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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

李凭箜篌引

Li Ping Plays the Konghou

李贺

Li He

音乐music 艺术art

吴丝蜀桐张高秋，空山凝云颓不流。
江娥啼竹素女愁，李凭中国弹箜篌。
昆山玉碎凤凰叫，芙蓉泣露香兰笑。
十二门前融冷光，二十三丝动紫皇。
女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊逗秋雨。
梦入神山教神妪，老鱼跳波瘦蛟舞。
吴质不眠倚桂树，露脚斜飞湿寒兔。

Wu silk and Shu paulownia strung in the high autumn;
In empty hills the clouds congeal and will not drift.
The River Maid's tears mark the bamboo, the White Maiden sorrows—
For Li Ping in the capital is playing the konghou.
Like Kunlun jade shattering, the phoenix's cry;
Like the lotus weeping dew, the fragrant orchid's smile.
At the twelve gates the cold light dissolves;
Twenty-three strings stir the Purple Emperor on high.
Where Nüwa smelted stone to mend the very sky,
Stone breaks, heaven starts, and autumn rain is drawn down.
In dream he enters the spirit mountain to teach the goddess—
Old fish leap the waves, lean dragons wheel and dance.
Wu Zhi, sleepless, leans against the cassia tree;
The slant-flying dew wets the cold hare of the moon.

Listen

Meaning

Wu-thread and Shu-paulownia are strung in the clear autumn; in the empty mountains the clouds hang still and will not move. The River Maid weeps on the mottled bamboo and the White Maiden is heavy with grief, all because Li Ping is sounding the konghou in the capital. The music is like Kunlun jade shattering and the phoenix calling, like the lotus weeping dew and the fragrant orchid smiling. The cold light of Chang'an's twelve gates melts into the sound; twenty-three strings startle the Heavenly Emperor. Where Nüwa smelted stones to mend the sky, stone breaks and heaven is startled and autumn rain is drawn forth. In dream he enters the spirit mountain to teach the goddess to play; old fish leap the waves and lean dragons dance. Wu Zhi cannot sleep and leans on the cassia tree; the slant-flying dew wets the cold hare.

吴地丝弦、蜀地桐木在清秋张设，空山云朵凝滞不前。江娥洒泪斑竹、素女含愁，只因李凭在国中弹响箜篌。如昆仑玉碎、凤凰和鸣，如芙蓉泣露、香兰含笑。长安十二门融进冷光，二十三弦惊动天帝。女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊引出秋雨。梦入神山教神妪弹奏，老鱼跳波、瘦蛟起舞。吴质夜不能眠倚桂树，露脚斜飞打湿寒兔。

Appreciation

This poem describes music wholly by suggestion. Li He, instead of naming the sound, fills the air with myth and nature responding to it. The first two lines present the fine instrument and the stilled clouds; the weeping River Maid and sorrowing White Maiden let the gods' grief testify to the music's sadness. The heart of the poem is the couplet 'Like Kunlun jade shattering, the phoenix's cry; / Like the lotus weeping dew, the fragrant orchid's smile,' four images at once for the clear, the gentle, the mournful and the bright. Then the Purple Emperor, Nüwa, the goddess, fish and dragons, even Wu Zhi are all moved, so heaven and earth share one music. The imagination gallops, the metaphors are strange and new, and the colours blaze.

【白话串讲】 “吴丝蜀桐张高秋，空山凝云颓不流”——李贺写李凭弹箜篌：琴声让空山的云都停住。“昆山玉碎凤凰叫，芙蓉泣露香兰笑”——“女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊逗秋雨”——琴声震破了天。李贺用瑰丽的想象，写一场音乐会。【意象与手法】全诗以侧面烘托与比喻写乐。起二句写乐器精良、云为之凝；“江娥”“素女”愁啼，以神女反应衬乐悲【情感与主旨】李凭是唐宪宗时梨园弟子，善弹箜篌，名动京城。李贺此诗约作于元和（806—820）年间，听其演奏后挥毫【名句点睛】重点在侧面描写与奇特比喻。必考“昆山玉碎凤凰叫，芙蓉泣露香兰笑”的四重比喻

Background

Li Ping was a performer in the Pear Garden under Emperor Xianzong of Tang, famed on the konghou, a plucked string instrument brought from the Western Regions, and his name rang through the capital. Li He wrote this poem, probably in the Yuanhe era (806–820), right after hearing him play. Rather than fall into the common line 'as if hearing immortal music my ears were briefly cleared,' the poet renders the music entirely through myth, nature and the reactions of the divine — making it one of the Tang's celebrated word-pictures of sound.

《李凭箜篌引》为唐代李贺所作，是写乐工李凭弹箜篌之妙的长篇歌行。李贺（790—816），字长吉，福昌人，唐代诗人。此诗：吴丝蜀桐张高秋，空山凝云颓不流。江娥啼竹素女愁，李凭中国弹箜篌。昆山玉碎凤凰叫，芙蓉泣露香兰笑。……女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊逗秋雨。……吴质不眠倚桂树，露脚斜飞湿寒兔。全诗以奇诡之喻写箜篌之声，是李贺诗的名篇。

Art

The whole poem renders music by indirect suggestion and metaphor. The opening two lines show the fine instrument and the clouds congealing; the weeping River Maid and sorrowing White Maiden use the goddesses' response to set off the sadness of the music. The middle couplet 'Like Kunlun jade shattering, the phoenix's cry; / Like the lotus weeping dew, the fragrant orchid's smile' uses four images for the clear, the gentle, the lonely-pitiful and the bright; the later lines show the Purple Emperor, Nüwa, the goddess, fish, dragons and Wu Zhi all moved by the sound, so heaven and earth join in one music. Imagination runs free, the comparisons are strange and novel, the colours brilliant.

《李凭箜篌引》艺术上以奇诡的比喻与想象的瑰丽见长。全诗写李凭弹箜篌：首写开弹之景——“吴丝蜀桐张高秋，空山凝云颓不流”写吴丝蜀桐、空山凝云，“江娥啼竹素女愁，李凭中国弹箜篌”写江娥素女、李凭弹箜篌；中写乐声之妙——“昆山玉碎凤凰叫，芙蓉泣露香兰笑”写玉碎凤叫、芙蓉香兰；末写惊动天地——“女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊逗秋雨”写石破天惊，“吴质不眠倚桂树，露脚斜飞湿寒兔”写吴质寒兔。全诗以奇喻写乐声，正是李贺诗奇诡瑰丽的笔法。

Allusions

'The River Maid's tears on bamboo' uses the tale of Ehuang and Nüying weeping until the bamboo was mottled; 'the White Maiden' is the heavenly goddess skilled at the zither; 'Nüwa smelted stone to mend the sky' from the Huainanzi, used with 'stone breaks, heaven starts' for the music's shock; 'Wu Zhi' is Wu Gang, forever felling the cassia, from the moon palace; 'the cold hare' is the moon-hare. Layer on layer of myth turns a single performance into a cosmic event of earth-shaking wonder.

《李凭箜篌引》用典在“江娥啼竹”“素女”“女娲炼石”“吴质”。“江娥啼竹”用湘妃啼竹成斑之典；“素女”用素女鼓瑟之典；“女娲炼石补天”用女娲补天之典；“吴质”用吴刚伐桂之典。全诗以这些神话典故写箜篌之声，用典自然而奇诡自见，正是李贺诗瑰丽的笔法。

Commentary

The Qing critic Fang Funan, in his Annotations to Li Changji's Poems, ranks this with Bai Juyi's 'Song of the Pipa' and Han Yu's 'Listening to Master Ying Play the Zither' as the finest writings that portray sound. The Song critic Yan Yu said 'the world would be the poorer without Changji's manner.' Scholars hold that Li He wins at music by the 'strange,' Bai by the 'fine,' Han by the 'marvellous' — each in his own field.

《李凭箜篌引》是李贺诗的名篇，也是中国诗歌中写音乐之妙的代表作。此诗写李凭弹箜篌之妙，向为论者称道。论者多赏其奇诡的比喻——“昆山玉碎凤凰叫，芙蓉泣露香兰笑”以玉碎凤叫、芙蓉香兰写乐声，奇诡之极；“女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊逗秋雨”写石破天惊，更见其想象。李贺诗以奇诡瑰丽著称，此诗正是其代表——以奇喻写音乐，正是其诗风。

Prosody

Form Yuefu song (to the title 'Konghou Yin')七言歌行（乐府）

Rhyme Mixed level-oblique, shifting tones, song-ballad form《李凭箜篌引》为七言歌行，押平声韵，随内容换韵。此诗用韵：秋、流、愁、篌（尤部）……叫、笑（啸部）……雨（遇部）……兔（遇部）等，随段换韵，音节奇诡。

Tone pattern Ancient-style ballad, changing rhyme with the feeling七言歌行以音节奇诡、想象瑰丽见长。此诗写李凭弹箜篌之妙，音节奇诡而瑰丽。全诗以七言贯底，随段换韵，声调与乐声之妙的内容相合，是李贺诗中奇诡瑰丽的一路。

Reading note Li He's yuefu, bizarre and splendid, a famous piece on music.《李凭箜篌引》为唐代李贺所作，是写乐工李凭弹箜篌之妙的长篇歌行。此诗以“吴丝蜀桐张高秋，空山凝云颓不流”写开弹之景，以“昆山玉碎凤凰叫，芙蓉泣露香兰笑”写乐声之妙，以“女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊逗秋雨”写乐声惊动天地。以奇喻写乐声，正是李贺诗的名篇。

Line by line

吴丝蜀桐张高秋，空山凝云颓不流。江娥啼竹素女愁，李凭中国弹箜篌。

Wu silk and Shu paulownia are strung in the high autumn; clouds in the empty hills are congealed, too heavy to drift. The river goddesses weep on the bamboos, the Plain Girl grieves; Li Ping plays the konghou in the capital.

吴丝蜀桐之琴张开于高秋，空山的云凝住不流。江娥啼竹、素女含愁，李凭在国中弹箜篌。

The konghou of Wu silk and Shu paulownia is tuned in the high autumn; the clouds of the empty hills congeal, too heavy to drift. The river goddesses weep upon the bamboos, the Plain Girl grieves; Li Ping plays the konghou in the capital.

前四句写开弹之景，是全诗写乐声的起点。“吴丝蜀桐张高秋，空山凝云颓不流”写开弹之景——“吴丝蜀桐张高秋”写吴丝蜀桐之琴张开于高秋，“空山凝云颓不流”写空山的云凝住不流——吴丝蜀桐，空山凝云；“江娥啼竹素女愁，李凭中国弹箜篌”写李凭弹箜篌——“江娥啼竹”用湘妃啼竹之典写江娥啼竹，“素女愁”用素女之典写素女含愁，“李凭中国弹箜篌”写李凭在国中弹箜篌——江娥素女愁，李凭弹箜篌。四句写开弹之景：吴丝蜀桐张高秋、空山凝云颓不流，江娥啼竹素女愁、李凭中国弹箜篌。以“吴丝蜀桐张高秋，空山凝云颓不流”写琴张高秋、云凝不流，以“江娥啼竹素女愁，李凭中国弹箜篌”写湘妃素女之愁、李凭开弹，正是李贺诗写乐声初起的笔法——未弹而云凝，一弹而神鬼皆愁。

The first four lines write the opening of the playing, the start of the music. 'Wu silk and Shu paulownia are strung in the high autumn; clouds in the empty hills are congealed, too heavy to drift' the opening scene — the instrument tuned in the high autumn, the clouds congealed; 'the river goddesses weep on the bamboos, the Plain Girl grieves; Li Ping plays the konghou in the capital' the playing — 'weep on the bamboos' uses the allusion to the Xiang goddesses' tears on the bamboo, 'the Plain Girl grieves' the allusion to the goddess of music. Four lines write the opening: the instrument tuned in autumn, the clouds congealed, the goddesses grieving, Li Ping beginning to play. Before the note sounds, the clouds congeal; once it sounds, gods and spirits grieve — the brush of Li He on the music's first rise.

昆山玉碎凤凰叫，芙蓉泣露香兰笑。

Like jade shattered at Kunshan, like phoenixes calling; like lotus weeping in dew, like fragrant orchids smiling.

如昆山玉碎、凤凰鸣叫；如芙蓉泣露、香兰含笑。

It is like jade shattered at Kunshan, like the call of a phoenix; like a lotus weeping in the dew, like a fragrant orchid smiling.

此二句写乐声之妙，是全诗以奇喻写乐声的核心。“昆山玉碎凤凰叫”写玉碎凤叫——“昆山玉碎”写如昆山玉碎，“凤凰叫”写如凤凰鸣叫——玉碎凤叫；“芙蓉泣露香兰笑”写芙蓉香兰——“芙蓉泣露”写如芙蓉泣露，“香兰笑”写如香兰含笑——芙蓉泣露，香兰笑。二句写乐声之妙：昆山玉碎凤凰叫，芙蓉泣露香兰笑。以“昆山玉碎凤凰叫”写乐声之清脆高昂、如玉碎凤鸣，以“芙蓉泣露香兰笑”写乐声之哀婉欢愉、如芙蓉香兰，正是李贺诗以奇喻写乐声的核心——以玉凤花兰状其声，声情并茂。

These two lines write the music's wonder, the core of strange metaphor. 'Like jade shattered at Kunshan, like phoenixes calling' — the shattering jade, the phoenix's cry, clear and high; 'like lotus weeping in dew, like fragrant orchids smiling' — the weeping lotus, the smiling orchid, plaintive and joyful. Two lines: the jade and phoenix for the sound's crystalline height, the lotus and orchid for its pathos and joy. The core of Li He's strange metaphor for music — jade, phoenix, lotus, orchid for the sound, sound and feeling together.

女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊逗秋雨。

At the place where Nüwa melted stones to mend the sky, the stone is riven and heaven startled, letting fall the autumn rain.

在女娲炼石补天之处，石破天惊，逗落秋雨。

At the place where Nüwa melted stones to mend the heavens, the stone bursts and the sky is startled, letting through the autumn rain.

此二句写乐声惊动天地，是全诗想象瑰丽的归结。“女娲炼石补天处”用女娲补天之典写补天之处——“女娲炼石补天处”写在女娲炼石补天之处；“石破天惊逗秋雨”写石破天惊——“石破天惊”写石破天惊，“逗秋雨”写逗落秋雨——石破天惊逗秋雨。二句写乐声惊动天地：女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊逗秋雨。以“女娲炼石补天处”用补天之典写乐声上达九天，以“石破天惊逗秋雨”写乐声之激越竟使石破天惊、天雨，正是李贺诗写乐声之妙的归结——乐声之烈，惊天地而泣鬼神。

These two lines write the music startling heaven and earth, the close of the gorgeous imagination. 'At the place where Nüwa melted stones to mend the sky' uses the allusion to Nüwa mending the heavens, the place of the mending; 'the stone is riven and heaven startled, letting fall the autumn rain' — the stone burst, heaven startled, the rain let fall. Two lines: the music reaching the ninth heaven through the mending allusion, the excitement so great it rives the stone and startles the sky. The close of Li He's wonder: the music's force moves heaven and earth, ghosts and spirits.

Study

Word focus

吴丝蜀桐 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “吴丝蜀桐张高秋”之“吴丝蜀桐”，写吴地之丝、蜀地之桐（制琴佳材），是全诗写琴之名贵的关键词。“吴丝”写吴地之丝（弦），“蜀桐”写蜀地之桐（琴材）——吴丝蜀桐之琴张开于高秋。这一词写琴材之佳：不是寻常之琴，而吴丝蜀桐；不是粗陋之器，而名贵之材。以“吴丝蜀桐张高秋”写名琴张于高秋，正是李贺诗写乐声之起、先写琴之贵的笔法。

凝云颓不流 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “空山凝云颓不流”之“凝云颓不流”，写云凝住不流，是全诗写乐声之感人的关键词。“凝云”写云气凝聚，“颓不流”写停滞不流——空山的云凝住不流。这一词写云之凝：不是寻常之云，而凝云；不是流动之云，而颓然不流。以“空山凝云颓不流”写乐声初起而云凝不流，正是李贺诗写乐声感天动地的笔法。

玉碎 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “昆山玉碎凤凰叫”之“玉碎”，写如昆山玉碎，是全诗写乐声清脆之妙的比喻词。“昆山”写昆仑山（产玉），“玉碎”写玉碎之声——如昆山玉碎。这一词写乐声之清：不是含混之声，而玉碎；不是寻常之响，而清越如碎玉。以“昆山玉碎凤凰叫”写乐声清脆高昂，正是李贺诗以奇喻写乐声之妙的笔法。

石破天惊 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “石破天惊逗秋雨”之“石破天惊”，写石破天惊，是全诗写乐声之烈、想象瑰丽的归结词。“石破”写石为之破，“天惊”写天为之惊——石破天惊，逗落秋雨。这一词写乐声之烈：不是可状之声，而石破天惊；不是寻常之响，而惊天动地。以“女娲炼石补天处，石破天惊逗秋雨”写乐声竟使石破天惊、天雨，正是李贺诗写乐声之妙的归结——其声之烈，惊天地而泣鬼神。