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元 Yuan · 散曲 Sanqu song

清江引·秋居

Clear River Prelude · Autumn Dwelling

杨朝英

Yang Chaoying

闲适leisure 秋思autumn thought

白雁乱飞秋似雪，清露生凉夜。
扫却石边云，醉踏松根月。
星斗满天人睡也。

White wild geese fly in disarray, autumn like snow;
Clear dew breeds a cool night.
I sweep the cloud beside the stone,
Drunk, I tread the moon at the pine's root.
Stars fill the sky—and the man sleeps.

Listen

Meaning

White wild geese fly in disarray, autumn as white as snow; clear dew brings a cool night. I sweep away the cloud beside the rock, and drunk I tread the moonlight at the pine's root. Stars fill the sky, and the man falls asleep.

白色的鸿雁纷乱地飞过，秋色洁白如雪；清冷的露水悄然凝生，秋夜因而生凉。拨扫开石边的云雾，醉意中踏着松树根下的月色归来。星斗布满了天空，人便安然睡去。

Appreciation

The song is like a wash painting of an autumn-night mountain dwelling. The first two lines sweep in with a big brush: goose-white, autumn-snow, clear dew—a pure, cold palette; 'fly in disarray' breaks the stillness, 'breeds cool' pierces to the bone, already setting a clear, bright realm. The next three lines write the man: 'sweep the cloud… drunk tread the moon' uses two wild verbs to write the recluse's freedom, 'drunk' showing rapture; the closing 'stars fill the sky—and the man sleeps' sets the vast sky against the small man, ending in colloquial 'sleeps', utmost leisure with lingering tone.

【白话串讲】白雁乱飞，秋色如雪，清露生凉。杨朝英扫开石边的云，醉踩着松根的月光——“星斗满天人睡也”。一个人喝到星斗满天，这秋居，逍遥。【意象与手法】此曲如一幅秋夜山居水墨。前二句以大笔渲染：白雁、秋雪、清露，色调素净清冷，「乱飞」破静、「生凉」透骨，已立空明之境；后三句写人，「扫却石边云，醉踏松根月」以「扫」「踏」两个狂放动词写隐者潇洒，「醉」字点出陶然，结句「星斗满天人睡也」以天阔衬人小，口语收束，闲适至极而余韵悠然。【情感与主旨】杨朝英（生卒年不详），号澹斋，元代后期散曲家，曾选辑《阳春白雪》《太平乐府》两大散曲总集，对元曲文献贡献极大。《清江引·秋居》写于其隐居时期，约在元中后期。时文人多厌弃尘嚣、寄情山水，此曲以秋夜山居为题，写扫云踏月、星下垂眠的散淡生涯，正是元末隐逸散曲的典型之作，体现「清俊」风格。【名句点睛】常考「白雁乱飞秋似雪，清露生凉夜」的色彩与氛围营造，以及「扫却石边云，醉踏松根月」中「扫」「踏」「醉」的炼字与隐者形象。

Background

Yang Chaoying (dates unknown), style name Danzhai, was a late-Yuan sanqu writer who compiled the two great sanqu anthologies 'White Snow in Spring' and 'Music of Universal Peace', rendering great service to Yuan lyric scholarship. 'Clear River Prelude · Autumn Dwelling' was written in his retirement, around the mid-late Yuan. As many literati then withdrew from the noise and gave themselves to landscape, this song takes an autumn-night mountain dwelling to write a carefree life of sweeping clouds and treading moon, sleeping under the stars—typical of late-Yuan reclusive sanqu, in the 'clear-and-lofty' line with Guan Yunshi and Xu Zaisi.

杨朝英，生卒年不详，号澹斋，青城（今山东高青一带）人，元代后期散曲家。他最大的贡献在文献整理：曾选辑《阳春白雪》《太平乐府》两部散曲总集，保存了大量元人散曲与套数，被后人称为「曲中荀勖」，对元曲文献的流传功莫大焉。其自身亦工散曲，风格清俊拔俗。《清江引·秋居》写于其隐居时期，约在元中后期。元代中后期，科举时断时续，汉人仕进之路受阻，大批文人或隐于山林，或浪迹江湖，散曲遂成为他们抒写闲情逸致的重要载体。杨朝英此曲以秋夜山居为题，写扫云踏月、星下垂眠的散淡生涯，正是元末隐逸散曲的典型之作。曲题「秋居」为组曲性质，《清江引》曲牌下杨氏有「秋居」「夜行」「惜别」「老王将军」等多首，皆以清俊见长，与贯云石、徐再思一脉相承。元曲与诗词之别，正在其能直写日常与真率性情，杨朝英此曲正是这种美学追求的结晶。曲中「秋居」并非实指某地，而是隐者理想生活的艺术写照，故能超越一时一地，成为元人隐逸情怀的普遍象征。此曲与《太平乐府》所收元人小令相互印证，可见元中后期散曲已由前期马致远的苍凉感慨转向清俊闲适一格，杨朝英正是这一转向的代表人物。

Art

The song is like a wash painting of an autumn-night mountain dwelling. The first two lines sweep in with a big brush: goose-white, autumn-snow, clear dew—a pure, cold palette; 'fly in disarray' breaks stillness, 'breeds cool' pierces the bone, already setting a clear, bright realm. The next three lines write the man: 'sweep the cloud beside the stone, drunk tread the moon at the pine's root' uses the wild verbs 'sweep' and 'tread' to write the recluse's freedom, 'drunk' pointing to rapture; the closing 'stars fill the sky—and the man sleeps' sets the vast sky against the small man, ending in the colloquial 'sleeps', leisure to the extreme with lingering tone.

此曲如一幅秋夜山居水墨，章法上先景后人、以大衬小。前二句「白雁乱飞秋似雪，清露生凉夜」以大笔渲染秋夜氛围：白雁、秋雪、清露，色调素净清冷，雁「乱飞」破秋夜之静，露「生凉」透骨入肌，一个「生」字将凉意写得有生命、会生长，秋夜的空明清冽扑面而来。后三句转写人：「扫却石边云，醉踏松根月」以「扫」「踏」两个狂放动词写隐者之潇洒——云本不可扫，月本不可踏，诗人偏以扫云、踏月写其豪逸，将隐者的超然物外写得淋漓尽致；「醉」字点出陶然之态，人醉、月醉、秋亦醉。结句「星斗满天人睡也」境界骤阔：星斗满天，天地之大，而人安然睡去，以天阔衬人小、以人小见人闲，最后以口语「睡也」二字收束，戛然而止，余韵悠然。全曲无一字写愁，而闲适自得之意溢于言表，深得元人散曲「清俊」「疏放」之神。全曲语言极省净，五句二十九字而秋色、秋凉、秋醉、秋眠四境毕备，正合小令以少胜多之体。尤妙在句句写景而句句有人：雁飞是人所见，露凉是人所感，扫云踏月是人所为，星下安眠是人所归，隐者形象始终在景中活动，物我交融，不见痕迹，此即元人所谓「景中有人」的至高境界。

Allusions

The song uses allusion very lightly; only 'moon at the pine's root' quietly inherits Tao Yuanming's 'lean on the lone pine and wander' and Li Bai's 'drunk on the moon, often the sage' reclusive imagery, using pine and moon to symbolize lofty, unworldly purity. 'Clear River Prelude' itself is a yuefu water tune; Yang uses the title to write mountain dwelling, not bound by the topic. 'Stars fill the sky' transforms Du Mu's 'the steps, night-cool as water' and Su Shi's 'life is a dream, one cup to the river moon' vastness, yet into his own clear realm, leaving no trace.

此曲用典极淡，而意象皆有渊源。「白雁」为候鸟，古以白雁南飞表秋至，杜牧「白雁南飞堪寄书」以之寄远，此处白雁乱飞写秋色之动。「秋似雪」以雪喻秋色之白净，冷艳清绝。「清露」承《诗经·蒹葭》「白露为霜」的传统意象，写秋夜之凉。「扫却石边云」暗用陶渊明「抚孤松而盘桓」的隐逸意象，陶渊明《归去来兮辞》「云无心以出岫」以云写闲，杨朝英更以「扫云」写隐者之气魄，云本无心，扫云者亦无心，物我两忘；「醉踏松根月」承李白「醉月频中圣，迷花不事君」的醉月传统，以松、月象征高洁脱俗，松根即松下，踏月而行，潇洒出尘。「星斗满天」化用杜牧《秋夕》「天阶夜色凉如水，卧看牵牛织女星」及苏轼《水调歌头》「把酒问青天」的星空意象，然已化为自家清境，不落痕迹。《清江引》本为乐府水调曲名，杨氏借题发挥写山居，不泥题面，正是元人借古题写今情的惯技。此种以俗语写雅意、以常物寄高情的手法，正是元曲以俗为雅的审美核心——不作一字议论，而隐者之高洁、闲适、旷达尽在不言之中。

Commentary

Yang Chaoying, who compiled 'White Snow in Spring', was himself skilled; moderns call his short lyrics 'clear, lofty, beyond the vulgar'. Of this 'Autumn Dwelling', an earlier critic said 'it has the air of the Jin men'. Writing the recluse's wildness in 'sweep cloud, tread moon', and the vast universe in 'stars fill the sky', closing with the three colloquial words 'and sleeps' into a dream—beside Ma Zhiyuan's autumn sorrow and Bai Pu's summer beauty, it opens another kind of clear, diffuse calm, a supreme Yuan mountain-dwelling song.

杨朝英编选《阳春白雪》《太平乐府》，所选皆当行本色之作，其自作亦不落凡响。近人任讷《散曲概论》评其小令「清俊拔俗」；明代朱权《太和正音谱》列杨朝英于乐府一格，谓其词「如碧海珊瑚」。此《清江引·秋居》一首，前人谓「有晋人风致」——晋人风流在越名教而任自然，杨氏此曲扫云踏月、星下垂眠，正是这种任真放达的余韵。以「扫云踏月」写隐者之狂，以「星斗满天」写宇宙之阔，结以「人睡也」三字悠然入梦，较之马致远《天净沙·秋思》的萧瑟悲凉、白朴《天净沙·秋》的明丽清雅，别开一种空明散淡之境，足称元人山居曲中的绝唱。此曲篇幅虽短，而小令以少胜多之妙尽在其中，与王维「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」的禅意相映成趣，是元代隐逸文学中不可多得的清品。近人隋树森《全元散曲》辑录杨氏小令三十余首，《秋居》一曲每为选本必录，可见其艺术生命力。元人散曲向与诗词并称一代之文学，而隐逸题材实为其大宗，杨朝英此曲以最简短的篇幅写出最纯粹的隐者心境，堪称元曲小品中的逸品，后世论元人山居曲者，必举此篇。

Prosody

Form Yuan sanqu, shuang mode, 'Clear River Prelude' (short lyric)元散曲·双调·清江引（小令）

Rhyme Rhymes on 'snow, night, moon, too' (Zhongyuan phonology, che-zhe / xian-tian mixed)押「雪、夜、月、也」（中原音韵·车遮韵），句句押韵

Tone pattern Pattern 7-5, 5-5-5; closing line, tones free定格句式为七五、五五五，末句五字收束，平仄依曲谱而不拘近体

Reading note 'Clear River Prelude', also 'River Water', fixed pattern 7-5, 5-5-5; Yang used it for the Autumn Dwelling set《清江引》又名《江儿水》，属双调，为北曲小令常用曲牌，定格句式七五、五五五，共五句，句句押韵。杨朝英此曲依定格写作：首句七字「白雁乱飞秋似雪」，次句五字「清露生凉夜」，第三、四句皆五字「扫却石边云，醉踏松根月」，末句五字「星斗满天人睡也」，句式整齐而节奏灵动。全曲押车遮韵（雪、夜、月、也），车遮韵字音清亮悠长，正合秋夜空明清冷的意境；句句押韵，一韵到底，声情流畅，宜于歌唱。与诗词相比，散曲可加衬字、可平仄通押、可方言入韵，格律相对宽松，然此曲字字合律，平仄相协，可见杨朝英制曲之精。五句之中，前二句写景、中二句写人、末句收束，节奏由缓而急（「扫」「踏」两个动词的连用）再由急而缓（「人睡也」的悠长拖音），声情与辞情高度统一，是《清江引》曲牌中最见功力的作品之一。

Line by line

白雁乱飞秋似雪

White wild geese fly in disarray, autumn like snow.

白雁纷飞，秋色洁白如雪。

White geese fly wild; autumn is like snow.

首句写秋色，以「雪」喻秋，色彩上极大胆——秋本以黄、红为主调，此处却以「白」统摄，白雁、白雪，一色澄澈，写出秋高气爽的清冽之气。「乱飞」二字尤妙：雁飞本有队列（人字、一字），着一「乱」字，则写其飞之纷繁、之自由，非雁乱，实是观雁者心无挂碍，眼中万物皆任情自适。「秋似雪」以雪写秋，既状秋色之白净（白雁乱飞如雪花飞舞），亦暗含秋气之清冷。全句由动（乱飞）入静（似雪），动静相生，奠定全曲空明清冷的基调，为后文隐者出场铺设纯净的背景。

The opening writes autumn color, likening autumn to snow, bold in color — autumn's palette is yellow and red, yet here 'white' governs: white geese, white snow, one expanse of clarity, the crisp air of high autumn. The words 'fly wild' are the finest: geese fly in formation (a human shape, a line), yet the word 'wild' writes their tangled, free flight — not the geese wild, but the watcher, heart without bonds, to whom all things fly at ease. 'Autumn is like snow' writes autumn as snow — the whiteness of the season (white geese swirling like snowflakes), and the chill of autumn air. The line moves from motion ('fly wild') to stillness ('like snow'), motion and stillness born of each other, fixing the song's clear, cold tone, laying the pure background for the recluse's entrance below.

清露生凉夜

Clear dew breeds a cool night.

清冷的露水凝生，秋夜生凉。

Clear dew is born; the night turns cool.

「清露生凉夜」五字写秋夜之凉，炼字之妙在一「生」字。露本为物，「清露」写其晶莹清冷；「生凉夜」三字则写露水仿佛在生出凉意，凉不再是感觉，而成了由露水不断滋长、弥漫夜空的实体，通感入妙，化无形为有形。若用「清露凉夜」「露冷秋夜」则直露无味，着一「生」字，则凉意有了生长的过程，一夜之间由露而凉、由凉而寒，时间的流动感宛然在目。此句与上句「秋似雪」一写色、一写感，色净而感凉，视听通感交叠，将秋夜的空明清冽写得扑面而来，为隐者「醉踏松根月」的出场蓄足了清冷之境。

'Clear dew is born; the night turns cool,' five characters writing the autumn night's chill, the word-craft lying in 'is born.' Dew is a thing, 'clear dew' its crystal coldness; 'the night turns cool' writes the dew as if breeding the chill — cool no longer a sensation, but a substance growing from the dew, filling the night, synesthesia at its best, the invisible made solid. Had the line been 'clear dew, cool night' or 'dew-cold autumn night,' it would be flat; with 'is born,' the chill has a process of growth, through the night from dew to cool to cold, the flow of time before the eyes. This line, with the opening 'autumn is like snow,' writes color and sensation: color pure, sensation cool, sight and touch interwoven, the clear, crisp autumn night rushing to the face, charging the cold realm for the recluse's 'drunk, treading the moon beneath the pines.'

扫却石边云，醉踏松根月

I sweep the cloud beside the stone; drunk, I tread the moon at the pine's root.

扫开石边的云雾，醉意中踏着松树根下的月色。

I sweep away the cloud by the stone; drunk, I tread the moon beneath the pine roots.

此二句是全曲的曲眼，写隐者之狂放潇洒。「扫却石边云」——云本无心出岫、飘忽不定，诗人却要「扫」开它，仿佛云雾遮蔽了石径，阻挡了归路，便挥袖扫去，云在诗人笔下成了可扫可拂之物，气魄何等豪逸；「醉踏松根月」——月本在天上，诗人醉中踏月而行，踏的是洒落松根的月色，月色因醉而有了质感，仿佛铺地的白毡，可以步步踏之。一「扫」一「踏」，两个动词写尽隐者之疏放不羁；「醉」字点出陶然忘机之态，人醉、月醉、松亦醉。此二句与李白「我醉欲眠卿且去」同一机杼，而更为凝练峭拔，是元人散曲炼字的典范。

These two lines are the song's eye, writing the recluse's wild grace. 'I sweep away the cloud by the stone' — clouds, drifting without root, the poet yet would 'sweep' them, as if cloud veiled the stone path and barred the way home, and he waves his sleeve and sweeps; cloud in his brush becomes a thing to be swept, how grand the ease. 'Drunk, I tread the moon beneath the pine roots' — the moon, in the sky, the poet in drunkenness walking on the moonlight shed about the pines; moonlight, through drunkenness, gains substance, like a white felt laid on the ground, step by step. One 'sweep,' one 'tread,' two verbs writing the recluse's unruly freedom; 'drunk' marking the陶然, forgetful state — man drunk, moon drunk, pines drunk. The two lines share the spring of Li Bai's 'drunk, I would sleep; go home,' yet are more compressed and sharp, a model of Yuan sanqu word-craft.

星斗满天人睡也

Stars fill the sky—and the man sleeps.

星斗布满了天空，人便安然睡去。

Stars fill the sky; the man falls asleep.

结句以天地之大衬人之小、以人之小见人之闲。「星斗满天」四字拓开万里夜空，与首句「白雁乱飞」遥相呼应——由傍晚的雁飞，到深夜的星斗，时间在不知不觉中流逝，而人浑然不觉；「人睡也」三字以口语收束，淡极、闲极、真极——在星斗满天的穹庐之下，人如天地间一芥，却安然睡去，这「睡」不是疲惫的睡，而是心无挂碍的睡，是隐者与天地相忘的睡。以「也」字结尾，语气悠然，仿佛一声满足的叹息，将前文的扫云踏月之狂收归于星下的安宁。全曲至此戛然而止，而余韵袅袅，闲适之至，正是元人散曲曲尽而意不尽的典范。

The closing sets the small man against the vast heaven, and shows his leisure through his smallness. 'Stars fill the sky' opens the ten-thousand-li night, answering the opening 'white geese fly wild' from afar — from the evening's geese to the deep night's stars, time slipping by unawares, the man unheeding; 'the man falls asleep,' vernacular close, faint, idle, true — beneath the dome of stars, the man, a speck between heaven and earth, falls peacefully asleep; this 'sleep' no sleep of exhaustion, but of a heart without bonds, the recluse's sleep forgetting heaven and earth. The closing particle, a tone of ease, like a sigh of content, gathering the wild sweep-cloud and tread-moon of the lines before into the peace beneath the stars. The song stops short, the aftertone drifting, the height of leisure — a model of Yuan sanqu's music ended, meaning unended.

Study

Word focus

生 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「清露生凉夜」之「生」，是此曲炼字最精处。凉夜本为客观时令，着一「生」字，则凉意有了生发、滋长的动态过程——清露凝结，凉意便从露中生出，一夜之间弥漫天地，化抽象之感为具象之物，通感入妙。若作「清露凉夜」「清露催凉夜」，皆写其果而不及其因；唯「生」字写凉意之源头与过程，仿佛夜在露水的滋润下不断变凉，物我交感，灵气四溢。此字与王安石「春风又绿江南岸」之「绿」、宋祁「红杏枝头春意闹」之「闹」同一机杼，皆以一字赋予静态之景以生命与过程，是古典诗词炼字的典范，可见元人散曲虽尚俗尚真，于炼字一道亦极讲究。

扫却 Using 'sweep' for brushing away cloud, personifying and wild, showing the recluse unbound. 「扫却石边云」之「扫却」，意为扫开、扫去，是全曲写隐者气魄的关键词。云本无形无质、飘忽不定，诗人却以「扫」字处之，仿佛石边云雾如落叶尘埃，可以一挥而去——这一动作将隐者的疏放豪逸写得淋漓尽致：他不仅不避尘嚣，连山间云雾亦要扫开，天地万物皆任其驱使，何等气魄。「却」为助词，表完成，写扫之干净利落，了无挂碍。此语暗承陶渊明「云无心以出岫」的写云传统，而陶渊明以云写「闲」，杨朝英以「扫云」写「狂」，一静一动，可见元人散曲在继承中的翻新。有此「扫」，方有下文「醉踏松根月」的狂放，二字实为隐者形象立骨之笔。

睡也 Three colloquial words close it; sleeping at ease under a star-filled sky, leisure with lingering taste. 「星斗满天人睡也」之「睡也」二字，以口语收束全曲，是元人散曲以俗为雅的典型笔法。「睡」本为最平常的动作，入诗极易流于凡俗，然置于「星斗满天」的宏阔背景之下，「人睡也」三字便有了特殊的意味——天地之大，人如一芥，却能在星斗满天中安然入睡，这「睡」是心无挂碍之睡、是与天地相忘之睡，闲适之极，反而成就了全曲最动人的一笔。「也」为语气词，悠然拖长，仿佛一声满足的叹息，将前文的扫云踏月之狂、醉中行吟之逸，一并收归于星下的安宁。以口语作结，正是元人散曲区别于诗词的鲜明特色，此二字足见杨朝英「清俊」之外的「真率」。