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唐 Tang · 赋 Fu rhapsody

阿房宫赋

The Epang Palace Rhapsody

杜牧

Du Mu

唐Tang Dynasty 杜牧Du Mu 赋Rhapsody 讽谏Admonition through allegory 历史History 古文观止Great Classical Prose

六王毕，四海一，蜀山兀，阿房出。
覆压三百余里，隔离天日。
骊山北构而西折，直走咸阳。
二川溶溶，流入宫墙。
五步一楼，十步一阁；
廊腰缦回，檐牙高啄；
各抱地势，钩心斗角。
盘盘焉，囷囷焉，蜂房水涡，矗不知其几千万落。

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六王毕，四海一，蜀山兀，阿房出。
覆压三百余里，隔离天日。
骊山北构而西折，直走咸阳。
二川溶溶，流入宫墙。
五步一楼，十步一阁；
廊腰缦回，檐牙高啄；
各抱地势，钩心斗角。
盘盘焉，囷囷焉，蜂房水涡，矗不知其几千万落。
长桥卧波，未云何龙？
复道行空，不霁何虹？
高低冥迷，不知西东。
歌台暖响，春光融融；
舞殿冷袖，风雨凄凄。
一日之内，一宫之间，而气候不齐。
妃嫔媵嫱，王子皇孙，辞楼下殿，辇来于秦。
朝歌夜弦，为秦宫人。
明星荧荧，开妆镜也；
绿云扰扰，梳晓鬟也；
渭流涨腻，弃脂水也；
烟斜雾横，焚椒兰也。
雷霆乍惊，宫车过也；
辘辘远听，杳不知其所之也。
一肌一容，尽态极妍，缦立远视，而望幸焉。
有不见者，三十六年。
燕赵之收藏，韩魏之经营，齐楚之精英，几世几年，剽掠其人，倚叠如山。
一旦不能有，输来其间。
鼎铛玉石，金块珠砾，弃掷逦迤，秦人视之，亦不甚惜。
嗟乎！
一人之心，千万人之心也。
秦爱纷奢，人亦念其家。
奈何取之尽锱铢，用之如泥沙？
使负栋之柱，多于南亩之农夫；
架梁之椽，多于机上之工女；
钉头磷磷，多于在庾之粟粒；
瓦缝参差，多于周身之帛缕；
直栏横槛，多于九土之城郭；
管弦呕哑，多于市人之言语。
使天下之人，不敢言而敢怒。
独夫之心，日益骄固。
戍卒叫，函谷举，楚人一炬，可怜焦土！
呜呼！
灭六国者六国也，非秦也；
族秦者秦也，非天下也。
嗟夫！
使六国各爱其人，则足以拒秦；
使秦复爱六国之人，则递三世可至万世而为君，谁得而族灭也？
秦人不暇自哀，而后人哀之；
后人哀之而不鉴之，亦使后人而复哀后人也。

The six kings perished, the four seas were unified.
Mount Shu was stripped bare, and the Epang Palace arose.
It covered more than three hundred li, shutting out sky and sun.
From the north of Mount Li it rose, then bent westward, straight to Xianyang.
Two rivers flowed into the palace walls.
Every five steps a tower, every ten steps a pavilion;
Corridors wound like waists, eaves jutted like beaks;
Each held its ground, hooks and corners contending.
Coiled, spiraled, like honeycombs and whirlpools,
towering—who knows how many thousands of courts.
Long bridges lay on waves—without clouds, how dragons?
Skywalks crossed the void—without rain, how rainbows?
High and low, dim and blurred, one cannot tell east from west.
Warmth from singing stages melts like spring light;
Cold sleeves in dance halls blow like wind and rain.
Within a single day, within one palace, the climate differs.

Consorts and maids, princes and grandsons,
left their towers and halls, came by carriage to Qin.
Morning songs, evening strings—became Qin's palace people.
Stars glittering—their mirrors opened;
Green clouds drifting—their morning coiffures;
The Wei River swelled with grease—their discarded wash;
Smoke slanted, mist crossed—their burned orchids.
Thunder startled suddenly—the palace carriages passed;
Rumbling in the distance, vanishing—who knows where they go.
Each face, each form, utterly lovely,
standing long, gazing far, hoping for the emperor's favor.
Some never saw him—for thirty-six years.

The treasures of Yan and Zhao, the accumulations of Han and Wei,
the finest of Qi and Chu—
generations, years, plundered from the people, piled like mountains.
Once they could not hold them, they were brought here.
Cauldrons were used as pans, jade as stones, gold as clods, pearls as pebbles—
scattered everywhere, the Qin people did not much regret them.

Alas! One man's heart is the heart of millions.
Qin loved extravagance; people too cared for their homes.
Why seize even a mite, yet use it like mud and sand?
Make the pillars bearing the beams more numerous than farmers in the fields;
the rafters on the frames more numerous than women at looms;
the nailheads shining more numerous than grains in the granaries;
the jagged tiles more numerous than threads of clothing;
the straight rails and crossed balustrades more numerous than city walls of the nine lands;
the din of pipes and strings more numerous than the voices of market crowds.
So the people of the realm dared not speak but dared to rage.
The solitary one's heart grew ever prouder and firmer.
Garrison soldiers cried out, Hangu Pass was taken,
the man of Chu set one torch—alas, scorched earth!

Woe! The destroyer of the six states was the six states themselves, not Qin;
the extinguisher of the Qin clan was Qin itself, not the world.
Alas! Had the six states each loved their people, they could have resisted Qin;
had Qin loved the people of the six states, it could have passed to three generations, even ten thousand, as lord—who could have annihilated it?
The Qin people had no time to mourn themselves, and later men mourn them;
later men mourn them but do not take them as mirror—
so still later men will mourn the later men.

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Meaning

The rhapsody describes the immense splendor of the Epang Palace and the extravagance of the Qin court, then turns to the rebellion and the palace's destruction by fire, concluding that the fall of the Six States and of Qin was self-inflicted. Du Mu warns that if rulers do not love their people, history will repeat its cycle of ruin.

六国灭亡，四海统一；蜀地的山砍光了，阿房宫才建造出来。它覆盖三百多里地，遮天蔽日。从骊山北面建起，折向西面，一直通到咸阳。渭水樊川浩荡，流进宫墙。五步一座楼，十步一座阁；长廊如腰带回环，飞檐如兽牙高啄；各自依着地势，心斗角凑。盘盘绕绕，曲曲弯弯，像蜂房像水涡，高耸不知有几千万座院落。长桥横卧水波，没有云怎会有龙？复道凌空，不曾雨霁怎会有虹？高低迷蒙，辨不清西东。歌台上暖意融融，如春光和煦；舞殿里冷袖飘飘，似风雨凄凄。一天之内，一宫之中，气候竟不相同。六国的妃嫔媵嫱、王子皇孙，离开了楼阁殿宇，乘车来到秦国。早晚歌唱弹弦，成了秦的宫人。明星闪烁，是她们打开的妆镜；绿云缭绕，是她们晨起梳鬟；渭水泛起油腻，是她们倾倒的脂水；烟斜雾横，是她们焚烧椒兰。雷霆忽然震响，是宫车经过；辘辘远去，不知驶向何方。每一处肌肤容颜，都极尽娇美，久久伫立远望，盼着君王临幸。有终生不得一见者，竟达三十六年。燕赵收藏的奇珍，韩魏经营的瑰宝，齐楚搜罗的精英，多少代多少年，从百姓手中抢来，堆积如山。一旦保不住，便运到这里。把宝鼎当铁锅，美玉当石头，黄金当土块，珍珠当瓦砾，丢弃满地，秦人看了，也不怎么爱惜。唉！一个人的心思，也就是千万人的心思。秦人喜爱奢华，百姓也顾念自己的家。为什么掠取时锱铢必较，用起来却视如泥沙？使负载大梁的柱子，比田里的农夫还多；架梁的椽子，比织机上的织女还多；钉头粼粼，比粮仓的米粒还多；瓦缝参差，比身上的丝缕还多；直栏横槛，比九州的城郭还多；管弦嘈杂，比市人的言语还多。让天下人不敢说话只敢含怒。独夫的心，一天天更骄横顽固。戍卒一声呐喊，函谷关被攻破，楚人一把火，可怜化作焦土！呜呼！灭六国的，是六国自己，不是秦国；灭秦族的，是秦自己，不是天下人。唉！假使六国各自爱惜百姓，就足以抵抗秦国；假使秦再爱六国百姓，那就可以传位三世乃至万世而为君，谁还能灭它呢？秦人来不及自哀，而后人来哀悼；后人哀悼却不以之为鉴，也只好让更后的人再来哀悼后人了。

Appreciation

Du Mu's masterpiece uses the rapid fall of Qin to admonish Emperor Jingzong of Tang for his lavish building projects. The opening twelve characters—'The six kings perished, the four seas were unified; Mount Shu was stripped bare, and the Epang Palace arose'—set a monumental tone. The rhapsody then vividly depicts the palace's grandeur and the palace ladies' sorrow, only to pivot sharply with 'Garrison soldiers cried out, Hangu Pass was taken, the man of Chu set one torch—alas, scorched earth!' The stark contrast reveals the principle that extravagance leads to ruin. The final two sections move from narration to argument, with 'One man's heart is the heart of millions' indicting oppressive taxation, and 'The destroyer of the six states was the six states themselves' offering a profound historical insight. The concluding line—'Later men mourn them but do not take them as mirror'—elevates the admonition to an eternal warning. The work interweaves parallel and prose styles with majestic force, marking the pinnacle of Tang regulated rhapsody and a model of 'using the past to satirize the present.'

【白话串讲】 “六王毕，四海一，蜀山兀，阿房出”——杜牧写《阿房宫赋》：阿房宫建成。“覆压三百余里，隔离天日”——“五步一楼，十步一阁”——“秦爱纷奢，人亦念其家。奈何取之尽锱铢，用之如泥沙”——“秦人不暇自哀，而后人哀之；后人哀之而不鉴之，亦使后人而复哀后人也”——他借阿房宫，讽当朝。【意象与手法】以“六王毕，四海一，蜀山兀，阿房出”十二字起势，先极写阿房宫之宏丽与宫人之哀怨；“戍卒叫，函谷举，楚人一炬，可怜焦土”急转直下，于强烈反差中揭示奢靡必亡之理；末两段由叙入议，“灭六国者六国也，非秦也”收束历史洞见。骈散相间、气势磅礴。【情感与主旨】杜牧借秦之速亡讽谏唐敬宗大兴土木的千古名篇，以“后人哀之而不鉴之，亦使后人而复哀后人”将讽谏之意推至无穷。既是唐代律赋的巅峰，也是“借古讽今”散文传统的典范。【名句点睛】常考“秦人不暇自哀，而后人哀之；后人哀之而不鉴之，亦使后人而复哀后人也”以循环哀鉴讽当朝；“灭六国者六国也，非秦也”以六国自灭写历史洞见。

Background

Written around the first year of the Baoli era (825) of Emperor Jingzong of Tang, this rhapsody was composed when the young emperor indulged in extravagance, building palaces and hunting without restraint. Du Mu, styled Muzhi, was an outstanding late-Tang poet and prose master from the Jingzhao Du family, known together with Li Shangyin as the 'Little Li-Du.' He was only in his twenties when he wrote this piece, using Qin as a mirror to warn his own dynasty. The Epang Palace, originally begun by Qin Shi Huang with over 700,000 convict laborers, remained unfinished when Qin fell; Xiang Yu's fire reduced it to ashes. Du Mu's exaggerated description of its splendor is designed to intensify the tragic turn. In the mid-to-late Tang, with regional military governors, eunuch power, and factional strife, Du Mu's rhapsody was a literary act of remonstrance. Reading it requires understanding the tradition of using antiquity to criticize the present, and seeing how a rhapsody could be both art and a mirror held up to the emperor.

《阿房宫赋》是杜牧借秦之速亡讽谏唐敬宗大兴土木的千古名篇，约作于唐敬宗宝历元年（825），时敬宗在位，奢侈无度，大起宫室、游猎无节，朝政昏暗。杜牧，字牧之，晚唐杰出诗人、古文家，出身京兆杜氏，与李商隐并称小李杜，尤擅咏史怀古与政论之赋。他作此赋时年仅二十余岁，以秦为镜，借阿房宫之兴废，婉讽当朝勿蹈秦之覆辙。赋中所写阿房宫，本为秦始皇征发刑徒七十余万所筑，未成而秦亡，项羽一炬成焦土；杜牧极写其宏丽，正为后文急转之悲蓄势。唐代自安史之乱后，藩镇割据、宦官专权、党争不断，至敬宗朝国势更衰，而统治者仍耽于营建游乐，杜牧此赋，正是以文学行使谏官之责。读此赋，须把它放回中唐以后国势下行、士人以古讽今的传统里，理解一篇辞赋如何既是艺术品，也是投向帝王的一面镜子，字字铺陈，句句都是忧心，是一个青年士人对整个时代奢靡发出的孤直之鸣。

Art

The rhapsody opens with twelve characters of tremendous compression, then expands into lavish description: the palace covering three hundred li, towers every five steps, pavilions every ten, winding corridors, soaring eaves, long bridges, and skywalks. Du Mu uses hyperbole and parallelism to depict Qin's extravagance. He then shifts to the palace ladies' misery and the squandering of treasures, comparing cauldrons to pans and jade to stones. A series of 'more than' comparisons—pillars vs. farmers, rafters vs. weavers, nailheads vs. grain, tiles vs. threads, rails vs. city walls, music vs. speech—drives home the oppression. The sudden turn at 'Garrison soldiers cried out' brings the whole edifice down. The final sections shift to argument, with 'One man's heart is the heart of millions' and 'The destroyer of the six states was the six states themselves.' The art lies in its interweaving of parallel and prose styles, its majestic momentum, its violent contrast between extreme luxury and utter destruction, and its subtle admonition without overt preaching. It is at once a palace, a historical essay, and a remonstrance.

全赋以六王毕，四海一，蜀山兀，阿房出十二字起势，先极写阿房宫之宏丽——覆压三百余里、五步一楼十步一阁、廊腰缦回檐牙高啄、长桥卧波复道行空，以铺排与夸饰写尽秦之奢；继而写宫人哀怨、珍宝如土，以鼎铛玉石、金块珠砾写秦人之侈而不惜；再以南亩农夫、机上工女、庾粟、帛缕、城郭、言语作比，以一组多于的排比，极写剥削之酷、独夫之骄；终以戍卒叫，函谷举，楚人一炬，可怜焦土急转直下。赋末两段由叙入议，以一人之心，千万人之心也直指赋敛之酷，以灭六国者六国也收束历史洞见，结以后人哀之而不鉴之，亦使后人而复哀后人的名句。其艺术之要，在于骈散相间、气势磅礴，在于极奢与极灭的强烈反差，在于借古讽今而不露谏痕，既为唐代律赋巅峰，亦为散文讽谏传统之典范，叙事、描写、议论、抒情四美并具，使一篇赋同时是宫殿、是史论、是谏章。

Allusions

The rhapsody draws on Qin history and Confucian ideals of benevolent governance. 'Mount Shu was stripped bare' alludes to the historical conscription of hundreds of thousands of laborers to build the Epang Palace and Mount Li tomb, stripping the mountains bare. 'The man of Chu set one torch' refers to Xiang Yu's burning of the Qin palaces, a fire said to have lasted three months. 'One man's heart is the heart of millions' echoes Mencius's belief in the common heart of mankind and the principle of putting the people first. 'The din of pipes and strings more numerous than the voices of market crowds' alludes to the ancient warnings against exhausting the people. 'The destroyer of the six states was the six states themselves' reverses the conventional view, placing blame on self-destruction rather than the enemy—similar to Su Xun's 'On the Six States.' The final lines resonate with the Book of Songs' 'the Yin mirror is not far' and the Zuo Zhuan's lessons, turning a single dynasty's fall into a recurring historical paradigm.

此赋用典与借意，集中在秦史与儒家仁政之训。蜀山兀，暗用《史记》秦始皇发黔首刑徒七十余万筑阿房、骊山，山林为之一空的史实，兀字写尽伐木之酷；楚人一炬，指项羽入咸阳、烧秦宫室火三月不灭，杜牧以可怜焦土收束，是把史书中的惨烈凝成四字。一人之心，千万人之心也，化用《孟子》人心之同然与民本思想，直指赋敛之不合天道；管弦呕哑，多于市人之言语，暗合《国语》《左传》关于劳民伤财的训诫。灭六国者六国也，非秦也，翻用《六国论》式史观，把亡因归于自身而非敌国，与苏洵《六国论》赂秦而力亏之论异曲同工，皆以古鉴今。后人哀之而不鉴之，亦使后人而复哀后人，则遥接《诗经》殷鉴不远与《左传》训典，把一朝之亡写成可循环的历史教训。这些故实与义理，被杜牧组织成一篇借古讽今的谏章，使辞赋获得了政论的重量，旧史与新忧在赋中浑然一体。

Commentary

This rhapsody is universally regarded as the pinnacle of Tang regulated rhapsody and a model of using the past to criticize the present. It has been included in 'Guwen Guanzhi' and recited for centuries. Critics from the Qing dynasty praised its opening for already containing the seeds of the dynasty's ruin, and saw the key word as 'mirror.' Modern scholars, including Fan Wenlan, have praised Du Mu's courage in using a rhapsody as remonstrance. The interweaving of parallel and prose styles gives it both the splendor of the fu tradition and the vigor of ancient prose. The final line transcends the specific case of Qin to become a universal warning about historical cycles, retaining its power to this day. It also anticipated the prose rhapsodies of the Song dynasty, such as Su Shi's 'Red Cliff Rhapsody.' Reading it, one hears the voice of a young scholar using literature as a weapon against the extravagance of his age, with a concern that remains undimmed.

《阿房宫赋》向来被誉为唐代律赋的巅峰与借古讽今的典范，入选《古文观止》而传诵不衰。宋人吴楚材、吴调侯评其起下语已蓄全天宝荒淫之慨，以为结穴在鉴字；近人论杜牧，多以之并观其咏史之深，范文澜《中国通史》亦许其以赋为谏的胆识。此赋之妙，论者多在骈散相间的笔力——既保持赋体铺张扬厉之丽，又得古文畅达议论之骨，丽而不浮，议而不枯。亦有学者指出，赋末后人哀之而不鉴之，亦使后人而复哀后人，是全文的文眼，把具体的秦亡升华为普遍的历史循环论，至今读来仍有镜鉴之力。其影响所及，不仅开宋代文赋（如苏轼《赤壁赋》）之先声，更确立了中国文学借古讽今、以美为刺的传统。读此赋，当于宏丽字面下，听见一个二十余岁的士人，以辞章为戟，向整个时代的奢靡发出的孤直之鸣，以及那份至今不冷的忧患之心。借古讽今、以美为刺，遂成中国文学一大传统。

Prosody

Form Wen fu (Tang prose rhapsody, mixing parallel and free prose, mainly four-six rhythm, with irregular rhyme changes)文赋（唐赋，骈散相间，以四六句式为主，间以长短错落，押韵错落，属借古讽今的散体赋）

Rhyme The fu form allows freer rhyme than poetry. This piece changes rhyme according to meaning, sometimes rhyming every other sentence, sometimes consecutively, with varied rhyme categories, suiting its shifting tone from description to argument.赋体押韵较诗自由，本文随文意换韵，或隔句押、或连句押，韵部错落，宜诵宜论，与内容由铺陈到议论的起伏相应。

Tone pattern As a prose rhapsody, it does not strictly follow regulated verse tonal patterns. Instead, it uses four-six parallel sentences as its backbone and free prose for momentum: four-character lines like 'Liu wang bi, si hai yi' are crisp; six-character lines like 'lang yao man hui, yan ya gao zhuo' are balanced; long irregular sentences with function words like 'yi,' 'ye,' and 'zai' create undulating cadence. The marriage of parallel and prose is the key to its musicality.文赋本不拘近体平仄，而以四六骈句为骨、散句为气：四字句如六王毕，四海一，节奏斩截；六字句如廊腰缦回，檐牙高啄，骈俪匀整；间以参差长句与虚字（矣、也、哉），使声情跌宕。骈散相济，是其声调之妙。

Reading note The piece belongs to the Tang wen fu, inheriting the expansive splendor of Han rhapsody while gaining the lucid argumentative power of mid-Tang ancient prose. The four-six structure is predominant: four-character lines for assertion, six-character lines for rich description, interspersed with longer sentences and exclamatory particles. The rhyme is flexible, changing with the content, making it both sonorous and fluid—ideal for admonition and recitation. Du Mu's handling of the form makes this the crown of Tang rhapsody and a forerunner of Song prose rhapsody.《阿房宫赋》属唐代文赋（散体赋），既承汉大赋铺张扬厉之丽，又得中唐古文畅达议论之骨，骈散相间，是其声律最显著的特征。句式以四六为主——四字句如蜀山兀，阿房出，斩截有力；六字句如五步一楼，十步一阁、廊腰缦回，檐牙高啄，骈俪匀整，宜于铺陈宫室之盛；间以参差长句与虚字（矣、也、哉、呜呼），使声情随内容由丽转沉、由叙转议。押韵方面，赋体较诗自由，本文随文意换韵，或隔句或连句，韵部错落，读来既富铿锵，又不拘板滞，正合借古讽今、宜诵宜论的体性。杜牧以赋体行之，丽而不浮、议而不枯，使《阿房宫赋》既为唐代律赋之冠，亦开宋人文赋（如苏轼《赤壁赋》）之先声，足见文体与情志相生之妙。

Line by line

六王毕，四海一，蜀山兀，阿房出。

The six kings perished, the four seas were unified; Mount Shu was stripped bare, and the Epang Palace arose. This opening twelve characters condense the entire historical process and set the tone: unification achieved at the cost of stripping a mountain bare for a palace.

The six kings are done, the four seas are one; the Shu hills are bare, the Epang Palace rises.

起笔十二字，是全赋最凝练、也最有力的一段，被誉为一篇之纲。六王毕，四海一，写天下大势的收束——六国亡、秦统一，是历史的横切面；蜀山兀，阿房出，则把统一后的第一桩大事落到大兴土木上：山被砍光，宫才立起。这十二字的好，在短、在密、在冷——不铺陈、不抒情，只把因果链亮给你看，而因果本身已足够惊心：一统的伟业，竟是以砍光一座山的代价，换来一座宫殿。蜀山兀三字，是极静的残酷，山沉默地秃了，宫喧嚣地起了，对比里藏着后来的灭亡。杜牧以十二字定调，后面洋洋洒洒的铺陈与最后的焦土，其实都从这十二字里长出来，是所谓笼盖全篇的起势。

The opening twelve characters are the rhapsody's most condensed and most forceful passage, hailed as the thesis of the piece. The six kings are done, the four seas are one writes the closing of the world's great trend - the six states fallen, Qin united, a cross-section of history. The Shu hills are bare, the Epang Palace rises lands the first great act after unification on the great building: the hills stripped bare, the palace at last raised. The beauty of these twelve characters lies in the short, the dense, the cold - no unfolding, no lyrical outpouring, only showing you the chain of cause and effect, and the cause and effect itself already heart-stirring: the great work of unification was, at the price of stripping bare a mountain, exchanged for one palace. The three words the Shu hills are bare are a most still cruelty, the hills silently bald, the palace clamorously rising, the contrast hiding the later ruin. Du Mu fixes the key in twelve characters, the later grand unfolding and the final scorched earth all growing from these twelve, the so-called opening force that overarches the whole.

戍卒叫，函谷举，楚人一炬，可怜焦土！

Garrison soldiers cried out, Hangu Pass was taken, the man of Chu set one torch—alas, scorched earth! This is the dramatic climax and turning point, condensing the uprising and destruction into three images.

唉！一个人的心思，也就是千万人的心思。秦人喜爱奢华，百姓也顾念自己的家。为什么掠取时锱铢必较，用起来却视如泥沙？使负载大梁的柱子，比田里的农夫还多；架梁的椽子，比织机上的织女还多；钉头粼粼，比粮仓的米粒还多；瓦缝参差，比身上的丝缕还多；直栏横槛，比九州的城郭还多；管弦嘈杂，比市人的言语还多。让天下人不敢说话只敢含怒。独夫的心，一天天更骄横顽固。戍卒一声呐喊，函谷关被攻破，楚人一把火，可怜化作焦土！

The conscripts cry out, Hangu Pass is taken; the man of Chu applies one torch, and alas, it is a stretch of scorched earth!

这是全赋由极奢陡转极灭的转捩，也是最惊心的一笔。前面写了多少楼阁、多少宫人、多少珍宝，都在这十二字里轰然倒下。戍卒叫，函谷举，写民变之骤起、关卡之易破，陈胜一呼而天下响应，秦之强固竟如此不堪一击；楚人一炬，可怜焦土，写项羽一把火烧尽一切，可怜二字是杜牧忍不住的叹息——那么宏丽的宫殿，终成焦土，奢与灭在火光里画了等号。这一结的力道，在前面铺陈越盛，此处反差越烈，读者刚随文字走进金碧辉煌，转眼已立在一片灰烬前。杜牧以极简的叙事收束极繁的描写，举重若轻，把兴废之理浓缩成一声火响，正是赋体蓄势而后急转的典型笔法，亦为后文的历史议论做好了最痛的注脚。

This is the turning of the rhapsody from extreme luxury to extreme ruin, and the most heart-stirring stroke. However many towers, however many palace women, however many treasures were written before, all crash down in these twelve characters. The conscripts cry out, Hangu Pass is taken writes the popular rising's suddenness and the pass's easy breach, Chen Sheng's one cry and the world responding, Qin's strength so easily shattered. The man of Chu applies one torch, and alas, it is a stretch of scorched earth! writes Xiang Yu burning all, the word alas Du Mu's uncontrollable sigh - that grand palace at last scorched earth, luxury and ruin equated in the fire. The force of this close lies in the more the unfolding before, the fiercer the contrast here; the reader has just followed the words into gold and jade, and in a moment stands before ashes. Du Mu closing the extreme richness with the extreme simplicity, lifting the heavy as light, condensing the law of rise and fall into one sound of fire, exactly the rhapsody's typical method of gathering force and then the abrupt turn, and the most bitter footnote for the later historical argument.

灭六国者六国也，非秦也；族秦者秦也，非天下也。

From the north of Mount Li it rose, then bent westward, straight to Xianyang. The directionality conveys the continuous expanse of the complex.

呜呼！灭六国的，是六国自己，不是秦国；灭秦族的，是秦自己，不是天下人。唉！假使六国各自爱惜百姓，就足以抵抗秦国；假使秦再爱六国百姓，那就可以传位三世乃至万世而为君，谁还能灭它呢？秦人来不及自哀，而后人来哀悼；后人哀悼却不以之为鉴，也只好让更后的人再来哀悼后人了。

It was the six states themselves that destroyed the six states, not Qin; it was Qin itself that extinguished Qin, not the world.

这是赋末的核心论断，也是杜牧借古讽今的文眼。灭六国者六国也，非秦也；族秦者秦也，非天下也，以两组对称的判断，把亡国的责任完全归于自身——六国的灭亡怪不得秦，是六国自己不争；秦的灭亡也怪不得天下人，是秦自己失了民心。这个翻案式的史观，比简单地归罪于敌国深刻得多：它直指统治者的自取覆灭，从而为当下的唐敬宗敲响警钟。句式上，两组非……也的排比，斩钉截铁、不容辩驳，是议论文最硬的骨。杜牧把前面所有的铺陈——奢、剥、怒、灭——全部收束到这一句因果律上，使一篇辞赋从宫殿的废墟，升华为政治的箴言，亦见其以赋为谏、以文载道的用心。

This is the core judgment of the rhapsody's end, and Du Mu's eye of using the past to satirize the present. It was the six states themselves that destroyed the six states, not Qin; it was Qin itself that extinguished Qin, not the world, uses two symmetrical judgments to lay the responsibility for ruin wholly on the self - the six states' fall is not Qin's fault, but the six states' own failure; Qin's fall is not the world's fault, but Qin's own losing of the people's hearts. This reversal-style view of history is far deeper than simply blaming the enemy: it points straight at the ruler's self-bringing-down, thereby sounding the alarm for the present Emperor Jingzong. In syntax, the two sets of not... either parallelism are decisive and beyond rebuttal, the hardest bone of argumentation. Du Mu gathers all the unfolding before - luxury, plunder, wrath, ruin - into this one law of cause and effect, raising the rhapsody from the palace's ruins to a political maxim, and showing his purpose of using the rhapsody as remonstrance and the writing as the vehicle of the Way.

Study

Word focus

兀 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 兀是全赋起笔最冷的一个字，也是写尽秦之暴的横截面。蜀山兀，言蜀地的山被砍得光秃秃，一个兀字，把大兴土木的代价以一个静默的秃山呈现出来——山不会喊痛，却以秃立控诉。这个字的好处，在它以极简的形貌写极重的罪恶：不写征夫流血、不写民力凋残，只写山秃了，而读者自会从秃里想见伐木之众、徭役之酷。兀与后面的阿房出紧接，形成触目惊心的因果：山秃，宫起；自然之毁，换来人间之侈。杜牧以一字立骨，使起势十二字既有历史的重量，又有批判的锋芒，亦为全文奢极而灭的逻辑埋下了第一道伏线，是炼字见骨的典范。

不敢言而敢怒 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 不敢言而敢怒，是写秦末民心的传神之笔，也是全赋由叙入议的关键一跃。让天下人不敢说话只敢含怒，写尽暴政之下民心的状态：口被封住，怒却封不住，沉默里蓄积着即将引爆的火山。这七个字（含而字）的妙处，在敢与不敢的对照——不敢言是高压的结果，敢怒是天性的反弹，二者并存，正是政权危殆的征兆。杜牧以此收束前面的剥削排比，把柱、椽、钉、瓦之比的冷数字，落到一个活生生的、忍无可忍的民心上。不敢言而敢怒，几乎可以当作一切专制末世的画像，它预言了戍卒叫、楚人炬的必然，亦见杜牧不仅写宫殿，更写政治病理学，一字一句都是对统治者的警告。

可怜焦土 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 可怜焦土是写秦亡最沉的四个字，也是全赋情感的总收束。楚人一炬之后，前面所有覆压三百余里、五步一楼十步一阁的宏丽，统统归于一堆焦土；可怜二字，是杜牧忍不住的一声叹息——可怜的不是火，而是那因奢而速朽的必然，是无数民力化作灰烬的荒诞。焦土二字，以最枯最冷的意象，对照前文最丽最热的铺陈，反差之大，直击人心。这个结尾的不写议论、只写结果，恰恰是最有力的议论：你建得再宏伟，一把火就够了；你奢得再尽兴，焦土就够了。可怜焦土因此成了中国文学里写兴废最经典的四字，亦为后文灭六国者六国也的论断，铺好了最痛的、看得见的事实底色。