Yuan Dynasty
小桃红 · 采莲女（三）
杨果
采莲人和采莲歌，
柳外兰舟过。
不管鸳鸯梦惊破，
夜如何？
有人独上江楼卧。
伤心莫唱，
南朝旧曲，
司马泪痕多。
Translation
The lotus gatherers join in the lotus-picking song; beyond the willows, an orchid boat passes by. It does not care whether it startles the mandarin ducks from their dream, nor what kind of night this is. Someone has gone alone up to the riverside tower to lie down. When the heart is wounded, do not sing anymore. Those old songs of the Southern Dynasties will only add more tear marks to the robe of the Sima.
Analysis
This third "Lotus-Picking Girl" song differs sharply from the previous two. The earlier pieces focus on female beauty, moonlit water, lotus fragrance, and romantic atmosphere. This one begins with the same waterside imagery but turns toward loneliness, historical sorrow, and the grief of a displaced literatus. The opening still sounds graceful: lotus gatherers sing, and a beautiful boat passes beyond the willows. The scene has music, movement, and the softness of a southern waterscape. The mood shifts with the image of mandarin ducks whose dream may be startled. Mandarin ducks traditionally symbolize lovers and paired happiness. To break their dream is to disturb intimacy and peace. The question "what kind of night is this?" leaves the emotional atmosphere unresolved and suspended. "Someone has gone alone up to the riverside tower" is the emotional pivot. The scene of singing and boating is no longer simply joyful. It is being heard by a solitary figure who cannot participate in its pleasure. He lies alone above the river, listening. The final lines deepen the song through allusion. "Old songs of the Southern Dynasties" evoke lost southern courts, vanished refinement, and dynastic decline. "The Sima's tear marks" recalls Bai Juyi's "Song of the Pipa," where the exiled Jiangzhou Sima weeps until his robe is wet. The listener of music becomes a figure of political displacement and literary sorrow. The result is subtle but powerful. The lotus-picking song is not inherently tragic. It becomes tragic because of who hears it and what memories it awakens. In the ears of a grieving man, a waterside song becomes the sound of lost history. Yang Guo lived through the transition from Jin to Yuan, and this historical background gives the song added depth. Beneath the graceful lotus imagery lies the emotional world of an old subject remembering a vanished order.
About the Author
Yang Guo, courtesy name Zhengqing and literary name Xi'an, was a late Jin and early Yuan writer and sanqu poet from Puyin in Qizhou. He passed the jinshi examination under the Jin and later served under the Yuan, eventually reaching high office. He was known for integrity and administrative ability and was closely associated with Yuan Haowen. Yang Guo wrote poetry, prose, ci, and sanqu, with particular distinction in song. His sanqu often treats natural scenery, romantic feeling, and banquet life, while at times placing historical sorrow beneath bright and elegant imagery.