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汉 Han · 诗 Poem

诫子诗

A Poem of Counsel to My Son

东方朔

Dongfang Shuo

隐逸/忧愤reclusion / indignation 亲情/孝道family / filial piety

明者处世，莫尚于中。
优哉游哉，与道相从。
首阳为拙，柳下为工。
饱食安步，以仕代农。
依隐玩世，诡时不逢。
才尽身危，好名得华。
有群贪禄，毋有奸邪。
是故知之，足下何如。

The wise who move through the world prize nothing above the mean;
At ease, at leisure, they walk with the Way.
Shouyang was the clumsy way; Liuxia was the skilled.
Eat your fill, step at peace — let office stand in for the plow.
Lean to the hidden, jest with the world; shun the ill hour and meet no wrong.
Spend your gift and your person is endangered; court a name and win but show.
Keep with the throng in paid service, never turn to crooked ways.
So know this, my son — and what say you now?

Listen

Meaning

The clear-sighted man in the world values nothing higher than the middle way. At ease and free, he moves with the great Dao. Boyi and Shuqi starving on Shouyang was clumsiness; Liuxia Hui's easy virtue was skill. Eat your fill and walk at peace, letting office stand in for farming. Lean toward the hidden and jest with the age, avoiding ill-timed confrontation and meeting no harm. Spend your talent and your life is in danger; crave a name and gain only show. Better join the crowd in their stipend than harbor any crooked thought. So understand these things, my son — and what do you say?

明达的人立身处世，没有比“中庸”更高明的了。从容自得，与大道相随。伯夷叔齐饿死首阳是笨拙，柳下惠和而不流才是工巧。吃饱饭、安稳走路，以做官代替务农。依违隐显之间玩世不羁，避乖违之时而不遭逢其害。才华用尽则身危，贪求名声只落得浮华。宁可随众贪恋俸禄，也不可存心奸邪。所以这些道理你要知晓，你以为如何呢。

Appreciation

Dongfang Shuo, styled Manqian, served Emperor Wu of Han at the Golden Horse Gate, known for wit and jesting remonstrance. Under a mighty, suspicious ruler, talented men easily perished, so he survived by 'leaning to the hidden and jesting with the world' — jest without, lone anger within. This 'Poem of Counsel to My Son', a half-jesting, half-grave lesson to his descendants, is really his life-summary of self-preservation between throne and self, and a deep self-mockery at the scholar's plight under Han Wu. The poem is short four-character lines yet clearly stepped: it first sets the 'middle way' as the highest rule, then uses Boyi and Liuxia as opposite examples, making abstract philosophy concrete; it closes on the sharp warnings 'spend your gift and your life is in peril' and 'never turn to crooked ways', moving from jest to grave.

【白话串讲】东方朔教儿子：“明者处世，莫尚于中”——聪明人处世，最重要的是中庸。“才尽身危，好名得华”——才华用尽会招祸，好名只会得到虚华。东方朔这个爱开玩笑的人，教起儿子来很认真。【意象与手法】全诗四言短促，却层递分明：先标“中庸”为处世极则，再以伯夷、柳下惠一拙一工正反设喻，将抽象哲理具象化【情感与主旨】东方朔字曼倩，汉武帝时待诏金马门，性诙谐，善以滑稽谏君【名句点睛】常考：一、主旨，须答“中庸自处、依隐玩世”的处世哲学与对专制的无奈自全；二、用典，分析伯夷、柳下惠一拙一工的反比

Background

Dongfang Shuo, styled Manqian, served Emperor Wu of Han at the Golden Horse Gate, a witty man who used jest to remonstrate. He lived under a mighty ruler where talented men often met ruin, so he kept himself by 'leaning to the hidden and jesting with the world' — jest without, lone indignation within. This 'Poem of Counsel to My Son', found in the Yiwen Leiju and kindred encyclopedias, teaches his sons a way to live in half-jesting, half-grave tones; in truth it sums up his own survival between imperial power and the self, and holds a deep self-mockery at the Han Wu court's condition for scholars.

《诫子诗》是西汉文学家东方朔所作的一首哲理短诗。东方朔（前154—前93），字曼倩，平原厌次人，汉武帝时官至太中大夫。东方朔以诙谐滑稽著称，然其内心实有深沉的处世智慧。此诗以四言写处世之道：明者处世，莫过于“中”（中庸之道），优游自得，与道相从；以伯夷饿死首阳山为“拙”，以柳下惠屈身事人为“工”；主张饱食安步、以仕代农，依隐玩世、不与世争；警戒“才尽身危，好名得华”，贪禄则生祸，惟当安守本分。全诗是东方朔的人生哲学总结——介于仕隐之间、明哲保身的“依隐玩世”之道。汉武之世，专制酷烈，士人动辄得咎，东方朔以滑稽自晦，正是看透了官场的险恶而采取的生存智慧。此诗以诫子为名，实是东方朔一生处世心得的遗嘱。

Art

The whole is short four-character lines yet clearly stepped: it first marks the 'middle way' as the highest rule, then uses Boyi and Liuxia as opposite examples — one clumsy, one skilled — to make abstract philosophy concrete; the middle 'eat full, walk calm' and 'lean to the hidden, jest with the world' writes the 'court-recluse' reality in plain, knowing speech, jest within roundness; it closes on the sharp warnings 'spend your gift and your life is in peril' and 'never harbor crooked ways', moving from jest to grave. The language seems play, yet care for life and grievance at the age stay between the lines — most true to Manqian's nature.

《诫子诗》艺术上以四言说理、言简意赅见长，是汉代哲理诗的佳作。全诗十六句，皆以警句式的短句说理：“明者处世，莫尚于中”开宗明义——明智者处世，莫过于“中”道；“优哉游哉，与道相从”写优游从容、与道同行；“首阳为拙，柳下为工”以伯夷、柳下惠对比——饿死首阳山（伯夷）是拙，屈身事人（柳下惠）是工，一正一反，点明全身之道；“饱食安步，以仕代农”写安于现状——饱食安步、以官代耕；“依隐玩世，诡时不逢”写依违于仕隐之间、以游戏态度处世、不与世道相忤；“才尽身危，好名得华”警戒才尽则危、好名则华而不实；“有群贪禄，毋有奸邪”写从众贪禄尚可，奸邪则不可为；“是故知之，足下何如”以反问作结——既知此理，你意下如何？全诗以四言警句说理，对仗工整，言简意深，末以设问收束，如师友相询，亲切有味。这种“以诗明理”的四言哲理诗，正是汉代士人处世哲学的诗化表达。

Allusions

'Shouyang was clumsy' uses Boyi and Shuqi refusing Zhou grain and starving on Shouyang — Dongfang Shuo deems their rigidity a loss of life; 'Liuxia was skilled' uses Liuxia Hui's easy yet unyielding virtue, praised as the apt, skilled way. The two examples set off each other, the core figures. 'Lean to the hidden and jest with the world' reworks the phrase from Dongfang Shuo's biography in the Han Shu, not a loose phrase. The references are all Confucian 'exit-and-entry' allusions turned to new sense, showing his indignation wrapped in jest.

《诫子诗》用典精当，皆取古人事迹以明理。“首阳”指首阳山，为伯夷、叔齐不食周粟、饿死之地，出《史记·伯夷列传》，此处以“首阳为拙”写其过于清高而自取其祸；“柳下”指柳下惠（展禽），鲁国贤人，三黜不去、屈身事人，出《论语》“柳下惠为士师，三黜”及《孟子》称其“圣之和者”，此处以“柳下为工”写其能屈能伸、全身保节；“优哉游哉”出《诗经·小雅·采菽》“优哉游哉，亦是戾矣”，写从容自得；“依隐玩世”取《史记》评东方朔“依隐玩世，诡时不逢”之语——东方朔以此自况，遂成其标签。全诗以史为鉴、以经为训，一句一事，正是汉代文人说理诗的典型用典方式。

Commentary

The Han Shu calls Shuo 'seeming a jester, never at a loss, seeming wise'. Moderns say this poem: on the surface it schools a son to fit in, but the line 'spend your gift and your life is in peril' lays bare the Han Wu court scholar's fear — blood and tears hide beneath the jest. His 'court-recluse' thought opens the Wei-Jin free-and-easy vein, giving later men a model of self-keeping under tyranny; his jest-wrapping-lone-anger brush opens the bamboo-grove freethinkers' ease, and is the unshakable source of later 'Dongfang Shuo-style' wisdom.

《诫子诗》是东方朔处世哲学的诗化总结，也是汉代士人“明哲保身”思想的代表。此诗以“中”为宗，以伯夷为拙、柳下为工，主张“依隐玩世”、不求闻达，正是汉武专制时代士人的生存智慧。东方朔一生滑稽自晦，世以为其诙谐，然此诗见其内心之清醒与深刻。历代论者或赏其通达，或议其圆滑，然身处暴君之朝，能全身保命、又不失其节，正是“用之则行，舍之则藏”的变通。此诗以四言警句说理，言简意深，与《古诗十九首》“生年不满百，常怀千岁忧”的处世之叹相通，皆见汉人对“生”的深沉思考。

Prosody

Form Four-character ancient poem (counsel-maxim form)四言古诗（哲理诗）

Rhyme Alternate-line rhyme, natural shifts《诫子诗》为四言古诗，十六句，用韵：中、从（东部）、工、农（东部）、逢、华（东部，古韵“华”读如“敷”）、何（歌部），大体押韵而略有变通。四言句式整齐，音节短促，宜于警句说理。

Tone pattern Ancient four-character, no level-oblique rule四言诗以二字一顿，节奏短促齐整，正合警句式的说理。此诗十六句，多为对偶句（“首阳为拙，柳下为工”“才尽身危，好名得华”），音节铿锵，如格言箴铭。全诗以短句说理，声情庄重而不失从容，正合诫子诗的口吻。

Reading note Short, maxim-like lines; jesting in tongue yet grievous in truth, near the Book of Songs' four-character legacy.《诫子诗》为四言古诗，是汉代哲理诗的代表。四言诗自《诗经》而盛，东汉时渐衰，东方朔此诗以四言写处世哲理，是四言诗在汉代的余响。全诗以警句说理，一句一义，言简意深，正是“以诗明理”的传统。其结构由“明者处世”立论，到“首阳”“柳下”取鉴，再到“依隐玩世”明法，终以“毋有奸邪”守德、设问收束，层次井然。这种以四言格言说理的诗体，上承《诗经》的箴铭传统，下启汉末《古诗十九首》的人生咏叹，是汉代士人思想诗化的重要文本。

Line by line

明者处世，莫尚于中。优哉游哉，与道相从。

The wise man in the world values nothing above the mean; at ease and unhurried, he follows the Way.

明智的人处世，没有什么比“中道”更高明的。从容自在，与大道相随。

The wise man living in the world prizes nothing more than the mean; at ease and unhurried, he walks with the Way.

起四句开宗明义，点出全诗的处世宗旨。“明者处世，莫尚于中”以“明者”立论——明智的人处世，莫过于“中”道；“中”即中庸、中道，不偏不倚、不过不及，是儒家处世的核心；“优哉游哉，与道相从”写中道之境界——“优哉游哉”写从容自得之态（出《诗经》），与道相从写身心与道合一。四句一论一中，把“中”道作为处世的最高原则。这一开宗明义，为全诗定下基调：不是追求功名，而是求“中”得“道”、从容自适。以“明者”起笔，见出东方朔对人生的大彻大悟。

The will's opening principle. The wise man in the world values nothing above the mean; at ease and unhurried, he follows the Way. The mean (the Confucian middle) is the rule: no excess, no heroism. The at-ease-and-unhurried is the recommended bearing. To have said live moderately would be advice; the mean followed at an unhurried pace is the advice.

首阳为拙，柳下为工。饱食安步，以仕代农。

The Shouyang fast is clumsy; Liuxia's bending is the craft. Eat well, walk at ease, take office in place of farming.

饿死首阳山（如伯夷）是笨拙的，屈身事人（如柳下惠）才是精明的。吃饱穿暖、安然踱步，以做官代替务农。

Starving at Shouyang was clumsy; Liuxia's flexibility was the skill. Eat your fill, walk at ease, and take office instead of farming.

此四句以古人为鉴，写全身之道。“首阳为拙，柳下为工”以伯夷、柳下惠对举——伯夷不食周粟、饿死首阳山，虽清高而自取祸，故为“拙”；柳下惠三黜不去、屈身事人，能屈能伸而全身保节，故为“工”。这一“拙”一“工”，正是东方朔的处世取舍：不效伯夷之清高，而学柳下之通达。“饱食安步，以仕代农”写其实用之道——不求大富大贵，但求温饱安步，以官俸代农耕。四句以史为鉴、以实为用，把“明哲保身”的智慧写得具体而通透，正是看透世情后的清醒选择。

The historical examples. The Shouyang fast—Boyi's starvation rather than serve the new dynasty—was clumsy; Liuxia Hui's willingness to be dismissed again and again was the true skill. The poem rejects the heroic death and endorses the flexible survival. Eat well, walk at ease, take office in place of farming. The plainness is the practical philosophy. To have said be flexible rather than principled would be a choice; the clumsy Shouyang fast against the skillful Liuxia bending is the choice.

依隐玩世，诡时不逢。才尽身危，好名得华。

Dwell between reclusion and office, toy with the age, avoid its clashes. Talent exhausted invites danger; love of fame wins but show.

依违于仕隐之间、以游戏态度处世，不与世道相抵触。才学用尽则身危，好求名声则华而不实。

Dwell midway between office and withdrawal, take the world lightly, avoid its conflicts. Exhaust your talent and you risk your life; love fame and you get only show.

此四句写处世的态度与警戒。“依隐玩世，诡时不逢”写东方朔的处世方式——“依隐”是依违于仕与隐之间，“玩世”是以游戏的态度处世，“诡时不逢”是不与世道相违逆——这八个字正是东方朔一生处世的写照，也是《史记》评其“依隐玩世，诡时不逢”的化用；“才尽身危，好名得华”写其警戒——“才尽”则无用而危，“好名”则华而不实。四句一写态度、一写警戒，以“依隐”写其圆融，以“才尽”“好名”写其警惕。这种进退有度、不露锋芒的智慧，正是乱世士人的生存之道。

The method and the warnings. Dwell midway between office and withdrawal, take the world lightly, avoid its conflicts; exhaust your talent and you risk your life, love fame and you get only show. The first clause is Dongfang Shuo's own career (the court jester-sage), the second the cautions: don't overspend your gifts, don't parade your name. To have said keep a low profile would be advice; the between-office-and-withdrawal with the exhausted talent and the showy fame is the advice.

有群贪禄，毋有奸邪。是故知之，足下何如。

It is allowed to share the ordinary greed for salary, but never treachery. Since you know this, tell me, son, what do you think?

可以随众贪图俸禄，却不可有奸邪之心。既然知道这些道理，你（儿子）意下如何？

You may join the crowd in taking salary, but never commit treachery. Knowing all this now, what do you think, my son?

末四句以叮咛与设问收束，是全诗的归结。“有群贪禄，毋有奸邪”写其底线——随大流贪点俸禄尚可，奸邪之事则万万不可为。这一句见出东方朔的处世伦理：不是不做官、不取禄，而是不害人、不奸邪，于随俗中守住道德的底线；“是故知之，足下何如”以设问作结——“足下”指儿子，“何如”是问其意，如师友相询，亲切中见叮咛。全诗由“中道”起，由“戒奸邪”收，首尾一贯，把明哲保身与道德底线统一起来，正是东方朔留给儿子的处世遗嘱，也是汉人人生智慧的浓缩。

The bottom line and the question. You may join the crowd in taking salary, but never commit treachery. Knowing all this, what do you think? The permission to take salary is the realistic concession; the prohibition on treachery is the retained moral floor. The final question to the son makes the poem a conversation. To have said be honest while making a living would be a rule; the permitted salary against the forbidden treachery, and the question to the son, are the rule.

Study

Word focus

中 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “莫尚于中”之“中”，是全诗的立论之字，也是东方朔处世哲学的核心。“中”即中道、中庸，不偏不倚、无过无不及，出《论语》“中庸之为德也”、《礼记·中庸》“执其两端，用其中于民”。东方朔以“中”为处世之最——不是激进的进取，也不是彻底的退隐，而是取其中道、从容自适。这一个字，奠定了全诗“明哲保身”的基调，也见出汉武专制时代士人的生存智慧。

拙 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “首阳为拙”之“拙”，与下句“柳下为工”的“工”相对，是东方朔评价人生境界的关键词。“拙”本义笨拙，此处指伯夷饿死首阳山的清高自守——虽高洁而不通权变，自取其祸，故为“拙”。这一“拙”字，是东方朔对理想主义的清醒审视：清高诚然可敬，然在暴政之世，自取灭亡并非智者所为。以“拙”评伯夷，见出东方朔重“生”而轻“名”的实用理性，也见出其与孔孟“杀身成仁”不同的处世取向。

玩世 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “依隐玩世”之“玩世”，以游戏的态度处世，是东方朔处世方式的核心词。“玩”本义戏弄、赏玩，此处以“玩”写处世——不把功名得失看得过重，以游戏般的超然态度应对世事。这一词是东方朔的标志（《史记》谓其“依隐玩世”），写尽他的诙谐与清醒：看似嬉笑怒骂，实则看透世情。以“玩”写世，正是乱世中智者自我保护的姿态——不较真，故不被世伤；不执着，故能全身。

奸邪 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “毋有奸邪”之“奸邪”，指奸诈邪恶之事，是东方朔为儿子划定的道德底线。“毋有”即不可有，此二字斩钉截铁，是全诗唯一毫不含糊的告诫。东方朔处世虽圆融（依隐玩世、随众贪禄），然于此“奸邪”则绝不容情——可以随俗，不可以害人；可以保身，不可以丧德。这一“毋有”，见出东方朔的处世原则：明哲保身而不失其正，随俗自晦而不坠奸邪。

诫子诗