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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

汉宫词

The Han Palace

李商隐

Li Shangyin

咏史Historical Writing 宫怨Palace Resentment

青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台。
侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯。

The blue bird flew west and never came back;
The king long lingers at the Terrace of Gathering Spirits.
The courtier above all men has the thirst of Sima Xiangru —
And gets no cup of the golden stem's dew.

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Meaning

Li Shangyin'sHan Palace mocks Emperor Wu of Han. The blue bird that was sent to fetch the Queen of the West never returned, while the emperor still waits at his Terrace of Gathering Spirits; meanwhile the courtier who most deserves his favour, by the analogy of Sima Xiangru, dies of thirst in his presence and is given not one cup of the dew from the golden stem. The poem's target is not the emperor's superstition alone but his wasted concern for himself beside his neglect of his officials.

青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台。侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The blue bird has not returned, yet the emperor still waits at the Terrace of Gathering Spirits; a courtier given the thirst of Sima Xiangru is not offered even one cup of the dew.
[Structure] Two couplets, two accusations: the first the futility of seeking theImmortals, the second the meanness toward men. Both are made of allusion, and the poem states no conclusion.
[Imagery] The blue bird, the terrace, the golden stem — all are the apparatus of the immortals — and the only human detail in the poem is a man's thirst.
[Tone] The sarcasm is entirely withheld: nothing is called foolish or cruel, and the irony lies in the contrast between what the emperor pursues and what he refuses. The poem is a masterpiece of indirect attack.

【白话串讲】李商隐写《汉宫词》：“青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台”——“侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯”——汉武帝求仙，却不给司马相如一杯金茎露——他讽刺君王求仙忘人。【意象与手法】此诗咏汉宫，以咏史写讽喻，是李商隐的名篇。前二句写求仙：「青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台」写青雀西飞竟未回、君王长在集灵台——写尽求仙的徒劳；后二句写讽喻：「侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯」写侍臣最有相如渴、不赐金茎露一杯——写尽不恤臣下的讽喻。全诗以咏史写讽喻，写尽求仙的徒劳与不恤臣下的讽喻，是李商隐的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗咏汉宫，以咏史写讽喻，是李商隐的名篇。此诗借汉武帝求仙之事讽喻当世。汉武帝信方士，建集灵台求仙，又以金铜仙人承露盘承露和玉屑饮之。此诗写求仙：青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台——写青雀西飞竟未回、君王长在集灵台，写尽求仙的徒劳；侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯——写侍臣最有相如渴、不赐金茎露一杯，写尽不恤臣下的讽喻。全诗以咏史写讽喻——那「青雀西飞竟未回」写尽求仙的徒劳，「不赐金茎露一杯」写尽不恤臣下的讽喻，写尽求仙的徒劳与不恤臣下的讽喻，是理解李商隐咏史诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台」写求仙的徒劳；「侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯」写不恤臣下的讽喻；以及全诗以咏史写讽喻、以对照写讽谏的手法。

Background

Li Shangyin (c. 813–858) was the greatest poet of the late Tang. This poem takes the Han Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BCE) as its subject, and Emperor Wu was exactly the emperor of legend for seeking theImmortals: he built the Terrace of Gathering Spirits at his Ganchuan palace to await a visit from the Queen of the West, and he set up a golden figure of a man holding a bronze stem to catch the night dew, to be taken with jade powder for long life. The Qin court also sent the blue bird west as a messenger. The poem's real addressee is the Tang: since the Taizong, Tang emperors had repeatedly put their faith in alchemists, and both Xianzong and Wuzong took elixir drugs, some of them fatally. Li Shangyin writes of Han in order to speak of Tang.

此诗咏汉宫，以咏史写讽喻，是李商隐的名篇。李商隐（约813—约858），字义山，号玉谿生，怀州河内（今河南沁阳）人，晚唐伟大的诗人，与杜牧并称「小李杜」。此诗借汉武帝求仙之事讽喻当世。汉武帝好神仙，信任方士，建集灵台（在甘泉宫中）以待仙，又以金铜仙人承露盘承露水、和玉屑饮之以求长生。「青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台」写青雀西飞竟未回、君王长在集灵台——写尽求仙的徒劳（青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台）；「侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯」写侍臣最有相如渴、不赐金茎露一杯——写尽不恤臣下的讽喻（侍臣中最有相如之渴，却不赐金茎露一杯）。全诗以咏史写讽喻，写尽求仙的徒劳与不恤臣下的讽喻，是理解李商隐咏史诗的重要篇章。还应从晚唐求仙风气看此诗的现实指向：唐代自太宗以来，历朝多信方士、求长生，宪宗、武宗尤笃，服丹致疾者不乏其人。李商隐借汉武帝求仙之事讽喻当世，正是「借汉说唐」——武帝之集灵台，犹唐之迎仙观、望仙台；武帝之服金茎露，犹唐主之服丹药。末句「不赐金茎露一杯」更暗讽帝王不恤臣下、徒求己寿，针砭之意深婉而冷峻，可见其咏史诗「托古讽今」的现实关怀。

Art

The poem's structural principle is contrast, and it is arranged twice. The first couplet sets a failed quest (the blue bird never came) against a persistent waiting (the king is still on the terrace); the second sets an extravagant expenditure of ritual (the golden stem's dew, gathered for one man's longevity) against a refusal of the smallest human mercy (not a single cup). Neither couplet offers a word of criticism, and the poignant effect comes from the placing: zuìyǒu ('above all men') is ironic because the man being described is the one most obviously thirsty, and bùcì ('not given') is blunt enough to be brutal. The final yībēi ('one cup') is the poem's knife — the whole apparatus of the empire, set against the refusal of a single measure. Li Shangyin also keeps the two registers in the same sentence: the immortal and the courtier are both 'servants' of the same throne, and the poem's mockery lies in their being treated on the same footing.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以典故写求仙。「青雀西飞竟未回」以典故写求仙——那「青雀」写尽西王母青鸟的典故，以典故写尽求仙的徒劳。其二，以对照写徒劳。「君王长在集灵台」以对照写徒劳——那「长在集灵台」写尽君王待仙，以对照写尽求仙的徒劳。其三，以用典写臣渴。「侍臣最有相如渴」以用典写臣渴——那「相如渴」写尽司马相如消渴病的典故，以用典写尽侍臣的渴。其四，以对照写讽喻。「不赐金茎露一杯」以对照写讽喻——那「金茎露」写尽承露盘的露，以对照写尽不恤臣下的讽喻。此外，此诗前二句写求仙的徒劳，后二句写不恤臣下的讽喻，由仙及人，正是咏史诗「借古讽今」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以咏史写讽喻，写尽求仙的徒劳与不恤臣下的讽喻，是李商隐的代表作。此诗尤可注意其对照结构的冷隽：前二句写「君王长在集灵台」，后二句写「不赐金茎露一杯」——君王长待于台而青雀竟未回，是求仙之虚；侍臣有渴而不赐一杯，是待臣之薄。一虚一实、一仙一臣，两相对照，而讽意自见：求仙既无所得，又复吝于恤下，正是对迷信与凉薄的兼讽。四句之中，无一字褒贬而讥刺已深，正是「不著一字，尽得风流」的咏史笔法。

Allusions

The four nouns are four stories. Qingque, the blue bird, is the messenger sent west to the Queen of the West, appearing in the Classic of the South; the same bird returns in Li Shangyin's own verse as 'the blue bird is diligent in looking'. Jilingtai, the Terrace of Gathering Spirits, was built by Emperor Wu at Ganchuan to await the Queen. Xiangru ke, the thirst of Sima Xiangru, comes from the Records of the Grand Historian, which records that the writer Sima Xiangru long suffered a wasting thirst; he was the emperor's favourite, and here he is the poet's proxy for every gifted courtier. Jinjing lu, the dew from the golden stem, refers to the bronze figure and the bronze stem erected at the palace to catch night dew for the elixir. Nothing is explained, and the poem's difficulty is precisely that all four must be recognised at once for the irony to register.

此诗的用语深植于咏史与典故的传统。「青雀」令人想到「青雀」写青鸟的典故——《山海经》载西王母有三青鸟，为信使，也令人想到「青鸟殷勤为探看」（李商隐）的青鸟意象；「集灵台」令人想到「集灵台」写求仙台的典故——汉武帝建集灵台以待神仙，也令人想到「通天台」「承露台」的求仙意象；「相如渴」令人想到「相如渴」写司马相如消渴病的典故——《史记》载司马相如素有消渴疾，也令人想到「相如病渴」的典故；「金茎露」令人想到「金茎露」写承露盘露水的典故——汉武帝建金铜仙人承露盘，承露和玉屑饮之，也令人想到「金茎」写承露盘铜柱的意象。全诗化用青雀、集灵台、相如渴、金茎露的典故，以咏史写讽喻，正是李商隐「深情绵邈」而善用典、承咏史传统写讽喻的本领。又「相如渴」之典可细味其双关：司马相如素有消渴疾（糖尿病），本为病名；而李商隐以「相如渴」写侍臣之渴，正是以相如之病喻侍臣之渴求恩泽——「渴」字既写病渴，又写渴望，一语双关。而相如又正是以辞赋见赏于武帝的侍臣，以其自喻，更见才士渴求恩遇而不得的怨望，正是咏史诗用典而能一语双关的妙笔。

Commentary

The poem is regularly printed among Li Shangyin's best-known historical quatrains and is often cited as the clearest example of his 'writing of the Han to admonish the Tang'. Qing critics call it 'cold and cutting', and modern readers quote the couplet 'The courtier above all men has the thirst of Sima Xiangru, / and is given no cup of the golden stem's dew' as the poem's celebrated line. Its interest is the compression of two different complaints into one couplet: the emperor's superstition and his stinginess, which are here the same failure — energy spent on himself. Since the late Tang, when emperors kept dying of elixirs, the poem has also been read as a warning delivered at the court itself, which is why it is treated as one of the most dangerous short poems of the period. It is often paired with his 'Jade Terrace', which mocks the same pursuit in the person of King Mu of Zhou.

此诗历来被推为李商隐咏史诗的名篇，也是唐人讽喻求仙的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以咏史写讽喻，冷隽深婉」；近人更指出「侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯」写不恤臣下的讽喻，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以四句的绝句写尽求仙的徒劳与不恤臣下的讽喻——那西飞的青雀，那集灵台，那相如渴，那金茎露，都写尽了李商隐笔下的汉宫；那「不赐金茎露一杯」更以对照写尽不恤臣下的讽喻。此诗与李商隐《瑶池》（「八骏日行三万里」）同为讽求仙名篇，一写「穆王何事不重来」的瑶池（瑶池），一写「青雀西飞竟未回」的汉宫（汉宫词）；又与杜牧《过华清宫绝句》「山顶千门次第开」的咏史传统一脉相承，可见唐人咏史讽今的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解李商隐咏史诗的窗口，也是中国诗讽求仙的经典——那西飞的青雀，穿越千年，仍在诉说着求仙的徒劳。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju)诗·七言绝句

Rhyme Rhymes on tái ('terrace') and bēi ('cup'), the 'hui' rhyme (upper level, rhyme 10), one key sustained; the rhyme falls on the second and fourth lines.七绝，押「台」「杯」韵（上平十灰），一韵到底，音节冷隽

Tone pattern A single level-tone key, carried without a change — the flat, unvarying close suits a poem whose point is an unadorned, held speech.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节冷隽，正合咏史的冷隽。

Reading note A seven-character quatrain rhyming on the 'hui' rhyme — tái ('the terrace') and bēi ('the cup') — with the rhyme on lines 2 and 4 only and no change of key. The rhyme is a level tone, held throughout, and it closes the lines with a dry, uninflected click; there is no rise and no slack, and the recurring sound of the same vowel everywhere in the poem quietly enforces the theme of a thing repeated without result. Read lines 1 and 3 flat and level, without emphasis, and let the weight fall on the last word of line 4, bùcì ('not given'), where the rhyme lands. Li Shangyin's quatrains are famous for delay and indirection; this one achieves the opposite effect by the same means — an even, unhurried surface that hides a cutting point.此诗为七言绝句，四句——「青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台。侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯」，押「灰」韵（台、杯），一韵到底，音节冷隽。全诗以咏史写讽喻：前二句写求仙的徒劳（青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台），后二句写不恤臣下的讽喻（侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯）。四句短章，前写求仙，后写讽喻，以「不赐金茎露一杯」写尽讽喻的冷隽，正见李商隐「深情绵邈」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以冷隽的语调读「青雀西飞竟未回」的求仙，以讽刺的语调读「不赐金茎露一杯」的讽喻，结句要读得冷峭而有余韵，方能传达出李商隐的冷隽深婉。李商隐绝句以「深情绵邈」著称，此诗正是其咏史绝句的典范。

Line by line

侍臣最有相如渴，不赐金茎露一杯

The courtier above all men has the thirst of Sima Xiangru, and is given no cup of the golden stem's dew.

侍臣中最有相如之渴，却不赐金茎露一杯。

Among the attendants none thirsts like Sima Xiangru, yet not a cup of the golden-stalk dew is granted.

此二句是全诗写讽喻的核心，以相如渴写臣渴，以不赐金茎露写君王之吝，写尽不恤臣下的讽喻，是千古名句。「侍臣最有相如渴」写侍臣中最有相如之渴——那「侍臣」写侍臣，「最有相如渴」写最有相如之渴，写尽侍臣的渴；「不赐金茎露一杯」写却不赐金茎露一杯——那「不赐」写不赐，「金茎露一杯」写金茎露一杯，写尽君王的吝啬。这句的深意在于：它以「侍臣最有相如渴」的臣渴与「不赐金茎露一杯」的君王之吝，写尽不恤臣下的讽喻——侍臣中最有相如之渴，那「侍臣最有相如渴」写尽侍臣的渴——司马相如有消渴病，正是以相如自喻，那「相如渴」写尽侍臣的渴；却不赐金茎露一杯，那「不赐金茎露一杯」写尽君王的吝啬——君王以金茎露自饮以求仙，而侍臣之渴竟不赐一杯，那「不赐」写尽君王的吝啬；那「侍臣最有相如渴」写尽侍臣的渴，那「不赐金茎露一杯」写尽君王的吝啬，一写臣渴，一写君吝，写尽不恤臣下的讽喻——金茎露自饮而不恤臣下，正是对君王的讽喻；此二句以臣渴、君吝写尽不恤臣下的讽喻，也让此二句成为全诗写讽喻的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「皇帝只顾自己求仙不关心大臣」，则失其含蓄；唯以「侍臣最有相如渴」写臣渴、「不赐金茎露一杯」写君吝，写尽不恤臣下的讽喻，也让此二句成为全诗写讽喻的核心。

The thirst. Among the attendants none thirsts like Sima Xiangru, yet not a cup of the golden-stalk dew is granted. The allusion (Xiangru's diabetes) against the refused cup of imperial dew is the court satire: the ruler drinks the immortal's dew himself and will not spare a cup for his minister. To have said the emperor neglected his ministers would be a satire; the minister's Xiangru-thirst against the not-granted-cup-of-golden-stalk-dew is the satire.

青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台

The blue bird flew west and never came back; the king long lingers at the Terrace of Gathering Spirits.

青雀西飞竟未回，君王长在集灵台。

The blue bird flew west and never returned; the ruler waits forever at the Spirit Platform.

此二句是全诗写求仙的核心，以青雀西飞写信使，以君王长在集灵台写待仙，写尽求仙的徒劳，是千古名句。「青雀西飞竟未回」写青雀西飞竟未回——那「青雀西飞」写青雀西飞，「竟未回」写竟未回，写尽信使的无讯；「君王长在集灵台」写君王长在集灵台——那「君王长在」写君王常在，「集灵台」写集灵台，写尽君王的待仙。这句的深意在于：它以「青雀西飞竟未回」的信使与「君王长在集灵台」的待仙，写尽求仙的徒劳——青雀西飞竟未回，那「青雀西飞竟未回」写尽信使的无讯——青雀，正是西王母的信使，西飞而竟未回，正是求仙无信的写照，那「竟未回」写尽信使的无讯；君王长在集灵台，那「君王长在集灵台」写尽君王的待仙——君王长在集灵台待仙，正是求仙不悟的写照，那「长在」写尽待仙的痴迷；那「青雀西飞竟未回」写尽信使的无讯，那「君王长在集灵台」写尽君王的待仙，一写信使，一写待仙，写尽求仙的徒劳——青雀未回而君王长待，正是求仙的徒劳；此二句以信使、待仙写尽求仙的徒劳，也为后二句的讽喻作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写求仙的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「皇帝求仙没有结果」，则失其典故；唯以「青雀西飞竟未回」写信使、「君王长在集灵台」写待仙，写尽求仙的徒劳，也让此二句成为全诗写求仙的核心。

The quest. The blue bird flew west and never returned; the ruler waits forever at the Spirit Platform. The Queen Mother's messenger gone west without reply, and the ruler still at the altar, are the fruitless immortal quest. To have said the immortal quest failed would be a result; the blue-bird-west-and-no-return against the ruler-forever-at-the-Spirit-Platform is the result.

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Word focus

竟竟 (jìng) means 'in the end' and, with a negative, 'never in the end' — here 竟未回 is 'and it never did return'. The word carries the ruin of the embassy in one step, and against 长在 ('long still at') in the next line it produces the poem's whole irony: the messenger failed completely, and the waiting has not paused at all. 「青雀西飞竟未回」之「竟」字是写求仙的关键词，一个「竟」字写尽求仙的徒劳。竟者，终究、到底也。李商隐以「青雀西飞竟未回」写求仙，这个「竟」字至少有双重意味：其一，写无讯之终——那「青雀西飞竟未回」写青雀西飞竟未回，那「竟」字写尽无讯的结局——青雀西飞，终究未回，正是求仙无信的结局，那「竟」字写尽无讯之终；其二，写徒劳之叹——那「竟」字更是写叹——竟未回，正是徒劳之叹，那「竟」字写尽求仙的徒劳。以「竟」字写求仙，正是李商隐写讽喻的枢纽——若换作「终」「总」等字，则或失其与「未回」的配合，或失其写竟的意味；唯「竟」字，以青雀西飞竟未回写尽无讯的结局与求仙的徒劳，与「君王长在集灵台」的长在相合，写尽求仙的徒劳，也让「青雀西飞竟未回」成为全诗写求仙的名句。

一杯一杯 (yī bēi), 'one small cup', is the smallest possible measure. Against the whole apparatus of the golden stem, the dew, and the emperor's quest for eternity, it is deliberately paltry; the poem's severity lies in the gap between what the state will gather and what it will give. 「不赐金茎露一杯」之「一杯」是写讽喻的关键词，一个「一杯」写尽君王的吝啬。一杯者，一杯之量也。李商隐以「不赐金茎露一杯」写讽喻，这个「一杯」至少有双重意味：其一，写吝啬之极——那「不赐金茎露一杯」写不赐金茎露一杯，那「一杯」写尽吝啬之极——一杯之露亦不赐，正是吝啬的极致，那「一杯」写尽君王的吝啬；其二，写对照之讽——那「一杯」更是写对照——金茎露自饮而不赐一杯，正是对照的讽喻，那「一杯」写尽不恤臣下的讽刺。以「一杯」写讽喻，正是李商隐写讽刺的枢纽——若换作「一滴」「半盏」等词，则或失其与「金茎露」的配合，或失其写一杯的意味；唯「一杯」二字，以不赐金茎露一杯写尽吝啬之极与对照的讽喻，与「侍臣最有相如渴」的相如渴相合，写尽不恤臣下的讽喻，也让「不赐金茎露一杯」成为全诗写讽喻的名句。

汉宫词