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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

馆娃宫怀古

Musing on the Past at the Guanwa Palace

皮日休

Pi Rixiu

响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身。
不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦。

In the echoing-sandal gallery, those steps that rang like gold and jade;
on the herb-gathering hill, that body clothed in silk and gauze.
No one knows now where her burial by the waters lies —
over the stream the curved moon would copy her frown.
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Meaning

Pi Rixiu stands among the ruins of King Fu Chai's Wu palace, where the legendary beauty Xi Shi once walked the echoing gallery and climbed the hill. Wherever her water-burial took her, no one knows. The closing image — the crescent moon over the stream seeming to imitate her famous frown — dissolves the boundary between past and present, landscape and woman, leaving the poet alone with the vast silence of history.

响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身。不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poet recalls the vanished splendor of Xi Shi: her jeweled steps ringing in the gallery, her silk-clad figure on the hill. Then he asks where her water-burial lies — no one knows — and ends with the stream's curved moon imitating her frown. [Structure] The poem moves from sensory opulence (the sound of steps, the sight of silk) to oblivion (an unknown grave), and finally to a personified natural image; the past is evoked only to be swallowed by the present scene. [Imagery] The crescent moon, curved like her knitted brows, is the poem's masterstroke: nature itself seems to remember the dead beauty, and the ruin becomes a theater where history keeps replaying a single gesture.

【白话串讲】 皮日休写《馆娃宫怀古》：“响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身”——“不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦”——他怀古馆娃宫——溪月弯弯欲效颦。 【意象与手法】 “响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身”写西施之盛；“不知水葬今何处”写西施不知所终；结以“溪月弯弯欲效颦”以溪月效颦写西施之影。苍茫咏史。 【情感与主旨】 皮日休写馆娃宫怀古之作，写西施昔日之盛与今不知所终，以“溪月弯弯欲效颦”写景物依旧而人已渺的感慨，是咏史诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身”写西施之盛；“不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦”以溪月效颦写怀古。

Background

Pi Rixiu (c. 838–c. 883) was a late Tang poet from Xiangyang in Jingling, famous for his satirical prose and, with his friend Lu Guimeng, for the 'Pi-Lu' style of verse. The Guanwa Palace ('Palace of the Pretty Maid') was built by Fu Chai, king of Wu, for the beauty Xi Shi, on the western side of Wu county near present-day Suzhou; its 'echoing-sandal gallery' was laid over resonating jars so that her wooden clogs rang like music, and the herb-gathering hill lay in its grounds. Legend says that after the fall of Wu, Xi Shi was drowned in a lake or carried off to sea. Late Tang poets, facing their own dynasty's collapse, were drawn to such ruined palaces of conquered states.

《馆娃宫怀古》为唐代诗人皮日休所作诗。皮日休（约838—约883），字袭美，襄阳竟陵人，唐代诗人。此诗写怀古咏史，为咏馆娃宫之作。诗中「响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身」写响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身；「不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦」写不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦。皮日休此诗以怀古咏史、溪月弯弯欲效颦写其咏史之情，苍茫咏史，是皮日休诗中的名篇。此篇《馆娃宫怀古》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《馆娃宫怀古》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《馆娃宫怀古》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's art is compression and the collapse of time. The first couplet reconstructs splendor purely through sound and color — the ringing steps of gold and jade, the silk-wrapped body on the hill — so that the reader sees Xi Shi without ever being told her name. The second couplet then erases her: 'who knows now where her water-burial lies'. The final image of the crescent moon imitating her frown turns loss into a ghostly continuity, since the one gesture everyone imitated in life is now imitated by the landscape. Twenty-eight characters span the height of her glory, the uncertainty of her death, and the poet's present gaze.

此诗艺术上以「苍茫咏史、以月写情」见长。全诗共四句两联，由响屧廊中金玉步而不知水葬今何处。起「响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身」写响屧廊中金玉步：响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身；结「不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦」写不知水葬今何处：不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦。全诗以月写情，由响屧廊中金玉步而溪月弯弯欲效颦，苍茫咏史，是皮日休诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

The 'echoing-sandal gallery' was the corridor Fu Chai had built over rows of jars so that Xi Shi's wooden sandals rang like music as she walked. The 'herb-gathering hill' stood within the palace grounds where the beauties picked plants. 'Water burial' refers to the tradition that Xi Shi was drowned after Wu's defeat — some say in a lake, some say carried away by sea. 'To imitate the frown' inverts the old tale in which the ugly Dongshi copied Xi Shi's frown and made herself ridiculous; here the imitator is the crescent moon itself, as if nature alone still knows the standard of that beauty.

诗中「响屧廊中金玉步采苹山上绮罗身」「不知水葬今何处溪月弯弯欲效颦」等语，皆含典故故实。「响屧廊中金玉步采苹山上绮罗身」用响屧廊、采苹山之典（响屧廊写吴宫廊道，采苹山写馆娃宫所在），写响屧廊中金玉步采苹山上绮罗身；「不知水葬今何处溪月弯弯欲效颦」用效颦之典（效颦写东施效颦），写不知水葬今何处溪月弯弯欲效颦。诗人用响屧廊、效颦之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把怀古咏史之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

This quatrain is among the finest late Tang poems on Xi Shi and a fixture of anthologies and textbooks. Critics single out its closing line — the curved stream-moon imitating the frown — as a model of personification that turns a historical site into living presence. It is often placed beside Du Mu's and Li Shangyin's historical quatrains as an example of the late Tang taste for desolate, image-laden reflection on fallen glory.

这首《馆娃宫怀古》，是皮日休写怀古咏史之作，写响屧廊中金玉步、不知水葬今何处、溪月弯弯欲效颦之情，苍茫咏史。起「响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身」——响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身。写响屧廊中金玉步：响屧廊中金玉步、采苹山上绮罗身——金玉步、绮罗身；结「不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦」——不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦。写不知水葬今何处：不知水葬今何处、溪月弯弯欲效颦——今何处、欲效颦。这「不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦」，是全诗之结：以溪月弯弯欲效颦写其咏史。全诗苍茫咏史，以月写情，正是皮日休诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form A seven-syllable quatrain (qijue)诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme The poem rhymes on shen (身) and pin (颦), both of the level-tone zhen (真) rhyme group; the even, level-tone rhyme adds to the elegiac hush of the piece.此诗为七言绝句，共四句两联。押韵：「身」「颦」押真部韵。前两句起、后两句转合，平仄相间，正与写怀古咏史的苍茫咏史相称，也见其以七绝写咏史的凝练。
Tone pattern The first couplet is lush and slow, weighted with golden, silken images; the second quickens into a bare question — 'who knows where' — and settles on the long, curving image of the moon; the level rhymes keep the pace serene rather than dramatic.句式上，「响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身」写响屧廊中金玉步，音节苍茫；结「不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦」写不知水葬今何处，音节悠长。全诗音节随情起伏，由苍茫而悠长，正合七绝「凝练」之妙，读来如怀古咏史、溪月弯弯欲效颦之音，苍茫而动人。
Reading note The quatrain is an exercise in compression: twenty-eight characters span the height of Xi Shi's glory, the uncertainty of her death, and the poet's present gaze. Its calm, level-tone rhyme pattern suits the poem's tone of vast, unhurried lament rather than outburst.此诗为七言绝句，是皮日休写怀古咏史之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「苍茫咏史、以月写情」：「响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身」写响屧廊中金玉步、「不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦」写不知水葬今何处。全诗苍茫咏史，以月写情。尤为精妙者，是「响屧廊中金玉步」用响屧廊之典；而「溪月弯弯欲效颦」用效颦之典，正是皮日休诗「苍茫咏史」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《馆娃宫怀古》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身。

In the echoing-sandal gallery, those steps that rang like gold and jade;
on the herb-gathering hill, that body clothed in silk and gauze.

响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身。

In the Scattering-Silk Corridor steps moved like jade and gold; on Caoping Mountain was a body in silk and brocade.

起句写响屧廊中金玉步，起笔即见其响屧廊。「响屧廊中金玉步」用响屧廊之典写响屧廊中金玉步，「响屧廊中」写响屧廊中、「金玉步」写金玉步；「采苹山上绮罗身」用采苹山之典写采苹山上绮罗身，「采苹山上」写采苹山上、「绮罗身」写绮罗身。一句写响屧廊中金玉步采苹山上绮罗身，以响屧廊中金玉步写金玉步、以采苹山上绮罗身写绮罗身，写尽响屧廊中金玉步、采苹山上绮罗身之情。以廊起兴，苍茫而咏史，是「以廊起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line evokes the Scattering-Silk Corridor and Caoping Mountain, where Xi Shi once walked, figures of the splendor of the palace of Wu; rising through the corridor, it is a desolate meditation on history.

不知水葬今何处，

No one knows now where her burial by the waters lies —

不知水葬今何处，

Who knows where her water-burial lies today?

此句写不知水葬今何处，是全诗写水葬之态的关键。「不知水葬」写不知水葬，「不知」写不知、「水葬」写水葬；「今何处」写今何处，「今」写今、「何处」写何处。一句写不知水葬今何处，以不知水葬写水葬、以今何处写今何处，写尽不知水葬今何处之情。以葬写情，苍茫而咏史，是「以葬写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

This line asks where the water-burial of Xi Shi lies today, the key turn in the elegy; writing burial, it carries the pathos of vanished glory.

溪月弯弯欲效颦。

over the stream the curved moon would copy her frown.

溪月弯弯欲效颦。

The crescent moon over the stream seems to mimic her frown.

结句写溪月弯弯欲效颦，是全诗立意的落点。「溪月弯弯」写溪月弯弯，「溪月」写溪月、「弯弯」写弯弯；「欲效颦」用效颦之典写欲效颦，「欲」写欲、「效颦」写效颦。一句写溪月弯弯欲效颦，以溪月弯弯写弯弯、以欲效颦写效颦，写尽溪月弯弯欲效颦之情。以颦写情，苍茫而咏史，是全诗最动人处，也是「以颦写情」的点睛之笔。

The closing line has the crescent moon over the stream seeming to 'mimic her frown', adapting the story of Xi Shi's heartache frown that others copied; ending on that frown, it is the poem's most moving point — the beauty gone, yet the moon still mimics her.

Study

Word focus

响屧 The 'echoing sandals': the gallery in the Wu palace laid over resonating jars so that Xi Shi's footfalls rang like music. The word recalls vanished splendor through sound. 「响屧」写响屧廊中金玉步，是写响屧之态的关键。「响屧廊中金玉步」着一「响屧」，写响屧——着一「响屧」，写响屧廊中金玉步，见其屧之响。两字写尽响屧之态，是「以词写屧」的妙笔。「响屧」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
金玉 Gold and jade: the luxury of Xi Shi's presence, her steps as precious as jewels. The word measures her past glory and, by contrast, the emptiness of today's ruins. 「金玉」写响屧廊中金玉步，是写金玉之态的关键。「响屧廊中金玉步」着一「金玉」，写金玉——着一「金玉」，写响屧廊中金玉步，见其玉之金。两字写尽金玉之态，是「以词写玉」的点睛之词。「金玉」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
水葬 Burial by water: legend says Xi Shi was drowned in a lake, or carried off to sea, after the fall of Wu. The poet does not say where, and that uncertainty becomes the ache of history. 「水葬」写不知水葬今何处，是写水葬之态的关键。「不知水葬今何处」着一「水葬」，写水葬——着一「水葬」，写不知水葬今何处，见其葬之水。两字写尽水葬之态，是「以词写葬」的点睛之词。「水葬」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
效颦 To imitate a frown: the ugly Dongshi once copied Xi Shi's frown and made herself ridiculous. Here the imitation is reversed — the crescent moon itself copies Xi Shi, as if nature still cherishes her beauty. 「效颦」写溪月弯弯欲效颦，是写效颦之态的关键。「溪月弯弯欲效颦」着一「效颦」，写效颦——着一「效颦」，写溪月弯弯欲效颦，见其颦之效。两字写尽效颦之态，是「以词写颦」的点睛之词。「效颦」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

水调歌头·明月几时有 Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Clear? 苏轼 · 同写咏史感怀、苍茫旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写响屧廊中金玉步采苹山上绮罗身，皆于咏史之中见苍茫 Both poems meditate on history and eternity beneath the same moon.

Su Shi's lyric answers the moon's eternal presence with acceptance — men have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion, just as the moon is dark or bright, waxing or waning — and rises to philosophical serenity. Pi Rixiu's quatrain lets the crescent moon itself imitate a dead beauty's frown and finds only vast melancholy in the same eternity. One moon, two tempers: Song expansiveness versus late Tang desolation.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写咏史感怀、苍茫旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；皮日休《馆娃宫怀古》则以「响屧廊中金玉步，采苹山上绮罗身」「溪月弯弯欲效颦」写绮罗身、欲效颦。两诗同写咏史感怀、苍茫旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写响屧廊中金玉步采苹山上绮罗身、以响屧廊写咏史；一为苏轼之旷达、一为皮日休之苍茫，并读正可见诗写「咏史感怀」的两种笔法，皆于咏史之中见苍茫。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of the Ganzhou Song 柳永 · 同写溪月凝望、苍茫清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写不知水葬今何处溪月弯弯欲效颦，皆于溪月之中见凝望 Both poems gaze at an autumn river scene that turns into reflection.

Liu Yong's lyric, opening on 'the pattering evening rain spilling over the river sky, one washing makes the autumn clear', moves from a washed-clear autumn view to homesickness. Pi Rixiu's quatrain moves from a palace's vanished splendor to the stream-moon imitating a frown. Both use the device of seeing the scene and giving birth to feeling, but Liu Yong's river is personal while Pi Rixiu's is historical — one longs for home, the other for a dead woman.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写溪月凝望、苍茫清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；皮日休《馆娃宫怀古》则以「不知水葬今何处，溪月弯弯欲效颦」「采苹山上绮罗身」写欲效颦、绮罗身。两诗同写溪月凝望、苍茫清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写不知水葬今何处溪月弯弯欲效颦、以溪月写咏史；一为柳永之清丽、一为皮日休之苍茫，并读正可见诗写「溪月凝望」的两种笔法，皆于溪月之中见凝望。