Song of Five Sighs (五噫歌) by Liang Hong · Chinese Poem Audio and Explanation

Meaning

I climb the northern Mang hill, ah! I look back toward the imperial capital, ah! The palaces stand lofty and vast, ah! The toil of the common people, ah! So far off, and never-ending, ah!

登上那北芒山啊，噫！回头眺望帝王京城啊，噫！宫殿高耸巍峨啊，噫！百姓劳苦不堪啊，噫！前路漫漫没有尽头啊，噫！

Appreciation

Liang Hong, styled Boluan, was a man of the Eastern Han from Fufeng Pingling, lofty and unwilling to serve, famous with his wife Meng Guang for the tale 'raising the tray to the brow.' He once passed through the eastern capital Luoyang; in the reign of Emperor Zhang the palaces were newly built in extreme splendour while the people were worn by corvee. Liang climbed the northern Mang north of the city, looked south on the capital, and grieving at the luxury of the palace and the labour of the people, made the Song of Five Sighs. The emperor heard it and was displeased, searched for him in vain, and Liang changed his surname to Yunqi, his name to Yao, fled with his wife to Qi and Lu, and later went to Wu to hire out as a pounder. The song, for giving offence, made his name in reclusion. The whole is five lines, each three characters plus 'xi' and a closing 'yi,' spare and forceful, bred of the Chu Ci yet tighter. From 'climb' to 'look' to 'palace' to 'people' to 'never-ending,' it moves from scene to feeling, from outer to inner; the five 'yi' are five sighs, circling back, seizing deep pity in the barest strokes.

【白话串讲】梁鸿登上北芒山看洛阳：“宫室崔嵬兮，噫！人之劬劳兮，噫”——宫殿巍峨，可百姓多辛苦。每句一个“噫”，五个“噫”叹尽人间不平。汉章帝听了这首诗，大怒，梁鸿只能改名换姓逃走。【意象与手法】全篇五句，每句三言加'兮'复缀一'噫'，脱胎于楚辞而更趋简劲【情感与主旨】梁鸿字伯鸾，东汉扶风平陵人，高洁不仕，与妻孟光'举案齐眉'传为千古佳话【名句点睛】常考五个'噫'字的作用及诗的主旨。可联系杜甫'朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨'比较其悯民情怀

Background

Liang Hong, styled Boluan, was a man of the Eastern Han from Fufeng Pingling, lofty and unwilling to serve, famous with his wife Meng Guang for the tale 'raising the tray to the brow.' He once passed through the eastern capital Luoyang; in the reign of Emperor Zhang the palaces were newly built in extreme splendour while the people were worn by corvee. Liang climbed the northern Mang north of the city, looked south on the capital, and grieving at the luxury of the palace and the labour of the people, made the Song of Five Sighs. The emperor heard it and was displeased, searched for him in vain, and Liang changed his surname to Yunqi, his name to Yao, fled with his wife to Qi and Lu, and later went to Wu to hire out as a pounder. The song, for giving offence, made his name in reclusion.

《五噫歌》为东汉梁鸿所作，是讽刺帝王穷奢极欲的诗。梁鸿（生卒年不详），字伯鸾，扶风平陵人，东汉隐士。此诗写登北邙山望京洛而讽帝王之奢：陟彼北芒兮，噫！顾览帝京兮，噫！宫室崔嵬兮，噫！人之劬劳兮，噫！辽辽未央兮，噫！全诗以五“噫”写讽刺，是东汉诗中讽刺帝王的短章名篇。

Art

The whole is five lines, each three characters plus 'xi' and a closing 'yi,' spare and forceful, bred of the Chu Ci yet tighter. From 'climb' to 'look' to 'palace' to 'people' to 'never-ending,' it moves from scene to feeling, from outer to inner; the space runs from hill to capital to palace to people, closing on time without end. The five 'yi' are five sighs, circling back, seizing deep pity in the barest strokes, choked and sobbing, with the effect of 'one cry, and tears fall before you.'

《五噫歌》艺术上以短章的凝练与感叹的深沉见长。全诗五句，层层写来：首句写登高——“陟彼北芒兮，噫！”写登北邙山；次句写览京——“顾览帝京兮，噫！”写回望帝京；三句写宫室——“宫室崔嵬兮，噫！”写宫室高大；四句写民劳——“人之劬劳兮，噫！”写人民劳苦；末句写无尽——“辽辽未央兮，噫！”写其无穷。全诗五句五“噫”，以“噫”字写感叹，正是梁鸿写讽刺的凝练之笔。

Allusions

The poem uses no direct allusion, yet 'northern Mang' (the Mang hills north of Luoyang, where Han and Wei tombs clustered) hints at the thought of rise and fall; 'never-ending' is itself the name of a Han palace, meaning 'not yet finished,' here a double meaning—both the palace's vastness without limit and the people's toil with no end. The Chu-style 'xi' stacked with the sigh 'yi' inherits the 'Nine Songs' tune yet makes a new voice, writing the gentleman's worry in a folk sigh-song, plain and heavy.

《五噫歌》用典少而意象自明。“北芒”即北邙山，在洛阳城北，东汉帝陵所在；“帝京”指洛阳；“宫室崔嵬”写宫室高大；“劬劳”写出《诗经》“哀哀父母，生我劬劳”，写民之劳苦；“辽辽未央”写辽远无穷。全诗以这些意象写登高望京而讽帝王之奢，不用深典而讽刺自深，正是梁鸿以凝练写讽刺的笔法。

Commentary

The 'History of the Later Han, Biographies of Recluses' records the making of the song and the emperor's 'hearing and disliking it,' proof of its sharp satire. The Song critic Liu Kezhuang said 'the work of five sighs—resentful yet not angry'; moderns hold that Liang Hong, with a commoner's eye, saw the fissure of a flourishing age, opening the way for Tao Yuanming's 'On Not Meeting Worthies' and later recluse poetry. Zhong Xing judged 'only five lines, yet a thousand years of sorrow are all there.'

《五噫歌》是梁鸿的名篇，也是中国诗歌中讽刺帝王、以短章写深讽的代表作。此诗写登北邙山望京洛而讽帝王之奢，向为论者称道。论者多赏其五“噫”的感叹——“宫室崔嵬兮，噫！人之劬劳兮，噫！”写宫室高大而民劳苦，一奢一劳对比鲜明；“辽辽未央兮，噫！”写其无穷，更见其讽。此诗以短章写深讽，正是梁鸿“五噫”之名的由来，也是东汉诗中讽刺帝王的代表作。

Prosody

Form Han Chu-style sigh-song (three-character plus xi, yi)骚体短章

Rhyme Mang, capital, lofty, toil, never-ending—ancient rhymes in accord《五噫歌》为骚体短章，五句，押韵。此诗用韵：芒、京、嵬、劳、央（阳部），一韵到底，音节顿挫。

Tone pattern Not traceable (saoti variant)骚体短章以音节顿挫、感叹深沉见长。此诗五句五“噫”，每句以“兮，噫”收，音节顿挫而感叹深沉。全诗以骚体贯底，声调与讽刺帝王的内容相合，是东汉短章中讽刺的一路。

Reading note Five identical-structured lines, repeated sigh-singing, opens the 'yi' sigh form《五噫歌》为东汉梁鸿所作，是讽刺帝王穷奢极欲的诗。此诗五句五“噫”：登北邙山而望帝京，见宫室崔嵬而叹民劳苦，以“辽辽未央”写其无穷。一奢一劳、对比鲜明，以短章写深讽，正是梁鸿“五噫”之名的由来，也是东汉诗中讽刺帝王的代表作。

Line by line

陟彼北芒兮，噫！顾览帝京兮，噫！

I climb that North Mang hill, oh! I turn and look at the imperial city, oh!

登上那北邙山啊，噫！回望那帝王之都啊，噫！

I climb the North Mang hill, alas! I look back on the imperial capital, alas!

首二句写登高望京，是全诗讽刺的起点。“陟彼北芒兮，噫！”写登北邙山——“陟彼”写登上那，“北芒”写北邙山（洛阳城北之山）——“噫”为感叹词——登上北邙山啊，噫！“顾览帝京兮，噫！”写回望帝京——“顾览”写回望，“帝京”写帝王之都洛阳——“噫”为感叹——回望帝京啊，噫！两句写登高望京：登上北邙山，回望帝京。以“陟彼北芒”写登高之地，以“顾览帝京”写望京之举，以“噫”写感叹，正是梁鸿写讽刺的起点——登高望京，感从中来。

The climb. I climb the North Mang hill, oh! I turn and look at the imperial city, oh. The North Mang cemetery hill overlooks Luoyang; from its graves, the poet looks at the capital. Each line closes with the same oh. To have described climbing a hill and looking at the city would be a gesture; the North Mang climb and the turned look at the imperial city, each with its oh, are the gesture.

宫室崔嵬兮，噫！人之劬劳兮，噫！

The palaces rise towering, oh! The people are toiling in hardship, oh!

宫室高大巍峨啊，噫！人民劳苦不堪啊，噫！

The palaces loom towering, alas! The people are worn with toil, alas!

三四句写宫室之奢与民劳之苦，是全诗讽刺的核心。“宫室崔嵬兮，噫！”写宫室高大——“宫室崔嵬”写宫室高大巍峨——“噫”为感叹——宫室高大巍峨啊，噫！“人之劬劳兮，噫！”写民劳之苦——“人之劬劳”写人民劳苦（劬劳出《诗经》）“噫”为感叹——人民劳苦不堪啊，噫！两句写宫室之奢与民劳之苦：宫室崔嵬，人之劬劳。以“宫室崔嵬”写帝王之奢，以“人之劬劳”写人民之苦，一奢一劳、对比鲜明，正是梁鸿写讽刺的核心——宫室之奢，正是民劳之因。

The contrast. The palaces loom towering, oh! The people are worn with toil, oh. The towering palaces and the toiling people are the poem's indictment, one line against the other. To have said the palaces were grand and the people suffered would be a contrast; the towering palaces and the toiling people, each with its oh, are the contrast.

辽辽未央兮，噫！

Endless and unending, oh!

辽远无穷无尽啊，噫！

Vast and unending, alas!

末句写其无穷，是全诗讽刺的归结。“辽辽未央兮，噫！”写辽远无穷——“辽辽”写辽远，“未央”写无尽——“噫”为感叹——辽远无穷无尽啊，噫！一句写无穷：辽辽未央兮，噫！以“辽辽未央”写帝京宫室之无穷无尽，暗讽帝王之奢无有尽时，正是梁鸿写讽刺的归结——宫室未央，民劳无已。此句以“未央”写其无尽，讽刺之意深藏不露，正是短章深讽之笔。

The endlessness. Vast and unending, oh. The endlessness of the palaces (and of the toil) is the closing single line. The poem stops on the unending. To have said the luxury went on forever would be a closing; the vast-unending, with its oh, is the closing.

Study

Word focus

陟彼 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “陟彼北芒兮”之“陟彼”，写登上那，是全诗写登高动作的关键词。“陟”写登，“彼”写那——登上那北邙山。这一词写出《诗经》“陟彼高冈”之句式，写登高之动作：不是缓步之登，而是陟彼；不是平地之行，而是登山。以“陟彼”写登高，正是梁鸿用《诗经》句式写登高望京的笔法。

崔嵬 Lofty, towering; describes the palaces' height, quietly satirizing their extravagance. “宫室崔嵬兮”之“崔嵬”，写高大巍峨，是全诗写宫室之奢的关键词。“崔嵬”写高大——宫室高大巍峨。这一词写宫室之高大：不是寻常之屋，而是崔嵬；不是可数之室，而是高入云霄之宫。以“崔嵬”写宫室，与“人之劬劳”相对，正是梁鸿写帝王之奢的笔法——宫室崔嵬，民劳何堪。

劬劳 Toil and labour; the people worn by corvee, the object of the poet's pity. “人之劬劳兮”之“劬劳”，写出《诗经》“生我劬劳”，写劳苦，是全诗写民劳之苦的关键词。“劬劳”写劳苦——人民劳苦不堪。这一词以“劬劳”写民之劳：不是寻常之劳，而是劬劳；不是一时之累，而是劳苦不堪。以“劬劳”写民劳，与“宫室崔嵬”相对，正是梁鸿写民劳之苦、讽帝王之奢的笔法。

未央 Not yet finished, without end; a double meaning of the palace's vastness and the people's unending toil, with long aftertaste. “辽辽未央兮”之“未央”，写无尽，是全诗写其无穷的关键词。“未央”写无尽——辽远无穷无尽。这一词以“未央”写无穷：不是有尽之远，而是未央；不是可止之奢，而是无穷之欲。以“辽辽未央”写帝京之无穷，暗讽帝王之奢无有尽时，正是梁鸿短章深讽的归结。

五噫歌