南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 诗 Poem
昔昔盐
The Nightly Salt
垂柳覆金堤，蘼芜叶复齐。
水溢芙蓉沼，花飞桃李蹊。
采桑秦氏女，织锦窦家妻。
关山别荡子，风月守空闺。
恒敛千金笑，长垂双玉啼。
盘龙随镜隐，彩凤逐帷低。
飞魂同夜鹊，倦寝忆晨鸡。
暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥。
前年过代北，今岁往辽西。
一去无消息，那能惜马蹄。
And the leaves of sweet wormwood grow even again.
Water overflows the lotus pond,
Blossoms drift along the peach-and-plum path.
She gathers mulberry like the maiden of the Qin,
And weaves brocade like the wife of the Dou house.
Beyond passes and hills she parts from her wanderer,
Through wind and moon she keeps the empty chamber.
Always she restrains her thousand-gold smile,
And long sheds tears of double-jade hue.
The coiled dragon fades as the mirror is hidden,
The painted phoenix droops as the curtain falls.
Her flying soul is like the night magpie,
Weary in bed she recalls the morning cock.
On the dark window a spider's web is hung,
On the empty beam falling swallow's mud.
The year before he passed north of Dai,
This year he goes to Liaoxi.
Once gone, no word is heard,
How could he grudge the hooves of his horse?
Meaning
The poem voices a soldier's wife's endless lament through years of lonely spring scenes and an empty chamber. It is a model of 'sorrow written in splendor,' where rich imagery only deepens the absence of the one she loves.
垂柳低覆金色堤岸，蘼芜叶子又整齐。水溢芙蓉池塘，花飞桃李路蹊。采桑如秦氏女，织锦似窦家妻。关山别了荡子，风月独守空闺。常敛千金之笑，长垂双玉之啼。盘龙随镜隐没，彩凤逐帷低垂。飞魂如夜鹊，倦寝忆晨鸡。暗窗悬着蛛网，空梁落着燕泥。前年过代北，今岁往辽西。一去无消息，哪能惜马蹄。
Appreciation
Almost every middle couplet is antithetical, so the poem advances by balanced pairs rather than narrative, piling image on image of solitary grief. The famous 'spider web on the dark window, swallow's mud on the empty beam' writes desolation through tiny domestic detail, letting outer splendor sharpen inner cold. Rooted in Qi-Liang ornament yet sincere, it is the finest Six-Dynasties boudoir lament, so admired that a jealous emperor supposedly killed its author for these two lines.
【白话串讲】 薛道衡写《昔昔盐》：“垂柳覆金堤，蘼芜叶复齐”。“采桑秦氏女，织锦窦家妻”——“关山别荡子，风月守空闺”——丈夫远征，她守着空闺。“暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥”——这句让他遭忌被杀，却成了千古名句。 【意象与手法】除首尾，中间十六句几乎句句对仗，以“恒敛”八句层层铺写独居之哀；最著“暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥”以室内冷落反衬室外绮丽，造语精工。全诗浓艳而不失情思自然。 【情感与主旨】抒发征人妇长年独守、音书断绝的哀怨。薛道衡身处南北朝末隋初，此诗承齐梁绮丽而情真，是闺怨诗中“以丽写哀”的典范，相传隋炀帝竟因妒此二句而害之。 【名句点睛】“暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥。”——以室内蛛网、梁上燕泥的细景，写久无人居的冷落；以环境的暗、空衬思妇心绪的黯凉。造语新颖、体入至微，成为传诵千古的名句。
Background
Xue Daoheng (540–609), styled Xuanqing, served the Northern Qi, Northern Zhou, and Sui, and was the Sui poet of highest art. The 'Xixi Salt' is a Sui-Tang yuefu title ('xixi' means night after night, 'salt' reads as 'yan,' a kind of song); written on a wife's lament, it dates near the start of Sui.
《昔昔盐》为隋代薛道衡所作，是写思妇忆征夫、空闺独守的诗。薛道衡（540—609），字玄卿，河东汾阴人，隋代诗人。此诗：垂柳覆金堤，蘼芜叶复齐。水溢芙蓉沼，花飞桃李蹊。采桑秦氏女，织锦窦家妻。关山别荡子，风月守空闺。恒敛千金笑，长垂双玉啼。盘龙随镜隐，彩凤逐帷低。飞魂同夜鹊，倦寝忆晨鸡。暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥。前年过代北，今岁往辽西。一去无消息，那能惜马蹄。全诗写思妇忆征夫、空闺独守，是薛道衡诗的名篇。
Art
The middle sixteen lines are nearly all antithetical, and the eight lines from 'always she restrains' pile up the grief of solitude layer by layer; 'spider web on the dark window, swallow's mud on the empty beam' writes inner cold through outer splendor, its language finely wrought. It inherits Qi-Liang ornament yet stays sincere, a model of 'sorrow in splendor.'
《昔昔盐》艺术上以思妇之态的描摹与空闺独守的深婉见长。全诗二十句，层层写来：首写春景思夫——“垂柳覆金堤，蘼芜叶复齐”写垂柳覆金堤、蘼芜叶复齐，“水溢芙蓉沼，花飞桃李蹊”写水溢芙蓉沼、花飞桃李蹊，“采桑秦氏女，织锦窦家妻”用秦氏女窦家妻之典写采桑秦氏女、织锦窦家妻，“关山别荡子，风月守空闺”写关山别荡子、风月守空闺；中写空闺之态——“恒敛千金笑，长垂双玉啼”写恒敛千金笑、长垂双玉啼，“盘龙随镜隐，彩凤逐帷低”写盘龙随镜隐、彩凤逐帷低，“飞魂同夜鹊，倦寝忆晨鸡”用夜鹊之典写飞魂同夜鹊、倦寝忆晨鸡，“暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥”写暗牖悬蛛网、空梁落燕泥；末写征夫无讯——“前年过代北，今岁往辽西”写前年过代北、今岁往辽西，“一去无消息，那能惜马蹄”用惜马蹄之典写一去无消息、那能惜马蹄。全诗以思妇之态写空闺独守，正是薛道衡诗深婉的笔法。
Allusions
'Maiden of the Qin' refers to Qin Luofu of the Han 'Mulberry by the Path'; 'wife of the Dou house' refers to Su Hui, wife of Dou Tao of Former Qin, who wove a palindrome brocade; 'wanderer' means a roaming or conscripted husband; 'coiled dragon' is the dragon pattern on a mirror back; 'night magpie' uses Cao Cao's image 'the moon is bright, the stars are sparse, the magpies fly south'; 'Dai north' and 'Liaoxi' are both borderlands.
《昔昔盐》用典在“蘼芜”“秦氏女”“窦家妻”“夜鹊”“蛛网”“燕泥”“代北”“辽西”“惜马蹄”。“蘼芜”用蘼芜之典（上山采蘼芜）；“秦氏女”用罗敷之典；“窦家妻”用窦滔妻苏蕙之典；“夜鹊”用夜鹊之典（月明星稀乌鹊南飞）；“蛛网”“燕泥”写蛛网燕泥；“代北”“辽西”写代北辽西（边地）；“惜马蹄”用惜马蹄之典（不吝马蹄）。全诗以这些典故写思妇忆征夫、空闺独守，用典自然而深婉自见，正是薛道衡诗的笔法。
Commentary
Sui poetry inherited the southern manner and loved paired lines; this piece is cut into couplets yet keeps feeling natural, hence the supreme song of Six-Dynasties boudoir lament; a Qing critic said 'in fineness of phrasing, the one man of the Sui.'
《昔昔盐》是薛道衡诗的名篇，也是隋诗中写思妇的代表作。此诗写思妇忆征夫、空闺独守，向为论者称道。论者多赏其思妇之态的描摹与空闺独守的深婉——“采桑秦氏女，织锦窦家妻”用秦氏女窦家妻之典写采桑秦氏女、织锦窦家妻，深婉之极；“恒敛千金笑，长垂双玉啼”写恒敛千金笑、长垂双玉啼，更见其怨；“暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥”写暗牖悬蛛网、空梁落燕泥，尤见其寂；“一去无消息，那能惜马蹄”用惜马蹄之典写一去无消息、那能惜马蹄，尤见其怅。薛道衡此诗“空梁落燕泥”一句尤为人称道，正是其代表——以思妇之态写空闺独守，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
采桑秦氏女，织锦窦家妻。
The Qin girl gathering mulberry leaves, the Dou wife weaving brocade.
采桑秦氏女，织锦窦家妻。
Like the Qin girl gathering mulberry, like the Dou wife weaving brocade.
中用秦氏女窦家妻之典写采桑秦氏女、织锦窦家妻，是全诗写思妇身份的深化。“采桑秦氏女”用罗敷之典写采桑秦氏女——“采桑秦氏女”用罗敷（秦氏女）之典写采桑的秦氏之女——采桑秦氏女；“织锦窦家妻”用苏蕙之典写织锦窦家妻——“织锦窦家妻”用窦滔妻苏蕙织锦回文之典写织锦的窦家之妻——织锦窦家妻。二句写采桑秦氏女、织锦窦家妻：采桑秦氏女，织锦窦家妻。以“采桑秦氏女”用罗敷之典写采桑秦氏女、如罗敷之美，以“织锦窦家妻”用苏蕙之典写织锦窦家妻、如苏蕙之巧，正是薛道衡诗写思妇身份的深化——采桑罗敷，织锦苏蕙。
The allusions. The Qin girl gathering mulberry, the Dou wife weaving brocade. The mulberry-Qin and the brocade-Dou are the identities. To have gathered mulberry would be a gathering; the the-qin-girl-gathering-mulberry-leaves-the-dou-wife-weaving-brocade is the gathering.
恒敛千金笑，长垂双玉啼。
Ever she hides a smile worth a thousand gold; long the twin jade tears fall.
恒敛千金笑，长垂双玉啼。
Ever she hides the smile worth a thousand gold; long the twin jade tears fall.
中用千金笑双玉啼之语写恒敛千金笑、长垂双玉啼，是全诗写思妇悲戚的深化。“恒敛千金笑”用千金笑之语写恒敛千金笑——“恒敛千金笑”写常常敛起千金难买之笑——恒敛千金笑；“长垂双玉啼”写长垂双玉啼——“长垂双玉啼”写长垂双玉（泪）而啼——长垂双玉啼。二句写恒敛千金笑、长垂双玉啼：恒敛千金笑，长垂双玉啼。以“恒敛千金笑”写常敛千金之笑、难得开颜，以“长垂双玉啼”写长垂双玉之泪、终日而啼，正是薛道衡诗写思妇悲戚的深化——敛却千金笑，垂泪双玉啼。
The tears. Ever she hides a smile worth a thousand gold; long the twin jade tears fall. The hidden-thousand-gold-smile and the long twin-jade-tears are the grief. To have hidden the smile would be a hiding; the ever-she-hides-a-smile-worth-a-thousand-gold-long-the-twin-jade-tears-fall is the hiding.
暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥。
By the dark window cobwebs hang; from the empty beam swallows' earth falls.
暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥。
Cobwebs hang by the dark window; swallows' earth falls on the empty beam.
中用蛛网燕泥之景写暗牖悬蛛网、空梁落燕泥，是全诗写空闺寂寞的名句。“暗牖悬蛛网”写暗牖悬蛛网——“暗牖悬蛛网”写暗窗悬着蛛网——暗牖悬蛛网；“空梁落燕泥”写空梁落燕泥——“空梁落燕泥”写空梁落着燕泥——空梁落燕泥。二句写暗牖悬蛛网、空梁落燕泥：暗牖悬蛛网，空梁落燕泥。以“暗牖悬蛛网”写暗牖蛛网、久无人理，以“空梁落燕泥”写空梁燕泥、人去巢空，正是薛道衡诗写空闺寂寞的名句——暗牖蛛网，空梁燕泥。
The cobwebs. By the dark window cobwebs hang; from the empty beam swallows' earth falls. The dark-window-cobwebs and the empty-beam-swallows'-earth are the imagery. To have hung would be a hanging; the by-the-dark-window-cobwebs-hang-from-the-empty-beam-swallows'-earth-falls is the hanging.
一去无消息，那能惜马蹄。
Gone once, no word—how could he spare his horse's hooves?
一去无消息，那能惜马蹄。
He went away without a word; how could he care for his horse's hooves?
末用惜马蹄之典写一去无消息、那能惜马蹄，是全诗写征夫无讯的归结。“一去无消息”写一去无消息——“一去无消息”写这一去杳无消息——一去无消息；“那能惜马蹄”用惜马蹄之典写那能惜马蹄——“那能惜马蹄”用不惜马蹄之典写哪里顾得惜马蹄——那能惜马蹄。二句写一去无消息、那能惜马蹄：一去无消息，那能惜马蹄。以“一去无消息”写一去无讯、音信断绝，以“那能惜马蹄”用惜马蹄之典写那能惜马蹄、盼其驰归，正是薛道衡诗写征夫无讯的归结——一去无讯，不惜马蹄。
The hooves. Gone once, no word—how could he spare his horse's hooves? The gone-no-word and the how-spare-the-hooves are the close. To have gone without word would be a going; the gone-once-no-word-how-could-he-spare-his-horse's-hooves is the going.
Study
Word focus
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