元 Yuan · 曲 Qu song
碧玉箫
Jade Flute in Green (Bi Yu Xiao)
秋景堪题，红叶满山溪；
松径偏宜，黄菊绕东篱。
正清樽斟泼醅，有白衣劝酒杯。
官品极，到底成何济？
归，学取他渊明醉。
Now I fill the clear cup with new unfiltered wine, while a white-robed guest urges the wine cup.
Rank at the highest office—what good does it finally do? Go home, and learn from him, Yuanming, the drunken recluse.
Meaning
A short song on an autumn outing that turns to thoughts of retirement, rejecting official rank in favor of Tao Yuanming's carefree drunkenness.
秋景真堪题咏，红叶落满山溪；松间小径最相宜，黄菊绕在东篱。正斟着清酒（新酿），有白衣人劝我饮尽此杯。官位再高，到头来又有何用？归去吧，学那陶渊明一醉。
Appreciation
The lyric opens with a bright autumnal landscape—red leaves, a pine path, yellow chrysanthemums by the eastern fence—establishing a painterly scene of reclusive ease. The middle couplet brings wine and a white-robed visitor, conjuring the leisure of drinking with friends. The close turns sharply from scene to argument: the highest official rank is finally of no use, so one should go home and learn Tao Yuanming's drunken retirement. Through vivid color and a decisive concluding turn, the piece voices Guan Hanqing's proud disdain for worldly success and his admiration for the hermit-poet.
【白话串讲】 “秋景堪题，红叶满山溪”——关汉卿写秋景：红叶满山溪。“松径偏宜，黄菊绕东篱”——“官品极，到底成何济？归，学取他渊明醉”——官做得再大，又有什么用？不如学陶渊明喝醉。 【意象与手法】 “红叶满溪”“黄菊东篱”色彩明丽写秋；“白衣劝酒”用陶渊明典；末以“官品极”反衬“渊明醉”，议论斩截。 【情感与主旨】 借秋景写厌弃宦海、向往归隐，是关汉卿散曲中疏狂傲世、慕陶之作。 【名句点睛】 “官品极，到底成何济？归，学取他渊明醉”——以功名之虚对渊明之醉，归隐之志斩截。
Background
Guan Hanqing, the foremost of the Four Great Masters of Yuan Drama, spent his life among the entertainers' quarters and scorned official ambition. This short song was written on an autumn excursion when the poet's thoughts turned to retirement.
《碧玉箫》为元代关汉卿所作，是写秋景归隐、学取渊明醉的散曲。关汉卿（约1230—约1300），号已斋叟，大都人，元代杂剧家、散曲家。此曲：秋景堪题，红叶满山溪；松径偏宜，黄菊绕东篱。正清樽斟泼醅，有白衣劝酒杯。官品极，到底成何济？归，学取他渊明醉。全曲写秋景归隐、学取渊明醉，是关汉卿曲的名篇。
Art
As a Bi Yu Xiao lyric, it first paints the beauty of autumn hills with red leaves and yellow chrysanthemums, then employs the white-robed wine-server allusion in the middle, and ends by dismissing fame as vanity to affirm retirement. Bright imagery carries a tone of free-spirited defiance.
《碧玉箫》艺术上以秋景的描摹与归隐之志的旷达见长。全曲一气贯下：首写秋景——“秋景堪题，红叶满山溪；松径偏宜，黄菊绕东篱”写秋景堪题、红叶满山溪、松径偏宜、黄菊绕东篱；中写饮酒之乐——“正清樽斟泼醅，有白衣劝酒杯”用白衣送酒之典写正清樽斟泼醅、有白衣劝酒杯；末写归隐之志——“官品极，到底成何济？归，学取他渊明醉”写官品极、到底成何济、学取他渊明醉。全曲以秋景写归隐之志，正是关汉卿曲旷达的笔法。
Allusions
Bi Yu Xiao is the name of the tune. Red leaves and yellow chrysanthemums evoke autumn. Eastern fence alludes to Tao Qian. Po pei means newly brewed, unfiltered wine. The white-robed wine-server refers to the story of Wang Hong sending a man in white to deliver wine to Tao Yuanming. Yuanming drunk points to Tao Yuanming's love of wine and reclusion.
《碧玉箫》用典在“红叶”“黄菊绕东篱”“泼醅”“白衣”“渊明醉”。“红叶”写红叶；“黄菊绕东篱”用陶潜采菊东篱之典；“泼醅”写泼醅（未滤之酒）；“白衣”用白衣送酒之典；“渊明醉”用陶潜醉归之典。全曲以这些典故写秋景归隐、学取渊明醉，用典自然而旷达自见，正是关汉卿曲的笔法。
Commentary
This song, together with Guan's Yi Ban Er, shows his proud, free-spirited character; the line 'learn from him, Yuanming, the drunken recluse' reveals his cold eye toward worldly fame.
《碧玉箫》是关汉卿曲的名篇，也是元代散曲中写归隐之志的代表作。此曲写秋景归隐、学取渊明醉，向为论者称道。论者多赏其秋景的描摹与归隐之志的旷达——“秋景堪题，红叶满山溪；松径偏宜，黄菊绕东篱”用黄菊绕东篱之典写秋景堪题、红叶满山溪、黄菊绕东篱，旷达之极；“正清樽斟泼醅，有白衣劝酒杯”用白衣送酒之典写正清樽斟泼醅、有白衣劝酒杯，更见其乐；“官品极，到底成何济？归，学取他渊明醉”用渊明醉之典写官品极、到底成何济、学取他渊明醉，尤见其达。关汉卿为元代曲家之冠，其曲以本色著称，此曲正是其代表——以秋景写归隐之志，正是其曲风。
Prosody
Line by line
秋景堪题，红叶满山溪；松径偏宜，黄菊绕东篱。
Autumn scenery is worth a poem: red leaves fill the mountain stream; a pine path suits best, and yellow chrysanthemums wind the east fence.
秋景堪题，红叶满山溪；松径偏宜，黄菊绕东篱。
Autumn scenery worthy of verse: red leaves cover the mountain streams; the pine path invites a stroll; yellow chrysanthemums cluster about the eastern fence.
首用黄菊绕东篱之典写秋景堪题、红叶满山溪、松径偏宜、黄菊绕东篱，是全曲写秋景的起点。“秋景堪题，红叶满山溪；松径偏宜”写秋景堪题、红叶满山溪、松径偏宜——“秋景堪题”写秋景值得题咏，“红叶满山溪”写红叶满山溪，“松径偏宜”写松径偏宜漫步——秋景堪题，红叶满溪，松径偏宜；“黄菊绕东篱”用陶潜采菊东篱之典写黄菊绕东篱——“黄菊绕东篱”用陶潜采菊东篱之典写黄菊环绕东篱——黄菊绕东篱。四句写秋景堪题、红叶满山溪、黄菊绕东篱：秋景堪题，红叶满山溪；松径偏宜，黄菊绕东篱。以“秋景堪题”写秋景堪题、值得咏赏，以“红叶满山溪”写红叶满溪、山色如画，以“松径偏宜”写松径偏宜、幽静可步，以“黄菊绕东篱”用陶潜之典写黄菊绕篱、隐者之景，正是关汉卿曲写秋景的起点——红叶满溪，黄菊绕篱。
The opening is the starting point of the song's autumn landscape. 'Autumn scenery worthy of verse' announces a view fit for chanting; 'red leaves fill the mountain streams' dyes hill and watercourse in autumn colors; 'the pine path invites a stroll' evokes a quiet trail made for walking; and 'yellow chrysanthemums surround the eastern fence' invokes Tao Qian, the hermit who picked chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, turning a mere autumn view into the landscape of a recluse. Red leaves over the stream and golden flowers about the fence establish at once the song's autumnal, withdrawn tone.
正清樽斟泼醅，有白衣劝酒杯。
Now I fill the clear cup with new unfiltered wine, while a white-robed guest urges the wine cup.
正清樽斟泼醅，有白衣劝酒杯。
Just as I fill the clear goblet with newly brewed, unstrained wine, a man in plain white cloth urges me to drink.
中用白衣送酒之典写正清樽斟泼醅、有白衣劝酒杯，是全曲写饮酒之乐的深化。“正清樽斟泼醅”写正清樽斟泼醅——“正清樽斟泼醅”写正把清樽斟满泼醅（未滤酒）——正清樽斟泼醅；“有白衣劝酒杯”用白衣送酒之典写有白衣劝酒杯——“有白衣劝酒杯”用陶潜白衣送酒之典写有白衣人劝酒——有白衣劝酒杯。二句写正清樽斟泼醅、有白衣劝酒杯：正清樽斟泼醅，有白衣劝酒杯。以“正清樽斟泼醅”写清樽斟酒、泼醅新熟，以“有白衣劝酒杯”用白衣送酒之典写白衣劝酒、宾主之乐，正是关汉卿曲写饮酒之乐的深化——清樽斟酒，白衣劝杯。
Here the joy of drinking deepens through the allusion to a white-clad messenger bearing wine. The first line describes filling a clear goblet with freshly brewed, unstrained wine; the second invokes the famous tale of a village man in plain cloth, sent by the magistrate with wine for the thirsty Tao Qian on Double Ninth Day. Thus the cup is pressed on by a friendly hand, and the pleasure of host and guest flows through the allusion: clear goblet filled, white-clad messenger urging the cup.
归，学取他渊明醉。
Return home, and learn to be drunk as Yuanming was.
归，学取他渊明醉。
Go back home; learn to be drunken as Tao Yuanming was.
末用渊明醉之典写归、学取他渊明醉，是全曲写归隐之志的归结。“归”写归——“归”写归去吧——归；“学取他渊明醉”用渊明醉之典写学取他渊明醉——“学取他渊明醉”用陶潜醉归之典写学那陶渊明醉饮——学取他渊明醉。二句写归、学取他渊明醉：归，学取他渊明醉。以“归”写归去之决、掷地有声，以“学取他渊明醉”用陶潜之典写学渊明之醉、归隐之乐，正是关汉卿曲写归隐之志的归结——归去来兮，学渊明醉。
The ending resolves the song into the resolve to withdraw. The single word 'Return' falls like a hammer, the decision to go home, decisive and resounding; 'learn to be drunken as Yuanming was' again borrows Tao Qian's image of the scholar-hermit who drowned worldly sorrow in wine. The allusion completes the arc: from the autumn scene, through the joy of wine, to the final vow — come what may, I will follow Tao Yuanming into drunken retirement.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
关汉卿《四块玉·闲适》写闲适自适、归隐之乐，与本首同为关汉卿曲写闲适归隐。差异在主题：碧玉箫写秋景归隐；四块玉写闲适之乐。一写“秋”之景，一写“闲”之乐。两者并读，可见关汉卿曲写闲适归隐的两种主题。
庆东原·叹世 Celebrating the East Origin - Sighing at the World 马致远 · 同为元曲写叹世归隐，一写秋景渊明醉一写沧浪之叹，皆旷达 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
马致远《庆东原·叹世》写叹世之情、归隐之志，与本首同为元曲写叹世归隐。差异在情境：碧玉箫写秋景归隐；庆东原写叹世自适。一写“秋”之景，一写“叹”之怀。两者并读，可见元曲写叹世归隐的两种情境。
蟾宫曲·叹世 Toad Palace Song: Lamenting the Ways of the World 马致远 · 同为元曲写叹世，一写渊明醉一写归隐乐，皆旷达 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
马致远《蟾宫曲·叹世》写叹世之情、归隐之乐，与本首同为元曲写叹世。差异在情境：碧玉箫写秋景渊明醉；蟾宫曲写叹世归隐。一写“景”之乐，一写“世”之叹。两者并读，可见元曲写叹世的两种情境。