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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

丽人行

Ballad of the Beautiful Ladies

杜甫

Du Fu

讽喻satire 乐府yuefu ballad

三月三日天气新，长安水边多丽人。
态浓意远淑且真，肌理细腻骨肉匀。
绣罗衣裳照暮春，蹙金孔雀银麒麟。
头上何所有？
翠微匌叶垂鬓唇。
背后何所见？
珠压腰衱稳称身。
就中云幕椒房亲，赐名大国虢与秦。
紫驼之峰出翠釜，水精之盘行素鳞。
犀箸厌饫久未下，鸾刀缕切空纷纶。
黄门飞鞚不动尘，御厨络绎送八珍。
箫鼓哀吟感鬼神，宾从杂遝实要津。
后来鞍马何逡巡，当轩下马入锦茵。
杨花雪落覆白蘋，青鸟飞去衔红巾。
炙手可热势绝伦，慎莫近前丞相嗔。

On the third day of the third month the weather is fresh and new;
By the water at Chang'an the beautiful ladies throng.
Their bearing is rich, their air remote, gentle and true;
The grain of their skin is fine, their flesh and bone well matched.
Embroidered gauze robes shine in the late spring,
Peacocks worked in gold thread and unicorns in silver.
What do they wear on their heads?
Kingfisher-green leaves hanging down at the temples.
What is to be seen behind them?
Pearls weighing on the waistband, set close and true to the form.
Among them, beneath the cloud-curtains, are kin of the pepper chamber,
Granted the names of great states, the Ladies of Guo and of Qin.
Purple camel humps come out of green cauldrons;
Plates of crystal carry the pale flesh of fish.
Rhinoceros chopsticks, long sated, hang unused;
The phoenix knife slices in ribbons, all in vain.
Palace eunuchs gallop without stirring the dust;
From the imperial kitchen the eight delicacies come without pause.
Flute and drum wail until they move the very spirits;
Guests and retainers crowd, and hold the offices that matter.
The last to arrive rides up, and how he saunters;
At the porch he dismounts and steps onto the brocade rug.
Willow catkins fall like snow, covering the white duckweed;
The bluebird flies away with a red kerchief in its beak.
So hot to the touch is his power that it has no rival;
Take care, come no nearer, or the Chancellor will be angry.

Listen

Meaning

On the third day of the third month the weather is clear and new, and by the water at Chang'an the beautiful women gather in crowds. Their bearing is rich and their air remote, gentle yet natural; their skin is fine-grained and their figures neither thin nor heavy. Their embroidered gauze robes shine in the late spring, worked with peacocks in gold thread and unicorns in silver. What is on their heads? Kingfisher-coloured ornaments hanging at the temples. What can be seen behind? Pearls pressing on the waistband, fitting the body exactly. Among them, deep within the cloud-curtains, are the kin of the imperial house, the Ladies of Guo and Qin, enfeoffed with the names of great states. Purple camel humps are brought out of green cauldrons, and crystal plates carry white fish. The rhinoceros chopsticks, sated, are slow to descend, and the fine knife slices in vain. Palace eunuchs gallop up without raising dust, and the imperial kitchen sends its rare dishes one after another. Flutes and drums wail until the spirits are moved; the guests and their followers crowd together, holding all the important posts. The one who arrives last rides slowly and insolently, dismounts at the porch and treads on the brocade carpet. Willow catkins fall like snow and cover the white duckweed, and the bluebird flies off with a red kerchief. His power is so hot that no one can rival it: take care not to go near, for the Chancellor will be angry.

三月三日上巳节天气清新，长安曲江边聚集着众多丽人。姿态浓艳、意态高远，端庄而又自然；肌肤细腻，肥瘦适中。绣罗衣衫映照着暮春，金线绣的孔雀、银线绣的麒麟。头上戴着什么？翠微色的匌叶垂在鬓边。背后能看到什么？珠玉压住腰衱，妥帖称身。其中云幕深处的椒房贵戚，是赐封大国的虢国与秦国夫人。紫驼峰从翠釜中端出，水晶盘里盛着白色的鱼鲜。犀角筷因饱腻久久不肯落下，鸾刀细切空自纷乱。宦官骑马飞驰不起微尘，御厨接连送来各种珍馐。箫鼓哀婉感动鬼神，宾客随从杂沓，尽占显要之职。后来者骑马何等迟疑骄慢，当轩下马踏进锦绣地毯。杨花如雪飘落覆盖白蘋，青鸟飞去衔着红巾。权势炽盛无人能比，切莫近前，丞相会发怒。

Appreciation

The poem inherits the expansive manner of the Han yuefu and yet makes something of its own. The opening section, led by the date of the festival, piles up the ladies' looks and ornament in fine detail: rich bearing and remote air, fine-grained skin, embroidered gauze robes, peacocks worked in gold. The middle section writes the rarity of the food, purple camel humps out of green cauldrons and pale fish on crystal plates. The last section brings on Yang Guozhong with the late rider who saunters up, and closes with power too hot to touch and the warning that the Chancellor will be angry. Not one word of reproach appears, and yet the extravagance and arrogance stand exposed.

【白话串讲】 “三月三日天气新，长安水边多丽人”——杜甫写长安水边的贵妇游春。“态浓意远淑且真，肌理细腻骨肉匀”——“就中云幕椒房亲”——其中就有杨国忠的妹妹们。“炙手可热势绝伦，慎莫近前丞相嗔”——杜甫写尽了杨家的气焰，一句“丞相嗔”藏着冷箭。【意象与手法】本诗继承汉乐府铺陈传统而自成机杼【情感与主旨】《丽人行》约作于天宝十二载（753）。时唐玄宗怠政，杨贵妃得宠，其从兄杨国忠于天宝十一载拜右相，权倾朝野【名句点睛】中高考常取末联‘炙手可热势绝伦，慎莫近前丞相嗔’及铺陈手法设题。考点一

Background

'Ballad of the Beautiful Ladies' was written about the twelfth year of the Tianbao era (753). By then Emperor Xuanzong had grown slack in government, Yang Guifei was in favour, and her cousin Yang Guozhong had been made Chancellor of the Right in 752 and dominated the court. Her three sisters were enfeoffed as the Ladies of Han, Guo and Qin; presuming on imperial favour they lived in arrogant luxury, and at the spring festivals they feasted and rode at Qujiang, filling the roads with carriages and horses and spending without limit. Du Fu had endured ten hard years in Chang'an and had watched the danger that the imperial in-laws posed to the state. Borrowing the old Han yuefu title on beautiful women, he wrote new words on the spring outing at Qujiang, spreading out the luxury of the ladies' dress and food while hiding his satire within it; it is one of the famous poems of admonition in which he named a piece for the event itself.

《丽人行》为唐代杜甫所作，是讽刺杨氏兄妹骄奢的长篇歌行。杜甫（712—770），字子美，唐代伟大诗人。此诗：三月三日天气新，长安水边多丽人。态浓意远淑且真，肌理细腻骨肉匀。绣罗衣裳照暮春，蹙金孔雀银麒麟。头上何所有？翠微盍叶垂鬓唇。……炙手可热势绝伦，慎莫近前丞相嗔。全诗写杨氏兄妹曲江游春之奢，是杜甫诗的名篇。

Art

The poem takes the accumulative manner of the Han yuefu and turns it to a purpose of its own. The first part, led by the date of the third day of the third month, uses one careful stroke after another to render the ladies, their rich bearing and remote air, the fine grain of their skin, the embroidered gauze robes, the peacocks of gold thread, a minute and deliberate portraiture. The middle part exhausts the rarity of the feast with the purple camel humps and the crystal plates. The final part brings in Yang Guozhong through the last rider who saunters up to the porch, and gathers everything into the closing warning that his power scorches the hand and that the Chancellor will be angry. Nowhere is the word satire used, and the extravagance and insolence show themselves; as critics have said, he writes beauty without a fawning word and attacks the age without an angry face, restrained and cutting, in the true manner of the old poets.

《丽人行》艺术上以铺陈的浓丽与讽刺的含蓄见长。全诗写三月三曲江游春：首写丽人之美——“态浓意远淑且真，肌理细腻骨肉匀”写丽人之态，“绣罗衣裳照暮春，蹙金孔雀银麒麟”写衣裳之丽；中写饮食之奢（“紫驼之峰出翠釜，水精之盘行素鳞”等）；末写丞相之势——“炙手可热势绝伦，慎莫近前丞相嗔”写杨国忠之势。全诗铺陈其奢而讽刺含蓄，正是杜甫诗“无一刺讥语，描摹处语语刺讥”的笔法。

Allusions

The poem uses the vocabulary of imperial kinship to point at the Yang family. The pepper chamber was the empress's apartment in Han times, its walls plastered with pepper and clay, and so stands for the emperor's relatives by marriage, here the house of Yang Guozhong. Guo and Qin are the Ladies of Guo and Qin, named after the states they were granted, on the model of the ranks of the feudal lords in the Zuo Commentary. The bluebird is the messenger of the Queen Mother of the West in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and hints here at the carrying of secret notes. The Chancellor is Yang Guozhong in his actual office. By dressing the events of the day in elegant historical language the poet gives his satire a historical depth instead of mere abuse.

《丽人行》用典在“三月三日”“丞相”“炙手可热”。“三月三日”写上巳节曲江游春之俗；“丞相”写杨国忠（杨贵妃从兄，时任右相）；“炙手可热”写其权势之盛（亦为成语所本）。全诗以这些典故写杨氏骄奢，用典自然而讽刺自深，正是杜甫诗含蓄讽刺的笔法。

Commentary

Zhang Jie of the Song, in his Poetry Talks from the Hall of Winter Cold, called the poem gentle and full of satire. Pu Qilong said that it contains not one satiric word and that every word of the description is satire. Yang Lun, in his Mirror Anthology of Du Poetry, held that although the title names the beautiful ladies the writing is chiefly of the Ladies of Guo and Qin, so that Yang Guozhong is included without being named, which is the method of the Spring and Autumn Annals. Later critics generally rank it with 'Ballad of the Army Carts' and the long poem written on the road from the capital to Fengxian as the three great yuefu in which Du Fu exposed the misgovernment of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years.

《丽人行》是杜甫诗的名篇，也是中国诗歌中讽刺骄奢的代表作。此诗写杨氏兄妹曲江游春之奢，向为论者称道。论者多赏其铺陈的浓丽与讽刺的含蓄——“态浓意远淑且真，肌理细腻骨肉匀”写丽人之美，浓丽之极；“炙手可热势绝伦，慎莫近前丞相嗔”写丞相之势，讽刺自深。全诗不着一刺讥语而语语刺讥，正是杜甫诗含蓄讽刺的笔法——铺陈其奢，刺其骄纵。

Prosody

Form Yuefu ballad (seven-character ancient verse on a newly made title)七言歌行（乐府）

Rhyme Free change of rhyme in the ancient manner, the rhyme shifting with the movement of the description《丽人行》为七言歌行，押平声韵，随内容换韵。此诗用韵：新、人（真部）、春、麟（真部）……嗔（真部），音节流丽而讥讽。

Tone pattern Ancient style, not bound by level and oblique rules七言歌行以音节流丽、铺陈浓丽见长。此诗写杨氏游春之奢，音节流丽而含蓄讽刺。全诗以七言贯底，声调与铺陈讽刺的内容相合，是杜甫诗中长篇歌行的一路。

Reading note Modelled on the expansive manner of the Han yuefu, mainly in seven-character lines with question and answer; a famous satirical ballad by Du Fu on a new title.《丽人行》为唐代杜甫所作，是讽刺杨氏兄妹骄奢的长篇歌行。此诗以“三月三日天气新，长安水边多丽人”写游春之盛，以“态浓意远淑且真，肌理细腻骨肉匀”写丽人之美，以“绣罗衣裳照暮春，蹙金孔雀银麒麟”写衣裳之奢，以“炙手可热势绝伦，慎莫近前丞相嗔”写丞相之势。铺陈其奢而讽刺含蓄，正是杜甫诗的名篇。

Line by line

三月三日天气新，长安水边多丽人。态浓意远淑且真，肌理细腻骨肉匀。

On the third day of the third month, the air is fresh; by the waters of Chang'an are many beautiful women. Their bearing rich, their thoughts far, gentle and sincere; their flesh fine, their bone and flesh well balanced.

三月三日天气清新，长安水边多有丽人。姿态浓艳意态悠远、淑静而真挚，肌理细腻、骨肉匀称。

On the third day of the third month, the weather is fresh; by the waters of Chang'an walk many beautiful women. Their bearing rich and distant, gentle and true; their skin fine and delicate, their form perfectly balanced.

前四句写丽人之美，是全诗铺陈的起点。“三月三日天气新，长安水边多丽人”写游春丽人——“三月三日天气新”写上巳节三月三天气清新，“长安水边多丽人”写长安曲江水边多有丽人——三月三日，水边丽人；“态浓意远淑且真，肌理细腻骨肉匀”写丽人之态——“态浓意远淑且真”写姿态浓艳、意态悠远、淑静真挚，“肌理细腻骨肉匀”写肌肤纹理细腻、骨肉匀称——态浓意远，肌理细腻。四句写丽人之美：三月三日天气新、长安水边多丽人，态浓意远淑且真、肌理细腻骨肉匀。以“三月三日天气新，长安水边多丽人”写游春之盛，以“态浓意远淑且真，肌理细腻骨肉匀”写丽人之美，正是杜甫诗铺陈其美的起点——水边丽人，美艳绝伦。

The first four lines write the beauty of the women, the start of the detailing. 'On the third day of the third month, the air is fresh; by the waters of Chang'an are many beautiful women' the spring outing — the Shangsi festival, the beauties by the Qu River; 'their bearing rich, their thoughts far, gentle and sincere; their flesh fine, their bone and flesh well balanced' the women's bearing. Four lines: the festival air, the waterside beauties, the rich bearing, the fine flesh. Writing the spring outing's splendor and the women's beauty, the start of Du Fu'sdetailing of the fair sex.

绣罗衣裳照暮春，蹙金孔雀银麒麟。

Their embroidered silk robes glow in the late spring; gold-stitched peacocks, silver-embroidered unicorns.

绣罗衣裳辉映暮春，蹙金的孔雀、银绣的麒麟。

Their brocade robes shine in the late spring; gold-worked peacocks, silver-wrought unicorns.

五六句写衣裳之丽，是全诗铺陈奢华的深化。“绣罗衣裳照暮春”写绣罗衣裳——“绣罗衣裳”写绣罗之衣裳，“照暮春”写辉映暮春——绣罗衣裳，辉映暮春；“蹙金孔雀银麒麟”写蹙金银绣——“蹙金孔雀”写蹙金的孔雀（金线刺绣），“银麒麟”写银绣的麒麟——蹙金孔雀，银麒麟。二句写衣裳之丽：绣罗衣裳照暮春，蹙金孔雀银麒麟。以“绣罗衣裳照暮春”写衣裳之华，以“蹙金孔雀银麒麟”写金线银绣之奢，正是杜甫诗铺陈杨氏奢华、为后文讽刺张本的笔法——衣裳之奢，已见其骄。

The fifth and sixth lines write the beauty of the robes, the deepening of the luxury. 'Their embroidered silk robes glow in the late spring' — the brocade robes shining in the late spring; 'gold-stitched peacocks, silver-embroidered unicorns' — the gold thread, the silver thread. Two lines: the robes' splendor, the gold and silver embroidery. Writing the Yang sisters' luxury, preparing the satire below — the robes' extravagance already showing their arrogance.

炙手可热势绝伦，慎莫近前丞相嗔。

Their power scorches the hand, unmatched by any; beware, come not near, the prime minister is angry.

权势炙手可热、无人可比，小心不要靠近，丞相会发怒。

Their might scorches the hand, beyond compare; take care, draw not near — the prime minister will be angry.

末二句写丞相之势，是全诗讽刺的归结。“炙手可热势绝伦”写丞相之势——“炙手可热”写手可灼热（权势之盛），“势绝伦”写权势无人可比——炙手可热，势绝伦；“慎莫近前丞相嗔”写勿近丞相——“慎莫近前”写小心不要靠近，“丞相嗔”写丞相（杨国忠）会发怒——慎莫近前，丞相嗔。二句写丞相之势：炙手可热势绝伦，慎莫近前丞相嗔。以“炙手可热势绝伦”写杨国忠权势之盛，以“慎莫近前丞相嗔”写其骄纵之态，正是杜甫诗写杨氏骄奢、含蓄讽刺的归结——势可灼手，人莫敢近。

The last two lines write the prime minister's power, the close of the satire. 'Their power scorches the hand, unmatched by any' — the hand-searing power, the might beyond compare; 'beware, come not near, the prime minister is angry' — be warned not to approach, the prime minister (Yang Guozhong) will rage. Two lines: the searing power, the forbidding approach. Writing Yang Guozhong's might, the close of Du Fu's restrained satire on the Yang clan's arrogance — the power can scorch the hand, and no one dares come near.

Study

Word focus

态浓意远 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “态浓意远淑且真”之“态浓意远”，写姿态浓艳、意态悠远，是全诗写丽人之美的关键词。“态浓”写姿态浓艳，“意远”写意态悠远——姿态浓艳、意态悠远。这一词写丽人之态：不是淡妆之态，而态浓；不是近昵之意，而意远。以“态浓意远淑且真”写丽人之美，正是杜甫诗铺陈其美、艳而不俗的笔法。

蹙金 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “蹙金孔雀银麒麟”之“蹙金”，写金线蹙绣，是全诗写衣裳之奢的关键词。“蹙金”写以金线蹙绣——蹙金的孔雀。这一词写刺绣之奢：不是寻常之绣，而蹙金；不是朴素之衣，而金线之裳。以“蹙金孔雀银麒麟”写衣裳之奢，正是杜甫诗铺陈杨氏奢华、为讽刺张本的笔法。

炙手可热 It renders political power as physical heat, so that the reader feels the scorching, unapproachable authority of Yang Guozhong in the body before judging it in the mind. “炙手可热势绝伦”之“炙手可热”，写手可灼热，是全诗写丞相之势的关键词。“炙手”写灼手，“可热”写热可灼手——炙手可热，权势绝伦。这一词写权势之盛：不是寻常之势，而炙手可热；不是可近之权，而热可灼手。以“炙手可热势绝伦”写杨国忠权势之盛，正是杜甫诗写其骄纵、含蓄讽刺的笔法。

丞相 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “慎莫近前丞相嗔”之“丞相”，写丞相杨国忠，是全诗讽刺对象的归结词。“丞相”写杨国忠（杨贵妃从兄、时任右相）——小心不要靠近，丞相会发怒。这一词点出讽刺对象：不是泛称之人，而丞相；不是无名之贵，而杨氏之相。以“慎莫近前丞相嗔”写丞相之骄纵，正是杜甫诗讽刺杨氏一门的归结——丞相之势，骄纵如此。

丽人行