张元干的一生行迹（1091-1161）
张元干（1091-1161），字仲宗，号芦川居士，福州永福（今福建永泰）人，南宋爱国词人。靖康之变后，力主抗金，曾为李纲幕僚。因作《贺新郎》词送胡铨贬谪，触怒秦桧，被削籍除名。其词慷慨悲壮，开南宋爱国词先河，与张孝祥并称"二张"。
福州（1091） · 福州少年
宋哲宗元祐六年（1091年），张元干出生于福州永福（今福建永泰）。其家为当地望族，父张动官至龙图阁直学士。张元干自幼聪慧好学，博览群书，尤喜诗词。少年时即以文才闻名乡里，弱冠之年便出游求仕。
汴京（1116） · 汴京从政
宋徽宗政和六年（1116年），张元干入汴京太学读书，由此步入仕途。在汴京期间，他与当时文坛名流交游唱和，词名渐著。然而他亲眼目睹了北宋末年的政治腐败和社会危机，心中忧患日深。
汴京（靖康）（1126） · 抗金幕僚
宋钦宗靖康元年（1126年），金兵围攻汴京，李纲受命组织防御。张元干投入李纲幕府，亲历了汴京保卫战。他目睹李纲力主抗金而遭罢斥，汴京终因朝廷软弱而沦陷，二帝北狩，国破家亡之痛刻骨铭心。
临安（1138） · 芦川悲歌
宋高宗绍兴八年（1138年），秦桧当权，力主和议。胡铨上书请斩秦桧，被贬至福州。张元干愤而作《贺新郎·送胡邦衡待制赴新州》以壮其行，词中直斥和议之非，痛陈家国之恨。此词传诵天下，却也因此触怒秦桧，张元干被削籍除名。
福州（归隐）（1141） · 落寞晚年
宋高宗绍兴十一年（1141年），张元干被削籍后回到福州故里，自号芦川居士，隐居不仕。他在芦川筑室而居，以诗酒自遣，但始终关注国事，每闻边报便忧形于色。岳飞被害的消息传来，他悲愤填膺，写下多首悼念之作。
临安（下狱）（1145） · 落寞晚年
宋高宗绍兴十五年（1145年），秦桧仍不放过张元干，借故将他逮捕下狱。在狱中，张元干受尽折磨，但始终不屈。后虽获释，却已被折磨得身心俱疲。出狱后他回到福州，更加消沉，但词笔不衰。
三山（1155） · 落寞晚年
宋高宗绍兴二十五年（1155年），秦桧病死，朝政略有松动。张元干虽已年迈，仍密切关注时局。听闻秦桧死讯，他悲喜交加，写下数首感怀之作。然而长期的政治迫害已严重损害了他的健康。
福州（病逝）（1161） · 落寞晚年
宋高宗绍兴三十一年（1161年），张元干病逝于福州，享年七十一岁。他一生以词为剑，以笔为枪，开创了南宋爱国词的先河。其《贺新郎》二首被视为南宋爱国词的奠基之作，对后世影响深远。
The Life Journey of Zhang Yuangan, Pioneer of Patriotic Ci
Zhang Yuangan (1091-1161), courtesy name Zhongzong, art name Luchuan Jushi, was a native of Yongfu, Fuzhou (present-day Yongtai, Fujian) and a patriotic poet of the Southern Song. After the Jingkang catastrophe he served on Li Gang's staff in the defense of Kaifeng. His 'He Xin Lang' sent to the exiled Hu Quan — a direct indictment of the peace faction — enraged Qin Hui and cost him his name on the registers. His vehement, tragic ci opened the heroic vein of Southern Song patriotic lyric; with Zhang Xiaoxiang he is paired as one of the 'Two Zhangs.'
Timeline of the Journey
- 1091 · 福州 — Born to a distinguished Fuzhou family; brilliant and bookish, known in his district before he was twenty.
- 1116 · 汴京 — Entered the Imperial Academy at Kaifeng in 1116, winning literary fame while watching the late-Northern Song rot deepen.
- 1126 · 汴京（靖康） — Joined Li Gang's staff during the siege of Kaifeng in 1126, living through the capital's fall and the emperors' abduction.
- 1138 · 临安 — In 1138, when Hu Quan was banished for demanding Qin Hui's execution, Zhang Yuangan's farewell 'He Xin Lang' denounced appeasement to all the realm — and signed his own ruin.
- 1141 · 福州（归隐） — Struck from the rolls, he took the name Luchuan Jushi and farmed in retreat at Fuzhou — still paling at every frontier dispatch; at news of Yue Fei's murder he wrote in grief and rage.
- 1145 · 临安（下狱） — Harried further by Qin Hui, he was jailed and tortured in 1145 — unbowed, though broken in health.
- 1155 · 三山 — When Qin Hui died in 1155 the old poet, though frail, still followed every shift of court politics.
- 1161 · 福州（病逝） — Died at Fuzhou in 1161, aged seventy-one — his two 'He Xin Lang' ci honored as cornerstones of Southern Song patriotic verse.
Zhang Yuangan made the lyric a weapon: the sword was lost, so the ci had to shout. 'I do not ask for the borders mapped on my staff, nor care for the world's talk of good and evil' — his lines lighted the road that Xin Qiji would march.
