汉 Han · 乐府 Yuefu ballad
陌上桑
Mulberry by the Path
日出东南隅，照我秦氏楼。
秦氏有好女，自名为罗敷。
罗敷喜蚕桑，采桑城南隅。
青丝为笼系，桂枝为笼钩。
头上倭堕髻，耳中明月珠。
缃绮为下裙，紫绮为上襦。
行者见罗敷，下担捋髭须。
少年见罗敷，脱帽著帩头。
耕者忘其犁，锄者忘其锄。
来归相怨怒，但坐观罗敷。
使君从南来，五马立踟蹰。
使君遣吏往，问是谁家姝。
秦氏有好女，自名为罗敷。
罗敷年几何？
二十尚不足，十五颇有余。
使君谢罗敷，宁可共载不？
罗敷前置辞：使君一何愚！
使君自有妇，罗敷自有夫。
东方千余骑，夫婿居上头。
何用识夫婿？
白马从骊驹；
青丝系马尾，黄金络马头；
腰中鹿卢剑，可值千万余。
十五府小吏，二十朝大夫，三十侍中郎，四十专城居。
为人洁白皙，鬑鬑颇有须。
盈盈公府步，冉冉府中趋。
坐中数千人，皆言夫婿殊。
The governor comes from the south; his five horses halt and hesitate. The governor sends a clerk to ask: whose lovely girl is this? The Qin family has a fair daughter, named herself Luofu. How old is Luofu? Not yet twenty, somewhat past fifteen. The governor speaks to Luofu: would you ride with me? Luofu steps forward and answers: how foolish the governor! The governor has his wife; Luofu has her husband.
In the east a thousand horsemen; her husband rides at the head. How to know her husband? A white horse followed by a black colt; black silk tied to the horse's tail, gold encircling the horse's head; at his waist a pulley-sword worth more than a thousand. At fifteen a petty clerk; at twenty a court gentleman; at thirty a palace attendant; at forty he rules a city. His skin is fair and white; lightly he wears a beard. With graceful step he walks the magistracy; slowly he hurries the court. Among the thousands seated, all say her husband is matchless.
Meaning
The folk-song tells how the beautiful mulberry-picker Luofu, using wit and pride, refuses the governor who would carry her off, boasting of her worthy husband to put him in his place.
太阳从东南升起，照着秦家的高楼。秦家有个好女儿，名叫罗敷。罗敷喜爱养蚕采桑，在城南采桑。青丝做篮绳，桂枝做篮钩。头上梳着倭堕髻，耳戴明月珠。黄绮做下裙，紫绮做上襦。路人见罗敷，放下担子捋胡须。少年见罗敷，脱帽露出帩头。耕者忘了犁，锄者忘了锄。回来互相抱怨，只因贪看罗敷。 使君从南而来，五马停步徘徊。使君派小吏去问：这是谁家美女？答是秦家罗敷。使君问年纪？二十不足、十五有余。使君对罗敷说：可愿同车归？罗敷上前答：使君何等愚！使君自有妻，罗敷自有夫。 东方千余骑，夫婿在前列。怎认夫婿？白马随黑驹，青丝系马尾、黄金络马头，腰挂鹿卢剑值千万。十五为小吏，二十朝大夫，三十侍中郎，四十专城居。为人白皙，略有须。公府步盈盈，府中行冉冉。座中数千人，皆夸夫婿出众。
Appreciation
The poem shows the mulberry-gatherer Qin Luofu refusing the governor's advances with beauty and wit: first it spreads Luofu's loveliness and the onlookers' transported stares, then the governor sends a clerk and would force her into his carriage; Luofu sharply refuses, 'how foolish the governor,' and boasts of a husband high in rank and handsome of person, crushing him. The tone is humorous and vigorous. It praises the beauty, fidelity, and quickness of a working girl, and mocks the governor's rudeness and folly.
【白话串讲】 “日出东南隅，照我秦氏楼”——汉乐府写罗敷：秦家有个好女儿，叫罗敷。“行者见罗敷，下担捋髭须。少年见罗敷，脱帽著帩头”——过路的人都看呆了。“耕者忘其犁，锄者忘其锄”——古代最著名的美女诗之一。 【意象与手法】正面写罗敷之美用“青丝”“桂枝”“倭堕髻”“明月珠”等器物服饰烘托（所谓“以器写人”）；写旁观者“忘犁忘锄”以侧面衬美；夸夫一段极尽铺排夸张，喜剧色彩浓。叙事有层次、对话见性格。 【情感与主旨】歌颂劳动女子的美丽、坚贞与机智，嘲讽权贵使君的无礼与愚蠢。罗敷“使君自有妇，罗敷自有夫”的拒绝，既守礼又机智，是汉乐府中独立刚健的女性形象。 【名句点睛】“使君一何愚！使君自有妇，罗敷自有夫。”——罗敷不卑不亢，以一句反问戳破使君的特权妄念；短短数语写尽民间女子的清醒与刚直，是《陌上桑》最响亮的骨节。
Background
'Mulberry by the Path,' also called 'The Song of Luofu the Beauty,' is in the Yuefu Anthology under 'Xianghe Songs'; a Han-dynasty folk song of unknown author. It tells how the mulberry-gatherer Qin Luofu refuses the governor's flirtation—a comic and defiant masterpiece among Han yuefu narratives.
《陌上桑》为汉代乐府民歌，是写采桑女罗敷、智拒使君的长篇叙事诗。此诗写日出东南隅、罗敷采桑，使君见之欲共载，罗敷盛夸夫婿以拒，是汉乐府的名篇。
Art
It does not describe beauty directly, but sets it off through objects and dress—'black silk basket-cord,' 'falling coil,' 'bright-moon pearls' (writing the person through her things); the onlookers 'forget plow and hoe' hint her beauty from the side; the husband-boasting passage is lavish and exaggerated, strong in comedy; dialogue drives the tale and reveals character.
《陌上桑》艺术上以罗敷之美的描摹与智拒使君的叙事见长。全诗三层写来：首写罗敷之美——“日出东南隅，照我秦氏楼”写日出东南隅、照秦氏楼，“秦氏有好女，自名为罗敷”写秦氏好女、名为罗敷，青丝桂枝写采桑之具，倭堕明月珠写头饰，行者少年、耕者锄者写见者之态；中写使君之求——“使君从南来，五马立踟蹰”写使君南来、五马踟蹰，“使君谢罗敷，宁可共载不”写使君问罗敷、宁可共载；末写罗敷之拒——“罗敷前置辞：使君一何愚！”写罗敷前辞、使君一何愚，东方千余骑写夸夫婿。全诗以罗敷之美写智拒使君，正是汉乐府叙事的笔法。
Allusions
'Governor' (shijun) was a Han honorific for provincial inspectors and commandery administrators; 'falling coil' (woduo ji) was a fashionable Han hairstyle; 'bright-moon pearls' are luminous pearls; 'pulley-sword' (lulu jian) has a jade pulley-shaped hilt; 'rules a city' (zhuancheng ju) means the lord of a city (administrator); 'at fifteen a petty clerk' and so on write the husband's smooth career.
《陌上桑》用典在“秦氏楼”“使君”“鹿卢剑”“侍中郎”。“秦氏楼”写秦氏女（罗敷）；“使君”写太守（汉代称使君）；“鹿卢剑”写鹿卢剑（剑名）；“侍中郎”写侍中郎（显官）。全诗以这些典故写罗敷采桑、智拒使君，用典自然而叙事自见，正是汉乐府的笔法。
Commentary
Shen Deqian said it is 'lavish and extravagant, yet born of humor'; Luofu's wit crushes the powerful, the comic and defiant spirit of folk narrative reaching its height here, also a glimmer of Han women's self-awareness.
《陌上桑》是汉乐府的名篇，也是汉乐府中写女子智勇的代表作。此诗写采桑女罗敷、智拒使君，向为论者称道。论者多赏其罗敷之美的描摹与智拒使君的叙事——“日出东南隅，照我秦氏楼”写日出东南隅、照秦氏楼，叙事之妙；“行者见罗敷，下担捋髭须。少年见罗敷，脱帽著帩头”写行者少年见罗敷之态，更见其美；“使君谢罗敷，宁可共载不”写使君问载、欲共车行，尤见其求；“使君自有妇，罗敷自有夫”写自有其妇、自有其夫，尤见其拒。此诗为汉乐府民歌，以叙事著称，正是其代表——以罗敷之美写智拒使君，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
日出东南隅，照我秦氏楼。秦氏有好女，自名为罗敷。
The sun rises in the southeast corner, shining on our Qin family's tower. The Qin family has a lovely daughter; her own name is Luofu.
日出东南隅，照我秦氏楼。秦氏有好女，自名为罗敷。
The sun rises in the southeast, shining on the Qin family tower. The Qins have a lovely daughter who calls herself Luofu.
首写日出东南隅、秦氏有好女，是全诗写罗敷出场的起点。“日出东南隅，照我秦氏楼”写日出东南隅、照秦氏楼——“日出东南隅”写太阳从东南方升起，“照我秦氏楼”写光照秦氏之楼——日出东南隅，照秦氏楼；“秦氏有好女，自名为罗敷”写秦氏好女名为罗敷——“秦氏有好女”写秦家有位好女，“自名为罗敷”写自取名罗敷——秦氏好女，名为罗敷。四句写日出东南隅、秦氏有好女：日出东南隅，照我秦氏楼。秦氏有好女，自名为罗敷。以“日出东南隅”写日出东南、晨光初照，以“照我秦氏楼”写光照秦楼、故事之起，以“秦氏有好女，自名为罗敷”写秦氏好女、名曰罗敷，正是汉乐府写罗敷出场的起点——日出东南，秦楼罗敷。
The entrance. The sun rises in the southeast, shining on the Qin tower; the Qins have a lovely daughter who calls herself Luofu. The narrator's our (my family's) tower makes the song a neighbor's praise. The self-named Luofu is a woman who names herself. To have introduced the heroine would be an introduction; the sunlit Qin tower and the daughter who names herself Luofu are the introduction.
行者见罗敷，下担捋髭须。少年见罗敷，脱帽著帩头。耕者忘其犁，锄者忘其锄。
Wayfarers seeing Luofu lower their loads and stroke their beards; young men seeing Luofu take off their caps and straighten their headbands; plowmen forget their plows, weeders their hoes.
行者见罗敷，下担捋髭须。少年见罗敷，脱帽著帩头。耕者忘其犁，锄者忘其锄。
Passerby seeing Luofu lower their loads and stroke their beards; youths seeing Luofu remove their caps and adjust their headbands; plowmen forget their plows, hoers their hoes.
中写行者少年见罗敷之态，是全诗写罗敷之美的深化。“行者见罗敷，下担捋髭须”写行者见罗敷下担捋髭须——“行者见罗敷”写过路之人见到罗敷，“下担捋髭须”写放下担子捋着胡须——行者下担，捋髭而观；“少年见罗敷，脱帽著帩头”写少年见罗敷脱帽著帩头——“少年见罗敷”写少年见到罗敷，“脱帽著帩头”写脱下帽子整理头巾——少年脱帽，整理帩头；“耕者忘其犁，锄者忘其锄”写耕者锄者忘其犁锄——“耕者忘其犁”写耕地之人忘了犁，“锄者忘其锄”写锄地之人忘了锄——耕者忘犁，锄者忘锄。六句写行者少年见罗敷之态：行者见罗敷，下担捋髭须。少年见罗敷，脱帽著帩头。耕者忘其犁，锄者忘其锄。以“行者见罗敷，下担捋髭须”写行者驻足、捋须而观，以“少年见罗敷，脱帽著帩头”写少年脱帽、整巾而望，以“耕者忘其犁，锄者忘其锄”写耕锄之人、忘其犁锄，正是汉乐府写罗敷之美的深化——行者忘行，耕者忘耕。
The crowd. Passersby seeing Luofu lower their loads and stroke their beards; youths remove their caps and adjust their headbands; plowmen forget their plows, hoers their hoes. The beauty is never described; only the onlookers' lost composure is. The four occupations are the village. To have said everyone stared at her would be a summary; the lowered loads, the straightened headbands, the forgotten plows and hoes are the summary.
使君谢罗敷，宁可共载不？罗敷前置辞：使君一何愚！
The governor asks Luofu: Will you ride with me? Luofu steps forward and answers: How foolish you are, my lord!
使君谢罗敷，宁可共载不？罗敷前置辞：使君一何愚！
The governor sends word to Luofu: Would you ride in my carriage? Luofu steps forward and says: How foolish you are, sir!
末写使君问载、罗敷智拒，是全诗写罗敷之勇的归结。“使君谢罗敷，宁可共载不”用使君之典写使君问罗敷宁共载——“使君谢罗敷”用使君（太守）之典写使君询问罗敷，“宁可共载不”写可愿同车共载——使君问载，宁可共载；“罗敷前置辞：使君一何愚”写罗敷前辞斥其愚——“罗敷前置辞”写罗敷上前致辞，“使君一何愚”写使君何其愚蠢——罗敷前辞，使君一何愚。四句写使君问载、罗敷智拒：使君谢罗敷，宁可共载不？罗敷前置辞：使君一何愚！以“使君谢罗敷”用使君之典写太守问罗敷，以“宁可共载不”写愿否共载、欲邀同车，以“罗敷前置辞：使君一何愚”写罗敷上前、斥其愚妄，正是汉乐府写罗敷之勇的归结——智拒使君，罗敷何愚。
The confrontation. The governor asks her to ride with him; Luofu steps forward and calls him foolish. The power figure's invitation is the song's danger; her direct retort is the song's point. To have said the governor propositioned her and she refused would be a plot; the will-you-ride-with-me and the how-foolish-you-are are the plot.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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