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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

马嵬坡

The Mawei Slope

郑畋

Zheng Tian

咏史History 马嵬之变Theme 玄宗Theme 七言绝句Theme

玄宗回马杨妃死，云雨难忘日月新。
终是圣明天子事，景阳宫井又何人。

Emperor Xuanzong turned his steed back, while Yang the consort lay dead;
their cloud-and-rain passion unforgettable, yet sun and moon are new.
In the end it was the act of a sage and enlightened ruler -
compared with him, who was it that hid in the Jingyang Palace well?

Listen

Meaning

A deceptively praising verdict on Xuanzong's sacrifice of Yang Guifei that quietly mocks the emperor.

玄宗回驾长安而杨妃已死，云雨旧情难忘而日月换新。终究是圣明天子的决断，景阳宫井中又是何人（陈后主）？

Appreciation

Zheng Tian seems to defend the emperor and then, with a single pointed comparison, suggests he was no better than the coward he is measured against. The praise is the trap.

【白话串讲】 “玄宗回马杨妃死，云雨难忘日月新”——郑畋写马嵬坡：玄宗回京，杨妃已死。“终是圣明天子事，景阳宫井又何人”——他说玄宗是圣明天子，还自比陈后主。他写马嵬之变的评价。【意象与手法】以“回马”对“死”、“难忘”对“新”，于对照中既体谅玄宗又微含讽意；末联以陈后主景阳宫井作衬，抬出“圣明”却以昏主为陪，抑扬之间见史识。回护本朝而不落斧凿。【情感与主旨】同咏马嵬之变而立场各异，可与白居易《长恨歌》重情、杜牧《过华清宫》重奢、李商隐《马嵬》重讽并读，此诗重“识”，在“玄宗评价”谱系中见其回护本朝的笔法。【名句点睛】常考“终是圣明天子事，景阳宫井又何人”以景阳宫井衬玄、陈之别；“玄宗回马杨妃死，云雨难忘日月新”以回马对死写马嵬之变。

Background

On the return from the Sichuan flight after the An Lushan revolt, Xuanzong's train passed Mawei Slope where Yang Guifei had been forced to hang. Zheng Tian (c.834-882) judges the emperor's concession as politically necessary.

马嵬坡在今陕西兴平，是天宝十五载（756）马嵬驿兵变的所在地。安史乱起，玄宗仓皇奔蜀，行至马嵬，禁军哗变，杀杨国忠，缢死杨贵妃。郑畋此诗，乃唐人对这一重大历史事件的回望与评断。郑畋为晚唐名相，武宗会昌年间进士，历仕宣、懿、僖数朝，亲历唐室衰颓、藩镇跋扈之局。他写马嵬，不止吊古，更含借古讽今、回护本朝的史识。与白居易《长恨歌》敷演情事、杜牧《过华清宫》刺奢、李商隐《马嵬》深讽不同，郑畋以「圣明」二字为玄宗开脱，把赐死贵妃说成天子应有的决断，表面颂圣，实则在「回马」与「死」的对照里，藏着对帝王无奈的体谅。晚唐咏史，多好翻案与微词，郑畋此篇却以「终是圣明天子事」收束，抬出圣明，再以陈后主景阳宫井为反衬，使玄宗虽失爱妃却犹胜亡国之君。这种「扬本朝、抑前代」的笔法，既见史臣立场，也见唐人于马嵬一题上立场之分歧。读此诗，须把它放在「如何评价玄宗」的咏史谱系中，方能懂其「回护」背后的苦心。

Art

Ironic and restrained: it appears to praise Xuanzong as 'sage and enlightened' for sacrificing his love, then undercuts the praise by comparison with the Chen emperor who hid in a well - implying Xuanzong too fled disgrace.

此诗艺术上最见功力处，在于对照与反衬的精密安排。首联「玄宗回马杨妃死」，以「回马」对「死」，一存一殁，七个字写尽马嵬之变的核心悲剧：天子回銮长安，而昔日枕边人已化作马嵬坡下一缕香魂。「回」与「死」的并置，不用叹词，不用形容，全靠事实本身的冷峻撞击读者。次句「云雨难忘日月新」，以「难忘」对「新」，旧情之深与世局之变的反差，被压缩在一句之中。两联皆以对举立骨，于极简的句法里藏极重的情感张力。尾联尤见匠意。「终是圣明天子事，景阳宫井又何人」，先以「圣明」正面立论，随即以陈后主投井的亡国结局作衬。「圣明」二字，字面是褒，实则含讽——一个连爱妃都保不住的皇帝，何「圣明」之有？诗人却故意用褒词，再以更不堪的亡国之君作对比，使玄宗的「决断」在相对中显得「可取」。这种欲抑先扬、以昏衬明的手法，使赞语里自带保留，评断中留有分寸。全诗四句，前二叙事，后二议论，由事入议，结构谨严；语言典重而不浮，恰是晚唐咏史「出己意而不落斧凿」的得体之境。

Allusions

The Jingyang Palace well is where Chen Shubao, last emperor of Chen, hid with his concubines as Sui troops took his capital - the archetype of a shamelessly defeated ruler. 'Cloud-and-rain' is the conventional image for royal passion.

此诗用典精当，最要者有三。其一为「云雨」，出自宋玉《高唐赋》：楚王梦与巫山神女欢会，神女自言「旦为朝云，暮为行雨」。后世遂以「云雨」代指男女情事，尤指帝王与妃嫔之欢。郑畋以「云雨难忘」写玄宗对杨妃的旧情，既典雅又切帝王身份，比直说「恩爱」更合体统。其二为「圣明天子事」中的「圣明」，本是史臣颂君套语，此处却暗用杜甫《北征》「不闻夏殷衰，中自诛褒妲」之意——杜甫早把玄宗赐死杨妃视为「圣人不得已而诛嬖幸」的明断，郑畋「圣明」之评，正承杜诗而来，是把个人悲剧纳入「天子大义」框架的史笔。其三为「景阳宫井」，典出陈后主。隋军破建康，后主与张丽华、孔贵人藏入景阳宫井，终被俘，此井遂称「辱井」。郑畋引此典，以亡国之君反衬玄宗，使「圣明」之评有了具体标尺。三典连用，一写情、一立论、一设衬，皆不僻不隔，而历史纵深自出。尤妙在「景阳宫井又何人」以问句收束，把陈后主轻轻推出作陪，褒贬全在言外，是咏史用典「不落斧凿」的范例。

Commentary

A reversal poem that seems to exonerate Xuanzong but quietly mocks him; the final rhetorical question leaves the judgment to the reader.

此诗在马嵬诸咏中别具一格，历代论者多注意其「回护」立场。清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》选此诗，赞其「立言有体」，即指它以「圣明」收结，于本朝天子留足体面，合于诗教之「温柔敦厚」。与李商隐《马嵬》「如何四纪为天子，不及卢家有莫愁」的尖刻相较，郑畋之笔显然更「厚」，这正是唐人咏史由婉到直的语调变迁中，属于「婉」的一路。清人吴乔《围炉诗话》论咏史，谓「用意须透，下语须活」，郑畋以「景阳宫井」作衬，正是「透」而能「活」：不直斥玄宗之过，而借陈后主之辱反显其「犹愈」。近人论此诗，每把它与白居易、杜牧、李商隐同题之作并置，以为「白重情、杜重奢、李重讽、郑重识」。郑畋之长在「识」——他不被情事牵缠，而能从历史后果反推帝王抉择的合理性。然亦有人批评其「圣明」之语未免谀词，掩了马嵬兵变中玄宗的懦与误。平心而论，晚唐诗臣咏本朝事，本难直言，郑畋以「扬此抑彼」之法，既全臣节，又暗存史识，实属难得。读此诗当知：其价值不在翻案之勇，而在分寸之稳——于颂圣的壳里，藏着一个清醒史家的保留。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qijue)七言绝句（首句不入韵，偶句押平声真韵）

Rhyme Rhymes on 'dead' (si), 'new' (xin), 'person' (ren) - 'dead' is oblique as opening; 'new'/'person' level-tone zhen group.押平声真韵：新、人相押；首句死（上声纸韵）、三句事（去声寘韵）皆不入韵，合七绝常格。

Tone pattern Seven-character regulated form.玄宗回马杨妃死（平平平仄平平仄），云雨难忘日月新（平仄平平仄仄平），终是圣明天子事（平仄仄平平仄仄），景阳宫井又何人（仄平平仄仄平平）。二四句平仄相对，三句仄收，近体粘对大体合度，典重而稳。

Reading note Praised for its delicate, double-edged irony.此诗声律谨严，与李白古绝的放任不同，正合晚唐咏史「立言有体」的取向。押韵取平声真韵，新、人二字开口平舒，宜于收束议论而不显急促；首句死字仄收不入韵，先以冷峻的事实定调，三句事字再仄收一顿，把节奏压住，末句人以平声舒展开来，如一声长叹后的定论。平仄方面，二四句「日月新」对「又何人」平仄相对，中二联虽非严格对仗，却「回马—死」「难忘—新」自有语势上的对称，读来稳而不板。整体声腔典重，与诗中「圣明」「景阳宫井」的史笔语体相称。七绝之妙，常在于以最稳的声律承载最重的翻案，郑畋此首正是以合规的格调，托住那一句险峻的「终是圣明天子事」。

Line by line

玄宗回马杨妃死，

Emperor Xuanzong turned his steed back, while Yang the consort lay dead;

玄宗回驾长安而杨妃已死，

Xuanzong turned his horse back; Yang Guifei was dead,

七个字，写尽马嵬之变最核心的悲剧，手法却极冷。「玄宗回马」与「杨妃死」以「而」字暗转，一存一殁，两件事并排而立，不着一字感慨，悲剧的重量却从事实的并列里自然压下来。回马，是帝王重获人身自由、重返权力的象征；死，是宠妃生命与恩宠的终结。二者同源于一场兵变，却指向两种命运。郑畋不写「泣下」「伤悼」，只让事实说话，正是咏史之「识」高于「情」的体现。读此句，当想见那个仓皇的午后：旌旗蔽日，白绫三尺，帝王回瞰而不能救。一个「回」字，藏着多少无奈与愧疚，而诗人偏不点破，把评判权留给后文与读者。

Seven words, writing the full tragedy of the Mawei mutiny, and the method most cold. 'Xuanzong turned his horse back' and 'Yang Guifei was dead' through 'and' the hidden turn, one living one dead, the two things side by side, not one word of sigh, and the tragedy's weight pressing of itself from the facts' juxtaposition. 'Turned his horse back' is the symbol of the emperor's regaining personal freedom, returning to power; 'dead' the end of the beloved consort's life and favor. Both from one mutiny, and pointing to two fates. Zheng Tian writes not 'weeping' and 'grieving', but only lets the facts speak, precisely the historic verse's 'insight' above 'emotion'. Reading this line, one should imagine that panicked afternoon: the banners covering the sun, the three-foot white silk, the emperor looking back and unable to save. The one word 'turned back' hides how much helplessness and guilt, and the poet not pointing it out, leaving the judgment to the below and the reader.

云雨难忘日月新。

their cloud-and-rain passion unforgettable, yet sun and moon are new.

云雨旧情难忘而日月换新。

the cloud-rain old love unforgotten, and the sun and moon renewed.

此句以「难忘」对「新」，把旧情之深与世局之变拧成一股张力。「云雨」用宋玉典，代指帝王与妃嫔之欢，典雅而合身份；「难忘」写玄宗对杨妃的旧情未泯，是人性的一面。「日月新」则写时移世易、新朝气象，是历史的一面。一句之中，私情与公史对撞：人间的恩爱记忆，挡不住王朝时钟的转动。郑畋以「而」字连接，暗示二者的不可兼得——玄宗纵难忘，也须接受「日月新」的现实。这正呼应首句「回马」与「死」的断裂：情感停在过去，时间已走向未来。七字小句，竟容下个人与历史的全部错位，是此诗凝练之极处。

This line sets 'unforgotten' against 'renewed', twisting the old love's depth and the world's change into one tension. 'Cloud-rain' uses Song Yu's allusion, standing for the emperor's love for the consort, elegant and fitting the station; 'unforgotten' writes Xuanzong's old love for Yang Guifei not extinguished, the human side. 'The sun and moon renewed' writes the time's movement and the world's change, the new dynasty's air, the historical side. Within one line, the private love and the public history collide: the human love's memory cannot block the dynasty clock's turning. Zheng Tian connects through 'and', hinting the two's incompatibility — Xuanzong however unforgetting, must accept the reality of 'the sun and moon renewed'. This precisely answers the opening's rupture of 'turned his horse back' and 'dead': the feeling stays in the past, the time has moved to the future. The small line of seven words, and yet holds all the dislocation of the personal and the historical, the poem's extreme condensation.

终是圣明天子事，

In the end it was the act of a sage and enlightened ruler -

终究是圣明天子的决断，

After all, it was the wise emperor's doing,

「终是」二字，是全诗的论断枢纽，也是争议焦点。它把马嵬赐死定性为「圣明天子」的应有决断，表面颂圣，实则暗用杜甫「中自诛褒妲」的史笔逻辑：诛嬖幸以存社稷，是帝王不得已的大义。然而「圣明」二字用得极险——一个连爱妃都护不住、因兵变而妥协的皇帝，真能称圣明吗？诗人故意以褒词立论，是把赞语当作壳，壳里包着对悲剧的体谅与对后果的承认。这恰是晚唐咏史「出己意而不落斧凿」的得体：既不全盘否定本朝天子，也不沉溺于同情贵妃，而是从历史后果反推抉择的「合理」。读此句须听出弦外之音：所谓圣明，其实是「两害相权」后的最小代价。

The words 'after all' are the thesis pivot of the whole, and the focus of controversy. They define the Mawei death sentence as the 'wise emperor's' due decision, on the surface praising the sage, in fact secretly using Du Fu's history-brush logic of 'from within, he executed Bao and Da': executing the favorites to preserve the state, is the emperor's unavoidable great duty. And yet the words 'wise emperor' used the most dangerously — an emperor who could not even protect his consort, who compromised because of the mutiny, can he truly be called wise? The poet deliberately argues through the laudatory word, taking the praise as the shell, and within the shell holding the understanding of the tragedy and the acknowledgment of the consequence. This precisely is the late-Tang historic verse's 'the personal opinion without the chisel's trace' propriety: neither wholly negating the dynasty's emperor, nor sinking into pity for the consort, but inferring the choice's 'reasonableness' from the historical consequence. Reading this line one must hear the overtone: the so-called wisdom is in fact the minimum cost after 'weighing the two harms'.

景阳宫井又何人。

compared with him, who was it that hid in the Jingyang Palace well?

景阳宫井中又是何人（陈后主）？

who, in the Jingyang palace well, was the other man?

此句以陈后主投景阳宫井的亡国结局作衬，把玄宗轻轻托到「犹胜」的位置。「景阳宫井」是著名的「辱井」，陈后主与宠妃张丽华藏身井中被俘，是昏君误国的符号。郑畋以问句收束，「又何人」三字把陈后主推出作陪，言下之意：玄宗虽失贵妃，却未至亡国辱身，终究强过陈后主。这种以昏衬明、以亡衬存的手法，使「圣明」之评有了具体标尺，也把褒贬全藏在言外。尤为巧妙的是，问句不答，留白给读者自己去比——比出玄宗的「可恕」，也便比出郑畋史识的分寸。一句收篇，余味悠长，正是咏史「不落斧凿」的范例。

This line uses the Chen Houzhu's ending of casting himself into the Jingyang palace well as foil, lifting Xuanzong lightly to the position of 'still better'. 'The Jingyang palace well' is the famous 'disgraceful well', Chen Houzhu and his consort Zhang Lihua hiding in the well and captured, the symbol of the foolish ruler's ruin of the state. Zheng Tian closes in question, the three words 'the other man' pushing out Chen Houzhu as companion, the meaning between the words: Xuanzong though losing the consort, has not reached the ruin of the state and the personal disgrace, after all stronger than Chen Houzhu. This method of setting the foolish against the wise, the ruin against the survival, gives the verdict of 'wise' a concrete measure, and hides all praise and blame between the words. The more cleverly, the question unanswered, the blank left for the reader to compare — comparing out Xuanzong's 'pardonable', and thereby comparing out Zheng Tian's historical insight's measure. One line closing the piece, the aftertaste long, precisely the historic verse's model of 'no chisel trace'.

Study

Word focus

回马 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「回马」是全诗第一个动作意象，也是悲剧的起点。马，本为帝王威仪与行动自由的象征；「回」字写其掉转车驾、折返长安，表面是重归权力中心，内里却是仓皇逃归。与下句「死」对举，回马之「动」反衬杨妃之「静」（永逝），回銮之「生」反衬缢死之「灭」。一字之中，藏着马嵬兵变最残酷的张力：帝王能回到长安，却回不到有杨妃在的侧。郑畋不写「奔」「逃」，而写「回」，措辞克制而体面，既合史臣身份，又把无奈含在其中。这个看似中性的词，实是全诗情感结构的支点。

圣明 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「圣明」是此诗最具歧义的词语，也是郑畋史识的集中体现。它本是史臣颂君的套语，用在马嵬语境里却极为吊诡：一个因兵变被迫赐死爱妃的皇帝，何「圣明」之有？郑畋的机心正在于此——他故意以褒词立论，把玄宗的妥协包装成「天子决断」，表面颂圣，实则暗承杜甫「中自诛褒妲」的逻辑，把个人悲剧纳入「社稷大义」的框架。这个词既是保护色（为本朝天子留体面），也是试金石（读者一听便知其中保留）。它让全诗在「颂」与「识」之间走钢丝，最见晚唐咏史「立言有体」的分寸。

景阳宫井 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「景阳宫井」是此诗的典故支点，也是反衬法的落点。井本寻常，一旦与陈后主绑定，便成了「辱井」——隋军破建康，后主携宠妃藏身井中被俘，是亡国之君的符号。郑畋引此典，不是为写陈后主，而是借他作标尺，量出玄宗的「犹胜」：你丢的是爱妃，他丢的是江山与体面。以「井」对「坡」（马嵬坡），以亡国对失妃，轻重立判。「又何人」的问句把典故激活为活的对照，使褒贬不言自明。二字词组，承载了整部六朝至唐的兴亡记忆，是咏史用典「以小见大」的妙笔。

马嵬坡