晏几道的一生行迹（约1038-约1110）
晏几道（约1038-约1110），字叔原，号小山，临川（今江西抚州）人，北宋婉约派词人。宰相晏殊之幼子，人称"小晏"。少时锦衣玉食，后家道中落，一生潦倒。其词多写男女悲欢离合，深情绵邈，与父晏殊并称"二晏"，有《小山词》传世。
临川（1038） · 相府公子
约宋仁宗宝元元年（1038年），晏几道出生于临川（今江西抚州）。其父晏殊时为宰相，家业鼎盛。晏几道为晏殊第七子（一说第八子），自幼锦衣玉食，在相府中长大。他聪明绝顶，却对仕途毫无兴趣，只沉迷于诗词歌赋和歌姬酒宴。
开封（1055） · 家道中落
宋仁宗至和二年（1055年），晏殊病逝，晏几道时年约十七岁。父亲死后，家道迅速中落。晏几道不善经营，又不肯折腰求人，家产日渐凋零。从锦衣玉食到捉襟见肘，这个落差对他打击极大。
开封（小山词）（1070） · 小山词笔
宋神宗熙宁三年（1070年）前后，晏几道在开封以词名世，与黄庭坚交好。黄庭坚为其《小山词》作序，称其词"寓以诗人之句法，清壮顿挫，能动人心"。此时他的词艺达到巅峰，以深情绵邈的风格独步词坛。
开封（郑侠案）（1078） · 落魄江湖
宋神宗元丰元年（1078年），晏几道因与郑侠交往受牵连，被下狱审查。郑侠因上《流民图》反对新法而下狱，晏几道因其友人而被波及。虽最终获释，但这次牢狱之灾对他打击极大，此后更加消沉。
颍昌（1085） · 落魄江湖
宋神宗元丰八年（1085年），晏几道赴颍昌（今河南许昌）投奔友人韩维。韩维时知颍昌府，对晏几道颇为照顾。然而晏几道性格孤傲，不愿久居人下，不久便离开颍昌，继续漂泊。
开封（重逢）（1090） · 晚景凄凉
宋哲宗元祐五年（1090年），晏几道回到开封，与旧日歌姬重逢。昔日相府中的歌姬莲、鸿、苹、云四人，如今已各散东西。晏几道与她们重逢后悲喜交加，写下多首追忆之作，将一生最深的情感化为不朽的词章。
开封（小山词序）（1095） · 晚景凄凉
宋哲宗绍圣二年（1095年），晏几道整理毕生词作，编成《小山词》，请黄庭坚作序。黄庭坚在序中详述了晏几道的"四痴"，并高度评价其词"清壮顿挫，能动人心"。《小山词》的刊行标志着晏几道词学成就的最终确立。
开封（辞世）（1110） · 晚景凄凉
约宋徽宗大观四年（1110年），晏几道在开封病逝，享年约七十二岁。他一生从相府公子到落魄文人，经历了人生最大的落差。其《小山词》存词二百六十余首，以深情绵邈著称，与父晏殊并称"二晏"，为北宋婉约词的重要代表。
The Life Journey of Yan Jidao, the Falling Heir of the Small Hill
Yan Jidao (c. 1038-c. 1110), seventh son of the chancellor Yan Shu, was raised in silk and ended as a poor free man who refused every favor. The last great lyricist of the Northern Song's graceful line: 'Falling petals — I stand alone; light rain — the swallows fly in pairs.' Huang Tingjian, his friend, catalogued his four forms of folly — refusing office, refusing patrons, spending everything on friends, and never learning to guard his heart — and those follies are the biography.
Timeline of the Journey
- 1038 · Linchuan — Born in the chancellor's mansion at the family's zenith: the boy of pearls and jade, brilliant and utterly uninterested in a career.
- 1055 · Kaifeng — His father dies when he is about seventeen: the estate drains away within years, the heir neither manages nor begs — from silk to shabby in a decade.
- 1070 · Kaifeng — Famous now for his lyrics alone; the friendship with Huang Tingjian begins. 'He takes the poet's line-construction into the lyric — his music is strong and startling' — the Small Hill manner at its height.
- 1078 · Kaifeng — Caught up in the Zheng Xia case — his friend's 'Picture of Refugees' had angered the throne. Prison, interrogation, release — and a retreat deeper into himself.
- 1085 · Yingchang — South to Yingchang and the protection of Han Wei: the proud guest could not stay long under any roof, and moved on.
- 1090 · Kaifeng — Back in the capital, reunion with the four singing girls of his father's house — Lian, Hong, Ping and Yun — scattered now like himself: the meetings that produced the memory-lyrics of a lifetime, joy and grief in the same breath.
- 1095 · Kaifeng — The collected Small Hill Lyrics, with Huang Tingjian's preface: the 'four follies' set down, 260 lyrics kept for ever — and 'the Two Yans,' father and son, fixed as one name.
- 1110 · Kaifeng — Dead in the capital, about seventy-two: the last gentleman of the great houses, who lost everything except the ability to grieve beautifully.
'The moon of those days is still here; it shone on the cloud-like girls.' Yan Jidao inherited a fortune, spent it on a manner, and paid all his debts to language — the Song's greatest lyric of memory came out of a ruined household.
