五代 Five Dynasties · 词 Ci lyric
巫山一段云·雨霁巫山上
A Length of Cloud over Wu Mountain · Clearing Rain above Wu Mountain
雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天。
远风吹散又相连。
十二晚峰前。
暗湿啼猿树，高笼过客船。
朝朝暮暮楚江边。
几度降神仙。
and light cloud is mirrored in the blue sky.
A far wind scatters it, and it joins again
before the twelve peaks at evening.
Darkly wet, the trees where the gibbons cry;
high overhead, the mist enfolds a passing boat.
Morning after morning, evening after evening, beside the river of Chu,
how many times the goddess has come down.
Meaning
Above Wu Mountain the rain has cleared, and the light cloud is mirrored against the blue of the sky. A wind from far off scatters the cloud and it draws together again, there before the twelve evening peaks. The trees are dark and wet where the gibbons cry, and high above, the mist covers a traveller's boat as it passes. Morning after morning and evening after evening beside the river of Chu, how many times the goddess has come down among men.
雨过天晴的巫山之上，云彩轻淡映着碧蓝的天空。远风吹散了云，却又重新相连，就在那十二晚峰之前。湿润的树林里猿猴哀啼，高高的云雾笼罩着过往的客船。朝朝暮暮守在楚江之畔，曾有多少次神女降临人间。
Appreciation
The three opening clauses move from the ending of the rain to the drifting of the cloud, and the few words in which a far wind scatters it and it joins again catch the quick changes of the cloud on Wu Mountain; the picture is wonderfully airy. In the lower stanza the wet trees where gibbons cry and the mist that covers the passing boat make a neat parallel, and the phrases for dark wetness and high enfolding write the damp depth of the gorges in a soft, shadowed brush. The close, with its mornings and evenings and the descent of the goddess, draws the real scene into the myth of Song Yu, so that scene, allusion and feeling mingle like milk and water.
【白话串讲】 “雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天”——毛文锡写巫山：雨停云轻。“远风吹散又相连”——云被风吹散又连上。“朝朝暮暮楚江边。几度降神仙”——巫山神女，朝朝暮暮。 【意象与手法】 上片雨霁、云轻、碧天三句，由雨收写到云卷云舒，吹散又相连五字写出巫山云态的灵动变幻，画面极空灵 【情感与主旨】 毛文锡（约913年前后），字平珪，高阳人，仕前蜀，官吏部侍郎，花间派词人 【名句点睛】 本词常考景物描写的层次与用典。多命远风吹散又相连的炼字之妙，要求答出吹散、相连写出云态变幻、灵动生姿
Background
Mao Wenxi, who flourished about 913, courtesy name Pinggui, came from Gaoyang, served the Former Shu as vice-minister of personnel, and was a poet of the Among the Flowers school. The tune A Length of Cloud over Wu Mountain belongs to the goddess of Wu Mountain and derives from Song Yu's Rhapsody on Gaotang and Rhapsody on the Goddess. The lyric was probably written on a journey through the gorges of Chu or in recollection of one; in the disorder of the Five Dynasties, men of letters often used landscape and the goddess to unburden themselves. The upper stanza gives the real scene after rain, the lower brings in the crying gibbons, the passing boat and the goddess's descent, so that the mountain of nature and the mountain of literature are laid one over the other. The flavour is remote and dim, and the piece is far more than a sketch from life.
《巫山一段云·雨霁巫山上》为五代毛文锡所作，是写巫山神女、楚王梦遇之典的词。毛文锡（约913年前后在世），字平圭，高阳人，五代前蜀词人。此词：雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天。远风吹散又相连。十二晚峰前。暗湿啼猿树，高笼过客船。朝朝暮暮楚江边。几度降神仙。全词写巫山神女、楚王梦遇，是毛文锡词的名篇。
Art
In the upper stanza the clearing rain, the light cloud and the blue sky move from the end of the rain to the rolling and unrolling of cloud, and the few words in which a far wind scatters it and it joins again give all the quick, living change of the cloud on Wu Mountain, so that the picture is extraordinarily airy. In the lower stanza the wet trees where the gibbons cry and the mist that hangs high over the passing boat form a neatly matched couplet, and the phrases for dark wetness and for high enfolding paint the moist depth of the gorges with a soft brush. The close, with its endless mornings and evenings and its many descents of the goddess, pulls the real scene into the mythical world of Song Yu. Scene, allusion and feeling are blended as water with milk; the lyric is cool without being cold, and close-woven without being clogged.
《巫山一段云·雨霁巫山上》艺术上以巫山云雨的描摹与神女之典的缥缈见长。全词分两片：上片写雨霁云轻——“雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天”写雨霁巫山、云轻映天，“远风吹散又相连。十二晚峰前”写远风吹散又相连、十二晚峰；下片写啼猿过客——“暗湿啼猿树，高笼过客船”写暗湿啼猿树、高笼过客船，“朝朝暮暮楚江边。几度降神仙”写朝朝暮暮楚江边、几度降神仙。全词以巫山云雨写神女之典，正是毛文锡词缥缈的笔法。
Allusions
The lyric turns on the myth of the goddess of Wu Mountain, from Song Yu's Rhapsody on Gaotang: King Huai of Chu, travelling at Gaotang, dreamt of the goddess of Wu Mountain, who at dawn was the morning cloud and at dusk the driving rain, and who called herself the daughter of Wu Mountain. The twelve evening peaks are the twelve peaks of Wu Mountain, from of old the symbol of the goddess's dwelling. 'Morning after morning, evening after evening' comes straight out of the rhapsody and later became a set phrase. The crying gibbons transform the image of the gorges in Li Daoyuan's Commentary on the Water Classic, where three cries of the gibbon wet the traveller's gown with tears. The allusions fit exactly and lay a romantic, uncanny colour over the landscape.
《巫山一段云·雨霁巫山上》用典在“巫山”“十二晚峰”“朝朝暮暮”“降神仙”。“巫山”用宋玉《高唐赋》巫山神女之典；“十二晚峰”写巫山十二峰；“朝朝暮暮”用《高唐赋》“旦为朝云，暮为行雨，朝朝暮暮，阳台之下”之语；“降神仙”写神女降临。全词以巫山神女之典写云雨之景，用典自然而缥缈自见，正是毛文锡词的笔法。
Commentary
Tang Xianzu, judging the Among the Flowers Collection, called Mao Wenxi's lyrics plain and close to the commonplace, yet allowed that this piece on the clouds and rain of Wu Mountain has a clear, far-reaching quality. Later critics of the Among the Flowers school usually count it among Mao's best, saying that he carries his allusion by means of the scene, neither sticking to it nor letting it go, and that within a rich and ornate school he opens a clear and airy path. Li Bingruo, in his Random Notes from Xuzhuang, likewise praised its open, well-ordered manner. Mao Wenxi is numbered among the Among the Flowers poets, but the clear distance of this piece already foreshadows the airy manner of the Song lyricists.
《巫山一段云·雨霁巫山上》是毛文锡词的名篇，也是花间词写巫山神女的代表作。此词写巫山神女、楚王梦遇之典，向为论者称道。论者多赏其巫山云雨的描摹与神女之典的缥缈——“雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天”写雨霁云轻，缥缈之极；“远风吹散又相连。十二晚峰前”写云散又连、十二晚峰，更见其幻；“朝朝暮暮楚江边。几度降神仙”用高唐之典写朝朝暮暮、几度降神，尤见其缥缈。毛文锡为花间词人，其词以缥缈清丽著称，此词正是其代表——以巫山云雨写神女之典，正是其词风。
Prosody
Line by line
雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天。远风吹散又相连。
Rain has cleared on Mount Wu; light clouds mirror the azure sky. The distant wind scatters them, then joins them again.
雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天。远风吹散又相连。
The rain has cleared on Mount Wu; pale clouds are mirrored in the blue sky. A far wind blows them apart, then draws them together again.
首写雨霁云轻、云散又连，是全词写巫山云雨的起点。“雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天”写雨霁云轻——“雨霁巫山上”写雨止于巫山之上，“云轻映碧天”写云轻映着碧天——雨霁巫山，云轻映天；“远风吹散又相连”写云散又连——“远风吹散又相连”写远风吹散而又相连——远风吹散又相连。三句写雨霁云轻、云散又连：雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天，远风吹散又相连。以“雨霁巫山上，云轻映碧天”写雨霁之后、云轻映天之景，以“远风吹散又相连”写云随风散而又相连之幻，正是毛文锡词写巫山云雨的起点——云雨变幻，巫山为最。
The opening writes the clearing rain and light clouds, the starting point of the lyric on the cloud and rain of Wu. 'Rain has cleared on Mount Wu' and 'light clouds mirror the azure sky' give the rain stopped above Wu and the light clouds reflected in the blue sky. 'The distant wind scatters them, then joins them again' writes the clouds scattered and reunited by the far wind. Three lines write the clearing and the drifting clouds—the rain ended on Wu, the clouds mirrored in the sky, the far wind scattering and rejoining. It is Mao Wenxi's starting point for the cloud-rain fantasy of Wu: the mutability of cloud and rain, of which Wu is the supreme example.
十二晚峰前。暗湿啼猿树，高笼过客船。
Before the twelve evening peaks. The trees where apes cry are dark and damp; on high they wreathe the boat of passing travelers.
十二晚峰前。暗湿啼猿树，高笼过客船。
Before the twelve peaks at evening. The trees where gibbons call are dark with damp; the mist hangs high over the boat of passing travelers.
此三句写十二晚峰、啼猿过客，是全词写巫山景色的深化。“十二晚峰前”写十二晚峰——“十二晚峰前”写巫山十二晚峰之前——十二晚峰前；“暗湿啼猿树，高笼过客船”写啼猿过客——“暗湿啼猿树”写暗湿啼猿之树，“高笼过客船”写高笼过客之船——暗湿啼猿树，高笼过客船。三句写十二晚峰、啼猿过客：十二晚峰前，暗湿啼猿树，高笼过客船。以“十二晚峰前”写巫山十二峰之晚景，以“暗湿啼猿树，高笼过客船”写啼猿之树暗湿、过客之船高笼（笼罩）之巫山烟景，正是毛文锡词写巫山景色的深化——巫山峰影，烟笼客船。
These three lines write the twelve evening peaks and the crying apes and passing boats, the deepening of the Wu mountain scenery. 'Before the twelve evening peaks' gives the twelve evening peaks of Wu. 'The trees where apes cry are dark and damp; on high they wreathe the boat of passing travelers' writes the apes' trees dripping dark and the mist high-wreathed over the travelers' boat. Three lines write the peaks, the apes, the boats—the evening peaks, the dark-wet trees of the crying apes, the high-wreathed passing craft. It is Mao Wenxi's deepening of the Wu scenery: the peaks' shadows, the mist-wreathed craft.
朝朝暮暮楚江边。几度降神仙。
Morning after morning, evening after evening, by the Chu River. How many times the goddess has descended.
朝朝暮暮楚江边。几度降神仙。
Morning and evening, day after day, by the banks of the Chu River. How many times the divine maiden has descended.
末写朝朝暮暮、几度降神，是全词写神女之典的归结。“朝朝暮暮楚江边”写朝朝暮暮——“朝朝暮暮楚江边”用《高唐赋》“朝朝暮暮，阳台之下”之语写朝朝暮暮于楚江边——朝朝暮暮楚江边；“几度降神仙”写几度降神——“几度降神仙”写几度降临神仙——几度降神仙。二句写朝朝暮暮、几度降神：朝朝暮暮楚江边，几度降神仙。以“朝朝暮暮楚江边”用高唐之典写朝云暮雨、朝朝暮暮于楚江，以“几度降神仙”写几度神女降临之幻，正是毛文锡词写神女之典的归结——云雨为常，神女屡降。
The closing writes the mornings and evenings and the descending goddess, the conclusion of the lyric's allusion to the goddess. 'Morning and evening, day after day, by the Chu River' uses the 'Gaotang Rhapsody' phrase 'morning and evening, below the balcony' to write the daily presence by the Chu shore. 'How many times the divine maiden has descended' writes the goddess's repeated descent. Two lines write the mornings and evenings, the descending goddess—the daily cloud and rain by the Chu, the goddess descending again and again. It is Mao Wenxi's conclusion of the goddess allusion: cloud and rain as the constant, the goddess coming again and again, the old myth of the Wushu goddess made present in the daily scene.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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