史达祖的一生行迹（约1163-约1220）
史达祖（约1163-约1220），字邦卿，号梅溪，汴京（今河南开封）人，南宋婉约派词人。曾任太师韩侂胄堂吏，随使金国。韩侂胄败后受牵连遭贬，穷困而终。其词以咏物见长，尤善写燕蝶，笔法精巧细腻，与姜夔齐名，并称"姜史"。
开封（1163） · 汴京少年
约宋孝宗隆兴元年（1163年），史达祖出生于汴京（今河南开封）。其家世不详，少年时随家南渡，定居临安。他自幼聪颖好学，尤擅词章，青年时代便以词名闻于杭州文坛。
临安（1185） · 临安游幕
约宋孝宗淳熙十二年（1185年），史达祖在临安以词名渐著，与姜夔、高观国等人交游唱和。他虽才华横溢，却因出身寒微而仕途不顺，只得投靠权贵为幕僚。约在此时期，他成为韩侂胄的堂吏，开始了其依附权门的生涯。
临安（梅溪词）（1195） · 梅溪咏物
约宋宁宗庆元元年（1195年）前后，史达祖的词艺达到巅峰。他创作了《双双燕·咏燕》等代表作，以极其精巧的笔法描绘自然物象，被誉为咏物词圣手。姜夔为其词集作序，称其"奇秀清逸，有李长吉之韵"。
金国（1204） · 使金之行
宋宁宗嘉泰四年（1204年），史达祖随韩侂胄使团出使金国。他亲眼目睹了中原故土在金人统治下的凄凉景象，感慨万千。在使金途中，他写下多首感怀之作，词风由清丽转为沉郁。
临安（开禧北伐）（1206） · 使金之行
宋宁宗开禧二年（1206年），韩侂胄发动开禧北伐，史达祖作为其核心幕僚参与筹划。然而北伐惨败，韩侂胄被杀，史达祖受牵连被黥面流放，从一介文士沦为罪人，人生由此跌入谷底。
流放地（1208） · 黥面流落
约宋宁宗嘉定元年（1208年），史达祖在流放地过着凄苦的生活。黥面之刑使他无法见人，昔日文名尽付东流。他在流放中写下多首凄凉的词作，词风由清丽婉约转为沉郁悲怆，字字皆是血泪。
杭州（终老）（1220） · 黥面流落
约宋宁宗嘉定十三年（1220年）前后，史达祖在穷困潦倒中去世，享年约五十七岁。他一生以词名世，却因政治牵连而身败名裂。其《梅溪词》存词一百一十余首，以咏物词最为精妙，为宋词婉约派的重要遗产。
开封（魂归）（1220） · 黥面流落
史达祖一生心系故土开封。他出生在汴京，幼年南渡，使金时曾重返故地。虽未能在生前归葬开封，但他的词作中对中原故土的眷恋之情，成为他作品中最深沉的底色。后人以其出生地开封作为其精神归宿。
The Life Journey of Shi Dazu, the Supreme Hand at Object Lyrics
Shi Dazu (c. 1163-c. 1220), born in the lost capital Kaifeng and raised in Lin'an, was the supreme technician of the 'object lyric' — the song built entirely on the close description of a thing: his 'Pair of Swallows' is the most admired poem ever written about birds ('they whisper a while, then fly to the painted raft, skimming the dust from their wings'). He was also — the price of his fame — the private secretary and pen of the chancellor Han Tuozhou; when the Kaixi war collapsed and Han was murdered, Shi Dazu was tattooed on the face and exiled. The perfect hand, the impossible career.
Timeline of the Journey
- 1163 · Kaifeng — Born in the old northern capital on the eve of the Longxing era — carried south as a child, one more refugee of the Song's lost half.
- 1185 · Lin'an — A reputation growing in the temporary capital: Jiang Kui and Gao Guanguo among his circle — the lyric's last generation gathering while the empire drifted.
- 1195 · Lin'an — The peak of the craft: 'Pair of Swallows' and the other object-lyrics of the Plum-Stream collection — Jiang Kui's preface praising 'the strange beauty, the clear flight, with something of Li He in it.'
- 1204 · The Jin Court — On the embassy north with Han Tuozhou's mission: the old capital seen at last — the central plain under foreign rule, the grief of it entering the verse and never leaving.
- 1206 · Lin'an — The Kaixi war launched from his master's desk, his own hand in the documents — and the collapse: Han murdered, the secretary tattooed on the face and banished. The lyricist's whole standing gone in a season.
- 1208 · Exile — The tattooed years: unable to show his face, writing the exile lyrics — 'each word blood and tears,' the delicate style hardened into grief.
- 1220 · Hangzhou — Dead in poverty, about fifty-seven. The Plum-Stream Lyrics, one hundred twelve songs, survived him — the object-lyric's summit, written by a man the state had marked.
- 1220 · Kaifeng — A spiritual home he saw once: the northern capital he never lived in — 'the smoke of the central plain' the deep ground-note of everything he wrote.
'They alight, they whisper — they sketch the spring across the crimson petals.' The tenderest eyes in the Song lyric, in the service of the age's worst career: Shi Dazu is the craft at its purest and its most costly.
