清 Qing · 诗 Poem
养马行
The Horse-Raising Song
贤王爱马真殊相，足迹而宫室养。
豆刍万钟铁堤防，那知渥洼种本无羁鞅。
南苑一马如尤骏，天闲十二相颉颃。
锦障绣鞯生辉光，圉人太仆朝夕忙。
君不见道旁饿殍相枕藉，厩中马肥人瘠僵。
Beans and fodder by the myriad measure, iron fences to guard — yet who knows the Wowa breed was never meant for bridle and rein.
In the southern park one horse is especially fine, vying with the twelve of the Heavenly Stable.
Brocade screens and embroidered saddles shed their light; the grooms and grand equerries busy at dawn and dusk.
Do you not see the starving by the road, pillow on pillow; in the stable the horses are fat, the men wasted and stiff?
Meaning
The worthy prince's love of horses is truly out of the ordinary; wherever his footstep falls, he keeps them in palaces. Beans and fodder amount to myriad measures, guarded by iron fences — yet who knows the Wowa breed was never meant for bridle and rein. In the southern park one horse is especially fine, vying with the twelve of the Heavenly Stable. Brocade screens and embroidered saddles shed light; grooms and equerries busy at dawn and dusk. Do you not see the starving by the road, pillow on pillow; in the stable the horses are fat while the men are wasted and stiff?
贤王爱马真是不同寻常，连足迹所至都以宫室供养。豆料干草多达万钟、以铁栏设防，哪知这渥洼神马本是不受羁绊的。南苑中有一匹马尤其骏异，与天闲十二马相互争雄。锦帐绣鞍生辉，圉人太仆朝夕喂养忙碌。你不见道旁饿殍相枕而卧，马厩中马却肥壮、人却枯瘠僵倒。
Appreciation
Liang Peilan, a native of Nanhai in Guangdong, famed in youth, placed first in the 1657 provincial exam and was made a Hanlin bachelor in the Kangxi era, soon returning home. His poetry moves between Tang and Song; with Qu Dajun and Chen Gongyin he is named among the 'Three Masters of Lingnan.' 'The Horse-Raising Song' was likely written in the early Qing, around the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, when war raged, the people scattered, and yet the powerful still indulged in horses and dogs. The poet takes 'the worthy prince raising horses' as his entry, exaggerating its luxury and closing on the people's starving as contrast — satire within narrative — a powerful early-Qing satiric poem, also showing the Lingnan school's care for the people's hardship.
【白话串讲】 梁佩兰写讽刺诗：王府里养马，“豆刍万钟铁堤防”——豆料成山，铁栏防护。可“君不见道旁饿殍相枕藉，厩中马肥人瘠僵”——路边饿死的人一个叠一个，马圈里的马肥，人却瘦得僵了。 【意象与手法】 诗分两层。前六句铺陈贤王之「爱马」：以「殊相」总评，继写「宫室养」「豆刍万钟」「铁堤防」之奢，再写南苑骏马「相颉颃」、锦障绣鞯之华，层层加染；末二句陡转，「君不见」提唱，以「道旁饿殍相枕藉」对「厩中马肥人瘠僵」，以马之肥反衬人之瘠，以权贵之娱对照黔首之死，对比强烈，似叙事而实则锋芒内敛，「不骂而骂」，讽意自见。 【情感与主旨】 梁佩兰，广东南海人，少负才名，顺治十四年乡试第一，康熙间授翰林院庶吉士，未几归里。其诗出入唐宋，与屈大均、陈恭尹并称「岭南三大家」。《养马行》约作于清初，时三藩之乱前后，兵燹频仍，百姓流离，而权贵仍极声色狗马之娱。 【名句点睛】 考点一：对比手法——以「马肥」与「人瘠」、权贵奢靡与民间饿殍的强烈反差突出主题；考点二：「渥洼」「天闲」典故的运用；考点三：「不骂而骂」的讽喻艺术。
Background
Liang Peilan, a native of Nanhai in Guangdong, famed in youth, placed first in the 1657 provincial exam and was made a Hanlin bachelor in the Kangxi era, soon returning home. His poetry moves between Tang and Song; with Qu Dajun and Chen Gongyin he is named among the 'Three Masters of Lingnan.' 'The Horse-Raising Song' was likely written in the early Qing, around the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, when war raged, the people scattered, and yet the powerful still indulged in horses and dogs. The poet takes 'the worthy prince raising horses' as his entry, exaggerating its luxury and closing on the people's starving as contrast — satire within narrative — a powerful early-Qing satiric poem, also showing the Lingnan school's care for the people's hardship.
梁佩兰（1629—1705），字芝五，号药亭，广东南海（今广州）人，清初诗人，少负才名，顺治十四年（1657）乡试第一，然屡试不第，康熙二十七年（1688）方中进士，授翰林院庶吉士，未几告归，晚年主岭南诗坛，与屈大均、陈恭尹并称「岭南三大家」。其诗出入唐宋，各体兼擅，尤长于古体。《养马行》约作于清初康熙年间，时当三藩之乱（1673—1681）前后：连年兵燹，百姓流离失所，饿殍遍野，而权贵王侯仍极声色狗马之娱，大修马厩、重金养马，视民命如草芥。诗人以「贤王养马」为切入口，先极写其养马之奢——宫室以养、豆刍万钟、铁栏设防、锦障绣鞯，圉人太仆朝夕伺候；末以「道旁饿殍相枕藉，厩中马肥人瘠僵」的强烈对比收束，以马之肥反衬人之瘠，以权贵之娱对照黔首之死，寓刺于叙，锋芒内敛。此诗是清初讽喻诗中的有力之作，继承杜甫「朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨」的写实传统，亦见岭南诗派关心民瘼、直面现实的精神。
Art
The poem works in two layers. The first six lines spread the 'worthy prince's love of horses': 'a strange sight' gives the verdict, then 'kept in palaces,' 'beans and fodder by the myriad measure,' 'iron fences' write the luxury; then the southern-park fine horse 'vying' and the brocade screens' light pile layer on layer. The last two lines turn sharply: 'do you not see' leads in, setting 'the starving by the road, pillow on pillow' against 'in the stable the horses are fat, the men wasted and stiff' — the fat horse sets off the wasted man, the powerful's pleasure against the commoner's death. The contrast is fierce; it seems narrative yet its edge is held within — the so-called 'not scolding yet scolding' — the satire shows itself.
此诗艺术上最突出的特点是「欲抑先扬、层层加染」与「不骂而骂」的对比笔法。诗分两层：前六句铺陈贤王之「爱马」，层层加染其奢——「贤王爱马真殊相」以「殊相」（不同寻常之态）总评，暗含讥讽：爱马爱到「殊相」，已悖常情；「足迹而宫室养」写马之所至皆以宫室供养，一奢；「豆刍万钟铁堤防」写豆料草料数以万钟、以铁栏设防，二奢；「南苑一马如尤骏，天闲十二相颉颃」写骏马与天闲十二马争雄，三奢；「锦障绣鞯生辉光，圉人太仆朝夕忙」写锦帐绣鞍、专人伺候，四奢——五句写尽养马之奢，愈写愈奢，为末段之刺蓄足势。末二句陡转：「君不见道旁饿殍相枕藉，厩中马肥人瘠僵」——「君不见」提唱，以道旁饿殍对厩中肥马，以马之肥对人之瘠，一字一血，对比强烈。全诗似叙事而实则锋芒内敛，无一字骂而讽意自见，正是「不骂而骂」的讽喻艺术。再就「铺叙」与「陡转」的节奏言，前六句如慢板铺陈，一句一景、层层加码，读者渐入「养马之盛」的叙述流；末二句忽以「君不见」三字提唱，如乐之骤变宫商，从「锦障绣鞯」的华彩直落「饿殍相枕」的血色，节奏由缓入急、由丽入惨，落差之大令人猝不及防——这种「大起大落」的章法，正是乐府讽喻诗「欲抑先扬」的经典结构，其冲击力远胜平铺直叙的批判。
Allusions
'Wowa breed' uses the Han Shu's 'Emperor Wu's Annals': in 113 BCE a divine horse was found in the Wowa waters of Nanyang, and Emperor Wu made his 'Heavenly Horse Song,' so later 'Wowa' stands for a divine steed. The line 'yet who knows the Wowa breed was never meant for bridle and rein' says the divine horse is free by nature, darkly mocking the prince's absurd confinement of it in palaces and iron fences. 'Heavenly Stable' was the Song imperial horse-yard name (the 'twelve of the Heavenly Stable' means the royal herd); here it broadly means the royal stable. The two allusions — one the horse's spirit, one the system of horse-keeping — both prepare the final 'horses fat, men wasted' sting; apt and natural.
此诗用典切题而自然，皆服务于「马肥人瘠」之刺。「渥洼种」用《汉书·武帝纪》典故：元鼎四年（前113），南阳新野人暴利长得神马于渥洼水中，献之武帝，武帝作《天马歌》，后世遂以「渥洼」代指神骏之马。诗中「那知渥洼种本无羁鞅」言神马本性自由，不受羁绊——暗讽人强以宫室、铁栏羁縻之，悖其天性；更暗含讽喻：神马本可驰骋疆场，如今却养于宫室，正如贤才被困于牢笼。「天闲」本宋代御马监之名（「天闲十二」指皇家御马十二闲，语出《周礼》「天子十有二闲」），此处泛指皇家马厩，写南苑骏马与皇家马群争雄，见其养马之规格直追天子。「圉人」「太仆」皆掌马之官——《周礼》有圉人掌养马刍牧，太仆掌舆马，写专人伺候之繁。二典一写马之灵骏、一写养马之制，皆为末段「马肥人瘠」之刺铺垫，用典切题而自然。又，「锦障绣鞯」暗用王济「锦障五十里」之典——《晋书》载王济性豪侈，以锦为步障五十里，写权贵之奢；「铁堤防」写养马设防之严，暗含「千金买骨」之反讽——古之买骨为求骏马，今之养马为纵奢靡，贤王之名与奢靡之实相悖，正见「贤」字之虚。诸典互文，共同勾勒出一个「以奢为贤」的畸形世相，批判之意藏于典故的缝隙之间，读之愈深，味之愈辣。
Commentary
Liang Peilan, with Qu Dajun and Chen Gongyin, is named among the 'Three Masters of Lingnan'; Shen Deqian's 'Qing Shi Bie Cai' gathered much of his poetry, saying 'Yaoting's poetry, within its boldness, keeps a deep grace.' 'The Horse-Raising Song' is famed for its satire; the Qing Pan Lai, in his preface to Liang's collected works, said 'care for the people's hardship often takes shape in his songs.' The modern Qian Zhonglian, in his 'Qing Poetry Essence,' holds this poem 'with the four words horses fat, men wasted, equals a whole Snake-Catcher's Tale.' Critics say it inherits Du Fu's 'behind the vermilion gates meat and wine go rotten' line of realistic spirit — a fine early-Qing satiric construct.
历代评家于此诗评价颇高，尤重其讽喻之深刻。梁佩兰与屈大均、陈恭尹并称「岭南三大家」，沈德潜《清诗别裁集》多采其诗，谓「药亭诗雄迈之中自饶深秀」，正见此诗：写养马之奢则雄迈铺张，揭民瘼之痛则深秀沉痛。清人潘耒序其集，称其「关心民瘼，往往形于歌咏」，《养马行》即其明证。近人钱仲联《清诗精华录》以为此诗「以马肥人瘠四字，抵得一篇《捕蛇者说》」——柳宗元《捕蛇者说》以毒蛇写赋敛之毒，此诗以肥马写权贵之奢、民生之艰，皆以一事写一时代之病，故有此比。论者谓其继承杜甫「朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨」一路的写实精神，而更见清初社会矛盾之尖锐。在清初诗坛，此诗与张维屏《三元里》等岭南讽喻诗一脉相承，是清初讽喻诗之佳构，也是研究清代社会史、民生史的重要文本。从清初诗坛看，此诗与吴嘉纪《卖书祀母》、郑燮《逃荒行》等同为写民生疾苦之作，而梁佩兰以「养马」这一刁钻角度切入，别开生面；其「马肥人瘠」四字，更成为后世论清初社会矛盾时反复引用的经典概括。在岭南诗派内部，此诗与屈大均《菜人哀》、陈恭尹《读秦纪》并观，可见岭南三家「关心民瘼、直面现实」的共通底色，而梁诗尤以「巧思刺世」见长，是清初讽喻诗中构思最精、力度最猛的篇章之一。
Prosody
Line by line
贤王爱马真殊相，足迹而宫室养。
The worthy prince loves horses with a truly strange obsession; wherever the hoof has trod, he rears them in palaces.
贤王爱马真是不同寻常，连足迹所至都以宫室供养。
The worthy prince's love of horses is truly extraordinary; wherever the horses' hooves step, they are housed and supported as in palaces.
起笔点题，以「殊相」二字定下全诗基调，暗含讥讽。「贤王爱马真殊相」：贤王爱马，真是不同寻常——「贤王」为尊称，实含反讽：「贤」王而爱马至于此极，则「贤」字可疑；「殊相」即异于常情之态，暗含讥讽，定调王侯爱马之悖常。「足迹而宫室养」：连马足迹所至之处，都以宫室供养——「足迹」写马之行动，「宫室养」写供养之规格，马之所至即宫室以待，其奢可知。两句一评一证：「殊相」是总评，「宫室养」是实证，开门见山，把「养马之奢」的矛盾推到读者面前，为后文层层加染铺路，亦为末段「马肥人瘠」之刺埋下伏笔。起笔即见讽喻之机锋，含蓄而有力。
The opening strikes the theme, fixing the tone of the whole with the two words strange obsession, carrying hidden satire. The worthy prince loves horses with a truly strange obsession: the worthy prince loving horses, truly extraordinary — the worthy prince is an honorific, in fact ironic: a worthy prince loving horses to this extreme makes the word worthy suspect; strange obsession means the manner beyond the ordinary, carrying the satire, fixing the perversity of the prince's horse-love. Wherever the hoof has trod, he rears them in palaces: wherever the horses' hooves have passed, palaces are built to sustain them — hoof prints writes the horse's movement, rears them in palaces the measure of the sustenance; where the horse goes, palaces await, and the luxury may be imagined. Two lines, one judgment, one proof: strange obsession is the general verdict, reared in palaces the concrete evidence; opening straight to the point, pushing the contradiction of the luxury of horse-keeping before the reader, paving for the layer upon layer of dyeing below, and planting the foreshadowing of the closing's fat horse and lean man. The opening at once shows the edge of allegory, restrained and forceful.
豆刍万钟铁堤防，那知渥洼种本无羁鞅。
Fodder by the ten thousand measures, fenced with iron barriers; who knew the Wowa breed has never known the rein?
豆料干草多达万钟、以铁栏设防，哪知这渥洼神马本是不受羁绊的。
Beans and fodder by the ten thousand measures, fenced with iron barriers; who would have thought the Wowa steed has never known bit or bridle?
两句写养马之奢与神马之性，讽刺更深一层。「豆刍万钟铁堤防」：豆料草料数以万钟，又设铁栏以防——「万钟」写饲料之多（钟为古量器），「铁堤防」写防范之严，养马如养珍宝，其奢靡可见；「那知渥洼种本无羁鞅」：哪知这渥洼神马，本性本不受羁绊——「渥洼种」用汉武帝得神马于渥洼水之典，写马之灵骏；「本无羁鞅」写神马本性自由，不受缰绳辔头（羁鞅）束缚。两句一写人强以万钟铁栏养之，一写马本不受羁縻，以人之枉费心机反衬马之自在天性，暗讽强以宫室铁栏困神马之悖；而神马本可驰骋疆场，今养于厩中，正如贤才被困，讽刺之意更深一层。
The two lines write the luxury of horse-keeping and the nature of the divine steed, the satire one layer deeper. Fodder by the ten thousand measures, fenced with iron barriers: bean and grass fodder counted by the ten thousand measures, and iron railings set to guard — ten thousand measures writes the abundance of feed (the zhong an ancient measure), iron barriers the strictness of the guard; the horse kept like a treasure, the luxury visible. Who knew the Wowa breed has never known the rein: who knew the divine steed of Wowa is by nature untrammeled — the Wowa breed uses the allusion of Emperor Wu's divine horse from the Wowa waters, writing the horse's spirit; never known the rein writes the divine steed's free nature, unbound by reins and bridles. Two lines: one of man forcing the ten-thousand-measure iron-rail keeping, one of the horse's native untrammeledness; man's vain scheming set against the horse's free nature, secretly satirizing the perversity of confining a divine steed in palaces and iron rails; and the divine steed that might have galloped the battlefields, now kept in the stable, is precisely the talented man trapped, the satire one layer deeper.
南苑一马如尤骏，天闲十二相颉颃。
In the Southern Park one horse is especially fine, matching the twelve heavenly studs in prowess.
南苑中有一匹马尤其骏异，与天闲十二马相互争雄。
In the Southern Park, one horse is matchlessly spirited, vying with the twelve imperial studs.
两句写骏马之骏与养马规格之高，是「层层加染」的又一笔。「南苑一马如尤骏」：南苑中有一匹马，尤其骏异——「南苑」为皇家苑囿，点出养马之所，「尤骏」写此马之出众，于万马之中尤见其骏；「天闲十二相颉颃」：与天闲十二马相互争雄——「天闲」本宋代御马监之名，代指皇家马厩，「十二」语出《周礼》「天子十有二闲」，写皇家马群之制，「相颉颃」写此马与天闲十二马不相上下、并驾齐驱。两句一写此马之骏、一写其地位之高——一匹侯王之马，竟与天子之马争雄，其养马规格之越礼、之奢靡，不言自明。此联承上启下，把「养马之奢」推向顶点，为末段「饿殍相枕」的陡转蓄足势。
The two lines write the spirit of the fine horse and the high measure of the keeping, another stroke of layer upon layer of dyeing. In the Southern Park one horse is especially fine: one horse in the Southern Park, matchlessly spirited — the Southern Park marks the imperial hunting ground, the place of the keeping; especially fine writes this horse's outstanding spirit, its excellence seen among ten thousand horses. Matching the twelve heavenly studs in prowess: vying with the twelve heavenly studs — the heavenly studs properly the Song imperial stables, metonym for the imperial stables; the twelve from the Rites of Zhou, the Son of Heaven's twelve studs, writing the imperial herd; vying with writes this horse, not inferior to the twelve heavenly studs, abreast with them. Two lines: one of this horse's spirit, one of its high standing — a prince's horse actually vying with the Son of Heaven's horses, and the violation and luxury of the keeping measure are self-evident. The couplet carries above and leads below, pushing the luxury of horse-keeping to its peak, storing full force for the closing's sudden turn of the starved dead piled.
君不见道旁饿殍相枕藉，厩中马肥人瘠僵。
Do you not see, by the road, the starved dead lying piled; in the stable, the horses fat, the men lean and stiff?
你不见道旁饿殍相枕而卧，马厩中马却肥壮、人却枯瘠僵倒。
Do you not see, by the roadside, the starved dead lying one upon another? In the stable the horses are fat, while men lie gaunt and stiff.
末二句是全诗的点睛之笔，陡转对比，一针见血。「君不见」提唱，如当头棒喝，把读者的视线从马厩引向道旁：「道旁饿殍相枕藉」——道路两旁，饿死的人一个枕着一个，写尽饥民惨状；「厩中马肥人瘠僵」——马厩之中，马肥壮而人枯瘠僵倒——「马肥」对「人瘠」、「厩中」对「道旁」，肥与瘠、畜与人对举，一字一血。两句以马之肥反衬人之瘠，以权贵之娱对照黔首之死，把养马之奢与民生之艰的矛盾推向顶点：一边是豆刍万钟养马，一边是饿殍相枕殍人，社会之不公、权贵之冷酷，尽在其中。此联似叙事而实则锋芒内敛，「不骂而骂」，讽意尖锐而深刻，是全诗批判力最集中的爆发。
The last two lines are the pointed eye of the poem, a sudden turn and contrast, sharp as a needle. Do you not see raises the voice, like a blow on the head, turning the reader's eye from the stable to the roadside: by the road, the starved dead lying piled writes both sides of the highway, the starved dead lying one on another, the plight of the famine people exhausted. In the stable, the horses fat, the men lean and stiff writes the stable within, the horses fat while men are gaunt and stiff — fat horse set against lean man, within the stable against by the road, fat against lean, beast against man, each character a drop of blood. Two lines set the horse's fat against the man's leanness, the powerful man's pleasure against the common people's death, pushing the contradiction of the luxury of horse-keeping and the hardship of the people to the peak: on one side the ten-thousand-measure fodder for the horses, on the other the starved dead piled by the road; the injustice of society and the coldness of the powerful are all within. The couplet seems narrative, yet the edge is inward — cursing without cursing, the satire sharp and deep, the concentrated eruption of the poem's critical force.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both Qing poems care for the folk's hardship with a realist critical spirit; compare the realist technique.
张维屏《三元里》写鸦片战争时三元里人民抗英斗争，与此诗同属清诗关心民间疾苦、具现实批判精神之作，且同出岭南诗派，而题材与笔法有别：《养马行》写权贵养马之奢与饿殍之惨，以「马肥人瘠」的对比讽刺统治者，是「刺上」之作，锋芒内敛；《三元里》写民众抗英之壮与官府卖国之丑，以「三元里前声若雷」的昂扬笔调写人民力量，是「扬民」之作，激情外放。一刺权贵之奢、一扬民众之勇，一敛一放，合观可见岭南诗派关心现实的两副笔墨，亦可比较清初与晚清讽喻诗的不同面貌。
圆圆曲 The Yuan Yuan Ballad 吴伟业 · 同，同属清代讽喻长篇，同写社会乱象 Same (both Qing satiric long narratives writing social disorder)Both narrate to imply satire; compare the Qing satiric line.
吴伟业《圆圆曲》「恸哭六军俱缟素，冲冠一怒为红颜」写吴三桂引清兵入关、陈圆圆事，与此诗同属清代讽喻诗，同以叙事寓讽，而取材与笔法有别：《圆圆曲》以一代兴亡为背景，写个人情事与历史风云的交织，辞采秾丽、感慨苍凉，是「梅村体」的叙事长诗；《养马行》以养马一事为切口，写权贵奢靡与民生凋敝的对照，语言质直、讽刺尖锐，是乐府体的讽喻短制。一以长诗写历史兴亡、一以短章刺社会不公，合观可见清代讽喻诗的两种范式，亦可比较吴伟业之蕴藉与梁佩兰之直切的不同风格。