元 Yuan · 曲 Qu song
清江引·立春
Qing Jiang Yin — Beginning of Spring
金钗影摇春燕斜，木杪生春叶。
水塘春始波，火候春初热。
土牛儿载将春去也。
The pond's water begins to ripple with spring; the seasonal warmth grows first hot with spring.
The earthen ox carries spring away!
Meaning
A light, cheerful lyric on the Beginning of Spring, listing the stirring of spring—swallows, new leaves, rippling water, warming air—and ending with a playful line that the earthen ox has carried spring off.
金钗影里春燕斜飞，树梢生出春叶。水塘中春波初兴，节候上春意初暖。土牛儿载着春天去了。
Appreciation
Every line embeds the word 'spring' (spring swallow, spring leaves, spring ripples, spring heat, spring gone), yet it never feels piled-up, instead forming a circular, repeating rhythm. 'Swaying gold hairpin' writes the person, 'leaves at the tree's tip' the tree, 'pond's first ripple' the water, 'first heat' the air—from person to thing, from sight to touch, laying out spring's awakening. The closing 'earthen ox' uses a folk image for a playful close. The piece voices delight at spring's first warmth and a light, faint regret that spring passes so quickly; bright and brisk throughout, it is an unusually lively work among Zhang Kejiu's clear-elegant lyrics.
【白话串讲】 “金钗影摇春燕斜，木杪生春叶”——张可久写立春。“水塘春始波，火候春初热。土牛儿载将春去也”——他用金木水火土嵌入写春，精巧别致。元曲里写节气的巧思。 【意象与手法】全曲句句嵌“春”字（春燕、春叶、春波、春热、春去），却不见堆砌之嫌，反成回环复沓的节奏美。“金钗影摇”写人，“木杪生叶”写树，“水塘始波”写水，“火候初热”写气，由人及物、由视觉及触觉，铺排春日萌动。结句“土牛儿”用民俗意象，俏皮收束。 【情感与主旨】曲子写立春乍暖还寒、春意萌发的欣喜，也暗含对春去匆匆的轻轻怅惘。通篇轻快明朗，是张可久清丽小令中少有的活泼之作。 【名句点睛】“土牛儿载将春去也。”——结句忽作痴语：土牛迎春，反说它“载春去”，将民俗物件写得有灵性、有顽趣，于平淡中见巧思，最显散曲“俏”的韵味。
Background
Zhang Kejiu (c. 1270–c. 1350), styled Xiao Shan, was a great late-Yuan sanqu writer, paired with Qiao Ji and known for a clear, elegant, and correct style. Qing Jiang Yin — Beginning of Spring was written on the Beginning-of-Spring solar term, probably during his leisurely life in Jiangnan, in a brisk register.
《清江引·立春》为元代张可久所作，是写立春时令、春气初生的散曲。张可久（约1270—约1348），字小山，庆元人，元代散曲家。此曲：金钗影摇春燕斜，木杪生春叶。水塘春始波，火候春初热。土牛儿载将春去也。全曲写立春时令、春气初生，是张可久曲的名篇。
Art
All five lines embed 'spring' four times without stiffness, gaining a bright rhythm through circular repetition; starting from the close-up of 'swaying gold hairpin,' it extends to wood, water, and air in orderly progression; the closing uses the folk image of the 'earthen ox' for a playful finish—a Xiao Shan piece that is clear-elegant yet playful.
《清江引·立春》艺术上以立春时令的描摹与春气初生的活泼见长。全曲五句：首写春燕春叶——“金钗影摇春燕斜，木杪生春叶”写金钗影摇春燕斜、木杪生春叶；中写水塘火候——“水塘春始波，火候春初热”写水塘春始波、火候春初热；末写土牛送春——“土牛儿载将春去也”写土牛儿载将春去也。全曲以立春时令写春气初生，正是张可久曲活泼的笔法。
Allusions
Earthen ox (tu niu) refers to the custom of making an earthen ox at the Beginning of Spring to drive away cold and welcome spring plowing (whipping the spring ox). Fire-season (huo hou) here means the temperature of the season, saying spring warmth grows 'first hot.' Spring swallow answers the Beginning-of-Spring phenology (swallows return).
《清江引·立春》用典在“金钗”“春燕”“木杪”“水塘”“火候”“土牛”。“金钗”写金钗；“春燕”写春燕（春燕钗）；“木杪”写木杪（树梢）；“水塘”写水塘；“火候”写火候（火候）；“土牛”用打春土牛之典（立春鞭春）。全曲以这些意象写立春时令、春气初生，用典自然而活泼自见，正是张可久曲的笔法。
Commentary
Zhang Kejiu, frustrated in office all his life, mostly wrote of landscape leisure and seasonal joys. His short lyrics are cunningly wrought and naturally allusive; Zhu Quan's Tai He Zheng Yin Pu rated his lyrics 'like a jade-terrace crane in the sky.' This Beginning-of-Spring lyric is one example of being clear and yet elegant.
《清江引·立春》是张可久曲的名篇，也是元代散曲中写节令的代表作。此曲写立春时令、春气初生，向为论者称道。论者多赏其立春时令的描摹与春气初生的活泼——“金钗影摇春燕斜，木杪生春叶”写金钗影摇春燕斜、木杪生春叶，活泼之极；“水塘春始波，火候春初热”写水塘春始波、火候春初热，更见其巧；“土牛儿载将春去也”用打春土牛之典写土牛儿载将春去也，尤见其趣。张可久曲以清丽著称，此曲正是其代表——以立春时令写春气初生，正是其曲风。
Prosody
Line by line
金钗影摇春燕斜，木杪生春叶。
The golden hairpin's shadow sways, the spring-swallow aslant; new spring leaves are born at the tree's tip.
金钗影摇春燕斜，木杪生春叶。
Golden hairpin swaying, the spring-swallow pin tilted; at the tree's crown, spring leaves are newly born.
首写金钗影摇春燕斜、木杪生春叶，是全曲写春气初生的起点。“金钗影摇春燕斜”写金钗影摇春燕斜——“金钗影摇春燕斜”写金钗摇动、春燕钗斜——金钗影摇春燕斜；“木杪生春叶”写木杪生春叶——“木杪生春叶”写树梢生出春叶——木杪生春叶。二句写金钗影摇春燕斜、木杪生春叶：金钗影摇春燕斜，木杪生春叶。以“金钗影摇春燕斜”写金钗影摇、春燕钗动（女子迎春），以“木杪生春叶”写树梢生叶、春意初萌，正是张可久曲写春气初生的起点——金钗燕斜，木杪春叶。
The opening writes the first breath of spring: 'the golden hairpin's shadow sways, the spring-swallow aslant' — the woman's welcome of spring, her swallow-hairpin stirring; 'new spring leaves are born at the tree's tip' — the first leaves on the branches, the spring heart newly stirring. The starting point of Zhang Kejiu's writing of spring's first breath.
水塘春始波，火候春初热。
The pond's water first ripples in spring; the weather's warmth first quickens in spring.
水塘春始波，火候春初热。
The pond-water first ripples; the weather first grows warm.
中写水塘春始波、火候春初热，是全曲写春气渐生的深化。“水塘春始波”写水塘春始波——“水塘春始波”写水塘春水始生波澜——水塘春始波；“火候春初热”写火候春初热——“火候春初热”写火候（天气）初春方热——火候春初热。二句写水塘春始波、火候春初热：水塘春始波，火候春初热。以“水塘春始波”写水塘春波、水动春回，以“火候春初热”写火候初热、阳气渐升，正是张可久曲写春气渐生的深化——水塘春波，火候初热。
The middle deepens the growing spring: 'the pond's water first ripples in spring' — the water stirred, spring returning; 'the weather's warmth first quickens in spring' — the air warming, the yang rising. Zhang Kejiu's deepening of spring's growing breath.
土牛儿载将春去也。
The clay ox carries spring away and away.
土牛儿载将春去也。
The clay ox has carried spring off, away.
末用打春土牛之典写土牛儿载将春去也，是全曲写立春送春的归结。“土牛儿载将春去也”用打春土牛之典写土牛儿载将春去也——“土牛儿载将春去也”用立春鞭春、土牛之典写土牛儿载将春去也——土牛儿载将春去也。一句写土牛儿载将春去也：土牛儿载将春去也。以“土牛儿载将春去也”用打春土牛之典写土牛载春、立春已至，正是张可久曲写立春送春的归结——土牛载春，春去春来。
The closing uses the clay-ox ritual of the Start of Spring: the ox of clay, led through the streets, carries spring in — the Start of Spring arrived. Zhang Kejiu's resolution of the spring-rite, spring gone and spring come.
Study
Word focus
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