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唐 Tang · 文 Prose

种树郭橐驼传·版本

The Biography of Camel Guo the Tree Planter (Version)

柳宗元

Liu Zongyuan

寓言传记Allegorical Biography 柳宗元Liu Zongyuan 人物写照Character Portrait

郭橐驼，不知始何名。
病偻，隆然伏行，有类橐驼者，故乡人号之驼。

Guo Tuotuo, no one knows his original name. Afflicted with a humped back, he walked bent over, arched high, so that he resembled a camel (tuotuo); for this the villagers called him Tuotuo.

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Meaning

The opening of Liu Zongyuan's famous allegorical biography of Camel Guo the tree planter. The narrator first states that no one knows Guo's original name, then writes his appearance: afflicted with a humped back, he walked bent over, arched high, 'resembling a camel,' and so the villagers named him Tuotuo (Camel). The passage is pure portraiture in the manner of the historical biography, yet its meaning is planted in the very name: the grotesque, humble figure will go on to expound the profound art of planting trees, and from the planting of trees draw the lesson of governing the people. The comedy of the name and the profundity of the doctrine stand in sharp contrast, the mark of the allegorical biography.

郭橐驼，不知道他最初叫什么名字。他得了佝偻病，脊背高高隆起，弯着腰伏着身子走路，有点像骆驼的样子，所以家乡的人就叫他「驼」。

Appreciation

This selection shows the art of character portraiture at its most vivid. The first sentence, 'Guo Tuotuo, no one knows his original name,' opens in the manner of the historical biography (whose first sentence is commonly 'So-and-so, courtesy name such-and-such') yet breaks the convention with 'no one knows his original name,' hinting that the man had no fame and no record, setting the tone of 'a small man bearing a great truth.' The second sentence writes his appearance: 'afflicted with a humped back' gives the cause, 'he walked bent over, arched high' gives the symptom—'arched high' writes the spine arched high, 'bent over' writes the bent body walking, four characters like a caricature, the humpbacked old man's form and spirit all present; 'resembling a camel' likens the man to the camel, full of humor, at once writing the likeness of his form and preparing the naming. The third sentence writes the naming: 'the villagers called him Tuotuo' in the villagers' mouths, affectionate and playful, and Camel Guo accepting it gladly shows his equanimity. The writing is wholly plain description, with not a word of praise or blame, yet the form, the humor, and the character all come alive.

【白话串讲】柳宗元写《种树郭橐驼传》：郭橐驼驼背如骆驼，人称“橐驼”。他种树“顺木之天，以致其性”——“其本欲舒，其培欲平”。他说种树“爱之太恩，忧之太勤”反而害了树——他借种树讽当官者“好烦其令”，扰民如害树。【意象与手法】以形写人、肖像传神；诙谐幽默、寓庄于谐；借「橐驼」之名生发，暗用《庄子》形残德全的畸人传统，为下文「种树得养人术」的寓言张本。【情感与主旨】貌似游戏笔墨写一个驼背的种树人，实则借其人、其名寄托「顺天致性」之道——形残而德全，贱名而实高，为后文「吾问养树，得养人术」的治民之理作铺垫。【名句点睛】常考「病偻，隆然伏行，有类橐驼者」的形貌白描与「故乡人号之驼」的命名之趣，以及后文「顺木之天，以致其性」的寓言主旨。

Background

Liu Zongyuan (773–819), courtesy name Zihou, a native of Hedong (present-day Yongji, Shanxi), was a Tang writer and thinker, one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song. He passed the jinshi in the Zhenyuan reign and took part in the Yongzhen reform; after its failure he was demoted to Sima of Yongzhou, and ten years later to Prefect of Liuzhou, where he died in office. 'The Biography of Camel Guo the Tree Planter' was written about his exile in Yongzhou, an allegorical biography in the biographical form but intended to expound a principle. Camel Guo may have been a real person or an invention; Liu Zongyuan uses the tree-planting old man's mouth to expound the way of planting that 'follows the nature of the tree to fulfill its nature,' and to draw from it the principle of governing the people, satirizing the officials of his day who 'loved to trouble the people with orders.' This excerpt is the opening, devoted to the origin of the man's name, preparing the ground for the famous doctrine that follows.

柳宗元（773—819），字子厚，河东（今山西永济）人，唐代文学家、思想家，唐宋八大家之一。贞元进士，积极参与「永贞革新」，失败后被贬永州司马，十年后改贬柳州刺史，卒于任所。《种树郭橐驼传》约作于永州贬所，是一篇寓言式传记，属「传」体而意在说理。郭橐驼其人，或谓实有其人，或谓出于虚构，于史无考；柳宗元借这位驼背种树老者的口吻，阐明「顺木之天，以致其性」的养树之道，并顺理成章地引出「吾问养树，得养人术」的治民之理，讽刺当时地方官吏「好烦其令」、政令烦苛、扰民不休的弊政——种树须顺应树木的天性，治民须顺应百姓的常情，这是柳宗元「吏治」思想的形象表达。此节选为全文首段，专写人物名字的由来：先写其本名不可考，次写其病偻驼背的形貌，再写乡人以形貌取号，层层交代，为后文「他植者虽窥伺效慕，莫能如也」的种树奇技与「得养人术」的议论蓄势。柳宗元一生写有《三戒》《捕蛇者说》等大量寓言散文，此文正是其中「以传记为寓言」的代表。

Art

The art lies in the combination of the biographical form and the allegorical spirit. The first sentence opens in the manner of the historical biography yet breaks the convention with 'no one knows his original name,' setting the tone of the small man bearing a great truth. The second sentence writes his appearance with the four characters 'arched high' and 'bent over' like a caricature, the humpbacked old man's form and spirit all present; 'resembling a camel' is full of humor, at once the likeness and the naming. The third sentence writes the villagers' affectionate, playful naming, and Camel Guo accepting it gladly shows his equanimity. The whole is plain description, no word of praise or blame, yet the form, the humor, and the character all come alive, preparing the ground for the doctrine of planting trees and governing the people.

《种树郭橐驼传》是一篇「传体寓言」，兼取史传之形与寓言之神，此节选则集中体现其人物写照的艺术。首句「郭橐驼，不知始何名」以史传笔法起笔（史传首句例云「某某，字某某」），却以「不知始何名」打破成例，暗示此人本无显名、不见经传，为「以小人物寓大道理」定调。次写形貌：「病偻」点病因，「隆然伏行」写体征——「隆然」写脊背高高隆起，「伏行」写弯腰俯身而行，四字如一幅漫画，驼背老者形神毕现；「有类橐驼者」以骆驼拟人，妙趣横生，既写其形之肖，又为命名张本。末写命名：「故乡人号之驼」以乡人口吻呼其「驼」，亲昵中带戏谑，而郭橐驼欣然受之，更显其旷达。写法上纯用白描，不置一字评论，而人物形象已呼之欲出；笔调诙谐幽默，于笑声中带出「形残德全」的深意。从章法看，此段是「蓄势之笔」：名字的荒诞（以驼称人）、形貌的卑微（病偻伏行），与后文种树之神奇、议论之警策形成巨大反差，欲扬先抑，正是柳宗元寓言「寓庄于谐」的一贯手法。

Allusions

The cultural content of this excerpt is rooted deep in the naming tradition of the pre-Qin and Han and in the Zhuangzi's philosophy of the misshapen man. 'Tuotuo' is the camel; Tang accounts of the camel are mostly found in the records of the Western Regions (as the 'tuotuo' of the Book of Han, Records of the Western Regions), and to name a man Tuotuo, first the camel's form and then the camel's name, accords with the ancient custom of naming by appearance—the ancients often took names from physical features, as in the Spring and Autumn period's 'yong' and 'goulou' for the deformed; the villagers' naming by appearance is a survival of this ancient folk custom. Deeper is the Zhuangzi: its pages hold many figures with maimed bodies and complete virtue, as Zhili Shu of 'The Human World' with 'his chin hidden in his navel, his shoulders higher than his head,' ugly in form yet 'enough to keep himself, and end his heaven-allotted years'

此节选的文化内涵，深植于先秦两汉的人物命名传统与《庄子》的畸人哲学。「橐驼」即骆驼，唐人写骆驼者多见于西域交通的记述（如《汉书·西域传》「橐驼」之载），以「橐驼」名其人，先有骆驼之形，后有骆驼之名，暗合上古「因形命名」的习俗——古人名号往往取于形貌特征，如春秋时以「臃」「痀偻」称病残者，乡人以形呼人，正是这一古老民俗的遗存。更深的一层在《庄子》：庄子笔下多有形体残缺而德性全备的人物，如《人间世》的支离疏「颐隐于脐，肩高于顶」，形貌丑陋而「足以养身，终其天年」，《德充符》的哀骀它「未尝有闻其唱者也，常和而已」而人皆爱之——郭橐驼「病偻，隆然伏行」的形貌，正是支离疏、哀骀它一类的畸人形象；庄子以「德有所长，而形有所忘」立论，柳宗元则让这个形残者成为「顺天致性」之道的化身，种树之术精绝天下，正是「形忘而德彰」的寓言化表达。此外，「号之驼」的「号」字见乡人之亲昵，亦见主人公之豁达，暗含道家「无名」与儒家「名实」之辨的趣味。

Commentary

'The Biography of Camel Guo the Tree Planter' is Liu Zongyuan's representative allegorical prose and a model of the 'biography as allegory' in the history of Chinese literature. Though this excerpt is only a few sentences, it establishes the tone and the artistic height of the whole: the humble, grotesque figure who bears the great doctrine of following nature in planting and of governing the people without troubling them. In intellectual history, the essay turns the natural way of 'following the nature of the tree' into the governing principle of 'nurturing the people,' criticizing the mid-Tang 'orders ever more vexatious, their name surviving while their reality is lost,' its 'do not trouble the people' in one line with Laozi's 'governing a great state is like cooking a small fish' and the Han policy of 'resting with the people,' and directly inspiring the later wisdom of 'simplifying government and not interfering.'

《种树郭橐驼传》是柳宗元寓言散文的代表作，也是中国文学史上「以传记为寓言」的典范，此节选虽仅开头数句，却奠定了全篇的基调与艺术高度。从思想史看，此文把「顺木之天，以致其性」的自然之道转化为「养人」的治民之理，批判了中唐「政令烦苛、名存实亡」的弊政，其「不扰民」的吏治主张与老子「治大国若烹小鲜」、西汉「与民休息」的政策一脉相承，又直接启发了后世「简政放权」「无为而治」的治理智慧，故千余年来常被政治家与文学家引为论政之资。从文学史看，此文与《捕蛇者说》《三戒》等同为柳宗元贬谪期的寓言杰作，体现了「文以明道」的创作主张：以小人物、小故事讲大道理，庄谐并用，雅俗共赏，对后世寓言（如晚明小品、清代笔记中的寓言）影响深远。从接受史看，此文的开头——一个不知名的驼背老人——已成为中国文学中「形残德全」的经典形象，与《庄子》畸人、《史记》滑稽人物（如淳于髡）并列为「以丑为美」传统的代表。现代语文教材多选此文，其「顺其自然」「尊重规律」的启示，在生态保护、教育理念等领域依然常读常新。

Prosody

Form Allegorical biography (biographical prose)寓言传记（传体散文）

Rhyme Unrhymed; its rhythm comes from the close sequence of short clauses: the first sentence 'Guo Tuotuo, no one knows his original name' pauses after eight characters; 'afflicted with a humped back, he walked bent over, arched high, resembling a camel' alternates two-character and four-character pauses, the sound heavy and slow, fitting the old man's bent step; the last sentence 'the villagers called him Tuotuo' closes in seven characters, crisp and clean此文为散体古文，不押韵，而以短句密接、节奏紧凑见长：首句「郭橐驼，不知始何名」八字一顿；「病偻，隆然伏行，有类橐驼者」以二字顿、四字顿相间，音节沉重迟缓，正合驼背老人步履之态；末句「故乡人号之驼」七字收束，干脆利落。

Tone pattern The prose proceeds in plain description, the first sentence level and slow, the middle clauses heavy with the humpbacked figure, the last sentence light with the villagers' playful naming—from level to heavy to light, the rhythm following the portrait全段语气平实而带谐趣：介绍人物如数家常，写形貌则庄谐并作，「有类橐驼者」的比喻、「号之驼」的昵称，皆使叙述语调亲切幽默，寓庄于谐，为后文严肃的治民议论作了「先谐后庄」的铺垫。

Reading note The prose's rhythm is carried by the length of its short clauses and the pause of its particles, the heavy cadence fitting the old man's bent step and the light close the villagers' playful naming.此段虽短，节奏经营却极为讲究，句子的长短与人物形态丝丝入扣。「郭橐驼，不知始何名」以三字顿接七字句，起笔平稳，如史传开卷；「病偻」二字独成一句，短促凝重，仿佛镜头定格于驼背；「隆然伏行」四字两顿，音步沉重，如见其一步一挪；「有类橐驼者」五字转缓，比物取象，语气略松，添一分幽默；「故乡人号之驼」七字作结，明快收束，如乡人笑语的余音。全段句句短促、无一长句，节奏的沉滞恰好映衬形貌的沉重，而「类橐驼」「号之驼」的诙谐又在沉重中凿开透气孔，使读者在笑声中记住这个形象。这种「以句法拟物态」的节奏艺术，与柳宗元《小石潭记》「潭中鱼可百许头，皆若空游无所依」的轻盈笔调恰成对照，可见其行文能随物赋形、随情变调，是唐代古文运动中「文从字顺」主张的典范实践。

Line by line

郭橐驼，不知始何名。

Guo Tuotuo, no one knows his original name. (The opening in the manner of the historical biography, breaking the convention with 'no one knows his original name,' setting the tone of the small man bearing a great truth.)

郭橐驼，不知道他最初（本来）叫什么名字。

Guo Tuotuo; one does not know his original name.

此句是全文的开篇，以史传笔法起笔而暗含机趣。史传首句例云「某人，字某某」，交代姓氏名字；柳宗元却以「郭橐驼」三字直呼其号，随即说「不知始何名」——名号之由来既不可考，则「郭」姓或为附会，「橐驼」之号反成其通行之名。这一「不知」有三层意味：其一，点明主人公出身寒微、不见于典籍，是真正的小人物，为后文「以小儿大」张本；其二，暗示其人姓名本无所谓，人重其术、不重其名，正合道家「无名」之旨；其三，为下文「乡人号之驼」的命名之由留下悬念——先言不知其名，再言其有名号，章法上欲擒故纵。三字一姓一号，加一句「不知始何名」，一个来历不明、形貌奇特的种树老人已跃然纸上，笔法极其经济，是古文「开门见山」的典范。

This line is the whole text's opening, opening with historical-biography brush yet secretly holding wit. Historical biographies' first line conventionally says so-and-so, courtesy name so-and-so, laying out surname and given name; Liu Zongyuan yet directly addresses by his nickname three characters Guo Tuotuo, then immediately says no one knows his original name - the nickname's origin already untraceable, hence the surname Guo may be appended, while the nickname Tuotuo has become his common name. This no one knows has three layers of meaning: one, naming the hero's humble origin, not recorded in classics, a true little person, preparing the later using-the-small-to-tell-the-great. Two, hinting the person's name originally does not matter; people value his craft, not his name, precisely fitting Daoist no-name's purpose. Three, leaving suspense for the later villagers nicknamed him Camel's naming origin - first saying not knowing his name, then saying his nickname; in craft, wanting to capture, first let go. Three characters, a surname, a nickname, plus one line no one knows his original name; an unknown-origin, oddly-shaped tree-planting old man already leaps onto the page; brush most economical - the ancient prose's straight-to-the-point model.

病偻，隆然伏行，有类橐驼者，故乡人号之驼。

Afflicted with a humped back, he walked bent over, arched high, so that he resembled a camel; for this the villagers called him Tuotuo. (The portrait: 'arched high' and 'bent over' like a caricature, the camel-like form, and the villagers' affectionate, playful naming, the old man's form and spirit all present.)

他得了佝偻病，脊背高高隆起，弯着腰伏着身子走路，有点像骆驼的样子，所以家乡的人就叫他「驼」。

He suffered hunchback, his back humped high, walking bent forward; he was somewhat like a camel, hence the villagers called him Camel.

此句是人物形貌的传神写照，以漫画笔法写活一个驼背老人。「病偻」交代病因——患佝偻病，脊背弯曲；「隆然伏行」写体征——「隆然」状脊背高高隆起如小山，「伏行」状弯腰俯身、贴地而行，一「隆」一「伏」，一高一低，形貌毕现；「有类橐驼者」以骆驼作比，把病残之态写得幽默而不悲惨，消解了「病」的沉重，添了「趣」的诙谐；「故乡人号之驼」顺势点出命名由来——乡人见其形似骆驼，便以「橐驼」呼之，亲昵中带戏谑。全句由病因写到体征，由体征写到比拟，由比拟写到命名，环环相扣，一气呵成。妙处在于：明明写的是一个身患残疾的可怜人，读来却只觉其形貌可亲可笑，不觉其苦——这既见柳宗元笔下的温情与旷达，也为后文「他植者虽窥伺效慕」的种树奇才形象作了欲扬先抑的铺垫：形残如此而术精如此，正见「德有所长而形有所忘」的深意。

This line is the character's vivid portrait, using cartoon brush to bring a hunchbacked old man to life. Suffered hunchback lays out the cause - the hunchback disease, the bent spine. Humped high, walking bent forward writes the signs - humped high shapes the back rising like a small hill; walking bent forward shapes bending low, close to the ground; one hump one bend, one high one low, the form fully present. Rather like a camel uses the camel for comparison, writing the diseased state humorously rather than tragically, dissolving the illness's heaviness, adding the humor's playfulness. Hence the villagers nicknamed him Camel smoothly names the origin - the villagers seeing his camel-like shape, hence calling him Tuotuo, affectionate with ridicule. The whole line from cause to signs, signs to comparison, comparison to naming; ring after ring linked, one breath. The subtlety lies in: clearly writing a disabled pitiful person, yet reading one only feels the form friendly and laughable, not its bitterness - this at once shows Liu Zongyuan's warmth and open-mindedness, also preparing the later other planters though spying and imitating's tree-planting prodigy image as a first-suppress-then-lift setup: form thus maimed yet craft thus refined, precisely showing the virtue's having-length while the form's being-forgotten's deep meaning.

Study

Word focus

病偻 Afflicted with a humped back. The cause of the appearance: the humped spine, the malady that makes the man bent; the first stroke of the portrait. 「病偻」二字写郭橐驼的病因与病态，是全段人物刻画的起点。「病」作动词，意为「患……病」；「偻」指脊背弯曲，即佝偻病。「病偻」连用，以极简之笔交代人物的生理缺陷，不带任何感情色彩，冷静如医案，正合史传「实录」的笔法。其妙在于为后文「隆然伏行」提供依据：正因「病偻」，「隆然」（脊背隆起）与「伏行」（弯腰俯行）才顺理成章；正因形似骆驼，才「故乡人号之驼」。三个环节环环相扣，一字不可移易。同时，「病偻」作为「形残」的标记，暗中接通《庄子》的畸人传统——支离疏「颐隐于脐，肩高于顶」亦以形残闻名，而德性全备；郭橐驼「病偻」而种树之术冠绝乡里，正是「形残德全」的寓言人物。选词之准，既见白描之功，又寓哲学之思，是柳宗元炼字「简而能深」的代表。

隆然伏行 Walked bent over, arched high. The symptom: 'arched high' writes the spine arched high like a hump, 'bent over' writes the body bent as it walks—four characters like a caricature, the humpbacked old man's form and spirit all present. 「隆然伏行」四字是人物形貌描写的点睛之笔，两个词、四种形态，画出一幅驼背老人行路图。「隆然」写脊背高耸之状，「然」字将「隆」形容词化，如见其背如丘；「伏行」写俯身贴地而行，「伏」字见其腰弯之甚，仿佛在向大地鞠躬。一「隆」一「伏」，一向上耸起、一向下俯伏，形成强烈的视觉张力，把「病偻」的病态具象化为可触可见的画面；四字连读，节奏沉重迟缓，恰似老人一步一挪的步履。尤为难得的是，这四字虽写病残之态，却毫无悲悯怜悯的语调，反而因「隆然」的夸张、「伏行」的质朴而带出一丝诙谐，与下句「有类橐驼者」的比喻相映成趣。这种「以漫画笔法写现实人物」的手法，后世鲁迅写孔乙己、闰土时犹见余绪；而柳宗元以此四字为全文定下「寓庄于谐」的基调，功不可没。

号 To call, to name. The villagers' affectionate, playful naming, 'the villagers called him Tuotuo'—at once the humor and the equanimity of the old man who accepts the name gladly. 「故乡人号之驼」的「号」字，是理解全文命名之趣与人物性格的关键。「号」作动词，意为「称呼、给……起外号」，含有亲昵与戏谑的成分：乡人以「驼」呼他，不是恶意的讥笑，而是熟稔的玩笑——如乡间以「跛子」「胖子」呼人，取形貌特征为绰号，是民间命名习俗的遗存。一个「号」字，写出乡里人情的热络，也写出郭橐驼在乡间的日常存在感：他不是被同情的对象，而是被熟识、被戏谑、被认可的「自己人」。更妙的是，后文交代郭橐驼「驼业种树」，对「号之驼」欣然接受、从不介意，甚至自称「橐驼」，可见其豁达旷放——形体之残不以为意，名号之贱不以为耻，正合庄子「德有所长，而形有所忘」的境界。故一个「号」字，既是民俗的写真，也是人物性格的暗笔，更为后文「顺天致性」的达观哲学埋下伏线。