All poems

元 Yuan · 曲 Qu song

庆东原·次马致远先辈韵

Celebrating the Eastern Plain: Matching the Rhymes of My Elder Ma Zhiyuan

张可久

Zhang Kejiu

咏怀expressing one's feelings 豪放unrestrained manner 小令short song

诗情放，剑气豪。
英雄不把穷通较。
江中斩蛟，云间射雕，席上挥毫。
他得志笑闲人，他失脚闲人笑。

Poetic feeling unloosed, sword spirit bold.
A hero does not stop to weigh hardship against success.
He beheads the water dragon in the river, shoots the eagle among the clouds,
and dashes off an essay at the banquet table.
When he prospers the hanger-on laughs at others; when he stumbles, others laugh at him.

Listen

Meaning

The song praises a hero who is master of both the pen and the sword and who pays no attention to whether fortune favors him. It closes by turning on the parasites of the powerful, who mock others in good times and are mocked in turn when they fall.

诗情奔放不羁，剑气豪迈干云。真正的英雄从不计较际遇的困厄与显达。他能入江斩杀蛟龙为民除害，能弯弓射落云间大雕，能在酒席上即席挥毫成文。那些帮闲小人得志时讥笑别人，一旦失足，也要反过来被别人讥笑。

Appreciation

The two opening three-syllable lines are matched, setting poetry beside swordsmanship and establishing at once a man complete in both letters and arms. Three four-syllable lines follow in a tripod parallel - killing the dragon, shooting the eagle, wielding the brush - two feats of arms and one of literature, three close-ups that assemble into a full-length portrait. The final two lines are a mirror pair: eight syllables in each, the same words in reversed order, so that a small change of sequence produces the two faces of triumph and disgrace. Zhang Kejiu usually writes with delicacy, and this bold departure gives the piece its distinction.

【白话串讲】 “诗情放，剑气豪。英雄不把穷通较”——张可久和韵马致远：英雄不计较穷通。“江中斩蛟，云间射雕，席上挥毫”——“他得志笑闲人，他失脚闲人笑”——得志时笑闲人，失意时被闲人笑。元代文人的清醒。【意象与手法】开篇两个三字句对起，诗情与剑气并举，先立文武双全的骨架。中间三个四字句作鼎足对，斩蛟、射雕、挥毫，两武一文，如三幅特写连缀成一位豪杰的全身像。末二句回环相对，得志笑闲人与失脚闲人笑，语序倒转而意思翻覆，冷峻如刀。【情感与主旨】张可久曲多清丽婉约，此篇独以豪宕见长。他次马致远之韵，所标举的不是纵情山水的隐者，而是不计穷通的达士。借英雄以自见胸襟，借闲人以刺势利，赞与刺各据一端，格局遂大。【名句点睛】他得志笑闲人，他失脚闲人笑——同样八字，只换语序，便见得意与失意的两副面孔，对比强烈，力透纸背。

Background

Zhang Kejiu, styled Xiaoshan, came from Qingyuan and left over eight hundred short songs, more surviving sanqu than any other writer of the age; he is paired with Qiao Ji as one of the two jewels of the form. Ma Zhiyuan was more than twenty years his senior, hence the respectful term for an elder in the title. Ma had written several pieces called Lamenting the Age to the tune Celebrating the Eastern Plain in the shuangdiao mode, and Zhang Kejiu wrote nine matching his rhymes; this is one of them, preserved in the collected northern songs of Zhang Xiaoshan.

张可久，字小山，元末散曲大家，一生久滞下僚，曾任小吏，足迹半天下，晚年居杭州。其散曲多清丽婉约、讲究炼句，与乔吉并称「双璧」，有《小山乐府》传世。此篇牌调为「中吕·庆东原」，题云「次马致远先辈韵」，即依马致远原韵唱和。马致远，号东篱，元曲四大家之一，其「庆东原」「蟾宫曲」诸作多写叹世豪放之音，张可久此曲正沿其豪宕一脉而作。值得注意的是，张可久素以婉约清丽著称，此篇却独标高格、放笔写英雄，是其集中罕见的豪放之作，可见元曲作家并不拘守一格，亦可见「次韵」唱和激发出的另一种笔墨。曲中所标举的，不是纵情山水的隐者，而是不计穷通、文武兼资的达士，借英雄以自见胸襟，借闲人以刺势利，格局遂大，亦折射出元代文人沉抑下僚、对帮闲小人得志弄权的不平之气。张可久以清丽名世而此篇独放豪音，正见元曲作家不主一格之自由，亦见次韵唱和对笔墨之激发，于散曲研究尤具范式意义。

Art

It opens with a matched couplet to set the frame, spreads out in the middle with a tripod parallel, and closes with a mirrored pair, a three-part structure of perfect regularity. Not a single element of landscape appears; the whole song conveys a temperament purely through a man's actions. The hand is powerful and the compass small, opening a bold register within the generally graceful world of Xiaoshan's songs.

此曲艺术上最见结构之妙。开篇两个三字句「诗情放，剑气豪」对起，一文一武、一柔一刚，先立起主人公的骨架，起调极峭。接着「英雄不把穷通较」一句作总提，点出全曲的价值观：真正的英雄超越穷达。中间三个四字句「江中斩蛟，云间射雕，席上挥毫」作鼎足对（鼎足对为元曲特有之三句对），斩蛟、射雕两武一文（挥毫），如三幅特写连缀成一位豪杰的全身像，节奏短促有力。末二句「他得志笑闲人，他失脚闲人笑」回环相对，八字之中只换语序，便见得意与失意的两副面孔，对比强烈，冷峻如刀。全曲由立骨到写形再到刺世，层层推进，由赞英雄转而为讥闲人，赞与刺各据一端，而「穷通」一线贯穿首尾，结构之紧、笔力之健，在元人小令中堪称上乘。全曲由立骨到写形再到刺世，层层推进而一线贯穿，末以回文写炎凉，机锋冷峻，是元人小令中少见的警策之笔，足为豪放一体之范。

Allusions

Beheading the water dragon in the river draws on the biography of Zhou Chu in the History of the Jin, who went into the water to kill the dragon and rid the people of one of their three scourges. Shooting the eagle among the clouds refers to Hulü Guang of the Northern Qi, who brought down a great eagle while hunting with his lord and was thereafter called the eagle-shooter of the clouds. The hanger-on means a retainer attached to a powerful household, and stumbling means falling out of favor and losing one's way.

曲中三处用典皆切英雄本事。其一「江中斩蛟」，典出《晋书·周处传》：周处少时横行乡里，与南山白额虎、长桥下蛟并称「三害」，后发愤斩虎杀蛟、改过自新，终成忠臣。此处以斩蛟喻除患建功、勇于自任。其二「云间射雕」，典出《北史·斛律光传》：北齐将领斛律光尝猎，见大雕飞鸣，引弓一发而中，人称「落雕都督」，后遂以射雕指代骁勇善射之将。其三「席上挥毫」，写文人在宴席即席赋诗、落笔千言，合前二者而成文武双全之象。此外「穷通」语本《庄子·让王》「穷通为寒暑风雨之序」，谓困厄与显达如四时更替，不足萦怀；「闲人」在宋元语境中专指帮闲陪笑、仰人鼻息的无行文人（如「闲汉」「帮闲」），非今日闲适之意。数典叠用，把一位理想中的豪杰写得须眉毕现，亦使讽世之笔有了历史厚度。斩蛟射雕挥毫三典叠用，把理想英雄写得须眉毕现，闲人一词更点出宋元帮闲之特定世相，数典之密而意脉之清，于此可见。

Commentary

The Formulary of Correct Sounds of Great Harmony likens the writing of Zhang Xiaoshan to cranes piping in a jade sky, yet the passionate energy of this song makes it stand alone among his works.

此曲历来被视为张可久豪放一面的代表作。明朱权《太和正音谱》评张可久词「如披太华之仙人，神游于万物之表」，虽就其清丽者而言，而此篇之「神游」气概恰可互证。近人论元曲，每以马致远、张养浩为豪放，张可久、乔吉为清丽，然此曲足破此成见——张可久亦能作铁绰板铜琵琶之声。尤其末二句以回文般的语序翻覆，写尽炎凉世态，与马致远《蟾宫曲·叹世》「咸阳百二山河，两字功名，几阵干戈」同一冷眼，而更以八字对仗收束，警策过之。元末社会动荡、士人沉沦，此类刺世之作正是时代之音；张可久借次韵唱和之机，把一腔磊落不平尽付豪宕之笔，遂使此小令兼具风骨与机锋，足与马致远原唱并传。此篇足破张可久唯婉约之成见，其豪宕冷刺与马致远原唱并传，于元曲讽世主题中自成一格，亦可见同调异趣之唱和生态。，足破张可久唯婉约之成见，其豪宕冷刺于散曲豪放一体尤具范式意义，可与马致远原唱并传。

Prosody

Form Shuangdiao mode中吕宫·庆东原（元曲小令）

Rhyme The source records no rhyme detail; the piece keeps one rhyme through all six of its rhyming positions.此曲依马致远原韵唱和，庆东原句式为三三、四、四四四、三三，多押仄韵，遇险峻激越之调。张可久此篇以豪宕语入曲，韵脚短促相应，与英雄豪气、冷峻讥刺的声情相称，宜于铁绰板铜琵琶歌之，不宜红牙拍板。

Tone pattern Also called Celebrating the Eastern Garden and Yuncheng Spring; the fixed pattern runs three, three, seven, then four, four, four, then three, three, making eight lines with six rhymes. The first two and the last two lines should be parallel.元曲平仄较词为宽，且多用衬字，然句式之顿挫仍在。开篇「诗情放，剑气豪」两个三字句如两记鼓点，峭健起调；中间三句四字鼎足对，节奏划一而紧促；末二句七字回环相对，平仄错落形成问答般的呼应。全曲短句密集、少拖沓，正宜抒发豪气与机锋，声情与辞情若合符契。

Reading note The song opens with poetry and sword set side by side, treats in the middle the three feats of killing the dragon, shooting the eagle, and wielding the brush, and closes on the mirrored laughter of the hangers-on. Boldness carries satire inside it, and the matching of rhymes never becomes a constraint. This is Zhang Kejiu in his unrestrained vein.庆东原为北曲中吕宫曲牌，句式整饬而宜于发议论、写豪情。此篇最值得注意者，是张可久一反其清丽婉约的常格，而作铁绰板之声，可见元曲作家并不拘守一派，亦见「次韵」唱和对笔墨的激发。其结构由立骨（诗情剑气）、提挈（不较穷通）、写形（斩蛟射雕挥毫）到刺世（闲人笑），层层推进而一线贯穿；尤其末二句以语序回文写炎凉，机锋冷峻，是元人小令中少见的警策之笔。在散曲研究上，此曲可与马致远《庆东原·叹世》《蟾宫曲·叹世》并观，视作元末刺世豪放一脉的代表，亦足破「张可久唯婉约」的成见，对理解元曲风格的多样性颇有价值。

Line by line

诗情放，剑气豪。

Poetic feeling let loose, sword spirit reaching to the clouds. The opening pairs letters with arms to raise the frame of a hero, and the outlook is broad from the start.

诗兴奔放不羁，剑气豪迈干云。

Poetic feeling unbridled; sword-force heroic.

开篇两个三字句对起，是全曲的起手式，亦是最见精神的骨力所在。「诗情」对「剑气」，一文一武、一柔一刚，瞬间立起主人公的双重身份——既能吟咏又能任侠。两个形容词「放」与「豪」皆极有分量：「放」写才情之不受拘检、纵横恣肆；「豪」写气概之凌厉逼人、不可一世。六字之中不见一个动词写人，而人的形象已凛然跃出，正是元曲「以少许胜多许」的起调法。与张可久惯常的「马上琵琶，水中杨柳」式清婉不同，此二句峭健陡起，如奇峰拔地，先声夺人，为后文写英雄、刺闲人定下豪宕的基调，读来令人神旺。

The opening, two three-character lines paired, is the song's opening gesture and its sinew. 'Poetic feeling' against 'sword-force,' letters against arms, soft against hard, at once setting up the double identity of the hero — able to chant verse and to act the knight. The two adjectives 'unbridled' and 'heroic' are both weighty: 'unbridled' writes the gift's freedom from check, its sweep; 'heroic' the bearing's keenness, its pride. Six characters, no verb writing the person, yet his figure springs up — the Yuan qu's way of opening with the few defeating the many. Unlike Zhang Kejiu's usual 'pipa on horseback, willow in water' delicacy, these two lines rise sharp and steep, like a peak from the earth, striking first, fixing the bold tone for the hero praised and the idler mocked below, heartening to read.

英雄不把穷通较。

A true hero never stops to weigh hardship against success. Refusing to measure fortune shows the breadth of his mind, and the boast reveals the size of his spirit.

真正的英雄从不计较际遇的困厄与显达。

The true hero never weighs success against failure.

此句为全曲的价值枢纽，上承「诗情剑气」的豪气，下启斩蛟射雕的壮举。「穷通」即困厄与显达，语出《庄子》，本指如寒暑般自然更替的际遇；诗人说真英雄「不把穷通较」，即不以得失萦怀、不被功名羁绊，这是一种超越贫富贵贱的达观，也是一种不被时命左右的骨气。在元代文人久沉下僚、进身无门的时代语境里，这句话既有自勉之意，也暗含对趋炎附势者的轻蔑。它把前面单纯的才气豪气，提升为一种稳定的人格标高——英雄之所以为英雄，不在其位，而在其心。一句提挈，使全曲由写「能」转入写「品」，立意遂深一层。

This line is the song's value-hinge, carrying the boldness of 'poetic feeling, sword-force' and leading to the feats below. 'Success against failure,' from Zhuangzi, means the turns of fortune, like heat and cold; the poet says the true hero 'never weighs' them — neither clinging to gain and loss nor bound by fame, a detachment above poverty and rank, and a spine untouched by the times. In the age of Yuan scholars sunk in humble posts, barred from advancement, the line is at once self-exhortation and contempt for the time-server. It lifts the earlier mere gift and boldness into a stable moral height: the hero's heroism lies not in station but in heart. One commanding line turns the song from writing 'ability' to writing 'character,' the intent deepened a notch.

江中斩蛟，云间射雕，席上挥毫。

He can enter the river and behead the dragon to rid the people of a scourge, bring down the great eagle among the clouds, and dash off an essay at the banquet table. Three phrases spread out three exploits, moving through river, cloud, and feast, so that martial force and literary polish appear together.

他能入江斩杀蛟龙为民除害，能弯弓射落云间大雕，能在酒席上即席挥毫成文。

Slaying the dragon in the river, shooting the eagle among the clouds, wielding the brush at the feast.

这三句作鼎足对，是元曲特有的三句并列对仗，如三幅特写连缀成一位豪杰的全身像。斩蛟用周处除害之典，写其勇毅任事；射雕用斛律光落雕之典，写其武艺绝伦；挥毫写其文采风流，席上立就。两武一文，刚柔相济，把「诗情放，剑气豪」的抽象骨架落实为三个具体的英雄动作。尤为精妙的是三句的排布：由水（江中）到天（云间）再到席（席上），空间层层收束，由壮阔归于宴前，节奏短促如鼓点，读来英气逼人。鼎足对本难工，此处三句句式划一、事类相称，既见格律之巧，更见理想英雄「出则将，入则相」的完整形象，是全曲最有光彩的笔墨。

These three lines, a balanced triplet native to Yuan qu, like three close-ups joined into a full portrait of the hero. 'Slaying the dragon in the river' uses the tale of Zhou Chu, who rid the people of the dragon, writing his courage and public spirit; 'shooting the eagle among the clouds' uses Hulu Guang's downed eagle, his matchless archery; 'wielding the brush at the feast' his literary grace, a composition improvised at the table. Two arms, one letter, hardness and softness in balance, turning the abstract skeleton of 'poetic feeling unbridled, sword-force heroic' into three concrete heroic acts. The arrangement is especially fine: from water (the river) to sky (the clouds) to the table (the feast), space closing layer by layer, from grandeur to the board in front, the rhythm short as drumbeats, heroic to the reader. The balanced triplet is hard to craft; here the lines are matched in form and allusion, showing both the craft of meter and the complete image of the ideal hero — general abroad, minister at home — the song's most glowing brushwork.

他得志笑闲人，他失脚闲人笑。

When the hangers-on prosper they laugh at other men; the moment they stumble, they become the laughingstock in turn. The reversed symmetry captures the way of the world, the parasites are ridiculous in both directions, and the coolest observer sees it most clearly.

那些帮闲小人得志时讥笑别人，一旦失足，也要反过来被别人讥笑。

When he prospers, he laughs at the idlers; when he trips, the idlers laugh at him.

末二句回环相对，是全曲的机锋所在。同样八个字，只把「得志」与「失脚」、「笑闲人」与「闲人笑」换了语序，便写尽炎凉世态的两副面孔：得志时以闲人自居而笑人，失势时自己成了被人笑的闲人。这种以语序翻覆制造对照的手法，冷峻如刀，比正面痛骂更有力。「闲人」在宋元专指帮闲陪笑、仰人鼻息的无行文人，诗人以「他」字拉开距离，冷眼旁观，既刺其得志时的张狂，也讽其失势后的狼狈。由前面的赞英雄陡转为讥闲人，一扬一抑之间，英雄的「不把穷通较」更显高贵，而趋炎附势者的可笑也更鲜明，章法收束得既峭且稳，馀味不尽。

The closing two lines loop against each other, the song's point of wit. The same eight characters, only shifting the order of 'prospers' and 'trips,' 'laughs at the idlers' and 'the idlers laugh,' write the two faces of the world's warmth and chill: prospering, he ranks himself above and mocks others; fallen, he becomes the mocked idler himself. This reversal of order to make the contrast is cold as a blade, stronger than direct railing. 'Idler,' in Song-Yuan usage, names the unprincipled hanger-on who laughs for bread and lives on others' breath; the poet's 'he' keeps his distance, watching coldly, stabbing at the prosperous arrogance and mocking the fallen plight alike. From the praise of heroes to the mockery of idlers in a turn — lifted and pressed down, the hero's 'never weighs success against failure' shines the nobler, the time-server's absurdity the plainer; the structure closed both sharp and steady, the aftertone lingering.

Study

Word focus

较 The verb for weighing gives the lightest flick and thereby pushes hardship, success, honor, and disgrace outside the self. 「英雄不把穷通较」的「较」字是全曲价值观的关键字，意为计较、挂怀。一个极寻常的动词，却举起了全篇的立意：英雄之所以为英雄，正在于他不被穷达所羁、不被时命所困。与前面「放」「豪」的张扬不同，「较」字以否定句式出现，是收束、是超越，把向外喷薄的豪气转为向内持守的定力。在元代文人进身无门、动辄得咎的处境里，「不较穷通」既是一种精神自卫，也是一种傲骨宣言。这一个字以最轻的笔触，压住了最重的身世之感，使全曲由写英雄之「能」升华为写英雄之「品」，炼字之妙在平易中见分量。

闲人 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 末句「闲人」二字，是此曲讽世之眼的落点，却最易误读。今人每以「闲人」为闲适高雅之人，而在宋元语境里，「闲人」「闲汉」「帮闲」均指那些无行止、靠陪笑钻营、仰权贵鼻息过活的清客幕宾，是带鄙薄意味的称谓。诗人以「他得志笑闲人，他失脚闲人笑」的回文，把这类人得志时的张狂与失势后的狼狈一并写出，冷峭入骨。正是这一个被时代赋予了特殊含义的词，使全曲的讽刺有了精确的靶心——所刺不在一般的隐逸闲适，而在媚俗逐利的帮闲之辈，足见张可久用字之审时度势、切中世态。

豪 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「剑气豪」的「豪」字，与「诗情放」的「放」对举，是开篇立骨的两大支柱之一。「豪」写气概之凌厉、胸襟之开阔，既是剑气的质感，也是人格的标高。在张可久素以清丽婉约为主的创作中，这个「豪」字格外醒目——它宣告了此篇不同于《小山乐府》常见的浅斟低唱，而是放笔写英雄、作铁绰板声。一个「豪」字，既形容剑之寒光逼人，也形容人之不可一世，物我合一，先声夺人。它与尾联「不把穷通较」的达观、「闲人笑」的冷眼一脉贯通，共同撑起一位超越穷达、睥睨势利的理想豪杰形象，是全曲精神气质的总钮。