先秦 Pre-Qin · 诗经 Classic of Poetry
有女同车
A Girl Rides with Me
有女同车，颜如舜华。
将翱将翔，佩玉琼琚。
彼美孟姜，洵美且都。
有女同行，颜如舜英。
将翱将翔，佩玉将将。
彼美孟姜，德音不忘。
She seems about to soar like a bird; her jade pendants are of fine jade.
That beauty, Meng Jiang, is truly lovely and graceful.
A girl walks by my side; her face is like the hibiscus in full flower.
She seems about to soar; her jade pendants chime and ring.
That beauty, Meng Jiang, her virtuous fame I shall not forget.
Meaning
I ride in the same carriage with that girl, her face bright as a hibiscus flower. Her steps are light as a bird in flight; the jade at her waist is fine jade. That beauty, Meng Jiang, is truly fair and elegant. I walk side by side with that girl, her face bright as a hibiscus in full bloom. Her steps are light as a bird in flight; her jade pendants chime in harmony. That beauty, Meng Jiang, her virtue and name I shall never forget.
与那姑娘同乘一车，她的容颜像木槿花般鲜丽。她步态轻盈，如鸟儿将要翱翔，身上佩着美玉琼琚。那位美丽的孟姜啊，实在姣好又闲雅。 与那姑娘并肩同行，她的容颜像木槿花般明艳。她步态轻盈如飞，佩玉铿锵和鸣。那位美丽的孟姜啊，她的美德令名令人难忘。
Appreciation
This poem uses repeated stanzas: the two stanzas change only a few words (bloom, full flower; fine jade, chime; car, walk), circling back with deepening feeling. The first line 'A girl rides in the same car' marks the intimacy of the meeting, then 'her face is like the hibiscus, full flower' sets a simile, using the hibiscus's morning splendor to picture her beauty; 'about to soar' turns stillness to motion, writing her light step; 'jade pendants of fine jade' and 'jade pendants chime' write both the splendor of dress and the harmony of ringing jade, sight and sound together. The close falls on 'truly lovely and graceful' and 'her virtuous fame I and shall not forget', moving from face to virtue, completing a praise of the ideal woman. Blending statement, simile and stir, brisk in rhythm, the poem carries the lush beauty of Zheng songs.
【白话串讲】 “有女同车，颜如舜华”——《诗经》写一个男子与心爱的姑娘同车：她的容颜像木槿花。“彼美孟姜，洵美且都”——那个美人孟姜，真美又端庄。三千年前的一见钟情。 【意象与手法】 本诗采用重章叠句，两章仅易数字，回环咏叹，情致愈浓。首句「有女同车」点明相遇之亲，随即以「颜如舜华（英）」设喻，以木槿朝华之美状女子容色；「将翱将翔」化静为动，写其步履轻盈如飞；「佩玉琼琚」「佩玉将将」兼写服饰之华与鸣玉之和，视听相生。末章由「洵美且都」落到「德音不忘」，由貌及德，完成对理想女性的礼赞。赋比兴交融，节奏明快，极具郑声之靡丽灵动。 【情感与主旨】 《有女同车》出自《诗经·郑风》。郑国地处中原，商业繁盛，民风开放，《郑风》多涉爱情婚恋之歌。此诗为一男子与心仪女子同车出游时的即兴赞歌，洋溢着对佳人容仪德音的由衷倾倒；「孟姜」为姜姓长女之美称，泛指美女。全诗以木槿喻容、以佩玉写德，可见先秦已重女子容德兼美。 【名句点睛】 中高考赏析常考：一、比喻手法「颜如舜华（英）」之妙，既写鲜艳又隐含易逝的怅惘；二、「将翱将翔」化静为动、视听结合之效；三、「德音不忘」由貌及德，完成礼赞的升华。
Background
A Girl Rides with Me comes from the Book of Songs, Zheng Feng. Zheng lay in the central plains, commercially thriving and open in custom, and the Zheng Feng often touches songs of love and marriage. According to the Mao Preface, this poem 'satirizes Hu: the people of Zheng satirize Hu for not marrying into Qi', saying the crown prince Hu once refused the daughter of the Qi lord, and the people regretted his loss of a great ally's support; later readers mostly find this forced, and take the poem as a man praising and admiring the beauty (Meng Jiang) he rides with, a folk love song. 'Meng Jiang' is an honorific for the eldest daughter of the Jiang clan, not necessarily a real person, but a general name for a beauty of the time. The whole poem brims with spontaneous homage to the lady's bearing and virtuous fame.
《有女同车》为《诗经·郑风》之篇。郑国始封于周宣王时，至郑武公迁都新郑（今河南新郑一带），地处中原腹地，居天下之中，商业繁盛，交通发达，民风开放而少礼法拘束，故《郑风》多涉男女爱情婚恋之歌，如《溱洧》记上巳节男女踏青赠芍药之欢，《野有蔓草》写邂逅倾心，《静女》写幽会赠物，《出其东门》写爱情专一，皆清新活泼、情致缠绵，与《周南》《召南》之庄重典雅迥异，故《论语》有「郑声淫」之说，实指郑地乐歌多言情、节奏靡丽。关于此诗主旨，《毛诗序》谓「刺忽也。郑人刺忽之不昏于齐」，说郑太子忽曾辞齐僖公之婚约，不肯娶齐女文姜，后郑国失大国之援而多难，国人追悔而作此诗；然此说与诗意不合——诗中「孟姜」为齐国姜姓长女之通称，亦可泛指美女，且全诗洋溢的是惊喜与赞叹之情，并无讽刺之意，故后世多不信。今人一般认为这是男子与心仪女子同车出游时的赞歌，属民间情歌，写尽对佳人的倾慕礼赞，洋溢着青春与欢悦的气息。
Art
The poem uses repeated stanzas, the two sections changing only a few characters (bloom, full flower; jade, chime; car, walk), circling with ever richer feeling. The opening 'A girl rides in the same car' marks the closeness of the encounter; at once 'her face is like the hibiscus, full flower' sets the simile, the hibiscus's morning bloom figuring her looks; 'about to soar' turns the static to kinetic, her step light as flight; 'jade pendants of fine jade' and 'jade pendants chime' write both the richness of dress and the music of jade, sight and sound breeding. The close lands on 'truly lovely and graceful' and 'her virtuous fame I shall not forget', from appearance to virtue, finishing the praise of the ideal woman. Fu, bi and xing blend; the rhythm is bright, the very lushness of Zheng song.
此诗艺术上最突出的是重章叠句的章法与赋比兴的融合。两章句式全同，仅易数字，而回环咏叹、情致愈浓：一章由「有女同车」起，写「颜如舜华」，以木槿朝华之美状女子容色，设喻自然而鲜艳；二章改「车」为「行」，由同乘到同行，距离更近、亲昵更甚，改「华」为「英」，英即花，光华更盛。「将翱将翔」两句皆见，化静为动，写女子步履轻盈、衣袂飘举，如鸟将飞，亦暗写男子心之飞扬；「佩玉琼琚」写玉佩之形美，「佩玉将将」写玉佩之声和，视听相生，由形入声。末章尤为关键：一章以「洵美且都」收束，美指容貌，都指仪态，由貌及神；二章以「德音不忘」作结，更进一步由神入德——德音即美德令名，难忘即倾慕之深，两句完成从惊艳到倾心、从赏貌到慕德的层层升华。两章各六句分作三层，由相遇而观容、由观容而察仪、由察仪而慕德，章法整饬而情思渐深；二章换字不换句，复沓回环，正似一见倾心者反复回味初见情景，情致在重复中愈见浓郁。全诗赋（同车、佩玉）、比（颜如舜华）、兴（以佩玉兴起德音）交融，节奏明快，音节浏亮，极具郑声之靡丽灵动。
Allusions
The 'hibiscus bloom' and 'hibiscus full flower' are the hibiscus, opening at dawn and falling at dusk; the ancients used it to figure a woman's beauty that is bright yet fleeting, this poem first set the hibiscus as a metaphor for the beauty. 'Meng Jiang' is the honorific for the eldest daughter of the Jiang clan in the Spring and Autumn era ('Meng' marks birth order), later a general name for a beauty, the legend of Lady Meng Jiang grew from this term. 'Fine jade' and 'chime' use the common Book of Songs jade-pendant image: 'fine jade' appears in the Wei River's North (Qin Airs), 'chime' in Drum and Bell (Xiao Ya), jade's ringing stands for the gentleman's virtuous fame. The allusions are natural, free of piling, fitting the folk song's true color.
「舜华」「舜英」即木槿花，朝开暮落，古人以其喻女子容华之美而短暂易逝，《有女同车》首开以舜华喻美人之先河——取木槿之鲜艳夺目喻容色之美，而朝开暮落之性又暗含美好易逝的淡淡怅惘，喻体选择极妙。后世此意象绵延不绝：唐诗「槿花朝落暮还开」、白居易《放言》「槿枝无宿花」皆承木槿易谢之意，木槿遂成红颜易老的经典喻象。「孟姜」本为春秋时齐国姜姓长女之尊称，孟表排行第一，姜为齐国之姓，《左传》所载齐僖公之女文姜即称孟姜；后由齐国长女之美称泛化为美女之通称，民间「孟姜女哭长城」传说之孟姜女即由此称谓演变而来，可见其文化影响之深远。「佩玉琼琚」「佩玉将将」用《诗经》习见之玉佩意象：《秦风·渭阳》「何以赠之，琼瑰玉佩」，《小雅·鼓钟》以「淑人君子，其德不回」配玉鸣之声，古人以玉比德，佩玉之鸣象征君子之德音，故下章「德音不忘」与「佩玉将将」声气呼应——玉之声即德之音，赏其佩玉即慕其德行。全诗用典皆融化于民歌句式之中，自然无痕，无堆垛之病。
Commentary
The Mao Preface holds the 'satire on Hu' reading, that 'the people of Zheng satirize Hu for not marrying into Qi'; Zhu Xi's Poetry Commentary flatly calls it 'a poem of elopement', reflecting Song Confucian bias. Yao Jhengheng's General Discussion of the Book of Songs forcefully refutes the satire-on-Hu error, calling it plainly 'a song praising a beauty'. The modern Yu Guanying, in his Selection of the Book of Songs, takes it as 'a poem praising a girl riding in the same car', fairly hitting the mark. Meng Jiang's beauty 'truly lovely and graceful' shows that even in the pre-Qin era people valued a woman's beauty and virtue together.
此诗主旨历代聚讼。《毛诗序》主「刺忽」说，以为郑人刺太子忽不娶齐女、失大国之援，郑玄笺、孔颖达疏皆申其说；朱熹《诗集传》则断为「淫奔之诗」，反映宋儒以礼教绳诗的偏见；清代姚际恒《诗经通论》力驳刺忽之谬，直指为咏美人之作，谓「此诗只是赞美所遇之女」；方玉润《诗经原始》亦称其「美而能言，情文相生」。今人余冠英《诗经选》以为「这是赞美一同车的姑娘的诗」，高亨《诗经今注》亦主赞美说，几成定论。从文学史看，诗中「洵美且都」四字将美貌与仪态并举，「德音不忘」更由形入德，足见先秦时代已重女子容德兼美，与《关雎》之「窈窕淑女」、《硕人》之「巧笑倩兮，美目盼兮」共同构成中国文学中女性形象之早期经典。此诗艺术上开「同车共载」的相遇母题，后世「同车共载」「携手同行」之成语意象皆源于此，其以木槿喻美人、以佩玉写德音的写法，更成为后世咏美人之重要范式。
Prosody
Line by line
有女同车，颜如舜华
A girl rides in the same car; her face is like the hibiscus in bloom.
与那姑娘同乘一车，她的容颜像木槿花般鲜丽。
A girl rides in the same chariot with me, her face as bright as the rose of Sharon.
起笔两句，点明相遇之亲与惊艳之感。「有女同车」四字平实写出两人共乘一车、并肩而坐的亲密情境，同车即同游同处，距离之近、亲近之甚，不言自明，为后文的赞美提供了最自然的情境；「颜如舜华」随即以比喻写其容貌——舜华即木槿花，花开于夏，鲜艳夺目，以之比女子容颜，既见其色之鲜丽，又暗含朝开暮落、美好易逝的淡淡怅惘，喻体之择妙在似与不似之间。两句一赋一比，由叙到赞，节奏明快；「同车」之亲与「舜华」之美相映，初见即倾心之情跃然纸上。开篇即惊艳，为全诗定下欢快赞美的基调，亦为下章「有女同行」的再咏预作铺垫。
The opening two lines name the closeness of the meeting and the shock of admiration. A girl rides in the same chariot with me states, plainly, the closeness of two people riding together, side by side: same chariot is same journey, same nearness; the distance and intimacy go without saying, giving the most natural setting for the praise that follows. Her face as bright as the rose of Sharon at once compares her looks: the rose of Sharon blooms in summer, vivid and dazzling; used for the girl's face, it shows the freshness of her color while carrying a faint melancholy: the flower opens at dawn and falls at dusk, beauty fleeting. The choice of image excels in hovering between likeness and unlikeness. One line states, one compares, from narrative to praise, the rhythm bright: the closeness of the shared chariot and the beauty of the flower set each other off, and love at first sight leaps from the page. The opening is already dazzled, setting the joyous, admiring tone of the poem, and paving the way for the next stanza's a girl walking with me.
将翱将翔，佩玉琼琚
She seems about to soar like a bird; her jade pendants are of fine jade.
她步态轻盈如鸟儿翱翔，身上佩着美玉琼琚。
Lightly she soars and glides, her person adorned with fine jade pendants.
两句写女子之动态与服饰，视听相生。「将翱将翔」以鸟之飞翔喻女子步态之轻盈、衣袂之飘举，化静为动，仿佛车行之时她身姿微动，如将飞未飞，轻盈灵动之态宛然在目；同时「翱翔」亦暗写观者心之飞扬——惊艳之下，心神俱荡。下句「佩玉琼琚」转写服饰：琼琚为美玉，写所佩之玉质地上乘、华美温润，见其身份之高贵、仪容之典雅。玉在中国文化中向来比德，佩玉之美暗含德行之美，为末章「德音不忘」伏线。两句一动一静、一形一声（玉之形与玉之声在下章呼应），由步履到佩饰，把女子的动态美与静态美、外在美与内在美同时写出，笔法轻倩灵动，极具郑声之靡丽。
The two lines write the woman's movement and dress, sight and sound playing into each other. Lightly she soars and glides compares her light step and drifting sleeves to a bird on the wing, turning stillness to motion; as the chariot moves, her form stirs, as if about to fly, light and alive before the eyes; at the same time soars and glides secretly writes the beholder's soaring heart: dazzled, mind adrift. The next line turns to dress: fine jade pendants means choice jade, writing the quality and warmth of what she wears, her noble station and elegant bearing. Jade in Chinese culture has always figured virtue; the beauty of the pendants secretly foreshadows the beauty of her virtue, planting the thread of her fair fame unforgotten in the last stanza. One line motion, one line still; one form, one sound, the jade's shape and its sound echo in the next stanza; from step to adornment, the poem writes at once her moving and still beauty, her outer and inner grace, the touch light and lively, quintessentially the lush music of the Zheng airs.
彼美孟姜，洵美且都
That beauty, Meng Jiang, is truly lovely and graceful.
那位美丽的孟姜啊，实在姣好又闲雅。
That beautiful eldest Jiang: she is truly fair, and truly elegant.
一章收束于此，总赞孟姜之容仪。「彼美孟姜」以「彼」字指点称赏，似见诗人遥指同车之人，赞叹之情溢于言表；「孟姜」为齐国姜姓长女之通称，泛指美女，写其身份之尊贵、出身之不凡，非寻常小家碧玉可比。下句「洵美且都」双赞并举：「洵」为诚然、实在，加强肯定语气，见赞美之由衷；「美」写容貌之姣好，「都」写仪态之闲雅——都之本义为城邑，引申为雍容闲雅、大方得体，一字点出孟姜不徒貌美，举止风度亦自不凡。两句由外而内、由形及神，把对美人的欣赏从容貌引向气质，完成一章的赞美；而「且」字连接美与都，见先秦审美已重容德兼美，与《关雎》之「窈窕淑女」声气相通。
The first stanza closes here, summing up the bearing of the eldest Jiang. That beautiful eldest Jiang points her out with a that, as if the poet were directing his finger at the woman in the chariot, admiration overflowing. Eldest Jiang is the common name for the eldest daughter of the Qi house of Jiang, extended to mean a beautiful woman of noble birth, no ordinary girl from a humble lane. The next line praises on two fronts: truly means indeed, strengthening the affirmation, showing praise from the heart. Fair writes the beauty of her looks; elegant writes the grace of her bearing: du's root meaning is a walled city, extended to dignified, unhurried, at ease; one word marks that the eldest Jiang is not only beautiful but of exceptional manner. The two lines move from outer to inner, from form to spirit, leading admiration from looks to temperament and completing the stanza's praise; the word and joining fair and elegant shows that pre-Qin aesthetics already prized beauty of form and virtue together, in the same spirit as the gentle, graceful lady of the Osprey.
彼美孟姜，德音不忘
That beauty, Meng Jiang, her virtuous fame I shall not forget.
那位美丽的孟姜啊，她的美德令名令人难忘。
That beautiful eldest Jiang: her fair fame is one I shall not forget.
二章收束，由貌及德，完成全诗赞美的升华。「德音」一词，《诗经》中习见，如《小雅·鹿鸣》「我有嘉宾，德音孔昭」、《邶风·谷风》「德音莫违」，本指美好的声誉、德行与言辞，此处写孟姜不仅容貌美、仪态雅，更兼德行之美、令名之著——由「洵美且都」之赏其形，进而「德音不忘」之慕其德，赞美步步深入，人物形象由惊艳而立体。「不忘」二字尤见倾慕之深：同车一游，竟至终身难忘，其美之动人、其德之感人，尽在此二字之中。两句与一章「洵美且都」对照：一章赞容仪，二章赞德音；一章是初见之惊艳，二章是回思之倾慕；「车」改「行」而亲昵愈甚，「华」改「英」而光华愈盛，重章叠句至此完成由外而内、由浅入深的完整礼赞，全诗在「不忘」的余韵中戛然而止，回味悠长。
The second stanza closes, moving from looks to virtue and completing the poem's exaltation. The phrase fair fame is common in the Shijing, as in the Deer Call's I have honored guests, their fair fame shines bright and the Valor Wind's let not fair fame be violated; it originally means good name, virtuous conduct, and fitting speech. Here the eldest Jiang is not only fair of face and graceful of bearing, but excellent in virtue and renowned in name: from admiring her form in truly fair and elegant to longing after her virtue in fair fame unforgotten, the praise deepens step by step and the figure grows from a dazzled impression into a full presence. The words not forget show the depth of longing: one ride in the same chariot, and it is remembered for life; the moving power of her beauty and the compelling force of her virtue are both in those two words. Set against the first stanza's truly fair and elegant: stanza one praises bearing, stanza two praises fame; stanza one is first sight's dazzle, stanza two the recollection's longing; chariot changes to journey and the intimacy grows, flower changes to blossom and the luster deepens; the refrain completes the full ode, outer to inner, shallow to deep. The poem stops short on the lingering tone of not forget, long aftertaste.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both Zheng Feng love songs; Vines in the Wild is a chance meeting in the fields, A Girl Rides with Me a praise of the beauty's face and virtue, compare Zheng love modes.
《野有蔓草》「野有蔓草，零露漙兮。有美一人，清扬婉兮」与《有女同车》同属《郑风》，皆写男子遇见心仪女子之美。二诗情境有别：《有女同车》是同车共载、近距离相处的赞美，笔致铺陈，由貌及德，层层礼赞；《野有蔓草》是野外邂逅、一见倾心的咏叹，笔致空灵，「邂逅相遇，适我愿兮」直抒如愿以偿的欢悦，重在「适我愿」的相逢之喜。同写美人，《有女同车》以「颜如舜华」设喻、浓笔写容仪，《野有蔓草》以「清扬婉兮」白描、淡笔写眉眼；一同车而赞，一野遇而喜，情境不同而情致皆美，合观可见《郑风》恋歌写邂逅、写赞美的两种笔法。
静女 The Quiet Girl 诗经 · 同属男子赞慕女子之作，描写角度各异 Same (Airs, love song)Both Airs love songs praising a girl; Quiet Girl from the gift, A Girl Rides with Me from the meeting, compare their admiration.
《静女》「静女其姝，俟我于城隅」与《有女同车》同为《诗经》中男子赞慕女子的情歌。《静女》重在写情事：静女候于城隅、赠我彤管、馈我荑草，全诗围绕「约会—赠物—相悦」的情节展开，男子以「爱而不见，搔首踟蹰」写等待之焦灼、「匪女之为美，美人之贻」写爱屋及乌之情，以事写情，活泼俏皮；《有女同车》则重在写人物：同车、容色、步履、佩玉、德音，全诗围绕女子的形貌气质层层铺写，以赞写情，庄重明快。一写相爱之过程，一写相悦之对象；一以情节取胜，一以描绘见长，描写角度迥异而倾慕之情则一，可见《诗经》情歌写人的多种路数。
桃夭 Peach Tree Sapling 诗经 · 同属婚姻祝颂题材，一咏嫁娶之贺，一咏同车之赞 Same (Airs, woman and marriage)Both Airs centered on a woman's beauty; Peach Tree Sapling blesses her marriage, A Girl Rides with Me praises her face and virtue, compare.
《桃夭》「桃之夭夭，灼灼其华。之子于归，宜其室家」与《有女同车》皆为《诗经》中与婚恋相关的祝颂之歌，且皆以花喻美人——桃夭以桃花喻新嫁娘，有女同车以木槿喻同车之女，喻体选择不谋而合，足见先秦以花喻美人已是普遍风气。二诗之别在对象与用途：《桃夭》咏出嫁，以「灼灼其华」写新娘之艳，以「宜其室家」颂其宜家宜室之德，是婚礼上的贺歌，重在祝福；《有女同车》咏同游，以「颜如舜华」写美人之色，以「德音不忘」慕其德音之善，是相遇时的赞歌，重在倾倒。一贺嫁、一赞遇，同属婚恋祝颂题材而各有侧重，合观可见《诗经》婚恋诗的多重面向。