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魏晋 Wei-Jin · 赋 Fu rhapsody

三都赋·序

Preface to the Three Capitals Rhapsody

左思

Zuo Si

咏史/怀才singing history / cherishing talent 山水/禅意landscape / zen

盖诗有六义焉，其二曰赋。
扬雄曰：'诗人之赋丽以则。
'班固曰：'赋者，古诗之流也。
'先王采焉，以观土风。
见'绿竹猗猗'，则知卫地淇澳之产；
见'在其版屋'，则知秦野西戎之宅。
故可以衣冠礼乐，被乎九州；
可以表山海水土，分乎九野。

Now the Odes have six modes, of which the second is fu (description);
Yang Xiong said, 'the poet's fu is ornate yet ruled by measure.'
Ban Gu said, 'fu is a branch of the ancient songs.'
The former kings gathered them to observe local custom.
See 'green bamboo lush' and know the produce of Wei's Qi shore;
see 'there are plank huts' and know the western-Rong dwellings of Qin's wilds.
Thus fu can spread the caps, robes, and rites across the nine provinces,
and can map the hills, streams, and soils, dividing the nine regions.

Listen

Meaning

The Odes have six modes, of which the second is fu (description). Yang Xiong said, 'the poet's fu is ornate yet ruled by measure.' Ban Gu said, 'fu is a branch of the ancient songs.' The former kings gathered them to observe local custom. Seeing 'green bamboo lush,' one knows the produce of Wei's Qi shore; seeing 'there are plank huts,' one knows the western-Rong dwellings of Qin's wilds. Thus fu can spread the caps, robes, and rites across the nine provinces, and can map the hills, streams, and soils, dividing the nine regions.

《诗》有六义，其二是赋。扬雄说：'诗人之赋华丽而合于法度。'班固说：'赋是古诗的支流。'先王采集它们，用以观察各地风俗。看到'绿竹猗猗'，便知卫地淇水之畔的物产；看到'在其版屋'，便知秦地西戎的居宅。所以赋可以借衣冠礼乐布达九州，也可以借山川水土分辨九野。

Appreciation

Zuo Si, styled Tai Chong, was a man of Linzi of humble origin, plain of face and slow of speech yet magnificent in diction. Ashamed of the Han fu's empty exaggeration (as Sima Xiangru and Yang Xiong, 'grand and sprawling yet false to fact'), he spent ten years and consulted maps and gazetteers to write the 'Three Capitals Rhapsody,' determined that 'its hills, rivers, cities, and villages be checked against the maps, its birds, beasts, plants, and trees verified against the gazetteers.' This preface is his manifesto on fu, aimed at the earlier grand rhapsodies' 'easy in wording, loose in meaning' and their falsehood, asserting that fu should be 'fact-based' and 'observe local custom.' When the rhapsody was done, the great houses vied to copy it, and 'paper rose in price in Luoyang,' becoming a literary-historical tale. The preface is parallel-loose mixed, chiefly argument yet its breath clear; it opens citing the six modes of the Odes and the authorities Yang Xiong and Ban Gu to set the thesis 'fu is rooted in the Odes'; then it gives two examples from the 'Odes'—'green bamboo lush' from the 'Qi Ao' of the 'Odes of Wei,' and 'there are plank huts' from the 'Small War-Car' of the 'Odes of Qin'—to prove the 'Odes'-teaching tradition that 'fu can observe local custom'; it closes with 'caps, robes, and rites' and 'hills, streams, and soils' to mark fu's double function of state rite and geography. The citations are apt, the logic tight, showing in its classic gravity his fu-theory spirit of 'seeking truth from facts.'

【白话串讲】左思写《三都赋》：“盖诗有六义焉，其二曰赋”。他花了十年写成都、洛阳、建业三都，“豪贵之家，竞相传写，洛阳为之纸贵”——洛阳的纸都涨价了。这就是“洛阳纸贵”的由来。【意象与手法】序文骈散兼行，以论断为主而气脉清通。起引《诗》六义与扬雄、班固权威之说，立'赋本于诗'之论【情感与主旨】左思字太冲，临淄寒门，貌寝口讷而辞藻壮丽【名句点睛】常考其'赋者古诗之流'的赋源观及'征实反虚'的革新主张；亦考所引'绿竹''版屋'《诗经》例证的作用

Background

《三都赋·序》为西晋左思所作，是《三都赋》的序文，论赋之源流与写作。左思（约250—约305），字太冲，齐国临淄人，西晋文学家。此序节选部分：盖诗有六义焉，其二曰赋；扬雄曰：诗人之赋丽以则；班固曰：赋者，古诗之流也；先王采焉，以观土风；见绿竹猗猗，则知卫地淇澳之产。全序论赋之源流、主张征实，是魏晋文学批评的名篇。

Art

The preface is parallel-loose mixed, chiefly argument yet its breath clear. It opens citing the six modes of the Odes and the authorities Yang Xiong and Ban Gu to set the thesis 'fu is rooted in the Odes'; then it gives two examples from the 'Odes'—'green bamboo lush' and 'there are plank huts'—to prove the 'Odes'-teaching tradition that 'fu can observe local custom'; it closes with 'caps, robes, and rites' and 'hills, streams, and soils' to mark fu's double function of state rite and geography. The citations are apt, the logic tight, showing in its classic gravity his fu-theory spirit of 'seeking truth from facts.'

《三都赋·序》艺术上以议论的条理与征实的主张见长。此节选六句，层层写来：首句论赋之义——“盖诗有六义焉，其二曰赋”写诗有六义、赋居其二；中二句引前人之论——“扬雄曰：诗人之赋丽以则”引扬雄之论，“班固曰：赋者，古诗之流也”引班固之论；后三句论赋之用——“先王采焉，以观土风”写采诗观风，“见绿竹猗猗，则知卫地淇澳之产”写见诗知地。全序引经据典、议论条理，正是左思主张赋当征实的笔法。

Allusions

'The Odes have six modes, of which the second is fu' comes from the 'Preface to the Mao Odes'; 'the poet's fu is ornate yet ruled by measure' is Yang Xiong's words in the 'Exemplary Sayings,' and 'fu is a branch of the ancient songs' is Ban Gu's words in the 'Preface to the Two Capitals Rhapsody'—both classical fu-theory texts. 'Green bamboo lush' is from the 'Qi Ao' of the 'Odes of Wei,' and 'there are plank huts' is from the 'Small War-Car' of the 'Odes of Qin' (writing the western-Rong plank huts); Zuo Si uses them to show that poetry (the ancestor of fu) could already reveal local custom and produce. The allusions all bear on fu's origin and the intent of 'observing custom,' giving the preface a grounded argument and stern logic.

《三都赋·序》用典在“诗有六义”“扬雄”“班固”“绿竹猗猗”。“诗有六义”用《毛诗序》“诗有六义”之说，写赋居其二；“扬雄”引其“诗人之赋丽以则”之论；“班固”引其“赋者，古诗之流也”之论；“绿竹猗猗”出《诗经·卫风·淇奥》“瞻彼淇奥，绿竹猗猗”，写见诗知卫地之产。全序引经据典，正是左思主张赋当有据的笔法。

Commentary

The 'History of Jin, Biography of Zuo Si' records 'the great houses vied to copy it, and paper rose in price in Luoyang'; Liu Xie in 'The Literary Mind' said 'Zuo Si, a rare talent, deeply wrought in labour.' Moderns hold this preface 'brings scholarly rigour into the preface to a rhapsody,' turning the Han fu 'admonition' tradition into a 'fact-based' tradition, directly influencing the Tang capital rhapsodies and the geographical-naturalist fashion—a key turn in fu-theory history.

《三都赋·序》是左思的代表作之一，也是魏晋文学批评中论赋之名篇。此序论赋之源流、主张征实，向为论者称道。论者多赏其议论的条理——“盖诗有六义焉，其二曰赋”论赋之义，理路清晰；“扬雄曰：诗人之赋丽以则”引扬雄之论，更见其征实主张。左思作《三都赋》十年而成，其序正申其“征实”之旨，此序正是其代表——引经据典、主张征实，正是魏晋文论中重实录的笔法。

Prosody

Form Wei-Jin fu preface (parallel-loose mixed prose)文（序）

Rhyme fu, measure, branch, custom, produce, dwelling, provinces, regions—rhyme every other line《三都赋·序》为序体文，以散句为主，问用骈偶。此节选以散句论赋，问以骈句，音节疏朗。

Tone pattern Not traceable (preface follows its own breath)序体文以议论条理、引经据典见长。此序以“盖诗有六义”起，以“则知卫地淇澳之产”收，音节疏朗而理路清晰。全序以散体贯底，声调与论赋之旨相合，是魏晋文论中论赋的一路。

Reading note Parallel-loose mixed, cites classics to argue fu's origin and its fact-based claim《三都赋·序》为西晋左思所作，是《三都赋》的序文。此序以“盖诗有六义焉，其二曰赋”论赋之义，以“扬雄曰：诗人之赋丽以则”“班固曰：赋者，古诗之流也”引前人之论，以“先王采焉，以观土风”论赋之用。引经据典、主张征实，正是左思作赋十年而重实录的体现，也是魏晋文学批评的名篇。

Line by line

盖诗有六义焉，其二曰赋。

Now the Odes have six modes, of which the second is fu (description)

《诗》有六义，其中第二是赋。

The Book of Songs has six modes, of which the second is the rhapsody.

首句论赋之义，是全序立论之本。“盖诗有六义焉”写《诗》有六义——“盖”为发语，“诗有六义”用《毛诗序》之说，写诗有六义；“其二曰赋”写赋居其二——“其二”写六义之第二，“曰赋”写是赋。两句论赋之义：诗有六义，其二曰赋。以“诗有六义”立论之本，以“其二曰赋”定赋在诗中之位，正是左思序文引经据典、为论赋之源流立本的笔法——赋为诗之六义之一。

The opening line discusses the rhapsody's meaning, the whole preface's thesis foundation. The-Book-of-Songs-has-six-modes writes the six modes -盖 is a discourse particle, has-six-modes uses the Mao preface's theory. Of-which-the-second-is-the-rhapsody writes the rhapsody's second place. The two lines discuss the rhapsody's meaning: the Songs have six modes, the second is fu. Using has-six-modes as the thesis foundation, using the-second-is-fu to fix the rhapsody's place in poetry; this is Zuo Si's preface style of citing classics to ground the rhapsody's origin - fu is one of the Songs' six modes.

扬雄曰：诗人之赋丽以则。班固曰：赋者，古诗之流也。

Yang Xiong said: the poet's rhapsody is ornate yet regulated. Ban Gu said: the rhapsody is an offshoot of ancient poetry.

扬雄说：诗人的赋，华丽而有法则。班固说：赋是古诗的支流。

Yang Xiong said: the poet's rhapsody is ornate yet regulated. Ban Gu said: the rhapsody is an offshoot of ancient poetry.

中二句引前人之论，是全序论赋之根据。“扬雄曰：诗人之赋丽以则”引扬雄之论——“扬雄曰”写扬雄说，“诗人之赋丽以则”写诗人的赋华丽而有法则（语出《法言》）；“班固曰：赋者，古诗之流也”引班固之论——“班固曰”写班固说，“赋者，古诗之流也”写赋是古诗的支流（语出《两都赋序》）。两句引前人之论：扬雄曰丽以则，班固曰古诗之流。以“扬雄曰”引其丽以则之论，以“班固曰”引其古诗之流之说，正是左思引前贤之论为赋张本的笔法——赋当丽而有则，源出古诗。

These middle two lines cite earlier critics, the preface's basis for discussing the rhapsody. Yang-Xiong-said-the-poet's-rhapsody-is-ornate-yet-regulated cites Yang Xiong - (from the Model Sayings). Ban-Gu-said-the-rhapsody-is-an-offshoot-of-ancient-poetry cites Ban Gu - (from the Two Capitals rhapsody preface). The two lines cite earlier critics: Yang Xiong on ornate-yet-regulated, Ban Gu on offshoot of ancient poetry. Using Yang Xiong to cite the ornate-regulated theory, using Ban Gu to cite the offshoot theory; this is Zuo Si's method of citing earlier worthies to ground the rhapsody - the rhapsody should be ornate yet regulated, sourced from ancient poetry.

先王采焉，以观土风。见绿竹猗猗，则知卫地淇澳之产。

The ancient kings collected them, to observe local customs. See the green bamboos so graceful, and one knows the produce of the Qi bank in Wei.

先王采集它们，用以观察地方的风土。见到“绿竹猗猗”，就知道卫地淇澳的物产。

The ancient kings collected them, to observe local customs. Seeing the green bamboos so graceful, one knows the produce of the Qi bank in Wei.

后三句论赋之用，是全序主张征实的归结。“先王采焉，以观土风”写采诗观风——“先王采焉”写先王采集它们，“以观土风”写用以观察地方风土——先王采诗，以观土风；“见绿竹猗猗，则知卫地淇澳之产”写见诗知地——“见绿竹猗猗”写见到《淇奥》“绿竹猗猗”之句，“则知卫地淇澳之产”写就知道卫地淇澳的物产。三句论赋之用：先王采焉以观土风，见绿竹猗猗而知卫地之产。以“先王采焉，以观土风”写诗赋可观风土，以“见绿竹猗猗，则知卫地淇澳之产”写见诗可征其地之产，正是左思主张赋当征实的归结——诗赋之词，皆有实地可征。

These last three lines discuss the rhapsody's use, the preface's verisimilitude主张's resolution. The-ancient-kings-collected-them-to-observe-local-customs writes collecting poems to observe customs. Seeing-the-green-bamboos-so-graceful-and-one-knows-the-produce-of-the-Qi-bank-in-Wei writes seeing the poem to know the place - seeing the Qi Yu poem's green bamboos so graceful, one knows the Qi bank in Wei's produce. The three lines discuss the rhapsody's use: ancient kings collected to observe customs, seeing green bamboos one knows Wei's produce. Using collect-to-observe-customs for the observation of customs, using seeing-green-bamboos-to-know-produce for the verifiability of place; this is Zuo Si's主张 that the rhapsody should be verisimilar - poetry's words all have a real place to verify.

Study

Word focus

六义 Refers to the six modes: airs, fu, comparison, elongation, odes, hymns; 'of which the second is fu' traces fu back to the Odes. “诗有六义”之“六义”，用《毛诗序》“诗有六义”之说，是全序论赋之本的关键词。“六义”写风、赋、比、兴、雅、颂六义——诗有六义，其二曰赋。这一词以“六义”立论：不是泛称之诗，而是有六义之诗；不是无据之说，而是《毛诗序》之论。以“六义”立论，正是左思引经据典为赋张本的笔法。

丽以则 Ornate yet ruled by measure; Yang Xiong's phrase, used by Zuo Si to claim fu must be beautiful yet bounded. “诗人之赋丽以则”之“丽以则”，引扬雄之论，写华丽而有法则，是全序论赋之则的关键词。“丽”写华丽，“则”写法度——诗人的赋，华丽而有法则。这一词写赋之标准：不是仅求丽，而是丽以则；不是纵情之丽，而是有则之丽。以“丽以则”论赋，正是左思主张赋当丽而有则的笔法。

古诗之流 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “赋者，古诗之流也”之“古诗之流”，引班固之论，写赋为古诗的支流，是全序论赋之源的典语。“古诗”写古诗，“之流”写其支流——赋是古诗的支流。这一词写赋之源流：不是无源之赋，而是古诗之流；不是别立之体，而是诗之支裔。以“古诗之流”论赋之源，正是左思引班固之论、申赋源于诗的笔法。

土风 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “以观土风”之“土风”，写地方的风土，是全序论赋之用的关键词。“土”写地方，“风”写风土民情——先王采诗，用以观察地方风土。这一词写诗赋之用：不是徒赏之词，而可观土风；不是空言之采，而是观风之资。以“以观土风”写赋之用，正是左思主张赋当征实、可考风土的笔法。