明 Ming · 乐府 Yuefu ballad
懊侬歌
Aonong Song
白鸦养雏时，夜夜啼达曙。
如何羽翼成，各自东西去？
昨夜霜风起，入户复吹帷。
儿啼母心酸，母愁儿不知。
养儿图养老，无儿生烦恼。
临老不见儿，不如无儿好。
食檗苦在口，食莲苦在心。
苦心无人知，苦口泪沾襟。
男儿初生时，蓬矢桑弧弓。
老大却思家，懊恼无终穷。
it cries night after night till dawn.
Why, when their wings are grown,
do they each go their separate ways?
Last night the frosty wind arose,
it entered the house and stirred the curtains.
The child wails and the mother's heart aches,
the mother's grief the child does not know.
We raise sons to be our stay in old age,
yet having none breeds its own sorrow.
In old age, to see no son beside us —
is worse than never having had one.
Eat the bitter phellodendron, the bitter is in the mouth,
eat the lotus, the bitter is in the heart.
The bitter heart no one can know,
the bitter mouth, tears wet the collar.
When a son is first born,
a bow of mulberry wood, arrows of peng grass.
Grown old, he longs for home,
and the regret is without end.
Meaning
A folk-style ballad contrasts a mother's devoted rearing of her child with the child's grown estrangement, voicing both a mother's lonely grief and a son's belated regret at failing to fulfill filial duty.
白鸦哺育幼雏的时候， 夜夜啼叫直到天明。 为什么羽翼一旦长成， 便各自东西飞散而去？ 昨夜霜风忽然吹起， 吹进门户又掀动帷帐。 孩儿啼哭，做母亲的心里发酸， 母亲的忧愁，孩儿却全然不知。 养儿本是指望老来有靠， 没有儿子又平添烦恼。 临到年老却见不着儿子， 竟不如当初没有儿子好。 吃黄檗，苦在口里， 吃莲子，苦在心中。 心里的苦没有人知道， 口里的苦只落得泪水沾襟。 男儿刚出生的时候， 家人便以桑木为弓、蓬草为矢射向四方。 及至长大成人却又思念家乡， 这懊恼真是没有穷尽。
Appreciation
The poem opens with the white crow tending its young, using the bird's labor to mirror human parenting, then turns to the child who, once fledged, drifts away. Through plain, song-like repetition it layers two kinds of bitterness — that which is spoken in the mouth and that which is hidden in the heart — showing a mother's sorrow unseen by her child. Drawing on the old yuefu title Aonong, Liu Ji refashions a southern love song into a poignant meditation on family love and filial regret, lending a humble folk tune unexpected weight.
【白话串讲】 刘基写《懊侬歌》：“白鸦养雏时，夜夜啼达曙”——白鸦养小鸟，夜夜啼到天亮。“如何羽翼成，各自东西去”——小鸟翅膀硬了，各自飞走。“临老不见儿，不如无儿好”——他写养儿防老，写尽人间的辛酸。 【意象与手法】 全篇五解二十句，以白鸦养雏起兴，由禽鸟及于人伦，通体用比。中间连用两个对举：儿啼与母愁、食檗与食莲，把苦分作口中苦与心中苦两层，浅语而深味。末解以桑弧蓬矢的壮志与老大思家的懊恼相对，一放一收，回环成叹。 【情感与主旨】 题为懊侬，本是南朝吴声写男女之苦的旧调，刘基借旧瓶装新酒，写的却是母子之间的辛酸与游子未及尽孝的悔恨。既有为人母的孤苦，也有为人子的自责，两重懊恼交织，遂使一支民歌小调有了沉痛的分量。 【名句点睛】 食檗苦在口，食莲苦在心——以两种苦味分说口与心，苦口尚可对人言，苦心却无人知，比喻精切，是全篇最动人处。
Background
Liu Ji, style name Bowen, was a statesman and man of letters at the Ming founding, one of the chief architects of the dynasty. His yuefu poems are numerous and inventive, credited with setting the tone for three hundred years of Ming verse. This Aonong Song appears in the Complete Ming Poetry in five stanzas of twenty lines; some argue it was written between the death of his mother and his return home to bury her, which would explain its mingled maternal sorrow and filial remorse.
刘基字伯温，处州青田人，元末明初的政治家、军事谋略家与文学家，佐朱元璋定天下，为明朝开国功臣，封诚意伯，后世传其神机妙算，与诸葛亮并称。然其文学成就亦极可观，诗文兼擅，尤长于乐府，数量既多、立意又新，故崇祯本《刘基文集》有无名氏墨批称其诗开有明三百年风气。此篇懊侬歌见于《全明诗》，凡五解二十句，而《皇明文征》则仅录首解四句，首句一作自恶养雏时，学界于文本尚有异说。论者多以为此诗作于刘基之母病卒至其归乡葬母的一段时间，故通篇兼有为人母者的孤苦与为人子者的悔恨两重意绪。懊侬歌本是南朝吴声歌曲的旧题，原写男女爱情受挫之苦，刘基借此旧调而别铸新意，把一支言情的民歌小调改写成抒发人伦至痛的沉痛之作，既承续了乐府缘事而发、感于哀乐的传统，又寄寓了自身宦游在外、未及尽孝的深切自责。以开国元勋之尊而作此哀切质朴之辞，尤见其化俗为雅、以民歌旧瓶盛人生新酒的功力，故此篇在明初拟乐府中别具分量。
Art
The poem adopts the repetition and metaphorical opening of folk yuefu: it begins with the white crow, sets a scene with the frosty wind, offers the phellodendron and lotus as analogies, and closes on the mulberry bow. Four lines form one stanza, each with its own turn, peeling the theme layer by layer; the language is extremely plain yet the bitterness it carries is profound.
全篇五解二十句，四句一解、一解一意，通体取乐府民歌的复沓与比兴之法层层推进，如剥笋抽茧，语极浅而味极苦。开篇以白鸦养雏为总喻，由禽鸟哺雏之勤、羽翼成而各自分飞，暗起人间子女长成即离散之叹，是全篇的兴象总纲。次解以昨夜霜风入户、吹动帷帐造境，由物及人、由喻入实，把抽象的人伦之痛安置于一个具体的寒夜场景中。中间连用两组对举：儿啼与母愁相对，写亲情之单向流动，母之忧儿全然不觉；食檗与食莲相对，把苦分作口中苦与心中苦两层，苦口尚可对人言，苦心却无人能知，浅语而深味，是全篇最见匠心处。末解则忽以桑弧蓬矢的少年壮志与老大思家的暮年懊恼相对照，一放一收，回环成叹，而以懊恼无终穷五字收束，使循环不尽之悲余音袅袅。全诗不假辞藻、不事雕琢，纯以民歌的重章叠句与比兴对举取胜，得汉魏乐府质直沉痛之致。
Allusions
Aonong Song is a Southern Dynasties Wu-region song name, originally expressing the pain of frustrated love; it is listed under Qing-shang tunes in the Yuefu Anthology. Arrows of peng grass and a bow of mulberry come from the Book of Rites: Inner Rules — when a boy is born, a bow of mulberry and arrows of peng grass are used to shoot toward the four quarters, signifying a man's ambition to roam the world. Eating phellodendron, the yellow cork tree, intensely bitter, was an ancient image for enduring hardship.
此篇题目与用典皆有来历。懊侬歌又作懊憹歌、懊恼歌，本为南朝吴声歌曲之名，《乐府诗集》列于清商曲辞吴声歌曲一类，相传为晋人所作，原写男女相恋受挫、懊恼缠绵之苦，故其调本属言情。刘基取此旧题而改写人伦之痛，是拟乐府中旧题新用的典型。诗末蓬矢桑弧一语，出《礼记·内则》：男子初生，桑弧蓬矢六，以射天地四方，古人于男婴降生之日，以桑木为弓、蓬草为箭，射向天地四方，寓意男儿志在四方、当有远大之志，此即后世所谓桑弧蓬矢、志在四方的出处。诗中男儿初生时、蓬矢桑弧弓，正用此典，写父母于儿降生之初所寄予的殷切期许，与老大却思家的漂泊现实两相对照，愈见期许落空之痛。又食檗一语，檗即黄檗，其味极苦，古人常以食檗喻含辛茹苦、备尝艰苦；食莲则取莲心味苦之意，二者并举，遂以两种苦味分说身受之苦与内心之忧，比喻精切，用典而不着痕迹。
Commentary
An anonymous ink note in the Chongzhen edition of Liu Ji's collected works says his poetry set the tone for three hundred years of Ming letters; this piece, using a folk title to voice the deepest human sorrow, shows exactly that power to refine the popular into the elegant.
崇祯本《刘基文集》有无名氏墨批，称刘基之诗开有明三百年风气，论者以为此篇正可为其证：以南朝吴声的言情旧题，写人伦至痛的母子之情，化俗调为雅音，见其点铁成金之力。后世评刘基乐府者，多称其得汉魏之遗意而自出机杼，不为元季纤秾之习所囿，此篇质直沉痛、以浅语写深悲，恰是其乐府本色的代表。就题材而言，历代咏亲情、写孝思之作，或从子女言反哺之恩，或从父母言鞠育之劳，而此篇独兼二者：既写为母者养儿防老而临老不见儿的孤苦，又写为子者少壮远游、老大思家的自悔，两重懊恼交织缠绕，遂使一支民歌小调有了震撼人心的伦理厚度。近人论明初诗风者，亦每举此篇为拟乐府化俗为雅、以民间形式承载士人情怀的范例，谓其上追汉乐府缘事而发之旨，下开明清拟古乐府一路，在明代诗史上自有其不可替代的位置。
Prosody
Line by line
白鸦养雏时，
When the white crow rears its young,
白鸦哺育幼雏的时候，
When the white crow feeds its young,
此句以白鸦养雏起兴，是全篇的总喻。诗人不从人事入手，而先写禽鸟哺雏之勤，以自然界最寻常的养育之景开篇，为下文由鸟及人、由物及情张本。白鸦是民间习见之禽，取其平易亲切；养雏时三字点出正当哺育辛劳之际，母鸦昼夜衔食、不辞其苦的形象隐然可见。以起兴之法从容领起，既奠定了全诗质朴的民歌底色，又暗伏羽翼成而各自分飞的转折，兴象之中已寓人间离合之理，笔未及人而人已在其中。
The crow. When the white crow feeds its young. The feeding crow opening the song is the folk starting image. To have begun with the feeding crow would be a start; the white-crow-feeding-its-young-time is the start.
不如无儿好。
is worse than never having had one.
竟不如当初没有儿子好。
It were better to have had no son at all.
此句以反语极写失养之痛，是全篇情感的顶点。上文言养儿图养老、无儿生烦恼，本已进退皆苦；至此更翻进一层，说临老见不着儿子，竟不如当初没有儿子的好。这是极端沉痛的愤激之辞，绝非真谓无儿为好，而是老境孤零、盼儿不归到了绝望处的反话。以反语写至痛，正是民歌直质而深挚的笔法，一句道尽天下父母养儿防老而反遭冷落者的辛酸，语愈决绝而情愈可悯，读来令人恻然。
The reversal. It were better to have had no son at all. The bitter better-to-have-had-no-son is the grief's peak. To have wished never to have had a son would be a reversal; the it-were-better-to-have-had-no-son-at-all is the reversal.
食莲苦在心。
eat the lotus, the bitter is in the heart.
吃莲子，苦在心中。
Eating the lotus seed, the bitterness is in the heart.
此句与上句食檗苦在口对举，是全篇比喻最精切动人处。黄檗味苦而苦在口，尚是身受之苦、可以言说；莲心味苦而苦在心，则是内心之忧、无从告人。诗人以两种苦味分说口中苦与心中苦两层，看似平列，实有轻重深浅之别：口苦犹可对人诉说、求人怜恤，心苦却隐微幽深、无人能知，故下文接以苦心无人知，孤独之感遂逼至极处。以日常食物之苦味譬喻人生之悲苦，取譬极近而寄意极远，是浅语深味、化俗为雅的绝好范例。
The lotus. Eating the lotus seed, the bitterness is in the heart. The lotus-seed bitterness at the heart (the lotus heart is bitter) is the inward grief. To have used the bitter lotus heart would be a metaphor; the eating-the-lotus-seed-the-bitterness-is-in-the-heart is the metaphor.
懊恼无终穷。
and the regret is without end.
这懊恼真是没有穷尽。
This sorrow has no end.
此句以懊恼无终穷五字收束全篇，与题目懊侬遥相呼应，是通篇情绪的总汇。上文由白鸦离母写到儿不养亲，再写到男儿初生时的桑弧蓬矢之志，末以老大却思家一转，遂逼出这无终穷的懊恼。无终穷三字最重：懊恼非一时一事，而是循环往复、绵延不尽——为母者有为母的懊恼，为子者有为子的懊恼，人生诸般无奈交织缠绕，终无了期。以此收煞，不作宽解、不予出路，只任余悲悠悠不绝，正合乐府一唱三叹、哀而不伤中见沉痛的传统，余韵极为绵长。
The end. This sorrow has no end. The no-end sorrow closes the song. To have said the grief was endless would be a closing; the this-sorrow-has-no-end is the closing.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Meng Jiao shows a mother's deep love through her close stitching; Liu Ji shows a mother's toil through her nightly crying. One speaks from the son's difficulty of repaying, the other from the mother's deep loneliness — read together they each fulfill their intent.
孟郊游子吟以慈母手中线、游子身上衣起，以临行密密缝、意恐迟迟归写母爱之厚，终以谁言寸草心、报得三春晖点出人子报答之难；刘基懊侬歌则以白鸦夜夜啼达曙写哺育之劳，以临老不见儿、不如无儿好写为母者的孤苦。二诗同咏母子亲情而角度相反：孟诗从人子一面言反哺之恩难报，情深而温厚；刘诗从慈母一面言养儿而失养之痛，语苦而沉挚。一暖一悲，恰可并读，合观之则父母子女之间的深恩与辛酸尽显无遗。
木兰诗 Ballad of Mulan 北朝民歌 · 同为乐府民歌体 Both are yuefu, both use folk techniqueThe Mulan Ballad uses repetition to unfold war and homecoming; the Aonong Song uses four-line stanzas to write of human-family sorrow. Liu Ji's imitation of the Southern Wu tune shows his continuation of the yuefu folk tradition.
木兰诗以唧唧复唧唧、木兰当户织起，以复沓铺陈写从军征战与荣归还家，是北朝乐府叙事民歌的杰作；刘基懊侬歌则以四句一解、逐解换韵的联章形式写人伦之苦，是拟乐府中化俗为雅的代表。二者同属乐府民歌一脉，同用复沓、对举、比兴之法，然木兰诗以叙事见长、气象刚健，懊侬歌以抒情取胜、情调沉痛。刘基拟南朝吴声旧调而自铸新意，正是对汉魏六朝乐府民歌传统的自觉承续，二诗对读可见乐府民歌手法在叙事与抒情两途上的不同发挥。