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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

卖炭翁

The Old Charcoal Seller

白居易

Bai Juyi

讽喻Satire 民生People's life

卖炭翁，伐薪烧炭南山中。
满面尘灰烟火色，两鬓苍苍十指黑。
卖炭得钱何所营？
身上衣裳口中食。
可怜身上衣正单，心忧炭贱愿天寒。
夜来城外一尺雪，晓驾炭车辗冰辙。
牛困人饥日已高，市南门外泥中歇。
翩翩两骑来是谁？
黄衣使者白衫儿。
手把文书口称敕，回车叱牛牵向北。
一车炭，千余斤，宫使驱将惜不得。
半匹红纱一丈绫，系向牛头充炭直。

Old man who sells charcoal, you cut wood and burn charcoal in the southern hills.
Your face is all dust and fire-smoke; your temples grey, your ten fingers black.
What do you earn by selling charcoal? Only clothes upon your back, food within your mouth.
Pitiful, your clothes are thin, yet you fear the charcoal cheap and wish for colder weather.
Last night a foot of snow fell outside the city; at dawn you drive the charcoal cart over the frozen ruts.
The ox is spent, you are hungry, the sun already high; you rest in the mud outside the south gate.
Who come riding, two figures so graceful? A yellow-robed envoy and a white-coated boy.
Document in hand, they cry the imperial edict; they turn the cart, shout the ox, and drag it north.
A cart of charcoal, more than a thousand catties, the palace envoy drives it off; the old man dare not protest.
Half a bolt of red gauze, a length of damask, tied to the ox's head to stand for the charcoal's price.

Listen

Meaning

A ballad from Bai Juyi's New Yuefu series exposing the 'palace market' abuse: eunuchs, under cover of buying for the court, seized commoners' goods for almost nothing. The old charcoal seller's suffering and the envoys' arrogance are set in stark contrast, with no overt moralizing, the facts speak.

有位卖炭的老翁，在南山中砍柴烧炭。满脸尘灰、被烟火熏黑，两鬓斑白、十指乌黑。卖炭得钱做什么用？只为身上衣裳、口中吃食。可怜他身上衣衫正单薄，却心忧炭价太低而盼望天气更寒。昨夜城外落下一尺厚雪，清晨驾炭车碾过结冰的车辙。牛已困乏人已饥饿、日头已高，在市南门外泥泞中歇息。翩翩而来的两骑是谁？是黄衣使者与白衫差役。手拿文书、口称皇帝诏令，掉转车头叱赶牛儿牵向北方。一车炭，千余斤，宫使驱赶而去老人惜之不得。只给半匹红纱一丈绫，系在牛头上充作炭钱。

Appreciation

Pure objective description, with feeling shown by what is left unsaid, meaning beyond the words. Multiple contrasts run through: the old man's dust-covered face against the envoys' fine dress, a thousand-catty cart against 'half a bolt of gauze,' the wish for cold against the helpless 'dare not protest.' The sharper the contrast, the deeper the censure. The psychological line 'fears cheap charcoal, wishes for cold' is incisive.

【白话串讲】 “可怜身上衣正单，心忧炭贱愿天寒”——卖炭的老人衣服单薄，却盼着天更冷，这样炭才能卖个好价钱。白居易写底层人的苦，写进了每个读者的心里。【意象与手法】纯用客观白描，不著议论而爱憎自见，即意在言外。篇中多重对比：老翁满面尘灰与使者翩翩衣饰、炭千余斤与偿半匹红纱、心忧炭贱愿天寒的反常心理与惜不得的屈从，反差愈烈而批判愈深。【情感与主旨】此篇属白居易《新乐府》组诗，约写于元和四年（809）前后诗人任谏官期间。中唐宫市由宦官主持，借为皇宫采买之名，以极低代价乃至无偿强夺百姓货物。诗人以老翁遭际典型化地揭露这一弊政，体现文章合为时而著、歌诗合为事而作的创作主张。【名句点睛】常考：①「可怜身上衣正单，心忧炭贱愿天寒」的矛盾心理及其揭示的社会问题；②对比手法（老翁与宫使、重炭与轻偿）；③叙事诗借事讽喻、不著议论的特点。

Background

This belongs to Bai Juyi's New Yuefu series, written around the fourth year of Yuanhe (809) while he served as remonstrance official. In mid-Tang the 'palace market,' run by eunuchs, used the pretext of court purchases to seize goods for tiny or no payment, plaguing the capital. Upholding 'writing for the time, poetry for the affair,' Bai Juyi typifies the abuse through the old man's fate.

此篇属白居易《新乐府》组诗，约写于元和四年（809）前后诗人任谏官（左拾遗）期间，题下自注「苦宫市也」。中唐贞元末至元和初，宫中所需物品改由宦官主持的宫市采买：宦官常以低价强购、或以无用之物强换百姓货物，甚至勒索「门户钱」「脚价钱」，横行京城，民不堪命，韩愈《顺宗实录》亦详载宫市之害。白居易秉持「文章合为时而著，歌诗合为事而作」的主张，在《新乐府》五十首中「为君、为臣、为民、为物、为事而作」，此篇即取宫市掠民之典型事件，以卖炭老翁的遭遇集中控诉这一弊政。诗人时任谏官，敢于直陈时弊，诗中虽不著一字议论，而爱憎分明，体现了他以诗补察时政、泄导人情的社会功能观，是中唐新乐府运动中最具批判锋芒的代表作之一。诗成之后，在唐代即广为流传，宫市之害亦因之更为世人所知。白居易另有《宿紫阁山北村》等诗同写强夺之事，可见此题材在其讽喻诗中的分量；而《卖炭翁》以其叙事之完整、人物之鲜明、批判之深刻，为诸作之冠。

Art

Pure objective description, with feeling shown by what is left unsaid. Multiple contrasts: the old man's dust-covered face against the envoys' graceful dress, charcoal a thousand catties against payment half a bolt of gauze, the wish-for-cold paradox against helpless 'dare not protest,' the sharper the contrast, the deeper the censure. The psychology ('fears cheap charcoal, wishes for cold') is incisive; the narrative pace breathes.

纯用客观白描，不著议论而爱憎自见，即所谓「意在言外」。篇中多重对比层层递进：老翁「满面尘灰烟火色，两鬓苍苍十指黑」的劳苦与使者「翩翩两骑」的衣饰气派相对照；炭「千余斤」之重与偿「半匹红纱一丈绫」之轻相对照；「心忧炭贱愿天寒」的反常心理与「宫使驱将惜不得」的屈从相对照，反差愈烈而批判愈深。心理描写（「可怜身上衣正单，心忧炭贱愿天寒」）入木三分，写尽被生存逼出的悖论；叙事节奏张弛有度，从伐薪烧炭的日常写到夜雪晓驾的奔波，再到宫使强夺的骤变，如戏剧般层层推进，结尾以「系向牛头充炭直」冷然收束，不著一叹而悲愤自见。全诗叙事如行云流水，从伐薪烧炭写到炭车被夺，环环相扣；人物塑造上，以肖像、心理、动作多角度刻画，老翁之辛酸与宫使之骄横如在目前。尤其结尾不置一词评断，让事实自己说话，其批判力量远胜直说，是白居易叙事诗艺术成熟的标志，也为后世叙事诗提供了客观呈现的范本。

Allusions

This is realistic narrative with no clear allusion, a 'name the affair, make a poem' New Yuefu method. Its words 'palace envoy,' 'edict,' 'price' (直 = 值) touch the Tang palace-market system and legal usage ('直' is a variant of 'value'). 'Yellow-robed envoy, white-coated boy' directly describes the eunuch and his attendant's dress, fixing identity by detail, a satiric method using fact instead of allusion.

本诗为写实叙事，无明显典故，乃「即事名篇」的新乐府手法，其题目即直取故事中的人物与事件。诗中「宫使」「敕」「直（值）」等词关涉唐代宫市制度与律令用语：「敕」为皇帝诏令，「直」通「值」，指酬价，一词见出所谓「酬价」实为强夺之托辞。「黄衣使者白衫儿」直写宦官及其随从的服色——唐制宦官穿黄衣，无品级者着白衫，以服色细节坐实身份，属以实代典的讽喻笔法。全诗不用古典而用「今典」，以当代制度与口语入诗，正体现白居易「其言直而切」「其事核而实」的新乐府创作原则。此诗以白描叙事替代用典，本身即是新乐府运动「其辞质而径」主张的实践：不用古典而用当下之制度、口语，使诗歌贴近民众、易于传诵，这是白居易对诗歌语言的一次重要革新，也开启了中国诗歌以当代现实入诗的新路。其不用典而自足者，盖因题材之新、情感之真已足以自立，无须借古事增重，这正是新乐府精神之所在。

Commentary

Bai Juyi's own preface says the New Yuefu are 'written for the affair'; this one is 'for the suffering of the palace market.' Song critic Zhang Jie called Bai's poetry 'plain and direct,' this kind. Modern readers rank it with Du Fu's 'Officer at Shihao' as twin peaks of poetry on the people's hardship.

白居易自序《新乐府》「为事而作」，此篇即「苦宫市也」，序中明言其反映民生疾苦的创作目的。宋人张戒《岁寒堂诗话》谓白诗「其辞质而径」，正指此类直写其事、不事藻饰之作。近人誉《卖炭翁》为「唐代叙事诗巅峰」，与杜甫《石壕吏》并列为反映民生疾苦的双璧：杜诗写抓丁之惨，白诗写宫市之夺，皆以典型人物与场景见时代之痛。此诗还因其完整的叙事结构、鲜明的对比手法和深刻的社会批判，长期入选语文教材，成为理解唐代社会、认识现实主义文学传统的经典篇目，其「意在言外」的写法对后世讽喻诗影响深远。其在文学史上的意义，不仅在于思想内容之深刻，更在于艺术形式之创新：以完整的人物、情节与细节构成叙事诗，将讽喻寄于客观叙事之中，实为唐代叙事诗成熟的标志，对后世现实主义诗歌影响深远。诗中「愿天寒」三字，尤具撼人心魄之力，千百年来读者无不为之心酸。

Prosody

Form New Yuefu narrative ancient-style poem (mostly seven-character, with three- and five-character lines)新乐府·叙事古诗（七言为主，间以三、五言）

Rhyme Free rhyme shifts, using Han, Zhi, Mo, Xie and others换韵自由，间用寒、职、陌、屑等韵，随叙事段落自然转韵

Tone pattern Yuefu form, no tone regulation乐府体，不拘平仄，以叙事节奏与口语声调驭句

Reading note A New Yuefu poem 'naming the affair, not following old titles,' using plain seven-character narrative to expose the palace-market abuse.此诗属白居易《新乐府》，题下自注「苦宫市也」，为「即事名篇」的新题乐府，不用古题、不依旧调，而以当代时事入诗。体制上以七言为主，间用三言（卖炭翁）、五言（伐薪烧炭南山中），长短错落，宜于叙事抒情。全诗换韵自由，随情节推进而转韵：起段写老翁劳作，韵脚舒缓；中段写雪中运炭，声调沉重；末段写宫使强夺，换韵转促，声情与叙事相凑。乐府体不拘平仄对仗，而以明白如话的口语行文，正合白居易「其辞质而径」「其言直而切」的主张，使下层百姓也能听懂传唱，体现了新乐府运动面向现实的创作精神。其直白如话，正合为百姓而作之旨。

Line by line

满面尘灰烟火色，两鬓苍苍十指黑。

Your face is all dust and fire-smoke; your temples grey, your ten fingers black.

满脸尘灰烟火色，两鬓斑白十指黑。

His face is dust and ash, the color of smoke and fire; his temples are gray, his ten fingers black.

白描肖像，勾出老翁一生的劳苦：满面尘灰是烧炭烟熏火燎的印记，烟火色以写实之笔写其面色如烟火熏染；两鬓苍苍写其年迈，十指黑写其经年与炭为伴。面、鬓、指三个特写由整体到局部，色（灰、苍、黑）层层加深，一个饱经风霜的烧炭老人形象跃然纸上。两句不著一评，而劳苦之深自见，是叙事诗塑造人物的典范笔法。

A plain portrait sketching the old man's lifelong toil: the dust and ash on his face the mark of the charcoal-burning smoke and flame, the 'smoke-and-fire color' writing in realism his face dyed by the smoke; the gray temples his age, the black ten fingers his years with the charcoal. The three close-ups of face, temples, and fingers, from the whole to the part, the colors (gray, hoar, black) deepening layer on layer, a weather-beaten charcoal-burning old man as if alive on the page. Two lines, not one word of judgment, and the toil's depth of itself, the model brush of the narrative verse in shaping character.

可怜身上衣正单，心忧炭贱愿天寒。

Pitiful, your clothes are thin, yet you fear the charcoal cheap and wish for colder weather.

可怜他身上衣衫正单薄，却心忧炭贱而盼望天气更寒。

Pitiful, his coat on his back is thin; yet grieving the charcoal will sell cheap, he hopes the weather turns colder.

反常心理极写生存压迫，是全篇警策之句。衣正单本当盼天暖，老翁却愿天寒——因为天寒炭价才高，全家衣食才有望。一「单」一「愿」的矛盾，将人最基本的温饱需求异化为对严寒的渴求，悲悯之情油然而生。诗人以「可怜」直呼，引读者共情，而批判宫市之弊的锋芒亦暗藏其中：正是这买卖难、谋生难的世界，逼出了如此悖论的心理。悲剧张力极强，千古传诵。

The perverse psychology writes the survival's pressure to the extreme, the poem's warning line. A thin coat should make one hope for warmth, and the old man hopes for cold — because only in the cold is the charcoal's price high, only then the family's food and clothing have hope. The contradiction of 'thin' and 'hopes' turns man's most basic need of warmth into the craving for bitter cold, and the compassion of itself rises. The poet calls out 'pitiful', leading the reader to empathize, and the edge of the critique on the Palace Market's abuse is secretly held: it is precisely this world of hard buying and hard living that forces out such paradoxical psychology. The tragic tension extreme, chanted through the ages.

手把文书口称敕，回车叱牛牵向北。

Document in hand, they cry the imperial edict; they turn the cart, shout the ox, and drag it north.

手拿文书、口称皇帝诏令，掉转车头叱赶牛儿牵向北方。

In hand, the official paper; in mouth, the imperial command; he turns the ox-cart, shouts at the ox, and leads it north.

「把」「称」「叱」三个动词连用，写宫使的骄横如闻其声：手把文书是有恃无恐的凭证，口称敕是假借皇权的威压，回车叱牛则是不容分说的强夺。三个动作一气呵成，宫使的蛮横霸道与老翁的无力反抗形成鲜明对照。一个「牵」字写牛被牵走、炭被夺去，老翁一生辛劳的成果瞬间易主，叙事至此进入高潮，为结尾的轻偿重炭蓄足势能。

The three verbs 'takes', 'calls out', and 'shouts' in a row write the palace envoys' arrogance as if heard: the official paper in hand the credential of fearlessness, 'in mouth, the imperial command' the borrowed pressure of the imperial power, turning the cart and shouting at the ox the unanswerable seizure. The three actions in one breath, the envoys' overbearing and the old man's powerlessness to resist in sharp contrast. The one word 'leads' writes the ox led away, the charcoal seized, the old man's lifelong labor's fruit changing ownership in an instant, the narrative entering the climax here, storing the fullest momentum for the closing's light payment for the heavy charcoal.

半匹红纱一丈绫，系向牛头充炭直。

Half a bolt of red gauze, a length of damask, tied to the ox's head to stand for the charcoal's price.

只给半匹红纱一丈绫，系在牛头上充作炭钱。

Half a bolt of red gauze, one length of damask, tied to the ox's head, set against the charcoal's price.

以轻抵重，揭宫市掠夺本质，冷峻收束，讽意淋漓。千余斤炭仅换半匹纱一丈绫，且不是付钱而是「系向牛头」——连交付都显得漫不经心、居高临下，老翁连拒绝的机会都没有。「充炭直」三字以反讽点破：所谓炭直（炭价）实为强夺的遮羞布。全诗至此戛然而止，不著一叹而悲愤自见，是白居易「意在言外」手法的绝佳体现。

Setting the light against the heavy, revealing the Palace Market's plundering essence, cold in closing, the satire dripping. A thousand catties of charcoal only for half a bolt of gauze and one length of damask, and not paid but 'tied to the ox's head' — even the delivery seems casual, condescending, the old man not even given the chance to refuse. 'Set against the charcoal's price' in irony points out: the so-called charcoal price is in fact the fig leaf of the seizure. The whole stops short here, not one word of sigh and the grief and anger of itself, the perfect showing of Bai Juyi's 'meaning beyond the words'.

Study

Word focus

可怜 The 'pitiful' (可怜) here means 'alas,' drawing the reader's sympathy, carrying the poet's deep compassion. 「可怜身上衣正单」之「可怜」，犹言可叹、可悯，是诗人直接介入抒情的关键词。白诗新乐府本以客观白描为主，此处破例以「可怜」点醒读者，将叙事者的悲悯直陈而出，使前文肖像、后文心理描写的悲剧力量在这一声感叹中凝聚。一字之出，爱憎分明，既是同情老翁，更是对造成其困苦的宫市制度的无声控诉。其情真切动人。

愿 The 'wish' (愿) in 'fears cheap charcoal, wishes for cold' is a reversed wish, revealing the paradox forced by survival. 「心忧炭贱愿天寒」之「愿」，反常之愿，揭示被生存逼出的悖论心理。愿字本出自主观愿望，此处却写人竟愿天寒雪大，只求炭价稍高——愿望的极端反常恰见处境的极端困苦。一个「愿」字，将老翁的辛酸、无奈与麻木写得入木三分，是刻画人物心理、深化悲剧主题的关键字眼，也是全诗最令人心酸的一笔。此愿越反常，越见其处境之悲惨，是心理描写最深刻的一笔。此愿愈悖常情，愈见其生存之艰，读之令人心酸，是白诗写心理之最深刻者。

直 The 'price' (直) is a variant of 'value' (值), pointing out that the so-called payment is in fact seizure, cold satire. 「系向牛头充炭直」之「直」通「值」，即价钱。诗人特意用「直」而不用「值」，既保留唐代口语与律令用语的原貌，又暗含讥讽：千余斤炭只值半匹纱一丈绫，所谓「炭直」名不副实，实为强夺。一字双关，冷讽淋漓，是白居易以细节坐实批判的典型笔法。直字用古字本字，正是实录宫市用语，而讽刺之意自寓其中，一字而见史笔。

卖炭翁