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唐 Tang · 乐府 Yuefu ballad

洛阳女儿行

Song of the Luoyang Girl

王维

Wang Wei

社会Theme 讽喻Satire 闺情Theme 乐府Theme

洛阳女儿对门居，才可容颜十五余。
\n良人玉勒乘骢马，侍女金盘脍鲤鱼。
\n画阁朱楼尽相望，红桃绿柳垂檐向。
\n罗帏送上七香车，宝扇迎归九华帐。
\n狂夫富贵在青春，意气骄奢剧季伦。
\n自怜碧玉亲教舞，不惜珊瑚持与人。
\n春窗曙灭九微火，九微片片飞花琐。
\n戏罢曾无理曲时，妆成祗是熏香坐。
\n城中相识尽繁华，日夜经过赵李家。
\n谁怜越女颜如玉，贫贱江头自浣纱。

Across the way in Luoyang dwells a girl just past fifteen, fair of face.
Her lord rides a dappled horse with a jade bridle; her maids serve carp on a golden plate.
Painted pavilions and vermilion towers face one another; red peach and green willow droop by the eaves.
Behind silk curtains she mounts the seven-incense carriage; a jewelled fan welcomes her back to the nine-flower screen.
Her wild young husband, rich in his prime, is prouder and more lavish than even Shi Jilun.
He dotes on his jade-bright concubine, teaching her to dance, and carelessly gives away coral trees.
At dawn the nine-glow lamps are put out; their petals drift like flower-dust on the carved panes.
After play she has no time to rehearse a tune; when dressed she only sits by the censer's scent.
All she knows in the city are the rich and grand; day and night she visits the houses of Zhao and Li.
Yet who pities the Yue girl, fair as jade, who in her poverty washes silk alone at the river's head?

Listen

Meaning

A glittering portrait of a wealthy young wife in Luoyang is set against the unpitied beauty of a poor girl washing silk by the river—a quiet critique of fortune and class.

洛阳有一位女子住在我家对门，正当十五六岁芳年，容颜娇美。她的丈夫骑着镶玉马勒的青白骏马，侍女端着金盘盛着精细烹制的鲤鱼。她家彩绘朱漆的楼阁一幢幢遥遥相望，红桃绿柳在檐下排列成行。她被送上丝绸香木的七香车，仆从举着宝扇迎她回到绣着九花的彩帐。她丈夫青春年少正得志，骄奢意气更胜过富豪石季伦。他亲自教心爱的姬妾练习歌舞，名贵的珊瑚树随随便便就送人。他们彻夜欢娱，春窗现出曙光才熄灭九微灯火，灯花片片飘落在雕花窗格。嬉戏之后她从无温习曲子的空暇，梳妆好了只坐在香炉边熏透衣裳。相识的全是城中的豪门大户，日夜往来的都是贵戚之家。可谁去怜惜貌美如玉的越女，身处贫贱，只好在江头独自浣纱。

Appreciation

Wang Wei's "Song of the Luoyang Girl" is an early yuefu-style satire in which gorgeous description masks a pointed social critique. The first three-quarters of the poem lavishly accumulate images of aristocratic luxury—jade bridles, golden plates, incense carriages, coral gifts—painting the young wife's opulent, idle life in lush, painterly detail befitting Wang Wei's eye as a master of both verse and painting. Abruptly, the final couplet cuts to the "Yue girl" (Xi Shi before her discovery), fair as jade yet washing silk alone by the river, and asks "who pities her?" The stark contrast between splendor and obscurity, rank and poverty, performs the poem's argument without a single moralizing line. Read allegorically, the Luoyang daughter figures the privileged elite while the river-washing Yue girl embodies the gentleman unrecognized by his age—Shen Deqian noted the close "bewails the gentleman who never met his lord." As a youth's work, it already reveals Wang Wei's social conscience and his preference for oblique political allegory, cloaking serious commentary in the bright colors of a boudoir song and becoming a model of High-Tang "ancient-mirror" satire.

【白话串讲】王维写洛阳女儿：“洛阳女儿对门居，才可容颜十五余”。“良人玉勒乘骢马，侍女金盘脍鲤鱼”——丈夫骑宝马，侍女捧金盘。“狂夫富贵在青春，意气骄奢剧季伦”——“座中数千人，皆言夫婿殊”——他写富贵人家的骄奢。【意象与手法】以铺陈之笔极写洛阳贵妇出身骄贵、衣食住行豪富奢侈，末尾忽以“谁怜越女颜如玉，贫贱江头自浣纱”反跌，借西施典故发人生贵贱偶然之叹。词采华艳，多用对句，音调谐婉，寄意幽远。【情感与主旨】王维少年时所作，写贵妇的骄奢生活，末尾以越女浣纱反衬，喻士人进退出处、遇合有命之旨。沈德潜评“结意况君子不遇也”，是王维早年即具社会关怀与政治寄托之力证。【名句点睛】常考“谁怜越女颜如玉，贫贱江头自浣纱”以反跌写遇合之叹；“良人玉勒乘骢马，侍女金盘脍鲤鱼”以对仗铺写贵妇之奢。

Background

An early work of Wang Wei, written in the yuefu manner. It borrows the 'Luoyang girl' persona to contrast opulent domestic life with the neglected beauty of the poor.

王维《洛阳女儿行》为乐府歌行，约作于其少年及第、闲居洛阳时，写洛阳贵女之豪奢与越女之沦落，以见门第贫富之不平。行本乐府体裁，多叙事。王维出身太原王氏，早年出入两京，熟睹贵族生活，此诗即据所见而发。诗中洛阳女儿对门居，年方十五余，嫁得乘骢马之良人，侍女金盘，画阁朱楼，七香车、九华帐，极写骄奢；其夫狂夫富贵在青春，意气骄奢剧季伦，以石崇比况。末忽转写越女颜如玉，贫贱江头自浣纱，以寒女反结，寄托深沉。盛唐门阀尚存，士女际遇悬隔，维以此诗含蓄立讽，虽不激烈，而悯才怜卑之意自在，是其早年关注社会之一斑，亦开盛唐歌行铺叙之门。维此诗以乐府写门第不平，先扬后抑，豪奢铺排之后忽以寒女反结，寄托深沉；盛唐门阀尚存，士女际遇悬隔，此诗虽不激烈而悯才怜卑之意自在，开盛唐歌行铺叙讽谕之门，气度雍容。洛阳女儿之荣与越女之贱并置，非徒写富贵，乃写命运之不齐；维以贵族子弟之眼，冷观朱楼江头之悬殊，讽意藏于铺陈之内。

Art

The first three-quarters lavishly accumulate luxury (jade, gold, incense, coral); the final couplet suddenly cuts to the river-washing girl, letting the contrast do the social critique without a single moralizing line.

此诗铺陈工丽，章法起伏，先扬后抑。前八句极写贵女之荣：对门而居、容颜十五、良人玉勒、侍女金盘、画阁朱楼、红桃绿柳、七香车、九华帐，层层设色，如展开一卷豪门生活图。中四写其夫之骄奢与姬妾之宠，不惜珊瑚，极尽挥霍。后四转写其日夕嬉游、无理曲熏香之闲。至末二句谁怜越女颜如玉，贫贱江头自浣纱，陡然收束于寒女，以强烈的贫富对照收束全篇。铺排处繁丽，转折处冷峻，以乐衬哀，以贵衬贱，叙事中藏讽谕，最见歌行体铺张敛束之妙，亦开后世《琵琶行》门前冷落之先声，气脉浩然而寄意微婉。前八句极写贵女之荣，如展开一卷豪门生活画；中四写其夫之骄奢与姬妾之宠；末以越女浣纱陡然收束，以乐衬哀、以贵衬贱，铺张敛束之间最见歌行之妙。画阁朱楼、七香九华，层层设色；谁怜越女一笔扫落，气脉浩然而寄意微婉，浑成无迹。章法先扬后抑，如登高而忽临深渊，转折处最见匠心。

Allusions

'Shi Jilun' is Shi Chong (249–300), the fabulously wealthy Western Jin magnate. 'Yue girl' evokes Xi Shi, the legendary beauty who washed silk before being discovered.

洛阳女儿行，题本乐府，梁武帝有东飞伯劳歌写儿女情，维借以咏贵女。玉勒乘骢马用《古诗》青骢马、白玉勒之意，状夫婿之贵。季伦即石崇，字季伦，以富骄奢，王恺与之斗富，以蜡代薪、以锦为障，诗中意气骄奢剧季伦即以此比。七香车、九华帐、九微火，皆汉唐贵族器物，出《西京杂记》与《拾遗记》。越女用西施典故，言貌美如玉而贫贱浣纱，与洛阳女儿对照。碧玉本指汝南王妾碧玉，此处代指宠姬。王维融史传、笔记、乐府故实于一诗，铺写豪奢而终归怜才，是用典繁密而意脉清晰之范作，繁而不乱，丽而能讽。玉勒乘骢、季伦斗富、七香九华、越女西施，皆史传笔记乐府之故实；王维熔于一诗，铺写豪奢而终归怜才，用典繁密而意脉清晰，丽而能讽，繁而不乱。季伦即石崇，斗富之事见《世说》；越女用西施浣纱之典，与洛阳女儿对照。最见盛唐诗人驱遣故实之从容手腕，以富丽之典写不平之慨，所谓 para 婉而多讽。

Commentary

The poem is often read as an oblique comment on the extravagance of the Tang elite and the waste of true talent hidden by birth.

此诗表面炫目，骨子里却是一声叹息。前幅极写洛阳女儿之富贵繁华，画阁、香车、宝扇、珊瑚，令人目不暇接；其夫骄奢，其妾得宠，其自身妆成熏香，日夜经过赵李之家，何等风光。然而结以谁怜越女颜如玉，贫贱江头自浣纱，一笔扫尽：容貌之丽，越女未必不如；所异者，一在朱楼，一在江头。王维不著褒贬，只将两种命运并置，门阀之不平、才色之虚恃，已不言自明。这种以富衬贫、以热闹衬寂寞的收束，比直斥更有力。读此诗，当于金碧辉煌外，听见江头浣纱女的捣衣声，盛唐繁华之下原藏着无声的不平。结以谁怜越女一笔扫尽前幅繁华，貌丽不殊而境遇天渊；以富衬贫、以热闹衬寂寞，比直斥更有力，读此诗当于金碧辉煌外听见江头捣衣之声。盛唐繁华之下原藏着无声之不平，讽意自在言外，不落寒乞相。维以贵族之笔写寒女之悲，尤见其襟怀；此种以乐写哀、以贵写贱之法，开后世《琵琶行》之门，含蓄而沉痛。

Prosody

Reading note A social satire cloaked in gorgeous description.此诗为七言歌行（乐府），共二十句，句式以七言为主，间以对句，转韵自由。前段多押平声韵（居、余、鱼、向、帐、伦、人、琐、坐、家、纱，古韵多属鱼、麻、阳诸部，唐人歌行本不甚拘，以谐婉为尚）。诗中多用严整对仗：良人玉勒乘骢马，侍女金盘脍鲤鱼；画阁朱楼尽相望，红桃绿柳垂檐向；皆骈偶精工，承六朝律化歌行之风。音节流丽谐婉，铺叙从容，至篇末越女二句以散行收束，由骈入散，声调由繁入简，与内容由盛转讽相表里。其声情之转，正与章法之转同步，于声律节奏中见出反跌之力，是初盛唐七古「铺采摛文」的典型节奏，亦可见王维虽以绝句山水名世，而于歌行一体亦能运斤成风、开阖自如。

Line by line

良人玉勒乘骢马，侍女金盘脍鲤鱼。

Her lord rides a dappled horse with a jade bridle; her maids serve carp on a golden plate.

Her lord rides a dappled steed with jade-studded reins; the serving maid brings carp slices on a golden plate.

此二句为铺陈贵族生活之典型对句。良人玉勒乘骢马，写夫婿坐骑之华贵——玉勒为玉饰马衔，骢马为青白骏马，一器一骑皆见门第；侍女金盘脍鲤鱼，写饮食之精，金盘盛脍，非寻常人家可及。二句一写男主之外显，一写女主之内奉，对仗工稳，辞采秾丽，于细节中见豪门气象。王维以画家的眼睛选景，如展唐人仕女长卷之一角，铺陈而不板滞，是盛唐七言歌行善用偶句叙事的范例。于金玉之间见出贵族生活之实相，以极精致的物象组合，不动声色地铺开富贵画卷，为后文的反跌蓄足了气势，是歌行铺陈法的精熟运用。

These two lines are the typical couplet for the elaborate detailing of aristocratic life. 'Her lord rides a dappled steed with jade-studded reins' writes the husband's mount — jade-studded the bit, the dappled horse the fine steed, every gear and mount showing the house; 'the serving maid brings carp slices on a golden plate' the fine fare, the golden plate of sliced carp, beyond the common household. Two lines, one the man's outward show, one the woman's inward service, well matched, the diction lush, the great house's air in the details. Wang Wei chooses scenes with a painter's eye, like unrolling a corner of a long handscroll of Tang court ladies, the detailing not stiff, the High Tang seven-character song's example of narrative through couplets. The real look of aristocratic life shows between gold and jade, the rich picture spread without a muscle, storing the fullest momentum for the reversal below, the practiced use of the song's detailing method.

谁怜越女颜如玉，贫贱江头自浣纱。

Yet who pities the Yue girl, fair as jade, who in her poverty washes silk alone at the river's head?

Who pities the Yue girl, face like jade, washing silk by the river in her poverty?

此二句为全篇结穴，亦一篇之眼。前文十八句极写洛阳女儿之贵之奢，至此忽作逆转，拈出越女（西施未遇时）颜如玉而贫贱浣纱，与洛阳女儿形成贫富、贵贱、遇否的尖锐对照。谁怜二字，是诘问亦是慨叹，表面怜越女，实则以越女自况，寄君子不遇之悲。全诗由秾丽陡入清淡，由铺陈转议论，收束有力，是王维「以女儿喻士人」讽谕手法的点睛之笔。于结尾处忽见风骨，以清冷如玉的越女反照满纸繁华，将一首闺情之作收束为深沉的士不遇之叹，是盛唐歌行卒章显志、借古讽今的绝佳示范，少年之作而能如此沉厚，诚为难得。

These two lines are the landing of the whole, and its eye. The preceding eighteen lines have written to the full the Luoyang daughter's rank and luxury; here, abruptly reversing, the poet brings forward the Yue girl (Xi Shi before she was found) — face like jade, yet poor, washing silk by the river — forming the sharp contrast of rich and poor, rank and obscurity, found and unfound. 'Who pities?' the words are at once a question and a sigh, on the surface pitying the Yue girl, really figuring the poet through her, lodging the grief of the gentleman unfound. The whole poem turns from lush to plain, from detailing to argument, closing with force, the eye of Wang Wei's allegory of 'the daughter for the scholar'. At the close, the bone suddenly shows; the cold, jade-like Yue girl reflects the splendor of the whole page, gathering a boudoir piece into the deep lament of the scholar unfound, the best example of High Tang song's closing declaration and ancient-mirror satire. A youth's work, yet so weighty — rare indeed.

戏罢曾无理曲时，妆成祗是熏香坐。

After play she has no time to rehearse a tune; when dressed she only sits by the censer's scent.

When the games are done, she has never a tune to rehearse; when her toilette is made, she only sits, perfuming her robes.

此二句写贵妇日常之空虚，是铺陈中的细腻一笔。戏罢曾无理曲时，言其终日嬉戏宴乐，竟无温习曲子的闲暇，反写其闲极无聊；妆成祗是熏香坐，言梳妆既毕，唯坐于香炉边熏透衣裳，无所事事。祗是二字，道尽深闺富贵中的精神贫乏与孤独。王维于华艳之中冷眼旁观，写出物质丰盈而心灵空虚的真实，为篇末越女之贫而或有其洁的反跌蓄势。铺叙中已藏讽意，于繁华描写里暗藏批判之锋，以日常细节戳破豪奢表象下的空洞，是王维以微见著、于铺陈中藏冷眼的深刻笔力，最见少年诗人对社会与人性的敏锐洞察。

These two lines write the emptiness of the noble lady's daily life, the delicate stroke within the detailing. 'When the games are done, she has never a tune to rehearse' — all day of games and feasts, never a leisure to rehearse a tune, writing by the reverse her utter idle boredom; 'when her toilette is made, she only sits, perfuming her robes' — her toilette done, she sits by the incense burner to scent her clothes, with nothing to do. The words 'only' write to the full the spiritual poverty and loneliness within the rich seclusion. Wang Wei, cold-eyed amid the splendor, writes the truth of material abundance and spiritual emptiness, storing the momentum for the close where the Yue girl's poverty holds its purity. The satire hidden within the narrative, the critical edge concealed in the description of luxury, piercing the empty surface of extravagance through the daily detail — Wang Wei's deep brush of seeing the great in the small, of the cold eye within the detailing, showing the young poet's keen insight into society and human nature.

Study

Word focus

祗是 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 妆成祗是熏香坐之「祗是」，犹「只是」，是诗中透出冷讽的关键虚词。祗者，仅也、独也，写贵妇梳妆罢后别无一事，唯坐熏香，将前文所有豪奢归于一种空洞的闲与孤。一个「祗」字，道尽富贵中的无聊与迷失，与前文良人玉勒、宝扇九华之热烈铺陈形成内里的反差。王维炼虚字以传神，于秾丽叙事中暗藏批判，正见其「诗中有画」之外亦「诗中有讽」的深层笔力。以最轻之词收束最盛之铺陈，于富贵极处忽点出空虚，是此诗讽谕意旨得以透出的关键一笔，足见虚字在歌行讽喻体中的提挈作用，少年而能如此，尤为可贵。

剧 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 意气骄奢剧季伦之「剧」，意为「甚于、超过」。季伦即石崇，西晋以骄奢斗富闻名的巨富；狂夫之骄奢竟剧（超过）于石季伦，则以极而言之的笔法，写尽豪门子弟的放纵无度。一字之择，举重若轻，既用典故点出奢靡之极，又以「剧」字作夸张比较，使形象更显突兀刺目。王维少年作此，已能于乐府铺陈中善用动词提挈，见其炼字之敏与讽谕之锐。于华艳叙事里藏入凌厉之评，以一字立判狂夫之奢，是此诗于铺写中见锋芒的明证，亦见少年王维已有老练的讥刺手段，为后文反跌奠定力度。