唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
巴女谣
Ballad of a Ba Girl
巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时。
不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱。
By the river, lotus threads and water-chestnut leaves at her side.
She fears not losing her way home when the sun grows low—
For she remembers the plantains rising past the hibiscus fence.
Meaning
A Ba girl rides her ox singing a folk song by the riverside; though dusk falls she is unafraid of losing her way home, for she marks her house by the plantains that tower above the hibiscus hedge. The poem captures the innocence and cheerful confidence of a country girl, a bright, fresh vignette of pastoral life.
巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时。不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The speaker describes a Ba girl riding an ox and singing the Zhuzhi (a Sichuan folk tune), herding by a riverside lush with lotus threads and water-chestnut leaves. As dusk approaches she feels no worry about mistaking her way home, because she remembers the plantains that grow taller than the hibiscus hedge marking her house. [Structure] The quatrain divides neatly: the first couplet sets the scene (girl, ox, song, river plants), the second turns to her inner calm. The pivot is the negation 'fears not', which opens the closing image of the plantain-and-hibiscus landmark. [Imagery] Yu Hu sketches a vivid, sunlit pastoral: the girl's song, the green lotus and chestnut leaves, and the homely 'plantain above the hibiscus fence' used as a child's map of home. The detail is delightful and unpretentious. [Tone] Bright, clear, and affectionate, the poem belongs to the pastoral mode but avoids moralizing; its charm lies in its lightness and the girl's artless self-assurance.
【白话串讲】 于鹄写《巴女谣》：“巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时”——“不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱”——巴女骑牛唱竹枝——记得芭蕉出槿篱。 【意象与手法】 “巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时”写巴女骑牛唱曲；“不愁日暮还家错”写不愁日暮；结以“记得芭蕉出槿篱”以芭蕉槿篱写认家标记。明快清新。 【情感与主旨】 于鹄写田园之作，写巴女骑牛唱竹枝、认芭蕉槿篱归家的情景，展现巴地少女的天真烂漫，是田园诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时”写巴女唱曲；“不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱”以芭蕉槿篱写认家。
Background
Yu Hu (fl. c. 770), a mid-Tang poet who lived as a recluse in the Hanyang mountains (near present-day Wuhan). His surviving corpus is small but includes finely observed rural and folk-themed poems. 'Ballad of a Ba Girl' depicts life in the Ba region (eastern Sichuan), drawing on local colour and the Zhuzhi song tradition. It remains a frequently anthologized example of Tang pastoral charm.
《巴女谣》为唐代诗人于鹄所作诗。于鹄（约770年前后在世），中唐诗人，曾隐居汉阳（今湖北武汉）山中。此诗写景田园，为咏巴女之作。诗中「巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时」写巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时；「不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱」写不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱。于鹄此诗以写景田园、记得芭蕉出槿篱写其田园之情，明快清新，是于鹄诗中的名篇。此篇《巴女谣》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《巴女谣》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《巴女谣》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。
Art
The poem's craft lies in its bright, clean composition and its use of a female figure to carry feeling. Two couplets: the opening sets the girl riding, singing, and the riverside foliage; the close shifts to her untroubled mind. The negation 'fears not' is the hinge, and the final line replaces anxiety with a concrete, childlike landmark—the plantains above the hibiscus hedge. By condensing much into few words, Yu Hu keeps the scene crisp: the song, the green leaves, and the home-mark fuse into one luminous impression. The diction is plain yet precise; 'Zhuzhi' invokes a regional folk song without erudition, and the hibiscus fence closes the frame with quiet tenderness. The result feels spontaneous and fresh, a model of pastoral lightness.
此诗艺术上以「明快清新、以女写情」见长。全诗共四句两联，由巴女骑牛唱竹枝而不愁日暮还家错。起「巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时」写巴女骑牛唱竹枝：巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时；结「不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱」写不愁日暮还家错：不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱。全诗以女写情，由巴女骑牛唱竹枝而记得芭蕉出槿篱，明快清新，是于鹄诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。
Allusions
The 'Zhuzhi' refers to the Zhuzhi Ci, a Ba-Shu folk song form later adopted by literati such as Liu Yuxi; its presence signals authentic local song. The 'hibiscus fence' (a hedge of hibiscus) is a humble garden marker rather than a learned allusion, but it draws on the convention of the rustic fence in pastoral poetry. The poet weaves these references seamlessly, grounding the girl's world in real regional custom rather than bookish citation, so the local colour reads as lived experience.
诗中「巴女骑牛唱竹枝藕丝菱叶傍江时」「不愁日暮还家错记得芭蕉出槿篱」等语，皆含典故故实。「巴女骑牛唱竹枝藕丝菱叶傍江时」用竹枝之典（竹枝为巴蜀民歌），写巴女骑牛唱竹枝藕丝菱叶傍江时；「不愁日暮还家错记得芭蕉出槿篱」用槿篱之典（槿篱为木槿篱笆），写不愁日暮还家错记得芭蕉出槿篱。诗人以竹枝、槿篱之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把写景田园之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。
Commentary
Later readers prize 'Ballad of a Ba Girl' as a gem of Tang pastoral lightness. The poem is admired for its artless brightness—a girl's song and a plantain-marked home standing in for the whole warmth of rural life. Though brief, it has been repeatedly anthologized because it captures, without sermon or melancholy, the spontaneous joy of a child of the countryside. Its reputation rests on exactly what the prosody note observes: sound and feeling move together, so that the tidy seven-syllable lines seem to hum the Zhuzhi tune itself.
这首《巴女谣》，是于鹄写写景田园之作，写巴女骑牛唱竹枝、不愁日暮还家错、记得芭蕉出槿篱之情，明快清新。起「巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时」——巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时。写巴女骑牛唱竹枝：巴女骑牛唱竹枝、藕丝菱叶傍江时——唱竹枝、傍江时；结「不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱」——不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱。写不愁日暮还家错：不愁日暮还家错、记得芭蕉出槿篱——还家错、出槿篱。这「不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱」，是全诗之结：以记得芭蕉出槿篱写其田园。全诗明快清新，以女写情，正是于鹄诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。
Prosody
Line by line
巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时。
A Ba girl rides an ox and sings the Zhuzhi song, by the river where lotus threads and water-chestnut leaves grow.
巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时。
The Ba girl rides the ox singing the Bamboo Branch song, when lotus threads and water-chestnut leaves line the river.
起句写巴女骑牛唱竹枝，起笔即见其巴女。「巴女骑牛唱竹枝」用竹枝之典写巴女骑牛唱竹枝，「巴女骑牛」写巴女骑牛、「唱竹枝」写唱竹枝；「藕丝菱叶傍江时」写藕丝菱叶傍江时，「藕丝菱叶」写藕丝菱叶、「傍江时」写傍江时。一句写巴女骑牛唱竹枝藕丝菱叶傍江时，以巴女骑牛唱竹枝写唱竹枝、以藕丝菱叶傍江时写傍江时，写尽巴女骑牛唱竹枝、藕丝菱叶傍江时之情。以女起兴，明快而清新，是「以女起兴」的妙笔。
The opening line writes the Ba girl riding the ox and singing the Bamboo Branch song, the Ba girl at once. The words Ba girl rides the ox write the girl on the water buffalo; sings the Bamboo Branch song uses the allusion to the Bamboo Branch lyrics. Lotus threads and water-chestnut leaves line the river writes the season by the stream. The line writes to the full the feeling of the girl riding and singing, with the lotus and chestnut leaves by the river. Rising through the girl, bright and fresh, the fine brush of rising through the girl.
不愁日暮还家错，
She fears not mistaking her way home when the sun sinks low,
不愁日暮还家错，
She does not fear that dusk may make her miss the way home,
此句写不愁日暮还家错，是全诗写还家之态的关键。「不愁日暮」写不愁日暮，「不愁」写不愁、「日暮」写日暮；「还家错」写还家错，「还家」写还家、「错」写错。一句写不愁日暮还家错，以不愁日暮写日暮、以还家错写还家错，写尽不愁日暮还家错之情。以家写情，明快而清新，是「以家写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。
This line writes she does not fear that dusk may make her miss the way home, the key of the whole's writing the homeward posture. The words does not fear write the fearlessness; dusk writes the evening falling; miss the way home writes the possible error of the road. The line writes to the full the feeling of not fearing the dusk and the missing home. Writing feeling through the home, bright and fresh, the eye-dotting brush. This line writes deep meaning in a few words, feeling and rhyme both excellent, exactly the eye of the whole; within the words it hides the undercurrents, lodging the winding within the plain, the more to be savored again and again.
记得芭蕉出槿篱。
For she remembers the plantains rising past the hibiscus fence.
记得芭蕉出槿篱。
for she remembers the plantain rising above the hibiscus fence.
结句写记得芭蕉出槿篱，是全诗立意的落点。「记得芭蕉」写记得芭蕉，「记得」写记得、「芭蕉」写芭蕉；「出槿篱」用槿篱之典写出槿篱，「出」写出、「槿篱」写槿篱。一句写记得芭蕉出槿篱，以记得芭蕉写芭蕉、以出槿篱写出槿篱，写尽记得芭蕉出槿篱之情。以蕉写情，明快而清新，是全诗最动人处，也是「以蕉写情」的点睛之笔。
The closing line writes for she remembers the plantain rising above the hibiscus fence, the landing of the whole's bent. The words she remembers write the recognition; the plantain writes the banana; rising above the hibiscus fence uses the hibiscus fence of the cottage. The line writes to the full the feeling of remembering the plantain over the fence. Writing feeling through the plantain, bright and fresh, the most moving place of the whole and the eye-dotting brush.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Su Shi's lyric voices lofty, open-hearted reflection ('I long to ride the wind and return'), while Yu Hu's quatrain finds the same brightness in a Ba girl singing by the river. Read together they show two modes—Song lyric vastness and Tang quatrain intimacy—of serene, open feeling.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒」，写田园感怀、明快旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；于鹄《巴女谣》则以「巴女骑牛唱竹枝，藕丝菱叶傍江时」「记得芭蕉出槿篱」写唱竹枝、出槿篱。两诗同写田园感怀、明快旷达：一写我欲乘风归去、以乘风写超然，一写巴女骑牛唱竹枝藕丝菱叶傍江时、以竹枝写田园；一为苏轼之旷达、一为于鹄之明快，并读正可见诗写「田园感怀」的两种笔法，皆于田园之中见明快。
八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Ba Sheng Gan Zhou: Facing the Rivulets of Dusk Rain Falling on River and Sky 柳永 · 同写江畔凝望、明快清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写不愁日暮还家错记得芭蕉出槿篱，皆于江畔之中见凝望 Both gaze upon a riverside sceneLiu Yong's slow lyric dwells on dusk rain over river and sky with a clear, pretty melancholy, whereas Yu Hu's poem turns the riverside into a bright pastoral with a girl's song. Both use the river setting, but one lingers in longing, the other in cheerful ease.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写江畔凝望、明快清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；于鹄《巴女谣》则以「不愁日暮还家错，记得芭蕉出槿篱」「藕丝菱叶傍江时」写出槿篱、傍江时。两诗同写江畔凝望、明快清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写不愁日暮还家错记得芭蕉出槿篱、以芭蕉写田园；一为柳永之清丽、一为于鹄之明快，并读正可见诗写「江畔凝望」的两种笔法，皆于江畔之中见凝望。