All poems

元 Yuan · 曲 Qu song

蟾宫曲·叹世

Toad Palace Song: Lamenting the Ways of the World

马致远

Ma Zhiyuan

散曲sanqu song 咏史poem on history 元曲Yuan song

咸阳百二山河，两字功名，几阵干戈。
项废东吴，刘兴西蜀，梦说南柯。
韩信功兀的般证果，蒯通言那里是风魔。
成也萧何，败也萧何，醉了由他。

Xianyang, with mountains and rivers worth twice any other ground,
Two small words, fame and rank,
And how many rounds of war.
Xiang Yu came to ruin east of the Wu,
Liu Bang rose in western Shu,
And all of it a dream told in Nanke.
Han Xin's great service came to just such an end as that,
And Kuai Tong's counsel — where was the madness in it?
Made by Xiao He, ruined by Xiao He;
let me get drunk and let it all go.

Listen

Meaning

The song looks back at the struggle between Chu and Han and finds that all the fighting was for two syllables of reputation. Recalling how Han Xin was raised up and destroyed by the same man, it concludes that the wisest response is to drink and let history take its course.

咸阳百二山河，为两个字'功名'，惹起几阵干戈。项羽败于东吴（垓下），刘邦兴于西蜀，都如南柯一梦。韩信的功劳落得这般下场，蒯通的进言哪里是疯癫。成也萧何，败也萧何，醉了由他去吧。

Appreciation

Ma Zhiyuan runs through half a century of history at speed, naming the places and the men without stopping to explain, and the momentum itself carries the argument. Setting the strategic value of Xianyang against two small words for reputation is the song's opening move, and it makes the whole subsequent slaughter look ridiculous. The reference to a dream in Nanke gathers the risen and the fallen into one verdict. Han Xin and Kuai Tong are then used to make a sharper point, that merit is punished and good advice called insanity. The proverb about Xiao He closes the circle, and the last four words step out of history altogether, in resignation as much as in freedom.

【白话串讲】 “咸阳百二山河，两字功名，几阵干戈”——马致远叹世：咸阳山河，功名干戈。“项废东吴，刘兴西蜀，梦说南柯”——“成也萧何，败也萧何，醉了由他”——成也萧何败也萧何，醉了由他去。【意象与手法】用秦汉之际楚汉相争典故（项羽、刘邦、韩信、蒯通、萧何）一气排比，以'梦说南柯'总括，结以醉由他之达观。对仗工切，是马致远叹世小令的的代表。【情感与主旨】借楚汉兴亡抒发对功名富贵的虚无之慨，劝人看破得失、及时行乐。马致远屡试不第，此曲寄其厌弃宦途之心。【名句点睛】成也萧何，败也萧何，醉了由他——以历史循环收束，将功名看破后的旷达与无奈并出。

Background

Ma Zhiyuan was one of the four great masters of Yuan drama and song, and his own official career came to nothing. This piece uses the war between Chu and Han to argue that reputation is empty and drink preferable, a well-known example of the lament-for-the-world theme that runs through his songs. Repeated failure in the examinations lies behind its distaste for office.

马致远（约一二五〇至一三二一），字千里，号东篱，大都人，元代散曲大家，与关汉卿、白朴、郑光祖并称「元曲四大家」，亦擅杂剧（代表作《汉宫秋》）。其散曲尤工小令，风格「豪放」中见清逸，多写隐逸、叹世、羁旅，被誉为「曲状元」。马致远一生仕途坎坷，曾任江浙行省务官之类卑职，长期不得志，中年后渐萌退隐之念，其散曲中「叹世」「隐居」之作尤多，实乃元代士人于异族政权下报国无门、只能借曲抒怀的时代缩影。此《蟾宫曲·叹世》以秦汉之际楚汉相争的史事为素材，将项羽、刘邦、韩信、蒯通、萧何等人物一气排比，旨在揭橥「功名虚妄、兴亡一梦」的主旨。元散曲本多江湖气与玩世味，马致远此作于冷峭中藏沉痛，既承苏轼「人生如梦」的旷达传统，又带元人特有的愤世与自放，是其叹世系列的代表作，亦折射元代文人于功名幻灭后的精神出路——或隐或醉，聊以自遣。其叹世诸作多写功名幻灭，此曲尤为代表，集中体现元曲由豪放入旷达、由愤激归自放的精神轨迹，亦为研究元代文人心态史之重要文本。马致远以散曲小令而具史家胸襟，将楚汉兴废凝为寥寥数语，既是个人功名失意之宣泄，亦是元代士人于异族治下普遍幻灭感的典型投射，足称一代心理之缩影。

Art

Historical references are set out in parallel series so that the events accumulate rather than unfold, and the line lengths alternate between balanced and loose. The proverb about being made and ruined by the same man enters the song as a ready-made phrase, which gives it the authority of common speech. The closing line is expansive on the surface with something cold beneath it. Satire and abandon are combined in a way particular to the form.

此曲艺术最胜处在以「史论式铺排」写叹世，章法如长江奔泻、层层收束。起三句「咸阳百二山河，两字功名，几阵干戈」以数字对仗造成触目反差，将宏大历史凝为轻巧议论，举重若轻；继以「项废东吴，刘兴西蜀，梦说南柯」三组鼎足对，把楚汉兴废一笔扫入南柯梦喻，由实入虚、由热转冷；再以「韩信功兀的般证果，蒯通言那里是风魔」拈出二人故实，以「兀的般」「那里是」的口语衬字写尽成败荒诞；终以「成也萧何，败也萧何，醉了由他」三组四字对收束，将兴亡循环化为俗语箴言，归于自我放达。全曲对仗工切、节奏铿锵，三组鼎足对如排山倒海，而「南柯」「由他」二语轻盈宕开，重与轻、热与冷相生。马致远以散曲小令而具史家胸襟，于短章中浓缩千年兴废，并以「醉了由他」的淡然反衬前文喧闹，豪宕中见旷达、旷达中含悲郁，是元人叹世小令章法与修辞的巅峰范型。三组鼎足对如排山倒海，而「南柯」「由他」二语轻盈宕开，重与轻、热与冷相生，结构之妙在举千年兴废于一曲而能举重若轻。起以数字反差夺目，中以故实铺排造势，终以俗语箴言与一醉收束，节奏由紧而松、由喧而寂，遂使叹世之旨既不流于愤激，亦不堕于空疏，最见元人小令的章法老练。

Allusions

Xianyang, the Qin capital, was said to be so well defended that two men there were worth a hundred elsewhere. Xiang Yu was destroyed at Gaixia after his rise in the east, while Liu Bang built his power in Shu before founding the Han. Nanke refers to the tale of a man who dreamed a whole official career under a locust tree and woke to find it an anthill. Han Xin was the general who won the empire for Han and was later put to death; Kuai Tong was the strategist who advised him to stand independent and who feigned madness to escape punishment; Xiao He was the minister who both recommended Han Xin and arranged his fall.

「百二山河」典出《史记·高祖本纪》「秦，形胜之国，带河山之险，县隔千里，持戟百万，秦得百二焉」，本写关中险固可二敌百，马致远借以写咸阳基业之雄，反衬功名之轻。「项废东吴」指项羽垓下兵败、自刎乌江；「刘兴西蜀」指刘邦以汉中巴蜀为基而成帝业，皆楚汉相争核心故实。「南柯」出唐李公佐《南柯太守传》，淳于棼梦为南柯太守，醒觉乃蚁穴，后人以「南柯一梦」喻富贵浮幻，马致远用以消解英雄事业的庄严。「韩信」「蒯通」「萧何」皆为汉初人物：韩信因萧何荐而兴、因萧何计而诛，「成也萧何败也萧何」遂成宿命箴言；蒯通曾劝韩信叛汉，被执后佯狂免死，「风魔」即指其佯疯。全曲驱遣秦汉史事与唐人传奇故实，以「梦」「醉」二字绾合，使千年兴废归于虚无，用典不重而意远，最见元曲「以史为喻、以故实为骨」的特质。百二山河、南柯、成也萧何败也萧何，皆秦汉史事与唐人传奇故实，经马致远以散曲口语驱遣，遂成「以史为喻、以故实为骨」的元曲范式。尤其「南柯一梦」消解英雄事业的庄严，「萧何」箴言道破成败的荒诞，故实在这里不是掉书袋，而是直抵哲理的利器，显见元曲用典尚活尚俗的自觉。

Commentary

Ma Zhiyuan's songs return often to the emptiness of worldly striving, and this is the most concentrated of them. Read beside his Autumn Thoughts, it shows the two sides of his outlook: one records the sorrow of the traveller, the other the unreality of history. Both proceed from the same detachment.

马致远散曲向称「豪放」，明人何良俊《四友斋丛说》谓其「词句工巧」，近人任讷《散曲概论》则许其「清俊」兼「豪放」，与关汉卿之「泼辣」、白朴之「绮丽」并立。此《蟾宫曲·叹世》以史事排比写虚无，向为论者推重，被视为元散曲「叹世」一题的范本。它与马致远另一首叹世（写三国鼎立）同构，皆以山河起、典故铺、醉语收，可见其系列章法之稳定。后世如张养浩《潼关怀古》承其咏史之脉而更重民瘼，杨慎《临江仙》承其历史虚无之思而更显苍凉。今人读此曲，既能赏其鼎足对之工、数字反差之妙，亦当体会元季士人于功名幻灭后以「醉了由他」自我放达的深层悲凉——旷达之表，实包裹着报国无门的沉郁，此正马致远散曲「豪宕而悲郁」的真底色，足称元代文人精神史的一页缩影。任讷《散曲概论》许其清俊兼豪放，此曲以史事排比写虚无，足称元散曲叹世之范本；其影响及于张养浩、杨慎诸家，流脉清晰可寻。今人读此曲，既能赏其鼎足对之工与数字反差之妙，亦当体会元季士人功名幻灭后以「醉了由他」自我放达的深层悲凉，旷达之表实包裹报国无门的沉郁。

Prosody

Form Tune Toad Palace Song, also called Breaking the Cassia Branch, in the double mode元曲·双调《蟾宫曲》（又名折桂令）

Rhyme The source records no detailed rhyme note; the piece follows the rhyme pattern of the tune.依《中原音韵》歌戈韵，韵脚：河、戈、柯、魔、他，一韵到底

Tone pattern Lines vary in length, parallel constructions are frequent, and the movement is vigorous.北曲平声韵（歌戈部），声情洒脱旷达

Reading note A short song on history: the first part turns the wars of Chu and Han into a dream, and the second uses Han Xin and Xiao He to reach a verdict of withdrawal. Expansive in manner and cold in judgment, it is the best known of Ma Zhiyuan's laments for the world.此曲为元散曲小令，依双调《蟾宫曲》（折桂令）体格。用韵取《中原音韵》歌戈部，河、戈、柯、魔、他同叶平声，一韵贯穿，声情宽缓洒脱，与「叹世」主题的旷达冷眼相得。句式以六六七起，继以三组四字鼎足对（项废东吴、刘兴西蜀、梦说南柯；成也萧何、败也萧何、醉了由他），对仗工切而节奏铿锵，于历史铺排中见排山倒海之势。马致远擅以鼎足对造境，此曲三组对仗层层递进：由山河功名之虚，到楚汉兴废之梦，再到韩信萧何之循环，终以「醉了由他」宕开，章法由宏入微、由热转冷。北曲平声韵本多雍容，此处却以平声写冷峭，声情与辞意形成微妙反差，更显看破后的淡漠。整体看，其格律之整、用韵之畅服务于史论式的议论与顿悟式的收束，是元人叹世小令「以豪写旷、以旷寓悲」的典范，足称马致远散曲的代表一格。

Line by line

咸阳百二山河，两字功名，几阵干戈。

The great strategic ground of Xianyang, two words of fame and rank, and round after round of war; the opening sets vast territory against a trivial motive.

咸阳百二山河，为两个字'功名'，惹起几阵干戈。

The mountains and rivers of Xianyang, a land a hundred times impregnable — for the sake of two words, fame and rank, how many battles were fought.

起三句以极简净的史论笔调，劈空揭出全篇「叹世」主旨。「咸阳百二山河」用战国策「秦地，形胜之国，带河山之险，县隔千里，持戟百万，秦得百二焉」之典，极写关中地势之雄、基业之固；然而如此坚固的山河，竟为「两字功名」便惹起「几阵干戈」——「两字」与「百二山河」形成触目惊心的数量反差，以极小写极大，凸显功名之争的虚妄与残酷。马致远以散曲小令而具史家胸襟，开篇即居高临下俯瞰秦汉兴废，将千军万马的征战凝缩为「几阵」二字，举重若轻，既定下苍凉基调，又见其看破世情的冷眼。这种以议论起、以数字对仗见力的写法，正见元人散曲「豪放」一脉的魄力。

The opening three lines, in the barest tone of historical judgment, strike the song's theme of lamenting the world. 'The mountains and rivers of Xianyang, a hundred times' draws on the Strategists' saying that Qin's terrain, ringed by rivers and passes, could hold a hundredfold host — praising the sheer strength of the Guanzhong foundation; yet for 'two words,' fame and rank, this ironclad land was torn by 'how many battles.' The two words against a hundredfold realm make a shocking numerical contrast, the tiny set against the vast, laying bare the vanity and cruelty of the scramble for office. Ma Zhiyuan, writing a short song, holds a historian's breadth: from the first line he looks down on the rise and fall of Qin and Han, condensing a thousand armies into 'how many' — the weightless handling fixing a desolate tone and the cold eye of one who has seen through the world. This opening on argument, its force in numerical balance, shows the power of the bold line of Yuan sanqu.

项废东吴，刘兴西蜀，梦说南柯。

Xiang Yu falls in the east and Liu Bang rises in the west, and all of it proves a dream in Nanke; the rivalry of Chu and Han is dismissed in a single phrase.

项羽败于东吴（垓下），刘邦兴于西蜀，都如南柯一梦。

Xiang Yu fell in the east of the river; Liu Bang rose in the west of Shu — all told as a dream of the southern bough.

此三句以楚汉相争的两个历史镜头，将前句「功名干戈」具象为具体王朝的兴废。「项废东吴」写项羽兵败垓下、自刎乌江，「刘兴西蜀」写刘邦以汉中巴蜀为基终成帝业，一废一兴，对照鲜明；而结以「梦说南柯」，将这一切轰轰烈烈的成败，一笔扫入「南柯一梦」的虚无——无论废兴，到头皆空。马致远用「南柯」典（李公佐《南柯太守传》），以梦中郡国喻人间王朝，举重若轻地消解了英雄事业的庄严。三句鼎足对仗，节奏铿锵，于历史的宏大叙事中透出彻悟的轻嘲。这种「以梦喻史」的手法，既承苏轼「人生如梦」的旷达，又带元人特有的冷峻玩世，是叹世主题由沉痛转向旷达的关键一笔。

These three lines give two historical tableaux of the Chu-Han contest, making concrete the previous 'fame and battles.' Xiang Yu's ruin beneath the eastern river at Gaixia and his death by the Wu River; Liu Bang's rise from Hanzhong and Ba-Shu to the imperial throne — one fall, one rise, set in sharp contrast; and then all is swept into the vanity of 'a dream of the southern bough,' the tale of the man who dreamed he was governor of a southern prefecture and woke to nothing. Rise or fall, all ends in emptiness. The allusion dissolves the solemnity of heroic achievement with weightless ease, and the three balanced lines, sonorous in rhythm, let a detached mockery shine through the grand historical narrative. This dream-as-history technique inherits Su Shi's 'life is like a dream' yet carries the Yuan writers' peculiar cold-worldliness — the key stroke where lament turns from bitterness to release.

成也萧何，败也萧何，醉了由他。

Made by Xiao He and ruined by Xiao He, so let him get drunk and leave it be; the closing words hold both clear sight and resignation.

成也萧何，败也萧何，醉了由他去吧。

He who raised Han Xin was Xiao He; he who undid him was Xiao He too. Drunk, I leave it all to him.

结拍三句以韩信故事收束全篇，将兴亡循环凝为「成也萧何，败也萧何」的著名箴言，并于末句「醉了由他」宕开，归于自我放达。韩信因萧何推荐而拜将、亦因萧何计诱而族诛，「成败系于一人」的荒诞，恰是功名虚妄的最佳注脚；马致远以俗语成句入曲，天然质朴而哲理深沉。最妙在「醉了由他」四字：既不汲汲于兴亡，亦不愤愤于得失，唯以一醉付之，表面旷达，内里却是对元季士人报国无门、只能借酒佯狂的深沉无奈。全曲至此，由历史之长镜头收束为个人之醉眼，以「由他」的淡然反衬前文「干戈」「南柯」的喧闹，章法由宏入微、由热转冷，是马致远叹世小令「豪中见旷、旷中含悲」的巅峰收煞，亦为元散曲「叹世」一题的范本结局。

The closing three lines take Han Xin's story, condensing the cycle of rise and ruin into the famous saying 'through Xiao He he rose, through Xiao He he fell,' then wander off in 'drunk, I leave it all to him' into the poet's own release. Han Xin was made general through Xiao He's recommendation and executed through Xiao He's stratagem — the absurdity of 'success and ruin hanging on one man' is the perfect footnote to the vanity of fame, and Ma Zhiyuan sets the proverb itself into the song, plain and deeply philosophical. The masterstroke is 'drunk, I leave it all': neither clinging to rise and fall nor raging at gain and loss, but handing it all to one drunkenness — seeming detachment, yet holding the deep helplessness of Yuan scholars who, barred from serving the country, could only feign madness in wine. From the long lens of history the song narrows to a single drunken eye; the quiet 'leave it' sets off the clamor of 'battles' and 'southern bough' — the peak close of Ma's lament, bold with ease, ease holding sorrow, and a model ending for the Yuan song on this theme.

Study

Word focus

百二山河 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「咸阳百二山河」之「百二山河」，典出《史记》《战国策》形容秦地险固、以二敌百之语，本写关中形胜之雄。马致远拈来，却不用以赞颂基业，而用以反衬「两字功名」的轻薄——雄固如百二山河，竟因功名二字兵连祸结。此四字以极重的地理分量，与后文极轻的「两字」「几阵」形成跌宕，举重若轻，既显其史识，亦见散曲「以壮语起、以冷语收」的章法。炼字之妙，在将宏大历史凝缩为数字对仗，使读者于「百二」之雄与「两字」之虚的强烈反差中，骤然领悟功名之妄，一字之典而全篇立骨，最见元曲驱使史典而自出机杼的本领。

南柯 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「梦说南柯」之「南柯」，典出唐李公佐传奇《南柯太守传》，淳于棼梦入槐安国为南柯太守，醒后乃知蚁穴。马致远以之喻楚汉兴废、乃至一切人间功业，举重若轻地将英雄史诗扫入虚无。此典之妙，在以「梦」消解「史」的庄严——项废刘兴的轰烈，到头不过是槐安一梦。与苏轼「人生如梦」相较，马致远更多元人冷峭的玩世之味；与「黄粱」相较，南柯偏于蚁穴微末，更显荒诞。一字入曲，遂使全篇由沉痛历史顿悟为旷达虚无，是叹世主题由「感慨」升华为「看破」的关键钮结，亦见元曲驱使唐人传奇故实而自出机杼的功力。

由他 'Let it be' is the language of release, expansive on the surface and coldly clear-eyed underneath. 「醉了由他」之「由他」二字，是全曲情感的最终落点，看似淡然放任，实则沉痛之极。面对成废兴亡的荒诞循环，词人既不挣扎亦不愤懑，唯以一醉付之，「由他」二字写尽元季士人报国无门、只能佯狂避世的深层无奈。它与「成也萧何，败也萧何」的宿命箴言紧承，将历史之重化为个人之轻，以表面的旷达反衬内里的悲凉。散曲善用口语收束，「由他」正是此类活用之妙——于最不经意处见最深的绝望与自解，举重若轻，余味无穷，使全曲在冷笑中收场，最见马致远叹世小令「豪宕而悲郁」的底色，亦为元代士人精神出路之写照。