All poems

明 Ming · 文 Prose

卖柑者言

Words of the Orange Seller

刘基

Liu Ji

名篇classic 寓言fable 讽刺satire 托物言志expressing aspiration through things

杭有卖果者，善藏柑，涉寒暑不溃。
出之烨然，玉质而金色。
置于市，贾十倍，人争鬻之。
予贸得其一，剖之，如有烟扑口鼻，视其中，则干若败絮。

In Hangzhou there was a fruit seller, skilled at storing tangerines, which survived cold and heat without rotting. Taken out they shone brilliant, jade in substance and gold in color. Set in the market, priced tenfold, people vied to buy them. I bought one; splitting it open, a smoke seemed to rush at my mouth and nose, and looking inside, it was dry as rotten wadding.

Listen

Meaning

A fruit seller in Hangzhou keeps tangerines that look splendid outside yet are dry and rotten within. The author buys one, cuts it open, and discovers the deception. Using the tangerine as a metaphor, the piece exposes officials who are 'gold and jade without, rot and wadding within,' and calls for men of true worth.

杭州有个卖水果的人，很善于贮藏柑子，经过寒冬酷暑柑子都不会腐烂。把柑子拿出来，光彩夺目，质地像玉一样温润，颜色像金子一样澄黄。放到市场上，价钱抬到十倍，人们争相购买。我也买了一个，剖开来，仿佛有一股烟直扑口鼻，再看它里面，却干枯得像破旧的棉絮。

Appreciation

The art is 'praise first, then suppress': the tangerine's beauty is built to its peak with 'brilliant,' 'jade substance, gold color,' then sharply reversed with 'dry as rotten wadding,' a violent contrast. Plain description and parallel contrast (jade vs wadding, brilliant vs dry) make a spare, sharp, and biting style.

【白话串讲】刘基写《卖柑者言》：杭州卖水果的，把柑子藏过冬夏。“出之烨然，玉质而金色”——卖十倍价。买来剖开，“则干若败絮”——里面烂了。卖柑者说：“世之为欺者不寡矣”——那些当官的，“佩虎符、坐皋比者”，哪个不是“金玉其外，败絮其中”——他借柑讽世。【意象与手法】欲抑先扬：先以「烨然」「玉质而金色」把柑子之美写到极致，再以「干若败絮」陡转，反差强烈；白描与对举（玉质对败絮、烨然对干若）相映成趣，语言简劲峭拔。【情感与主旨】借卖柑者之口，讽刺当时庙堂之上文恬武嬉、虚有其表的官场风气，寄寓对表里如一、名副其实的君子之德的呼唤。【名句点睛】常考「金玉其外，败絮其中」一语的含义与出处，以及由柑及人、托物讽世的写法。

Background

Liu Ji (1311–1375), courtesy name Bowen, of Qingtian, Zhejiang, was a Yuan–early-Ming statesman, man of letters, and key strategist of Zhu Yuanzhang, honored as Chengyi Earl, with Song Lian and Gao Qi called the 'three masters of early-Ming poetry and prose.' His essays argue with sweeping, strange, and vigorous force, often using objects to satirize the age. 'Words of the Orange Seller' was likely written in the late Yuan, when the administration was corrupt and discipline slack; though Liu harbored a will to save the world he met repeated frustration, so he used the orange seller's mouth to satire his times. The phrase 'gold and jade without, rot and wadding within' comes from this piece, becoming a timeless line against hollow appearance. In the late Yuan, office was won by bribe and connection, scholars talked of human nature but lacked real learning, generals held troops yet won no merit—civil and military alike idle and playful—which mirrors exactly the tangerine 'brilliant outside, dry as wadding within.' Liu hides his attack on the age's ills inside a marketplace peddler's question-and-answer, laughing and scolding with sharp wit, a model of writing that both carries the Way and stings the world, and shows his deep observation of politics across the Yuan–Ming transition. Notably, the piece speaks through a marketplace voice, embodying his attitude that 'writing need not shun the vulgar, principle need not avoid the small,' continuous with his fable-style reasoning in 'Yulizi.'

刘基（1311—1375），字伯温，浙江青田人，元末明初政治家、文学家，明太祖朱元璋的重要谋臣，与宋濂、高启并称「明初诗文三大家」，封诚意伯。其文议论纵横、奇诡雄健，多托物讽世之作。卖柑者言约作于元末，其时吏治腐败、纲纪废弛，刘基虽怀济世之志而屡不得志，遂借卖柑者之口讽喻当世。金玉其外、败絮其中一语即出此篇，成为讽刺表里不一的千古名句。背景上，元末官场以贿赂夤缘为能事，士人空谈性命而少实学，武将拥兵自重而无战功，文恬武嬉，与卖柑者所藏之柑「出之烨然」「干若败絮」的对照恰成同构。刘基此文以寓言立论，先叙后议，把对时弊的抨击藏进一个市井小贩的答问之中，嬉笑怒骂、机锋四出，是以文载道与以文刺世结合的典范，也可见作者由元入明前后对政治现实的深刻体察。值得注意的是，此文托市井之口立言，正体现了作者「文不厌俗、理不避微」的为文态度，与他在《郁离子》中以寓言说理的风格一脉相承。

Art

A short, compact allegorical essay, its art lies in seeing the great in the small, comparing politics through objects, building then releasing. The whole divides into two layers: the first narrates, writing the seller's tangerines 'survive cold and heat,' 'jade substance gold color,' yet split 'dry as rotten wadding'—first creating the object of inside-out mismatch as a target for argument; the second, through the seller's mouth, enumerates the hollowness of those 'bearing tiger seals, sitting on tiger mats' and 'wearing tall caps, trailing long sashes,' moving from tangerine to man, from object to politics, layer upon layer. The excerpt concentrates on the tangerine: it opens 'skilled at storing tangerines, which survive cold and heat' writing the storage skill; 'taken out they shone brilliant, jade in substance and gold in color' writing the splendid outside—three sentences build, pushing the reader's favor and expectation to the peak; then 'splitting it open, a smoke seemed to rush at my mouth and nose, and looking inside, it was dry as rotten wadding' turns sharply, the strong contrast creating biting satire. 'Jade substance' against 'rotten wadding,' 'brilliant' against 'dry,' paired opposites, stern in sound and color—a typical 'praise then suppress' method. In language, mainly four-character lines, spare and sharp, every sentence substantial, no idle stroke, showing Liu Ji's succinct and incisive style. After the excerpt, the seller's reply pushes the tangerine-to-man satire to the extreme; predecessors called it 'small object, great argument, cold and stern'—the best summary of its method.

卖柑者言是一篇短小精悍的寓言式杂文，其艺术特色在以小见大、以物喻政、蓄势而后发。全文可分两层：前层叙事，写卖柑者之柑「涉寒暑不溃」「玉质而金色」，而剖之「干若败絮」，先造表里不一的物象，为议论立靶；后层借卖柑者之口，历数「佩虎符、坐皋比者」与「峨大冠、拖长绅者」的虚有其表，由柑及人、由物及政，层层推进。节选部分则集中笔力写柑：开篇善藏柑，涉寒暑不溃写其藏技之精，出之烨然，玉质而金色写其外表之华，三句层层铺垫，把读者对柑的好感与期待推到顶点；随即剖之，如有烟扑口鼻，视其中，则干若败絮陡转，浓烈的反差形成强烈的讽刺效果。玉质与败絮、烨然与干若，两两对举，声色俱厉，是典型的欲抑先扬笔法。语言上，四字句为主，简劲峭拔，句句落实，无一处闲笔，足见刘基文风的精悍与犀利。节选之后，卖柑者的一番答问，更把由柑及人的讽刺推到极致，前人评其「借小物发大议，冷峻峭拔」，正是对此文笔法的最好概括。

Allusions

Though short, the piece holds deep cultural tradition and allusive threads. First, the fable tradition: Chinese prose since antiquity uses objects to illustrate principle—Zhuangzi's 'Cook Ding,' Han Feizi's 'Waiting by the Stump' are fables; Liu Ji inherits this, applying fable to political essay, continuing object-expressing-aspiration into early Ming. Second, the source of 'gold and jade without, rot and wadding within': this phrase is born of the text, becoming the classic expression for inside-out mismatch, widely used later, showing the language's vitality. Third, the cultural image of the tangerine (orange): since the Chu Ci 'Ode to the Orange,' the orange is a southern noble tree, symbol of loyalty ('receiving its charge, it does not move, born in the southern land'); Liu Ji writes instead its 'gold and jade without, rot and wadding within,' exactly reversing the traditional fine object, writing the world's falseness through the tangerine's falseness, doubling the satire. Fourth, the market-profit background of 'priced tenfold': antiquity stressed agriculture and suppressed commerce, yet here the peddler profits by fraud, hinting at the official world's trade of empty fame for real gain. Fifth, the contrast of 'survive cold and heat' vs 'dry as rotten wadding' implies a question of the Confucian gentleman's virtue of inside-out consistency—the world's falseness arises because the gentleman's Way is absent. And the 'vied to buy' (yu) carries both selling and deceiving, one character already hinting the world's mutual deception by the false.

本篇虽短，却蕴含深厚的文化传统与典故脉络。其一是寓言传统：中国散文自古有以物喻理的传统，《庄子》的庖丁解牛、韩非子的守株待兔皆是寓言，刘基承其衣钵而将寓言用于政论，是托物言志在明初的延续。其二是金玉其外、败絮其中成语的源流：此语由本文而生，成为形容表里不一的经典表达，后世广泛使用，可见本文语言的生命力。其三是柑的文化意象：柑（橘）自《楚辞·橘颂》以来即是南国嘉木、忠贞之象（「受命不迁，生南国兮」），刘基偏写柑的金玉其外、败絮其中，正是对传统美物的翻案，以柑之伪写世之伪，讽刺加倍。其四是贾十倍的市利背景：古代重农抑商，而此处市侩以欺诈牟利，暗讽官场以虚名换实利的交易本质。其五是涉寒暑不溃与干若败絮的对照，隐含对表里如一这一儒家君子之德的追问——世道之伪，正因君子之道不存。而人争鬻之的鬻字，兼有贩卖与蒙骗之意，一字之间已暗含世道以伪相欺的全貌。

Commentary

'Words of the Orange Seller' is Liu Ji's most famous satirical essay and a model of ancient Chinese miscellany satire through objects. The phrase 'gold and jade without, rot and wadding within,' by condensedly naming the universal inside-out pretense, left its context to become an idiom entering the common tongue—the piece's greatest cultural contribution. In literary history, it belongs with Han Yu's 'On the Horse,' Liu Zongyuan's 'The Toddy Tree Planter Guo Tuotuo,' and Gong Zizhen's 'Record of the Sick Plum' in the object-satire line: Han Yu uses the thousand-li horse to satire unmet talent, Liu Zongyuan uses tree-planting to satire over-governing, Liu Ji uses the tangerine to satire hollow officials, Gong Zizhen uses the sick plum to satire thought-imprisoning—four echoing, forming the complete genealogy of Chinese satirical prose. The piece's value also lies in form: it makes a marketplace peddler the protagonist and a buy-sell dialogue the frame, hiding the great issue in a small scene, pioneering later xiaopin prose's 'great meaning in trifles.' Liu Ji himself moved from Yuan to Ming, aiding the founding; his writing's bone-strength and clear insight are seen in this piece. Read today, the splendid-outside, rotten-within tangerine remains the sharpest cut against all worldly pretense.

卖柑者言是刘基最著名的讽刺散文，也是中国古代杂文借物讽世的典范之作。篇中金玉其外、败絮其中一语，因高度凝练地道出了表里不一的普遍世相，早已脱离具体语境而成为成语，进入全民语言，这是本文最大的文化贡献。文学史上，此篇与韩愈《马说》、柳宗元《种树郭橐驼传》、龚自珍《病梅馆记》同属托物讽世一脉：韩愈借千里马讽人才不遇，柳宗元借种树讽为政扰民，刘基借柑讽官吏虚矫，龚自珍借病梅讽思想禁锢，四者递相呼应，构成中国讽刺散文的完整谱系。本文的价值还在于文体上：它以市井小贩为主角、以买卖对话为框架，将大议题藏进小场面，开了后世小品文以琐事寓大义的先声。刘基本人由元入明、辅佐开国，其文章骨力之健、识见之明，亦于此篇可见一斑。今天读来，外表光鲜而内里腐朽的柑，依然是对世间一切伪饰最锋利的一刀。

Prosody

Form Early-Ming allegorical satirical essay (prose)明初寓言式讽刺杂文（散文）

Rhyme Not rhymed, written in prose sentences; but it cleverly uses antithesis and parallelism ('jade substance gold color' against 'dry as rotten wadding,' 'brilliant' and 'dry' echoing), with alternating parallel and prose, the sound mainly in the four-character line's cadence.不押韵，以散句行文；但巧用对偶与排比（玉质而金色对干若败絮，烨然与干若两两照应），骈散相间，音韵上以四字句的顿挫为主。

Tone pattern The opening narrative sentences are short and plain ('In Hangzhou there was a fruit seller, skilled at storing tangerines'), like everyday talk; at 'splitting it open, a smoke seemed to rush at my mouth and nose' the rhythm tightens abruptly, one word one pause, mimicking the moment of cutting and astonishment; then it closes with 'it was dry as rotten wadding' in four characters, decisive.前段叙事句短促平实（杭有卖果者，善藏柑），如话家常；至剖之，如有烟扑口鼻句，节奏骤紧，一字一停，模拟剖柑与惊愕的瞬间；后以则干若败絮四字收束，斩钉截铁。

Reading note Liu Ji's prose is known for spare sharpness, and 'Words of the Orange Seller' is a specimen of its rhythmic tempo. The whole uses four-character lines as its backbone ('survive cold and heat,' 'taken out they shone brilliant,' 'jade substance gold color,' 'people vied to buy'), short and forceful, creating a cutting cadence fitting a satire's edge; yet lines like 'skilled at storing tangerines' and 'a smoke seemed to rush' alternate long and short, letting the energy breathe amid urgency. The finest is the rhythm at the turn: from the plain narration 'set in the market, priced tenfold,' to the account 'I bought one,' to 'splitting it open'—two words pausing like a blade falling—then immediately 'a smoke seemed to rush at my mouth and nose' with its olfactory shock and 'it was dry as rotten wadding' in four characters as verdict, sound and meaning fully synced, read like a loud slap. This rhythm of building with short lines and releasing with cadence is Liu Ji's unique voice apart from the Tang-Song guwen school, a linguistic model where every word of satire bears bone.刘基散文以简劲峭拔著称，卖柑者言正是其语言节奏的标本。全文以四字句为骨干（涉寒暑不溃、出之烨然、玉质而金色、人争鬻之），短促而有力，形成一种斩截的顿挫感，恰合讽刺文的锋芒；而善藏柑、如有烟扑口鼻等句又长短交错，使文气在急促中见从容。最妙在转折处的节奏设计：从置于市，贾十倍的平叙，到予贸得其一的交代，再到剖之二字戛然一顿，仿佛手起刀落，紧接着如有烟扑口鼻的嗅觉冲击与则干若败絮的四字定谳，声情与文意完全同步，读来如听一记响亮的耳光。这种以短句蓄势、以顿挫发力的节奏，是明代古文唐宋派之外刘基独树一帜的声口，也是讽刺文字字见骨的语言典范。

Line by line

杭有卖果者，善藏柑，涉寒暑不溃。

In Hangzhou there was a fruit seller, skilled at storing tangerines, which survived cold and heat without rotting.

杭州有个卖水果的人，很善于贮藏柑子，经过寒冬酷暑柑子都不会腐烂。

In Hangzhou there was a fruit-seller, skilled in keeping his mandarin oranges, so that through cold and heat they never spoiled.

开篇三句如人物小传，交代人物、技艺与成果。杭有卖果者起笔平实，如市井闲谈，先立一个不起眼的市井小贩形象；善藏柑三字点出藏字，正是全文的关键——柑之表里不一，皆由藏术而来；涉寒暑不溃以涉字写经历春夏秋冬之久，以不溃写柑之完好，把善藏落到实处。这三句是蓄势的第一层：藏技越精、柑越完好，后文剖开时的反差就越剧烈。同时杭字点明地点——南宋故都、繁华商埠，市利之地，为贾十倍，人争鬻之的牟利氛围埋下伏笔。看似平淡的起笔，实为后文辛辣的讽刺铺设了全部条件，可见刘基为文的严密。

The seller. In Hangzhou there was a fruit-seller, skilled in keeping his mandarin oranges, so that through cold and heat they never spoiled. The Hangzhou fruit-seller and the never-spoiling oranges are the opening. To have introduced the seller would be an introduction; the in-Hangzhou-there-was-a-fruit-seller-skilled-in-keeping-his-mandarin-oranges-so-that-through-cold-and-heat-they-never-spoiled is the introduction.

出之烨然，玉质而金色。

Taken out they shone brilliant, jade in substance and gold in color.

把柑子拿出来，光彩夺目，质地像玉一样温润，颜色像金子一样澄黄。

Brought out, they were bright as fire, of a jade texture and a golden hue.

出之烨然写柑子一经取出便光彩照人，烨然二字状其光艳夺目，有色有声；玉质而金色更以玉、金两种贵重之物作比，写出柑子的质地与色泽——玉写其温润、金写其澄黄，皆是最高级的赞美。此处用词越华美，后文干若败絮的坠落就越重，是典型的扬之愈高、抑之愈深。且玉质金色并置，已暗伏金玉其外四字的雏形——金玉本是贵重之物，若徒有其表，则比寻常的朽败更令人憎恶。此句与后文败絮形成全篇最尖锐的对仗，物象的华丽与内在的腐朽在一句中初露端倪，读者尚在赞叹，作者已埋下反讽的引线。

The rind. Brought out, they were bright as fire, of a jade texture and a golden hue. The bright fire and the jade and gold are the beautiful outer. To have described the beautiful rind would be a description; the brought-out-they-were-bright-as-fire-of-a-jade-texture-and-a-golden-hue is the description.

置于市，贾十倍，人争鬻之。予贸得其一，剖之，如有烟扑口鼻，视其中，则干若败絮。

Set in the market, priced tenfold, people vied to buy them. I bought one; splitting it open, a smoke seemed to rush at my mouth and nose, and looking inside, it was dry as rotten wadding.

放到市场上，价钱抬到十倍，人们争着购买。我买了一个，剖开来，仿佛有一股烟直扑口鼻，看它里面，却干枯得像破旧的棉絮。

Set in the market, the price was tenfold, and people fought to buy. I bought one, cut it open, and a smoke seemed to strike my mouth and nose; inside, it was as dry as rotten cotton.

这是节选的高潮与转折。贾十倍写奸商抬价，人争鬻之写市人盲从，四字如漫画，画出市利的疯狂——价愈高而争购愈烈，讽刺的锋芒已指向买方；予贸得其一以予（作者）亲自买来剖验，使批判有了亲证的分量。剖开的瞬间，如有烟扑口鼻以嗅觉写腐臭的扑面而来，烟字把朽烂写得有形有质；视其中，则干若败絮终以败絮定谳——华美外壳之内，竟是枯朽一团。干若二字写其干瘪枯槁，全无水分，与烨然、玉质、金色形成刺目的对照。至此，物象层面的讽刺完成，为下文由柑及人、痛斥金玉其外、败絮其中的世相蓄满了势，节选虽止于此，而锋芒已出鞘。

The cut. Set in the market, the price was tenfold, and people fought to buy. I bought one, cut it open, and a smoke seemed to strike my mouth and nose; inside, it was as dry as rotten cotton. The tenfold price, the fought buying, the smoke, and the rotten cotton are the exposure. To have exposed the rotten inside would be an exposure; the set-in-the-market-the-price-was-tenfold-and-people-fought-to-buy-I-bought-one-cut-it-open-and-a-smoke-seemed-to-strike-my-mouth-and-nose-inside-it-was-as-dry-as-rotten-cotton is the exposure.

Study

Word focus

烨然 In 'taken out they shone brilliant,' the character ye (blaze) originally means firelight or glow; with ran it describes a dazzling, glowing appearance, the first heavy stroke painting the tangerine's surface. The choice of 'blaze' is exquisite: it is not merely bright but a burning, blazing radiance, suggesting the tangerine seems to emit light, unbearably splendid, pushing the outside beauty to its peak. Yet ye has the fire radical, hiding a dry, hot quality—blazing without, it contrasts the dry inside; the flower of fire and the rot of wadding are already opposed in one character. Liu Ji avoids ordinary words like 'bright' or 'luminous,' choosing 'blaze' alone, showing both word-craft and satiric depth: the more brilliant, the more hateful the later wadding. Used with 'jade substance gold color,' it spreads the tangerine's outside like brocade, laying the richest stroke for the idiom 'gold and jade without.' 出之烨然之烨字，本义为火光、光亮，叠以然字，状光彩夺目之貌，是写柑之表的第一笔重彩。烨字选得极精：它不只是亮，而是燃烧般的灼灼光华，暗示这柑子仿佛通体发光、艳不可当，把外表的华美写到极致。而烨字又有火旁，暗藏燥热之气——灼灼其外，正可反衬内里的干枯，火之华与絮之腐，一字之间已埋对照。刘基不用光然、皎然等寻常字眼，独取烨，既见炼字之工，又见讽意之深：越是烨然，越显其后败絮之可憎。此字与玉质而金色连用，使柑子的外表如锦缎铺开，为金玉其外的成语源头敷上最浓的一笔。

败絮 In 'it was dry as rotten wadding,' bai xu—rotten, dry wadding—is the sharpest image of the whole piece and the direct source of the idiom 'gold and jade without, rot and wadding within.' Bai writes its broken decay, xu describes its fluffy dry state—rotten wadding is the waste pulled from old clothes and quilts, worthless, the very opposite of the precious 'jade substance, gold color.' Liu Ji avoids 'dry grass' or 'dead wood,' choosing 'rotten wadding' for its texture: wadding is soft, but once rotten and dry it loses all spring, like a hollow husk—exactly those officials with caps but no real learning. Moreover the fluffy xu also hints at the chatter of empty talkers. The choice completes the object's verdict and presets the analogy logic for the later tangerine-to-man argument—a model of intent-before-the-brush. 则干若败絮之败絮，破旧、干朽的棉絮，是全文最锋利的一个意象，也是金玉其外、败絮其中成语的直接源头。败字写其残破衰朽，絮字状其蓬松干枯——败絮是旧衣破被里掏出的废料，毫无价值，与玉质、金色的贵重恰成天渊之别。刘基不用枯草、朽木等词，独选败絮，妙在其质感：絮本是柔软之物，一旦败而干，便失却所有弹性，如枯槁的空壳，正似那些徒有冠冕而无实学的官吏。且絮絮絮之状，又暗讽空谈者的喋喋不休。一词之择，既完成了物象的定谳，又为后文以柑喻人的议论预设了比附的逻辑，是意在笔先的典范。

争鬻 In 'people vied to buy them,' yu means to sell, yet here with zheng (vie) it means vying to buy (yu carried both sell and buy; ancients called selling yu and buying shi, here 'vied to buy' means vying to come buy). Zheng writes the crowd's swarming, a picture of jostling, fearing to miss; and what they vie for is but the 'gold and jade without' fake. The subtlety lies in the cause-effect of zheng and 'priced tenfold': the higher the price, the fiercer the buying, exactly like the world's chase of empty fame—the more loudly touted, the more flocking. These four characters state no argument yet argument appears, turning the satire's edge from the seller (fraud merchant) to the buyer (the world's blindness), foreshadowing the later cold mockery 'those who deceive are not few, and am I alone?'—the hinge from object to world. 人争鬻之之鬻字，卖也，而此处与争连用，意为争相购买（鬻兼买卖二义，古人以鬻称售，以市称买，此处争鬻之即争着来买）。争字写市人的蜂拥之态，一幅争先恐后、惟恐不得的市井图画跃然纸上；而所争者，不过是金玉其外的赝品。妙处在争与贾十倍的因果：价愈十倍，人愈争购，恰如世人对虚名的追逐——越是标榜得厉害，越有人趋之若鹜。这四字不写议论而议论自见，把批判的锋芒从卖方（奸商）引向买方（世人的盲目），为后文世之为欺者不寡矣，而独我也乎的冷嘲埋下伏笔，是全篇由物象转入世相的枢纽。