All poems

唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

行宫

The Traveling Palace

元稹

Yuan Zhen

怀古History 感伤Sadness

寥落古行宫，宫花寂寞红。
白头宫女在，闲坐说玄宗。

Desolate, the old traveling palace; the palace flowers redden in loneliness.
A white-haired palace maid is still there, sitting at leisure, speaking of Emperor Xuanzong.

Listen

Meaning

In twenty characters the poem holds the whole arc of rise and fall. The deserted palace and its lonely red flowers contrast with the white-haired maid who still chatters of the glory of Xuanzong's day, after the An Lushan rebellion turned the Tang from grandeur to decline. Yuan Zhen writes the grief of an era in the plainest breath.

荒凉冷落的古行宫里，宫花独自寂寞地红着。白发苍苍的宫女还在世，闲坐无事，追说着玄宗朝的旧事。全诗仅二十字，以「宫花」「白头宫女」「说玄宗」三个镜头涵尽大唐由盛转衰的历史沧桑，不言兴亡而兴亡自见，含蓄蕴藉，言有尽而意无穷。

Appreciation

Twenty characters hold rise and fall. The first line's 'desolate' sets the key; the second, 'the palace flowers redden in loneliness,' uses a joyous color (red) to write sorrow (loneliness), countering the desolation. The last two focus on the 'white-haired palace maid'; the five characters 'sitting at leisure, speaking of Xuanzong' are exquisite, saying nothing of rise and fall, writing no grief, only idle talk, yet infinite vicissitude lies within. Restrained and meaningful, the words end but the sense goes on; it masters 'much in little.'

【白话串讲】荒凉的行宫里，红花寂寞地开着。几个白头宫女，闲坐着聊起唐玄宗。二十个字，写尽了一个朝代的繁华与衰落。【意象与手法】二十字而涵尽盛衰。首句「寥落」定调，次句「宫花寂寞红」以乐景（红）写哀情（寂寞），反衬苍凉；后二句聚焦「白头宫女」，「闲坐说玄宗」五字不说兴亡、不写悲怨，只写闲谈，而无限沧桑尽在其中，深得「以少总多」之诀。【情感与主旨】元稹此诗约作于唐宪宗元和年间。行宫指皇帝巡幸所居的离宫（一说指洛阳行宫）。安史之乱后大唐由盛转衰，昔日行宫寥落，当年玄宗朝的宫女已白头。诗人以极省净之笔写兴亡之慨，与白居易《长恨歌》同咏玄宗时事而繁简迥异，一微观而一宏观。【名句点睛】常考「宫花寂寞红」以乐景写哀情的手法，及「闲坐说玄宗」的含蓄蕴藉；二十字小诗以少总多，被后世称为「二十八字史论」，是小中见大的典范。

Background

Yuan Zhen wrote this around the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong. The 'traveling palace' is a detached palace for the emperor's progresses (some say Luoyang's). After the An Lushan rebellion the Tang turned from prosperity to decline; the once-glorious palace is deserted, and the maids of Xuanzong's court are now white-haired. In the tersest brush the poet writes the sigh of an era's rise and fall, unlike Bai Juyi's 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' on the same Xuanzong affair, which is vast where this is minute.

元稹此诗约作于唐宪宗元和年间（806—820），具体背景历来说法不一：一说为诗人过洛阳行宫而作，一说为上阳宫等洛阳离宫，历来注家多取「洛阳行宫」之说。行宫是皇帝出巡时居住的离宫别馆，玄宗开元、天宝年间，帝王屡幸东都，行宫曾极一时之盛，宫人充庭、歌管喧阗。安史之乱（755—763）爆发后，大唐由盛转衰，玄宗被迫退位，玄宗朝的繁华随之烟消云散；至元和年间，距乱已五六十年，当年的行宫早已荒废，当年侍奉玄宗的年轻宫女也已成白发老妪。元稹与白居易并称「元白」，同倡新乐府运动，主张诗歌「救济人病，裨补时阙」。此诗即其借行宫一角写历史兴亡的短章：不写战乱、不写朝政，只写废宫中一群白头宫女闲话玄宗，而一个王朝的盛衰已尽在其中。全诗二十字，是唐诗中以极小篇幅涵容极大历史内容的极致，与白居易《长恨歌》洋洋八百余言咏同一题材，繁简之间，恰成对照。

Art

Twenty characters hold rise and fall. The first line's 'desolate' sets the key; the second, 'the palace flowers redden in loneliness,' uses joyous color to write sorrow. The last two focus on the 'white-haired palace maid'; 'sitting at leisure, speaking of Xuanzong' says nothing of rise and fall yet holds infinite vicissitude. Restrained and meaningful, words end but sense goes on.

全诗二十字而涵尽盛衰，艺术上最见功力处有三。其一为意象经营之精：四句各出一个核心意象——「古行宫」写其地之废，「宫花」写其境之寂，「白头宫女」写其人之老，「说玄宗」写其史之远，四个意象由物及人、由景及事，层层收拢，如电影镜头的推近，最终定格于宫女闲话的瞬间。其二为以乐景写哀情：次句「宫花寂寞红」中，「红」字最妙——花开得愈红愈艳，愈反衬行宫的荒凉与岁月的无情，红是乐景，寂寞是哀情，一「红」一「寂寞」相反而相成，正是王夫之所谓「以乐景写哀，以哀景写乐，一倍增其哀乐」。其三为叙事留白之妙：末句「闲坐说玄宗」不说说了什么，不说听者感想，只说「闲坐」与「说」，把万千感慨交给读者去补足——宫女所谈的，可能是当年开元盛世的繁华，可能是玄宗与杨贵妃的故事，也可能是自己青春的消逝，言外之意无穷。二十字小诗，章法之严、取景之精、留白之妙，皆臻极境。

Allusions

'Xuanzong' is Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji; the An Lushan rebellion (755 to 763) cost him his throne and stands for the Tang's turn from prosperity to decline. 'Traveling palace' uses the traditional detached-palace image. No obscure allusion; the historical figure 'Xuanzong' condenses a whole age. Bai Juyi details the affair in 'Everlasting Sorrow'; Yuan Zhen touches it with a side brush.

此诗用典极淡而含蕴极深，核心在「玄宗」二字。「玄宗」即唐玄宗李隆基，开元年间励精图治，缔造「开元盛世」，天宝以后渐耽享乐，宠任杨国忠、安禄山，终致安史之乱，仓皇奔蜀，被迫退位为太上皇，成为大唐由盛转衰的标志性人物。诗中不着一字议论，仅以「说玄宗」三字，让白头宫女的口中浮出一个时代，玄宗一朝五十年的荣枯盛衰尽在言外。此外，「行宫」用传统离宫意象，「宫花」暗承唐诗中「花」与「宫女」相连的宫怨传统，「白头宫女」则令人想起《长恨歌》中「梨园弟子白发新，椒房阿监青娥老」的句子。全诗无僻典、无冷字，只以最平常的词汇构成一个深远的意境，其用典之高妙，正在于把历史的重量化入最平淡的白话之中，不使人觉其用典，而历史之慨已弥漫全篇，可谓「不着一字，尽得风流」。又，宫女闲说玄宗的场景，实承唐代宫怨题材「白头宫女」的语脉：顾况《叶上题诗从苑中流出》有「一入深宫里，年年不见春」之叹，白居易《上阳白发人》更直写「绿衣监使守宫门，一闭上阳多少春」，皆以白头宫女写被弃的青春。元稹取此旧题而别开生面，不写怨而写闲，不写泪而写谈，使历史的沧桑感取代个人的哀怨感，境界为之一变。诗人以史家之眼观照宫女的闲谈，其用典之妙不在典之多，而在化典于无痕，让读者只见场景而不觉典故，这正是盛唐诗风「羚羊挂角」式的含蓄在绝句中的重现。

Commentary

Du Mu's 'Passing Huaqing' and others also mourn Xuanzong, but this poem wins by brevity. Song scholar Hong Mai's Rongzhai Notes praised it as 'few words, full meaning, endless flavor.' With Zhang Hu's palace poems it is called 'twenty-eight characters of history,' showing the wonder of small-within-large.

此诗历代评价极高，被视为以短篇写兴亡的极致。宋人洪迈《容斋随笔》赞其「语少意足，有无穷之味」，以为是「形容盛衰之变，其言简而意深」的典范。清人评家多拈「闲坐说玄宗」五字之妙，谓其不说兴亡而兴亡自见，较之直陈议论更为深沉。近人更以「二十八字史论」称之，认为二十字所涵摄的，是一部大唐盛衰史——从宫花之红到宫女之白，从行宫之盛到行宫之寥，色彩的对照里是时代的变迁。此诗与杜牧《过华清宫》、张祜《宫词》等同咏玄宗遗事，而此诗以最简的篇幅获得最大的容量，故历来与元稹《连昌宫词》、白居易《长恨歌》并提，一长一短，一同其繁、一极其简，皆成经典。就文学史意义言，此诗代表了中唐诗人面对盛唐遗产时的普遍心境——以微末之景写宏大之史，以个人之衰写时代之衰，含蓄而深沉，是咏史诗「以小见大」一路的最高成就。此外，此诗对后世影响深远：郑谷《荔枝》「南国佳人玉作肤」外，宋人咏史绝句如王安石《明妃曲》虽长，而其「意态由来画不成」的含蓄议论，实与「闲坐说玄宗」的留白精神相通；明清选本自《唐诗品汇》以下无不收录此诗，近人朱自清更以「二十八字史论」称之，以为可与《长恨歌》的宏观叙事互为表里。此诗的价值，正在于以二十字证明：写历史不必纵横捭阖，一花一宫一白头，便是一朝兴亡的全部见证，含蓄的力量远胜直陈，这使它超越了具体的史实，成为写盛衰之变的永恒范本。

Prosody

Form Five-character quatrain五言绝句

Rhyme Pingshui rhyme, upper-level first Dong (宫, 红, 宗)宫、红、宗，押平声东韵（平水韵上平一东），首句入韵。

Tone pattern Level-onset, first line enters rhyme平起首句入韵式。首句「寥落古行宫」为平仄仄平平，次句「宫花寂寞红」为平平仄仄平，三句「白头宫女在」为仄平平仄仄，末句「闲坐说玄宗」为平仄仄平平，平仄合律，音节短促而流转。

Reading note A twenty-character poem, much in little, writing the grief of rise and fall此诗为五言绝句正格，平起首句入韵，押上平一东韵。「宫、红、宗」三韵皆为阳平洪亮之音，声调开阔响亮，与诗中苍凉的内容形成一种反向的张力——音韵的浑厚与意象的寥落相映，更增深沉之感。全诗二十字，句句五言，音节极为短促，四句如四幅画面依次呈现：行宫之寥落、宫花之寂寞、宫女之白头、闲话之玄宗，由景及人、由近及远、由物及史，层层推进，如四步取景，一步一深。此诗在格律上的最大特点是以极短的篇幅、极简的音节容纳极大的历史容量，与七言长调的歌行体（如《长恨歌》）恰成两极，可见元稹对近体绝句驾驭之纯熟。诵读此诗，宜缓不宜急，宜轻不宜重，于「闲坐说玄宗」五字处稍作停顿，让言外之意自然流出，方得其含蓄蕴藉之致。

Line by line

寥落古行宫，宫花寂寞红

Desolate, the old traveling palace; the palace flowers redden in loneliness.

荒凉冷落的古行宫里，宫花独自寂寞地红着

Desolate is the old imperial lodge; palace flowers red in lonely solitude.

首二句以景物写行宫之衰。「寥落」二字直写行宫的荒废冷落，人去殿空、杂草丛生，一个「古」字更拉长了时间的纵深，暗示此宫已历盛衰；「宫花寂寞红」是此诗最耐咀嚼的句子——「寂寞」本写人的心情，移用于花，是拟人，宫花年年自开自落，无人观赏，故曰寂寞；「红」字以最艳丽的色彩写最荒凉的境地，花之红与宫之寥形成强烈反差，红得愈艳，愈衬出冷落之深。同时，「红」字暗含「青春」之意，宫花之红正如宫女当年的青春，如今花红依旧而人已白头，物是人非之感呼之欲出。二句一写地、一写花，由外而内，为后二句白宫女的出现铺设了苍凉的背景。

The first two lines write the lodge's decay through scenery. Desolate directly writes the old lodge's ruin and loneliness - men gone, halls empty, weeds growing; one ancient lengthens the temporal depth, hinting the lodge has seen rise and fall. Palace flowers red in lonely solitude is the poem's most savory line: solitude originally describes human feeling, transferred to flowers - personification; palace flowers opening and falling year after year, unadmired, hence lonely. Red uses the most gorgeous color to write the most desolate place; the flowers' crimson and the lodge's desolation form a sharp contrast - the redder the bloom, the deeper the cold neglect. At the same time, red secretly carries youth's meaning: the palace flowers' crimson is like the women's youth in those years; now the flowers still red, yet the women white-haired - things unchanged, men changed, the feeling ready to burst. The two lines one place one flower, without to within, laying the desolate background for the white-haired women's appearance below.

白头宫女在，闲坐说玄宗

A white-haired palace maid is still there, sitting at leisure, speaking of Emperor Xuanzong.

白发苍苍的宫女还在世，闲坐追说着玄宗朝的旧事

White-haired palace women still dwell there, sitting idle and telling tales of Xuanzong.

后二句由景及人，是全诗的落点与高潮。「白头宫女在」五字中，「在」字最有力——行宫已寥落，宫花已寂寞，唯有这些白发宫女还「在」世上，她们是玄宗盛世的亲历者，是历史的活见证，一个「在」字写出了她们的坚守与凄凉：从红颜到白头，五十年光阴在深宫中悄然而逝。「闲坐说玄宗」以五个最平淡的字作结：不说宫女之怨，不说国家之衰，只说她们闲坐无事，追说玄宗朝的旧事——她们谈的或许是开元盛世的繁华，或许是马嵬坡的悲剧，或许是自己的青春岁月，一切感慨尽在「说」字之外。越是平淡，越是沉重；越是含蓄，越是深远，此句遂成千古绝唱，正是「以少总多、以简驭繁」的极致。

The last two lines move from scenery to person, the poem's landing and climax. White-haired palace women still dwell there: of five characters, still dwell is most forceful - the lodge desolate, the flowers lonely, yet these white-haired women still remain in the world; they are the survivors of Xuanzong's prime, living witnesses of history; one still dwell writes their endurance and desolation: from red cheeks to white hair, fifty years silently slipping in the deep palace. Sitting idle and telling tales of Xuanzong closes in five of the plainest characters: not writing the women's resentment, not the dynasty's decay, only that they sit idle, recounting old tales of Xuanzong - what they tell may be the Kaiyuan splendor, may be the Mawei tragedy, may be their own youth; all feeling lies beyond the telling. The plainer, the heavier; the more reserved, the deeper - this line became the eternal song, precisely the extreme of grasping the many through the few, controlling complexity through simplicity.

Study

Word focus

寥落 Writes the palace ruined and deserted; both the scene and the fading of the Tang's great age, governing the whole poem's key. 「寥落古行宫」之「寥落」，是全诗定调之词，写行宫荒废冷落之状。「寥」言其空旷，殿宇空荡、人影全无；「落」言其衰败，草木荒芜、漆饰剥落，二字连用，把一座昔年繁华的离宫写成了荒凉的空壳。此词妙在兼写实景与虚境：就实景言，行宫确已破败；就虚境言，「寥落」亦是整个大唐盛世消歇的象征——行宫的寥落，正是时代的寥落。诗人以一词定全篇基调，后文的宫花、宫女、说玄宗，都在这一片「寥落」的底色上展开。此词与次句「寂寞」呼应，一写宫之荒、一写花之寂，物我同悲，为全诗营造出苍凉凄清的氛围，是典型的「一字定调」的炼字功夫。

红 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「宫花寂寞红」之「红」字，是全诗最出人意表的一字，以乐景写哀情的核心正在于此。「红」是花开正盛之色，是生命与青春的象征，按理应与生机相伴，诗人却将它置于「寂寞」之后，让最艳的色彩与最冷的情绪相撞击——花红得如此热烈，却无人共赏，寂寞得如此深沉，恰因这红而愈显。此字至少有四重作用：其一反衬，以花之红艳反衬宫之寥落，红愈艳，寂愈深；其二拟人，花之寂寞即宫女之寂寞，红是宫女当年青春的颜色；其三写时，花开花落年复一年，红是岁月循环的见证，而人却白了头；其四象征，红是盛世的残影，如今只剩残红。一个「红」字，把物、人、时、史四层意思织在一起，堪称二十字诗中的点睛之笔。

闲 The 'at leisure' in 'sitting at leisure' seems flat yet holds endless vicissitude; the maid idly speaks of Xuanzong, and the sense of rise and fall lies unspoken. 「闲坐说玄宗」之「闲」字，看似最不经意，实是全诗含蓄之极的枢纽。「闲」写宫女无事可做之态：行宫废置，宫人无事，只能闲坐度日——这「闲」里有时光漫长的煎熬，有被历史遗忘的凄凉，有青春尽逝后的麻木。「闲坐」与「说玄宗」相连，更见妙处：宫女闲坐无事，唯一的消遣便是追说五十年前的旧事，玄宗朝是他们生命的全部内容——辉煌已逝，只剩回忆，而回忆也只能在闲坐中打发残生。若换作「愁坐」「泣坐」，则情溢于辞，反失含蓄；一「闲」字把深沉的悲慨压到最平淡的字面之下，表面的闲淡与骨子里的沧桑构成巨大的张力，正是「看似寻常最奇崛」的典范，全诗的不尽之意皆由此一字生出。

行宫