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元 Yuan · 曲 Qu song

山坡羊·冬日写怀

Sheep on the Hillside: Written in Winter

乔吉

Qiao Ji

讽世satire on the age 警世warning to the world 小令short song

朝三暮四，昨非今是，痴儿不解荣枯事。
攒家私，宠花枝，黄金壮起荒淫志。
千百锭买张招状纸。
身，已至此；
心，犹未死。

Three in the morning and four at night, yesterday's wrong is today's right;
the fool never grasps how fortunes rise and fall.
Hoarding property, doting on painted branches,
gold builds up an appetite for debauchery.
A thousand ingots buy one sheet of confession paper.
The body has come to this; the heart is still not dead.

Listen

Meaning

The song attacks men who chase wealth and pleasure without understanding that fortunes turn, and whose accumulated gold buys them nothing in the end but a written confession. Even ruined, their greed remains alive.

世事朝三暮四、反复无常，昨日之非成了今日之是，痴愚的人从不懂得荣枯盛衰的道理。他们拼命积攒家私，一味宠爱美色，黄金助长起荒淫的心志。千百锭金银到头来只换得一张招供认罪的状纸。身，已经落到这般地步；心，却依旧贪念未死。

Appreciation

The piece is almost entirely argument, yet it never turns dry, because concrete objects hold it up: the hoarded property, the painted branch, the gold, the sheet of confession paper, all of them things from the streets of Yuan China. Four verbs - hoarding, doting, building up, buying - mark the descent from greed to license to crime. The reckoning in the fifth line is delivered in a merchant's voice, adding up an absurd account in which a fortune purchases a criminal charge. The last two lines set body against heart in a short, hammering parallel that lands like a blow to the head, and its coldness contains a trace of pity.

【白话串讲】 “朝三暮四，昨非今是，痴儿不解荣枯事”——乔吉叹世：那些痴人不懂荣枯。“攒家私，宠花枝，黄金壮起荒淫志”——“千百锭买张招状纸。身，已至此；心，犹未死”——人已到绝境，心还不死。【意象与手法】全曲以议论行文而不觉其枯，全靠具体物象撑持：家私、花枝、黄金、招状纸，件件是元代市井实景。攒、宠、壮、买四个动词层层递进，写尽由贪而淫、由淫而罪的下坠之路。末四句用短柱对，身与心相对，已至此与犹未死相激，如当头一棒。【情感与主旨】曲题冬日写怀，写的却是一腔冷眼看世的愤慨。乔吉一生落魄江湖，眼见富贵者营营苟苟、身败而心不死，遂以辛辣之笔痛加针砭。讽世之中亦含警世：荣枯有数，人心难餍，正是最可哀处。【名句点睛】千百锭买张招状纸——以商贾口吻算一笔荒唐的账，把贪墨者的全部经营归结为一纸罪状，讥刺入骨，冷峭之极。

Background

Qiao Ji, styled Mengfu and known as the Old Man of Piping Cranes, was a native of Taiyuan who settled in Hangzhou. He never held office, wandered for forty years, and is paired with Zhang Kejiu as one of the two jewels of Yuan sanqu. This song belongs to the group of Sheep on the Hillside pieces in which he vents his feelings, using a winter reflection to attack the greed, license, and unrepentant ruin he saw around him.

乔吉，字梦符，号笙鹤翁，元中叶散曲大家，太原人，流寓杭州，一生落魄江湖，寄情诗酒，以散曲与张可久并称「双璧」，有《惺惺道人乐府》等。其曲多写闲适与讽世两端，讽世之作尤尖新冷峭。此篇牌调为「中吕·山坡羊」，题作「冬日写怀」，写于岁暮天寒、万木凋零之时，借冬景起兴，泼辣针砭世态。元代中叶以降，吏治败坏、贿赂公行，富者以金银通关节、殖货财、纵声色，一旦事败则身陷缧绁。乔吉久沉下僚，冷眼旁观此辈营营苟苟，遂以辛辣之笔写此小令：前写世情翻覆、痴人贪猥，中以「千百锭买张招状纸」作冷峻收束，末以「身已至此，心犹未死」的短柱对当头一棒。题虽「写怀」，实乃「写世」——以冬日之肃杀映世情之凉薄，是元曲讽世主题中的警策之作，亦见乔吉落魄江湖而胸中自有是非的磊落之气。乔吉冷眼写世，以冬日之肃杀映世情之凉薄，于元曲讽世主题中别立警策一体，亦见其落魄江湖而胸有是非之磊落。

Art

Narration and comment run together throughout: a general proposition first, then the evidence, then a single closing verdict shaped like a final accounting. The last four lines set body against heart in a short-pillar parallel whose rhythm falls like drumbeats, the customary way of ending a piece in this tune, and the pressure of the language is fierce.

此曲艺术上以「议论为骨、物象为肉、冷笑为锋」。起三句「朝三暮四，昨非今是，痴儿不解荣枯事」先以两个成语式短语破题，写世情反复、是非无定，随即点出「痴儿」之愚——不解荣枯盛衰之理，是带哲理味的提挈。中三句「攒家私，宠花枝，黄金壮起荒淫志」用鼎足对，攒、宠、壮三个动词层层递进，写尽由贪而淫、由淫而罪的下坠之路，件件是元代市井实景，故议论而不枯。紧接着「千百锭买张招状纸」一句陡转，以商贾般的精明算一笔荒唐账，把前半生经营归结为一纸罪状，讥刺入骨。末四句「身，已至此；心，犹未死」用短柱对（一字领、两字应），身与心相对，「已至此」与「犹未死」相激，如当头棒喝，冷峭之极。全曲由理入事、由事入判、由判入警，层层收紧，是元曲讽世小令的典型结构。全曲由理入事、由事入判、由判入警，层层收紧，末以短柱对当头棒喝，是元曲讽世小令以俗为冷、以谐为警的范本。

Allusions

Three in the morning and four at night comes from the parable of the monkey keeper and the chestnuts in the Discussion on Making All Things Equal in the Zhuangzi, where the name changes but the substance does not, and later came to mean mere inconstancy. Yesterday's wrong is today's right inverts Tao Yuanming's line in his rhapsody on returning home, where he realizes that today is right and yesterday was wrong, mocking a world in which right and wrong have been turned upside down. The confession paper is the document on which a criminal admitted guilt under the Yuan.

曲中数处用典成语，皆含讽意。其一「朝三暮四」，本出《庄子·齐物论》狙公赋芧之喻，原指愚弄之术、名实未亏而喜怒为用，后引申为反复无常、捉弄人意；此处写世情翻覆无定、是非可以颠倒。其二「昨非今是」，反用陶渊明《归去来兮辞》「觉今是而昨非」，陶公用以悔仕归隐，此处却写世人为利而易守、昨非今是，含反讽。其三「荣枯」，语本《庄子·让王》「穷通为寒暑风雨之序」，亦见《古诗》「荣枯各有分」，指盛衰际遇；「痴儿不解荣枯事」即痴人不知盛衰有数。其四「花枝」，元曲常喻美人歌姬（如「花枝招展」），「宠花枝」即耽于声色。其五「招状纸」，即认罪供状，乃法律公文，入曲极见元代市井气息；以「千百锭」金银买得一张罪状，把贪墨者的全部算计作了荒诞归结。诸语或雅或俗，经曲家点化皆成冷刺。朝三暮四昨非今是荣枯诸语皆含反讽，招状纸以公文俗词入曲，冷峭之极，足见元曲即事即讽、不避俚俗而生辣的本职。

Commentary

The Formulary of Correct Sounds of Great Harmony compares the writing of Qiao Mengfu to a great sea turtle beating up the waves, and the biting language of this song shows exactly that vigor of hand.

此曲历来被视为乔吉讽世小令的代表。明李开先论曲尚「俚俗」，乔吉此作正以市井口语（攒家私、招状纸）写世相，冷峭近俳而锋芒内蕴。近人论元散曲讽世，每举张养浩《山坡羊·潼关怀古》「兴，百姓苦；亡，百姓苦」之沉郁，与乔吉此篇之尖新对照：张重民生大局，乔刺个人贪猥，同用山坡羊短促句式，而一沉一峭、一庄一谐。尤其「千百锭买张招状纸」以商贾口吻算账，把贪者一生经营贬为一纸罪状，机锋类乎杂剧科诨而意极沉痛；末「身已至此，心犹未死」更以短柱对写贪心至死不改，警世之意凛然。乔吉一生不遇，故能冷眼；其讽世非为刻薄，实含「荣枯有数、人心难餍」的悲悯。此曲于元曲中堪称「以俗为冷、以谐为警」的范本，对理解元人讽世小令的审美特质极有助益。此篇与张养浩同牌之作并读，可见山坡羊一调既能写兴亡百姓苦之沉郁，亦能写个人贪妄之尖新，风格因题而异。

Prosody

Form Zhonglü mode中吕宫·山坡羊（元曲小令）

Rhyme One rhyme throughout, on shi, zhi, zhi, zhi, ci, and si.山坡羊句式为四四七、三三三、七、一三一三，宜于讽世警世，多押仄韵，声调促迫相应。乔吉此篇以「事」「志」「纸」「死」等短促韵脚收束，与冷峭讥刺、当头棒喝的声情相称，宜于醒木拍板、厉声歌之，最见散曲警世之力。

Tone pattern The source records no separate tonal note; the short closing lines break the rhythm into sharp, drum-like beats that give the ending its force.元曲平仄较宽而重顿挫。前「朝三暮四，昨非今是」两个四字句如两记警钟；「痴儿不解荣枯事」七字一顿作提挈；中三句鼎足对短促递进；「千百锭买张招状纸」七言陡转；末「身，已至此；心，犹未死」用短柱对，一字领、两字应，斩钉截铁。全曲由缓到急、由论到判，声情随辞情层层收紧，读来如雪夜闻棒喝。

Reading note The song opens with the parable of morning and evening, spreads out greed and license in the first half, then satirizes with the confession paper and the heart that will not die. Sharp, fresh, and steep, it is Qiao Ji's satire in its true colors.山坡羊为北曲中吕宫常用曲牌，句式短长错落、宜发议论，元人多用之写怀古讽世（如张养浩《潼关怀古》）。乔吉此篇最值得称道者，在于把抽象的世态批判写得极具体、极冷峭：以「朝三暮四」「昨非今是」破题，以「攒家私、宠花枝、黄金壮志」写实，以「千百锭买张招状纸」作荒诞归结，末以短柱对「身已至此，心犹未死」当头棒喝。其结构由理入事、由事入判、由判入警，层层收紧；其语言俚俗近市井（招状纸、家私），却锋芒内蕴，是元曲「以俗为冷、以谐为警」的范本。与张养浩同牌之作并读，可见山坡羊一调既能写「兴亡百姓苦」的沉郁大局，亦能写个人贪妄的尖新小相，风格因题而异，足证元散曲讽世主题表现力之丰富，亦见乔吉冷眼热肠的个性。

Line by line

朝三暮四，昨非今是，痴儿不解荣枯事。

The world is three in the morning and four at night, forever shifting, and yesterday's wrong becomes today's right; the fool has never understood how fortunes flourish and fade. The opening reverses of the age lead in, and the direct charge of stupidity makes the satire audible from the first word.

世事朝三暮四、反复无常，昨日之非成了今日之是，痴愚的人从不懂得荣枯盛衰的道理。

Three in the morning, four in the evening; yesterday's wrong, today's right — the fool cannot make sense of rise and fall.

开篇三句先立「世情」之论，是全曲的逻辑起点。「朝三暮四」用《庄子》狙公之喻，写世态反复、是非可颠倒；「昨非今是」反用陶渊明归隐之语，写小人为利而易守、今日之是即昨日之非，含强烈反讽。两句并列，已把「无常」与「无耻」两面写出，随即以「痴儿不解荣枯事」收束——痴愚之人既看不破反复，也不懂盛衰有数（荣枯语本《庄子》）。这里的「痴儿」是诗人冷眼所拟的世相符号，并非真痴，而是利令智昏。三句由泛论落到「痴儿」，由大到小、由理到「人」，既提挈全篇价值观，也预留了后文「身败心不死」的对照：不解荣枯，故贪；贪，故败；败而心不死，故痴得更可笑。起手即见乔吉讽世之冷峻与锤炼。

The opening three lines first lay down the argument on the ways of the world, the logical start of the song. 'Three in the morning, four in the evening' uses Zhuangzi's monkey-keeper parable, writing the world's turns, how right and wrong can be inverted; 'yesterday's wrong, today's right' reverses Tao Yuanming's words on retiring, writing the base man shifting his ground for profit — today's right is yesterday's wrong, sharp irony. The two lines side by side already write the two faces of 'uncertainty' and 'shamelessness,' then close on 'the fool cannot make sense of rise and fall' — the foolish man, unable to see through the turns, and not understanding that rise and fall have their measure (the phrase from Zhuangzi). The 'fool' here is the world's type drawn by the poet's cold eye, not truly foolish, but blinded by gain. Three lines, from general argument to the 'fool,' from large to small, from principle to 'person,' at once commanding the song's values and leaving the foil for the later 'body fallen, heart not dead': not understanding rise and fall, therefore greedy; greedy, therefore ruined; ruined, heart not dead, therefore the more absurdly foolish. The opening shows Qiao Ji's cold satire and craft.

攒家私，宠花枝，黄金壮起荒淫志。

They scrape together property, dote on the painted branch, and gold emboldens an appetite for debauchery. The three phrases mount step by step through hoarding and license, and the naming of the debauched will exposes what lies underneath.

他们拼命积攒家私，一味宠爱美色，黄金助长起荒淫的心志。

Hoarding his wealth, pampering his mistresses; gold feeds his wanton ambitions.

中三句作鼎足对，是「痴儿」行径的正面展开，也是全曲最见元代市井实感的一笔。「攒家私」写聚敛，「宠花枝」写耽色（花枝喻歌姬），「黄金壮起荒淫志」写由财生欲、由欲生恶——黄金非但没能保安，反而喂大了荒淫之心。三个动词「攒」「宠」「壮」层层递进，如三级台阶把人由贪推向罪：先积财，再纵欲，终至心志荒芜。句法上三句句式划一、事类递进，读来如见其人逐步下坠，节奏促迫而形象鲜明。尤为可贵者，所写「家私」「花枝」「黄金」皆元代社会真实物事，故议论而不枯、讽世而有据，与书斋式的道德说教迥异。鼎足对为元曲所长，此处以俗物俗事入对，恰见散曲「即事即讽」的生辣本色，为下句「招状纸」的崩盘蓄足了势。

The middle three lines, a balanced triplet, unfold the 'fool's' ways in full, the song's most vivid touch of Yuan market life. 'Hoarding his wealth' the amassing; 'pampering his mistresses' the indulgence in women (flowers and branches for the singing girls); 'gold feeds his wanton ambitions' desire born of wealth, evil born of desire — gold, far from securing peace, fattens the wanton heart. Three verbs, 'hoarding,' 'pampering,' 'feeds,' layer on layer, like three steps pushing the man from greed to crime: first wealth, then lust, at last a withered heart. The three lines, matched in form and advancing in matter, show the man's gradual descent, the rhythm urgent, the figure vivid. Best of all, the 'wealth,' 'mistresses,' and 'gold' are real things of Yuan society, so the argument is not dry, the satire well-grounded, far from bookish moralizing. The balanced triplet, Yuan qu's strength, here filled with vulgar things and affairs, shows the sanqu's native bite of 'satire in the event itself,' charging the collapse of the 'confession paper' below.

千百锭买张招状纸。

A thousand ingots of silver buy, in the end, one sheet of paper confessing the crime. The contrast closes the account of greed: a fortune exchanged for a written charge, satire that cuts to the bone.

千百锭金银到头来只换得一张招供认罪的状纸。

A thousand, ten thousand ingots — bought a single sheet of the confession.

此句为全曲的「眼」与转捩，以商贾口吻算一笔荒唐账，把前半生所有攒聚经营作了最冷峭的归结。「千百锭」极写其富、其贪，是数量的夸张；「买张招状纸」则以极小极轻的「一张」与之对照——金山银海到头只换来一纸供状，轻重悬殊，讽刺入骨。以「买」字连「锭」与「招状纸」，仿佛贪墨也是一笔交易，荒诞感顿生，机锋类乎杂剧科诨而意极沉痛。它把前面「攒家私、宠花枝、壮荒淫」的种种铺垫，一举收束为一个具体的下场，如高楼瞬塌，力度惊人。元代吏治贪腐、事败者众，此句正戳中时代痛点；「招状纸」三字以公文俗词入曲，冷峭之极，遂成元曲讽世名句，足令读者悚然。

This line is the song's 'eye' and turning, reckoning an absurd account in a merchant's tone, the coldest conclusion to a lifetime of hoarding. 'A thousand, ten thousand ingots' heaps the wealth, the greed, hyperbole of quantity; 'bought a single sheet of the confession' sets against it the tiny, light 'a single sheet' — mountains of gold and silver, at last exchanged for one sheet of confession, the weight gap satirical to the bone. The word 'bought' joins 'ingots' and 'confession paper,' as if corruption were a transaction, the absurdity rising at once, the wit like stage comedy yet the meaning deep grief. It gathers all the buildup of 'hoarding, pampering, feeding wantonness' into one concrete end, like a tall tower falling in an instant, the force startling. Yuan governance was corrupt, the fallen many; the line strikes the age's sore point. 'Confession paper,' a vulgar official word in the song, cold to the extreme, became a famous satirical line of Yuan qu, making the reader start.

身，已至此；心，犹未死。

The body has already come to this; the heart is still not dead. The short parallel closes the song, and in the spectacle of a ruined man whose greed survives him there is severity and also a trace of compassion.

身，已经落到这般地步；心，却依旧贪念未死。

The body — already here; the heart — not yet dead.

末四句用短柱对（一字领起、两字应之），是全曲的当头棒喝，也是最沉痛的警世之笔。「身，已至此」写形骸之败——身陷法网、前程尽毁；「心，犹未死」写心念之执——那贪恋富贵、不死不休的妄心竟仍未死。身与心对举，「已至此」与「犹未死」相激：身已万劫不复，心却仍向外驰求，痴愚之极亦悲悯之极。短柱对为元曲特有句式，一字一顿、斩钉截铁，如两记警钟连续敲响，声情与辞情俱峭。它既回应开篇「痴儿不解荣枯事」——身败方知荣枯，而心终不解；又把讽世推向警世：荣枯有数，人心难餍，正是最可哀处。乔吉冷眼中有热肠，末句于讥刺中暗含对「执迷」的悲悯，遂使此小令不止于骂世，更成一则关于贪妄的人性寓言。

The closing four lines, a short-column couplet (one character leading, two answering), is the song's sudden warning, its most sorrowful admonition. 'The body — already here' writes the ruin of the flesh — snared in the law, the future destroyed; 'the heart — not yet dead' the obsession of the mind — the mad heart clinging to wealth, refusing to die. Body and heart set against each other, 'already here' and 'not yet dead' striking: the body beyond all redemption, the heart still reaching outward, folly at the extreme, pity at the extreme. The short-column couplet, native to Yuan qu, one beat per character, clipped and final, like two warning bells struck in succession, sound and words both sharp. It answers the opening 'the fool cannot make sense of rise and fall' — only when the body is ruined does he know rise and fall, yet the heart never understands; and it pushes satire into admonition: rise and fall have their measure, the human heart insatiable, which is the most pitiable thing. Qiao Ji's cold eye holds a warm heart; the closing, within the satire, hides pity for the 'obsessed,' making this short song more than railing at the world — a fable of human greed.

Study

Word focus

壮 The verb for emboldening shows the most careful workmanship: gold is a dead thing, yet this one word makes it the driving force behind a debauched will. 「黄金壮起荒淫志」的「壮」字，是全曲写「下坠之路」的关键动词，意为助长、壮大。寻常写贪，多说「生」「起」「长」，乔吉独用「壮」字，强调黄金不是被动地「引起」欲望，而是主动地「喂大」了荒淫之心——财富成了欲望的肥料，愈积愈肆。一个「壮」字把物与心的因果关系写得极具张力：黄金本是死物，却因人之贪而反客为主，助纣为虐。它与前两句的「攒」「宠」构成递进链（攒财—宠色—壮志），「壮」居其末，是果也是顶点，暗示由贪到罪已不可收拾。炼字之妙在俗中见力，以最寻常的「壮」字举起了全曲最沉重的道德批判，可见元曲家即事炼字、不避俚俗而能中的的本领。

买 The verb for buying is used with real cruelty, turning acquisition and conviction into a single commercial transaction, and all the mockery lies inside the word. 「千百锭买张招状纸」的「买」字，是全曲机锋的凝聚点。贪墨者一生以「买」为能事——买田宅、买声色、买关节，到此却用「买」把前半生所有经营与一张招状纸勾连，仿佛身败也是一笔交易，荒诞与讽刺一并涌出。以商贾口吻的「买」统摄「千百锭」与「招状纸」，数量（千百锭之巨）与结果（一张之轻）形成强烈反差，贪者毕生算计，到头算进自己案底，其可笑可悲尽在此一字。它使议论性的讽世落地为具象的世相，冷峭近俳而意极沉痛，是元曲「以俗为冷」的典型笔法。一个「买」字，把宏大的道德谴责收束为市井账房里的一笔荒唐账，举重若轻，遂成警策。

犹 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「心，犹未死」的「犹」字，是末句短柱对中最沉的一个虚字，意为「仍然、还」。身已万劫不复（已至此），而那贪妄之心「犹」未死——一个「犹」字写出执迷之深、之不可理喻，也写出诗人冷眼中的悲悯：明知身败，仍不死心，痴愚已入骨髓。虚字在曲中极难工，「犹」以最轻之音举最重之痛，与开篇「痴儿不解荣枯事」遥相呼应：不解，故贪；贪败，仍不解。它把讽世推向警世，暗示「人心难餍」乃亘古之哀，非独一人一事。一字之转，使全曲由骂世升华为关于人性执迷的寓言，足见乔吉落魄江湖而胸有是非、冷笔之下犹存温情的大家气象。