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魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem

杂诗·南国有佳人

Miscellaneous Poems · A Beauty in the South (Za Shi · Nan Guo You Jiaren)

曹植

Cao Zhi

咏怀Poems on Personal Grief / Songs of the Heart 佳人The Beautiful Lady

南国有佳人，容华若桃李。
朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚。
时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿。
俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃。

In the lands of the south there is a beauty,
her countenance as bright as peaches and plums.
By day she wanders along the northern bank, at night she lodges on an islet between the Xiao and the Xiang.
The age is mean to a rosy face - who would ever show a tooth of ivory?
In one breath the year draws to its close, and flourishing cannot be trusted for long.

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Meaning

A beauty dwells in the southern lands, lovely as peach and plum blossom, but she drifts between the northern bank and an islet on the Xiao and Xiang, with nowhere to settle. The world she lives in despises a flushed face, so no one ever cares to hear her sing; and as the year comes to an end she realises that her beauty cannot be relied upon. The beautiful lady stands for Cao Zhi himself: his talent is her countenance, his rootless wanderings her itinerancy, the world's contempt for rosy faces the court's neglect of him, and the approach of old age the shortening of his chance to serve.

南国有佳人，容华若桃李。朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚。时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿。俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Eight short lines in two quatrains: the first paints the lady, the second sighs over her. [Structure] The movement is from image to lament, and the hinge is the third couplet, where the world's indifference is stated as the reason for her silence. [Imagery] Her beauty is given in one clause, 'as bright as peaches and plums', and immediately qualified by her rootless wandering - so that the poem's beauty is already its own complaint. [Technique] The whole poem is an allegory, and the cleverness of the allegory lies in its economy: the lady has no interlocutor, no history, no speaker other than the poet's own observation; she simply exists in a world that does not want her, exactly as the poet exists in a court that does not use him. [Imagery] The closing couplet changes key: 'in one breath the year draws to its close' introduces time, and 'flourishing cannot be trusted for long' turns the poem from neglect into mortality. Nothing is said of the poet directly, and yet he is the only person in the poem who can feel the years passing.

【白话串讲】曹植写《杂诗·南国有佳人》：“南国有佳人，容华若桃李”——“朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚”——“时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿”——“俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃”——他借佳人写怀才不遇。【意象与手法】此诗写托寓，以怀才写托寓，是曹植的名篇。前四句写佳人：「南国有佳人，容华若桃李。朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚」写南国有佳人、容华若桃李——写尽容华若桃的李；后四句写慨叹：「时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿。俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃」写时俗薄朱颜、谁为发皓齿——写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰。全诗以怀才写托寓，写尽容华若桃的李与荣耀难久恃的俯仰，是曹植的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写托寓，以怀才写托寓，是曹植的名篇。此诗为曹植借佳人自喻之作，写其怀才不遇之慨。曹植此诗以佳人写其自身。此诗写南国有佳人，容华若桃李；朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚；时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿；俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃。此诗写佳人：南国有佳人，容华若桃李——写南国有佳人、容华若桃李，写尽容华若桃的李；朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚——写朝游江北岸、夕宿潇湘沚，写尽夕宿潇湘的沚；时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿——写时俗薄朱颜、谁为发皓齿，写尽谁为发皓的齿；俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃——写俯仰岁将暮、荣耀难久恃，写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰。全诗以怀才写托寓——那「容华若桃李」写尽容华若桃的李，「荣耀难久恃」写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰，写尽容华若桃的李与荣耀难久恃的俯仰，是理解曹植托寓诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「南国有佳人，容华若桃李」写容华若桃的李；「俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃」写荣耀难久恃的俯仰；以及全诗以托寓写怀才、以比兴写托寓的手法。

Background

Cao Zhi (192-232), courtesy name Zijian, was the third son of Cao Cao and is ranked with his father and brother under the collective name 'Three Cao'. The saying that the world's talent amounts to ten dan and Cao Zhi alone takes eight of them is attributed to Xie Lingyun. He was made princes of successive states and finally the Prince of Chen, whence his posthumous title Chensi Wang. After Cao Pi took the throne the Wei court grew steadily colder toward him, and he spent his last years in anxious retirement. The 'Za Shi' group of some ninety-odd pieces is thought to date from this later period; the poem traditionally read as his best allegory, with the southern beauty standing for the unrecognised minister.

此诗写托寓，以怀才写托寓，是曹植的名篇。曹植（192—232），字子建，沛国谯县（今安徽亳州）人，曹操之子，三国魏著名诗人，与父曹操、兄曹丕合称「三曹」，有「天下才共一石，曹子建独占八斗」之誉。此诗为曹植借佳人自喻之作，写其怀才不遇之慨。曹植此诗以佳人写其自身。此诗写南国有佳人，容华若桃李；朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚；时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿；俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃。此诗写佳人：「南国有佳人，容华若桃李」写南国有佳人、容华若桃李——写尽容华若桃的李（南国有佳人，容华若桃李）；「朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚」写朝游江北岸、夕宿潇湘沚——写尽夕宿潇湘的沚（朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚）；「时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿」写时俗薄朱颜、谁为发皓齿——写尽谁为发皓的齿（时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿）；「俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃」写俯仰岁将暮、荣耀难久恃——写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰（俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃）。全诗以怀才写托寓，写尽容华若桃的李与荣耀难久恃的俯仰，是理解曹植托寓诗的重要篇章。

Art

The poem is a tour de force of sustained metaphor. Every element of the lady is doubled with an element of the poet's situation: her countenance is his talent, her wandering between north and south is his displacement, her unheard singing is his unspoken ambition, and the coming year's end is his fear of wasting his opportunity. Nothing in the poem explains this, and nothing needs to. Four devices are at work. Comparison - 'as bright as peaches and plums' embeds the poet's self-estimate in an ordinary simile. Plain narration - 'by day she wanders ... at night she lodges' is reported as flat fact, which is what makes the pathos lie underneath. Rhetorical question - 'who would ever show a tooth of ivory?' answers itself with a kind of dry fury. Direct utterance - the last couplet states the moral in plain words, so that the poem's polished surface opens into a real anxiety. The couplet that most rewards attention is 'in one breath the year draws to its close': 俯仰 compresses an entire lifetime into a single gesture of looking down and looking up.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以比兴写佳人。「南国有佳人」以比兴写佳人——那「容华若桃李」写尽容华若桃的李，以比兴写尽容华若桃的李。其二，以白描写漂泊。「朝游江北岸」以白描写漂泊——那「夕宿潇湘沚」写尽夕宿潇湘的沚，以白描写尽夕宿潇湘的沚。其三，以反问写不遇。「时俗薄朱颜」以反问写不遇——那「谁为发皓齿」写尽谁为发皓的齿，以反问写尽谁为发皓的齿。其四，以直抒写迟暮。「俯仰岁将暮」以直抒写迟暮——那「荣耀难久恃」写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰，以直抒写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰。此外，此诗前写容华若桃的李，后写荣耀难久恃的俯仰，由人及慨，正是托寓诗「以人写己」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以怀才写托寓，写尽容华若桃的李与荣耀难久恃的俯仰，是曹植的代表作。又，此诗通篇以「佳人」自喻：容华若桃李喻才美，朝游夕宿喻飘零，时俗薄朱颜喻世道不重才，俯仰岁暮、荣耀难恃喻时不我与。一意贯串、处处双关，不着一字言己而处处言己，正是曹植「借美人以写志」的典型笔法。

Allusions

The figure of the beauty comes from a long line running through the Chu tradition and into Han yuefu: Li Yannian's 'There is a beauty in the north' is the ancestor of this line, and the Chu poems' habit of offering a lovely woman as a gift to the king is the framework the poet is inside. 潇湘, the Xiao and Xiang rivers, is the standard southern水路 of exile in Chinese poetry - the water between the two is the place of parting - and the tiny islet 沚 recalls the 'islet in the water' of the Book of Odes, a place fit for longing. 朱颜, the rosy face, is the face that age and sorrow change. 皓齿, teeth of ivory, is the beauty's most articulate feature, and the verb 发 - to show, to unfold - is chosen so that singing is an act of self-proposal. 俯仰, the turn of head and eye, comes from the classic phrase for the brevity of life, and 岁将暮 carries the whole autumnal tradition of the year's ending.

此诗的用语深植于托寓与怀才传统。「南国」令人想到「南国」写南方的意象——也令人想到「南国有佳人」的意象；「佳人」令人想到「佳人」写美人的意象——也令人想到「北方有佳人」（李延年）的意象；「桃李」令人想到「桃李」写桃李的意象——也令人想到「桃李不言，下自成蹊」的意象；「江北岸」令人想到「江北岸」写江北的意象——也令人想到「大江东去」的意象；「潇湘」令人想到「潇湘」写潇湘的意象——也令人想到「潇湘夜雨」的意象；「沚」令人想到「沚」写水洲的意象——也令人想到「在水一方」（《诗经》）的意象；「朱颜」令人想到「朱颜」写红颜的意象——也令人想到「朱颜辞镜花辞树」（王国维）的意象；「皓齿」令人想到「皓齿」写皓齿的意象——也令人想到「皓齿明眸」的意象；「俯仰」令人想到「俯仰」写俯仰的意象——也令人想到「俯仰之间」的意象；「岁将暮」令人想到「岁将暮」写岁暮的意象——也令人想到「岁暮阴阳催短景」（杜甫）的意象；「荣耀」令人想到「荣耀」写荣耀的意象——也令人想到「荣耀自矜」的意象。全诗化用南国、佳人、桃李、江北岸、潇湘、沚、朱颜、皓齿、俯仰、岁将暮、荣耀的意象，以怀才写托寓，正是曹植「沉郁」而善比兴、承楚辞传统写托寓之本领。

Commentary

The poem has long been ranked among Cao Zhi's finest allegories, and readers have generally taken the lady as a figure for himself. Later critics describe the piece as '含蓄深婉' - condensed and oblique rather than loud - and single out the opening couplet as its famous line, because in six characters it manages both a general truth (there is a lovely woman in the south) and a private claim (there is a lovely woman, and she is me). On the history of the genre its importance is that it perfects the Chu device of offering a beauty in place of arguing for oneself, and hands it on to later poets - Li Bai and Li He both write poems in which a woman at the palace gate stands for a minister at court. It is also usually read beside Cao's own 'Qi Ai', which makes the same move with a deserted wife rather than a beauty, and the two together show how completely the poet could speak as someone else.

此诗历来被推为曹植托寓诗的名篇，也是建安诗写怀才不遇的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以怀才写托寓，含蓄深婉」；近人更指出「南国有佳人，容华若桃李」写容华若桃的李，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以短篇写尽容华若桃的李与荣耀难久恃的俯仰——那南国，那有佳人，那容华，那若桃李，那朝游，那江北岸，那夕宿，那潇湘沚，那时俗，那薄朱颜，那谁为，那发皓齿，那俯仰，那岁将暮，那荣耀，那难久恃，都写尽了曹植笔下的杂诗南国有佳人；那「俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃」更以直抒写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰。此诗与曹植《七哀》「明月照高楼」同为托寓名篇，一写「愿为西南风」的七哀，一写「荣耀难久恃」的杂诗；一写弃妇，一写佳人。两诗对读，可见曹植托寓诗的两种写法。对于今日读者，此诗是理解曹植托寓诗的窗口，也是建安诗写怀才不遇的经典——那荣耀难久恃的俯仰，穿越千年，仍在诉说着容华若桃的李。

Prosody

Form Old-style five-syllable poem (Wuyan Gu Shi)五言古诗

Rhyme A five-character ancient poem on the oblique止/纸 rhyme - li (李), zhi (沚), chi (齿), shi (恃) - rhyming on alternate lines in a single rhyme, which corresponds to the poem's restraint.全诗押「李」「沚」「齿」「恃」（仄韵止纸韵），隔句押韵

Tone pattern The voice is low and measured. Because the rhyme is oblique, the lines close with a falling, blocked sound rather than an open one, and that closure fits a poem whose argument is that nothing can be relied on. The register never rises: there is no exclamation anywhere in the eight lines, and the only emphatic movement is the rhetorical question in the third couplet, which is delivered flat rather than charged.此诗为五言古诗，押仄声韵，隔句押韵，音节沉婉，正合托寓的沉婉。

Reading note As a 五古, the poem is governed by the northern style - five syllables to a line, no tonal delicacy, no parallel couplets of the later regulated kind - and its music is entirely a music of the rhyme. The oblique rhyme on -i is unusually closed: the vowel does not open, so each two-line unit stops rather than resonates. The result is that the four rhymes read like four small doors closing, one after another: beauty, wandering, refusal, mortality. In recitation the two repeated grammatical subjects (she wanders by day ... she lodges at night) should be spoken quickly and low, and the last line should trail, so that the poem's central admission - that nothing can be trusted for long - seems to arrive without being announced. Cao Zhi's old-style verse is described as '沉郁' - deep and restrained - and this short piece is the clearest example of that quality in a genre built for larger argument.此诗为五言古诗——「南国有佳人，容华若桃李。朝游江北岸，夕宿潇湘沚。时俗薄朱颜，谁为发皓齿。俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃」，押仄韵（李、沚、齿、恃），隔句押韵，音节沉婉。全诗以怀才写托寓：前写容华若桃的李（南国有佳人、夕宿潇湘沚），后写荣耀难久恃的俯仰（时俗薄朱颜、俯仰岁将暮）。短章八句，前写佳人，后写慨叹，以「荣耀难久恃」写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰，正见曹植「沉郁」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以沉婉的语调读「容华若桃李」的佳人，以低回的语调读「荣耀难久恃」的慨叹，结句要读得沉婉而有余韵，方能传达出曹植的含蓄深婉。曹植古诗以「沉郁」著称，此诗正是其托寓诗的典范。

Line by line

南国有佳人，容华若桃李

In the lands of the south there is a beauty, her countenance as bright as peaches and plums.

南国有佳人，容华若桃李。

In the southern lands there dwells a lovely maiden; her face is fair as peach and plum blossoms.

此二句是全诗写佳人的核心，以南国有佳人写佳人，以容华若桃李写桃李，写尽容华若桃的李，是千古名句。「南国有佳人」写南国有佳人——那「南国」写南国，「有佳人」写有佳人，写尽南国的有佳人；「容华若桃李」写容华若桃李——那「容华」写容华，「若桃李」写若桃李，写尽容华的若桃李。这句的深意在于：它以「南国有佳人」的佳人与「容华若桃李」的桃李，写尽容华若桃的李——南国有佳人，那「南国有佳人」写尽南国的有佳人——南国有佳人，正是南方有美人的写照，那「佳人」写尽容华若桃的李；容华若桃李，那「容华若桃李」写尽容华的若桃李——容华若桃李，正是容貌如花的写照，那「若桃李」写尽容华若桃的李；那「南国有佳人」写尽南国的有佳人，那「容华若桃李」写尽容华的若桃李，一写佳人，一写桃李，写尽容华若桃的李——南方美人而容貌如花，正是佳人的写照；此二句以佳人、桃李写尽容华若桃的李，也为下文的朝游作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写佳人的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「南方有位美人，容貌像桃花李花」，则失其含蓄；唯以「南国有佳人」写佳人、「容华若桃李」写桃李，写尽容华若桃的李，也让此二句成为全诗写佳人的核心。

These two lines are the core of the poem's fair lady - a famous line. 'In the southern lands there is a fair lady' the southern beauty; 'her beauty is like the peach and the plum' the flower-like face. The southern beauty, the face like spring blossoms - the portrait set out, priming the morning wander below.

俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃

In one breath the year draws to its close, and flourishing cannot be trusted for long.

俯仰岁将暮，荣耀难久恃。

In a single glance upward or downward, the year draws to its close; this radiance cannot long endure.

此二句是全诗写慨叹的核心，以俯仰岁将暮写岁将暮，以荣耀难久恃写难久恃，写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰，是千古名句。「俯仰岁将暮」写俯仰岁将暮——那「俯仰」写俯仰，「岁将暮」写岁将暮，写尽俯仰的岁将暮；「荣耀难久恃」写荣耀难久恃——那「荣耀」写荣耀，「难久恃」写难久恃，写尽荣耀的难久恃。这句的深意在于：它以「俯仰岁将暮」的岁将暮与「荣耀难久恃」的难久恃，写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰——俯仰岁将暮，那「俯仰岁将暮」写尽俯仰的岁将暮——俯仰岁将暮，正是转瞬岁暮的写照，那「岁将暮」写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰；荣耀难久恃，那「荣耀难久恃」写尽荣耀的难久恃——荣耀难久恃，正是荣耀难保的写照，那「难久恃」写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰；那「俯仰岁将暮」写尽俯仰的岁将暮，那「荣耀难久恃」写尽荣耀的难久恃，一写岁将暮，一写难久恃，写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰——转瞬岁暮而荣耀难保，正是迟暮的写照；此二句以岁将暮、难久恃写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰，也让此二句成为全诗写慨叹的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「转眼间年岁将暮，荣耀难以长久依赖」，则失其沉痛；唯以「俯仰岁将暮」写岁将暮、「荣耀难久恃」写难久恃，写尽荣耀难久恃的俯仰，也让此二句成为全诗写慨叹的核心。

These two lines are the core of the poem's lament - a famous line. 'In one lift of the eyes, the year is near its end' the swift dusk of time; 'this glory cannot long be trusted' the fading bloom. The year's end in the turning of a head, beauty's hold short - the grief of the twilight of life.

Study

Word focus

薄 In 'the age is mean to a rosy face', the verb 薄 means to slight, to regard as trivial - a verdict on a person's worth delivered as though it were a matter of taste. It is sharper than 轻 (light) because it implies a standard by which the rosy face fails, and the poet lets that standard go unstated. 「时俗薄朱颜」之「薄」字是写不遇关键词，一个「薄」字写尽时俗薄的朱颜。薄者，轻视、鄙薄也。曹植以「时俗薄朱颜」写不遇，这个「薄」字至少有双重意味：其一，写俗之薄——那「时俗薄朱颜」写时俗薄朱颜，那「薄」字写尽时俗薄的朱颜——薄朱颜，正是鄙薄红颜的写照，那「薄」字写尽时俗薄的朱颜；其二，写世之凉——那「薄」字更是写凉——薄，正见世情凉薄的意味，那「薄」字写尽曹植的愤慨。以「薄」字写不遇，正是曹植写托寓的枢纽——若换作「轻」「贱」等字，则或失其与「时俗薄朱颜」「谁为发皓齿」的配合，或失其写薄的意味；唯「薄」字，以时俗薄朱颜写尽世俗之鄙薄与世情之凉薄，与「谁为发皓齿」的发皓齿相合，写尽时俗薄的朱颜，也让「时俗薄朱颜」成为全诗写不遇的名句。

恃 In 'flourishing cannot be trusted for long', the verb 恃 means to lean on or rely upon, used here of one's own beauty. It is the strongest word available for the point the poem is making: her beauty is something she would have to lean on, and leaning on it is exactly what the coming year will take away. 「荣耀难久恃」之「恃」字是写迟暮关键词，一个「恃」字写尽荣耀的难久恃。恃者，依赖、倚仗也。曹植以「荣耀难久恃」写迟暮，这个「恃」字至少有双重意味：其一，写恃之难——那「荣耀难久恃」写荣耀难久恃，那「恃」字写尽荣耀的难久恃——难久恃，正是难以长倚的写照，那「恃」字写尽荣耀的难久恃；其二，写荣之短——那「恃」字更是写短——恃，正见荣耀难保的意味，那「恃」字写尽曹植的慨叹。以「恃」字写迟暮，正是曹植写托寓的枢纽——若换作「依」「靠」等字，则或失其与「荣耀难久恃」「俯仰岁将暮」的配合，或失其写恃的意味；唯「恃」字，以荣耀难久恃写尽荣耀之难倚与时光之易逝，与「俯仰岁将暮」的岁将暮相合，写尽荣耀的难久恃，也让「荣耀难久恃」成为全诗写迟暮的名句。