a place of pleasure) to write that he must not shed lovers' tears beside it. Two phrases: the man has the northwest sacred land, do not weep by Shuixi Bridge. This is precisely the conclusion of the exhortation to merit — set your heart on the sacred land, do not shed a lover's tears.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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