All poems

元 Yuan · 诗 Poem

壬辰十二月车驾东狩后即事

Impromptu after the Emperor's Eastern Expedition in the Twelfth Month of the Ren-Chen Year

元好问

Yuan Haowen

感怀Emotional Reflection 时事Current Events 丧乱Theme 咏史History

翠被匆匆见执鞭，戴盆郁郁梦瞻天。
只知河朔归铜马，又说台城堕纸鸢。
血肉正应皇嗣尽，衣冠不及雁行偏。
谁言东海无边阔，何处青山有杜鹃。

Hastily seeing you holding the whip under emerald covers,
With a basin on my head, I gloomily dream of gazing at the sky.
We only know that the Hebei lands have returned to Bronze Horse,
And then we hear that the Terrace City fell like a paper kite.
The royal flesh and blood are just as exhausted,
The capped officials cannot match even a row of geese.
Who says the Eastern Sea is boundless and vast?
On which green hill can we find the cuckoo crying?

Listen

Meaning

The poem depicts the emperor's hurried escape and the fall of cities, lamenting the collapse of the state and the despair of finding no place to mourn.

在翠被仓皇的清晨，我曾见你执鞭扈从；如同戴盆望天一般，郁悒地梦想着瞻仰天颜。只听说河朔之地已归降铜马那样的强兵，又传说台城也像纸鸢一般坠落。皇家的血肉嗣息正应着劫数将要丧尽，满朝衣冠之士竟不及南飞的雁行还能成队。谁说东海无边广阔，可天下青山之中，何处还能听到啼血的杜鹃。

Appreciation

Written during the Mongol siege of Kaifeng in 1232, this poem is one of a series of 'impromptu' poems reflecting on the state's crisis. The first couplet uses two allusions to express the courtiers' hurried attendance and their sorrowful longing for the emperor. The second couplet employs colloquial speech to narrate successive losses. The third couplet contrasts the royal blood with migrating geese to highlight the disintegration of the state. The closing couplet uses rhetorical questions and the image of the cuckoo to convey boundless grief, echoing Du Fu's style.

【白话串讲】金哀宗出逃，汴京陷落。元好问写下这组诗：“只知河朔归铜马，又说台城堕纸鸢”——家国沦丧，他的悲痛都在这首诗里。【意象与手法】首联「翠被匆匆见执鞭，戴盆郁郁梦瞻天」以两个典故写君臣仓皇扈从与望君之悲，对仗工整而情辞哀苦；颔联「只知…又说…」以口语领起，写河朔、台城相继沦陷，节奏紧迫；颈联「血肉正应皇嗣尽，衣冠不及雁行偏」以血色字与禽鸟对举，极写宗社之殇；尾联以反问与杜鹃啼血收束，苍茫无尽，杜陵遗风宛然。全诗典重沉郁，是遗山「丧乱诗」的代表作。【情感与主旨】元好问（1190—1257），字裕之，号遗山，金末元初诗坛巨擘。壬辰年（1232）蒙古军围汴京，金哀宗弃城出奔（车驾东狩），次年城陷。此诗为「即事」组诗之一，写于国破君奔之际，记录乱离所见所感：君臣仓皇、疆土日蹙、宗室凋零，沉痛悲慨，承杜甫诗史精神，以诗存史，是金亡之际最沉痛的见证。【名句点睛】常考此诗「丧乱」主题与用典：如「执鞭」「戴盆」「铜马」「台城堕纸鸢」「杜鹃」等典故的出处与含义，尾联「东海」「杜鹃」的意蕴，以及「衣冠不及雁行」的对比手法。须答出此诗以诗存史的价值与学杜沉郁的风格。

Background

Yuan Haowen (1190–1257), a leading poet of the Jin-Yuan transition. In 1232 (the ren-chen year), the Mongol army besieged Kaifeng. Emperor Aizong fled eastward (the 'eastern hunt'). The city fell the next year. This poem is one of five 'impromptu' pieces recording the poet's observations and feelings amidst the national ruin, representing his 'catastrophe poetry' in the tradition of Du Fu's 'Spring View.'

元好问（1190—1257），字裕之，号遗山，太原秀容（今山西忻州）人，金末元初文坛盟主，编有金代诗歌总集《中州集》，有「以诗存史」之志。壬辰为金哀宗天兴元年（1232），是年蒙古大军围攻金都汴京（今河南开封），城中粮尽援绝，哀宗不得已弃城出奔归德（今河南商丘），史称「车驾东狩」。次年（1233）正月，守将崔立以汴京降蒙，金朝宗室、后妃、百官大批北掳，金源一代随之覆亡。此诗为《壬辰十二月车驾东狩后即事》五首组诗之一，作于哀宗出奔、汴京垂危之际。时元好问在汴京任尚书省掾等职，亲历围城之困、君奔之变，目击宗室凋零、衣冠流离，遂以沉痛之笔记录这段亡国历史。此诗与同组诸作并称遗山「丧乱诗」的代表，上承杜甫安史之乱诗史精神，下开金元之际遗民文学的先声。金源一朝自完颜阿骨打建国至哀宗天兴，凡百二十年，其亡国之际的文学以元好问丧乱诗最为沉痛。此诗写作时汴京围城已逾年，城中米价暴涨、人相食，蒙古军屠掠之惨见于《金史》与遗山同时诸作，诗人以「血肉」「衣冠」两句实录之，正是史笔。组诗五首写哀宗出奔、围城苦况、宗室凋零、遗民流离诸事，此首居其一，合观可见金亡全景，故论者常以「诗史」目遗山丧乱诗。

Art

The first couplet uses two allusions to depict the courtiers' hasty attendance and their sorrowful longing for the emperor, with neat parallelism and poignant diction. The second couplet begins with colloquial 'We only know... and then we hear...' to create a sense of urgency. The third couplet contrasts 'flesh and blood' with 'geese' to emphasize the state's destruction. The final couplet ends with rhetorical questions and the cuckoo's blood-tears, creating a boundless, desolate atmosphere that recalls Du Fu's legacy.

全诗八句，章法严整而情感层层递进。首联以两个典故写君臣仓皇：「翠被匆匆见执鞭」写朝臣于仓皇之际执鞭扈从，「戴盆郁郁梦瞻天」写身处困境仍梦想瞻仰天颜，一写行动一写心理，对仗工整而情辞哀苦。颔联「只知河朔归铜马，又说台城堕纸鸢」以「只知」「又说」的口语领起，写河朔沦陷、汴京垂危的消息接踵而至，节奏紧迫，如闻惊报。颈联「血肉正应皇嗣尽，衣冠不及雁行偏」是全诗最痛处：「血肉」与「衣冠」对举，写宗室惨遭屠戮、士大夫流离失所，而以「雁行偏」反衬人不如雁——雁尚能成队南飞，人却妻离子散、各奔东西。尾联「谁言东海无边阔，何处青山有杜鹃」以反问与杜鹃啼血收束，言天地虽大而无容身之地、无处不闻亡国之悲，苍茫无尽，沉郁顿挫，深得杜诗神髓。全诗以「匆匆」「郁郁」「只知」「又说」「正应」「不及」「谁言」「何处」等虚词、口语贯串，于工整对仗之中见口语的流转与情感的起伏，是遗山以律诗写丧乱而能自由抒情的奥秘所在。尾联「东海」「杜鹃」以空间之广写悲情之无处逃避，与首联「梦瞻天」的君臣之思遥相呼应，全诗由望君而忧国而痛宗社而悲衣冠，层层推进，情感愈转愈深，终归于苍茫一问，笔力千钧。

Allusions

'Holding the whip' alludes to the Analects: 'Even a whip-holder I would do,' referring to humble service. 'Basin on the head' alludes to Sima Qian's phrase 'How can one see the sky with a basin on the head,' meaning being in difficulty yet still longing for the emperor. 'Bronze Horse' refers to the Bronze Horse army (associated with Eastern Han founder Liu Xiu, here borrowed for the Mongol forces). 'Terrace City paper kite' alludes to the siege of Emperor Wu of Liang at Terrace City, who sent a paper kite for help in vain, symbolizing the siege of Kaifeng. 'Cuckoo' comes from the legend of the Shu emperor transforming into a cuckoo crying blood, representing the pain of national subjugation. The poem is heavily allusive and somber.

此诗典重沉郁，几乎句句用典而皆切时势。「执鞭」出《论语·述而》「虽执鞭之士，吾亦为之」，本指执鞭贱役，此处写扈从之仓皇，隐含君臣倒悬之悲；「戴盆」出《汉书·司马迁传》「戴盆何以望天」，喻身处困境而不得仰见天日，写盼君之郁悒；「铜马」用东汉初铜马军故实，光武帝刘秀曾收编铜马军，此处借指蒙古劲旅，写河朔之陷；「台城堕纸鸢」用梁武帝萧衍台城被围、羊侃放纸鸢求援不遂的典故（见《资治通鉴》），喻汴京围困援绝、如纸鸢坠落；「杜鹃」用蜀帝杜宇化为杜鹃、啼血不止的传说，寄亡国之痛。诸典皆取史实与传说中「危亡」之意，与当日汴京之围一一对应，典而不隔，正是遗山「学杜」而能化用的表现。「翠被」亦有出处，南朝诗人写帝王仓皇多用此物象，暗含龙衮蒙尘之意；「梦瞻天」之「天」指君，承《诗经》以「天」喻君的传统。「台城」之典尤切当日情势：梁武帝困守台城、援兵不至，与金哀宗困守汴京、勤王之师难集正相仿佛，遗山取此典，正以古之亡国映今之危局，历史循环之悲自在言外。诸典熔史、经、传说于一炉，而皆归本于当日亡国之实，故典重而不晦，沉郁而有光。

Commentary

Zhao Yi of the Qing dynasty praised Yuan Haowen as 'the only one since Tang and Song,' especially valuing his catastrophe poetry. This series is compared with Du Fu's 'Autumn Meditations' and 'Various Generals.' Critics say 'Yishan [Yuan Haowen] learned from Du Fu and achieved his depth.' Qian Zhongshu also noted that his poems 'preserve history through poetry.' This piece records the pain of Jin's fall and can be regarded as poetic history.

清代赵翼《瓯北诗话》推元好问为「国家不幸诗家幸，赋到沧桑句便工」的典型，谓其丧乱诗「沉挚悲凉，自成声调」，又推其为「唐宋以来」第一人。元好问编《中州集》网罗金源一代诗作，意在「以诗存史」，其丧乱诗正与这种史学意识互为表里，近人钱锺书亦称其「以诗存史」。此组《车驾东狩后即事》与杜甫《春望》《北征》并论，论者谓「遗山学杜，得其沉郁」，首联之典重、尾联之苍茫，皆杜陵遗法。清人翁方纲《石洲诗话》论遗山诗「以唐人为指归，而熔铸百氏」，此诗以律诗写丧乱，格律严整而情辞沉痛，正是其集大成的表现。当代学者视遗山丧乱诗为金诗之冠、元好问全部创作中最具历史价值的部分，此诗可为其代表。《中州集》之编纂，使金源一代诗人「姓名篇什，赖以不坠」，元好问以一人之力保存一代文献，其丧乱诗正是这种史学意识的文学结晶。近世论金元文学者，多以遗山为金诗之集大成与元诗之开创者，其丧乱诗上承杜甫、下启元初遗民诗，是易代文学中最具分量的一环。此诗与同组诸作今日仍入选各类古代文学选本与教材，成为后人理解金亡历史与乱世文学的窗口，其文献价值与审美价值并重。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated verse of the Jin-Yuan transition七言律诗（金元之际）

Rhyme Rhymes on 'whip, sky, kite, geese, crying' (Ping tone, xian rhyme group)押平声一先韵：鞭、天、鸢、偏、鹃，首句入韵。

Tone pattern Level-tone first couplet with entry rhyme; strict tonal pattern仄起首句入韵式，颔联、颈联对仗工整，格律严整。

Reading note One of Yuan Haowen's series of catastrophe poems, learning from Du Fu's somber depth, with many weighty allusions.此诗为七言律诗，仄起首句入韵式，押平水韵下平一先（鞭、天、鸢、偏、鹃）。中古平仄：翠被匆匆见执鞭为仄仄平平仄仄平，戴盆郁郁梦瞻天为仄平仄仄仄平平，只知河朔归铜马为仄平平仄平平仄（只字入声），又说台城堕纸鸢为仄仄平平仄仄平，血肉正应皇嗣尽为仄仄仄平平仄仄，衣冠不及雁行偏为平平仄仄仄平平，谁言东海无边阔为平平仄仄平平仄，何处青山有杜鹃为平仄平平仄仄平，全诗合律，惟个别字以入声、上声调节，正是宋金律诗常见的「一三五不论、二四六分明」之灵活处理。颔联「只知河朔归铜马，又说台城堕纸鸢」、颈联「血肉正应皇嗣尽，衣冠不及雁行偏」皆为工对，而「只知又说」以口语入对，于严整中见灵动。七律以八句四联写一事之始终，此诗起承转合分明，尾联以问句收束，声情与辞情俱臻沉郁之境，是金元之际七律的典范之作。

Line by line

翠被匆匆见执鞭，戴盆郁郁梦瞻天

Hastily attending with the whip; sorrowfully dreaming of seeing the sky. (Allusion: carrying a basin prevents seeing the sky; metaphor for being obstructed yet still hoping.)

在翠被仓皇的清晨曾见你执鞭扈从，如戴盆望天般郁悒地梦想瞻仰天颜

In haste, wrapped in the king's quilt, I saw them seize the reins; like a man with a basin on his head, grieving, I dream of gazing up at heaven.

首联以两个典故写君臣仓皇与望君之悲，是全诗情感的起点。「翠被」写哀宗出奔时仓皇起身、披被而行的狼狈，「匆匆见执鞭」写朝臣在仓皇之际执鞭扈从，主仆相随而社稷倾危，画面凄惶；「戴盆」用《汉书》「戴盆何以望天」之典，写臣子身处围城之中，如头顶扣盆，不得仰见天日，却仍「郁郁梦瞻天」，梦想一睹君王天颜。上句写君臣相从之实，下句写忠悃望君之痴，一实一虚，对仗工整而情辞哀苦。两句既写哀宗出奔的史实，又写臣下无所归依的悲凉，为全诗定下沉郁顿挫的基调。

The opening couplet uses two allusions for the hasty flight of ruler and minister, and the grief of gazing toward the lord — the emotional start of the poem. 'Wrapped in the king's quilt' writes Emperor Aizong's hasty rising and flight, wrapped in his quilt; 'I saw them seize the reins' the courtiers, in the panic, taking the reins to attend him, lord and servant fleeing together as the realm topples, the picture desolate; 'like a man with a basin on his head' uses the History of Han's 'with a basin on your head, how can you see heaven?' — the minister, inside the besieged city, as if with a basin over his head, forbidden to see the light of day, yet still 'grieving, I dream of gazing up at heaven,' dreaming of one sight of the sovereign's face. The first line the fact of ruler and servant together; the second the loyal heart's foolish longing; one solid, one void, the couplet balanced, the words grief-stricken. The lines write both the history of Aizong's flight and the minister's desolation, fixing the poem's somber, restrained tone.

只知河朔归铜马，又说台城堕纸鸢

We only know Hebei has returned to the Bronze Horse; again we hear Terrace City fell like a paper kite. (Colloquial tone conveys successive defeats.)

只听说河朔之地已归降铜马那样的强兵，又传说台城也像纸鸢一般坠落

I only know the regions north of the river have gone to the Bronze-Horse soldiers; and now they say the Terrace City has fallen like a paper kite.

颔联以「只知」「又说」的口语领起，写噩耗接踵而至的紧迫感。「河朔归铜马」用东汉光武帝收编铜马军之典，借指河北之地尽归蒙古劲旅；「台城堕纸鸢」用梁武帝台城被围、放纸鸢求援不遂之典，喻汴京围困援绝、岌岌可危。两句以古喻今，把当日军事溃败的实况写入典故之中：河朔既失，汴京孤悬，城中危若累卵，如纸鸢之将堕。「只知」「又说」两个口语词如接力报道，一报未平一报又至，节奏急促，把消息纷至、人心惶惶的围城气氛写得如在目前，是史笔与诗笔结合的典范。

The middle couplet opens in the colloquial 'I only know' and 'and now they say,' writing the rush of bad news on bad news. 'The regions north of the river have gone to the Bronze-Horse soldiers' uses the Eastern Han founder's absorption of the Bronze-Horse army, by reference to the loss of Hebei to the Mongol host; 'the Terrace City has fallen like a paper kite' uses the Liang emperor's siege at Terrace City, when a paper kite was flown for help and failed, by reference to the siege of Bianjing, rescue cut off, the city tottering. Ancient allusions for the present: the military rout of that day written into the allusions — Hebei lost, Bianjing isolated, the city like a pile of eggs, like a kite about to fall. The two colloquial words, 'only know' and 'and now they say,' run like relay reports, one disaster not done, another arrived, the rhythm urgent, writing the besieged city's frantic air as if before the eyes — a model of history's brush and poetry's brush in one.

血肉正应皇嗣尽，衣冠不及雁行偏

The royal flesh and blood are exhausted; the capped officials cannot match even a row of geese. (Contrast between human and bird emphasizes the collapse.)

皇家的血肉嗣息正应着劫数将要丧尽，满朝衣冠之士竟不及南飞的雁行还能成队

The imperial flesh and blood are truly at their last; the robed court does not keep the ranks the wild geese fly.

颈联是全诗最沉痛处，以「血肉」与「衣冠」对举，写宗室与士大夫的双重悲剧。「血肉正应皇嗣尽」写金朝宗室惨遭屠戮、嗣息将绝，「正应」二字含有劫数难逃的无奈与悲愤；「衣冠不及雁行偏」以人不如雁的反衬，写满朝衣冠之士流离失所，连南飞的大雁尚且成行成队，人却妻离子散、各奔西东。雁行是禽鸟之常，衣冠是文明之表，以禽鸟之有序反衬人伦之崩坏，反差强烈，读之令人扼腕。两句一写宗社之殇，一写士人之厄，血色与苍凉交织，是全诗情感的高潮，也是「丧乱诗」最见史识之处。

This neck couplet is the poem's most sorrowful passage, setting 'flesh and blood' against 'robed court' for the double tragedy of clan and scholars. 'The imperial flesh and blood are truly at their last' writes the Jin imperial clan slaughtered, the line of succession nearing its end; the words 'truly at' hold the helplessness and grief of a doom beyond escape. 'The robed court does not keep the ranks the wild geese fly' sets man below the goose: the robed courtiers, scattered and homeless, while the geese flying south still keep their ranks — men parted from wife and child, running every which way. The geese's flight is the bird's order; the robed court is civilization's face; the birds' order set against human bonds' collapse, the contrast stark, the reader's fists clenching. One line the wound to the throne, one the plight of the scholar, blood and desolation woven — the emotional peak of the poem, and the 'writings on the troubled times' at their most historically discerning.

谁言东海无边阔，何处青山有杜鹃

Who says the Eastern Sea is boundless? Where is the green hill with the cuckoo? (Rhetorical questions; cuckoo's blood-tears symbolize utter despair.)

谁说东海无边广阔，可天下青山之中，何处还能听到啼血的杜鹃

Who says the Eastern Sea is boundless and wide? On what green hill is there not the cuckoo weeping blood?

尾联以反问与杜鹃啼血收束，把亡国之痛推向苍茫无际。「谁言东海无边阔」先以海之辽阔宕开一笔，似说天地之大、何愁无容身之处；「何处青山有杜鹃」随即翻转，言普天之下、青山之中，无处不闻杜鹃啼血——杜鹃即望帝之魂所化，啼血不止，此处既是写实（乱后山河，处处悲声），更是写心：国破家亡，天地虽大而无一处不令人伤心。「谁言」「何处」两个反问一气流转，以空间的无限反衬悲伤的无所逃遁，苍茫无尽。此联结句以景结情、以问收束，正是杜甫「感时花溅泪」式的沉郁，历来推为遗山律诗的压卷之笔。

The closing couplet, in a rhetorical question and the cuckoo's blood, drives the grief of fallen empire to boundless vastness. 'Who says the Eastern Sea is boundless and wide?' first opens with the sea's breadth, as if to say heaven and earth are large, where is there not a place to rest; 'on what green hill is there not the cuckoo weeping blood?' turns it at once: beneath the whole sky, among the green hills, there is no place where the cuckoo does not weep blood — the cuckoo is the transformed soul of the ancient emperor Wang, crying blood unceasing; here it is both real (the post-war hills, every where a voice of grief) and of the heart: empire broken, family lost, heaven and earth large, yet no corner that does not break the heart. 'Who says' and 'on what,' two questions flowing together, the infinite of space set against the inescapability of grief, vast and boundless. Closing in scenery, in question, is the somberness of Du Fu's 'in grief over the times, flowers splash tears,' long acclaimed the crowning stroke of Yuan Haowen's regulated verse.

Study

Word focus

匆匆 Hastily; describes the flustered and disheveled state of attendants, reflecting the national crisis. 「翠被匆匆见执鞭」之「匆匆」写仓皇之态，是全诗首句的基调词。哀宗弃城出奔，晨起仓皇，连衣冠都来不及整饬，披翠被而走，「匆匆」二字把君奔国危的狼狈写得如在目前。此词之妙在于以时间之促写局势之急：一国之君出逃尚且匆匆如此，则军情之危、人心之乱不言而喻；朝臣执鞭相随，亦是「匆匆」应命，主仆皆在仓皇之中，社稷倾危之象毕现。与下句「郁郁」相对，匆匆写行动之乱，郁郁写心理之悲，一动一静、一表一里，对仗精工而情辞相称。仅四字便奠定全诗沉郁顿挫的基调，是遗山炼字而能传神的范例。

堕 Fallen; using the image of a paper kite falling to symbolize the sudden fall of the city, a striking metaphor. 「又说台城堕纸鸢」之「堕」以纸鸢坠地喻台城陷落，意象奇警，是全诗最见想象力的炼字。纸鸢本为儿童玩具，轻飘易堕，诗人以之喻危城：汴京如纸鸢悬于一线，援绝粮尽，随时可能堕落。「堕」字写出陷落的骤然与必然——纸鸢之堕，非人力可挽，正如围城之亡，天数已定，沉痛中含着无奈。同时「纸鸢」的轻与「台城」的重形成强烈反差，以轻物写重事，更觉国运之脆、山河之轻。此句化用梁武帝台城纸鸢求援的史典，而「堕」字赋予旧典新的画面感，典而不隔，正是遗山「以才学为诗」而能浑化的表现，也是全诗最警策的一联。

不及 Cannot match; 'capped officials cannot match even a row of geese' highlights the loss of courtly order and the sorrow of state collapse. 「衣冠不及雁行偏」之「不及」以人不如雁的对比，极写衣冠流离之悲。「不及」意为比不上、赶不上，诗人不直写士大夫如何狼狈，而以雁行之成队反衬：大雁南飞，尚且成行成列，秩序井然；而衣冠之士在乱离中却各奔东西、骨肉离散，连禽鸟都不如。「不及」二字以谦抑的口吻说出，而悲愤愈深——文明之士沦落到不如禽鸟，这是对乱世最沉痛的控诉。同时「雁行」又暗含兄弟雁行之典（《礼记》「兄之齿雁行」），以兄弟有序反衬人伦崩坏，一层意思包孕数层。两字之贬，胜过长篇的哀叹，是遗山炼字而能入骨的典型，也是全诗情感最集中的爆发点。