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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

古风·大车扬飞尘

Gu Feng: Great Carts Raise Flying Dust

李白

Li Bai

大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌。
中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅。
路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫。
鼻息干虹蜺，行人皆怵惕。
世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖。

Great carts raise flying dust, at high noon they darken the paths across the fields.
The palace favorites have gold in plenty, their mansions rise in rows that join the clouds.
On the road I meet a cockfighter — how splendid his cap and carriage!
His very breath reaches up to the rainbow, and passers-by all tremble with fear.
In this world there is no ear-washing old man, who can tell the sage Yao from the bandit Zhi?
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Meaning

This satirical old-style poem sketches the arrogance of Xuanzong's court: the eunuchs' dust-raising carriages and cloud-high mansions, and the dazzling splendor of the emperor's cockfighting favorite. The closing lines lament that in such an age no Xu You remains to wash his ears at the offer of a throne, so that good and evil, sage and robber, can no longer be told apart.

大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌。中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅。路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫。鼻息干虹蜺，行人皆怵惕。世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Great wagons raise clouds of dust that at noon darken the field paths; the favored eunuchs' mansions tower into the clouds. On the road the poet meets a cockfighter in brilliant cap and carriage, whose breath seems to reach the rainbow and make passers-by tremble. The poem ends: since there is no longer any Xu You to wash his ears, who can distinguish the sage-king Yao from the robber Zhi? [Imagery] Each image is chosen to overawe: dust that darkens noon, mansions that touch the sky, breath that threatens the rainbow. The scale of the power brokers is measured against the sky itself. [Structure and Satire] The first four couplets pile up the spectacle of privilege; the fifth couplet turns from description to judgment. Because the poem never names a single person, the satire feels general rather than personal, and the historical allusions (Xu You, Yao, Zhi) turn a street scene into a moral verdict. The vigor of the five-character old-style line gives the satire a blunt, ringing force characteristic of Li Bai's Gu Feng series.

【白话串讲】 李白写《古风·大车扬飞尘》：“大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌”——“中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅”——“路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫”——“鼻息干虹蜺，行人皆怵惕”——“世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖”——他写讽刺——世无洗耳翁。 【意象与手法】 “大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌”写大车扬尘；“中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅”写中贵甲宅；“路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫”写斗鸡者辉赫；“鼻息干虹蜺，行人皆怵惕”写鼻息干虹蜺；结以“世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖”以洗耳翁写是非不分。雄奇讽喻。 【情感与主旨】 李白写讽喻之作，写中贵黄金甲宅、斗鸡者辉赫的权贵之盛与世无洗耳翁、是非不分的感慨，是李白古风中讽喻时政的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌”写权贵之盛；“世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖”以洗耳翁写是非不分。

Background

Li Bai (701–762), courtesy name Taibai, was the romantic genius of High Tang poetry. His Gu Feng ('Old Airs') series of fifty-nine poems imitates the old-style verse of the Han and Wei periods. This poem is usually read as a satire on the eunuchs and sports favorites of Xuanzong's later reign: the 'palace favorites' (zhonggui) point to figures such as Gao Lishi, and the cockfighter to the imperial cockfighting champion Jia Chang, whose favor outshone that of ministers. Written around the 740s, it shows Li Bai using the blunt weapons of old-style satire against contemporary court corruption.

《古风·大车扬飞尘》为唐代诗人李白所作诗。李白（701—762），字太白，号青莲居士，祖籍陇西成纪，生于碎叶，唐代浪漫主义诗人。此诗写咏怀讽喻，为古风组诗之一。诗中「大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌」写大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌；「中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅」写中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅；「路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫」写路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫；「世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖」写世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖。李白此诗以咏怀讽喻、谁知尧与跖写其讽喻之情，雄奇讽喻，是李白诗中的名篇。此篇《古风·大车扬飞尘》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《古风·大车扬飞尘》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 craft lies in accumulation and reversal. Four couplets of mounting spectacle — dust, gold, cloud-high mansions, rainbow-reaching breath — build an atmosphere of suffocating power, then the final couplet reverses the scale: the greatest power in the land is nothing if no moral standard remains. Li Bai chooses telling details over comment: 'breath wetting the rainbow' turns arrogance into something almost cosmic, while 'passers-by all tremble' shows the cost to ordinary people. The unadorned five-character lines and blunt rhetoric keep the satire direct and powerful.

此诗艺术上以「雄奇讽喻、以今写古」见长。全诗共十句，由大车扬飞尘而中贵多黄金而路逢鬬鸡者。起「大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌」写大车扬飞尘：大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌；「中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅」写中贵多黄金：中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅；「路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫」写路逢鬬鸡者：路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫；结「世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖」写谁知尧与跖：世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖。全诗以今写古，由大车扬飞尘而谁知尧与跖，雄奇讽喻，是李白诗中的名篇。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。

Allusions

The closing couplet carries the poem's two great allusions. The 'ear-washing old man' (xi'er weng) is Xu You, who, according to legend, washed out his ears after hearing that the sage-king Yao wished to abdicate the throne to him — the emblem of moral fastidiousness. Yao, the legendary sage ruler, and Zhi (Robber Zhi), the archetypal villain of the Zhuangzi, stand for good and evil. The cockfighter echoes the historical Jia Chang, and 'cloud-joining mansions' recall Han-era excess. By invoking Xu You's absence, Li Bai implies that flattery and power have made virtue and vice indistinguishable.

诗中「大车扬飞尘亭午暗阡陌」「中贵多黄金连云开甲宅」「路逢鬬鸡者冠盖何辉赫」「鼻息干虹蜺行人皆怵惕」「世无洗耳翁谁知尧与跖」等语，皆含典故故实。「大车扬飞尘亭午暗阡陌」写大车扬飞尘亭午暗阡陌；「中贵多黄金连云开甲宅」写中贵多黄金连云开甲宅；「路逢鬬鸡者冠盖何辉赫」写路逢鬬鸡者冠盖何辉赫；「鼻息干虹蜺行人皆怵惕」写鼻息干虹蜺行人皆怵惕；「世无洗耳翁谁知尧与跖」用洗耳翁、尧跖之典（洗耳翁指许由，尧跖分善暴），写世无洗耳翁谁知尧与跖。诗人以洗耳翁、尧跖之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把咏怀讽喻之情写得真切可感，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 poem is one of the most celebrated satires in the Gu Feng series and has been read for centuries as Li Bai's most outspoken attack on court favorites. Commentators from the Song dynasty onward have identified its targets with the eunuchs and entertainers of the Tianbao era, and its closing couplet — 'In this world there is no ear-washing old man; who can tell Yao from Zhi?' — became a proverb for an age in which moral standards collapse. Anthologists praise the way the satire is carried by images rather than preaching.

这首《古风·大车扬飞尘》，是李白写咏怀讽喻之作，写大车扬飞尘、中贵多黄金、路逢鬬鸡者、谁知尧与跖之情，雄奇讽喻。起「大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌」——大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌。写大车扬飞尘：大车扬飞尘、亭午暗阡陌——扬飞尘、暗阡陌；「中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅」——中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅。写中贵多黄金：中贵多黄金、连云开甲宅——多黄金、开甲宅；「路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫」——路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫。写路逢鬬鸡者：路逢鬬鸡者、冠盖何辉赫——鬬鸡者、何辉赫；结「世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖」——世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖。写谁知尧与跖：世无洗耳翁、谁知尧与跖——洗耳翁、尧与跖。这「世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖」，是全诗之结：以谁知尧与跖写其讽喻。全诗雄奇讽喻，以今写古，正是李白诗中的名篇。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。

Prosody

Form Poem (five-character old-style verse, gufeng)诗（五言古诗）
Rhyme A ten-line old-style piece in five-character lines. The rhyming syllables — mo (fields), zhai (mansions), he (splendor), ti (fear), zhi (Robber Zhi) — all belong to the entering-tone mo/zhi rhyme group, giving the poem a terse, clipped resonance that suits blunt satire.此诗为五言古诗，共十句。押韵：「陌」「宅」「赫」「惕」「跖」押陌职部韵。诗体依五古而定，句式铺陈，音节随情起伏，正与写咏怀讽喻的雄奇讽喻相称，也见其以五古写讽喻的雄浑。
Tone pattern As an old-style (guti) poem it does not follow the regulated tonal patterns of recent-style verse; the lines are level and declarative, with rhythm driven by syntax and caesura rather than fixed alternation, so the voice rolls forward like denunciation.句式上，「大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌」写大车扬飞尘，音节雄浑；「中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅」写中贵多黄金，音节铺陈；「路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫」写路逢鬬鸡者，音节奇崛；结「世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖」写谁知尧与跖，音节冷峭。全诗音节随情起伏，由雄浑而铺陈、由奇崛而冷峭，正合五古「雄浑」之妙，读来如咏怀讽喻、谁知尧与跖之音，雄奇而动人。
Reading note Li Bai's Gu Feng deliberately revive the freer measures of Han-Wei old-style verse; here the five-character lines, entering-tone rhymes, and absence of middle-couplet parallelism let the satire stay plain-spoken and forceful, a fitting instrument for social criticism.此诗为五言古诗，是李白写咏怀讽喻之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「雄奇讽喻、以今写古」：「大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌」写大车扬飞尘、「中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅」写中贵多黄金、「路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫」写路逢鬬鸡者、「世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖」写谁知尧与跖。全诗雄奇讽喻，以今写古。尤为精妙者，是「世无洗耳翁」用洗耳翁之典；而「谁知尧与跖」用尧跖之典，正是李白诗「雄奇讽喻」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《古风·大车扬飞尘》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

大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌。

Great carts raise flying dust; at high noon they darken the field paths.

大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌。

Great chariots raise flying dust; at midday they dim the roads and byways.

起句写大车扬飞尘，起笔即见其尘。「大车扬飞尘」写大车扬飞尘，「大车」写大车、「扬飞尘」写扬飞尘；「亭午暗阡陌」写亭午暗阡陌，「亭午」写亭午、「暗阡陌」写暗阡陌。一句写大车扬飞尘亭午暗阡陌，以大车扬飞尘写扬飞尘、以亭午暗阡陌写暗阡陌，写尽大车扬飞尘、亭午暗阡陌之情。以车起兴，雄奇而讽喻，是「以车起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line writes great chariots raising dust that darkens the roads at noon; rising through the chariot, it is a bold satirical picture of the favored.

中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅。

The palace favorites possess heaps of gold; their mansions rise in rows that join the clouds.

中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅。

The favored eunuchs have mountains of gold; their mansions rise, a terrace reaching the clouds.

此句写中贵多黄金，是全诗写中贵之态的关键。「中贵多黄金」写中贵多黄金，「中贵」写中贵、「多黄金」写多黄金；「连云开甲宅」写连云开甲宅，「连云」写连云、「开甲宅」写开甲宅。一句写中贵多黄金连云开甲宅，以中贵多黄金写多黄金、以连云开甲宅写开甲宅，写尽中贵多黄金、连云开甲宅之情。以金写古，雄奇而讽喻，是「以金写古」的点睛之笔。

This line writes the court eunuchs rich in gold, their grand mansions towering to the clouds; through gold it satirizes the luxury of the powerful.

路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫。

On the road I meet a cockfighter — how splendid his cap and carriage!

路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫。

On the road I meet the cockfighters; how dazzling their caps and canopies.

此句写路逢鬬鸡者，是全诗写鬬鸡之态的关键。「路逢鬬鸡者」写路逢鬬鸡者，「路逢」写路逢、「鬬鸡者」写鬬鸡者；「冠盖何辉赫」写冠盖何辉赫，「冠盖」写冠盖、「何辉赫」写何辉赫。一句写路逢鬬鸡者冠盖何辉赫，以路逢鬬鸡者写鬬鸡者、以冠盖何辉赫写何辉赫，写尽路逢鬬鸡者、冠盖何辉赫之情。以盖写古，雄奇而讽喻，是「以盖写古」的点睛之笔。

It writes of meeting cockfighters on the road, their caps and canopies blazing; through the canopy it mocks the upstart favorites whose prestige comes from folly.

世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖。

In this world there is no ear-washing old man; who can tell the sage Yao from Robber Zhi?

世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖。

Were there no ear-washing elder in the world, who would know Yao from Zhi?

结句写世无洗耳翁，是全诗立意的落点。「世无洗耳翁」用洗耳翁之典写世无洗耳翁，「世无」写世无、「洗耳翁」写洗耳翁；「谁知尧与跖」用尧跖之典写谁知尧与跖，「谁知」写谁知、「尧与跖」写尧与跖。一句写世无洗耳翁谁知尧与跖，以世无洗耳翁写洗耳翁、以谁知尧与跖写尧与跖，写尽世无洗耳翁、谁知尧与跖之情。以尧写情，雄奇而讽喻，是全诗最动人处，也是「以尧写情」的点睛之笔。

The closing line asks, with the allusion to Xu You who washed his ears at the offer of office, whether, without such a man, anyone could tell the sage Yao from the tyrant Zhi; through the contrast of Yao and Zhi it lands the satire on an age that has lost all sense of worth.

Study

Word focus

飞尘 Flying dust raised by the great carriages; the opening image, showing the favorites' power so vast that it darkens the sky at noon. 「飞尘」写大车扬飞尘，是写飞尘之态的关键。「大车扬飞尘」着一「飞尘」，写飞尘——着一「飞尘」，写大车扬飞尘，见其尘之飞。两字写尽飞尘之态，是「以词写尘」的妙笔。「飞尘」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。
阡陌 The crisscrossing field paths (north-south qian and east-west mo); darkened by dust, they suggest the countryside swallowed by the cortege. 「阡陌」写亭午暗阡陌，是写阡陌之态的关键。「亭午暗阡陌」着一「阡陌」，写阡陌——着一「阡陌」，写亭午暗阡陌，见其陌之阡。两字写尽阡陌之态，是「以词写陌」的点睛之词。「阡陌」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。
甲宅 First-class, finest mansions; 'jia' means first in rank, so the word itself grades the favorites' houses above all others, towering into the clouds. 「甲宅」写连云开甲宅，是写甲宅之态的关键。「连云开甲宅」着一「甲宅」，写甲宅——着一「甲宅」，写连云开甲宅，见其宅之甲。两字写尽甲宅之态，是「以词写宅」的点睛之词。「甲宅」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。
洗耳翁 The ear-washing old man — Xu You, who washed his ears after hearing of Yao's offer of the throne; a byword for moral fastidiousness and independent judgment. 「洗耳翁」写世无洗耳翁，是写洗耳翁之态的关键。「世无洗耳翁」着一「洗耳翁」，写洗耳翁——着一「洗耳翁」，写世无洗耳翁，见其翁之洗耳。三字写尽洗耳翁之态，是「以词写翁」的点睛之词。「洗耳翁」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。

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水调歌头·明月几时有 Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Clear? 苏轼 · 同写感怀讽喻、雄奇旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写大车扬飞尘亭午暗阡陌，皆于感怀之中见讽喻 Both meditate on fortune and human feelings, one with cosmic breadth, the other with satirical sharpness.

Su Shi's lyric accepts life's partings and reunions with philosophical calm, while Li Bai's poem looks at worldly power with scorn. Read together, they show two Tang-Song modes of confronting vicissitude: Su Shi's reconciliation versus Li Bai's moral indignation.

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」，写感怀讽喻、雄奇旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；李白《古风·大车扬飞尘》则以「大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌」「世无洗耳翁，谁知尧与跖」写暗阡陌、洗耳翁。两诗同写感怀讽喻、雄奇旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写大车扬飞尘亭午暗阡陌、以飞尘写讽喻；一为苏轼之旷达、一为李白之雄奇，并读正可见诗写「感怀讽喻」的两种笔法，皆于感怀之中见讽喻。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of Ganzhou Song 柳永 · 同写街市凝望、雄奇清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写路逢鬬鸡者冠盖何辉赫，皆于街市之中见凝望 Both survey a bustling public scene, one in lyrical languor, the other with satirical force.

Liu Yong gazes wistfully at the autumn river scene, while Li Bai watches the dust of the powerful carriages with contempt. Both poets observe the street, but where Liu Yong dissolves into sorrow, Li Bai turns observation into accusation.

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」，写街市凝望、雄奇清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；李白《古风·大车扬飞尘》则以「路逢鬬鸡者，冠盖何辉赫」「中贵多黄金，连云开甲宅」写鬬鸡者、开甲宅。两诗同写街市凝望、雄奇清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写路逢鬬鸡者冠盖何辉赫、以鬬鸡写讽喻；一为柳永之清丽、一为李白之雄奇，并读正可见诗写「街市凝望」的两种笔法，皆于街市之中见凝望。