All poems

元 Yuan · 散曲 Sanqu song

庆东原·叹世

Joy of the Eastern Plain · Sighing at the World

白朴

Bai Pu

感怀reflection 讽喻satire 隐逸Hermitage

忘忧草，含笑花，劝君闻早冠宜挂。
那里也能言陆贾？
那里也良谋子牙？
那里也豪气张华？
千古是非心，一夕渔樵话。

Forget-worry grass, smiling-flower bloom —
I urge you, friend, to hang your cap and quit the office while early.
Where now the eloquent Lu Jia?
Where now the wise Ziya?
Where now the brave Zhang Hua?
A thousand ages' right and wrong —
One night's idle chat of fisher and woodman.

Listen

Meaning

Look at the forget-worry grass, think of the smiling flower, and I urge you to hang up your official cap and retire while it is still early. Where now is the eloquent debater Lu Jia? Where now the good strategist Jiang Ziya? Where now the heroic and gifted Zhang Hua? A thousand autumns of right and wrong are reduced to one night's idle talk between a fisherman and a woodcutter.

看看忘忧草，想想含笑花，劝你趁早挂冠辞官。能言善辩的陆贾如今在哪里？足智多谋的姜子牙如今在哪里？文韬武略的张华如今又在哪里？千古万代的是非曲直，都成了渔人樵夫一夜闲话的谈资。

Appreciation

This aria opens with the forget-worry grass and the smiling flower, then urges an early retirement from office. Its finest stroke lies in the three balanced lines that follow, each beginning with the padding phrase 'where now', piling up the questions about Lu Jia, Ziya and Zhang Hua, three men of great talent, to lengthen the sighing tone and weigh the grief that worthy men are sunk in oblivion. The close, 'a thousand ages' right and wrong — one night's idle chat', gathers the whole into a fisherman's and woodman's talk, turning from persuasion to a cold, quiet scorn for the unjust world. The piece argues in form, yet through padding words and allusion it stays light in language but deep in flavour, free and detached yet hiding a sharp grief at the world's unfairness.

【白话串讲】白朴感叹：能言善辩的陆贾在哪？足智多谋的姜子牙在哪？“千古是非心，一夕渔樵话”——千古的是非功过，最后都成了渔夫樵夫聊天的话题。【意象与手法】此曲最妙在中间三句鼎足对，连下三个「那里也」为衬字，排诘陆贾、子牙、张华三位济世之才的归宿，以重沓拉长嗟叹语调，于「言之不足则嗟叹之」中见沉郁。首尾以忘忧草、含笑花与渔樵闲话呼应，结构圆融，全曲以议论为体，语淡味浓。【情感与主旨】白朴（1226—1306后）幼经战乱，父仕金，金亡后得元好问救助，入元坚不仕元，浪迹山水。此曲属「叹世」组曲，约作于中年漫游时，系劝勉友人弃官归隐之作。元代士人地位低下，「九儒十丐」，怀才不遇者多托散曲以抒愤，白朴借历史人物命运暗讥元廷不重人才。【名句点睛】如入选考查，重点在：①典故作用，说明陆贾、子牙、张华的引用如何强化「人才湮没」之叹；②「那里也」衬字叠用的声情效果；③「渔樵话」的历史虚无感与旷达。

Background

Bai Pu (1226–after 1306) lived through war as a child; his father served the Jin, and after its fall he was aided by Yuan Haowen, yet he firmly refused office under the Yuan and wandered among hills and streams. This aria belongs to his 'Sighing at the World' set, likely written in middle age while roaming, as advice to a friend to give up office and retire. Under the Yuan the scholar's standing was low and many men of talent, unable to find a place, poured their frustration into sanqu. Bai Pu uses the fate of historical figures to hint at the Yuan court's neglect of ability, and so urges his friend not to cling to fame but withdraw in time.

白朴（1226—1306后），字太素，号兰谷，祖籍隩州（今山西河曲），元代著名杂剧、散曲作家，与关汉卿、马致远、郑光祖并称「元曲四大家」。白朴幼经战乱，父白华仕金为枢密院判官，金亡后他随元好问避难，由元好问教养成人。元朝建立后，白朴坚不仕元，浪迹山水，寄情诗酒，其散曲多写闲适与叹世。此曲属「叹世」组曲，约作于中年漫游时，系劝勉友人弃官归隐之作。元代士人地位低下，有「九儒十丐」之说，怀才不遇者多托散曲以抒愤。白朴借历史人物命运，暗讥元廷不重人才、英雄无用武之地，故劝友莫恋功名，及早抽身，其旷达语中实含对世道不公的冷峭悲愤。元初士人处境尤为特殊，科举废置近八十年，「九儒十丐」，文人多隐于市井或寄情杂剧散曲；白朴此曲之叹世劝隐，正是这一时代语境下的典型心声，亦可见元好问「国亡史作」对白朴人格的影响。白朴散曲现存三十余首，题材以叹世、闲适、写景为主，此曲为其叹世组曲之二；元好问曾誉白朴为「中州文献之望」，可见其在文坛的地位，然其终身不仕，正是元代文人的典型选择。白朴出身金朝官宦之家，父白华仕金为枢密院判官，金亡后家道中落，他随元好问辗转避乱，饱经丧乱之苦；这段身世使他看透兴亡，也奠定了他终身不仕的思想基础。

Art

The aria's wonder lies above all in the three balanced middle lines, which take the padding word 'where now' three times to question, one after another, the resting place of Lu Jia, Ziya and Zhang Hua, three men who served the world, using repetition to stretch the sighing tone and, in 'words fail, so one sighs', show a brooding weight. The head and tail answer each other with the forget-worry grass, the smiling flower and the fisherman's and woodman's chat, making the structure round. The whole argues in form, yet through padding words and allusion it stays light in language but deep in flavour, free and detached yet hiding a cold, sharp anger at the world's unfairness.

此曲最妙在中间三句鼎足对，连下三个「那里也」为衬字，排诘陆贾、子牙、张华三位济世之才的归宿，以重沓拉长嗟叹语调，于言之不足则嗟叹之中见沉郁。三句句式完全相同，只换人物，一问再问、三问而不答，其意自明——济世之才尚且湮没无闻，况乎常人？问而不答，悲愤愈深。首尾以忘忧草、含笑花与渔樵闲话呼应，结构圆融：起于劝人忘忧含笑，结于千古是非尽入渔樵闲话，首尾关合，浑然一体。全曲以议论为体，却因衬字与典故的运用，语淡味浓，超脱旷达中藏着对世道不公的冷峭悲愤，正是元曲「本色当行」的典范。此曲虽短，而章法有起承转合之妙：起以花草之乐，承以劝隐之旨，转以三问之叹，合以渔樵之悟，四层递进，由乐入悲、由悲入悟，结构圆融，正是小令「麻雀虽小五脏俱全」的典范。三句鼎足对连用「那里也」，一问陆贾、二问子牙、三问张华，由辩士而谋臣而儒将，人物身份递进，所叹愈深：能言者、良谋者、豪气者皆无下场，则世道可知。起以花草、结以渔樵，一雅一俗遥相呼应，全曲如一首完整的哲理小令：由劝人忘忧入题，历历史之叹，归于渔樵闲话的超脱，起承转合，浑然天成。

Allusions

The allusions are dense yet apt: 'forget-worry grass' means the day-lily, which Ji Kang's 'Essay on Nourishing Life' says drives away sorrow; 'smiling flower' is a magnolia that blooms as if smiling. 'Hang your cap' uses the story of the Later-Han man Feng Meng, who untied his cap and hung it on the city gate to resign, here inverted for wit. 'Lu Jia' was Emperor Gaozu's debater, 'Ziya' helped Zhou destroy Yin, 'Zhang Hua' was a Western-Jin man of letters with martial counsel; all three served the world well, used to set off that 'heroes find no use'. The last line transforms Zhang Bian's 'all enter the fisherman's and woodman's idle talk', closing a thousand ages of right and wrong in that talk.

用典密集而贴切：「忘忧草」指萱草，嵇康《养生论》谓其「合欢蠲忿，萱草忘忧」，此处以忘忧草起兴，暗含劝人忘忧之意；「含笑花」为木兰科植物，开若含笑，与忘忧草对举，皆以花名寄人生境界。「冠宜挂」用后汉逢萌解冠挂洛阳城门辞官之事，倒装见巧，劝人早挂官冠。「陆贾」为汉高祖辩士，定天下后出使南越，能言善辩；「子牙」即姜太公，佐周灭殷，足智多谋；「张华」西晋文学家，有武略，曾平吴立功——三人皆济世良才，用以反衬「豪杰无用」。末句化用张昪「尽入渔樵闲话」之意，以渔樵闲话收千古是非，旷达而含讥。「子牙」即姜太公，八十而遇文王，垂钓渭滨以待明主，本是「待价而沽」的典范，此处却问其「那里也」，反用其意，言纵有太公之才亦无文王可遇，悲愤更深一层。「含笑花」之名，兼含「含笑」的人生姿态，与「忘忧草」对举，一忘一含，正是劝人旷达的双重方式，花草起兴而含人生哲理。「渔樵」为元曲惯用意象，渔父樵夫被视为参透世事的智者，「一夕渔樵话」以渔樵闲话收束千古是非，正是元人历史虚无意识的典型表达。「冠宜挂」之典，逢萌见王莽乱政，解冠挂东都城门而去，是「邦无道则隐」的典型；白朴用此典劝友挂冠，正是以古人为鉴，暗刺当世无道。

Commentary

Wang Xingqi said: 'Reading Bai Pu's aria, do not take it plainly as passive; the words smile and forget are exactly the key of the whole.' Zheng Yinbai held that such decadent feeling in Yuan arias is the literati's response to the darkness of the politics of their day. Its writing of rise and fall as constant through three balanced lines matches Zhang Yanghao's little songs on the past, different in tune yet the same in work.

王星琦评：读白朴此曲，不可径以消极视之，「笑」「忘」二字恰是全篇关窍——笑忘之中有对现实的清醒认识，也有不得已的超脱。郑因百谓元曲此种颓废情调，乃文人对当代黑暗政治之反响，此曲正是代表。其以鼎足对写兴亡无常，与张养浩怀古小令异曲而同工，皆以历史人物之湮没写当代之不平。白朴散曲存世不多而皆精，此曲语言本色、结构圆融、典故贴切，是元人叹世散曲中的上乘之作，也是理解元代文人「儒士沦落」处境的窗口。此曲与马致远《天净沙·秋思》的悲秋、张养浩《山坡羊·潼关怀古》的悯民并列，为元人叹世小令的三大名篇，各以渔樵、秋思、兴亡写元人共同的时代之叹，可合观以见元曲精神的全貌。近人论元曲，多以「本色当行」许白朴，此曲口语入曲、衬字传情、用典贴切，正是本色当行的代表，亦见北曲小令以俗为雅的艺术追求。此曲与白朴《天净沙·春》等闲适之作并观，可见其叹世与闲适的一体两面：正因为看破世情，才放情山水，其旷达正是悲愤的另一面。白朴与关汉卿、马致远、郑光祖并称「元曲四大家」，其杂剧《梧桐雨》《墙头马上》享誉后世，而散曲虽存不多，此曲之叹世、其《天净沙》四时之写景，皆足称元曲本色当行的代表。

Prosody

Form Sanqu aria, double-mode 'Joy of the Eastern Plain' (Qing Dong Yuan)散曲·双调《庆东原》

Rhyme Rhymes with hua, gua, Jia, Ya, Hua, hua (Jia-Ma rhyme, Zhongyuan Phonology)押家麻韵（花、挂、贾、牙、华、话），属《中原音韵》

Tone pattern Fixed form lines 3,3,7 / 4,4,4 / 3,3, eight lines six rhymes; the three middle lines form a tripod antithesis定格句式三三七、四四四、三三，八句六韵；中三句为鼎足对

Reading note 'Where now' is a padding word; the standard line is four characters, repeated to show the Yuan-qu character此曲为双调《庆东原》小令，属北曲，押家麻韵（花、挂、贾、牙、华、话），韵脚疏朗，宜于说理咏叹。定格句式三三七、四四四、三三，八句六韵，前五句为三、三、七字与四字句相间，中三句四字句构成鼎足对，音节由短促而齐整，如连珠炮发；「那里也」三字为衬字，正格四字句，叠用三处，以衬字打破齐整、拉长语调，正是元曲「借衬字行腔」的特色。末二句三字对（千古是非心，一夕渔樵话）收束，音节由放而收。全曲以韵为节、以衬为腔，说理而不板滞，咏叹而有节奏，是北曲小令声情并茂的典范。诵读此曲，三句「那里也」宜一气连问、声调渐高，至「千古是非心」转缓，末句「一夕渔樵话」放轻放淡，方见由愤激到旷达的声情变化。「花、挂、贾、牙、华、话」皆家麻韵，开口洪亮，正合咏叹之调，唱来尤觉一唱三叹。

Line by line

忘忧草，含笑花

Forget-worry grass, smiling-flower bloom

忘忧草，含笑花。

The sorrow-forgetting grass; the smile-withholding flower.

起兴双关，暗喻忘忧含笑的人生境界。「忘忧草」即萱草，古人以为可以忘忧；「含笑花」花开似含笑，两者皆以花名寄意——忘忧则无忧，含笑则自足，正是劝人放下功名之累的起兴。以花草起兴，清新明快，与后文的历史沉痛形成反差，先以轻松之笔引人，再以重叹警醒，章法巧妙。此句以花名起兴，轻松中暗藏劝诫，正是元曲「以俗为雅」的开篇。花草起兴而双关人生，起笔轻松，正为后文之叹蓄势。

The opening springboard doubles in meaning, darkly figuring a life of forgetting sorrow and smiling contentment. 'The sorrow-forgetting grass' is the daylily, thought by the ancients to banish care; 'the smile-withholding flower' blooms as if smiling — both flower-names carrying meaning: to forget sorrow is to have none; to smile is to be self-sufficient. The opening persuades men to lay down the burden of fame. Flowers and grass as springboard, fresh and bright, set against the historical grief to come: first to charm in light strokes, then to warn in a heavy sigh, the craft well wrought. A flower-name opening, with admonition hidden in lightness — the Yuan qu's 'making the vernacular elegant,' priming the sighs below.

劝君闻早冠宜挂

I urge you, friend, to hang your cap and quit the office while early

劝你趁早挂冠辞官。

I urge you, while yet you may, to hang up your official cap.

直揭归隐主旨。「闻早」即趁早，口语入曲，劝诫恳切自然；「冠宜挂」用后汉逢萌解冠挂城门辞官之典，倒装为「冠宜挂」，语序奇崛，读来警醒有力。此句是全曲的主脑：前二句起兴、此句点题、后三句印证，劝人趁早抽身、莫恋功名，是全曲劝隐立场的直接表达。此句直揭主旨，用典而不隔，口语与典语相融，警策有力。「闻早」二字恳切，如长者劝诫，亲切中见深情。「冠宜挂」用典倒装，警醒有力，是全曲主脑。

The line strikes the theme of reclusion outright. 'While yet you may' means early, vernacular in the song, the urging earnest and natural; 'to hang up your official cap' uses the Eastern Han tale of Feng Meng, who took off his cap and hung it on the city gate to resign, inverted into 'the cap should be hung,' the order unusual, the reading arresting. The line is the song's mainspring: the first two lines springboard, this line the theme, the last three the proof — urging early withdrawal, no clinging to fame, the direct statement of the song's pro-reclusion stance. The theme struck outright, allusion without obstruction, vernacular and allusive fused, warning and force. 'While yet you may' is earnest, like an elder's counsel, warmth holding depth; the inverted allusion is arresting — the mainspring of the whole.

那里也能言陆贾？

Where now the eloquent Lu Jia?

能言善辩的陆贾如今在哪里？

Where, oh where is Lu Jia, the master of speech?

衬字「那里也」三叠之始，嗟叹英才湮没。陆贾是汉高祖的辩士，凭三寸不烂之舌定南越、安天下，功业赫赫；然而「那里也」一问，直问其归宿——如此能臣，今在何处？问而不答，其意自明：功业再大，终归尘土，何况常人？以衬字拉长语调，一问一叹，悲愤自见，是鼎足对中最有力的一问。此句一问一顿，三问而悲愤自深，是鼎足对表情的典范。一问即一顿，陆贾之才愈显，其湮没愈可叹。衬字「那里也」拉长语调，嗟叹之音如在耳畔。

The padding word 'where, oh where' begins its triple call, grieving the drowning of talent. Lu Jia was the debater of Han Gaozu, who with his three-inch tongue settled Nanyue and pacified the realm, his achievements brilliant; yet 'where, oh where' asks straight after his dwelling — such a servant, where is he now? Asked without answer, the meaning self-evident: achievement however great ends in dust, let alone common men? The padding draws out the cadence, question and sigh, grief self-evident — the most forceful of the balanced triplet's questions. Each question a pause; the talent of Lu Jia the clearer, his drowning the more lamentable; 'where, oh where' draws out the cadence, the sigh as if at the ear.

那里也良谋子牙？

Where, oh where is Jiang Ziya, the master of stratagems?

足智多谋的姜子牙如今在哪里？

Where, oh where is Jiang Ziya, the master of stratagems?

鼎足对之二问。「子牙」即姜太公，八十遇文王，垂钓渭滨终成王佐，本是怀才得遇的千古典范；「良谋」赞其足智多谋，「那里也」一问，直问其归宿——纵有太公之才，今亦何在？反用其意，言世无文王，才士无所遇合。与陆贾、张华二问并列，一问一个英才，三问而世道之不平自见，悲愤愈积愈深。三问皆以「那里也」领起，句式相同而人物各异，重沓中见递进，正合曲体一唱三叹之妙。子牙之问接踵而至，三问将成，悲愤已在弦上。

The second question of the balanced triplet. 'Jiang Ziya,' the Old Duke of Qi, met King Wen at eighty, fishing on the Wei, and became the king's counselor — the age-old model of talent finding its lord; 'the master of stratagems' praises his resource; 'where, oh where' asks straight after his dwelling — though one had the Old Duke's gift, where is he now? The line reverses the meaning: there is no King Wen in this age, no meeting for the talented. Set beside Lu Jia and the third question, one talent per question, the age's inequity self-evident, grief heaping deeper. All three questions open on 'where, oh where,' same form, different men, repetition holding progression — exactly the song's art of triple sighing. The question of Jiang Ziya follows; the three questions nearly done, grief already on the string.

千古是非心，一夕渔樵话

A thousand ages' right and wrong — one night's idle chat of fisher and woodman

千古万代的是非曲直，都成了渔人樵夫一夜闲话的谈资。

The right and wrong of a thousand autumns — one evening's fisherman's and woodcutter's talk.

以旷达语收束兴亡之叹，是全曲的结论。「千古是非心」总括前文所叹之历史是非，陆贾、子牙、张华一生的功业是非，尽在其中；「一夕渔樵话」写这一切在渔樵闲话中不过一夜谈资，历史之重归于闲谈之轻，旷达中透出深刻的虚无感。以渔樵闲话收束，正合元曲「渔樵」意象的传统，超脱与悲愤并存，余味不尽。此句以旷达收束，历史之重归于闲谈之轻，余味不尽。「一夕」对「千古」，时间之重归于闲谈之轻，旷达至极，亦悲凉至极。

The closing resolves the lament for rise and fall in detached words, the song's conclusion. 'The right and wrong of a thousand autumns' gathers all the history sighed above — the life's work of Lu Jia, Jiang Ziya, and Zhang Hua, right and wrong, all within; 'one evening's fisherman's and woodcutter's talk' writes that all of it is, in the idlers' chat, but an evening's table-talk — history's weight returned to talk's lightness, deep nihilism shining through detachment. Closing in fisherman's talk, true to the Yuan qu's 'fisherman and woodcutter' tradition, detachment and grief together, the aftertone lingering. 'One evening' against 'a thousand autumns' — time's weight returned to talk's lightness, detachment at the extreme, and desolation at the extreme.

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Word focus

闻早 Means 'while early', a colloquial phrase in the aria, earnest and natural in its counsel to retire. 「劝君闻早冠宜挂」之「闻早」，即趁早，口语入曲，劝诫恳切自然。「闻」本为听闻，此处作「趁」解，是元曲常用的白话词汇，活画出劝者之急切与恳挚；以口语说理，亲切而不说教，正是元曲本色当行的语言特色，亦见白朴化俗为雅的语言功力。口语入曲，亲切恳挚，正见元曲本色当行的语言追求。「闻早」犹言趁早，口语之妙正在其直截了当，劝诫之意不容置疑。以白话入曲而含古意，正是元曲本色当行的语言追求。

那里也 A threefold padding phrase 'where now', lengthening the sighing tone and strengthening the rhetorical question. 「那里也」为衬字，三叠而用，拉长嗟叹，加重反诘语气。正格本为四字句（那里也＋三字），白朴连下三句「那里也…」，一问再问，如长叹连声，将英才湮没的悲愤层层推向高潮；衬字本是元曲为合乐而加的白话，此处却成了表情的关键，以虚写实、以叹代答，是元曲衬字艺术的神来之笔。衬字三叠，以虚写实，是元曲衬字艺术的神来之笔。衬字本为合乐而设，此处却成表情之眼，以虚写实，一唱三叹。