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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

客从

The Guest

杜甫

Du Fu

客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠。
珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书。
缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须。
开视化为血，哀今征敛无。

A guest came from the southern ocean, and gave me a pearl from the sea-folk.
Within the pearl were hidden characters, but try as I might I could not make out the writing.
I sealed it in my chests for many years, awaiting the government's need.
When at last I opened it to look, it had turned to blood — alas, today there is nothing left to levy.
Listen

Meaning

In this short allegory, a guest from the southern sea gives Du Fu a marvelous pearl bearing hidden, illegible characters. The poet locks it away for years, waiting for the state to demand it; when he finally opens the chest, the pearl has turned to blood — the people have been squeezed dry. Written in the hard years of continuous warfare and ruinous taxation, the poem is a mordant satire on predatory levy-taking: the realm has already been drained, and there is nothing left to exact.

客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠。珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书。缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须。开视化为血，哀今征敛无。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A traveler arrives from the far southern ocean with a gift: a pearl from the sea-folk, the jiao-ren of legend who weep pearls. Inside the pearl are hidden words, yet they cannot be read as writing. The poet seals the treasure in his chests and waits, saving it for some future demand of the state. When the need comes and he opens the case, the pearl has become blood. The last line states the poem's grief: the exactions of today have left nothing to take. [Structure] Eight lines, four couplets, moving from gift, to mystery, to long preservation, to horrifying revelation — a fable that tightens like a spring. [Imagery] The pearl that becomes blood is the poem's masterstroke: a treasure of the people transformed into their life-blood, already spilled. Nothing is explained; the allegory's silence is its accusation.

【白话串讲】 杜甫写《客从》：“客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠”——“珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书”——“缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须”——“开视化为血，哀今征敛无”——他写征敛之苦——开视化为血。 【意象与手法】 “客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠”写南溟遗珠；“珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书”写珠中隐字；“缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须”写箧笥久藏；结以“开视化为血，哀今征敛无”以珠化血写征敛之苦。沉郁讽喻。 【情感与主旨】 杜甫写寓言讽喻之作，以泉客珠化为血的寓言写百姓被搜刮一空、征敛无以为继的惨状，是杜甫写民生疾苦的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠”写南溟遗珠；“开视化为血，哀今征敛无”以珠化血写征敛之苦。

Background

Du Fu (712–770), styled Zimei, the 'Sage of Poetry,' lived through the An Lushan Rebellion and the chronic wars and fiscal crises of the mid-eighth century. 'The Guest' belongs to his late, hardest years, when the Tang state, desperate for revenue, piled levy upon levy upon a drained populace. The poem's fierce brevity — eight lines — is characteristic of Du Fu's late allegorical style, in which deceptively simple fables carry concentrated moral anger. It stands among the sharpest satires on taxation in Chinese poetry, written as the poet watched the machinery of requisition consume the last resources of the people.

《客从》为唐代诗人杜甫所作诗。杜甫（712—770），字子美，号少陵野老，巩县人，唐代诗人。此诗写寓言讽喻，为咏泉客珠之作。诗中「客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠」写客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠；「珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书」写珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书；「缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须」写缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须；「开视化为血，哀今征敛无」写开视化为血，哀今征敛无。杜甫此诗以寓言讽喻、哀今征敛无写其讽喻之情，沉郁讽喻，是杜甫诗中的名篇。此篇《客从》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《客从》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 art is 'somber satire, feeling expressed through the pearl.' Its eight five-character lines tell a complete fable in four movements: the gift of the marvelous pearl, the illegible hidden characters, the long sealed preservation awaiting the state's need, and the final transformation into blood with the single cry 'alas, today there is nothing left to levy.' The power lies in restraint: the poet never explains the allegory, never names the government's cruelty, never laments directly. Instead the pearl's silent change into blood does the accusing. The plain, almost childlike diction ('a guest came,' 'I opened it to look') makes the revelation land with double force, and the compressed narrative — gift, mystery, waiting, horror — shows Du Fu's late mastery of the short allegorical poem.

此诗艺术上以「沉郁讽喻、以珠写情」见长。全诗共八句四联，由客从南溟来而珠中有隐字而缄之箧笥久。起「客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠」写客从南溟来：客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠；「珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书」写珠中有隐字：珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书；「缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须」写缄之箧笥久：缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须；结「开视化为血，哀今征敛无」写哀今征敛无：开视化为血，哀今征敛无。全诗以珠写情，由客从南溟来而哀今征敛无，沉郁讽喻，是杜甫诗中的名篇。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。

Allusions

'Southern ocean' (nanming) is the far southern sea of legend, home of marvels. 'Sea-folk' (quanke, lit. 'spring guest') refers to the jiao-ren, the mythical diving people of the southern sea who weep pearls — the pearl is thus a product of the people's own substance. 'Hidden characters' (yinzi) suggests a secret writing that cannot be deciphered, as if the people's suffering had a message no one could read. 'Chests and cases' (qiesi) are the traveler's storage boxes, and 'awaiting the government's need' (yi si gongjia xu) names the requisitions and levies of the war-torn state. 'Turned into blood' is the poem's own invention: the pearl — the people's hoarded treasure — has been consumed into their life-blood, so that when the levy finally comes, 'there is nothing left to levy.'

诗中「客从南溟来遗我泉客珠」「珠中有隐字欲辨不成书」「缄之箧笥久以俟公家须」「开视化为血哀今征敛无」等语，皆含典故故实。「客从南溟来遗我泉客珠」用泉客之典（泉客写鲛人），写客从南溟来遗我泉客珠；「珠中有隐字欲辨不成书」写珠中有隐字欲辨不成书；「缄之箧笥久以俟公家须」写缄之箧笥久以俟公家须；「开视化为血哀今征敛无」写开视化为血哀今征敛无。诗人用泉客之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把寓言讽喻之情写得真切可感，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。

Commentary

'The Guest' is famous as one of Du Fu's most concentrated satires, praised for turning a fable into an indictment. Commentators have long read the pearl as the wealth and labor of the people, hidden away and finally consumed, so that 'today there is nothing left to levy' is the outcry of a realm exhausted by war and requisition. Critics note the poem's unusual method for Du Fu: no scene, no persona, no direct lament — only a small, cold allegory whose final line detonates the whole. The line 'when at last I opened it to look, it had turned to blood' is singled out for its stark, almost hallucinated vividness, and 'alas, today there is nothing left to levy' for its double grief — grief at the people's exhaustion and indignation at the exactions that caused it. The poem is regularly anthologized as the supreme example of Tang political allegory.

这首《客从》，是杜甫写寓言讽喻之作，写客从南溟来、珠中有隐字、缄之箧笥久、哀今征敛无之情，沉郁讽喻。起「客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠」——客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠。写客从南溟来：客从南溟来、遗我泉客珠——南溟来、泉客珠；「珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书」——珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书。写珠中有隐字：珠中有隐字、欲辨不成书——有隐字、不成书；「缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须」——缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须。写缄之箧笥久：缄之箧笥久、以俟公家须——箧笥久、公家须；结「开视化为血，哀今征敛无」——开视化为血，哀今征敛无。写哀今征敛无：开视化为血、哀今征敛无——化为血、征敛无。这「开视化为血，哀今征敛无」，是全诗之结：以哀今征敛无写其讽喻。全诗沉郁讽喻，以珠写情，正是杜甫诗中的名篇。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。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient-style verse (wugu); a short eight-line allegorical poem, unconstrained by regulated antithesis.诗（五言古体）
Rhyme The rhyme words 'zhu, shu, xu, wu' all belong to the level-tone yu (fish) rhyme category; the rhyme is low and murmuring, giving the fable a subdued, ominous cadence.此诗为五言古体。押韵：「珠」「书」「须」「无」等部。句句自然流转，声情沉郁，正与写寓言讽喻的沉郁讽喻相称，也见其以古体写讽喻的流转。
Tone pattern The lines move in a slow narrative rhythm: the gift couplet is plain and reportorial, the hidden-characters couplet drops to a puzzled hush, the sealed-chests couplet draws out the long wait, and the closing couplet crashes from calm to outcry — the tonal arc mirrors the fable's turn from mystery to horror.句式上，「客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠」写客从南溟来，音节沉郁；「珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书」写珠中有隐字，音节低回；「缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须」写缄之箧笥久，音节悠长；结「开视化为血，哀今征敛无」写哀今征敛无，音节沉郁。全诗音节随情起伏，由沉郁而低回、由悠长而沉郁，正合古体「流转」之妙，读来如寓言讽喻、哀今征敛无之音，沉郁而动人。
Reading note A five-character ancient-style fable in which a pearl that turns to blood indicts the requisitions of a war-exhausted state. The poem's art is 'somber satire, feeling expressed through the pearl': gift, mystery, long preservation, and horrifying revelation succeed one another in plain diction, so that the single final cry carries the moral weight. The illegible hidden characters and the blood-pearl make this the most concentrated political allegory of the Tang.此诗为五言古体，是杜甫写寓言讽喻之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「沉郁讽喻、以珠写情」：「客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠」写客从南溟来、「珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书」写珠中有隐字、「缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须」写缄之箧笥久、「开视化为血，哀今征敛无」写哀今征敛无。全诗沉郁讽喻，以珠写情。尤为精妙者，是「遗我泉客珠」用泉客之典；而「哀今征敛无」写尽征敛无，正是杜甫诗「沉郁讽喻」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《客从》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠。

A guest came from the southern ocean, and gave me a pearl from the sea-folk.

客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠。

A guest comes from the southern sea, bringing me a mermaid's pearl.

起句写客从南溟来，起笔即见其南溟。「客从南溟来」写客从南溟来，「客从」写客从、「南溟来」写南溟来；「遗我泉客珠」用泉客之典写遗我泉客珠，「遗我」写遗我、「泉客珠」写泉客珠。一句写客从南溟来遗我泉客珠，以客从南溟来写南溟来、以遗我泉客珠写泉客珠，写尽客从南溟来、遗我泉客珠之情。以客起兴，沉郁而讽喻，是「以客起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line writes the guest from the southern sea, the start. 'A guest comes from the southern sea' — the traveler from the distant south; 'bringing me a mermaid's pearl' uses the allusion to the mermaid, whose tears become pearls. Rising through the guest, depressed and allegorical, the start of the strange gift.

珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书。

Within the pearl were hidden characters, but try as I might I could not make out the writing.

珠中有隐字，欲辨不成书。

Within the pearl is a hidden character; I try to read it, but it is no writing.

此句写珠中有隐字，是全诗写隐字之态的关键。「珠中有隐字」写珠中有隐字，「珠中」写珠中、「有隐字」写有隐字；「欲辨不成书」写欲辨不成书，「欲辨」写欲辨、「不成书」写不成书。一句写珠中有隐字欲辨不成书，以珠中有隐字写有隐字、以欲辨不成书写不成书，写尽珠中有隐字、欲辨不成书之情。以珠写情，沉郁而讽喻，是「以珠写情」的点睛之笔。

This line writes the hidden character within the pearl, the key image. 'Within the pearl is a hidden character' — an inscription concealed in the pearl; 'I try to read it, but it is no writing' — he cannot make it out, no readable script. Through the pearl it writes the feeling, depressed and allegorical, the hidden grief that cannot be spoken.

缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须。

I sealed it in my chests for many years, awaiting the government's need.

缄之箧笥久，以俟公家须。

I seal it long in my box, awaiting the government's need.

此句写缄之箧笥久，是全诗写箧笥之态的关键。「缄之箧笥久」写缄之箧笥久，「缄之」写缄之、「箧笥久」写箧笥久；「以俟公家须」写以俟公家须，「以俟」写以俟、「公家须」写公家须。一句写缄之箧笥久以俟公家须，以缄之箧笥久写箧笥久、以以俟公家须写公家须，写尽缄之箧笥久、以俟公家须之情。以笥写情，沉郁而讽喻，是「以笥写情」的点睛之笔。

This line writes sealing it long in the box, the key image. 'I seal it long in my box' — locked away in the casket; 'awaiting the government's need' — kept for the court's requirement. Through the casket it writes the feeling, depressed and allegorical, the treasured gift held for the state.

开视化为血，哀今征敛无。

When at last I opened it to look, it had turned to blood — alas, today there is nothing left to levy.

开视化为血，哀今征敛无。

Opening it, it has turned to blood; alas, the taxes now yield nothing.

结句写哀今征敛无，是全诗立意的落点。「开视化为血」写开视化为血，「开视」写开视、「化为血」写化为血；「哀今征敛无」写哀今征敛无，「哀今」写哀今、「征敛无」写征敛无。一句写开视化为血哀今征敛无，以开视化为血写化为血、以哀今征敛无写征敛无，写尽开视化为血、哀今征敛无之情。以敛写情，沉郁而讽喻，是全诗最动人处，也是「以敛写情」的点睛之笔。

The closing line writes 'the taxes now yield nothing', the poem's landing. 'Opening it, it has turned to blood' — the pearl opened, dissolved to blood; 'alas, the taxes now yield nothing' — the people's tribute, exhausted, yields nothing. Through the levy it writes the feeling, depressed and allegorical, the poem's most moving point: the pearl turned to blood is the people's very lifeblood wrung out by the tax gatherers.

Study

Word focus

南溟 The southern ocean (nanming): the legendary far-southern sea, home of marvels; the guest's arrival from its edge gives the fable a remote, mythic distance. 「南溟」写客从南溟来，是写南溟之态的关键。「客从南溟来」着一「南溟」，写南溟——着一「南溟」，写客从南溟来，见其溟之南。两字写尽南溟之态，是「以词写溟」的妙笔。「南溟」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
泉客 Sea-folk (quanke): the jiao-ren, mythical southern divers who weep pearls; calling the pearl 'theirs' makes it a product of the people's own substance, which is why its change into blood is so fitting. 「泉客」写遗我泉客珠，是写泉客之态的关键。「遗我泉客珠」着一「泉客」，写泉客——着一「泉客」，写遗我泉客珠，见其客之泉。两字写尽泉客之态，是「以词写客」的点睛之词。「泉客」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
隐字 Hidden characters (yinzi): secret markings inside the pearl that cannot be read as writing — a message of suffering that no one can decipher or heed. 「隐字」写珠中有隐字，是写隐字之态的关键。「珠中有隐字」着一「隐字」，写隐字——着一「隐字」，写珠中有隐字，见其字之隐。两字写尽隐字之态，是「以词写字」的点睛之词。「隐字」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
征敛 Levies and exactions (zheng lian): the taxes and requisitions wrung from the people; the final cry that 'there is nothing left to levy' is the poem's central indictment of the war-torn state's fiscal predation. 「征敛」写哀今征敛无，是写征敛之态的关键。「哀今征敛无」着一「征敛」，写征敛——着一「征敛」，写哀今征敛无，见其敛之征。两字写尽征敛之态，是「以词写敛」的点睛之词。「征敛」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

水调歌头·明月几时有 Shui Diao Ge Tou — When Will the Bright Moon Appear? 苏轼 · 同写讽喻感怀、沉郁旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写客从南溟来遗我泉客珠，皆于讽喻之中见沉郁 Both works confront mutability with feeling, one satirical and somber, the other philosophical and broad; one writes 'a guest came from the southern ocean with a pearl,' the other 'men have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion' — both find depth within reflection.

Su Shi's 'Shui Diao Ge Tou' ('Men have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion; the moon has its dark and clear, its waxing and waning — this has been so since antiquity') consoles itself with philosophy. Du Fu's 'The Guest' instead uses 'a guest came from the southern ocean, and gave me a pearl from the sea-folk' and 'alas, today there is nothing left to levy' to indict the age. Read together, one shows reflection rising to philosophical breadth, the other sinking into satirical grief — two ways of facing an unchangeable world.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写讽喻感怀、沉郁旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；杜甫《客从》则以「客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠」「哀今征敛无」写泉客珠、征敛无。两诗同写讽喻感怀、沉郁旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写客从南溟来遗我泉客珠、以泉客珠写讽喻；一为苏轼之旷达、一为杜甫之沉郁，并读正可见诗写「讽喻感怀」的两种笔法，皆于讽喻之中见沉郁。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Ba Sheng Gan Zhou — Facing the Dusk Rain Spilling over the River Sky 柳永 · 同写珠玉凝望、沉郁清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写客从南溟来遗我泉客珠，皆于珠玉之中见凝望 Both works gaze upon treasures and distance with somber feeling, one delicate and clear, the other satirical and heavy; one faces 'the dusk rain spilling over the river sky,' the other 'a pearl from the sea-folk' — both find meditation in gazing.

Liu Yong's 'Ba Sheng Gan Zhou' ('Facing the dusk rain spilling over the river sky, one washing clears the autumn') is a famous Song lyric of the traveler's melancholy gaze. Du Fu's 'The Guest' instead fixes on a pearl and its transformation into blood. Both gaze upon something remote and precious, but Liu Yong turns the gaze toward his own journey home while Du Fu turns it toward the people's exhaustion — one clear and delicate, the other somber and satirical.

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」，写珠玉凝望、沉郁清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；杜甫《客从》则以「客从南溟来，遗我泉客珠」「珠中有隐字」写泉客珠、有隐字。两诗同写珠玉凝望、沉郁清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写客从南溟来遗我泉客珠、以泉客珠写讽喻；一为柳永之清丽、一为杜甫之沉郁，并读正可见诗写「珠玉凝望」的两种笔法，皆于珠玉之中见凝望。