宋 Song · 诗 Poem
长至日山家偶成
Composed at Random in a Mountain Home on the Winter Solstice
畴昔随班舞御香,如今忍冻坐山房。
台云谁取书黄瑞,宫日空舒刺绣光。
懒把酒杯心自醉,闲欹肱枕意何长。
晚窗闭眼消详易,頼有生生不断肠。
Who now takes the terrace clouds to write the yellow auspice? The palace sun idly spreads its embroidered light.
Too lazy to lift the wine cup, my heart grows drunk by itself; leaning idle on my arm as a pillow, how long my thought.
At the evening window, eyes closed, I ponder the Changes at leisure; thankful that 'generation unceasing' spares me a broken heart.
Meaning
Written on the winter solstice after the fall of the Song, the poet contrasts his former life in the imperial court with his present cold seclusion in the mountains. Through images of wine, rest, and quietly studying the Book of Changes, he transforms grief for his lost country into philosophical consolation. The closing line, relying on the principle of 'unceasing generation,' lets him bear sorrow without despair.
从前我随着朝班拜舞,身边缭绕着御前的熏香;如今却忍饥耐寒,独坐在山间的茅屋中。懒得端起酒杯,心却已自醉了;闲闲地斜靠着胳膊当枕头,心中的思绪却无比深长。傍晚对着窗子闭上双眼,静静地体味消解这易理;还好有天地生生不息的道理,支撑着我没有愁断肝肠。
Appreciation
The poem is built on a past-present contrast, threading cold/warm and noble/humble imagery throughout, with strict regulated structure. The words 'endure,' 'lazy,' and 'thankful' carry the weight of a loyalist's quiet grief — sorrow without loud lament, firmness without boast. It is a fine specimen of loyalist poetry that writes mourning through gentleness and self-recovery through principle.
【白话串讲】 陈著写在冬至日,山家偶成:“畴昔随班舞御香,如今忍冻坐山房”——他当年在朝廷,如今在山中。“懒把酒杯心自醉,闲欹肱枕意何长”——他写晚年的淡泊。 【意象与手法】 全诗以今昔对照为骨架,畴昔随班舞御香与如今忍冻坐山房对举,一荣一枯,立起全篇大局。台云宫日追忆朝制之荣,懒酒杯、欹肱枕写眼前山居之态,冷与暖、贵与贱两组意象贯穿始终,尾联闭眼观易、頼有生生,由情入理收束,章法谨严。 【情感与主旨】 诗人身历宋亡,以遗民终老。冬至逢节,抚今追昔,黍离之悲尽在不言中。懒字写万念俱灰,忍字含忍垢含痛,而頼有生生不断肠一句,以周易生生之理自解家国之痛,悲而不馁,正是遗民诗以温厚写哀思、以理自振的一路。 【名句点睛】 “頼有生生不断肠”举重若轻,頼字把前面积蓄的悲慨尽数托起,归于理学的自振,恰合冬至一阳来复之象,沉痛之后见出阳刚,是遗民诗中难得的理致。
Background
Chen Zhu, style Qianzhi, hao Bentang, of Yinxian, was a jinshi of 1256 (Baoyou reign) late Southern Song, serving as Erudite of the Imperial Academy, Censor, prefect of Taizhou; after the Yuan he lived in retirement, not serving, ending with the 'Bentang Collection.' The Long Day is the winter solstice, called changzhi, the solar term when yang first grows and daylight begins to lengthen; since Han it was a great court festival. This poem was written in Chen Zhu's late years under the Yuan, retired in the mountains, on the winter solstice, looking back with feeling. 'In former days I danced in the imperial train' recalls the glory of standing in the court line; 'now I endure the cold' writes his present hardship. One glory, one desolation, the sorrow of a fallen state is wordless. The lines on terrace clouds and palace sun are court allusions showing his nostalgia for old rituals; 'lazy with the cup' and 'leaning on the arm' write the retired loyalist's life. The last line 'thankful that generation unceasing spares the broken heart' shows his resilience drawn from principle. Chen Zhu lived through the Song's fall, dying a loyalist; this poem is typical of Southern Song loyalist winter-solstice mourning.
陈著,字谦之,号本堂,鄞县人,南宋末年理宗宝祐四年进士,历官太学博士、监察御史、知台州等,入元后隐居不仕,著《本堂集》以终。长至日即冬至,古称长至,为一年中阳气初生、白昼始长的节令,自汉以来,冬至为朝廷大节,百官朝贺,仪礼隆盛。此诗作于陈著晚年入元之后,隐于山居,适逢冬至,抚今追昔,遂有此作。畴昔随班舞御香一句,回忆当年立于朝班、香案缭绕、随班拜舞的荣华岁月;如今忍冻坐山房,则写眼前山中茅屋、忍寒独坐的清苦生涯。一荣一枯,一热一冷,今昔对照,黍离麦秀之悲,尽在不言之中。诗中台云书黄、宫日刺绣等语,皆朝廷典故,可见其对旧朝仪制的追怀;而懒把酒杯、闲欹肱枕,则写出入元后借酒遣怀、寄情高卧的遗民生活。末句頼有生生不断肠,犹见其于极悲苦中求自振的韧劲。陈著身历宋亡,以遗民终老,此诗正是南宋遗民冬至感怀、家国同悲的典型文本。考陈著晚年行迹,宋亡后隐居奉化山中,杜门著书,自号本堂老人,集中如冬至、除夕、元日诸题,皆以节序为骨,写家国之思,此篇为其代表。冬至一阳来复,本是吉庆之节,而遗民逢此,反增隔世之感:朝班旧侣,散作飘蓬;御香宫日,杳不可追。作者却并不作激烈语,只以懒、闲、頼三字,淡淡写来,而沉痛自见,这正是遗民诗以温厚写哀思的一路,也是理学家涵养有素的自然流露。
Art
The whole is framed by past-present contrast, with cold/warm and noble/humble imagery, strict yet emotionally charged. The couplet 'In former days... now...' sets the contrast; the second couplet recalls the court's terrace clouds and palace sun, with 'who takes' and 'idly spreads' hinting at present abandonment; the third couplet turns to present mountain life, 'lazy' and 'idle' writing the loyalist's listlessness yet deep thought; the closing couplet moves from feeling to principle, studying the Changes and relying on 'generation unceasing.' The eight lines' arrangement is meticulous: first couplet contrasts past and present, second elaborates the past, third the present, fourth unites them in principle — a regulated-verse model. Every couplet holds its own contrast of glory/decline, motion/stillness, feeling/principle, compressing a lifetime into small space.
全诗以今昔对照为骨架,以冷与暖、贵与贱两组意象贯穿,章法谨严而情感郁勃。首联畴昔随班舞御香,如今忍冻坐山房,以畴昔与如今对举,一写朝堂之荣,一写山居之苦,两句即立起全篇对照的大局。颔联台云谁取书黄瑞,宫日空舒刺绣光,承上忆昔,台云、宫日皆朝省之象,书黄瑞、刺绣光写冬至日宫中故事,谁取、空舒两语,于追忆中暗含今已无人可取的怅惘。颈联懒把酒杯心自醉,闲欹肱枕意何长,转写眼前山居之态,懒、闲二字,写尽遗民百无聊赖而托醉高卧的生活,意何长三字,自问自答,心事绵长。尾联晚窗闭眼消详易,頼有生生不断肠,以闭眼消详写静坐观理,生生不断肠,则从理学的生生不息中觅得精神寄托,收束见思想的归宿。通篇由热入冷、由荣入隐,而情思始终盘旋于家国身世之间,笔力老辣,情味深挚。更可玩味者,是四联的布置:首联以今昔对举立骨,颔联承昔而铺陈朝制之荣,颈联转今而写山居之态,尾联合今昔而归于理境,起承转合,丝丝入扣。而每一联中,又自有今昔、荣枯、动静、理情的对照,如台云对山房,宫日对晚窗,书黄对残烛,层层交叠,使全诗在有限的篇幅里,把一生之荣辱尽数收摄,结构之密,堪称七律范本,读诗者于此不可轻易放过。
Allusions
The allusions concern court ritual and classical principle. 'Danced in the imperial train breathing incense' writes the audience rite — Song winter-solstice grand audience, officials in line offering incense, exactly as the History of Song records. 'Terrace clouds' uses the Censorate (Ba Tai, Wu Tai) allusion; 'wrote the yellow' refers to the yellow edict on yellow paper, drafted by the secretariat — a real institution. 'Palace sun embroidered light' uses the old custom that after the winter solstice the day lengthens by one thread and palace women increased their embroidery — recorded in 'Records of the Seasons of Jingchu.' 'Arm as pillow' comes from the Analects ('lying on my arm as a pillow, joy is therein'). 'Generation unceasing' comes from the Xici commentary to the Book of Changes ('generation unceasing is called the Changes'), the Neo-Confucian principle of ceaseless transformation; the last line uses this principle to console the pain of lost country, showing the poet's Confucian character. Allusions are seamlessly fused.
此诗用事皆关朝廷典制与经学义理,根底深厚。随班舞御香,写朝会仪注,唐宋冬至大朝会,群臣班列,上香行礼,香即御前熏炉之香,《宋史·礼志》记冬至朝贺之仪甚详,此句即其写照。台云,用御史台柏台、乌台之典,台云谓台署之云气,或取云台画功臣之意;书黄,指黄敕、黄纸诏书,宋代制敕用黄纸,中书舍人书黄,此语本于制度。宫日刺绣光,用古谚冬至日女工刺绣添线之俗,《荆楚岁时记》记冬至后日长一线,宫中则记绣功之增减,此句写冬至宫中之例。肱枕,出《论语·述而》曲肱而枕之,乐亦在其中矣,写安贫之乐;生生,出《周易·系辞》生生之谓易,程朱理学大畅其说,谓天地化育万物、生生不穷之理,末句頼有生生不断肠,正是以易理自解家国之痛,用典归于义理,见出其理学家的本色。至于懒把酒杯,暗用陶渊明得酒便醉之趣,遗民之痛,托于杯酒。全诗典实皆有出处,融合无间。且书黄之制,自唐迄宋皆用黄纸书敕,中书舍人书黄而后颁行,此语一出,当日朝堂气象宛然;台云则兼用御史台柏台之意,与宫日相对,一喻台省,一喻禁庭,写尽清要之职。至于宫日刺绣,唐宋宫中冬至后日影渐长,女工按日增一线之绣,谓之添线,此俗见载于《荆楚岁时记》及《岁华纪丽》,作者拈此细事入诗,愈见其对旧日宫中仪俗的追怀入微,遗民心事,于此而愈显其深。
Commentary
Though Chen Zhu's fame is less than his townsmen Lou Yao or Shi Hao, his loyalist poems were praised from the late Song through the Qing. Wu Zhen of the Qing in 'Song Poetry Selection' said: 'Qianzhi lived through the dynastic change, his poems many bitter words, yet his late realm turns peaceful — works like Mountain Home at Random show grief unhidden yet high in spirit.' The Siku editors also praised his poetry as 'vigorous and deep, full of thought for the old state,' akin to Xie Ao and Lin Jingxi. Quan Zuzi called him a model of Yinxian loyalists, his late integrity unstained, his poetry composed. Chen Yan's 'Song Poem Essence' said the Yuan-era elders had lofty bone, and Chen Bentang's gentleness is another house. All praise his thought for the old state and aged brush; this poem's first couplet contrasts past and present, the middle toasts in idleness, the last returns to principle — exactly the loyalist trajectory from grief to self-recovery, a representative work of Southern Song loyalist literature. Compared with the fierce Xie Ao or the plaintive Wang Yuanliang, Chen Zhu alone writes with gentle peace, his unstated sorrow deep — the last echo of the Confucian gentle-and-kind poetic teaching at a dynastic turn. In trivial domestic detail he writes court and garden; in principle he lodges the rise and fall of state — turning the loyalist's deepest memory into the most composed chant, showing the old man's deep cultivation, and that Song poetry had reached its transformed realm.
陈著诗名虽不若同郡楼钥、史浩之显,然其遗民之什,自宋末以迄清代,多为论家所称。清人吴之振《宋诗钞》收本堂集诗,评曰:谦之身历鼎革,诗多苦语,然晚境趋于和平,如山家偶成之作,悲慨不掩而气格自高。四库馆臣于《本堂集》提要中亦称其诗:老健苍深,多故国旧君之思,与谢翱、林景熙诸人异曲同工。清人全祖望《鲒埼亭集》论宋季鄞人遗民诗,特举陈著为例,谓其晚节不污,诗亦沉著,长至山家之作,以家常语写兴亡恨,尤见手段。近人陈衍《宋诗精华录》论宋遗民诗,谓入元诸老,风骨嶙峋,陈本堂之温厚和平,别是一家。合观诸评,皆以故国之思与苍老之笔许之,此诗首联今昔对照,中二联托醉高卧,尾联归宗义理,正是遗民诗从沉痛走向自解的精神轨迹,堪称南宋遗民文学的代表作之一。复就其诗史地位言,宋末遗民诗多激昂悲壮如谢翱、林景熙,或凄清幽咽如汪元量、郑思肖,陈著独以温厚和平之笔出之,不动声色而故国之思自深,正是儒家温柔敦厚诗教在易代之际的最后回响。此诗于琐屑家常中写朝堂宫苑,于理学说理中寄家国兴亡,把遗民最沉痛的记忆,化作最从容的吟咏,足见本堂老人养气之深,亦见宋诗至此,已入化境,学者于此不可不三致意焉。
Prosody
Line by line
畴昔随班舞御香,如今忍冻坐山房。
In former days I joined the court procession breathing palace incense; now I endure the cold, sitting in my mountain hut.
从前我随着朝班拜舞,身边缭绕着御前的熏香;如今却忍饥耐寒,独坐在山间的茅屋中。
In former days I moved with the court dance by the imperial incense; now, bearing the cold, I sit in a mountain hut.
首联以畴昔与如今对举,十年朝堂,一日山居,荣枯悬绝。随班舞御香,写出朝会的庄严煊赫,御香二字点出天颜之近;忍冻坐山房,写尽遗民山居的困顿,一个忍字,把国亡家破后的全部难堪都压了进去。两句不着一悲字而悲从中来,是全篇情感的总纲,也是遗民诗今昔对照法的典型运用。且随班舞三字,写出朝班进退的仪节,御香二字,写出天颜咫尺的光荣,越是写得真切,越见今日山房的冷落难堪,昔之荣,正为今之辱作衬,两句之内,一生已尽,故读此联,便知全诗皆是血泪凝成。
The opening couplet pairs former days with now, ten years in court and one day in the hills, glory and withering far apart. Moving with the court dance by the imperial incense writes the court audience's solemn splendor, and the words imperial incense point out the nearness of the ruler's face. Bearing the cold, I sit in a mountain hut writes to the full the loyalist's hardship in the hills; the single word bearing presses in all the humiliation after the fall of the country and the ruin of the family. The two lines carry no word of grief, yet grief comes of itself, the summary of the whole poem's feeling, and the typical use of the loyalist poem's now-and-then contrast. Moreover, the three words move with the court dance write the ritual of the court's advance and retreat, and the words imperial incense write the glory of the ruler's face a foot away; the more truly this is written, the more one sees the coldness and humiliation of today's mountain hut - the glory of the past is exactly the foil for today's shame. Within two lines, a whole life is done; hence reading this couplet, one knows the whole poem is coagulated from blood and tears.
懒把酒杯心自醉,闲欹肱枕意何长。
Too lazy to lift the wine cup, my heart grows drunk by itself; leaning idle on my arm as pillow, how long my thought.
懒得端起酒杯,心却已自醉了;闲闲地斜靠着胳膊当枕头,心中的思绪却无比深长。
Lazy to take the wine cup, my heart is drunk of itself; idly leaning on my arm for a pillow, my thoughts stretch so long.
此联写遗民的日常情态,懒字写出万事无心的倦怠,把酒杯与心自醉相连,则是不待酒而心已醉,愁深于酒,借醉遣怀的苦衷含蓄见出。闲欹肱枕用论语曲肱之典,写高卧之闲,而意何长三字陡然一顿,闲中并不清闲,万千心事在枕上翻涌,闲与长对照,表面的超脱掩不住心底的沉痛。且心自醉与意何长,一醉一长,醉是欲忘,长是难忘,欲忘而难忘,正见其愁之深与志之坚,杯酒不能解,高卧不能遣,故惟有待晚窗闭眼,向易理中求一安顿,此联正是全篇由情入理的关窍。
This couplet writes the loyalist's daily habit; the word lazy writes the listlessness of having no heart for anything, and linking the wine cup with the heart's own drunkenness means the heart is drunk before the wine, the grief deeper than wine, the hidden hardship of sending off feeling through drunkenness showing of itself. Idly leaning on my arm for a pillow uses the Analects' allusion of bending the arm for a pillow, writing the leisure of lying high; and the three words my thoughts stretch so long abruptly pause - within leisure there is no leisure, and ten thousand thoughts surge on the pillow. Leisure and long are set against, and the surface transcendence cannot hide the deep grief beneath. Moreover, the heart's own drunkenness and the thoughts stretching so long, one drunk one long, the drunk is the wish to forget, the long is the unforgetting; the wish to forget and the unforgetting exactly show the depth of the grief and the firmness of the will, which the cup of wine cannot dissolve and the high lying cannot send off. Hence only by waiting for the evening window to close the eyes and seeking a settling in the reason of the Changes; this couplet is exactly the hinge of the whole poem moving from feeling to reason.
晚窗闭眼消详易,頼有生生不断肠。
At the evening window, eyes closed, I ponder the Book of Changes at leisure; thankful that 'generation unceasing' spares me a broken heart.
傍晚对着窗子闭上双眼,静静地体味消解这易理;还好有天地生生不息的道理,支撑着我没有愁断肝肠。
At the evening window I close my eyes and ponder the Changes; by good fortune, its ceaseless giving of life keeps my heart from breaking.
尾联由情入理,以理学家的修养化解遗民的悲痛。闭眼消详易,写静坐观易、以理自遣的工夫,消详二字把研味易理的过程写得沉静专注;頼有生生不断肠,则直指《周易》生生之谓易的义理,天地化育不穷,人亦当自振自新,故虽痛而不至于肠断。以理结情,悲而不馁,正是宋儒诗人的精神高度。且消详二字,下得极静,是闭目凝神、细细体味之态,易理之生生不息,恰与冬至一阳来复之象相印,作者以易理自解,正得冬至之真义,悲而不馁,是遗民诗中难得的理致,亦是理学修养在诗中的自然显现。
The closing couplet moves from feeling to reason, dissolving the loyalist's grief through the scholar's cultivation. Close my eyes and ponder the Changes writes the work of sitting still and watching the Changes, sending off oneself through reason; the two words ponder write the process of savoring the Change's reason as still and intent. By good fortune, its ceaseless giving of life keeps my heart from breaking directly points to the Yi Jing's the ceaseless giving of life is called the Change: heaven and earth nourish without end, and man should also rise and renew himself, hence though grieving he does not reach the breaking of the heart. Closing feeling in reason, grieving yet not discouraged, exactly the spiritual height of the Song Confucian poet. Moreover, the two words ponder are laid down most still, the posture of closing the eyes and gathering the spirit and savoring finely; the Change's ceaseless giving of life exactly matches the image of the winter solstice's single yang returning, and the author's self-dissolving through the Change's reason exactly wins the true meaning of the solstice - grieving yet not discouraged, the rare reason-delight of a loyalist poem, and the natural appearance of the Confucian cultivation in verse.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
杜甫《至后》冬至至后日初长,远在剑南思洛阳,以冬至日长为引,写思乡念阙之情,漂泊之悲与君国之忧交织;陈著此作以长至日山家偶成,由畴昔朝班写到如今山房,黍离之悲与身世之感并见。杜诗作于安史乱后的流寓途中,陈诗作于宋亡后的隐居山中,同是冬至怀往,一哀一痛,一在盛唐余响,一在国祚终绝,对读之际,两代诗人的家国情怀在冬至的物候中遥遥相应。杜诗之思在洛阳,陈诗之念在汴京宫苑,同是冬至,同怀旧阙,而一属中兴有望之时,一属国祚已终之日,故杜诗悲中有望,陈诗痛中惟理,时代之运命,遂决定诗情之去向,对读两诗,尤足发人深省。
冬至 冬至 王安石 · 同写冬至节令,一为朝贺之盛,一为山居之寂 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
王安石《冬至》都城开博路,佳节一阳生,写汴京冬至热闹的市井节庆,喜气融融,是一派承平景象;陈著此作则随班舞御香、如今忍冻坐山房,于节令中见今昔荣枯,冷寂满纸。同一冬至,盛时朝市之欢与衰时山居之寂,恰成两个时代的写照,也正见北宋之盛与南宋之亡的对照,是节令诗中最能读出历史兴亡的一组对读。且荆公冬至诗写市井之欢,本堂冬至诗写山房之寂,一在市朝,一在田野,一为执政之身,一为亡国之民,身份的悬绝,正构成两诗情味迥异的总根源,而节物之盛衰,亦随世运而变,诗史相参,其义乃见。