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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

骊山有感

Reflections on Mount Li

李商隐

Li Shangyin

咏史Historical subject (yongshi) 讽刺Satire

骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房。
平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王。

Warm scent floats off the flying spring on Mount Li,
and nine dragons guard the jade lotus chamber.
Every dawn he repairs to the Hall of Eternal Life,
and the only one who does not follow the golden carriage is the Prince of Shou.

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Meaning

Li Shangyin writes about the Tang emperor Xuanzong and his favourite consort Yang Yuhuan at the Huaqing Palace on Mount Li. The first couplet describes the heated springs and the carved lotus bath in gorgeous language; the second turns without warning to the plain fact that at every dawn the emperor goes to the Hall of Eternal Life while the only person not riding in the imperial carriage is the prince whose wife was taken away. The satire is an indirect one, delivered by understatement rather than invective.

骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房。平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The opening couplet is pure pageantry: a spring that flies down the mountain carrying a warm fragrance, and nine carved dragons watching over the jade lotus chamber of the bath. The closing couplet narrows to a single, terrible detail — of all the riders in the imperial train, only Shouwang, the husband of the woman now living in her uncle's palace, is left behind. [Structure] The poem is built on a sudden shift. Two luxurious lines, then two plain ones, and the plainness is what injuries. Nothing is explained and no word of blame is spoken; the accusation is left to accumulate in the gap between 'every dawn he repairs to' and 'the only one who does not follow'. [Imagery] 'Warm fragrance' and 'jade lotus chamber' are set with deliberate beauty around a moral scandal. The contrast is between the soft, sensuous surface and the hard fact hidden beneath it. 'Only' (wei) is the whole poem's weight in one character: it turns a factual sentence into an indictment, because the rest of the train rides in silence while one man is quietly abandoned.

【白话串讲】李商隐写《骊山有感》：“骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房”——“平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王”——他写玄宗与杨妃——寿王不从金舆——他暗写夺媳。【意象与手法】此诗写咏史，以讽刺写咏史，是李商隐的名篇。前两句写骊岫：「骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房」写骊岫飞泉泛暖香、九龙呵护玉莲房——写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房；后两句写讽谕：「平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王」写平明每幸长生殿、不从金舆惟寿王——写尽不从金舆的寿王。全诗以讽刺写咏史，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房与不从金舆的寿王，是李商隐的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写咏史，以讽刺写咏史，是李商隐的名篇。此诗为李商隐咏唐明皇与杨贵妃事而作，写其以长生殿讽明皇。李商隐善咏史，此诗写其咏骊山华清宫。此诗写骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房；平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王。此诗写骊岫：骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房——写骊岫飞泉泛暖香、九龙呵护玉莲房，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房；平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王——写平明每幸长生殿、不从金舆惟寿王，写尽不从金舆的寿王。全诗以讽刺写咏史——那「九龙呵护玉莲房」写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房，「不从金舆惟寿王」写尽不从金舆的寿王，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房与不从金舆的寿王，是理解李商隐咏史诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房」写九龙呵护的玉莲房；「平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王」写不从金舆的寿王；以及全诗以讽刺写咏史、以隐语写讽谕的手法。

Background

Li Shangyin (c. 813–c. 858), courtesy name Yishan, pen name Yuxi sheng, was from Huai Zhou (modern Qinyang, Henan). He is the greatest of the late Tang poets, ranked with Du Mu as the 'Little Li and Du' and with Wen Tingyun as the 'Wen and Li'. He wrote this poem reflecting on the Huaqing Palace at Mount Li, where Xuanzong and Yang Yuhuan spent their winters, and on the scandal of the emperor's taking his own son's wife. Late Tang historical poetry characteristically aims at praise or blame by indirection; this piece is a standard example, using gorgeous diction to carry a dark accusation.

此诗写咏史，以讽刺写咏史，是李商隐的名篇。李商隐（约813—约858），字义山，号玉谿生，怀州河内（今河南沁阳）人，晚唐著名诗人，与杜牧合称「小李杜」，与温庭筠合称「温李」。此诗为李商隐咏唐明皇与杨贵妃事而作，写其以长生殿讽明皇。李商隐善咏史，此诗写其咏骊山华清宫。此诗写骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房；平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王。此诗写骊岫：「骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房」写骊岫飞泉泛暖香、九龙呵护玉莲房——写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房（骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房）；「平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王」写平明每幸长生殿、不从金舆惟寿王——写尽不从金舆的寿王（平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王）。全诗以讽刺写咏史，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房与不从金舆的寿王，是理解李商隐咏史诗的重要篇章。此诗写骊山有感，为李商隐咏唐明皇与杨贵妃而作。李商隐善以咏史写讽谕，此诗以华清宫的九龙汤与长生殿暗讽明皇宠贵妃、夺子妇之丑，正是晚唐咏史诗「以丽辞写讽谕」的典型。

Art

Four techniques work together. First, description used as accusation: 'warm scent floats off the flying spring' and 'nine dragons guard the jade lotus chamber' are gorgeous in themselves, and their beauty becomes offensive once the reader knows what is being described. Second, hinting rather than telling: 'nine dragons guarding' and 'jade lotus chamber' stand for the heated pools of Huaqing without ever naming them, so the satire is carried by implication. Third, contrast: 'every dawn he repairs to the Hall of Eternal Life' sets imperial movement against 'the only one who does not follow the golden carriage', and the single word 'only' turns a procession into a scandal. Fourth, allusion as load: the Hall of Eternal Life and the Prince of Shou bring with them the whole story of the usurpation of a wife, so that the reader supplies the judgement. The poem moves from scene to rebuke, which is the usual method of the regulated historical quatrain.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写骊岫。「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」以写景写骊岫——那「九龙呵护玉莲房」写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房，以写景写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房。其二，以隐语写讽谕。「九龙呵护」以隐语写讽谕——那「玉莲房」写尽玉莲的房，以隐语写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房。其三，以对比写寿王。「平明每幸长生殿」以对比写寿王——那「不从金舆惟寿王」写尽不从金舆的寿王，以对比写尽不从金舆的寿王。其四，以用典写长生殿。「长生殿」以用典写长生殿——那「不从金舆」写尽不从金舆的寿王，以用典写尽平明的长生殿。此外，此诗前两句写九龙呵护的玉莲房，后两句写不从金舆的寿王，由景及讽，正是咏史诗「以隐写讽」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以讽刺写咏史，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房与不从金舆的寿王，是李商隐的代表作。此外，此诗还善于以「平明每幸长生殿」的「每幸」写长生殿之每幸——那「每幸」写尽每朝的临幸，正是以幸写宠，以「平明」写尽平明的每幸。又善以「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」的「泛暖香」写飞泉之暖香——泛暖香，正见暖香泛起的写照，以「泛暖香」写尽骊岫的飞泉。

Allusions

The language is thick with the historical tradition. 'Mount Li' is the site of Huaqing Palace, the mountain whose warm spring Xuanzong made hot. 'Flying spring' suggests the descending waterfall of the spring, and elsewhere in Tang poetry the falling torrent. 'Warm fragrance' recalls the line in 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' about 'warm water sliding over the curdled fat'. 'Nine dragons' refers to the nine dragon-carved bath pools of Huaqing; 'jade lotus chamber' to the lotus-shaped stone basin in which the consort bathed. 'Hall of Eternal Life' is the hall in the Huaqing palace; in the same poem of Bai Juyi it is the scene of the secret pledge on the seventh of the seventh month. 'Golden carriage' is the imperial carriage. 'Prince of Shou' is Li Mao, the emperor's son, whose wife Yang Yuhuan was taken by her uncle to the palace and later made consort.

此诗的用语深植于咏史与讽刺传统。「骊岫」令人想到「骊岫」写骊山的意象——也令人想到「骊山」的意象；「飞泉」令人想到「飞泉」写飞泉的意象——也令人想到「飞流直下三千尺」（李白）的意象；「暖香」令人想到「暖香」写暖香的意象——也令人想到「温泉水滑洗凝脂」（白居易）的意象；「九龙」令人想到「九龙」写九龙的意象——华清宫九龙汤，也令人想到「九龙汤」的意象；「玉莲房」令人想到「玉莲房」写莲房的意象——也令人想到「莲花汤」的意象；「长生殿」令人想到「长生殿」写长生殿的意象——也令人想到「七月七日长生殿」（白居易）的意象；「金舆」令人想到「金舆」写金舆的意象——也令人想到「金舆玉辇」的意象；「寿王」令人想到「寿王」写寿王的意象——唐明皇子寿王李瑁，也令人想到「寿王妃」的意象。全诗化用骊岫、飞泉、暖香、九龙、玉莲房、长生殿、金舆、寿王的意象典故，以讽刺写咏史，正是李商隐「含蓄」而善用典、承咏史传统写讽刺之本领。

Commentary

The poem has long been regarded as one of the finest of Li Shangyin's historical quatrains and a representative treatment of the Huaqing Palace. Later critics praised it for writing history through satire, with restraint and depth; modern readers single out 'the only one who does not follow the golden carriage is the Prince of Shou' as the couplet that carries the poem. Its special value is that four lines hold both the jade lotus chamber and the discarded husband — the mountain, the spring, the fragrance, the nine dragons, the guard, the hall, the carriage, the prince — while that single 'only' carries the whole reproach. It stands beside Bai Juyi's 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' (the same subject expressed as a long narrative, the secret pledge in the seventh month) and beside Du Mu's 'Passing the Huaqing Palace' (a similarly satirical quatrain on the same place); the three read together show three ways of handling one subject.

此诗历来被推为李商隐咏史诗的名篇，也是唐诗写骊山华清宫的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以讽刺写咏史，含蓄深婉」；近人更指出「不从金舆惟寿王」写不从金舆的寿王，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以七绝写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房与不从金舆的寿王——那骊岫，那飞泉，那泛暖香，那九龙，那呵护，那玉莲房，那平明，那每幸，那长生殿，那不从，那金舆，那惟寿王，都写尽了李商隐笔下的骊山有感；那「不从金舆惟寿王」更以对比写尽不从金舆的寿王。此诗与白居易《长恨歌》「七月七日长生殿」同为咏明皇贵妃名篇，一写「此恨绵绵无绝期」的长恨歌，一写「不从金舆惟寿王」的骊山有感；一写诗，一写绝句。两作对读，可见咏明皇贵妃的两种写法。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李商隐咏史诗的窗口，也是唐诗写骊山华清宫的经典——那不从金舆的寿王，穿越千年，仍在诉说着九龙呵护的玉莲房。

Prosody

Form A seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju)七言绝句

Rhyme Rhyme on xiang (fragrance) and wang (prince), the 'Yang' rhyme; one rhyme carried to the end.押「香」「王」（阳韵），一韵到底

Tone pattern A seven-character jueju rhyming on level tones, one rhyme to the end, the cadence held in check — in keeping with the restraint of the satire.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节含蓄，正合讽刺的含蓄。

Reading note Four lines: 'Warm scent floats off the flying spring on Mount Li, and nine dragons guard the jade lotus chamber. Every dawn he repairs to the Hall of Eternal Life, and the only one who does not follow the golden carriage is the Prince of Shou.' It rhymes in the Yang rhyme (xiang, wang) and holds one rhyme throughout, with the sound kept compressed — fitting the poem's restraint. A short piece: the first half writes the Mount Li of the nine dragons, the second the reproach of the Prince of Shou, and 'the only one who does not follow' carries the whole satire. Read the opening lines with the polish of palace verse, the last line low and held back, so that the hidden judgement is felt rather than heard. Li Shangyin's quatrains are famous for depth and restraint, and this is among the most typical of them.此诗为七言绝句——「骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房。平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王」，押阳韵（香、王），一韵到底，音节含蓄。全诗以讽刺写咏史：前两句写九龙呵护的玉莲房（骊岫飞泉泛暖香、九龙呵护玉莲房），后两句写不从金舆的寿王（平明每幸长生殿、不从金舆惟寿王）。绝句短章，前写骊岫，后写讽谕，以「不从金舆惟寿王」写尽不从金舆的寿王，正见李商隐「含蓄」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以含蓄的语调读「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」的骊岫，以深婉的语调读「不从金舆惟寿王」的寿王，结句要读得含蓄而有余韵，方能传达出李商隐的含蓄深婉。李商隐绝句以「深婉」著称，此诗正是其咏史诗的典范。

Line by line

骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房

Warm scent floats off the flying spring of Mount Li, and nine dragons guard the jade lotus chamber.

骊岫飞泉泛暖香，九龙呵护玉莲房。

The flying springs of Mount Li breathe warm fragrance; the Nine Dragons tend the jade lotus chamber.

此二句是全诗写骊岫的核心，以骊岫飞泉泛暖香写暖香，以九龙呵护玉莲房写玉莲房，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房，是千古名句。「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」写骊岫飞泉泛暖香——那「骊岫飞泉」写骊岫飞泉，「泛暖香」写泛暖香，写尽骊岫的飞泉；「九龙呵护玉莲房」写九龙呵护玉莲房——那「九龙呵护」写九龙呵护，「玉莲房」写玉莲房，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房。这句的深意在于：它以「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」的暖香与「九龙呵护玉莲房」的玉莲房，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房——骊岫飞泉泛暖香，那「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」写尽骊岫的飞泉——骊岫飞泉泛暖香，正是骊山温泉的写照，那「暖香」写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房；九龙呵护玉莲房，那「九龙呵护玉莲房」写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房——九龙呵护玉莲房，正是九龙汤池的写照，那「玉莲房」写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房；那「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」写尽骊岫的飞泉，那「九龙呵护玉莲房」写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房，一写飞泉，一写玉莲房，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房——骊山温泉而九龙汤池，正是华清宫的写照；此二句以飞泉、玉莲房写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房，也为下文的长生殿作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写骊岫的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「骊山的飞泉泛着暖香，九龙呵护着玉莲房」，则失其含蓄；唯以「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」写暖香、「九龙呵护玉莲房」写玉莲房，写尽九龙呵护的玉莲房，也让此二句成为全诗写骊岫的核心。

The baths. The flying springs of Mount Li breathe warm fragrance; the Nine Dragons tend the jade lotus chamber. The warm fragrant springs and the Nine-Dragon pools are the Huaqing Baths. To have described the imperial baths would be a scene; the Mount-Li-flying-springs-breathing-warm-fragrance against the Nine-Dragons-tending-the-jade-lotus-chamber is the scene.

平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王

Every dawn he repairs to the Hall of Eternal Life, and the only one who does not follow the golden carriage is the Prince of Shou.

平明每幸长生殿，不从金舆惟寿王。

At dawn he visits the Hall of Long Life; the only one who does not follow the golden carriage is the Prince of Shou.

此二句是全诗写讽谕的核心，以平明每幸长生殿写长生殿，以不从金舆惟寿王写寿王，写尽不从金舆的寿王，是千古名句。「平明每幸长生殿」写平明每幸长生殿——那「平明每幸」写平明每幸，「长生殿」写长生殿，写尽平明的长生殿；「不从金舆惟寿王」写不从金舆惟寿王——那「不从金舆」写不从金舆，「惟寿王」写惟寿王，写尽不从金舆的寿王。这句的深意在于：它以「平明每幸长生殿」的长生殿与「不从金舆惟寿王」的寿王，写尽不从金舆的寿王——平明每幸长生殿，那「平明每幸长生殿」写尽平明的长生殿——平明每幸长生殿，正是每朝临幸的写照，那「长生殿」写尽不从金舆的寿王；不从金舆惟寿王，那「不从金舆惟寿王」写尽不从金舆的寿王——不从金舆惟寿王，正是寿王不随的写照，那「寿王」写尽不从金舆的寿王；那「平明每幸长生殿」写尽平明的长生殿，那「不从金舆惟寿王」写尽不从金舆的寿王，一写长生殿，一写寿王，写尽不从金舆的寿王——明皇临幸而寿王不随，正是讽谕的写照；此二句以长生殿、寿王写尽不从金舆的寿王，也让此二句成为全诗写讽谕的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「平明时常常临幸长生殿，不随金舆的只有寿王」，则失其深婉；唯以「平明每幸长生殿」写长生殿、「不从金舆惟寿王」写寿王，写尽不从金舆的寿王，也让此二句成为全诗写讽谕的核心。

The prince. At dawn he visits the Hall of Long Life; the only one who does not follow the golden carriage is the Prince of Shou. The dawn visits to the Long Life Hall and the single absence (the prince whose wife was taken) are the satire. To have named the missing prince would be a jab; the dawn-every-visit-to-the-Hall-of-Long-Life against the only-one-not-following-the-golden-carriage-the-Prince-of-Shou is the jab.

Study

Word focus

暖 In 'warm scent floats off the flying spring', nuan, 'warm', is the key word of the scene. It has two meanings at once: it describes the heat of the Huaqing spring water, and it carries the moral point of the whole poem, for that warmth is the sensuous comfort in which the emperor drowned himself. A plainer word such as 'hot' would lose both the sensation and the reproach. 「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」之「暖」字是写骊岫关键词，一个「暖」字写尽骊岫的飞泉。暖者，温暖、温润也。李商隐以「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」写骊岫，这个「暖」字至少有双重意味：其一，写泉之暖——那「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」写骊岫飞泉泛暖香，那「暖」字写尽骊岫的飞泉——暖香，正是温泉温润的写照，那「暖」字写尽骊岫的飞泉；其二，写思之讽——那「暖」字更是写讽——暖，正见温泉沉溺的讽谕，那「暖」字写尽李商隐的讽刺。以「暖」字写骊岫，正是李商隐写咏史的枢纽——若换作「温」「热」等字，则或失其与「骊岫飞泉」「泛暖香」的配合，或失其写暖的意味；唯「暖」字，以骊岫飞泉泛暖香写尽飞泉之温润与华清之香暖，与「九龙呵护玉莲房」的玉莲房相合，写尽骊岫的飞泉，也让「骊岫飞泉泛暖香」成为全诗写骊岫的名句。

惟 In 'the only one who does not follow the golden carriage is the Prince of Shou', wei means 'only' or 'solely'. It is the key word of the satire: it singles out one rider who is missing, and because that rider is the consort's former husband, the single character turns an ordinary statement of fact into a silent but incisive rebuke. 「不从金舆惟寿王」之「惟」字是写讽谕关键词，一个「惟」字写尽不从金舆的寿王。惟者，只有、仅也。李商隐以「不从金舆惟寿王」写讽谕，这个「惟」字至少有双重意味：其一，写王之惟——那「不从金舆惟寿王」写不从金舆惟寿王，那「惟」字写尽不从金舆的寿王——惟寿王，正是只有寿王的写照，那「惟」字写尽不从金舆的寿王；其二，写讽之深——那「惟」字更是写深——惟，正见惟独寿王的讽谕，那「惟」字写尽李商隐的讽刺。以「惟」字写讽谕，正是李商隐写咏史的枢纽——若换作「独」「只」等字，则或失其与「不从金舆」「惟寿王」的配合，或失其写惟的意味；唯「惟」字，以不从金舆惟寿王写尽寿王之惟独与讽谕之深婉，与「平明每幸长生殿」的长生殿相合，写尽不从金舆的寿王，也让「不从金舆惟寿王」成为全诗写讽谕的名句。