All poems

汉 Han · 赋 Fu rhapsody

七发（节选）

Seven Stimuli (excerpt)

枚乘

Mei Cheng

讽喻/刺政satire / political admonition 隐逸/忧愤reclusion / pent-up grievance

楚太子有疾，而吴客往问之曰：伏闻太子玉体不安，亦少间乎？
太子曰：惫！
谨谢客。
客因称曰：今时天下安宁，四宇和平，太子方富于年。
意者久耽安乐，日夜无极，邪气袭逆，中若结轖。
纷屯澹淡，嘘唏烦酲，惕惕怵怵，卧不得瞑。
虚中重听，恶闻人声。
精神越渫，百病咸生。
客曰：今太子之病，可无药石针刺灸疗，宜以要言妙道说而去也。

The Prince of Chu fell ill; a guest from Wu came to inquire:
I have heard your jade body is unwell — are you somewhat better?
The prince said: Weary! I humbly take my leave.
The guest spoke: The realm is tranquil, the four quarters at peace; you are in your prime.
I think you have long dwelt in ease, without cease by night and day;
noxious vapours invade and oppose, within you as if bound and blocked.
Confused and adrift, sighing in troubled wine, trembling in dread — you lie and cannot sleep.
Hollow within, dull of hearing, loathing the sound of men.
Your spirit scatters and leaks; a hundred ills are born.
The guest said: This illness needs no drugs or needles;
let it be dissolved by essential words and wondrous truth.

Listen

Meaning

The Prince of Chu fell ill, and a guest from Wu went to inquire, saying he had heard the prince's honored body was unwell and asking if he were somewhat better. The prince replied he was utterly weary and respectfully took his leave. The guest then set forth: now the realm is peaceful, all quarters calm, and the prince is in his prime. He reckoned the prince had long drowned in pleasure without restraint day and night, so noxious vapours invaded and his breast was as if bound and congealed. His mind was dim, he sighed in troubled drunkenness, and lay sleepless in dread. His breath failing and his hearing dull, he loathed the sound of voices; his spirit scattered and leaked away, and all sickness arose from this. The guest added that the prince's illness needed no drugs, stones, needles or moxa, but should be dissolved by discourse of essential, wondrous truth.

楚太子生了病，吴地宾客前往探问说：听说太子贵体欠安，可稍好些了么？太子答道：疲惫极了！谨此谢客。客人便陈说道：如今天下安宁，四方和平，太子正当年富力强。想来是久耽逸乐、日夜无度，邪气侵逆，胸中如被束缚郁结。神情恍惚、叹息烦醉，惶惶不安，卧不能眠。气虚耳聋，厌恶人声。精神涣散外泄，百病由此而生。客人又说：太子的病，无需药石针炙，只该用精要的至理妙道去开导化解。

Appreciation

This excerpt is built on the host-and-guest dialogue, its lines at once parallel and free, its logic surfacing through extended narration. The clustered adjectives 'confused and adrift, sighing in troubled wine, trembling in dread' paint the sickness by accumulation, mounting one layer upon another; 'within you as if bound and blocked' turns binding into a metaphor, making the formless tangible. Moving from inquiry to diagnosis to prescription, it first overturns the usual cure of 'drugs and stones' and then sets up 'wondrous truth' as the true remedy. The composition is tight, already holding the germ of the great fu's 'flatter a hundred, admonish one' and the beauty of its copious exposition.

【白话串讲】枚乘写《七发》：楚太子病了，吴客来探病。他说：太子，你这是“久耽安乐，日夜无极”——享乐太多才病的。于是他用七件事来治他的病。这就是“七发”——用七种启发，治病救人。【意象与手法】节选以主客问答立骨，句式骈散相生，于铺叙中见逻辑。‘纷屯澹淡，嘘唏烦酲，惕惕怵怵’以连珠式形容词摹写病状，层层加码【情感与主旨】《七发》为西汉枚乘所作，是汉大赋成熟前的关键作品，标志辞赋由楚辞向散体大赋过渡【名句点睛】本段宜从‘赋体特征与讽谏主旨’角度命题。考点一：概括吴客对太子之疾的诊断——病在耽乐、非药石可医，须以妙道化解

Background

Seven Stimuli was written by Mei Cheng of the Western Han. It is a pivotal work before the mature great fu, marking the shift of rhapsody from the Chu elegies toward the prose-bodied great fu. It feigns a Prince of Chu and a guest from Wu, who in turn stir the prince with seven things — music, food and drink, carriages and horses, excursion, hunting, the sight of the tides, and 'essential words and wondrous truth' — meant to admonish the feudal lords against drowning in sensual pleasure and neglecting the art of government. This excerpt, the opening visit and diagnosis, sets forth the core that long indulgence in ease brings illness and that it should be cured by the way; it is the very keel of the whole piece's admonition.

《七发》为西汉枚乘所作，是汉赋中的名篇。此为节选。此篇写楚太子有疾，吴客往问，历陈七事以启发太子：音乐、饮食、车马、游宴、田猎、观涛、要言妙道。全篇借客讽主、以说理启疾，是汉赋的代表作。

Art

The excerpt stands on the device of host-and-guest dialogue, its sentences at once parallel and loose, its logic emerging through lavish narration. The string 'confused and adrift, sighing in troubled wine, trembling in dread' piles adjective on adjective to draw the symptoms, mounting layer on layer; 'within you as if bound and blocked' turns the bond into a metaphor, making the vague tangible. Through three steps — asking after the illness, diagnosing it, prescribing — it breaks the common recourse to 'drugs and stones' before establishing 'wondrous truth' as the right cure; the structure is tight, already bearing the great fu's 'flatter a hundred, admonish one' and its beauty of amplification.

《七发》艺术上以铺陈的宏丽与说理的深婉见长。此篇（节选）写吴客问疾：首写客问太子——“楚太子有疾，而吴客往问之曰：伏闻太子玉体不安，亦少间乎？太子曰：惫！谨谢客”写客问太子、太子谢客；中写客陈七事之由——“客因称曰：今时天下安宁，四宇和平”写天下安宁、四宇和平；后写说理之辞。全篇以铺陈写说理，正是汉赋的笔法。

Allusions

The passage uses few allusions but is deep in reasoned interest. 'Jade body' as a respectful term derives from the polite speech of Warring-States persuaders; the 'block' of 'bound and blocked' originally meant the crossing timbers of a carriage box, here used figuratively for the congestion in the breast — an ingenious extended use; 'essential words and wondrous truth' transforms the Zhuangzi's 'words hidden in blossom and show' and 'the way and its arts shall be split for the world', hinting at the Huang-Lao quietism and Confucian ultimate principle. Overall it does not pile up old stories but uses medical principle as metaphor and the way as medicine — exactly the new turn of early-Han rhapsody from ornate diction toward reasoned admonition.

《七发》用典在“楚太子”“吴客”。“楚太子”写楚国之太子（寓言人物）；“吴客”写吴地之客（说理之人）；“七发”写以七事启发（音乐、饮食、车马、游宴、田猎、观涛、要言妙道）。全篇以这些意象写说理启疾，用典自然而宏丽自见，正是汉赋的笔法。

Commentary

The Wen Xuan places Seven Stimuli at the head of the 'seven' form; Li Shan's commentary says 'seven stimuli means setting forth seven things to rouse the prince'. Liu Xie in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, in the chapter on miscellaneous writings, says 'Mei Cheng unfolded splendour, first making Seven Stimuli, with rich phrases cloud-built and lavish beauty storm-like'. Modern readers take it as 'flatter a hundred, admonish one', yet it truly opens the Han fu's mode of copious admonition and is the precursor of Sima Xiangru's Sir Vacuous and The Forest of the West.

《七发》是西汉枚乘的代表作，也是汉赋中“七体”的开山之作。此篇写楚太子有疾、吴客往问、历陈七事，向为论者称道。论者多赏其铺陈的宏丽与说理的深婉——“楚太子有疾，而吴客往问之曰”写客问太子，宏丽之极；“今时天下安宁，四宇和平”写天下安宁、为说理张本，更见其深婉。枚乘为汉赋大家，《七发》正以铺陈写说理、以七事启疾，正是汉赋的笔法。

Prosody

Form Han fu · the 'seven' form (prose-bodied fu)汉赋（七体）

Rhyme No fixed rhyme (a prosified fu, with occasional parallel couplets)《七发》为汉赋，散体为主，间有韵语。此篇（节选）以散句为主，韵散相间，音节宏丽。

Tone pattern Not traceable汉赋以音节宏丽、铺陈扬厉见长。此篇写楚太子有疾、吴客说理，音节宏丽而铺陈。全篇以散体为主，声调与说理的内容相合，是汉赋“七体”中宏丽的一路。

Reading note Host-and-guest dialogue, parallel and loose mixed, advancing by exposition; opens the great Han fu and the 'seven' form.《七发》为西汉枚乘所作，是汉赋中的名篇（此为其节选）。此篇以“楚太子有疾，而吴客往问之”写客问太子，以“今时天下安宁，四宇和平”写天下承平、为七事张本。以铺陈写说理、以七事启疾，正是汉赋的代表作。

Line by line

楚太子有疾，而吴客往问之曰：伏闻太子玉体不安，亦少间乎？太子曰：惫！谨谢客。

The crown prince of Chu was ill; a guest from Wu went to inquire, saying: We have heard the prince's jade body is unwell—has he had a little ease? The prince said: Weary! I thank you, sir.

楚太子有病，而吴客前往问候他说：伏闻太子玉体不安，亦稍好些了吗？太子说：疲惫！谨谢客。

The crown prince of Chu is ill; a guest from Wu comes to ask after him: I hear the prince's precious body is unwell—has he had some relief? The prince answers: Weary! I thank you for your kindness.

首写客问太子，是全篇说理的起点。“楚太子有疾，而吴客往问之曰”写客往问——“楚太子有疾”写楚太子有病，“而吴客往问之曰”写而吴客前往问候他说——太子有疾，吴客往问；“伏闻太子玉体不安，亦少间乎”写问太子玉体——“伏闻太子玉体不安”写伏闻太子玉体不安，“亦少间乎”写亦稍好些了吗——玉体不安，亦少间乎；“太子曰：惫！谨谢客”写太子谢客——“太子曰：惫”写太子说疲惫，“谨谢客”写谨谢客——太子惫，谨谢客。三句写客问太子：楚太子有疾而吴客往问之曰、伏闻太子玉体不安亦少间乎，太子曰惫谨谢客。以“楚太子有疾，而吴客往问之曰”写太子有疾、吴客往问，以“伏闻太子玉体不安，亦少间乎”写客之问候，以“太子曰：惫！谨谢客”写太子疲惫谢客，正是《七发》写说理之由的起点——太子有疾，客往问之。

The setup. The crown prince of Chu is ill; a guest from Wu inquires, and the prince answers only: Weary! The single word weary is the whole malady: the languor of a life of luxury. The formal courtesy (jade body, little ease) is the guest's opening. To have said a sick prince received a visitor would be a scene; the polite inquiry and the one-word weary answer are the scene.

客因称曰：今时天下安宁，四宇和平。

The guest then said: In this age the world is at peace; the four quarters are harmonious.

客因称说：今时天下安宁，四方和平。

The guest thereupon says: In these times the world is peaceful and the four quarters are at harmony.

此二句写客陈天下安宁，是全篇说理的开端。“客因称曰”写客因称说——“客因称曰”写客因此称说——客因称曰；“今时天下安宁，四宇和平”写天下安宁——“今时天下安宁”写今时天下安宁，“四宇和平”写四方和平——天下安宁，四宇和平。二句写客陈天下安宁：客因称曰、今时天下安宁四宇和平。以“客因称曰”写客开始陈说，以“今时天下安宁，四宇和平”写天下安宁、四宇和平、为七事铺陈张本，正是《七发》写说理之由的笔法——天下承平，正宜进说。

The guest's opening. The guest says: In these times the world is peaceful; the four quarters are harmonious. The peaceable age is the premise for the cure: since the world is well, the prince's malady is his own life of ease, and the seven pleasures (the fu's structure) will be offered. To have said the guest remarked on the peace would be a remark; the world at peace and the four quarters in harmony are the remark.

Study

Word focus

玉体不安 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “伏闻太子玉体不安”之“玉体不安”，写玉体不安，是全篇写太子有疾的敬称词。“玉体”写尊贵之体（敬称），“不安”写不适——伏闻太子玉体不安。这一词写太子之疾：不是寻常之病，而玉体不安；不是可忽之恙，而尊体欠安。以“伏闻太子玉体不安，亦少间乎”写客之问候、以敬称写病，正是《七发》写说理之由的笔法。

谨谢客 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “太子曰：惫！谨谢客”之“谨谢客”，写谨谢客（恭敬谢客），是全篇写太子谢客的关键词。“谨谢”写恭敬致谢，“客”写来客——谨谢客。这一词写太子之谢：不是寻常之答，而谨谢客；不是可慢之辞，而疲惫中敬谢。以“太子曰：惫！谨谢客”写太子疲惫而谨谢客，正是《七发》写说理之由的笔法。

四宇和平 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “今时天下安宁，四宇和平”之“四宇和平”，写四方和平，是全篇写天下承平的关键词。“四宇”写四方宇内，“和平”写和平——四方和平。这一词写天下之平：不是纷乱之时，而四宇和平；不是可忧之世，而承平之世。以“今时天下安宁，四宇和平”写天下承平、为七事铺陈张本，正是《七发》写说理之由的笔法。

七发 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 《七发》之“七发”，写以七事启发，是全篇题旨的关键词。“七”写七事（音乐、饮食、车马、游宴、田猎、观涛、要言妙道），“发”写启发——以七事启发。这一词写说理之法：不是一事之陈，而七发；不是直说之教，而七事启之。以“楚太子有疾，而吴客往问之”历陈七事启疾，正是《七发》写说理之法的核心。