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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

杨万里·插秧歌

The Rice-Planting Song

杨万里

Yang Wanli

田园pastoral 劳动labour

插秧歌田夫抛秧田妇接，小儿拔秧大儿插。
笠是兜鍪蓑是甲，雨从头上湿到胛。
唤渠朝餐歇半霎，低头折腰只不答。
秧根未牢莳未匝，照管鹅儿与雏鸭。

The farmer flings the seedlings, the farmer's wife receives;
The younger son pulls them, the elder son plants.
The hat is a helmet, the straw-coat a coat of mail; rain soaks from the head down to the shoulders.
Called to the morning meal, to rest a moment, they only bend low and do not answer.
The roots not yet firm, the field not yet filled, keep watch over the goslings and the ducklings.

Listen

Meaning

The farmer flings the rice seedlings and his wife catches them; the younger son pulls the seedlings, the elder son plants them. The bamboo hat is like a helmet, the straw raincoat like armour; rain soaks from the top of the head down to the shoulders. They are called to come eat the morning meal and rest a while; they only lower their heads and bend their backs without answering. The seedling roots are not yet secure and the field not yet fully planted, so they say only: mind the goslings and the ducklings.

农夫抛秧，农妇接住。小儿子拔秧，大儿子插秧。斗笠像头盔，蓑衣像铠甲。雨水从头顶一直湿到肩胛。叫他们吃早饭歇一会儿。他们低头弯腰只不答话。秧根还没扎牢、还没插满。只说看好鹅儿和小鸭。

Appreciation

This is a vivid pastoral poem that reads like a sequence of moving close-ups. The opening line strings four verbs, fling, receive, pull, plant, sketching a whole family working in concert, brisk and bright. 'The hat is a helmet, the coat of mail' turns farm dress into battle dress, novel and wry, yet it conveys the tense urgency of planting in the rain. The later lines turn on a small dialogue: called to eat, they 'do not answer', yet they mind the goslings and ducklings, answering without answering, the meaning elsewhere than the words, showing the farmer's mind fixed solely on the seedlings. The humour holds the toil; it is the finest instance of Yang Wanli's 'living method' of plain description.

【白话串讲】 “田夫抛秧田妇接，小儿拔秧大儿插”——杨万里写插秧：全家总动员。“笠是兜鍪蓑是甲”——斗笠当头盔，蓑衣当铠甲。“秧根未牢莳未匝，照管鹅儿与雏鸭”——他还不忘叮嘱：看着鹅和鸭。【意象与手法】全诗如一组动态特写，以“抛—接—拔—插”四个动词勾勒全家协作的忙碌画卷，节奏明快【情感与主旨】杨万里（1127—1206），字廷秀，号诚斋，南宋中兴四大诗人之一【名句点睛】中高考常考：一、动词链，“抛、接、拔、插”如何表现劳动场面；二、比喻，“笠是兜鍪蓑是甲”的修辞效果与情感

Background

Yang Wanli (1127-1206), courtesy Tingxiu, pen-name Chengzhai, was one of the 'Four Great Masters of the Southern Song Renaissance'. This poem is a representative of his pastoral series, likely written when he had retired to his home in Ji-shui, Jiangxi, close to farm life. Chengzhai poetry is known for its 'living method' (huo fa), seizing life's instants, writing ordinary scenes in plain, colloquial language. In Song-dynasty Jiangnan, rice cultivation was central, and whole families turning out to plant was the norm. With almost documentary vividness the poet writes the tense labour of planting in the rain, recreating the peasant's hardship while also relishing the texture of life, showing both his 'frank poet' nature and his care for the farmer, unlike the usual pastoral poems that prettify reclusion.

《插秧歌》为南宋诗人杨万里所作。杨万里（1127—1206），字廷秀，号诚斋，吉州吉水人，南宋诗人，“中兴四大诗人”之一，“诚斋体”的创始人。此诗写农人插秧之景：田夫抛秧田妇接，小儿拔秧大儿插；笠是兜鍪蓑是甲，雨从头上湿到胛；唤渠朝餐歇半霎，低头折腰只不答；秧根未牢莳未匝，照管鹅儿与雏鸭。全诗以白描写农事之忙，是“诚斋体”的名篇。

Art

The whole poem reads like a string of moving close-ups: the four verbs 'fling, receive, pull, plant' sketch a busy family in concert, brisk in rhythm. 'The hat is a helmet, the straw-coat a coat of mail' uses a military metaphor for farm dress, novel and wry yet showing labour as tense as battle; 'rain soaks from the head down to the shoulders' plainly describes the bedraggled state in the rain, real and tangible. The later lines turn on a marvellous dialogue: called to the meal they 'do not answer', yet they charge one to 'mind the goslings and the ducklings', answering without answering, the words here but the meaning there, writing the farmer's single-minded devotion to the seedlings, humorous amid the toil. It is the height of Chengzhai's 'living method' of plain description.

《插秧歌》艺术上以白描的生动与细节的传神见长。全诗八句，层层写来：前两句写插秧分工——“田夫抛秧田妇接，小儿拔秧大儿插”写全家上阵；三四句写雨中劳作——“笠是兜鍪蓑是甲，雨从头上湿到胛”写雨中如战士；五六句写农忙不暇——“唤渠朝餐歇半霎，低头折腰只不答”写其不暇进食；七八句写顾全农事——“秧根未牢莳未匝，照管鹅儿与雏鸭”写其操心鹅鸭。全诗以白描写农事之忙与农人之苦，生动传神，正是杨万里“诚斋体”的风格。

Allusions

The poem uses no obvious book-allusion, pure plain description, in the vein of Du Fu's 'Withdrawn' ('my old wife draws a chessboard, my young son bends a needle into a hook') yet more kinetic. Its metaphor 'the hat is a helmet, the coat of mail' echoes the ancient farmer's habit of braving rain in straw, and may be read as a light reuse of the 'soldier-farmer' image; but unlike the serene pastoral of Wang Wei and Meng Haoran, Yang Wanli draws on the spoken tongue and the lane, belonging to the Song manner of 'making the vulgar elegant'. Read beside Li Shen's 'To the Peasants' with its weight, this poem finds a homely liveliness in toil.

《插秧歌》用典少而取譬新鲜。“笠是兜鍪蓑是甲”以“兜鍪”（头盔）喻笠、以“甲”（铠甲）喻蓑，写雨中农人如战士；“抛秧”“拔秧”“插秧”写农事分工；“秧根未牢”写秧苗未稳。全诗以白描与比喻写农事，取譬新鲜而不用深典，正是杨万里“诚斋体”以俚俗鲜活见长的风格。

Commentary

The Complete Library catalogue said of Chengzhai's poetry 'winding and flowing, full of life'; this poem shows his 'living method' best. Qian Zhongshu, in Song Poems Selected and Annotated, said he 'writes labour as tense as war, yet as intimate as household matters'. The modern scholar Zhou Ruchang called this poem 'turning fertilizer into elegance, turning toil into delight', a representative by which Song pastoral poetry broke out of the Tao Qian and Wang Wei pattern. Anthologies routinely list it among model 'ancient labour poems', to be read with Bai Juyi's 'Watching the Wheat Reaped', Tang's gravity against Song's vividness.

《插秧歌》是杨万里“诚斋体”的代表作，也是宋代田园诗中写农事的名篇。此诗写农人插秧之忙，白描生动，向为论者称道。论者多赏其“笠是兜鍪蓑是甲，雨从头上湿到胛”的比喻——以“兜鍪”“甲”喻笠与蓑，写雨中农人如战士，取譬新鲜；“低头折腰只不答”写农忙不暇，更见传神。杨万里诗以“诚斋体”著称，其诗多写自然与农事，此诗正是其代表——以白描写农事，正是其活泼风趣、通俗晓畅的风格。

Prosody

Form Seven-character ancient-style poem (seven-character, eight lines, near ancient form)七言古诗

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, xia group (receive, plant, shoulders, answer, duck; 'filled' borrowed)《插秧歌》为七言古诗，八句，押仄声韵。此诗用韵：接、插（洽部）、甲、胛（洽部）、答（合部）、鸭（洽部），以入声韵写急促之农事，音节急促。

Tone pattern Ancient form not bound by strict regulated tones; level and oblique free七言古诗以音节流转、气势生动见长。此诗首联写插秧分工，音节急促，如抛接秧苗；颔联写雨中劳作，音节顿挫，如雨湿到胛；颈联写农忙不暇，音节低回，如低头折腰；尾联写顾全农事，音节起伏。全诗以入声韵贯底，声调与农事之急促相合，是田园诗中活泼通俗的一路。

Reading note Chengzhai writes regulated lines in ancient tune, with colloquial language, natural living method.《插秧歌》为七言古诗，是杨万里“诚斋体”的代表作。此诗写农人插秧之忙：首联写全家上阵之分工，颔联写雨中如战士之比喻，颈联写农忙不暇之细节，尾联写操心鹅鸭之归结。白描生动、取譬新鲜，正是杨万里“诚斋体”活泼风趣、通俗晓畅的风格，也是宋代田园诗中写农事的名篇。

Line by line

田夫抛秧田妇接，小儿拔秧大儿插。

The farmer tosses the seedlings, his wife catches them; the small son pulls them up, the eldest plants them.

田夫抛秧，田妇来接；小儿拔秧，大儿来插。

The peasant flings the seedlings and his wife catches them; the younger boy pulls the seedlings and the elder boy plants them.

首联写插秧分工，是全诗写农事之忙的起点。“田夫抛秧田妇接”写夫妇分工——“田夫抛秧”写其抛秧，“田妇接”写其接秧；“小儿拔秧大儿插”写儿辈分工——“小儿拔秧”写小儿拔秧，“大儿插”写大儿插秧。两句写全家上阵：田夫抛秧，田妇来接；小儿拔秧，大儿来插。以“抛”“接”“拔”“插”四个动词写农事之忙碌，以“田夫田妇”“小儿大儿”写全家上阵，正是杨万里以白描写农事的笔法——一家四口，各司其职，忙而不乱。

The opening couplet writes the transplanting's division-of-labor, the whole poem's farming-busyness start. The farmer-flings-the-seedlings-and-his-wife-catches-them writing the couple's division — the farmer's flinging, the wife's catching; the younger-boy-pulls-the-seedlings-and-the-elder-boy-plants-them writing the sons' division. Two lines writing the whole family's turn-out: the farmer flings, the wife catches; the younger pulls, the elder plants. Using the toss-catch-pull-plant four verbs for the farming's busyness, and the farmer-wife-younger-elder for the whole family's turn-out, precisely Yang Wanli's plain-description-writes-farming brush — a family of four, each at the task, busy and yet's no-chaos.

笠是兜鍪蓑是甲，雨从头上湿到胛。

The bamboo hat is the helmet, the straw cape the armor; the rain wets them from the head to the shoulder blades.

斗笠是头盔，蓑衣是铠甲，雨从头上一直湿到肩胛。

The bamboo hat is the helmet, the rain cape the armor; the rain soaks them from head to shoulder blade.

颔联写雨中劳作，是全诗比喻的妙处。“笠是兜鍪蓑是甲”写雨中如战士——“笠是兜鍪”以头盔喻斗笠，“蓑是甲”以铠甲喻蓑衣——雨中农人，头戴笠如兜鍪，身披蓑如铠甲；“雨从头上湿到胛”写雨湿之深——“雨从头上”写雨从头上落下，“湿到胛”写一直湿到肩胛——雨势之大，湿透全身。两句写雨中劳作：笠如兜鍪、蓑如甲，而雨从头上湿到胛。以“兜鍪”“甲”喻笠蓑，写农人雨中如战士，取譬新鲜；以“湿到胛”写雨湿之深，写农事之苦。正是杨万里“诚斋体”取譬新鲜的笔法——农事如战事，农夫如战士。

The middle couplet writes the rain's labor, the whole poem's metaphor's wonder. The bamboo-hat-is-the-helmet-the-rain-cape-the-armor writing the rain's warrior — the helmet metaphor for the bamboo hat, the armor metaphor for the rain cape — the rain's farmer, the hat's helmet-like and the cape's armor-like; the rain-soaks-them-from-head-to-shoulder-blade writing the rain's wetness's depth. Two lines writing the rain's labor: the hat's helmet-like, the cape's armor-like, and the rain's wet to the shoulder blade. Using the helmet-and-armor for the hat-and-cape, writing the rain's farmer's warrior-like, the metaphor's new; using the wet-to-the-shoulder-blade for the rain's wetness's depth, writing the farming's hardship. Precisely Yang Wanli's Chengzhai-style's metaphor-new brush — the farming's like the warfare, the farmer's like the warrior.

唤渠朝餐歇半霎，低头折腰只不答。

They are called for breakfast and a moment's rest; head bowed, waist bent, they answer not a word.

唤他们吃早饭歇一歇，他们低头折腰，只是不答。

They are called to breakfast and a brief rest; heads bowed, waists bent, they answer nothing.

颈联写农忙不暇，是全诗写农事之急的关键。“唤渠朝餐歇半霎”写唤其歇息——“唤渠”写唤他们，“朝餐”写吃早饭，“歇半霎”写歇息片刻；“低头折腰只不答”写其不暇——“低头折腰”写其弯腰插秧，“只不答”写只是不答。两句写农忙不暇：唤其吃早饭、歇半霎，而他们低头折腰，只是不答。以“唤渠朝餐”写他人之唤，以“低头折腰只不答”写农人只顾插秧而不暇应答，正是杨万里以细节写农事之急的笔法——忙到连饭都不吃、话都不答。

The neck couplet writes the farming's no-time, the whole poem's farming-urgency key. The they-are-called-to-breakfast-and-a-brief-rest writing the call-to-rest — the calling-them, the breakfast, the moment's rest; the heads-bowed-waists-bent-they-answer-nothing writing the no-time — the bowed-head-and-bent-waist's transplanting, the answer-nothing's. Two lines writing the farming's no-time: the called-to-breakfast-and-rest, and yet the bowed-head-and-bent-waist's answer-nothing. Using the called-to-breakfast for the other's calling, and the bowed-head's answer-nothing for the farmer's only's transplanting-and-the-no-time-to-answer, precisely Yang Wanli's detail-writes-farming-urgency brush — busy to the no-eating and no-answering.

秧根未牢莳未匝，照管鹅儿与雏鸭。

The roots are not yet firm, the transplanting not yet done; still they must mind the goslings and ducklings.

秧根还未扎牢，秧苗还未插完，还要照管鹅儿与雏鸭。

The seedling roots are not yet anchored, the planting not yet finished; and still they must tend the goslings and ducklings.

尾联写顾全农事，是全诗的归结。“秧根未牢莳未匝”写秧事未毕——“秧根未牢”写秧苗根部未稳，“莳未匝”写移栽尚未插完；“照管鹅儿与雏鸭”写操心鹅鸭——“照管鹅儿”写照看小鹅，“雏鸭”写小鸭。两句写农事未完：秧根未牢、莳未匝，还要照管鹅儿与雏鸭。以“秧根未牢莳未匝”写农事之未完，以“照管鹅儿与雏鸭”写农人之操心不止于插秧，正是杨万里写农事之忙的归结——插秧未毕，又要照管鹅鸭，农家无一刻之闲。

The tail couplet writes the whole-farming's care, the whole poem's close. The seedling-roots-are-not-yet-anchored-the-planting-not-yet-finished writing the transplanting's not-done — the roots' not-yet-firm, the transplanting's not-yet-finished; the still-they-must-tend-the-goslings-and-ducklings writing the goose-duck care. Two lines writing the farming's not-done: the roots' not-firm and the transplanting's not-finished, and yet the goslings-and-ducklings' tending. Using the roots'-not-anchored-planting-not-finished for the farming's incompleteness, and the goslings-and-ducklings for the farmer's care's beyond-the-transplanting, precisely Yang Wanli's farming-busyness close — the transplanting's not-finished, and yet the goslings-and-ducklings' tending, the farm household's no-moment's leisure.

Study

Word focus

抛 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “田夫抛秧”之“抛”，写抛掷秧苗，是全诗写农事之忙的第一个动词。“抛”写抛掷——田夫把秧苗抛给田妇。这一词写抛秧之状：不是轻放，而是抛；不是从容，而是迅捷。以“抛”写农事，与“接”“拔”“插”连用，正是杨万里以动词写农事之忙的笔法——四个动词，写尽插秧之忙碌。

兜鍪 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “笠是兜鍪”之“兜鍪”，以头盔喻斗笠，是全诗比喻的关键词。“兜鍪”写古时战士之头盔——雨中农人，头戴之笠如战士之兜鍪。这一词以“兜鍪”喻笠，写农人雨中如战士：不是寻常的斗笠，而是兜鍪；不是农耕之状，而是战阵之姿。以“兜鍪”喻笠，正是杨万里“诚斋体”取譬新鲜的笔法——农事如战事。

胛 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “雨从头上湿到胛”之“胛”，写肩胛，是全诗写雨湿之深的关键词。“胛”写肩胛——雨从头上一直湿到肩胛。这一词以“胛”写雨湿之深：不是湿到衣角，而是湿到胛；不是微湿，而是湿透。以“湿到胛”写雨势之大、农事之苦，正是杨万里以细节写农事的笔法——一字写尽雨中劳作之苦。

只不答 'Only do not answer' three words exhaust the farmer's head-down toil, single-minded and undistracted. “低头折腰只不答”之“只不答”，写只是不答，是全诗写农忙不暇的关键词。“只”写只是，“不答”写不回答——唤其歇息，而低头折腰，只是不答。这一词写农忙之极：不是不理人，而是无暇应答；不是冷漠，而是忙碌。以“只不答”写农忙不暇，正是杨万里写农事之急的笔法——忙到话都顾不上答。