井底引银瓶

Meaning

A long narrative poem, this tells of a girl who elopes with a young man she met over a wall, lives six years with him, and finds that she can never be his lawful wife. When she tries to return home she finds she can neither go back nor stay. The poem ends with a warning to other girls not to give themselves away lightly, and its subject is the law and custom that turned a free love into a permanent disgrace.

井底引银瓶，银瓶欲上丝绳绝。 石上磨玉簪，玉簪欲成中央折。 瓶沉簪折知奈何，似妾今朝与君别。 忆昔在家为女时，人言举动有殊姿。 婵娟两鬓秋蝉翼，宛转双蛾远山色。 笑随戏伴后园中，此时与君未相识。 妾弄青梅凭短墙，君骑白马傍垂杨。 墙头马上遥相顾，一见知君即断肠。 知君断肠共君语，君指南山松柏树。 感君松柏化为心，暗合双鬟逐君去。 到君家舍五六年，君家大人频有言。 聘则为妻奔是妾，不堪主祀奉蘋蘩。 终知君家不可住，其奈出门无去处。 岂无父母在高堂，亦有亲情满故乡。 潜来更不通消息，今日悲羞归不得。 为君一日恩，误妾百年身。 寄言痴小人家女，慎勿将身轻许人。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A girl in her parents' home meets a young man over a low wall; they run off together; six years later she is refused the worship of his ancestral offerings, and she cannot go back to her family either. The poem closes with an instruction to other girls not to surrender themselves lightly. [Structure] The narrative runs in two sections. The first is the romance: the green plums, the white horse, the promise of the pines. The second is the judgement: the parents, the concubine's place, the two doors closed. The refrain-like closing couplet turns the story into a precept. [Imagery] Two sets of images, one lovely and one legal. The plums, the horse, the willow and the brows are the language of a courtship poem; the rope, the broken hairpin, the household offerings and the surname are the language that ends it. [Sentiment] The poem's heat is in its plainness. The narrator never complains of being loved badly; she states the facts, and the facts are enough to convict the custom.

【白话串讲】 白居易写《井底引银瓶》：“井底引银瓶，银瓶欲上丝绳绝”——“石上磨玉簪，玉簪欲成中央折”——“瓶沉簪折知奈何，似妾今朝与君别”——“寄言痴小人家女，慎勿将身轻许人”——他写私奔女子的悲剧——劝少女别轻易许身。 【意象与手法】 此诗写讽喻，以民生写讽喻，是白居易的名篇。前段写瓶沉：「井底引银瓶，银瓶欲上丝绳绝。石上磨玉簪，玉簪欲成中央折。瓶沉簪折知奈何，似妾今朝与君别。忆昔在家为女时，人言举动有殊姿。婵娟两鬓秋蝉翼，宛转双蛾远山色。笑随戏伴后园中，此时与君未相识。妾弄青梅凭短墙，君骑白马傍垂杨。墙头马上遥相顾，一见知君即断肠。知君断肠共君语，君指南山松柏树。感君松柏化为心，暗合双鬟逐君去」写井底引银瓶、银瓶欲上丝绳绝——写尽银瓶欲上的丝绳绝；后段写悲羞：「到君家舍五六年，君家大人频有言。聘则为妻奔是妾，不堪主祀奉蘋蘩。终知君家不可住，其奈出门无去处。岂无父母在高堂，亦有亲情满故乡。潜来更不通消息，今日悲羞归不得。为君一日恩，误妾百年身。寄言痴小人家女，慎勿将身轻许人」写到君家舍五六年、君家大人频有言——写尽君家大人的频有言。全诗以民生写讽喻，写尽银瓶欲上的丝绳绝与君家大人的频有言，是白居易的代表作。 【情感与主旨】 此诗写讽喻，以民生写讽喻，是白居易的名篇。此诗为白居易新乐府诗，写其以女子私奔讽礼教。白居易倡导新乐府运动，此诗写其咏井底引银瓶以刺时俗。此诗写井底引银瓶，银瓶欲上丝绳绝；石上磨玉簪，玉簪欲成中央折；瓶沉簪折知奈何，似妾今朝与君别；忆昔在家为女时，人言举动有殊姿；婵娟两鬓秋蝉翼，宛转双蛾远山色；笑随戏伴后园中，此时与君未相识；妾弄青梅凭短墙，君骑白马傍垂杨；墙头马上遥相顾，一见知君即断肠；知君断肠共君语，君指南山松柏树；感君松柏化为心，暗合双鬟逐君去；到君家舍五六年，君家大人频有言；聘则为妻奔是妾，不堪主祀奉蘋蘩；终知君家不可住，其奈出门无去处；岂无父母在高堂，亦有亲情满故乡；潜来更不通消息，今日悲羞归不得；为君一日恩，误妾百年身；寄言痴小人家女，慎勿将身轻许人。此诗写瓶沉：井底引银瓶，银瓶欲上丝绳绝——写井底引银瓶、银瓶欲上丝绳绝，写尽银瓶欲上的丝绳绝；石上磨玉簪，玉簪欲成中央折——写石上磨玉簪、玉簪欲成中央折，写尽玉簪欲成的中央折；瓶沉簪折知奈何，似妾今朝与君别——写瓶沉簪折知奈何、似妾今朝与君别，写尽似妾今朝的与君别；忆昔在家为女时，人言举动有殊姿——写忆昔在家为女时、人言举动有殊姿，写尽人言举动的殊姿；婵娟两鬓秋蝉翼，宛转双蛾远山色——写婵娟两鬓秋蝉翼、宛转双蛾远山色，写尽宛转双蛾的远山色；笑随戏伴后园中，此时与君未相识——写笑随戏伴后园中、此时与君未相识，写尽此时与君的未相识；妾弄青梅凭短墙，君骑白马傍垂杨——写妾弄青梅凭短墙、君骑白马傍垂杨，写尽君骑白马的垂杨；墙头马上遥相顾，一见知君即断肠——写墙头马上遥相顾、一见知君即断肠，写尽一见知君的断肠；知君断肠共君语，君指南山松柏树——写知君断肠共君语、君指南山松柏树，写尽君指南山的松柏树；感君松柏化为心，暗合双鬟逐君去——写感君松柏化为心、暗合双鬟逐君去，写尽暗合双鬟的逐君去。后段写悲羞：到君家舍五六年，君家大人频有言——写到君家舍五六年、君家大人频有言，写尽君家大人的频有言；聘则为妻奔是妾，不堪主祀奉蘋蘩——写聘则为妻奔是妾、不堪主祀奉蘋蘩，写尽不堪主祀的蘋蘩；终知君家不可住，其奈出门无去处——写终知君家不可住、其奈出门无去处，写尽其奈出门的无去处；岂无父母在高堂，亦有亲情满故乡——写岂无父母在高堂、亦有亲情满故乡，写尽亦有亲情满的故乡；潜来更不通消息，今日悲羞归不得——写潜来更不通消息、今日悲羞归不得，写尽今日悲羞的归不得；为君一日恩，误妾百年身——写为君一日恩、误妾百年身，写尽误妾百年的一日恩；寄言痴小人家女，慎勿将身轻许人——写寄言痴小人家女、慎勿将身轻许人，写尽慎勿将身的轻许人。全诗以民生写讽喻——那「银瓶欲上丝绳绝」写尽银瓶欲上的丝绳绝，「慎勿将身轻许人」写尽慎勿将身的轻许人，写尽银瓶欲上的丝绳绝与君家大人的频有言，是理解白居易讽喻诗的重要篇章。 【名句点睛】 常考「井底引银瓶，银瓶欲上丝绳绝」写银瓶欲上的丝绳绝；「为君一日恩，误妾百年身」写误妾百年的一日恩；以及全诗以民生写讽喻、以比兴写讽喻的手法。

Allusions

The green plum and the white horse recall the older folk tale of the boy and girl who meet over a wall, and the phrase for looking down from a wall-top and horse is an idiom of the chance encounter. The pine and cypress of the southern hill are the most conventional of promises, made here as a marriage vow. The beautiful hairpin of jade ground against stone, and the vessel lowered into the well, are traditional emblems of a broken union. The real allusion, however, is legal: the line about not presiding at the offerings of the household states the actual penalty of a concubine under Tang custom, without which the story would be merely sentimental.

此诗的用语深植于讽喻与民生传统。「银瓶」令人想到「银瓶」写银瓶的意象——也令人想到「银瓶乍破水浆迸」（白居易）的意象；「丝绳」令人想到「丝绳」写丝绳的意象——也令人想到「丝绳玉瓶」的意象；「玉簪」令人想到「玉簪」写玉簪的意象——也令人想到「玉簪螺髻」（辛弃疾）的意象；「秋蝉翼」令人想到「秋蝉翼」写鬓发的意象——也令人想到「鬓云欲度香腮雪」（温庭筠）的意象；「远山色」令人想到「远山色」写眉的意象——也令人想到「眉黛远山」的意象；「青梅」令人想到「青梅」写青梅的意象——也令人想到「郎骑竹马来，绕床弄青梅」（李白）的意象；「白马」令人想到「白马」写白马的意象——也令人想到「白马饰金羁」的意象；「松柏」令人想到「松柏」写松柏的意象——也令人想到「岁寒知松柏」的意象；「双鬟」令人想到「双鬟」写双鬟的意象——也令人想到「丫鬟双鬟」的意象；「聘则为妻」令人想到「聘则为妻」写礼教的意象——《礼记》聘则为妻，也令人想到「奔则为妾」的意象；「蘋蘩」令人想到「蘋蘩」写祭品的意象——《诗经》采蘋采蘩，也令人想到「奉蘋蘩」的意象；「高堂」令人想到「高堂」写父母的意象——也令人想到「高堂明镜悲白发」（李白）的意象。全诗化用银瓶、丝绳、玉簪、秋蝉翼、远山色、青梅、白马、松柏、双鬟、聘则为妻、蘋蘩、高堂的意象典故，以民生写讽喻，正是白居易「讽喻」而善比兴、承乐府传统写民生之本领。

Commentary

The poem has usually been read as a warning to young women, and its last line is quoted more often than its narrative; modern readers have noted that the warning is aimed at the whole system rather than at the girl, since she is blamed for a fault the law defines. Critics of the New Yuefu prized it as an example of the sequence's plainness, using ordinary speech for a story about ordinary people. It is often paired with the longer ballad on the chief consort, which tells the same poet's view of a love that finally worked, and the contrast between the two is instructive.

此诗历来被推为白居易讽喻诗的名篇，也是新乐府写女子私奔的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以民生写讽喻，直切痛切」；近人更指出「为君一日恩，误妾百年身」写误妾百年的一日恩，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以长篇写尽银瓶欲上的丝绳绝与君家大人的频有言——那井底，那引银瓶，那银瓶欲上，那丝绳绝，那石上，那磨玉簪，那玉簪欲成，那中央折，那瓶沉，那簪折，那知奈何，那似妾，那今朝，那与君别，那忆昔，那在家为女时，那人言，那举动，那有殊姿，那婵娟，那两鬓，那秋蝉翼，那宛转，那双蛾，那远山色，那笑随，那戏伴，那后园中，那此时，那与君未相识，那妾弄青梅，那凭短墙，那君骑白马，那傍垂杨，那墙头，那马上，那遥相顾，那一见，那知君，那即断肠，那知君断肠，那共君语，那君指，那南山，那松柏树，那感君，那松柏化为心，那暗合双鬟，那逐君去，那到君家舍，那五六年，那君家大人，那频有言，那聘则为妻，那奔是妾，那不堪主祀，那奉蘋蘩，那终知，那君家不可住，那其奈，那出门，那无去处，那岂无，那父母，那在高堂，那亦有，那亲情，那满故乡，那潜来，那更不通消息，那今日，那悲羞，那归不得，那为君，那一日恩，那误妾，那百年身，那寄言，那痴小人家女，那慎勿，那将身，那轻许人，都写尽了白居易笔下的井底引银瓶；那「慎勿将身轻许人」更以直抒写尽慎勿将身的轻许人。此诗与白居易《长恨歌》「汉皇重色思倾国」同为叙事名篇，一写「天长地久有时尽」的长恨歌，一写「慎勿将身轻许人」的井底引银瓶；一写贵妃，一写民间女子。两诗对读，可见白居易叙事诗的两面。对于今日读者，此诗是理解白居易讽喻诗的窗口，也是新乐府写女子私奔的经典——那慎勿将身的轻许人，穿越千年，仍在诉说着银瓶欲上的丝绳绝。

Prosody

Line by line

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