先秦 Pre-Qin · 楚辞 Chu Ci
九歌·山鬼
Nine Songs · The Mountain Spirit
若有人兮山之阿，被薜荔兮带女萝。
既含睇兮又宜笑，子慕予兮善窈窕。
乘赤豹兮从文狸，辛夷车兮结桂旗。
被石兰兮带杜衡，折芳馨兮遗所思。
余处幽篁兮终不见天，路险难兮独后来。
表独立兮山之上，云容容兮而在下。
杳冥冥兮羌昼晦，东风飘兮神灵雨。
留灵修兮憺忘归，岁既晏兮孰华予？
采三秀兮于山间，石磊磊兮葛蔓蔓。
怨公子兮怅忘归，君思我兮不得闲。
山中人兮芳杜若，饮石泉兮荫松柏。
君思我兮然疑作。
雷填填兮雨冥冥，猿啾啾兮狖夜鸣。
风飒飒兮木萧萧，思公子兮徒离忧。
With a sidelong glance, a fitting smile—you love me, fair and slender.
Riding a red leopard, followed by a striped cat; a magnolia car, cassia banners bound.
Clad in orchid, girdled with asarum, I break sweet flowers to give my love.
I dwell in deep bamboo, never seeing the sky; the road is steep—alone I come late.
Alone I stand atop the hill; clouds heave beneath me.
Dim and dark—broad day turns night; the east wind drifts, the spirit rains.
I detain my lord, calm, forgetting to return; the year grows late—who will keep me fair?
I gather the three-blooming herb in the hills; rocks piled, creepers winding.
I resent the prince, lost in longing; you think of me but have no leisure.
The mountain one, fragrant as the orchid, drinks from stone springs, shaded by pine and cypress.
You think of me—doubt and trust arise.
Thunder rumbles, the rain falls dark; apes cry, gibbons wail at night.
The wind soughs, the woods sigh; I think of the prince—in vain my grief.
Meaning
There seems a someone in the mountain's bend, clad in ivy, girdled with maidenhair. With a sidelong glance, a fitting smile—you love me, fair and slender. Riding a red leopard, followed by a striped cat; a magnolia car, cassia banners bound. Clad in orchid, girdled with asarum, I break sweet flowers to give my love. I dwell in deep bamboo, never seeing the sky; the road is steep—alone I come late. Alone I stand atop the hill; clouds heave beneath me. Dim and dark—broad day turns night; the east wind drifts, the spirit rains. I detain my lord, calm, forgetting to return; the year grows late—who will keep me fair? I gather the three-blooming herb in the hills; rocks piled, creepers winding. I resent the prince, lost in longing; you think of me but have no leisure. The mountain one, fragrant as the orchid, drinks from stone springs, shaded by pine and cypress. You think of me—doubt and trust arise. Thunder rumbles, the rain falls dark; apes cry, gibbons wail at night. The wind soughs, the woods sigh; I think of the prince—in vain my grief.
仿佛有人在那山角落，身披薜荔啊腰束女萝。既含情微视啊又宜人笑，你爱慕我啊体态多窈窕。乘着赤豹啊跟随着花狸，辛夷木的车啊结着桂旗。披石兰啊带杜衡，折下香花啊赠给我所思。我处幽深竹林啊终不见天日，路途险阻啊独自来迟。卓然独立啊在山巅，云气涌动啊在脚下。昏暗冥冥啊白昼如夜，东风飘旋啊神灵降雨。挽留灵修啊安然忘归，年岁已晚啊谁使我芳华？采那灵芝啊在山间，怪石磊磊啊葛藤蔓蔓。怨恨公子啊惆怅忘归，你想念我啊不得空闲。山中人啊芬芳如杜若，饮石泉啊荫庇松柏。你想念我啊将信将疑心生猜。雷声填填啊雨色冥冥，猿声啾啾啊狖猴夜鸣。风声飒飒啊木叶萧萧，思念公子啊空自忧伤。
Appreciation
The poem uses the typical Chu Ci 'xi' line, the form long and short, the tune flowing. The imagination is splendid: a red leopard and striped cat for team, a magnolia car and cassia banners, sweet herbs (ivy, maidenhair, orchid, asarum, orchid) covering the dress, figuring purity. The scene turns with feeling—bright at first meeting, then at the long wait 'dim and dark' 'east wind drifts rain', closing with 'thunder rumbles, the rain falls dark, apes cry, gibbons wail' and 'the wind soughs, the woods sigh' to set off 'in vain my grief'—feeling and scene blended, lingering and plaintive, gorgeous and sad.
【白话串讲】 “若有人兮山之阿，被薜荔兮带女萝”——屈原写山鬼：山中的女神，披着薜荔，系着女萝。她乘赤豹、驾文狸，在深山里等人——“余处幽篁兮终不见天”。这是屈原最美丽也最孤独的女神。 【意象与手法】 全篇用楚辞典型的「兮」字句，句式长短错落、韵调悠扬，回环往复，一唱三叹。章法上由山鬼出场之明丽，写到赴约之盛装、独立之孤高、采药之怨怅，终以雷雨猿鸣、风木萧萧的凄景收束，景随情转，情因景深。香草美人意象贯穿全篇，薜荔、女萝、石兰、杜衡、杜若皆喻高洁；赤豹文狸为乘御、辛夷桂旗为车驾，想象瑰丽，神话色彩浓郁。第一人称独白式抒情，使山鬼的心事如泣如诉，直击人心。 【情感与主旨】 《山鬼》为屈原《九歌》十一篇之一。《九歌》本是楚地民间祭神乐曲，屈原据楚声加以改作。篇中由女巫扮山鬼，以第一人称写其与所爱之神灵修相约山巅而久候不至的相思，由盼而疑、由疑而怨、由怨而哀，将巫祭的神秘色彩与人间的炽热情愫融为一体，并寄寓了屈原对君臣遇合、理想难酬的身世之慨，故缠绵哀艳而意味深远。 【名句点睛】 中高考赏析常考：一、楚辞「兮」字句式与浪漫主义风格；二、「香草美人」意象的象征意（高洁品格、君臣与爱恋寄托）；三、「留灵修兮憺忘归，岁既晏兮孰华予」的美人迟暮之叹；四、末节「雷填填兮雨冥冥」以景结情、情景交融的手法。
Background
'The Mountain Spirit' is one of the eleven 'Nine Songs' of Qu Yuan. The 'Nine Songs' were originally Chu folk sacrifice songs; Qu Yuan reworked them in the Chu voice. 'Mountain Spirit' by old note is a goddess of the hills (as the Wu mountain goddess), or broadly a hill sprite; the poem has a priestess play the god, in first person, writing her waiting atop the hill for the loved 'lord' who comes not—a longing. It keeps the Chu witch-sacrifice mystery, yet blends the poet's fiery human feeling and life's lodging.
《山鬼》为屈原《九歌》十一篇之一。《九歌》本是楚地民间祭神乐曲，据传屈原在流放沅湘之间时，根据楚地巫觋祭祀之乐加以改作而成，共十一篇，依次为《东皇太一》《云中君》《湘君》《湘夫人》《大司命》《少司命》《东君》《河伯》《山鬼》《国殇》《礼魂》，组成一套完整的迎神、娱神、送神乐章。山鬼，旧注或以为即巫山神女，或以为泛指山中精怪神灵；王逸《楚辞章句》谓山鬼为山中之神。此篇由女巫扮作山鬼，以第一人称自述，写她与所爱之神灵修相约山巅，久候不至，由喜而疑、由疑而怨、由怨而哀的完整心路。诗中既有楚地巫祭迎神降神的神秘色彩——赤豹文狸为乘御、辛夷桂旗为车驾、香花芳草为佩饰，皆巫者盛装迎神的写照；又融入屈原炽烈的人间情愫与身世寄托，将神女之恋与君臣遇合、理想失落的悲慨打成一片，故千百年来读之者既觉其仙气缥缈，又觉其人情真切，是《九歌》中抒情性最浓、艺术成就最高的篇章之一。
Art
The poem uses the typical Chu Ci 'xi' line, the form long and short, the tune flowing. The imagination is splendid: a red leopard and striped cat for team, a magnolia car and cassia banners, sweet herbs covering the dress, figuring purity. The scene turns with feeling—bright at first meeting, then at the long wait 'dim and dark' 'east wind drifts rain', closing with 'thunder rumbles... the wind soughs, the woods sigh' to set off 'in vain my grief'—feeling and scene blended, lingering and plaintive, gorgeous and sad.
诗用典型楚辞「兮」字句，句式长短错落、韵调悠扬，最见骚体回环往复之美。全诗六节，层层推进：首节写山鬼出场之容仪，含睇宜笑、窈窕动人；次节写其盛装赴约，折芳赠远，一路险阻独来；三节写独立山巅、云雨凄迷之候；四节写采药山中、怨怅交织；五节写芳洁自守而君疑难释；末节以雷雨猿鸣、风木萧萧的凄景收束，直落「思公子兮徒离忧」。章法上由明丽转凄迷、由期盼转失望，景物随情流转：初会时薜荔女萝、辛夷桂旗，色彩鲜亮；久候则杳冥昼晦、东风飘雨，阴晴不定；终以雷填填、雨冥冥、猿啾啾、风飒飒四叠声景，逼出无限哀伤。修辞上多用比兴，香草美人意象贯穿全篇，以物写人、以景写情，情景交融，缠绵哀艳。人称上全用第一人称，独白式的倾诉令山鬼的心事如泣如诉，直击人心。全篇结构首尾呼应、环环相扣，由赴约、久候、怨望到绝望，情绪层层递进，无一笔松懈，最见屈子抒情章法之精密，亦为后世写相思哀怨者树立了以景结情、以声写情的典范。
Allusions
This piece is rooted in Chu myth and witch-sacrifice. 'Lord' originally means a god; Qu Yuan often uses it for the ruler (as 'Encountering Sorrow' 'the lord vast and wandering'); 'three-blooming' is the glossy ganoderma, blooming three times a year, a figure for the immortal herb; 'orchid' 'asarum' are sweet herbs, carrying the 'Book of Songs' 'fragrant plant and beauty' line to figure loyalty and purity. The 'Mountain Spirit' image comes from Chu's mountain-goddess belief. The whole uses myth as shell, metaphor as inner—not citing historical allusion.
本篇植根楚地神话巫祭，通篇是祭歌亦是情歌。「灵修」本指神灵，屈原常借以指君，如《离骚》「灵修浩荡」即以灵修暗指怀王；此篇中山鬼所候之灵修，既可解作所爱之神，亦寄托着屈原对君主的期盼。「三秀」即灵芝，一年三次开花，故称三秀，为仙草之喻，采三秀写山鬼在山间寻芳，暗喻等待之久与岁月之移。「杜若」「杜衡」「石兰」「薜荔」「女萝」皆香草，承《楚辞》香草美人传统，以喻忠贞高洁之品格；山鬼身披香草、饮石泉、荫松柏，正是屈原自喻芳洁、不与世污的人格写照。「山鬼」形象源于楚巫山神信仰，与巫山神女传说一脉相承，故旧注或以山鬼即巫山神女。全诗以神话为壳、以比兴为里，非征引史事之典，而是将祭神仪式、民间传说与个人寄托熔于一炉，使神界与人界、仙情与人情浑然一体，读来既见楚地巫风之盛，又见屈子忠怨之深。香草之用不独为饰，更兼传情达意：折芳馨以遗所思，是托香草寄相思；采三秀以候灵修，是借仙草写痴守，物我相融，意象虽繁而一以贯之，最见楚辞比兴系统之精妙。
Commentary
Wang Yi's 'Chu Ci: Chapters and Sayings' says 'Mountain Spirit is the god of the hills', and takes Qu Yuan 'lodging the mountain spirit to blame his lord'. Zhu Xi's 'Chu Ci Collected Commentary' calls it 'graceful feeling, fierce state, hardly to be told'. Moderns like You Guoen take this piece as a tragedy of god-man love, most lyrical. Ages grant its strange imagination and plaintive beauty, crown of the 'Nine Songs'.
王逸《楚辞章句》谓「山鬼，山中之神也」，并以为屈原「托山鬼以怨其君」，开后世以男女之情喻君臣之义的解释传统。朱熹《楚辞集注》称其「婉娩之情，凄厉之状，殆不可胜言」，极赏其情致之缠绵与境界之凄美。明清以来评家多推此为《九歌》中最富抒情性的一篇，或谓其想像奇丽、情致哀艳，为《九歌》之冠。今人游国恩等以为此篇写人神恋爱之悲剧，最见屈原笔下的深情与孤独。从文学史看，《山鬼》以第一人称抒情的方式，把祭祀乐歌提升为荡气回肠的抒情诗，其香草美人手法、情景交融境界，上承《离骚》，下启汉魏六朝游仙诗与宫体诗的抒情传统，影响深远。篇末「雷填填兮雨冥冥，猿啾啾兮狖夜鸣。风飒飒兮木萧萧，思公子兮徒离忧」一段，以自然界的凄厉风雨烘托内心的孤寂哀伤，千百年来感动无数读者，成为楚辞中写相思哀怨的典范，其美学价值历久弥新。
Prosody
Line by line
若有人兮山之阿，被薜荔兮带女萝。
There seems a someone in the mountain's bend, clad in ivy, girdled with maidenhair.
仿佛有人在那山角落，身披薜荔、腰束女萝，既含情微视又宜人浅笑，你爱慕我体态窈窕动人。
A figure seems to linger in the folds of the mountains, clad in climbing figs and girdled with dodder; she glances with tender feeling and smiles with perfect charm, and you love her graceful, slender form.
起笔「若有人」三字极妙，着一「若」字，将山鬼写得似有若无、缥缈空灵，如雾中仙人、镜花水月，尚未现身已先声夺人，定下全篇神秘迷离的基调。山鬼出场即身披薜荔、腰束女萝，以山中香草为衣饰，不假人工雕琢而天然灵秀，既见其与草木为伍的山神本色，又见其高洁不染的品格象征。「含睇」写其含情脉脉、目光流盼，「宜笑」写其浅笑嫣然、恰到好处，一顾一盼之间，女性的柔媚与神女的仙气兼而有之；「子慕予兮善窈窕」更以对方之倾慕侧面烘托其美好，由容止写到神态，由自写写到互恋，将一位美丽多情、自信又略带娇羞的山中神女活画纸上。开篇八句，人未至而神已现，香草美人意象已然立起，为后文赴约、久候、怨思的层层展开埋下伏笔，实为全篇之纲。
The opening words, 'a figure seems to be there', are exquisite: the single word 'seems' renders the Mountain Spirit half-present, half-vanished, as ungraspable as an immortal in mist, as a flower in a mirror; before she even appears, her presence seizes the reader and sets the mysterious, haunting tone of the whole piece. She emerges robed in figs and girdled with dodder, dressing herself in mountain herbs without any human craft: natural, exquisite, at one with the vegetation that marks her as a mountain deity, and an emblem of purity unstained. A tender glance captures her amorous, roving eyes; a perfect smile captures her just-so, charming smile; in a single glance and smile, the softness of a woman and the ether of a goddess combine. The line 'you love me for my graceful form' then turns to the other's admiration as an indirect reflection of her beauty, from bearing to expression, from self-description to mutual love, and brings to life a mountain goddess who is beautiful, passionate, confident, and faintly shy. The opening establishes the fragrant-herb-and-beauty imagery before she even arrives, planting the seeds for the tryst, the long vigil, and the grief that follow.
表独立兮山之上，云容容兮而在下。
Alone she stands, towering on the mountain's height; the clouds roll and billow far below her feet.
独自卓然伫立在山巅之上，云雾涌动翻腾在脚下。
She stands alone and proud on the summit of the mountain; clouds surge and tumble beneath her.
「表独立」三字写山鬼独自卓立于山巅，一个「表」字尽显其超然出众、孤高独立之姿，颇有遗世独立之感；「云容容兮而在下」以云海翻涌于脚下，极写其所处之高、所望之远，空间顿时拉开，画面壮阔而苍茫。此处山鬼已由初会的明丽转为独候的孤寂：身在云端之上，却望不见所候之人，天地之间唯己一人，独立之姿与孤独之境相映成趣。此二句在章法上是全篇由赴约转入久候的枢纽，前此尚有赤豹文狸为伴、香花香草为饰，至此则孑然一身，唯云海为伴；「容容」叠字写云之流动，暗衬心绪之起伏不定，与后文「杳冥冥兮羌昼晦」「东风飘兮神灵雨」的阴晴变幻相衔接，由明朗之境转入凄迷之境，情感也由期盼滑向疑虑，写景与写情浑然一体，最见楚辞以景寓情之妙。
The word 'alone, towering' sets her upright on the peak; the word 'towering' alone conveys her unworldly, lofty independence, a figure detached from the human world. The clouds rolling far below place a sea of clouds beneath her feet, emphasizing the height she occupies and the vastness of her prospect; the space suddenly opens into something grand and desolate. Here the Mountain Spirit has moved from the bright beauty of the first encounter to the loneliness of waiting alone: above the clouds, yet unable to see the one she waits for, with no other soul between heaven and earth. The solitary stance and the solitary plight mirror each other. Structurally, these two lines are the pivot where the poem turns from the journey to the tryst into the long vigil: formerly she was accompanied by red leopards and patterned civets, adorned with fragrant blossoms; now she is alone, with nothing but the cloud sea for company. The reduplicated 'rolling' writes the drifting clouds and secretly mirrors the unrest of her feelings, linking forward to the gloom and storm that follow; the scene shifts from brightness to desolation, and the feeling slides from hope to doubt. Description and emotion fuse, showing best of all the Chu-ci art of lodging feeling in landscape.
留灵修兮憺忘归，岁既晏兮孰华予？
I detain my lord, calm, forgetting to return; the year grows late—who will keep me fair?
想挽留灵修同住使他安然忘归，可是年岁已晚，谁还能使我保持芳华？
She longs to keep the divine lover beside her, at ease and forgetful of return; but her years are already waning, and who can make her bloom again?
「留灵修兮憺忘归」写山鬼欲挽留灵修、使他安然留驻而忘归，一个「憺」字写出安然恬淡、心满意足之态，正是山鬼心中最美好的愿望图景；然「岁既晏兮孰华予」陡然一转，从美好的期盼跌入迟暮的恐惧——年岁已晚，青春将逝，还有谁能使我的芳华重新焕发？「孰华予」三字以反问出之，力重千钧，将美人迟暮、岁月不待人的悲慨和盘托出。此句由盼而惧、由喜而哀，是山鬼心理的第一次大转折：她所求者不仅是爱情的相守，更是对青春易逝、生命易老的深层忧虑。诗人借山鬼之口，寄寓了屈原自身对岁月空逝、理想未酬的焦虑，香草美人传统中「恐美人之迟暮」的主题在此得到最凝练的表达，遂成《九歌》中最富哲理意蕴的名句之一。
The word 'at ease' in 'she longs to keep the divine lover beside her, at ease and forgetful of return' paints the tranquil, contented state that is her dearest wish. Then 'but her years are already waning, who can make her bloom again?' turns sharply from bright expectation into the terror of old age: youth is fading, and who can restore her radiance? The rhetorical question carries the weight of a thousand pounds, laying bare the grief of beauty in decline and the reckoning that time will not wait. The feeling moves from hope to fear, from joy to sorrow, the first great turning of her inner life: what she seeks is not only the keeping of love, but a deeper anxiety at the swift passing of youth. Through the Mountain Spirit's voice, Qu Yuan lodges his own anguish at years wasted and ideals unfulfilled; the theme of fearing that the beauty will grow old, central to the fragrant-herb tradition, finds here its most concentrated expression, making these lines among the most philosophically resonant of the Nine Songs.
雷填填兮雨冥冥，猿啾啾兮狖夜鸣。风飒飒兮木萧萧，思公子兮徒离忧。
Thunder rumbles, rain dims the dark; gibbons cry, and night monkeys wail in the night. Winds sigh through the woods, leaves fall and rustle; longing for my lord, I am left only with empty grief.
雷声隆隆、雨色冥冥，猿声啾啾、狖猴夜鸣，风声飒飒、木叶萧萧，思念公子却只是空自忧伤。
Thunder rolls and rain glooms the sky; gibbons chatter and night monkeys cry in the dark; winds whistle and forest leaves rustle; longing for my lord brings only sorrow in vain.
末节是全篇情感的总爆发，四组叠字句如急管繁弦，把凄厉的自然音响铺天盖地地倾泻而来：「雷填填」「雨冥冥」写雷雨交加之声势，「猿啾啾」「狖夜鸣」写猿狖夜啼之悲切，「风飒飒」「木萧萧」写风声木叶之萧瑟，视觉、听觉交织，构成一幅风雨凄凄、万籁含悲的深山夜景，天地万物仿佛都在为山鬼的失意而悲鸣。前此山鬼尚存期盼与自解，至此则彻底绝望，「思公子兮徒离忧」以「徒」字点醒全篇：一番痴情等待，终究成空，唯余无边忧伤而已。此句以景结情、情景交融，将抽象的哀愁化为可闻可见的凄厉景象，余哀袅袅、不绝如缕；而「徒离忧」三字亦将山鬼的哀怨提升为人类共通的求而不得之悲，故千百年来读之者无不为之动容，成为楚辞写哀怨之情的绝唱。
The final section is the emotional eruption of the whole poem. Four pairs of reduplicative phrases, like fast pipes and hurried strings, pour a desolate natural noise over everything: thunder rumbles, rain dims the dark, the storm; gibbons cry, night monkeys wail, the mournful night calls; winds sigh, leaves rustle, the bleak woods. Sight and sound interweave into a deep-mountain night of lashing rain and lamenting creatures, as if all heaven and earth were mourning her disappointment. Earlier she still harbored hope and self-consolation; now she is utterly despairing. The word 'empty' in 'longing for my lord, I am left only with empty grief' resolves the whole piece: a night of passionate waiting has come to nothing, leaving only boundless sorrow. The feeling closes in landscape, scene and emotion fused; abstract grief is made audible and visible, trailing on like a thread that never breaks. 'Empty grief' also raises the Mountain Spirit's lament into the universal human sorrow of desiring and not attaining, which is why readers across the centuries have been moved, and why these lines remain the supreme Chu-ci lament.
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Both are songs of god-and-mortal love in the Nine Songs; 'Xiang Jun' waits for the river god who comes not, 'The Mountain Spirit' waits for the lord who comes not—twin plaintive airs.
《湘君》写湘水女神候君不至，《山鬼》写山鬼盼灵修不来，皆《九歌》中人神相恋、望而不遇的哀歌，可互参其缠绵凄艳。《湘君》以湘水为背景，意象明净流丽，思念中更多怨望与决绝；《山鬼》以深山为舞台，意象幽峭奇丽，等待中更多孤寂与悲怆。二篇同用第一人称独白、同以香草为喻、同以景物烘托心情，而一水一山、一灵秀一幽深，正见《九歌》同题异构之妙，合观最能体会屈原笔下人神之恋的丰富面貌与抒情艺术的高超。
离骚 Encountering Sorrow 屈原 · 同（同出屈原，香草美人、忠怨寄托一脉） Same (both Qu Yuan—the fragrant-plant and beauty trope, loyal grievance)Both from Qu Yuan; 'Encountering Sorrow' uses fragrant plants and the beauty to allegorize prince and minister, 'The Mountain Spirit' uses the goddess's love for his life's grief—one lineage of trope and grievance.
《离骚》以香草美人喻君臣遇合、美政难期，《山鬼》以神女之恋寄身世之慨，香草传统与忧愤精神一脉相承。《离骚》体制宏大、长于铺陈，是屈原政治理想的全面倾诉；《山鬼》体制短小、长于抒情，是屈原身世之感的一次凝练聚焦。二篇同以芳草喻高洁、以美人喻贤者，同写求而不得的苦闷，而《离骚》之求在君国、其情直露，《山鬼》之求在情爱、其情含蓄，一显一隐，正可见屈原将个人忠怨升华为普遍诗情的能力，故二篇并读，最能理解楚辞香草美人系统的完整内涵。