清 Qing · 诗 Poem
马嵬
Mawei
莫唱当年长恨歌，人间亦自有银河。
石壕村里夫妻别，泪比长生殿上多。
For the human world also has its own Milky Way.
In Stone Trench Village, a husband and wife part,
Their tears are more than those in the Palace of Eternal Life.
Meaning
The poet argues that instead of lamenting the imperial love tragedy, we should recognize that common people suffer separations as well, and their tears are even more abundant.
不要再去唱当年那曲《长恨歌》了，人间原本也有自己的银河阻隔。你看石壕村里的夫妻生离死别，他们的泪水比长生殿上的还要多。
Appreciation
A typical counter-narrative poem, contrasting the sorrow of common people with imperial love. The argument is sharp and the spirit of 'xingling' (innate sensibility) is fully displayed.
【白话串讲】 “莫唱当年长恨歌，人间亦自有银河”——袁枚说：别只顾着唱唐明皇和杨贵妃的《长恨歌》，人间的普通人，也有自己的生离死别。“石壕村里夫妻别，泪比长生殿上多”。 【意象与手法】 全诗以「翻案」为骨：首句「莫唱当年长恨歌」劈空喝断，先立议论；次句「人间亦自有银河」以银河（牛女阻隔）喻民间夫妻离散，揭出更普遍的悲剧；三四句以杜甫《石壕吏》中夫妻死别作比，断言「泪比长生殿上多」。以经典对经典，以小民反帝王，议论精警。 【情感与主旨】 袁枚《马嵬》共四首，此为其四，约作于乾隆间。诗人借马嵬为题，翻《长恨歌》之案，为无数底层百姓的生离死别发声，体现其「性灵」诗学关注真性情、重人间悲欢的取向。 【名句点睛】 常考：①「翻案」手法——如何翻转《长恨歌》传统；②「石壕村」与「长生殿」的对比意蕴。
Background
This is the fourth of Yuan Mei's 'Mawei' series, written during Emperor Qianlong's reign. Refuting Bai Juyi's 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow', Yuan Mei questions why imperial love is endlessly praised while countless common separations go unnoticed. He uses the Mawei incident to speak for the people's suffering, reflecting his 'xingling' poetics that value true emotion and human joys and sorrows.
袁枚（1716—1798），字子才，号简斋，晚年自号随园主人、仓山居士，钱塘（今浙江杭州）人，乾隆四年（1739）进士，曾任江宁等地知县，中年即辞官，于南京小仓山筑随园定居，以诗文名世，与赵翼、蒋士铨并称「乾隆三大家」，是清代中叶「性灵派」诗学的主将，论诗主「性灵」，倡「诗者，人之性情也」，反对复古模拟，重真性情、重人间烟火。其《马嵬》组诗共四首，此为其四，约作于乾隆年间。马嵬（马嵬坡，今陕西兴平市西）是唐天宝十五载（756）安史之乱中，唐玄宗被迫赐死杨贵妃之地；白居易《长恨歌》以帝妃生死之恋为题材，千古传诵，后世咏马嵬者多沿其哀婉一脉。袁枚独出手眼，反其道而行：帝王爱情被反复吟咏，而无数底层百姓的生离死别却少人问津，遂以翻案之笔为民间苦难发声。乾隆朝号为盛世，而赋税、征役之下民生实苦，此诗正以盛世中的民间眼泪，写出诗人对「盛世」的另一面洞察。唯其如此，此诗之翻案，实有深刻的社会关怀与时代针对性。
Art
The poem is structured as a counter-narrative. The first line abruptly dismisses the 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow', setting up the argument. The second line uses the 'Milky Way' (the Cowherd and Weaving Maid separated by the river) to symbolize the widespread separation of common couples. Lines three and four use Du Fu's 'Stone Trench Village' to contrast with the Palace of Eternal Life, concluding that the tears of common people are greater. By comparing classic works, the poem reverses perspective from emperor to commoner, achieving a profound shift in viewpoint.
全诗艺术上最突出的特点，是以「翻案」为骨、以对比为血肉的议论笔法，四句而层层递进、警拔有力。首句「莫唱当年长恨歌」劈空喝断，先立议论——不要再唱那曲《长恨歌》了，一句话将千古传诵的帝妃爱情叙事否定，先声夺人。次句「人间亦自有银河」翻进一层：帝王有生死之隔（长恨），民间也有自己的「银河」阻隔——以牛郎织女被银河阻隔的神话，喻民间夫妻的离散，把悲剧从宫廷拉到人间，揭出其普遍性。三四句以典证论：「石壕村里夫妻别」用杜甫《石壕吏》之典，写安史之乱中民间夫妻的生离死别（老翁逾墙走、老妇被征去）；「泪比长生殿上多」以石壕村之泪与长生殿之泪相比，断言民间之泪多于帝妃之泪。全诗以经典对经典（《长恨歌》对《石壕吏》）、以小民反帝王（石壕村对长生殿）、以多寡定轻重，四句完成一次深刻的视角反转，议论精警、语浅意深。四句之中，否定、转折、引证、作结一气呵成，章法之紧、锋芒之锐，在咏史绝句中罕有其匹。
Allusions
Three allusions are seamlessly woven: 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' refers to Bai Juyi's famous poem; 'Milky Way' uses the legend of the Cowherd and Weaving Maid separated by the river; 'Stone Trench Village' is from Du Fu's poem of the same name, and 'Palace of Eternal Life' is from the line 'On the seventh night of the seventh month in the Palace of Eternal Life'. The realistic suffering of Du Fu contrasts with the romanticized imperial love, making the counter-argument powerful.
此诗四句三处用典，皆信手化入、不着痕迹，正见袁枚「用典如水中着盐」之妙。其一，「长恨歌」指白居易名篇《长恨歌》，写唐玄宗与杨贵妃的生离死别与长恨绵绵，是帝妃爱情叙事的经典；「莫唱」二字，是对这千年传诵的叙事的正面否定。其二，「银河」用牛郎织女七夕相会的神话——传说织女与牛郎被银河阻隔，每年七夕方得一会（典出《古诗十九首·迢迢牵牛星》「河汉清且浅，相去复几许」等），此处反用其意：天上银河尚有七夕一会，人间夫妻离散却未必有重逢之期，「亦自有」三字将神话拉回人间，喻民间夫妻阻隔之苦。其三，「石壕村」用杜甫《石壕吏》之典——安史之乱中，官吏夜捉壮丁，老翁逾墙而走，老妇出门应役，夫妻生离死别，是写民间战乱之苦的千古名篇；「长生殿」用《长恨歌》「七月七日长生殿，夜半无人私语时」之典，是帝妃盟誓之地。以杜之实对白之虚，典实相映，翻案有力。
Commentary
Yuan Mei advocated 'xingling' in poetry, valuing novelty. His 'Mawei' series is known for its counter-narrative, and this poem is especially famous. It uses a small theme to reveal a big truth, bringing imperial tragedy down to earth and anticipating later sympathy for the lower classes.
此诗是袁枚翻案诗的代表作，也是清代咏史诗中独具异彩的一篇。袁枚论诗主「性灵」，贵在翻新出奇，其《马嵬》组诗向以翻案著称，此首尤脍炙人口。近人评随园翻案诗「每于人所共传处下一转语」，正谓其善于在人人都传诵的经典处别出手眼、翻出新意：世人皆唱《长恨歌》，他偏说「莫唱」；世人皆叹帝妃之泪，他偏说民间之泪更多。这种以小民反帝王、以民间苦反宫廷情的视角，在当时具有相当的进步性——它把咏史诗的目光从帝王将相转向底层百姓，启后世同情底层、关注民瘼的咏史传统之先声。就艺术而言，此绝以议论入诗而音节流转，用典精当而对比警拔，四句之中完成一次深刻的价值重估，语浅而意深、言近而旨远，是「性灵」诗学在咏史领域的成功实践，千载之下读之，仍觉其锋芒锐利、情感深挚。袁枚翻案之笔，今日观之，仍具启迪意义：咏史不必人云亦云，历史的价值正在于不断被重新审视。
Prosody
Line by line
莫唱当年长恨歌
Do not sing again the 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow' — a sharp opening that establishes the counter-narrative.
不要再唱当年那曲《长恨歌》了。
Sing no more that Song of Everlasting Sorrow of those days.
首句劈空喝断，是全诗翻案立论的第一声。「莫唱」二字是祈使、是禁令，带着不容商量的决绝——不要再唱那曲《长恨歌》了！《长恨歌》写唐玄宗与杨贵妃的生死之恋，缠绵悱恻、哀感动人，自唐代以来传诵千年，是帝妃爱情叙事的经典；诗人偏要人们「莫唱」，等于将这千古传诵的叙事当头否定。这一否定有两层深意：其一，《长恨歌》把马嵬之变写成爱情悲剧，把帝妃之泪写得感天动地，但马嵬之变中真正受苦的岂止帝妃？其二，千年来人们只唱帝妃的「长恨」，却无人过问民间更普遍、更深重的生离死别，这种偏颇正是诗人要翻的「案」。以一声断喝起笔，先立议论、先声夺人，为后文的翻案蓄足气势，是「劈空喝断」笔法的典范。
The opening cuts off with a shout from the void, the first stroke of the poem's reversal. The two words sing no more are a command, a prohibition, carrying a refusal beyond discussion — sing no more that Song of Everlasting Sorrow! The Song of Everlasting Sorrow writes the life-and-death love of Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei, lingering, plaintive, moving, recited for a thousand years since the Tang, the classic of imperial-romance narrative; the poet bids men sing it no more, in effect denying this age-honored narrative outright. The negation carries two layers of depth: first, the Song of Everlasting Sorrow turns the Mawei catastrophe into a love tragedy, writing the emperor's and consort's tears as moving heaven and earth, yet in the Mawei catastrophe who were truly made to suffer, beyond the imperial pair? Second, for a thousand years men have sung only the imperial pair's everlasting grief, while no one has asked after the far more common, far deeper partings and deaths of the people; this very partiality is the case the poet would reverse. Opening on a shout, setting the argument first and arresting the ear, storing full momentum for the reversal below, it is the model of the brush of cutting off from the void.
人间亦自有银河
The human world also has its own Milky Way — using the myth to reveal universal separation.
人间原本也有自己的银河阻隔。
The human world, after all, has its own Silver River.
次句翻进一层，将神话拉回人间，是翻案的关键一转。「银河」用牛郎织女被银河阻隔、七夕方能一会的神话，本是最浪漫的相思意象；诗人却说「人间亦自有银河」——天上有一条银河隔着牛女，人间何尝没有自己的「银河」隔着夫妻？这一转有三层意味：其一，帝妃之恨是生离死别，民间夫妻何尝不是生离死别？牛女尚有七夕一会，人间夫妻离散却可能永无重逢之期，民间的「银河」比天上的银河更难渡过。其二，「亦自有」三字平中见奇，把帝妃的悲剧拉回到人间的普遍境遇——长恨并非帝王专利，人间处处有长恨。其三，为三四句的「石壕村」张本：所谓人间银河，即石壕村里夫妻的死别。一转而境界全开，由宫廷到人间，由个别到普遍。
The second line turns one layer deeper, pulling the myth back into the human world, the key turning of the reversal. The Silver River uses the myth of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl parted by the Silver River, meeting once on the seventh eve, properly the most romantic image of longing; yet the poet says the human world, after all, has its own Silver River — above there is a Silver River parting the Cowherd and Weaver, and has not the human world its own Silver River parting husbands and wives? The turn carries three layers of meaning: first, the imperial pair's grief is a parting and a death, and are not the people's partings and deaths the same? The Cowherd and Weaver have their seventh-eve meeting, while the parted couples of the human world may never meet again; the human Silver River is harder to cross than the heavenly one. Second, the three words, after all has its own, show the strange in the plain, pulling the imperial tragedy back to the common lot of the human world — everlasting grief is no imperial monopoly; the human world has everlasting grief everywhere. Third, it prepares the way for the Shihao Village of the third and fourth lines: the so-called human Silver River is precisely the death-parting of the husband and wife of Shihao Village. One turn, and the realm opens wide: from the palace to the people, from the single case to the universal.
石壕村里夫妻别
In Stone Trench Village, a husband and wife part — an allusion to Du Fu's poem bringing real suffering.
石壕村里的夫妻生离死别。
The parting of husband and wife in the village of Shihao,
三句用杜甫《石壕吏》之典，将翻案落到实处。「石壕村」是杜甫名篇《石壕吏》所写的村庄：安史之乱中，差吏夜捉壮丁，老翁逾墙逃走，老妇出门应役，年迈的夫妻被活活拆散，杜甫以「吏呼一何怒，妇啼一何苦」写尽这幕惨剧。诗人只用「石壕村里夫妻别」七字，便把这一惨剧凝为一句——别，生离死别之别，一对老夫妻在战乱中被迫永别，这是民间最常见的悲剧，也是最无人记录的悲剧。《长恨歌》里帝妃之别，有「宛转蛾眉马前死」的戏剧性与千年的咏叹；石壕村里夫妻之别，却在史册中无迹可寻，只存在于杜甫的诗里。以「石壕村」对「长生殿」，以民间之实对宫廷之虚，典实相映，把帝妃之泪与民间之泪拉到同一架天平上称量，翻案自此落到实处。
The third line uses the allusion to Du Fu's Shihao Village Official, landing the reversal on solid ground. Shihao Village is the village of Du Fu's famous poem Shihao Village Official: in the An Lushan rebellion, the officials seized men by night, the old man climbed the wall and fled, the old woman went out for the press gang, and the aged husband and wife were torn apart alive; Du Fu wrote the catastrophe in the official's shout so angry, the woman's weeping so bitter. The poet uses but seven characters, the parting of husband and wife in the village of Shihao, and condenses the catastrophe into one line — parting, the parting of life and death, an aged couple forced to part forever in the chaos of war, the commonest tragedy of the people, and the tragedy no one records. The parting of the imperial pair in the Song of Everlasting Sorrow has the drama of the fair brows dying before the horse, and a thousand years of lament; the parting of the couple of Shihao Village leaves no trace in the histories, existing only in Du Fu's poem. Setting Shihao Village against the Long Life Hall, the reality of the people against the show of the palace, the allusions answering each other, weighing the imperial tears and the people's tears on the same scale, the reversal at last lands on solid ground.
泪比长生殿上多
Their tears are more than those in the Palace of Eternal Life — a concluding contrast that deepens the theme.
他们的泪水比长生殿上的还要多。
their tears are more than those on the Long Life Hall.
结句以对比收束，是全诗翻案的结论，警拔沉痛。「长生殿」用《长恨歌》「七月七日长生殿，夜半无人私语时」之典，是玄宗与杨妃盟誓「在天愿作比翼鸟，在地愿为连理枝」之地，也是帝妃爱情的象征；「泪比长生殿上多」——石壕村里夫妻的泪水，比长生殿上的还要多！这一断言有三重力量：其一，数量上的比较——帝妃之泪是一对情人的泪，民间之泪是千家万户的泪，孰多孰少，不言自明；其二，价值上的重估——帝妃之泪有千年咏叹，民间之泪无人问津，诗人偏要说民间的泪更多、更重；其三，一个「多」字斩钉截铁，不容辩驳，如法庭宣判，为千古被忽视的民间苦难讨一个公道。以对比作结，语浅意深，四句翻案至此完成，余响不绝。
The closing line ends in contrast, the conclusion of the poem's reversal, incisive and sorrowful. The Long Life Hall uses the allusion of the Song of Everlasting Sorrow, on the seventh day of the seventh month, in the Long Life Hall, when at midnight and none by, they whispered their vows — in heaven may we be birds flying wing to wing, on earth may we be branches joined on the ground, the symbol of the imperial love. Their tears are more than those on the Long Life Hall: the tears of the couple of Shihao Village are more than those on the Long Life Hall! The assertion carries a triple force: first, the comparison of quantity — the imperial pair's tears are the tears of one lover, the people's tears the tears of ten thousand homes, which is more needs not saying. Second, the revaluation of worth — the imperial tears have a thousand years of lament, the people's tears no one asks after; the poet insists the people's tears are more, are heavier. Third, the single word more is decisive, beyond rebuttal, like a court verdict, winning justice for the grief of the people neglected through the ages. Ending in contrast, the words plain and the meaning deep, the four lines of reversal complete here, the aftertone unending.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both poems comment on the Mawei incident. Li Shangyin's is subtle and ironic, while Yuan Mei's directly counters and pities the people, providing a comparison of historical perspectives.
李商隐《马嵬·其二》与袁枚《马嵬》其四同咏马嵬之变，是唐代与清代咏马嵬诗的两座高峰，而笔法判然有别。李商隐诗「此日六军同驻马，当时七夕笑牵牛」，以六军不发与七夕盟誓对照，讽刺玄宗「如何四纪为天子，不及卢家有莫愁」——以帝王之尊竟保不住一个妃子，委婉讥刺，用典精工、含蓄深沉，是晚唐咏史的典型笔法；袁枚诗「泪比长生殿上多」，劈空喝断、以民反帝，议论直白、锋芒锐利，是清代性灵派翻案咏史的典型笔法。一委婉一直露，一讥帝王之无能一悯民间之疾苦；同咏一题而角度迥异，恰见咏史诗「借题发挥」的无限可能，也见唐诗重含蓄、清诗重议论的时代差异。
长恨歌 Song of Everlasting Sorrow 白居易 · 被翻案对象（异题对话） Different (object of counter-narrative)Yuan Mei's poem directly dialogues with Bai Juyi's work. Compare the imperial love narrative versus concern for common people.
袁枚此诗直接以白居易《长恨歌》为翻案对象，是咏史诗中罕见的「异题对话」之作。《长恨歌》写玄宗与杨妃「在天愿作比翼鸟，在地愿为连理枝」的生死之恋，缠绵哀婉、千古传诵，其立场是同情帝妃、咏叹长恨；袁枚「莫唱当年长恨歌」一句，将这一经典叙事当头否定，转而指出「人间亦自有银河」「泪比长生殿上多」——以民间夫妻的生离死别，对抗帝妃的生死之恋，以万民之泪，对抗一己之长恨。二诗并读，恰成一组绝妙的对照文本：《长恨歌》把马嵬之变写成爱情悲剧，《马嵬》其四把马嵬之变还原为历史现场，追问谁的眼泪更值得一哭；一为帝妃立传，一为小民代言，立场的反转正是翻案诗的生命所在，也可见中国咏史诗从「咏宫廷」到「悯民间」的演进轨迹。