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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

正月十五夜闻京有灯恨不得观

The Fifteenth of the First Month: Hearing That the Capital Has Lanterns, I Grieve That I Cannot Go and Watch

李商隐

Li Shangyin

元宵The Lantern Festival 感慨Meditation on life

月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢。
身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑。

Moonlight and lamplight flood the imperial city,
fragrant carriages and precious cars crowd the great roads.
I am idle, and cannot see the revival of the dynasty,
ashamed to follow the villagers in worshipping the Purple Maiden.

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Meaning

On the fifteenth of the first month the capital is full of lanterns, and the poet, far away and idle, hears of the spectacle but cannot attend. The first couplet describes the crowded splendor of the festival in the capital; the second turns it to self-reproach. He will not join the country folk in their sacrifice to the Purple Maiden, an already old-fashioned village rite, because to take part in folk celebrations while the empire's glory is passing would be a betrayal. The poem is a disguised statement of loyal grief over the decline of the Tang.

月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢。身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Two letters of light and noise: the moon and the lanterns together flooding the whole capital, and the scented and jewelled carriages wedging the great avenues so that they can hardly pass. Then the turn. The poet is idle — out of office, out of the capital — and so cannot witness the revival of the dynasty; and he refuses the consolation of the village festival, because to amuse himself with old folk worship while the state is falling would be shameful. [Structure] The poem divides exactly into spectacle and judgement. The first half is public, brilliant and crowded; the second half is private, dark and single. The shift is abrupt and that abruptness is the point: the festival does not soften his grief, it exposes it. [Imagery] 'Flood' and 'crowd' are the two verbs of possession — light and people take the city to themselves. 'I am idle' is the low, quiet line that follows two gorgeous ones, and its plainness is jarring. 'The revival of the dynasty' is odd and important: not the present, but a hoped-for revival, so the poem is already saying that what is passing is more than a festival.

【白话串讲】李商隐写《正月十五夜闻京有灯恨不得观》：“月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢”——“身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑”——元宵夜京城灯火辉煌，他却看不了——他写怅惘。【意象与手法】此诗写感慨，以身世写感慨，是李商隐的名篇。前两句写帝都：「月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢」写月色灯光满帝都、香车宝辇隘通衢——写尽香车宝辇的通衢；后两句写感慨：「身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写身闲不睹中兴盛、羞逐乡人赛紫姑——写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑。全诗以身世写感慨，写尽香车宝辇的通衢与羞逐乡人的紫姑，是李商隐的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写感慨，以身世写感慨，是李商隐的名篇。此诗为李商隐在长安听到京城元宵有灯而作，写其身处他乡不得观灯的感慨。李商隐客居外地，此诗写其闻灯恨不得观。此诗写月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢；身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑。此诗写帝都：月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢——写月色灯光满帝都、香车宝辇隘通衢，写尽香车宝辇的通衢；身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑——写身闲不睹中兴盛、羞逐乡人赛紫姑，写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑。全诗以身世写感慨——那「香车宝辇隘通衢」写尽香车宝辇的通衢，「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑，写尽香车宝辇的通衢与羞逐乡人的紫姑，是理解李商隐感慨诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢」写香车宝辇的通衢；「身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写羞逐乡人的紫姑；以及全诗以身世写感慨、以对比写身世的手法。

Background

Li Shangyin (c. 813–c. 858), courtesy name Yishan, from Huai Zhou, was the leading poet of the late Tang and wrote at a time when the imperial court was wasting itself in eunuch power and regional military governors. The Lantern Festival of the fifteenth of the first month was the great night assembly of the capital, described by Su Weidao in his famous quatrain 'The Fifteenth of the First Month'. Li Shangyin's title itself — hearing that the capital has lanterns and grieving that I cannot go and watch — announces a poem of exclusion. The 'Purple Maiden' (Zigu) was the goddess of the kitchen worshipped by women on the last night of the year with a competition of song and dance; the poet's shame at being tempted by such a rural diversion is the poem's moral hinge.

此诗写感慨，以身世写感慨，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」。此诗为李商隐在长安听到京城元宵有灯而作，写其身处他乡不得观灯的感慨。李商隐客居外地，此诗写其闻灯恨不得观。此诗写月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢；身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑。此诗写帝都：「月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢」写月色灯光满帝都、香车宝辇隘通衢——写尽香车宝辇的通衢（月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢）；「身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写身闲不睹中兴盛、羞逐乡人赛紫姑——写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑（身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑）。全诗以身世写感慨，写尽香车宝辇的通衢与羞逐乡人的紫姑，是理解李商隐感慨诗的重要篇章。此诗写正月十五夜闻京有灯恨不得观，为李商隐客居外地、闻京城元宵灯市而作。晚唐国势衰微，元宵灯市虽盛，诗人却身闲不睹中兴，故有此感，正见李商隐「以乐景写哀情」的本领。

Art

Four points. First, pure picture in the first couplet: 'moonlight and lamplight flood the imperial city' and 'fragrant carriages and precious cars crowd the great roads' give the festival in two kinds of abundance, light and motion, and not one word of the poet. Second, the sudden drop to the plain 'I am idle' (shen xian), which is the most effective line in the poem precisely because it is unornamented after such splendor. Third, the single word 'revival' (zhong xing) which lifts the whole from a festival poem to a political one: the emperor's nights are set against the hoped-for renewal of the state. Fourth, the closing shame — 'ashamed to follow the villagers in worshipping the Purple Maiden' — which refuses the easy escape into popular divertissement and so turns personal idleness into a moral position. The poem therefore carries a political grief inside a scene of pleasure, and does it with the compressed manner of the seven-character quatrain.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写帝都。「月色灯光满帝都」以写景写帝都——那「香车宝辇隘通衢」写尽香车宝辇的通衢，以写景写尽香车宝辇的通衢。其二，以对比写身世。「身闲不睹中兴盛」以对比写身世——那「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑，以对比写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑。其三，以白描写灯市。「月色灯光满帝都」以白描写灯市——那「香车宝辇」写尽香车的宝辇，以白描写尽月色灯光的帝都。其四，以直抒写感慨。「身闲不睹中兴盛」以直抒写感慨——那「羞逐乡人」写尽羞逐的乡人，以直抒写尽身闲的感慨。此外，此诗前两句写香车宝辇的通衢，后两句写羞逐乡人的紫姑，由景及情，正是感慨诗「以乐写哀」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以身世写感慨，写尽香车宝辇的通衢与羞逐乡人的紫姑，是李商隐的代表作。此外，此诗还善于以「身闲不睹中兴盛」的「中兴盛」写中兴之盛——那「中兴盛」写尽中兴的盛，正是以盛写衰，以「身闲不睹」写尽身闲的不睹。又善以「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」的「赛紫姑」写乡人之赛紫姑——赛紫姑，正见乡人迎紫姑的写照，以「羞逐」写尽羞逐的乡人。

Allusions

The poem is built on the festivals of the year and on the classics. 'Fifteenth of the first month' is the Lantern Festival, when the capital kept the streets open all night — the scene described in Su Weidao's 'The Fifteenth of the First Month' with 'fire trees and silver flowers closing', an image of light that Li Shangyin reworks in 'moonlight and lamplight flood'. 'Fragrant carriages and precious cars' continue the palace traffic of the Lantern Night. 'Great roads' (tongqu) are the main avenues of the capital. 'Revival of the dynasty' (zhong xing) is the classical political hope for a resting and renewed house. 'Purple Maiden' (Zigu) is the kitchen goddess of folk religion, worshipped on the last night of the year by women with hymns and dances; to join her festival was to turn away from the great world, and the poet declares that he cannot do so, which is his way of saying that his loyalty will not be bought off by diversion.

此诗的用语深植于感慨与身世传统。「月色」令人想到「月色」写月色的意象——也令人想到「春江花月夜」（张若虚）的意象；「灯光」令人想到「灯光」写灯火的意象——也令人想到「灯火阑珊」的意象；「帝都」令人想到「帝都」写帝都的意象——也令人想到「长安帝都」的意象；「香车宝辇」令人想到「香车宝辇」写香车的意象——也令人想到「宝马雕车香满路」（辛弃疾）的意象；「通衢」令人想到「通衢」写通衢的意象——也令人想到「长安大道」的意象；「中兴」令人想到「中兴」写中兴的意象——也令人想到「中兴气象」的意象；「紫姑」令人想到「紫姑」写紫姑的意象——迎紫姑，元宵民俗，也令人想到「迎紫姑」的意象。全诗化用月色、灯光、帝都、香车宝辇、通衢、中兴、紫姑的意象典故，以身世写感慨，正是李商隐「含蓄」而善对比、承感慨传统写身世之本领。「紫姑」令人想到「紫姑」写紫姑的意象——正月十五迎紫姑，也令人想到「迎紫姑」的意象；「乡人」令人想到「乡人」写乡人的意象——也令人想到「乡人傩」的意象，以乡人写身世。

Commentary

The poem is one of the best of Li Shangyin's festival poems and a strange, quiet example of the political lyric of the late Tang. Later critics praised it for writing a public grief in private and restrained language; modern readers point to the last line as the place where the poem opens and to the odd, untranslatable 'revival' as its hinge. Its special place is that two ordinary halves — a crowded city and an ashamed idler — hold a whole doomed dynasty. It stands beside Xin Qiji's 'Jade Table Setting, Yuan Night' (the same festival seen from inside, where the beloved figure is found at last in the dimmest corner of the lanterns) and beside Su Weidao's 'The Fifteenth of the First Month' (the same night seen as pure light); the three read together show a festival passing from public pageant to private allegory.

此诗历来被推为李商隐感慨诗的名篇，也是唐诗写元宵灯市的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以身世写感慨，含蓄深婉」；近人更指出「身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写羞逐乡人的紫姑，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以七绝写尽香车宝辇的通衢与羞逐乡人的紫姑——那月色，那灯光，那满帝都，那香车，那宝辇，那隘通衢，那身闲，那不睹，那中兴盛，那羞逐，那乡人，那赛紫姑，都写尽了李商隐笔下的正月十五夜闻京有灯恨不得观；那「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」更以直抒写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑。此诗与辛弃疾《青玉案·元夕》「东风夜放花千树」同为元宵名篇，一写「蓦然回首，那人却在灯火阑珊处」的青玉案，一写「身闲不睹中兴盛」的正月十五夜；一写唐，一写宋。两作对读，可见元宵诗（词）的两种境界。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李商隐感慨诗的窗口，也是唐诗写元宵灯市的经典——那羞逐乡人的紫姑，穿越千年，仍在诉说着香车宝辇的通衢。

Prosody

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

Rhyme Rhyme on qu (avenue) and gu (maiden), the 'Yu' rhyme; one rhyme carried to the end.押「衢」「姑」（虞韵），一韵到底

Tone pattern A seven-character jueju rhyming on level tones, one rhyme through, the cadence compressed and held in — in keeping with the poem's restraint.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节含蓄，正合感慨的含蓄。

Reading note Four lines: 'Moonlight and lamplight flood the imperial city, fragrant carriages and precious cars crowd the great roads. I am idle, and cannot see the revival of the dynasty, ashamed to follow the villagers in worshipping the Purple Maiden.' It rhymes in the Yu rhyme (qu, gu) and holds one rhyme throughout, the sound pressed and held. A short piece: the first half writes the lantern-lit capital, the second the ashamed idler, and 'ashamed to follow the villagers' carries the whole turn. Read the opening two lines with the spread of a festival, and the last line low and slow, so that the political weight under the lights comes across. Li Shangyin's quatrains are famous for depth and restraint, and this is among his most compressed.此诗为七言绝句——「月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢。身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑」，押虞韵（衢、姑），一韵到底，音节含蓄。全诗以身世写感慨：前两句写香车宝辇的通衢（月色灯光满帝都、香车宝辇隘通衢），后两句写羞逐乡人的紫姑（身闲不睹中兴盛、羞逐乡人赛紫姑）。绝句短章，前写帝都，后写感慨，以「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑，正见李商隐「含蓄」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以含蓄的语调读「月色灯光满帝都」的帝都，以深婉的语调读「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」的紫姑，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，此诗正是其感慨诗的典范。

Line by line

月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢

Moonlight and lamplight flood the imperial city, and scented carriages and jewelled cars crowd the great avenues.

月色灯光满帝都，香车宝辇隘通衢。

Moonlight and lantern light fill the capital; scented carriages and jeweled chairs choke the avenues.

此二句是全诗写帝都的核心，以月色灯光满帝都写满帝都，以香车宝辇隘通衢写隘通衢，写尽香车宝辇的通衢，是千古名句。「月色灯光满帝都」写月色灯光满帝都——那「月色灯光」写月色灯光，「满帝都」写满帝都，写尽月色灯光的帝都；「香车宝辇隘通衢」写香车宝辇隘通衢——那「香车宝辇」写香车宝辇，「隘通衢」写隘通衢，写尽香车宝辇的通衢。这句的深意在于：它以「月色灯光满帝都」的满帝都与「香车宝辇隘通衢」的隘通衢，写尽香车宝辇的通衢——月色灯光满帝都，那「月色灯光满帝都」写尽月色灯光的帝都——月色灯光满帝都，正是灯火满城的写照，那「满帝都」写尽香车宝辇的通衢；香车宝辇隘通衢，那「香车宝辇隘通衢」写尽香车宝辇的通衢——香车宝辇隘通衢，正是车辇塞衢的写照，那「隘通衢」写尽香车宝辇的通衢；那「月色灯光满帝都」写尽月色灯光的帝都，那「香车宝辇隘通衢」写尽香车宝辇的通衢，一写满帝都，一写隘通衢，写尽香车宝辇的通衢——灯火满城而车辇塞衢，正是灯市的写照；此二句以满帝都、隘通衢写尽香车宝辇的通衢，也为下文的中兴盛作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写帝都的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「月色灯光洒满帝都，香车宝辇挤满了大路」，则失其繁华；唯以「月色灯光满帝都」写满帝都、「香车宝辇隘通衢」写隘通衢，写尽香车宝辇的通衢，也让此二句成为全诗写帝都的核心。

The lanterns. Moonlight and lantern light fill the capital; scented carriages and jeweled chairs choke the avenues. The moon-and-lantern filled capital and the choked avenues are the Lantern Festival's splendor. To have described the festival night would be a scene; the moonlight-and-lantern-light-filling-the-capital against the scented-carriages-jeweled-chairs-choking-the-avenues is the scene.

身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑

I am idle and cannot see the revival of the dynasty, and I am ashamed to follow the villagers in worshipping the Purple Maiden.

身闲不睹中兴盛，羞逐乡人赛紫姑。

In my leisure I cannot see the restoration's glory; ashamed, I follow the villagers to the Zigu festival.

此二句是全诗写感慨的核心，以身闲不睹中兴盛写中兴盛，以羞逐乡人赛紫姑写紫姑，写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑，是千古名句。「身闲不睹中兴盛」写身闲不睹中兴盛——那「身闲不睹」写身闲不睹，「中兴盛」写中兴盛，写尽身闲不睹的中兴盛；「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写羞逐乡人赛紫姑——那「羞逐乡人」写羞逐乡人，「赛紫姑」写赛紫姑，写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑。这句的深意在于：它以「身闲不睹中兴盛」的中兴盛与「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」的紫姑，写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑——身闲不睹中兴盛，那「身闲不睹中兴盛」写尽身闲不睹的中兴盛——身闲不睹中兴盛，正是身闲无睹的写照，那「不睹」写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑；羞逐乡人赛紫姑，那「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑——羞逐乡人赛紫姑，正是羞随乡人的写照，那「紫姑」写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑；那「身闲不睹中兴盛」写尽身闲不睹的中兴盛，那「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑，一写不睹，一写紫姑，写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑——身闲无睹而羞随乡人，正是身世的写照；此二句以中兴盛、紫姑写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑，也让此二句成为全诗写感慨的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「身闲不能看到中兴盛景，羞愧地随乡人去迎紫姑」，则失其深婉；唯以「身闲不睹中兴盛」写中兴盛、「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写紫姑，写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑，也让此二句成为全诗写感慨的核心。

The shame. In my leisure I cannot see the restoration's glory; ashamed, I follow the villagers to the Zigu festival. The idle exclusion from the restoration's glory and the ashamed following of the villagers are Li Shangyin's grief. To have said he was shut out of the capital's joy would be a statement; the leisure-not-seeing-the-restoration's-glory against the ashamed-following-the-villagers-to-the-Zigu-festival is the statement.

Study

Word focus

满 In 'moonlight and lamplight flood the imperial city', man means full, altogether filling. It is the first key word of the scene: not a few lanterns but light enough to fill a whole capital, so the abundance of the festival is established in one character, and the poet's absence becomes the more complete for the completeness of the light. 「月色灯光满帝都」之「满」字是写帝都关键词，一个「满」字写尽月色灯光的帝都。满者，充满、弥漫也。李商隐以「月色灯光满帝都」写帝都，这个「满」字至少有双重意味：其一，写城之满——那「月色灯光满帝都」写月色灯光满帝都，那「满」字写尽月色灯光的帝都——满帝都，正是满城灯火的写照，那「满」字写尽月色灯光的帝都；其二，写乐之盛——那「满」字更是写盛——满，正见灯市繁盛的景象，那「满」字写尽李商隐的感慨。以「满」字写帝都，正是李商隐写感慨的枢纽——若换作「照」「映」等字，则或失其与「月色灯光」「满帝都」的配合，或失其写满的意味；唯「满」字，以月色灯光满帝都写尽灯光之满城与帝都之繁华，与「香车宝辇隘通衢」的隘通衢相合，写尽月色灯光的帝都，也让「月色灯光满帝都」成为全诗写帝都的名句。

羞 In 'ashamed to follow the villagers in worshipping the Purple Maiden', xiu, 'ashamed', is the key word of the whole second half. It is not a simple feeling of sorry; it is the shame of a man who finds himself wanting to escape into a village festival while his dynasty is falling. Because the poet refuses the diversion, the word carries his loyalty, and the poem's political grief is held in this one character. 「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」之「羞」字是写感慨关键词，一个「羞」字写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑。羞者，羞愧、惭愧也。李商隐以「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写感慨，这个「羞」字至少有双重意味：其一，写逐之羞——那「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」写羞逐乡人赛紫姑，那「羞」字写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑——羞逐，正是羞于随逐的写照，那「羞」字写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑；其二，写心之惭——那「羞」字更是写惭——羞，正见身世沦落的惭愧，那「羞」字写尽李商隐的感慨。以「羞」字写感慨，正是李商隐写身世的枢纽——若换作「愧」「惭」等字，则或失其与「羞逐乡人」「赛紫姑」的配合，或失其写羞的意味；唯「羞」字，以羞逐乡人赛紫姑写尽乡人之羞逐与身世之沦落，与「身闲不睹中兴盛」的不睹相合，写尽羞逐乡人的紫姑，也让「羞逐乡人赛紫姑」成为全诗写感慨的名句。