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三国 三国 · 文 Prose

出师表·版本二

Memorial on the Expedition (Version 2)

诸葛亮

Zhuge Liang

名篇masterpiece 奏疏memorial (to the throne) 忠义loyalty and righteousness 知遇recognition and favor (by a ruler)

臣本布衣，躬耕于南阳，苟全性命于乱世，不求闻达于诸侯。
先帝不以臣卑鄙，猥自枉屈，三顾臣于草庐之中。

I was but a commoner, tilling my own fields at Nanyang, content merely to preserve my life in troubled times, seeking no fame among the lords. The late Emperor, unmindful of my low birth and shallow worth, humbly condescended, and thrice visited me in my thatched cottage.
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Meaning

This excerpt opens Zhuge Liang's famous memorial with a humble account of his origins: a commoner tilling fields at Nanyang, seeking only to survive the turbulent age, until the late Emperor Liu Bei thrice visited his thatched cottage despite his lowliness. It establishes the emotional foundation of gratitude that justifies the poet-minister's lifelong devotion. The passage is the bedrock of the entire memorial's logic of repaying the ruler's trust.

我本来是个平民百姓，在南阳亲自耕种田地，只求在乱世中苟且保全性命，不谋求在诸侯中扬名显达。先帝（刘备）不认为我出身卑微、见识浅陋，委屈自己、降低身份，三次到草庐中来拜访我。

Appreciation

As a model of the ancient memorial (biao), its art lies in leading argument with feeling, its identity perfectly assumed: self-deprecating modest phrases ('low and shallow,' 'humbly,' 'condescending') pile up to write Liu Bei's virtue in honoring the worthy and the depth of the minister's gratitude to the utmost. The phrase 'thrice visited' marks the symbolic event of recognition, setting the bone of the whole memorial's logic of repayment. With feeling it carries the argument, with sincerity it moves—this is the secret of the memorial's millennium-long vitality.

【白话串讲】 诸葛亮写《出师表》：“臣本布衣，躬耕于南阳，苟全性命于乱世，不求闻达于诸侯”——他本是南阳一介布衣。“先帝不以臣卑鄙，猥自枉屈，三顾臣于草庐之中”——刘备三顾茅庐请他出山。“由是感激，遂许先帝以驱驰”——他从此鞠躬尽瘁。 【意象与手法】 以情带论、身份毕肖：自贬自抑的谦辞（卑鄙、猥、枉屈）层层加码，把刘备礼贤下士之德与自己的感戴之深写到极致；「三顾」点出知遇的象征性事件，为全表的报恩逻辑立骨。 【情感与主旨】 借自述身世抒发对先帝知遇之恩的感戴与「鞠躬尽瘁、死而后已」的报国之志，是臣道与士人担当的典范。 【名句点睛】 常考「三顾臣于草庐之中」的知遇典故与「鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已」的出处，以及「卑鄙」一词的古今异义。

Background

The Memorial on the Expedition was a memorial presented by Zhuge Liang, Chancellor of Shu-Han during the Three Kingdoms, to the young Emperor Liu Shan before the northern campaign against Cao Wei. Zhuge Liang (181–234), styled Kongming, was from Langya Yangdu (present-day Linyi, Shandong); he lived in seclusion at Longzhong, and only after Liu Bei thrice visited his cottage did he come out, assisting Liu Bei to found Shu-Han, standing tripartite with Wei and Wu; after Liu Bei's death he bore the weight of the entrusted orphan, assisting the young Liu Shan, exhausting himself until death. In the fifth year of Jianxing (227), Zhuge Liang led the army north to station at Hanzhong, and on the eve of departure presented this memorial, stating to Liu Shan his intent to campaign north, his policies of governance, and his own resolve. This recorded version is the opening self-account of the Memorial: it writes that he was a commoner tilling Nanyang, seeking no fame, and that Liu Bei thrice visited his cottage and entrusted him with great responsibility—the grace of recognition. This self-account is the emotional bedrock of the whole text—Zhuge Liang takes 'repay the late Emperor and be loyal to Your Majesty' as the guiding thread, and all later remonstrance, confession, and oath arise from these two characters 'recognition.' The wording is earnest and open-hearted, praised by later generations as the finest of memorials; Du Fu's 'Shu Prime Minister'—'the expedition unfulfilled, his body dead, forever making heroes weep'—sings precisely of Zhuge Liang and his northern campaign. After this memorial, readers of every age wept; the Jin scholar Xi Zuochi, the Tang Du Fu, the Song Lu You all deeply sighed at it, showing its eternal power to move through sincerity.

出师表是三国时期蜀汉丞相诸葛亮在北伐曹魏前上呈后主刘禅的表文。诸葛亮（181—234），字孔明，琅琊阳都（今山东临沂）人，隐居隆中，刘备三顾茅庐而后出山，辅佐刘备建立蜀汉，与魏、吴鼎足而三；刘备死后受托孤之重，辅佐后主刘禅，鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已。蜀汉建兴五年（227），诸葛亮率军北驻汉中，临行上此表，向刘禅陈述北伐之意、治国之策与自己的心志。本组所录版本为《出师表》开篇的自述身世：写自己本是一介布衣、躬耕南阳、不求闻达，而刘备三顾草庐、委以重任的知遇之恩。这段自述是全文情感的基石——诸葛亮以报先帝而忠陛下为全篇之纲，此后所有的规谏、陈情、誓师，皆由此知遇二字生发。表中言辞恳切、肝胆俱照，被后人推为表之最，杜甫《蜀相》「出师未捷身先死，长使英雄泪满襟」咏的正是诸葛亮及其北伐事业。此表出后，历代士人读之无不感泣，晋人习凿齿、唐人杜甫、宋人陆游皆深致其慨，可见其以诚动人的永恒力量。

Art

The Memorial on the Expedition is a model of the ancient memorial (biao); its artistic feature lies in leading argument with feeling, moving through sincerity, with identity perfectly assumed. The excerpt of self-account is extremely careful in its brush: first 'I was but a commoner'—the word 'but' points to the low starting point, a common man, forming a huge gap with the side of the emperor; 'tilling my own fields at Nanyang' uses 'tilling' to write personally ploughing, the commoner image vivid before the eyes; 'content merely to preserve my life in troubled times, seeking no fame among the lords' uses two four-character phrases in succession, writing the calm self-restraint of keeping to one's place in troubled times—'merely preserve' writes his modesty, 'seeking no fame' writes his indifference, building momentum for the recognition of the thrice visits below. Then 'The late Emperor, unmindful of my low birth and shallow worth' turns sharply; 'unmindful' writes Liu Bei's breaking of convention—not minding low birth and shallow knowledge; 'humbly condescended' four characters write Liu Bei's stooping to honor, the humble word used exquisitely, writing his own lowliness to the utmost, setting off the height of the late Emperor's honoring the worthy; 'thrice visited me in my thatched cottage' uses 'thrice visited' to mark the symbolic event of recognition—the thrice-visited cottage is the most famous ruler-minister meeting in Three Kingdoms history, and henceforth the logic of repaying grace through exhaustion took root. The whole text says not one word 'I will repay,' yet every word is repayment; says not one word 'you should accept remonstrance,' yet every word prepares for remonstrance—leading argument with feeling, moving through sincerity, is the secret of this memorial's undying vitality for a thousand years.

出师表是古代奏疏（表）的典范，其艺术特色在以情带论、以诚动人、身份毕肖。节选自述身世，笔法极讲究：先说臣本布衣——本字点出起点的卑微，一介平民，与帝王之侧形成巨大落差；躬耕于南阳以躬字写亲自耕种，布衣形象如在目前；苟全性命于乱世，不求闻达于诸侯连用两个四字句，写尽乱世中自守本分的恬淡——苟全写其谦抑，不求闻达写其淡泊，为下文三顾的知遇蓄势。继而先帝不以臣卑鄙陡转，不以二字写刘备的破格——不以出身卑微、见识短浅为嫌；猥自枉屈四字极写刘备的屈尊俯就，猥字谦辞用得极妙，把自己的卑微写到极致，衬出先帝礼贤下士之高；三顾臣于草庐之中以三顾点出知遇的标志性事件——三顾茅庐是三国史上最著名的君臣际会，此后鞠躬尽瘁的报恩逻辑于此生根。全文无一句说我要报恩，而字字都是报恩；无一句说你要纳谏，而字字都是谏诤的铺垫，以情带论、以诚动人，正是此表千年不衰的奥秘。

Allusions

Within the short chapters of the Memorial lies deep historical allusion and cultural content. First, 'tilling at Nanyang': Nanyang (around present-day Nanyang, Henan, or some say Longzhong in Xiangyang, Hubei) was Zhuge Liang's seclusion; 'tilling' hints at the ancient hermit's tradition of farming and reading—Xu You, Yan Ziling all hid in ploughing and fishing; Zhuge Liang's self-account of tilling both writes his commoner nature and implies the hermit's bearing of waiting for the times, preparing for the ruler-minister meeting of the thrice visits. Second, 'thrice visiting the cottage': Liu Bei thrice visited the thatched cottage, Zhuge Liang's Longzhong dialogue, is the eternal tale of honoring the worthy and the scholar dying for the knowing friend; Zhuge Liang's line 'thrice visited me in my thatched cottage' made this allusion the supreme symbol of recognition, and later 'thrice visiting the thatched cottage' became an idiom. Third, the 'commoner' tradition: the 'Records of the Grand Historian' has a category 'Biographies of Commoners,' Mencius said 'the people are most precious'; Zhuge Liang's modest 'commoner' both fits the minister's identity and implies the scholar's self-possession—though in the rivers and lakes, his heart holds the realm. Fourth, 'preserving life in troubled times and seeking no fame': avoiding peril in troubled times, indifferent to fame and gain, is the philosophy of the 'Analects' 'when the state has no Way, hide' and the 'Laozi' 'achieve merit then withdraw'; Zhuge Liang's self-account is a living portrait of this culture, and his final emergence completed the transformation from hermit to official. Fifth, the loyal-righteous tradition of 'repay the late Emperor and be loyal to Your Majesty': since Qu Yuan's 'though I die nine deaths, I will not regret,' the spirit of unwavering loyalty and dying for the state runs in one line, and the Memorial is one of the most famous texts of this tradition.

出师表短章之中蕴含着深厚的历史典故与文化内涵。其一是躬耕南阳：南阳（今河南南阳一带，一说湖北襄阳隆中）是诸葛亮隐居之地，躬耕暗含古代隐士耕读的传统——许由、严子陵皆隐于耕钓，诸葛亮以躬耕自陈，既写其布衣本色，又暗含待时而起的隐者气象，为三顾的君臣际会作了铺垫。其二是三顾草庐：刘备三顾茅庐、诸葛亮隆中对答，是礼贤下士、士为知己者死的千古佳话，诸葛亮《出师表》中三顾臣于草庐之中一句，使这一典故成为知遇之恩的最高象征，后世三顾茅庐更成为成语。其三是布衣传统：《史记》有布衣列传之目，孟子言民为贵，诸葛亮自谦布衣，既合臣子身份，又暗含士的自持——虽处江湖而心存天下。其四是乱世苟全与不求闻达：乱世避祸、淡泊名利，是《论语》邦无道则隐、《老子》功成身退的处世哲学，诸葛亮的自述正是这种文化的活写真，而其最终出山，又完成了由隐到仕的转化。其五是报先帝而忠陛下的忠义传统：自屈原虽九死其犹未悔以来，忠贞不贰、以死报国的精神一脉相承，出师表正是这一传统最著名的文本之一。

Commentary

The Memorial on the Expedition holds a sublime place in Chinese culture, universally acknowledged as the finest of memorials. In literary value, it moves readers across a thousand years with a single utmost sincerity—the whole text has not a word of artifice: narrating his origins it is modest and earnest, discussing state affairs it is clear-sighted, swearing the northern campaign it is fervent; feeling and reason, words and deeds merge as one, and Lu You's 'One memorial truly renowned through the ages, who through a thousand years can match him' is the supreme evaluation of its literary standing. In political value, it is the model of the minister's way: Zhuge Liang took 'repay the late Emperor and be loyal to Your Majesty' as his charge, diligent and cautious, attending to all matters personally; 'exhausting himself until death' became the highest realm of the scholar-official serving the ruler. In cultural influence, the loyal-minister image and the recognition narrative of the thrice-visited cottage have become basic archetypes of Chinese political culture: scholars of every age read this memorial and think of serving the state, rulers read it and think of accepting remonstrance. In education, its excerpt is long included in middle-school textbooks, a required text for students to grasp the art of classical confession and the Confucian spirit of loyalty and righteousness. Du Fu's sigh 'the expedition unfulfilled, his body dead, forever making heroes weep' makes Zhuge Liang's tragedy transcend history, becoming the deepest heroic grief in Chinese culture.

出师表在中国文化中具有崇高的地位，被公认为奏疏之最、表之最。就文学价值而言，它以一片至诚打动千秋读者——全文无一语矫饰，叙身世则谦抑恳切，陈国事则洞见分明，誓北伐则壮怀激烈，情与理、言与行浑然一体，陆游「出师一表真名世，千载谁堪伯仲间」即是对其文学地位的至高评价。就政治价值而言，它是臣道的典范：诸葛亮以报先帝而忠陛下自任，勤勉谨慎、事必躬亲，鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已成为士大夫事君的最高境界。就文化影响而言，出师表塑造的忠臣形象与三顾茅庐的知遇叙事，已成为中国政治文化的基本原型：历代士人读此表而思报国，历代君主读此表而思纳谏。就教育而言，其节选长期入选中学教材，是学生体认文言文陈情艺术与儒家忠义精神的必读文本。杜甫出师未捷身先死，长使英雄泪满襟的咏叹，更使诸葛亮的悲剧性超越历史，成为中国文化中最深沉的英雄之悲。

Prosody

Form Three Kingdoms memorial (biao)—a public document style mixing parallel and prose三国奏疏（表）——骈散相间的公文体
Rhyme The memorial does not rhyme, but stresses the antithesis of phrasing and the cadence of function words: 'tilling my own fields at Nanyang' and 'seeking no fame among the lords' show order within looseness; 'humbly condescended' and 'thrice visited me in my thatched cottage' alternate long and short, reading with rising and falling rhythm.表文不押韵，但讲究句式的对偶与虚词的顿挫：躬耕于南阳与不求闻达于诸侯散中见整，猥自枉屈与三顾臣于草庐之中长短相间，读来抑扬有致。
Tone pattern The self-narrative tone is calm and earnest (I was but a commoner, tilling my own fields at Nanyang), as if speaking face to face with the ruler; reaching 'humbly condescended' the syllables are cadent, writing the depth of gratitude; 'thrice visited me in my thatched cottage' expands in breath, with feeling unexhausted.自述语平缓恳切（臣本布衣，躬耕于南阳），如对君面谈；及至猥自枉屈音节顿挫，写感激之深；三顾臣于草庐之中句势舒展，余情不尽。
Reading note The biao is a document from minister to ruler; its sound-feeling centers on respect, sincerity, and earnestness, and the Memorial is the utmost of the biao's sound-feeling. The excerpt of self-account shows extreme craft in its sentence design: the opening 'I was but a commoner, tilling my own fields at Nanyang' is calm and expansive, a modest self-statement, its tone low yet not base; 'content merely to preserve my life in troubled times, seeking no fame among the lords' opposes in pairs, its syllables orderly, like a gentleman's self-possession; reaching 'The late Emperor, unmindful of my low birth and shallow worth,' the two words 'unmindful' pause, the tone turning from self-narration to remembrance, slightly rising; 'humbly condescended' four characters are short and heavy, one beat per word, as if gratitude wells in the throat; 'thrice visited me in my thatched cottage' suddenly expands in breath, like a long sigh, pouring out the weight of recognition. This low–orderly–paused–expanded tonal design gives a self-account of under fifty characters a complete arc of emotional rise and fall, reading as if hearing his voice, seeing the man. Zhuge Liang uses no ornament yet moves through sincerity; the sound of his writing matches the heart of the man—this is the highest realm of memorial literature, where substance triumphs over ornament.表是臣子呈君之文，其声调以恭、诚、恳为要，出师表正是表文声情的极致。节选自述身世，句式设计极见匠心：起句臣本布衣，躬耕于南阳平缓舒展，是谦逊的自陈，声调低而不卑；苟全性命于乱世，不求闻达于诸侯两两相对，音节整饬，如君子之自持；及至先帝不以臣卑鄙，不以二字一顿，语气由自述转入感念，声调微扬；猥自枉屈四字短促沉重，一字一顿，仿佛感激之情在喉间涌动；三顾臣于草庐之中句势陡然舒展，如长叹一声，把知遇之恩的深重全部倾泻出来。这种低—整—顿—舒的声调设计，使一段不足五十字的自述有了情感起伏的完整弧线，读来如闻其声、如见其人。诸葛亮不事雕琢而以诚感人，其文之声，正与其人之心相表里——这正是奏疏文学以质胜文的最高境界。

Line by line

臣本布衣，躬耕于南阳，苟全性命于乱世，不求闻达于诸侯。

I was but a commoner, tilling my own fields at Nanyang, content merely to preserve my life in troubled times, seeking no fame among the lords.

我本来是个平民百姓，在南阳亲自耕种田地，只求在乱世中苟且保全性命，不谋求在诸侯中扬名显达。

I was but a common man, ploughing myself the fields of Nanyang, barely preserving my life in the troubled age, seeking no fame or advancement among the lords.

这是出师表自述身世的起笔，四句层层递进，写尽布衣本色。臣本布衣以本字立骨，点明起点的卑微——一介平民，与后文先帝不以臣卑鄙的知遇形成巨大反差；躬耕于南阳以躬字写亲自扶犁，一个自食其力的隐者形象如在目前，隐士的恬淡与乱世的险恶交织；苟全性命于乱世的苟全二字，谦抑之至，写自己不过求在乱世中保全身家性命，绝无野心；不求闻达于诸侯更以不求写其淡泊，与当时群雄逐鹿、士人竞逐功名的世风形成对照。这四句的自贬自抑，并非消极，而是为下文的知遇蓄足势：愈写其淡泊无为，愈见三顾之恩的深重，愈见其由隐而仕的转折之必然。同时乱世二字点出时代背景——汉末大乱、群雄割据，也为全表的报国主题铺设了底色。

This is the opening of the memorial's account of his own lot, four clauses advancing layer on layer, exhausting the commoner's plainness. I was but a common man stands on the word originally, marking the humble start — a mere commoner, set against the later the Late Emperor did not disdain my low station, the great contrast of recognition. Ploughing myself the fields of Nanyang writes the word himself, the man feeding himself as before the eyes, the hermit's quiet woven with the troubled age's danger. Barely preserving my life in the troubled age the word barely-preserving, supremely modest, writing only the wish to keep his family alive in the chaos, no ambition. Seeking no fame or advancement among the lords further writes the detachment through no seeking, set against the age of warlords contending and scholars scrambling for rank. The self-depreciation of these four clauses is not passive, but stores force for the recognition below: the more the detachment and the doing-nothing, the heavier the debt of the three visits, the more necessary the turn from hermit to official. At the same time, the troubled age marks the background — the late-Han chaos, the warlords' partition, laying the ground color for the memorial's theme of repaying the country.

先帝不以臣卑鄙，猥自枉屈，三顾臣于草庐之中。

The late Emperor, unmindful of my low birth and shallow worth, humbly condescended, and thrice visited me in my thatched cottage.

先帝（刘备）不认为我出身卑微、见识浅陋，委屈自己、降低身份，三次到草庐中来拜访我。

The Late Emperor did not disdain my low station and shallow knowledge; lowering himself, he called on me three times in my thatched cottage.

这是全表的情感枢纽，知遇二字尽在其中。先帝不以臣卑鄙的不以二字，写刘备的破格识人——不以出身、学识为嫌，唯才是举，这正是刘备能得诸葛亮之心的根本；猥自枉屈四字最见谦敬之妙：猥是谦辞（犹言辱），枉写屈尊，屈写俯就，三字连用，把刘备礼贤下士的姿态写到极致，也把诸葛亮感戴之深写到极致——在君主专制的时代，帝王三顾草庐，是罕见的尊贤之举；三顾臣于草庐之中以三顾点出事件本身，三字平平，而其中蕴含的君臣际会，已成为中国文化中最著名的知遇象征。值得注意的是叙述视角：诸葛亮不称先帝三顾茅庐，而称三顾臣于草庐之中——臣字既写身份，又暗含我已被先帝选中的归属感。至此，报先帝的感恩逻辑完全建立，后文鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已的誓言，正是这三顾之恩的自然生发。

This is the emotional pivot of the whole memorial, the word recognition exhausted within. The Late Emperor did not disdain my low station's did not writes Liu Bei's breaking the mold in seeing men — not put off by birth or learning, promoting by talent alone, precisely the root of Liu Bei's winning Zhuge Liang's heart. Lowering himself, he called on me three times in my thatched cottage: the word condescending is the modest expression (as though saying deigning), stooping the bending of rank, crouching the bowing of position, three words together writing Liu Bei's honoring of the scholar to the utmost, and Zhuge Liang's gratitude to the utmost — in the age of monarchy, an emperor's three visits to a thatched cottage was a rare honoring of the worthies. Three times names the event itself; three plain words, and within them the meeting of ruler and minister has become the most famous symbol of recognition in Chinese culture. Notable is the narrative point of view: Zhuge Liang does not say the Late Emperor visited the thatched cottage three times, but called on me three times in my thatched cottage — the word me writes at once the identity and the belonging of one chosen by the Late Emperor. Here the logic of gratitude to the Late Emperor is fully established, and the later vow of bending to the task until death naturally grows from this three-visit grace.

Study

Word focus

卑鄙 In 'The late Emperor, unmindful of my low birth and shallow worth,' the two characters 'low and shallow' (beibi) differ vastly in ancient and modern meaning, a specimen of classical lexical evolution. In the Han-Wei period, 'low' (bei) meant humble birth, 'shallow' (bi) meant shallow knowledge and remote dwelling ('countryman' meant a rustic); the two together are Zhuge Liang's modest self-reference to his low birth and meager learning, with none of the modern pejorative of moral wickedness. Its excellence has three aspects: first, the measure of modesty—Zhuge Liang, with the dignity of Chancellor, still calls himself 'low and shallow,' modest to the extreme, exactly contrasting with the late Emperor's 'unmindful' breaking of convention, making the grace of recognition even deeper; second, the positioning of identity—'commoner,' 'low and shallow,' 'thatched cottage' echo one another, jointly building the logic of self-narration from low birth, serving the gratitude narrative of emerging from seclusion to office; third, the information of the age—the modest usage of 'low and shallow' preserves the identity consciousness and modest-reverent culture of the Han-Wei scholarly class; reading this one word, one sees a famed minister's breadth of mind and the measure of his phrasing. 先帝不以臣卑鄙之卑鄙二字，古今词义迥异，正是文言词汇演变的标本。在汉魏之际，卑指出身微贱，鄙指见识浅陋、地处偏远（鄙人即乡下人），二字连用，是诸葛亮自谦出身与学识之低，绝无现代汉语道德恶劣的贬义。此词之妙有三：其一，谦辞的分寸——诸葛亮以丞相之尊，仍自陈卑鄙，谦抑到了极点，恰与先帝不以的破格相映，知遇之恩愈发深重；其二，身份的定位——布衣、卑鄙、草庐前后呼应，共同构建出身微贱的自述逻辑，为由隐而仕的感恩叙事服务；其三，时代的信息——卑鄙一词的谦卑用法，保存了汉魏之际士阶层的身份意识与谦敬文化，读此一词，可见一代名臣的胸襟与言辞的分寸感。字词的古今之变，正是一堂生动的文言词汇课。
猥 In 'humbly condescended,' the character 'wei' is a modest word, meaning 'to disgrace' or 'to trouble,' an extremely skillful character in the memorial. 'Wei' originally meant numerous or trivial, extended to a self-deprecating modest term, used with 'condescend' and 'stoop,' the three words piling up to write Liu Bei's stooping to honor beyond measure. The wonder of 'wei' here: first, it is the minister's extreme modest word toward the ruler—Zhuge Liang says the late Emperor 'humbly condescended,' ostensibly self-deprecating (that the late Emperor would stoop for so lowly a man as me), but in fact sets Liu Bei's virtue of honoring the worthy to its apex, and the recognition between ruler and minister is thus gilded with a sacred halo; second, it echoes 'low birth and shallow worth,' one modest about self, one exalting the ruler, host and guest distinct, the phrasing most fitting; third, 'wei' also implies the trepidation of undeserved favor—that the late Emperor so lowered himself, I can only repay with my life, laying the emotional lead for the later oath of 'exhausting himself until death.' One word of modesty, and the flame of gratitude already burns beneath it. 猥自枉屈之猥字，谦辞，犹言辱、劳，是奏疏中极见功力的一个字。猥本义为众多、琐碎，引申为谦卑的自贬之辞，与枉、屈连用，三个字层层加码，把刘备屈尊降贵的姿态写到无以复加。猥字用在此处的妙处：其一，它是臣子对君主的极谦之辞——诸葛亮说先帝猥自枉屈，表面是自贬（先帝竟肯为我这卑微之人屈尊），实则是把刘备礼贤下士的美德衬托到顶点，君臣之间的知遇由此被镀上神圣的光环；其二，它与不以臣卑鄙的卑鄙呼应，一谦己、一扬君，主宾分明，辞令极得体；其三，猥字还暗含恩宠过当的惶恐——先帝如此降格相待，我唯有以死相报，为后文鞠躬尽瘁的誓言埋伏了情感的引线。一字之谦，而感恩的烈焰已在其下燃烧。
三顾 In 'thrice visited me in my thatched cottage,' the two characters 'thrice visited' (sangu) are the most famous allusion of the whole text, and the supreme symbol of honoring the worthy in Chinese political culture. 'Gu' originally meant to turn the head to look, extended to visit, care for; 'thrice' speaks its frequency—Liu Bei did not visit once but came three times to the cottage, each time more earnest, finally moving Zhuge Liang with sincerity. The allusion's core has three layers: first, the sincerity of seeking the worthy—the ruler stoops to seek the scholar, not fully achieved by ritual invitation but moved by sincerity, the premise of 'the scholar dying for the knowing friend'; second, the scholar's self-regard—Zhuge Liang avoided meeting the first two times (or did not appear), exactly showing his personality of not lightly promising or casually assenting, the hermit's pride and the wise ruler's modesty forming the most moving tension; third, the weight of recognition—precisely because the thrice visits were so hard and so sincere, Zhuge Liang served for life in repayment, and the four characters 'exhausting himself until death' are exactly the response to the thrice visits. Thereafter 'thrice visiting the thatched cottage' became an idiom, and Zhuge Liang and Liu Bei became the perfect model of ruler and minister in Chinese history; the cultural weight these two characters bear far exceeds the pen. 三顾臣于草庐之中之三顾二字，是全文最著名的典故，也是中国政治文化中礼贤下士的最高象征。顾本义为回头看，引申为拜访、关照；三言其频数——刘备不是一次造访，而是三次亲临草庐，一次比一次诚恳，最终以诚意打动诸葛亮。三顾的典故内核有三层：其一是求贤之诚——君王屈尊求士，非礼聘之所能尽，而以诚动人，这是士为知己者死的前提；其二是士之自重——诸葛亮前两次避而不见（或未出），恰显其不轻许、不苟合的人格，隐士之傲与明主之谦，构成最动人的张力；其三是知遇之重——正因为三顾之难、之诚，诸葛亮才终身以报，鞠躬尽瘁四字，正是对三顾的回应。此后三顾茅庐成为成语，诸葛亮与刘备也成为中国历史上君臣相得的完美典范，二字所承载的文化分量，远非笔墨可以衡量。

Related Reading

岳阳楼记·版本四 Memoir of Yueyang Tower (Version 4) 范仲淹 · 同为中国士人先天下之忧而忧精神的代表文本，一表一记 Both representative texts of the Chinese scholar's spirit of 'worrying before the world worries,' one memorial one memoir

The Memorial is built on 'repay the late Emperor and be loyal to Your Majesty,' the Memoir of Yueyang Tower on 'be the first to worry about the world's troubles, the last to enjoy its pleasures'; separated by over five hundred years, they together shaped the Chinese scholar-official's spiritual tradition of taking the world as his own responsibility. Zhuge Liang's 'exhausting himself until death' is the loyalty of serving the ruler, Fan Zhongyan's 'worry first, enjoy last' is the benevolence of relieving the world—one gives his body to the state, one gives his heart to the people, both the personification of the Confucian ideal of universal care. The difference lies in genre and brush: the Memorial is a memorial, mainly confessing and deliberating, sincere and weighty, grave of tone; the Memoir of Yueyang Tower is a memoir essay, mainly describing scenery and arguing, scene and feeling generating each other, full of reasoned interest. Read together, they show the two highest expressions of the scholar's characters 'loyalty' and 'benevolence' in classical prose, and the evolutionary thread of Tang-Song ancient prose from 'carrying the Way' to 'expressing feeling and will.'

出师表以报先帝而忠陛下立骨，岳阳楼记以先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐立骨，二者相隔五百余年，却共同塑造了中国士大夫以天下为己任的精神传统。诸葛亮之鞠躬尽瘁是事君之忠，范仲淹之先忧后乐是济世之仁，一者以身许国、一者以心忧民，皆是儒家兼济天下理想的人格化。差异在文体与笔法：出师表是奏疏，以陈情议事为主，情真意切、语重心长；岳阳楼记是记体散文，以写景议论为主，情景相生、理趣盎然。两文并读，恰见忠与仁两大士人品格在古文中的最高表达，也可见唐宋古文由载道到抒情言志的演进脉络。

 屈原列传·版本 Biography of Qu Yuan (Version) 司马迁 · 同为中国文化中忠贞母题的原型文本，一臣一吏、一诗一史 Both proto-texts of the loyal-devotion motif in Chinese culture, one minister one official, one poem one history

Qu Yuan 'trusted yet doubted, loyal yet slandered,' embraced a stone and threw himself into the river; Zhuge Liang 'exhausted himself until death,' the expedition unfulfilled, his body dead—the two are the two great archetypes of the loyal minister in Chinese culture, both winning eternal reverence through tragic endings. The difference lies in circumstance and choice: Qu Yuan met dark rulers (King Huai of Chu, King Qingxiang), trusted yet abandoned, and so died to proclaim his will, his loyalty a defiant loyalty; Zhuge Liang met a wise ruler (Liu Bei) and exhausted himself, and though the latter ruler was mediocre he still exhausted himself, his loyalty a repayment loyalty. The former expresses through the grief-anger of the 'Li Sao,' the latter through the earnest confession of the Memorial; one the resolve of 'though I die nine deaths I will not regret,' one the persistence of 'until death.' Read together, they show two faces of Chinese loyal-righteous spirit—either dying for the Way, or dying for the state—both illuminating the ages.

屈原信而见疑，忠而被谤，怀石投江；诸葛亮鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已，出师未捷身先死——二人是中国文化中忠臣的两大原型，都以悲剧性的结局赢得千古敬仰。差异在处境与选择：屈原生逢昏君（楚怀王、顷襄王），忠而见弃，遂以死明志，其忠是抗争之忠；诸葛亮遇明主（刘备）而尽瘁，后主虽庸而仍鞠躬尽瘁，其忠是报恩之忠。前者以《离骚》的悲愤抒情，后者以《出师表》的恳切陈情；一者虽九死其犹未悔的决绝，一者死而后已的执着。两传并读，可见中国忠义精神的两副面孔——或以身殉道，或以死报国，而皆光照千古。

 观沧海·版本 View of the Blue Sea (Version) 曹操 · 同为汉末三国时期英雄人物的自白，一以诗言志、一以表陈情 Both self-expressions of heroic figures of the late-Han Three Kingdoms, one stating will through poetry, one confessing through memorial

Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang are the two poles of the Three Kingdoms age: Cao Cao 'held the emperor to command the lords,' sang of the blue sea to voice his will, the sun, moon, stars and Milky Way all entering his breast—the hegemonic spirit of a troubled-times hero swallowing the universe; Zhuge Liang tilled and waited for the times, emerged after thrice visits, and in the Memorial exhausted himself until death, his earnest loyalty overflowing the page—the persistence of a troubled-times famed minister dying for the state. The difference lies in genre and temperament: 'View of the Blue Sea' is a four-character poem, its imagery grand, momentum towering ('the sun and moon's course, as if from its midst; the starry Milky Way, as if from its depths'), the poet's grandeur; the Memorial is a memorial, its wording earnest, feeling deep ('The late Emperor, unmindful of my low birth and shallow worth'), the loyal minister's sincerity. One grand one sincere, one poem one memorial, they show exactly the two personality types in the Three Kingdoms heroic spectrum—the aggressor and the consolidator, the empire-builder and the loyal-righteous one—together forming the most moving spiritual landscape of that stormy age.

曹操与诸葛亮是三国时代的两极：曹操挟天子以令诸侯，观沧海而歌以咏志，日月星汉尽入胸怀，是乱世枭雄吞吐宇宙的霸气；诸葛亮躬耕待时、三顾出山，出师表而鞠躬尽瘁，恳切忠诚溢于言表，是乱世名臣死而后已的执着。差异在文体与性情：观沧海是四言诗，意象宏阔、气势磅礴（日月之行，若出其中；星汉灿烂，若出其里），是诗人之豪；出师表是奏疏，言辞恳切、情意深挚（先帝不以臣卑鄙），是忠臣之诚。一豪一诚、一诗一表，恰可见三国英雄谱系中的两种人格类型——进取者与守成者、霸业者与忠义者，共同构成那个风云时代最动人的精神图景。