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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

赏牡丹

Appreciating Peonies

刘禹锡

Liu Yuxi

唐Tang Dynasty 刘禹锡Liu Yuxi 七绝Seven-character Quatrain 牡丹Tree Peony 咏物Object-Chanting

庭前芍药妖无格，池上芙蕖净少情。
唯有牡丹真国色，花开时节动京城。

Before the court, the herbaceous peonies are alluring but lack distinction;
On the pond, the lotuses are pure but lack feeling.
Only the tree peony is the true national beauty—
When it blooms, it stirs the entire capital.

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Meaning

The poem contrasts the herbaceous peony and the lotus with the tree peony, asserting that only the tree peony deserves the title of 'true national beauty.' Its blooming moves the entire capital, capturing the frenzy of Tang-era flower appreciation.

庭前的芍药虽妖冶却无格调，池上的荷花虽洁净却少情韵。只有牡丹才是真正的国色，花开时节惊动整个京城。

Appreciation

Using a two-stage contrast (the 'suppression' of the first couplet and the 'elevation' of the second), the poem places the peony on a unique pedestal. The first couplet criticizes the herbaceous peony for being alluring but lacking 'style' (ge) and the lotus for being pure but lacking 'feeling' (qing). This deliberately prepares the ground for the peony, which combines both qualities. The final couplet, with the emphatic 'Only' and the phrase 'true national beauty,' delivers a definitive judgment, while 'stirs the entire capital' evokes the flower’s overwhelming social impact through the reaction of the crowd. The poem is a classic example of 'using the guest to highlight the host' in object-chanting verse.

【白话串讲】 “庭前芍药妖无格，池上芙蕖净少情”——刘禹锡写赏牡丹：芍药妖艳没有格调，荷花清净缺少情致。“唯有牡丹真国色，花开时节动京城”——只有牡丹是真国色，开花时节惊动整个京城。【意象与手法】以抑彼扬此之法写牡丹之尊。前二句先贬芍药之“妖无格”、芙蕖之“净少情”，为牡丹蓄势；后二句“唯有牡丹真国色，花开时节动京城”一笔振起。对比鲜明、转折有力，是咏物诗中“以宾衬主”的范例。【情感与主旨】写牡丹雍容之姿，也写出唐人争赏牡丹的倾城之风，侧面折射中唐长安“牡丹热”的社会风尚，使“国色天香”成为牡丹的永恒代称。【名句点睛】常考“唯有牡丹真国色，花开时节动京城”以国色动京城写牡丹之尊；“庭前芍药妖无格，池上芙蕖净少情”以芍药芙蕖衬牡丹。

Background

Written during the mid-Tang when the peony craze was at its peak, this quatrain reflects the social custom of the day. In Chang’an, rare peony varieties could cost thousands of coins, and when the flowers bloomed, the entire city turned out to admire them. Liu Yuxi, a poet known for his robust spirit, captured this phenomenon while also projecting onto the peony an aesthetic of majestic elegance. The exact date of composition is uncertain, but the poem actively contributed to establishing the peony as the symbol of national beauty and splendor.

刘禹锡这首《赏牡丹》，写于中唐长安牡丹最盛之时。唐人爱牡丹，至玄宗朝已渐成风尚，到中唐更风靡朝野，长安贵游竞购名品，一株或值数万钱，每当花开，城中士女倾城出游，所谓「花开时节动京城」并非夸饰。白居易《买花》所谓「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」，正可想见其狂热。刘禹锡本人屡遭贬谪，此诗具体作年难定，然以他朗健的性情与好以咏物寄意的习惯看，这首小诗既是实录一时风习，也暗含褒贬。他没有直接铺写牡丹之态，而是先拈出芍药、芙蕖二者作比，以宾衬主，把牡丹推到「真国色」的独尊位置。这种写法，表面是品花，骨子里却带着中唐士人那股以雍容华贵为正的审美自信——牡丹之「国色」，恰与大唐盛世的气度互为表里。值得注意的是，这首诗也参与了「牡丹热」的话语建构。在刘禹锡之前，牡丹已贵，但「国色天香」成为牡丹的永恒代称，实由此诗与李白「云想衣裳花想容」等作共同铺就。一首二十八字的小诗，竟参与塑造了一个延续千年的文化符号，这正是它值得深读的地方。

Art

The poem's art lies entirely in the word 'chèn' (foil). The first couplet does not describe the peony directly but devalues two other famous flowers, the herbaceous peony and the lotus, by pointing out their shortcomings: the former is too showy and lacks 'style,' the latter is too austere and lacks 'feeling.' This leaves the perfect balance of both qualities to be filled by the tree peony. The second couplet then rises abruptly with 'Only the tree peony' and seals the praise with 'true national beauty.' Instead of describing the flower's appearance, the poet writes of the capital's commotion, using a side-effect to suggest the flower's magical power. The tonal pattern is balanced, and the language is concise, achieving a powerful effect in just twenty-eight characters.

此诗的艺术全在一个「衬」字。前二句先贬芍药与芙蕖，为牡丹蓄势，是典型的主宾结构。「庭前芍药妖无格，池上芙蕖净少情」，一写妖冶而无格调，一写洁净而少情韵，看似公允的品评，实则句句在为第三句的翻转铺垫。芍药、荷花本都是名花，诗人偏从缺处落笔，不是说它们不好，而是说它们「不够」——不够格、不够情，恰好反衬出牡丹兼得格调与情韵。后二句「唯有牡丹真国色，花开时节动京城」，一笔振起，以「唯有」锁定独尊，以「真国色」给出定评，以「动京城」写出声势。全诗仅二十八字，却完成了一次完整的「抑—扬」节奏：前抑后扬，前静后动。尤其末句不写牡丹如何美，而写京城如何动，以人的集体反应侧写花之魔力，是「不写之写」的妙手。语言上，此诗对仗工稳而不板，「妖无格」对「净少情」，字面相反而句式相称；转结处「唯有」「动京城」又破空而来，使七绝短章既有法度又有气势。它是咏物诗中「以宾衬主」的范例，也是以最少文字调动最大文化共识的标本。

Allusions

The term 'national beauty' (guó sè) originally denoted the most beautiful woman in a state; applying it to a flower is an anthropomorphism typical of Tang poetic taste, linking aesthetics with politics and cultural prestige. The herbaceous peony (sháo yào) and the lotus (fú qú) both carry deep cultural references: 芍药 appears in the Book of Songs as a token of love, while 芙蕖 is associated with purity in Qu Yuan's Lisao and later in Zhou Dunyi's 'On the Love of the Lotus.' By choosing these two culturally weighty flowers as foils, Liu Yuxi places the peony at the apex of a floral hierarchy. The compound 'national beauty and heavenly fragrance' (guó sè tiān xiāng) later became an enduring epithet for the peony, and this poem is one of its key sources.

诗中虽未用生僻典故，却处处踩在花卉文化的旧辙上。芍药与芙蕖（荷花）都是中国诗里资格极老的名花：芍药在《诗经·郑风·溱洧》已是「赠之以芍药」的情人信物，历来与「妖娆」「离情」相连；芙蕖自屈原《离骚》「制芰荷以为衣」、周敦颐《爱莲说》「出淤泥而不染」，则牢牢绑定「清净」「高洁」。刘禹锡偏偏选这两朵最有文化重量的花来作垫脚石，等于把牡丹放进「名花谱系」的最高端去称量。「国色」一词亦非刘禹锡首创，本指一国中最美的女子，用以喻花，是把花拟人、把审美政治化的典型唐人做派；后来「国色天香」凝固为牡丹专称，此诗是重要源头之一。「京城」则实指长安，暗含一种中心、正统的气象——动京城即动天下。这些词看似寻常，却都带着盛唐以降「以牡丹象征富贵荣华」的集体潜意识。诗人不动声色地借用了这套符号，又反过来强化它，遂使一首即景小诗，成了文化符号的铸造者而非仅仅是使用者。

Commentary

Critics through the ages have admired this poem's skillful use of 'guest-host' structure and its definitive phrase 'true national beauty.' Ji Yougong of the Song dynasty singled out these words in the Record of Tang Poetry, and Hu Yinglin of the Ming read it as an example of Liu Yuxi's 'elegant and lofty' quatrains. Qing critic Guan Shiming considered it the standard model of object-chanting verse, praising its 'suppress then elevate' method. Modern scholars also value it as a historical document of the peony mania in mid-Tang Chang’an. The poem’s twenty-eight characters established a lasting cultural symbol, making it a milestone in the history of flower appreciation and poetic language.

历代诗评于此诗，多赏其「以宾衬主」之法与「国色」之评。宋人计有功《唐诗纪事》载此诗，已特标「真国色」「动京城」二语，视为咏牡丹的定评。明人胡应麟《诗薮》论七绝，称刘禹锡「绝句高雅」，此诗以二十八字定牡丹之尊，是为「小制大含」的例证。清人管世铭《读雪山房唐诗钞》亦推此诗为咏物正格，以为「先贬后扬，主意愈显」。近人则更重其社会史价值：俞平伯等论唐诗，指出此诗是「中唐牡丹热」的活化石，从中可读出长安城的物质风尚与士人趣味。也有论者提醒，此诗之「贬」芍药荷花，并非真贬，乃修辞之抑，不宜坐实为刘禹锡轻薄二花；其真意在确立牡丹的「正色」地位，与儒家「正色」观念暗通。总体而言，此诗因参与塑造了「国色天香」这一文化符号，其文学史意义已超出一首即景绝句本身，成为研究唐代城市生活与花卉审美不可绕过的文本。此诗之所以历久不衰，正因其以二十八字定下牡丹真国色的千秋公论，参与铸造了国色天香这一文化符号。后世咏牡丹者虽多，少有能出其右者；它把私人赏爱升为公共共识，使一首即景小诗成为唐宋花卉审美史上一座不可绕过的标杆。

Prosody

Form Seven-character Quatrain (Qīyán Juéjù)七言绝句（七绝，咏物即景，平起首句不入韵式）

Rhyme Rhymes in the level-tone 'gēng' category: 情 (qíng) and 城 (chéng), both in the lower level-tone rhyme group. The first line ends with the entering-tone character 格 (gé), so the first line is unrhymed, following the standard pattern for a quatrain.押平声庚韵：情、城（平水韵下平八庚）。首句末字「格」为入声陌韵，依七绝常格首句不入韵，与后二句庚韵遥协，声调清亮，与明快褒扬的语调相称。

Tone pattern The tonal pattern is: 庭前芍药妖无格 (píng píng zè zè píng píng zè), 池上芙蕖净少情 (píng zè píng píng zè zè píng), 唯有牡丹真国色 (píng zè zè píng píng zè zè), 花开时节动京城 (píng píng píng zè zè píng píng). The third and fourth lines conform to regulated-verse tonal rules; the first line has a minor deviation in its third character (芍, an entering tone), which gives the opening a livelier rhythm.庭前芍药妖无格（平平仄仄平平仄），池上芙蕖净少情（平仄平平仄仄平）；唯有牡丹真国色（平仄仄平平仄仄），花开时节动京城（平平平仄仄平平）。后二句平仄合律，前二句「妖无格」仄平仄、「净少情」仄仄平，略有拗处，然七绝本可小拗，读来反见流转。

Reading note The quatrain's short length demands extreme economy. The first couplet forms a parallel pair with a negative twist; the second couplet pivots on 'Only' and ends with the dynamic verb 'stirs.' The rhyme words are bright and open, befitting the celebratory tone. The entering-tone ending of the first line creates a staccato break before the praise unfolds, enhancing the contrast between suppression and elevation.七绝体量最短，最考验「起承转合」的浓缩力。此诗前二句并列作「衬」，后二句递进作「主」，结构上是一种变形的「抑扬格」：一二句压、三四句扬，二十八字内完成一次完整的情绪起落。韵脚用庚韵，属开口呼，发音清亮明快，与诗人褒扬牡丹的爽利语调正合；首句不入韵而以入声「格」字顿住，反添一种先抑后扬的节奏感——入声短促，像先把话头摁一下，再放开去写「真国色」「动京城」。对仗上，「庭前芍药」对「池上芙蕖」、「妖无格」对「净少情」，空间（庭前／池上）、物性（妖／净）、评价（无格／少情）两两相对，是前二句自身的工对；而转结处破空以「唯有」「动京城」振起，使短章既有法度又见气势。七绝之用此法，最忌前紧后弱，此诗以末句「动」字撑起全篇，正得其法。

Line by line

庭前芍药妖无格，池上芙蕖净少情。

The herbaceous peonies before the court are alluring but lack distinction; the lotuses on the pond are pure but lack feeling. This couplet deliberately belittles two celebrated flowers to make room for the peony.

庭前的芍药虽妖冶却无格调，池上的荷花虽洁净却少情韵。

The peony in the court is wanton but without grace; the lotus on the pond is pure but without feeling.

这一联是全诗的「抑」笔，也是衬手的起点。芍药居庭前，取其近人、取其妖娆；芙蕖在池上，取其远尘、取其清净。诗人各从其特质里挑出一点不足：芍药「妖无格」——美则美矣，失之轻艳无骨；芙蕖「净少情」——清则清矣，失之寡淡无情。这不是说二花真不好，而是故意留白，把「格」与「情」两项高位指标空出来，专等牡丹来填。句式上「妖无格」对「净少情」，字面一浓一淡、一近一远，却同样是否定式收束，形成整齐的排抑。读者若只看到「贬」，便浅了；要看到这二句其实在替牡丹立法——它要的，是既妖且格、既净且情，是两种美学的合体。这一联的妙，正在「不写牡丹而处处是牡丹的铺垫」，二十八字的小诗，单这一联就占去一半篇幅做地基，可见诗人对「衬」法的自信。

This couplet is the 'suppressing' stroke of the poem, and the start of the foil. The peony before the court, chosen for its nearness to men, its wantonness; the lotus on the pond, chosen for its distance from dust, its purity. The poet picks a flaw from each nature: the peony 'wanton but without grace' — beautiful indeed, yet light and boneless; the lotus 'pure but without feeling' — clean indeed, yet thin and cold. This is not to say the two flowers are truly bad, but a deliberate blank, leaving the two high criteria of 'grace' and 'feeling' empty, waiting for the peony to fill. In form, 'wanton without grace' pairs 'pure without feeling', the surface one rich one plain, one near one far, yet both negative closings, forming a neat ordered suppression. If the reader sees only the 'disparagement', he is shallow; he must see that these two lines are in fact legislating for the peony — what it wants is both wanton and graceful, both pure and feeling, the union of two aesthetics. The beauty of the couplet lies in 'not writing the peony and everything being the peony's groundwork'; in a twenty-eight-word poem, this couplet alone takes half the space for foundation, showing the poet's confidence in the foil method.

唯有牡丹真国色，花开时节动京城。

Only the tree peony is the true national beauty; when it blooms, it stirs the entire capital. This couplet delivers the verdict and evokes the flower's overwhelming social impact.

只有牡丹才是真正的国色，花开时节惊动整个京城。

Only the peony is the true beauty of the realm; when it blooms, it moves the whole capital.

这一联是全诗的「扬」笔，也是二十八字的落点。「唯有」二字斩钉截铁，把前面所有铺垫一举收口，牡丹的独尊地位由此锁定。「真国色」是定评，一个「真」字，既呼应前二句的「无格」「少情」，也暗示唯有牡丹才配得上「国色」这个至高词。最见巧思的是末句不写花如何美，而写「动京城」——以全城士女的倾动，侧写出花的魔力。这是典型的「以人写物」「以动写静」：花是静的，城是动的；花不言，人自狂。一个「动」字，把前面所有的静态品评，猛地掀成喧阗的实景，全诗节奏由抑到扬、由静到动，至此完成。更重要的是，「动京城」三字让一首品花小诗越出了私人审美，进入了公共叙事：它记录的不是诗人一己之赏，而是整个长安城的共同疯狂。这正是此诗能参与塑造「牡丹=国色」文化符号的原因——它写的是集体共识，而非个人趣味。

This couplet is the 'raising' stroke of the poem, and the landing of the twenty-eight words. 'Only' is decisive, gathering all the groundwork at once, and the peony's sole honor is locked. 'The true beauty of the realm' is the final verdict, and the one word 'true' both answers the above two lines' 'without grace' and 'without feeling', and hints that only the peony deserves the highest word 'beauty of the realm'. The greatest ingenuity is that the last line writes not how beautiful the flower is, but 'it moves the whole capital' — through the capital's men and women stirred, writing the flower's magic sideways. This is the typical 'writing the thing through men' and 'writing stillness through motion': the flower still, the capital moving; the flower silent, men themselves wild. The one word 'moves' suddenly overturns all the static judgments above into a bustling real scene, the poem's rhythm from suppression to raising, from stillness to motion, completed here. More important, the words 'moves the whole capital' take a flower-appreciation small poem out of private taste into public narrative: what it records is not the poet's private admiration, but the common frenzy of all Chang'an. This is precisely why this poem could help shape the cultural symbol of 'peony = the realm's beauty' — it writes the collective consensus, not personal fancy.

Study

Word focus

妖无格 Alluring but lacking 'ge' (style, dignity). 'Yao' suggests coquettish charm; 'ge' implies a proper framework or moral stature. 「妖无格」三字，是贬芍药的关键。妖本指艳丽过甚，带轻浮之意；格指格调、骨格。诗人不说芍药不美，而说它美得「无格」，等于承认其色而否其品。这个组合极刁：它把审美判断拆成「色」与「格」两层，色可许而格不许，于是芍药被悬在「好看却不高」的位置，恰好给牡丹腾出「既好看又高」的空间。三字之中，已藏一套完整的花卉价值排序。

真国色 True national beauty; 'guo se' originally referred to the most beautiful woman of a country, here elevated to describe the peony as the supreme flower. 「真国色」是全诗的眼。国色本指一国绝色女子，移以喻花，已是把花推到人间至美的顶端；再加一个「真」字，既与前二句的「无格」「少情」形成反衬，也暗示此前种种名花都还不够「国色」的资格，唯牡丹当之。这个词后来凝固为牡丹的专称，足见其分量。一个「真」字，完成了从修辞到符号的飞跃。一个「真」字，既与前二句无格、少情形成反衬，也暗示此前种种名花都还不够国色的资格，唯牡丹当之。此词后来凝固为牡丹专称，足见其分量——从修辞一跃而为符号，正是刘禹锡这二十八字最深远的遗产。

动京城 Stirs the capital; 'dong' creates a collective image of the whole city in motion, testifying to the flower's power. 「动京城」的「动」，是全诗最有张力的动词。它写的是人的集体反应，却反过来证明花的吸引力；花本静物，因它而全城轰动，静与动、物与人互为因果。更重要的是，「动」把诗歌从书斋品评拉到城市现场，使读者看见长安倾城赏花的真实画面。一字之转，小诗遂成风俗画卷。一个「动」字把诗歌从书斋品评拉到城市现场，静物因之引动全城，物我互为因果。它记录的不是诗人一己之赏，而是整个长安的共同疯狂，这正是小诗能参与塑造牡丹等于国色文化符号的原因所在。

赏牡丹