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五代 Five Dynasties · 词 Ci lyric

南乡子·乘彩舫

Song of the Southern Country: Riding a Painted Barge

李珣

Li Xun

写景scene painting 风情local colour

乘彩舫，过莲塘，棹歌惊起睡鸳鸯。
游女带花偎伴笑，争窈窕，竞折团荷遮晚照。

Riding a painted barge,
crossing the lotus pond,
the oar-song startles the sleeping mandarin ducks awake.
Girls out strolling, flowers in their hair, lean on their companions and laugh;
they vie to be the fairest,
and race to break round lotus leaves to shade the evening sun.

Listen

Meaning

They ride in a painted pleasure boat and pass through the lotus pond, and the rowers' song startles the sleeping mandarin ducks into flight. The girls out on their spring excursion wear flowers in their hair and lean against one another laughing; they compete over who is the prettier, and race each other to snap off round lotus leaves and hold them up against the setting sun.

乘着彩绘的画船，穿过莲花池塘，船歌惊起了沉睡的鸳鸯。游春的女子戴着花朵，偎依同伴嬉笑，争比谁更窈窕，竞相折下圆荷来遮住晚照。

Appreciation

The lyric paints girls gathering lotus in the south as a bright little scene of country life. The opening three lines are short and springing, full of sound and colour, and the startled ducks, being a pair, quietly set off the crowd of laughing girls while motion springs out of stillness. The second half strings one gesture after another, flowers in the hair, leaning together, competing in looks, snapping leaves for shade, so that youthful high spirits and easy intimacy come alive on the page. Everything is plain description, and the colours are clear and bright; among the ornate lyrics of its time the piece opens quite fresh ground.

【白话串讲】 “乘彩舫，过莲塘，棹歌惊起睡鸳鸯”——李珣写南方的采莲姑娘：彩船穿过莲塘，歌声惊起鸳鸯。“游女带花偎伴笑，争窈窕，竞折团荷遮晚照”——姑娘们笑着摘荷叶，遮住晚照。【意象与手法】此词写南国采莲游女，如一幅明丽风俗小景。起三句“乘彩舫，过莲塘，棹歌惊起睡鸳鸯”，短句跳宕，声色兼备【情感与主旨】李珣（约855—约930），字德润，五代前蜀词人，梓州人，出身波斯裔，人称“李波斯” 【名句点睛】本词适合考查：一、白描手法与画面层次——彩舫、莲塘、棹歌、游女的动静转换

Background

Li Xun (about 855 to about 930), styled Derun, was a lyricist of the Former Shu in the Five Dynasties, a native of Zizhou and of Persian descent, so that people called him Li the Persian. His manner is clear, tender and plain, and he was especially good at the customs of the south; his seventeen Songs of the Southern Country describe the water villages of Lingnan and the ways of their young women. This piece shows girls gathering lotus, riding a painted barge across the lotus pond, their oar-song startling the mandarin ducks, flowers in their hair as they lean and laugh, breaking lotus leaves to shade the evening sun, fresh as a folk song and quite unlike the ornate manner of the rest of the anthology.

此词为五代词人李珣所作。李珣（约855—约930），字德润，梓州人，波斯后裔，五代前蜀词人，有《琼瑶集》，词存于《花间集》。其词多写南方风物与隐逸情趣，风格清新明丽。此词写夏日莲塘之游乐：乘着彩绘的船，经过莲塘，棹歌惊起了睡着的鸳鸯；游女们戴着花、偎依着欢笑，争着比窈窕，竞折团荷遮挡晚照。全词以彩舫、莲塘、鸳鸯、游女、团荷等意象，写江南夏日水乡的欢快景象，明丽活泼，是花间词中清新一路的代表。李珣词与花间诸家的秾丽不同，多写南方风物，清新明快，此词即其代表。

Art

The lyric paints girls gathering lotus in the south as a bright little scene of local life. The opening three lines, riding a painted barge, crossing the lotus pond, and the oar-song startling the sleeping mandarin ducks awake, are short and springing, full of sound and colour; the startled ducks, being a pair, set off the crowd of girls, motion springs out of stillness, and the stirring of youth is quietly present. The second half, with the girls wearing flowers and leaning on one another laughing, vying to be the fairest and racing to break round lotus leaves to shade the evening sun, strings one gesture after another so that their shy high spirits and easy intimacy come alive; the words for vying and racing catch the innocent rivalry exactly. Plain description throughout and bright in colour, it opens fresh ground among the lyrics of its day.

此词艺术上以明丽的意象与欢快的节奏见长。全词五句，层层写来：“乘彩舫，过莲塘”写乘船过塘——彩舫写船之华美，莲塘写景之清丽；“棹歌惊起睡鸳鸯”写棹歌惊鹭——歌声起而鸳鸯惊飞，以动写静，充满生机；“游女带花偎伴笑”写游女之态——戴花偎伴、嬉笑相随；“争窈窕，竞折团荷遮晚照”写游女之戏——争比窈窕，竞折荷叶遮挡傍晚的阳光。全词以彩舫、莲塘、鸳鸯、游女、团荷等明丽的意象，写江南夏日水乡的欢快景象，节奏明快而画面生动，正是李珣词清新明丽的风格。词中无一愁字，而欢乐之情溢于言表，是花间词中难得的明快之作。

Allusions

The lyric quotes no story and wins entirely by describing local life, with the flavour of a folk song. The painted barge is a decorated pleasure boat, continuing the painted skiff of the Six Dynasties; the lotus pond and the sleeping mandarin ducks draw on images from the old ballads and from Tang poetry, the paired ducks hinting at youthful feeling without falling into eroticism. The round lotus means simply the round lotus leaf, and the evening light the setting sun, both ordinary things. Free of learned matter, the piece wins by the customs of the southern country and the natural bearing of its girls, which is exactly the fresh manner of a poet of Persian descent writing the south, and stands in contrast to the rich, close-worked line of Wen Tingyun.

此词用典少而意象皆有传统。“彩舫”指彩绘的游船，为江南水乡游乐之具；“莲塘”为采莲之地，承南朝《采莲曲》的传统，与采莲女的意象相连；“鸳鸯”自《诗经·鸳鸯》以来为恩爱情侣之象，此处写其被惊起，更见野趣；“团荷”指团圆的荷叶，承南朝民歌以荷喻人的传统。全词以这些传统的江南意象写游乐，不事雕琢而画面明丽。李珣为波斯后裔而久居蜀地、熟悉南方风物，其词写莲塘游乐，正是其生活经验的写照，也见花间词由西蜀秾丽向南方清新的拓展。

Commentary

Modern critics of Li Xun's Songs of the Southern Country allow them to be clear, tender and plain, so that the customs of the south stand before the eye; Kuang Zhouyi's Canyingwu Cihua called them straightforward and lovable. Lines here such as riding a painted barge and crossing the lotus pond, or the girls vying to be the fairest and racing to break round lotus leaves to shade the evening sun, are plain description that reads like a painting and catch a young girl's natural charm completely, quite unlike the chased gold and inlaid colour of the other lyrics in the anthology. Critics generally take Li Xun as the representative of the clear strain in Five Dynasties song, opening the way to the spare manner of the Northern Song short lyric.

《南乡子·乘彩舫》是李珣词的代表作，也是花间词中清新明丽一路的代表。李珣词在花间诸家中，以多写南方风物、风格清新著称，此词即其代表。论者多赏其明丽的画面与欢快的节奏——“游女带花偎伴笑”写游女之态，生动如画；“竞折团荷遮晚照”写争折荷叶之戏，活泼有趣。花间词多写闺怨闲愁，而李珣此词纯写游乐之欢，无一丝愁绪，正是其独特之处。李珣还有《渔歌子》词写隐逸，与此词的游乐相映，可见其向往自然、明快旷达的性情。

Prosody

Form Ci lyric to the tune Song of the Southern Country, double form of twenty-eight characters (short lyric)词牌·南乡子

Rhyme Cilin Zhengyun, the yang and xiao rhyme groups (pond, ducks, laugh, sun), level and oblique rhymed together in the alternating form《南乡子》为单调，五句，押仄声韵。此词用韵：舫、塘、鸯（阳部）、窕、照（啸部），平仄相间，音节明快。

Tone pattern Double form, two lines in the first half and three in the second, with short, springing lines《南乡子》句式以三、五、七言相间，音节明快跳跃。此词以“乘彩舫，过莲塘”的三字短句起，接以七言的“棹歌惊起睡鸳鸯”，节奏一短一长，明快生动；下三句“游女带花偎伴笑，争窈窕，竞折团荷遮晚照”以七、三、七句式写游女之戏，声情活泼。全词以仄韵相间，音节与游乐的欢快内容相合，是花间词中明快一路的代表。

Reading note Song of the Southern Country was a Tang Music Academy dance tune; Li Xun used it for the customs of the south, short and quick in movement.《南乡子》为唐五代流行的词牌，多写南方风物，李珣此词是其代表作。此词单调五句，写乘船过塘、棹歌惊鹭、游女嬉戏，以彩舫、莲塘、鸳鸯、游女、团荷等明丽意象，写江南夏日水乡的欢快景象，明丽活泼而无一丝愁绪。李珣为波斯后裔，久居蜀地而熟悉南方风物，其词多写南国风光，风格清新明快，在花间诸家中别树一帜。此词与李珣《渔歌子》词并读，可见其向往自然、旷达明快的性情。

Line by line

乘彩舫，过莲塘，棹歌惊起睡鸳鸯。

We board the painted barge, pass the lotus pond, and the boatmen's song startles the sleeping mandarin ducks.

乘着彩绘的游船，经过莲塘，棹歌声惊起了睡着的鸳鸯。

Riding in a painted pleasure boat, we pass the lotus pond; the boat-song startles the sleeping mandarin ducks into flight.

起三句写乘船过塘、歌声惊鹭之景。“乘彩舫”写乘舟之乐——“彩舫”写船之华美，点出游乐的兴致；“过莲塘”写行程之景——莲塘清丽，正是江南夏日的水乡；“棹歌惊起睡鸳鸯”写歌声惊鹭——“棹歌”写船歌之悠扬，“惊起”写鸳鸯之惊飞，“睡鸳鸯”写其悠闲——歌声一起，鸳鸯惊飞，以动写静，画面顿时生动。三句由舟而塘而鸳鸯，层层写来，把江南水乡的夏日景象写得明丽活泼。一个“惊”字，写尽生命的跃动与欢快的气氛。

The opening three lines write boarding the boat and passing the pond, the song startling the ducks. 'We board the painted barge' writes the joy of the boat—the 'painted barge' the ornate craft, naming the delight of the outing. 'Pass the lotus pond' writes the journey—the lotus pond clear and fair, the water town of a Jiangnan summer. 'The boatmen's song startles the sleeping mandarin ducks' writes the song startling the birds—the 'boat song' its lilting air, 'startles' the ducks flying up, 'sleeping mandarin ducks' their ease; as the song rises the ducks take flight, writing stillness through motion, the picture suddenly alive. The three lines move from boat to pond to ducks, writing the summer scene of the Jiangnan water town as bright and lively. The single word 'startles' writes to the full the leaping of life and the joyous air.

游女带花偎伴笑，争窈窕，竞折团荷遮晚照。

The outing girls, flowers in their hair, lean on each other and laugh; vying to be graceful, they race to pluck round lotus leaves to shield them from the evening sun.

游女们戴着花、偎依着同伴欢笑，争着比试窈窕的身姿，竞相折取团圆的荷叶遮挡傍晚的阳光。

The outing girls wear flowers, lean on their companions and giggle; competing in grace, they vie to pluck round lotus leaves to screen the evening light.

后三句写游女之态与嬉戏之乐。“游女带花偎伴笑”写游女之态——“带花”写其装扮之丽，“偎伴笑”写其亲密之欢，一幅鲜活的笑闹图；“争窈窕”写游女之竞美——“争”字写其活泼好胜，比试身姿的窈窕；“竞折团荷遮晚照”写游女之戏——“竞折”写其争先恐后，“团荷遮晚照”写折荷叶遮挡夕阳，既写其娇憨，亦写其爱惜容颜。三句由态而竞而戏，层层推进，把游女的欢快写得如在目前。以“遮晚照”收束，既写时光之晚，亦写游兴之浓，含不尽之趣。

The last three lines write the bearing of the outing girls and the joy of their play. 'The outing girls, flowers in their hair, lean on each other and laugh' writes the girls' bearing—'flowers in their hair' the beauty of their adornment, 'lean on each other and laugh' the closeness of their joy, a vivid picture of giggling. 'Vying to be graceful' writes the girls' rivalry in beauty—the word 'vying' their lively competition, matching graceful figures. 'They race to pluck round lotus leaves to shield them from the evening sun' writes their play—'race to pluck' their eagerness, 'shield the evening sun' plucking the lotus leaf to screen the sunset, writing at once their coy charm and their care for their looks. The three lines move from bearing to rivalry to play, advancing layer by layer, writing the girls' joy as before the eyes. Closing on 'shield the evening sun' writes both the lateness of the hour and the depth of the outing's delight, holding an inexhaustible charm.

Study

Word focus

彩舫 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “乘彩舫”之“彩舫”，写彩绘的游船，是点出游乐之兴的开篇之词。“彩”写船之华美，“舫”写舟之形制——彩舫即彩绘的画船，为江南水乡游乐之具。着一“彩”字，明丽的色彩便扑面而来：船是彩的，塘是莲的，人是笑的，一幅欢快的江南游乐图由此展开。以“彩舫”开篇，为全词定下明丽欢快的基调，正是李珣词清新风格的体现。

惊起 The word 'startle' brings a still scene to life: the oar-song breaks the quiet, the mandarin ducks fly up, and with them rises the first stirring of youthful feeling. “棹歌惊起睡鸳鸯”之“惊起”，写歌声惊飞鸳鸯，是写生机与欢乐的关纽。“惊”写其突然，“起”写其飞动——歌声悠扬，惊醒了酣睡的鸳鸯，双双飞起。这一词以动写静：莲塘本是静谧的，鸳鸯本是酣睡的，棹歌一起，惊起鸳鸯，静谧的画面顿时生动。鸳鸯的“惊起”，既是写景，也是写乐——歌声之欢快、生命之跃动，皆在这一“惊起”之中。以“惊起”写静中之动，正是花间词善以动态写生趣的笔法。

偎伴 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “游女带花偎伴笑”之“偎伴”，写游女依偎同伴之态，是写其亲密欢快的点睛之词。“偎”写依偎，“伴”写同伴——游女们戴着花，依偎着同伴，嬉笑打闹。着一“偎”字，少女的亲密与娇憨便跃然纸上：不是矜持的并肩，而是亲昵的依偎；不是孤独的游玩，而是结伴的欢笑。以“偎伴”写游女，比直言“结伴”更见情态之活，正是李珣词善写人物情态的笔法。

遮晚照 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “竞折团荷遮晚照”之“遮晚照”，写折荷遮阳之戏，是全词最见娇憨的一笔。“遮”写遮挡，“晚照”写傍晚的阳光——游女们竞折荷叶，遮挡西斜的日头。着一“遮”字，写尽少女的爱美与娇憨：不是怕晒，而是爱惜容颜；不是避暑，而是游戏取乐。以“遮晚照”收束，既写时光之晚（晚照）、游兴之浓（竞折），亦写少女之态（遮阳），含不尽之趣。这一笔把全词的欢快推向高潮，又以晚照点出日暮，余韵悠然。