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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

琴曲歌辞 列女操

A Lute-Song: Song of the Exemplary Woman

孟郊

Meng Jiao

梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此波澜誓不起妾心井中水

The paulownias keep each other company until they grow old;
The mandarin ducks are joined even in death.
A chaste wife holds following her husband in death most dear—
To lay down her life is simply the same.
No wave, I vow, shall ever rise again:
My heart is the water in a well.
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Meaning

A solemn vow of wifely constancy. Taking the paulownia, whose paired trunks grow old together, and the mandarin ducks, said to die in couples, as nature's emblems of fidelity, the speaker declares that a chaste wife's greatest honor is to die with her husband, and she seals the vow with the image of well water: a heart so still that no wave of change will ever stir it.

梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此波澜誓不起妾心井中水

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The paulownia trees grow old side by side; the mandarin ducks die in pairs. A virtuous wife values dying with her husband; laying down her life is only the same. I vow no wave will ever rise: my heart is the water in a well. [Structure] The poem moves in three steps: nature's models of fidelity (the paulownia and the mandarin ducks), the ethical principle (the chaste wife who follows her husband in death), and the personal vow (the still water of the well). Each step is more inward than the last. [Imagery] The images are deliberately plain: trees, birds, a well. Meng Jiao, famous for his austere 'cold and lean' style, strips away ornament so that the vow lands with the bluntness of ritual speech. The well water is the poem's masterpiece: by defining the heart as water that cannot wave, the poet makes stillness itself the proof of chastity, and the closing lines echo long after they are read.

【白话串讲】 孟郊写《琴曲歌辞·列女操》：“梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死”——“贞妇贵徇夫，舍生亦如此”——“波澜誓不起，妾心井中水”——他写列女——妾心井中水。 【意象与手法】 “梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死”写相守；“贞妇贵徇夫，舍生亦如此”写殉夫；“波澜誓不起，妾心井中水”以井水写坚贞。质朴贞烈。 【情感与主旨】 孟郊以琴曲歌辞写列女操之作，以梧桐鸳鸯、井水为喻写贞妇殉夫之志，与《列女操》同旨，是孟郊写贞烈题材的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“梧桐相待老，鸳鸯会双死”写相守；“波澜誓不起，妾心井中水”以井水写坚贞。

Background

Meng Jiao (751-814), courtesy name Dongye, was from Wukang (present-day Deqing, Zhejiang). A leading figure of the mid-Tang 'Han-Meng' school alongside Han Yu, he lived much of his life in poverty and only passed the jinshi examination at forty-six. The poem belongs to the yuefu category 'Qinqu geci' (lute-song lyrics), and its title 'Lie nu cao' (Song of the Exemplary Woman) places it in the tradition of Liu Xiang's 'Biographies of Exemplary Women'. Written in a deliberately archaic, song-like plainness, it reflects both the old music-bureau idiom and the mid-Tang fashion for reimagining ancient women's virtue.

《琴曲歌辞 列女操》为唐代诗人孟郊所作诗。孟郊（751—814），字东野，湖州武康人，唐代诗人。此诗写咏人贞烈，为咏列女之作。诗中「梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死」写梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死；「贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此」写贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此；「波澜誓不起妾心井中水」写波澜誓不起妾心井中水。孟郊此诗以咏人贞烈、妾心井中水写其贞烈之情，质朴贞烈，是孟郊诗中的名篇。此篇《琴曲歌辞 列女操》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《琴曲歌辞 列女操》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's craft lies in its vertical plainness. In three couplets of five characters each, Meng Jiao uses xing, the 'rising image' technique of the 'Book of Songs': the paulownia and the mandarin ducks are not metaphors the poet argues for but natural witnesses summoned first, and the moral claim ('a chaste wife prizes following her husband') follows from them almost as an axiom. The final couplet converts the whole vow into a single image - well water that 'will not raise waves' - which is both the most concrete and the most abstract moment in the poem: a heart defined by what it refuses to do. The diction (xiang dai, hui shuang si, xun fu) is drawn from the plainest strata of the language, and the rhythm, level and repetitive, imitates the flat surface of the well. This is Meng Jiao's 'using the plain to write the fierce': nothing ornamental, yet the ethical force is harder than any ornament.

此诗艺术上以「质朴贞烈、以井写情」见长。全诗共六句，由梧桐相待老而贞妇贵徇夫而波澜誓不起。起「梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死」写梧桐相待老：梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死；「贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此」写贞妇贵徇夫：贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此；结「波澜誓不起妾心井中水」写波澜誓不起：波澜誓不起妾心井中水。全诗以井写情，由梧桐相待老而妾心井中水，质朴贞烈，是孟郊诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

The paulownia (wutong) is the tree on which the phoenix alone will perch, and paired paulownias are a classical emblem of conjugal companionship growing old together. Mandarin ducks (yuanyang) have symbolized inseparable couples since ancient times, and the belief that they die together makes them an even sharper token of fidelity in death. The well water echoes the idiom of the 'old well' (gujing), a byword for a heart no passion can disturb - a phrase Meng Jiao himself would ring changes on in his famous 'Grave of the Abandoned Woman' ('waves vow not to rise; my heart is water in an old well'). The vow of a widow to follow her husband (xunfu) belongs to the 'Lie nu zhuan' tradition of exemplary women.

诗中「梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死」「贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此」「波澜誓不起妾心井中水」等语，皆含典故故实。「梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死」用鸳鸯之典（鸳鸯写雌雄鸟），写梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死；「贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此」写贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此；「波澜誓不起妾心井中水」用井水之典（井水写水井），写波澜誓不起妾心井中水。诗人用鸳鸯、井水之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把咏人贞烈之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

The poem has been prized as the plainest and most severe of Meng Jiao's yuefu imitations, and its closing image has passed into the language as a formula for unshakable fidelity. Traditional commentators read it as a sincere ritual of chastity, and for centuries it was used to instruct women. Modern criticism is more divided: the poem's celebration of a widow's suicide is now often read as an artifact of Tang feudal ethics rather than a universal virtue, while its literary power - the starkness of the vow, the finality of the well water - is acknowledged by all. Read as a study of absolute resolution, it remains one of the most concentrated poems in the Chinese canon.

这首《琴曲歌辞 列女操》，是孟郊写咏人贞烈之作，写梧桐相待老、贞妇贵徇夫、波澜誓不起、妾心井中水之情，质朴贞烈。起「梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死」——梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死。写梧桐相待老：梧桐相待老、鸳鸯会双死——相待老、会双死；「贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此」——贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此。写贞妇贵徇夫：贞妇贵徇夫、舍生亦如此——贵徇夫、亦如此；结「波澜誓不起妾心井中水」——波澜誓不起妾心井中水。写波澜誓不起：波澜誓不起、妾心井中水——誓不起、井中水。这「波澜誓不起妾心井中水」，是全诗之结：以妾心井中水写其贞烈。全诗质朴贞烈，以井写情，正是孟郊诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient-style verse (wuyan guti), in the yuefu 'qinqu geci' (lute-song lyrics) tradition诗（五言古体）
Rhyme In ancient-verse fashion the rhyming is loose: the closing words si (die), ci (this) and shui (water) mark the end of each couplet in a level, incantatory cadence; the vowel music is deliberately plain so that the vow sounds like spoken ritual.此诗为五言古体。押韵：「死」「此」「水」等部。句句自然流转，声情质朴，正与写咏人贞烈的质朴贞烈相称，也见其以古体写贞烈的流转。
Tone pattern The five-character lines move in a flat, level tread: five syllables per line, two lines to an idea, with pauses after the second and fourth characters. The meter never hurries - the even beat enacts the stillness of the well the poem ends on.句式上，「梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死」写梧桐相待老，音节质朴；「贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此」写贞妇贵徇夫，音节低回；结「波澜誓不起妾心井中水」写波澜誓不起，音节沉郁。全诗音节随情起伏，由质朴而低回、而沉郁，正合古体「流转」之妙，读来如咏人贞烈、妾心井中水之音，质朴而动人。
Reading note This is a yuefu-style imitation, not a regulated poem: no strict tonal patterns or obligatory parallelism are required. Its power comes from repetition and symmetry - three parallel stages of the vow (nature, ethics, the self), each couplet ending on a hard rhyme, like three strokes of the same bell.此诗为五言古体，是孟郊写咏人贞烈之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「质朴贞烈、以井写情」：「梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死」写梧桐相待老、「贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此」写贞妇贵徇夫、「波澜誓不起妾心井中水」写波澜誓不起。全诗质朴贞烈，以井写情。尤为精妙者，是「鸳鸯会双死」用鸳鸯之典；而「妾心井中水」用井水之典，正是孟郊诗「质朴贞烈」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《琴曲歌辞 列女操》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死

The paulownias keep each other company until they grow old; the mandarin ducks are joined even in death.

梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死

The paulownia and the parasol wait to grow old together; the mandarin ducks would die as a pair.

起句写梧桐相待老，起笔即见其梧桐。「梧桐相待老」写梧桐相待老，「梧桐」写梧桐、「相待老」写相待老；「鸳鸯会双死」用鸳鸯之典写鸳鸯会双死，「鸳鸯」写鸳鸯、「会双死」写会双死。一句写梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死，以梧桐相待老写相待老、以鸳鸯会双死写会双死，写尽梧桐相待老、鸳鸯会双死之情。以桐起兴，质朴而贞烈，是「以桐起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line writes 'the paulownia and the parasol wait to grow old together', the start. 'The paulownia and the parasol wait to grow old together' — the trees, the waiting to age; 'the mandarin ducks would die as a pair' uses the mandarin-duck allusion — the birds, the double death. Rising through the tree, plain and chaste, the start of the verse.

贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此

A chaste wife holds following her husband in death most dear; to lay down her life is simply the same.

贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此

The chaste wife prizes dying with her husband; giving up life is just so.

此句写贞妇贵徇夫，是全诗写贞妇之态的关键。「贞妇贵徇夫」写贞妇贵徇夫，「贞妇」写贞妇、「贵徇夫」写贵徇夫；「舍生亦如此」写舍生亦如此，「舍生」写舍生、「亦如此」写亦如此。一句写贞妇贵徇夫舍生亦如此，以贞妇贵徇夫写贵徇夫、以舍生亦如此写亦如此，写尽贞妇贵徇夫、舍生亦如此之情。以贞写情，质朴而贞烈，是「以贞写情」的点睛之笔。

This line writes 'the chaste wife prizes dying with her husband', the key image. 'The chaste wife prizes dying with her husband' — the chaste wife, the prize of dying for the husband; 'giving up life is just so' — giving up life, just so. Writing feeling through the chastity, plain and chaste, the eye of the poem.

波澜誓不起妾心井中水

No wave, I vow, shall ever rise again; my heart is the water in a well.

波澜誓不起妾心井中水

Waves, I swear, shall not rise; my heart is the water in the well.

结句写妾心井中水，是全诗立意的落点。「波澜誓不起」写波澜誓不起，「波澜」写波澜、「誓不起」写誓不起；「妾心井中水」用井水之典写妾心井中水，「妾心」写妾心、「井中水」写井中水。一句写波澜誓不起妾心井中水，以波澜誓不起写誓不起、以妾心井中水写井中水，写尽波澜誓不起、妾心井中水之情。以水写情，质朴而贞烈，是全诗最动人处，也是「以水写情」的点睛之笔。

The closing line writes 'my heart is the water in the well', the poem's landing. 'Waves, I swear, shall not rise' — the waves, the sworn not to rise; 'my heart is the water in the well' uses the well-water allusion — my heart, the well water. Writing feeling through the water, plain and chaste, the poem's most moving point: the wife's heart sealed like the well water, no wave of temptation ever to rise.

Study

Word focus

梧桐 Paulownia tree: in Chinese lore the tree of the phoenix, and paired paulownias are a classical emblem of spouses growing old together in faithful companionship. 「梧桐」写梧桐相待老，是写梧桐之态的关键。「梧桐相待老」着一「梧桐」，写梧桐——着一「梧桐」，写梧桐相待老，见其桐之梧。两字写尽梧桐之态，是「以词写桐」的妙笔。「梧桐」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
鸳鸯 Mandarin ducks: the ancient emblem of a devoted couple, believed to mate for life and never to part, even in death - hence 'meeting a double death' here. 「鸳鸯」写鸳鸯会双死，是写鸳鸯之态的关键。「鸳鸯会双死」着一「鸳鸯」，写鸳鸯——着一「鸳鸯」，写鸳鸯会双死，见其鸯之鸳。两字写尽鸳鸯之态，是「以词写鸯」的点睛之词。「鸳鸯」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
贞妇 A chaste, exemplary wife: the lienu ideal of wifely purity, whose highest duty - praised in this poem - is to follow her husband in death rather than survive him. 「贞妇」写贞妇贵徇夫，是写贞妇之态的关键。「贞妇贵徇夫」着一「贞妇」，写贞妇——着一「贞妇」，写贞妇贵徇夫，见其妇之贞。两字写尽贞妇之态，是「以词写妇」的点睛之词。「贞妇」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
波澜 Waves and billows: here sworn away - the still surface of well water stands for a heart that no passion or change will ever stir. 「波澜」写波澜誓不起，是写波澜之态的关键。「波澜誓不起」着一「波澜」，写波澜——着一「波澜」，写波澜誓不起，见其澜之波。两字写尽波澜之态，是「以词写澜」的点睛之词。「波澜」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

水调歌头·明月几时有 Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Bright? 苏轼 · 同写贞烈感怀、质朴旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死，皆于贞烈之中见质朴 Both brood on separation and transience with plain yet far-reaching feeling - one writes 'men have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion', the other the paired paulownias and mandarin ducks, each finding stark simplicity in grief.

Su Shi's famous ci ('men have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion; the moon has its dark and clear, its waxing and waning - this has been hard to perfect since antiquity') muses on life's imperfection with philosophical breadth. Meng Jiao's poem, by contrast, fixes on an absolute vow - the paired trees, the paired ducks, the still well water. Read together, they show two Tang-Song ways of meeting grief: Su Shi reconciles himself to change; Meng Jiao denies that change can touch the chaste heart.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写贞烈感怀、质朴旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；孟郊《琴曲歌辞 列女操》则以「梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死」「妾心井中水」写会双死、井中水。两诗同写贞烈感怀、质朴旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死、以鸳鸯写贞烈；一为苏轼之旷达、一为孟郊之质朴，并读正可见诗写「贞烈感怀」的两种笔法，皆于贞烈之中见质朴。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Tones of Ganzhou: On the Drizzling Evening Rain Spreading over the River Sky 柳永 · 同写井水凝望、质朴清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死，皆于井水之中见凝望 Both gaze longingly across distance with plain, limpid feeling - one faces 'the drizzling evening rain spreading over the river sky', the other the paired paulownias and mandarin ducks, each finding steadfast watching in its imagery.

Liu Yong's song ('facing the drizzling evening rain spreading over the river sky, one washing makes the autumn pure') is the classic ci of the wanderer's longing, soft and musical. Meng Jiao's poem turns the same autumnal gazing into a vow of chastity. The two show the contrast between Liu Yong's yielding, flowing sorrow and Meng Jiao's hard, angular resolve.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写井水凝望、质朴清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；孟郊《琴曲歌辞 列女操》则以「梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死」「波澜誓不起」写会双死、誓不起。两诗同写井水凝望、质朴清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写梧桐相待老鸳鸯会双死、以鸳鸯写贞烈；一为柳永之清丽、一为孟郊之质朴，并读正可见诗写「井水凝望」的两种笔法，皆于井水之中见凝望。