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清 Qing · 诗 Poem

潍县署中画竹呈年伯包大中丞括

On a Bamboo Painting in the Weixian Office, Presented to Senior Governor Bao

郑燮

Zheng Xie

题画诗Poem on a Painting 民本People-oriented 郑燮Zheng Xie

衙斋卧听萧萧竹，疑是民间疾苦声。
些小吾曹州县吏，一枝一叶总关情。

Lying in the office study, I hear the soughing bamboo;
I wonder if it is the cry of the people's hardship.
We are but petty county magistrates of our kind,
Yet every twig and leaf always touches our hearts.

Listen

Meaning

While lying in his official study, the poet hears the rustling of bamboo and imagines it to be the sound of people's suffering. Even though he is only a low-ranking county official, he feels deeply concerned about every small matter affecting the people.

在衙门书斋里卧听风吹竹叶萧萧作响，恍惚疑心那是民间百姓啼饥号寒的疾苦之声。我们这些官职卑微的州县小吏，百姓的每一枝一叶般小事也都牵动着自己的情怀。

Appreciation

In this four-line poem, inscribed on a bamboo painting, Zheng Xie fuses the image of bamboo with love for the people. The first line presents a tranquil office scene, but the second line dramatically turns the bamboo's rustle into the cry of the common people, with the word 'doubt' (yi) revealing the sleepless empathy of a caring magistrate. The last two lines extend this: though we are humble county officials, every twig and leaf of the people's affairs touches our hearts. With plain language and profound compassion, the poem remains a timeless expression of the 'people-oriented' ideal.

【白话串讲】郑板桥在潍县做官，画竹题诗：“衙斋卧听萧萧竹，疑是民间疾苦声”——他躺在衙门里听竹声，疑心是民间的疾苦。“些小吾曹州县吏，一枝一叶总关情”——我们这些州县小吏，一枝一叶都牵动民心。一个清官的心肠。【意象与手法】以“衙斋卧听萧萧竹”写卧听竹声的实境，“疑是民间疾苦声”陡然转折，把风竹之声幻化为百姓呻吟；“一枝一叶总关情”由己及物、由竹及民。借竹发端、托物言志，语言质朴如话而境界高远。【情感与主旨】题于所画风竹之上呈赠上司的题画诗，把“画竹”与“爱民”打成一片。一个“疑”字道尽父母官夜不能寐的忧勤，是古代“民本”诗教的千古名篇。【名句点睛】常考“衙斋卧听萧萧竹，疑是民间疾苦声”以竹声幻作民声写忧勤；“些小吾曹州县吏，一枝一叶总关情”以竹写民之休戚无不关心。

Background

Zheng Xie (Zheng Banqiao) wrote this poem around 1746–1747 while serving as magistrate of Weixian County, Shandong. The county suffered repeated famines, and Zheng opened granaries and donated his salary to relieve the victims, earning deep popular support but also offending higher officials. The title indicates the poem was presented to his elder colleague Bao Kuo, the Provincial Governor (then acting governor of Shandong). In this context, the bamboo sound he hears is not just an aesthetic delight but the imagined groan of starving people—a sincere expression of a conscientious official's care.

此诗作于清乾隆十一至十二年间（一七四六—一七四七），郑燮时年五十余，任山东潍县知县。潍县地近海滨，屡遭灾荒，板桥到任后开仓赈饥、捐廉佐赈，深得民心，却也因忤逆大吏而不得志，终乞疾归里。诗题「潍县署中画竹呈年伯包大中丞括」交代甚明：诗人于官衙画一幅风竹，题此诗以呈「年伯」包括。科举时代称同科考取者为「同年」，对同年的父辈称「年伯」；包括字银河，钱塘人，康熙四十五年进士，乾隆间官山东布政使、署理巡抚，清代巡抚称「中丞」，「大」表尊称。故这是下级对上级、晚辈对年伯兼含劝勉的赠诗。其创作背景正是板桥目睹潍县饥馑、心系民瘼的岁月：他画竹非为风雅，而以竹声寄民情，借题画之机向上司陈「州县吏亦当关情民间」之志。一首二十八字的小诗，遂成清代廉吏文化的象征，后世论「心无百姓莫为官」多引此以为据。就郑燮的仕履与性情言，此诗尤可见其「循吏」本色。板桥中乾隆元年进士，历官山东范县、潍县知县凡十二年，为政尚简，重农桑、恤孤贫，潍县大饥时开仓贷民、令民具领券以偿，又大兴工役以赈流民，活人无数，终以请赈忤大吏而罢归，「一肩明月，两袖清风」而去。此诗题于潍县任上，正当他目击民瘼、心力交瘁之际，故「疑是民间疾苦声」绝非文人的悬拟，而是循吏切身之感。所呈之包括，字银河，钱塘人，时官山东布政使、署理巡抚，于板桥为科第前辈之父执，故称「年伯」；巡抚清代雅称「中丞」，「大中丞」为敬辞。以画竹为贽而系之以诗，既是下级对上司的礼数，又借题画之机委婉进言「州县虽卑，当以民为念」，寓规于赠。板桥以「诗书画三绝」名世，而其画竹之志不在逸趣而在寄托，此诗恰为「画外有人、画中有政」的最好注脚。

Art

The poem's artistry lies in its skillful turn from sound to sentiment. Instead of describing the bamboo's form, the poet focuses on its sound, then through the word 'doubt' transposes the natural sound into the voice of the people—a leap from scene to emotion, from object to humanity. The final couplet uses 'branch and leaf' as a pun, referring both to the painted bamboo and the trivial daily concerns of the people. The language is unadorned, yet the structure is rigorous: rise, turn, and synthesis. This is a prime example of 'expressing the self in objects' in inscribed-painting poetry.

本诗艺术之妙，在「托物言志」与「由声及情」的巧妙转关。题画诗易落「描竹」窠臼，板桥却避实击虚：首句「衙斋卧听萧萧竹」只写听竹，不写竹形，已先立「卧听」的忧勤之姿；次句「疑是民间疾苦声」以「疑」字作神奇跳跃，把物理的竹声化为政治的民声，由景入情、由物及人，一笔打通自然与人事。这「通感」式的联想，使风竹不再是闲笔，而成了民瘼的化身。后二句「些小吾曹州县吏，一枝一叶总关情」由竹之枝叶过渡到民之枝叶，双关巧妙：「枝」「叶」既指画上竹，亦喻民间细事，一语两面。句式上，七绝短章而能起承转合俱全：起（卧听）—转（疑是）—合（关情），中间「疑」字为诗眼，全诗气脉全活。语言则清空质朴，绝去雕饰，恰合板桥「难得糊涂」的率真本色与「掀天揭地之文，震电惊雷之字」之外的温厚一面。就题画诗的作法而论，此诗最见「避形取神、即物见我」的高明。寻常题画多摹竹之形色姿态，板桥却全不写竹之青翠疏密，只写「卧听」竹声，由视觉一转而为听觉，再由听觉的「萧萧」跳为心觉的「疾苦」，层层虚化，遂使一幅静止的墨竹在诗中「有声」，且此声直通民间。其结构亦极精严：首句设景（卧听竹），次句通感（疑民声），三句自况（州县吏），四句明志（总关情），起承转合俱备，而「疑」字为通篇之枢——无此一「疑」，则竹自竹、民自民，有此一「疑」，则竹声即民声、画意即政心。末句「一枝一叶」更是双关的枢纽：既收束所画之竹的枝叶，又暗指民间琐屑之事，一语两义，物我遂合。语言则一洗板桥「乱石铺街」的奇崛，而归于清空如话，愈见其于率真中自有绳墨，短章而理正情深。

Allusions

Bamboo has long symbolized noble character in Chinese literary tradition, from Wang Wei's 'solitary bamboo' to Su Shi's 'rather eat without meat than live without bamboo.' Here Zheng Xie innovates: he does not write of bamboo's integrity but of its sound, turning the moral symbol into an image of listening to the people. 'Xiaoxiao' (rustling) carries a bleak tone from earlier poems such as 'the wind sighs and water is cold,' while 'one branch and one leaf' suggests the idea of 'seeing the world from a single leaf.' The whole poem thus merges painting, social criticism, and gentle advice to a superior.

诗中意象以「竹」为骨，渊源深远。竹自王维「独坐幽篁」、苏轼「可使食无肉，不可居无竹」以来，便是文人高洁、劲直、清瘦的象征；板桥画竹五十年，尤善以竹写人格。本诗妙在翻新：不写竹之劲节，而写竹之「声」——萧萧竹响被听作「民间疾苦声」，使传统「比德」之竹转为「倾听民间」之竹，意象功能为之一变。「萧萧」本状风声木叶（如「风萧萧兮易水寒」），此处写竹声凄清，暗合百姓呜咽。「一枝一叶」双关画竹与民事，近杜甫「一叶落而知天下秋」的以小见大，亦合「天下大事必作于细」的理政之理。「年伯」「中丞」则点出赠诗的人际礼法。整体看，板桥把题画、赠答、民本三重用意熔于竹声一脉，使寻常意象承载沉重的政治伦理，是清诗「以俗为雅、以小见大」的范例。就意象与语典的翻新言，此诗亦有可细绎者。竹自六朝以来即为高士劲节的象征，王徽之「何可一日无此君」、苏轼「宁可食无肉，不可居无竹」皆就其「比德」立言；板桥画竹五十年，本亦承此传统，然此诗却别开一路——不写竹之「节」而写竹之「声」，使「比德之竹」一变而为「悯民之竹」，意象功能为之翻新。「萧萧」二字自《易水歌》「风萧萧兮易水寒」、杜甫「无边落木萧萧下」以来，本带凄清悲慨之色，用以状竹声，正与下句「疾苦」的悲凉暗通声气。「一枝一叶」则近于「一叶知秋」「见微知著」的思致，以草木之细喻民事之微，含「天下大事必作于细」之理。「衙斋」「州县吏」「中丞」诸语点明官场层级与赠答关系，使一首咏物题画之作落在真实的仕宦语境中，遂令「以竹写政」有了具体的着落。

Commentary

The first line, 'In the office study I lie and hear the rustling bamboo,' may seem leisurely but already reveals sleepless concern. The second line is the pivot: the bamboo's rustle becomes the people's wail, and 'doubt' captures the sympathy of an official whose heart is with the people. The final couplet, 'We are only petty county officials, yet every branch and leaf touches our hearts,' turns self-deprecation into a sense of duty. The word 'always' (zong) is heavy with meaning—no detail is too small to matter. From sound to sentiment, from self to the people, the poem advances layer by layer, serving both as self-encouragement and as a gentle admonition to his superior. It has remained a celebrated maxim of clean and caring governance for three centuries.

首句「衙斋卧听萧萧竹」写官斋夜静、卧听风竹，看似闲适，实已伏「衙斋」二字点明身份、「卧听」二字见其未眠之忧。次句「疑是民间疾苦声」是全诗枢纽：风吹竹叶的萧萧声，在常人耳中是清音，在父母官耳中却幻成百姓啼饥号寒的呻吟，一「疑」字写尽推己及人、闻声动心的仁者情怀，由物声转为民声，境界顿开。三四句「些小吾曹州县吏，一枝一叶总关情」收束明志：我们虽只是卑微的州县小官，然百姓事无巨细皆牵动肺腑。「些小」「吾曹」自谦中见担当，「一枝一叶」回应画竹、双关民事，「总关情」三字是诗魂，把前面的「疑」坐实为「情」。四句一线：听竹—疑声—自况—关情，由景及政、由己及民，既自勉亦勉人（包括），二十八字写尽「官卑不敢忘忧民」的清吏之心，故能穿越三百年仍为廉政箴言。若再就一诗的「官—民」关系细读，则四句之间自成一层深似一层的心路。首句「衙斋卧听」，身在官署而夜不能寐，一「卧听」已见其身虽休而心未安；次句「疑是民间疾苦声」，由竹声而幻民声，是心之所系不在己身而在百姓，仁者之思于「疑」字尽显。三句「些小吾曹州县吏」陡作自抑，以「些小」「吾曹」自居微末，然此谦辞之下正藏一重反转——正因官小、正因亲民，州县之吏反最能直接闻见民间的枝叶细务，故卑位非可诿责之由，而是尽心之地。四句「一枝一叶总关情」以「总」字收束，写无一细事不牵于心，把前之「疑」坐实为「情」，把画上之竹坐实为民间之事。通篇由「听」而「疑」而「自况」而「关情」，节节推进，既是对己之自勉，又是对上司之劝勉，语淡而旨厚，遂成三百年不磨的廉政箴言。

Prosody

Reading note Zheng Xie's language is plain but metrically correct, showing that even in a humble inscription he maintained the discipline of regulated verse.此诗为七言绝句，二十八字，格律平正而语近白话。平仄依七绝仄起首句入韵：『衙斋卧听萧萧竹（平平仄仄平平仄，竹入声屋韵，仄收不押）——疑是民间疾苦声（平仄平平仄仄平，声平声蒸韵，与下句遥应）——些小吾曹州县吏（平仄平平平仄仄，吏去声，换仄收）——一枝一叶总关情（仄平平仄仄平平，情平声庚韵，与「声」通押）』。其用韵特色在首句不入韵（竹为入声仄收），次句「声」与末句「情」押平水蒸、庚通韵，一仄（吏）间隔蓄势，形成「仄起—平—仄—平」的舒敛节奏，读来先抑后扬，与「由听竹之静到关民之情」的情绪曲线相合。对仗上绝句不苛求，而「衙斋」对「民间」、「萧萧竹」对「疾苦声」于首联暗含宽对，意象大小相形。板桥诗本尚「乱石铺街」的拙趣，此首却中规中矩，正见其「率真」之中自有法度，短章而能承载厚重政理，是题画绝句「以诗载道」的典范。

Line by line

衙斋卧听萧萧竹，疑是民间疾苦声。

In the yamen study, lying down, I hear the rustling of bamboo—a concrete scene that sets the private space of an official, awake at night.

In the yamen study, lying down, I listen to the soughing bamboo; I suspect it is the voice of the people's suffering.

此一联是全诗最动人的「通感」之笔，也是中国诗史上「以官耳听民声」的绝唱。上句写实境：官衙书斋中，诗人卧而听风过修竹的萧萧声，『衙斋』点身份，『卧听』见夜深未眠的忧勤；下句写幻听：那竹声竟被听成了民间疾苦的呼号。『疑是』二字最堪玩味——并非真分不清竹声与人声，而是仁者之心使然：一个心里装着百姓的知县，连风吹竹叶都幻作啼饥号寒。这一「疑」把物理之声化为政治之声、把自然之竹化为民生之竹，意象功能完成惊鸿一跃。较之杜甫『朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨』的直揭，板桥以『疑』字出之，更婉、更柔、更见日常之诚。一联之中，景（竹）、声（萧萧）、情（疑）、政（疾苦）四者交融，遂成『州县吏当闻民声』的千古图像。

The couplet is the most moving synaesthetic stroke of the poem, and the finest ever written of the official's ear hearing the people's voice. The upper line writes the real scene: in the yamen study, the poet lies and listens to the sough of wind through the tall bamboo — yamen study marks the standing, lying and listening shows the night's late wakefulness in diligent care. The lower writes the hallucinated hearing: that bamboo sound is heard as the outcry of the people's suffering. The words I suspect reward savouring most: not truly unable to distinguish bamboo sound from human voice, but the benevolent heart at work — a magistrate whose heart holds the people hears even wind in the bamboo turn to cries of hunger and cold. This single suspicion turns the physical sound into a political sound, the natural bamboo into the bamboo of the people's livelihood, the imagery making its swan-leap. Beside Du Fu's the wine and meat of the great houses turns rancid, while by the road lie the bones of the frozen, Banqiao's suspicion is gentler, softer, more honest in its daily faith. In one couplet, scene (bamboo), sound (sough), feeling (suspicion), and politics (suffering) are fused, forming the immortal image of the district clerk who hears the people's voice.

些小吾曹州县吏，一枝一叶总关情。

I vaguely suspect it is the crying of the suffering people—the bamboo sound is transformed into the voice of the people, showing the poet's ingrained concern.

We petty district officials — every branch and every leaf concerns our heart.

此一联是前联的升华与落脚，由「听竹疑声」转为「居官明志」。『些小吾曹州县吏』自谦官职卑微，却暗含「位卑未敢忘忧国」的担当——正因官小，更知民间枝叶之事直接系于己身；『一枝一叶总关情』以画竹收束，『枝』『叶』既指笔下风竹，亦喻百姓家一桩桩细微实事，双关天成。『总』字极重，写尽无细不关、无日或忘的民本情怀。此联妙在把一首题画赠上之诗，写成廉政宣言：对上司包括而言，是委婉规劝『为政当恤民』；对己而言，是坦陈心迹『吾曹不敢忽民』。语言清空如话，却字字千钧，较之骈文颂政更为有力。后世以『一枝一叶总关情』泛指「群众小事即大事」，正因其以最简之象载最厚之政——官与民、竹与事、小与大，尽在此十字中打通。

The couplet is the elevation and landing of the foregoing, turning from suspecting the bamboo sound to declaring resolve in office. We petty district officials deprecates the low rank, yet carries the responsibility of however low the rank, I dare not forget the care of the country — precisely because the office is small, the branches and leaves of the people's affairs are felt to rest directly on him. Every branch and every leaf concerns our heart closes through the painted bamboo: branches and leaves mean at once the wind-borne bamboo under the brush, and each small concrete matter of the people's homes, the double entendre natural. The word all is weighted to the utmost, exhausting the people-centered feeling that no small thing is without concern and no day is without remembrance. The couplet's beauty lies in turning a painting-poem presented to a superior into a declaration of incorruptible government: to his superior Bao, it is the tactful admonition that government must care for the people; to himself, the plain confession that we dare not neglect the people. The language is clear as speech, yet each word weighs a thousand jun, more forceful than any panegyric prose. Later men use every branch and every leaf concerns our heart for the saying that the people's small matters are great matters, precisely because it carries the thickest politics in the simplest image — official and people, bamboo and affairs, small and great, all opened through these ten characters.

Study

Word focus

萧萧 Onomatopoeic word for rustling/whistling sound, as of wind through bamboo or leaves. Here it conveys a bleak, stirring tone that leads into 'the sound of suffering'. 「萧萧」为拟声叠字，本状风声、马鸣或木叶摇落之声（如「风萧萧兮易水寒」「车辚辚，马萧萧」），此处状风吹竹叶的清响。其妙在以声写竹、以声写夜：衙斋卧听，万籁俱寂，唯竹声萧萧，既见环境之清冷，亦衬心境之孤忧。更深层，『萧萧』自带凄清色调，与下句「民间疾苦声」的悲凉暗相承接——若用「沙沙」「瑟瑟」便失其沉，唯「萧萧」能通于呜咽。从炼字传统看，叠字在绝句中最忌轻滑，「萧萧」却以清劲立骨，与板桥画竹的「瘦劲」笔法同调。一个拟声词，先写自然之竹声，再被诗人「疑」为民生之疾声，遂由听觉意象跃为伦理意象，是全诗「由声及情」转关的声学支点，足见板桥炼字「不取丽而取切」的功夫。

关情 To be deeply concerned; to touch one's heart. The word 'guan' implies connection, 'qing' emotion; together they express constant care for the people's smallest matters. 「关情」即牵动情怀、系心于怀，是结句「一枝一叶总关情」的诗眼。『关』有牵连、关涉之意，『情』指爱民之仁心；合之写州县小吏对民间细事无不上心。其分量在「总」字烘托：不是偶尔关情，而是枝枝叶叶、时时刻刻皆关，见出民本之诚非一时矫饰。从意象双关看，「关情」的「枝枝叶叶」既回应首句所画之风竹，又隐喻百姓日用伦常的琐碎实事，使「情」有了具体附着，不落空泛。板桥一生「难得糊涂」是自警，「一枝一叶总关情」方是其本心——他开仓赈饥、忤大吏归田，皆此「关情」之践行。二字收束全篇，把题画、赠答、廉政三重意蕴凝于一点，是清诗中「以少总多」的范例，故能脱离具体语境而成为普世的从政箴言。