Yuan Dynasty

拨不断·竞江山

Bō Bù Duàn · Jìng Jiāngshān

马致远

Mǎ Zhìyuǎn

Jìng jiāngshān, wèi Cháng'ān,

竞江山，为长安，

Zhāng Liáng fàng huǒ Liányún zhàn,

张良放火连云栈，

Hán Xìn dú dēng Bàijiàng tán,

韩信独登拜将坛，

Bàwáng zìwěn Wūjiāng àn,

霸王自刎乌江岸，

zài shuí fēn Chǔ Hàn.

再谁分楚汉。

Translation

They fought for the realm, for Chang’an. Zhang Liang set fire to the gallery roads of Lianyun. Han Xin alone ascended the altar to be made general. The Hegemon-King cut his own throat on the bank of the Wu River. In the end, who can still divide Chu from Han?

Analysis

This song returns to the Chu-Han struggle, but it does not celebrate military greatness. Zhang Liang, Han Xin, and Xiang Yu appear as figures caught in the same cycle of ambition. Strategy, promotion, and heroic death are all reduced to historical traces. The final question—who can still divide Chu and Han—undermines the meaning of victory itself. Over time, winners and losers alike dissolve into memory. The song is brief, but its historical skepticism is severe.