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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

寒地百姓吟

A Lament for the People of the Cold Land

孟郊

Meng Jiao

无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号。
冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳。
霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃。
高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮。
寒者愿为蛾，烧死彼华膏。
华膏隔仙罗，虚遶千万遭。
到头落地死，踏地为游遨。
游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶。

With no fire to warm the earth where they sleep, at midnight they all stand and wail.
Where does the cold arrow come from? The thorn-sharp wind, bitter and toiling.
Frost blows through the four broken walls; the pain is inescapable.
In the high hall they beat the bells and drink; until dawn one hears the boiling and roasting.
The frozen poor would rather be moths and burn to death in that brilliant lamp-oil.
But the brilliant oil lies screened behind silken gauze; vainly they circle it a thousand times.
In the end they fall dead to the ground, trodden into the earth, wandering in sport.
Who are those who wander at ease? It is the gentleman whose heart is stifled with grief.
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Meaning

Meng Jiao's poem places two worlds side by side: the freezing poor with no fire, and the rich feasting behind high-hall doors. Its bitter turn is the poor man's wish to become a moth and burn in the rich man's lamp, an escape blocked even then by gauze curtains. It is one of the starkest Tang poems of social inequality, written in the hard, bitter style Meng Jiao made his own.

无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号。冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳。霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃。高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮。寒者愿为蛾，烧死彼华膏。华膏隔仙罗，虚遶千万遭。到头落地死，踏地为游遨。游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] With no fire to warm the ground they sleep on, the poor stand wailing at midnight; the wind pierces like cold arrows; frost blows through broken walls. Meanwhile, in the high hall, bells are struck, wine flows, and the smells of cooking drift till dawn. So unbearable is the cold that the poor would rather be moths and burn in the rich man's lamp-oil, but the lamp is screened behind gauze, and they circle vainly until they drop dead. [Structure] The poem is built on juxtaposition: couplets of cold and hunger, then the warm rich, then the moth fantasy, then the closing judgment. Nothing is argued; the two worlds are simply placed next to each other. [Imagery] The cold arrow and the thorn wind make the weather an active torturer; the brilliant lamp-oil is at once an image of wealth and of warmth; the moths are the poor, drawn to a heat they can never reach. Meng Jiao's famous harshness is everywhere in the diction.

【白话串讲】 孟郊写《寒地百姓吟》：“无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号”——“冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳”——“寒者愿为蛾，烧死彼华膏”——“华膏隔仙罗，虚遶千万遭”——他写寒地百姓——寒者愿为蛾。 【意象与手法】 “无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号”写百姓无火；“冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳”写寒风如箭；“寒者愿为蛾，烧死彼华膏”写寒者愿为蛾；“华膏隔仙罗，虚遶千万遭”写华膏隔仙罗；“高堂搥钟饮、到晓闻烹炮”写高堂宴饮；结以“游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶”写君子为郁陶。沉痛悲慨。 【情感与主旨】 孟郊写寒地百姓之作，写百姓无火夜立的惨状与“愿为蛾烧死华膏”的悲苦，以寒士之寒与高堂之暖对照，是孟郊写民生疾苦的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号”写百姓无火；“寒者愿为蛾，烧死彼华膏”写寒者之悲。

Background

Meng Jiao (751-814), courtesy name Dongye, was from Wukang in modern Zhejiang and became the leading figure of the Han-Meng school of difficult, searching poetry. He lived most of his life in obscurity and poverty, obtaining a degree only late, and his poetry is marked by unsparing sympathy for the destitute. This poem belongs to his vein of social satire, the tradition of singing of the people's hardship. Written in a free ancient-style form, its plain diction and even, hammering rhymes give it the force of a protest song.

《寒地百姓吟》为唐代诗人孟郊所作诗。孟郊（751—814），字东野，湖州武康（今浙江德清）人，唐代诗人，「韩孟诗派」代表人物。此诗写讽喻民生，为寒地百姓之作。诗中「无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号」写无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号；「冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳」写冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳；「霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃」写霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃；「高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮」写高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮；「游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶」写游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶。孟郊此诗以讽喻民生、君子为郁陶写其民生之情，沉痛悲慨，是孟郊诗中的名篇。此篇《寒地百姓吟》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《寒地百姓吟》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 method is stark juxtaposition and indirection. Meng Jiao never states an indictment; he sets no fire to warm the earth against the beating of bells and drinking in the high hall, and lets the contrast accuse. The central invention is the moth fantasy: the frozen man would rather burn to death in the rich man's lamp-oil than freeze, an image that converts class difference into physical desperation, since even death-by-warmth is denied him by the silken gauze. The diction is deliberately plain and hard: cold arrow, thorn wind, broken walls, trodden into the earth, each phrase a blow. The final turn, in which the gentleman is stifled with grief, withdraws from the scene into the poet's own choked sorrow, so the social cry ends as personal anguish, the classic Meng Jiao movement from indignation to grief.

此诗艺术上以「沉痛悲慨、以寒写情」见长。全诗共十六句，由无火炙地眠而冷箭何处来而霜吹破四壁。起「无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号」写无火炙地眠：无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号；「冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳」写冷箭何处来：冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳；「霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃」写霜吹破四壁：霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃；「高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮」写高堂搥钟饮：高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮；结「游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶」写君子为郁陶：游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶。全诗以寒写情，由无火炙地眠而君子为郁陶，沉痛悲慨，是孟郊诗中的名篇。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 poem draws on several traditions. Moths to the flame is a classical image of self-destruction through blind desire, here inverted into a rational choice: the moth's death by fire is preferable to the poor man's life of cold. Brilliant lamp-oil recalls the luxurious lighting of aristocratic halls, and immortal gauze suggests the sheer curtains that screen wealth from the street. Stifled with grief is an old word for sorrow pent up in the chest, found in the Shang shu and the Shi jing, where the sage's sorrow for the people is described in exactly these terms, so Meng Jiao aligns himself with the ancient tradition of the minister who grieves for those he cannot save. The beating of bells at dawn banquets evokes the night-long feasts of the powerful.

诗中「无火炙地眠半夜皆立号」「冷箭何处来棘针风骚劳」「霜吹破四壁苦痛不可逃」「高堂搥钟饮到晓闻烹炮」「寒者愿为蛾烧死彼华膏」「华膏隔仙罗虚遶千万遭」「到头落地死踏地为游遨」「游遨者是谁君子为郁陶」等语，皆含典故故实。「无火炙地眠半夜皆立号」写无火炙地眠半夜皆立号；「冷箭何处来棘针风骚劳」写冷箭何处来棘针风骚劳；「霜吹破四壁苦痛不可逃」写霜吹破四壁苦痛不可逃；「高堂搥钟饮到晓闻烹炮」写高堂搥钟饮到晓闻烹炮；「寒者愿为蛾烧死彼华膏」用飞蛾之典（飞蛾扑火），写寒者愿为蛾烧死彼华膏；「华膏隔仙罗虚遶千万遭」写华膏隔仙罗虚遶千万遭；「到头落地死踏地为游遨」写到头落地死踏地为游遨；「游遨者是谁君子为郁陶」写游遨者是谁君子为郁陶。诗人以飞蛾、华膏等语入诗，不着痕迹，而把讽喻民生之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。

Commentary

A Lament for the People of the Cold Land is one of Meng Jiao's most direct social poems and a landmark of Tang poetry's concern with the destitute. Critics have especially valued its central couplet: the wish to be a moth and burn in the rich man's lamp is among the most violent images in Tang verse, a measure of how unbearable the cold is and of how far the poor stand from warmth. Later readers placed the poem in the lineage of Du Fu's social conscience, though Meng Jiao's manner is harsher and more ascetic. The closing couplet, in which the gentleman is stifled with grief, has been read as the poet casting himself as the ancient grieving worthy, the one who wanders the world carrying a sorrow he cannot discharge.

这首《寒地百姓吟》，是孟郊写讽喻民生之作，写无火炙地眠、冷箭何处来、霜吹破四壁、高堂搥钟饮、君子为郁陶之情，沉痛悲慨。起「无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号」——无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号。写无火炙地眠：无火炙地眠、半夜皆立号——炙地眠、皆立号；「冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳」——冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳。写冷箭何处来：冷箭何处来、棘针风骚劳——何处来、风骚劳；「霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃」——霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃。写霜吹破四壁：霜吹破四壁、苦痛不可逃——破四壁、不可逃；「高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮」——高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮。写高堂搥钟饮：高堂搥钟饮、到晓闻烹炮——搥钟饮、闻烹炮；结「游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶」——游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶。写君子为郁陶：游遨者是谁、君子为郁陶——者是谁、为郁陶。这「游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶」，是全诗之结：以君子为郁陶写其民生。全诗沉痛悲慨，以寒写情，正是孟郊诗中的名篇。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient-style verse (guti shi), sixteen lines诗（五言古诗）
Rhyme A five-character ancient poem rhyming on the xiao-hao group: wail, toil, escape, roast, lamp-oil, times, sport, and stifled. The rhymes are even and level, but the line endings land like hammer-blows, plain, hard, and repetitive, echoing the poem's unremitting subject.此诗为五言古诗，共十六句。押韵：「号」「劳」「逃」「炮」「膏」「遭」「遨」「陶」押萧豪部韵。诗体依古诗而定，句式整齐，音节随情起伏，正与写讽喻民生的沉痛悲慨相称，也见其以古诗写民生的自然。
Tone pattern Sixteen five-character lines, almost every couplet opening with a plain noun phrase such as no fire, the cold arrow, frost, the high hall, the frozen poor, the brilliant oil, give the verse a slow, hammering pace, as if each line were struck out of the cold itself. The diction is deliberately harsh and flat, the rhythm trudging rather than singing: prosody as exposure.句式上，「无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号」写无火炙地眠，音节沉痛；「冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳」写冷箭何处来，音节寒峭；「霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃」写霜吹破四壁，音节悲慨；「高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮」写高堂搥钟饮，音节沉郁；结「游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶」写君子为郁陶，音节郁结。全诗音节随情起伏，由沉痛而寒峭、由悲慨而沉郁、由沉郁而郁结，正合古诗「自然」之妙，读来如讽喻民生、君子为郁陶之音，沉痛而动人。
Reading note Meng Jiao's prosody is famously thin and hard, and this poem is a model: five-character ancient lines, an even rhyme that never lifts, and a diction scraped of ornament. The poem's sound is its meaning, the plodding measure is the trudge of the cold, and the final couplet's choked rhyme closes the poem like a held breath. Read beside Bai Juyi's smooth narratives, this is Tang poetry's other extremity: verse as ascetic protest.此诗为五言古诗，是孟郊写讽喻民生之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「沉痛悲慨、以寒写情」：「无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号」写无火炙地眠、「冷箭何处来，棘针风骚劳」写冷箭何处来、「霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃」写霜吹破四壁、「高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮」写高堂搥钟饮、「游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶」写君子为郁陶。全诗沉痛悲慨，以寒写情。尤为精妙者，是「寒者愿为蛾，烧死彼华膏」用飞蛾之典；而「游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶」写尽郁陶之情，正是孟郊诗「沉痛悲慨」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《寒地百姓吟》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

无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号。

With no fire to warm the earth where they sleep, at midnight they all stand and wail.

无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号。

No fire to warm the ground where they sleep; at midnight they stand and wail.

首二句写无火炙地眠，起笔即见其寒。「无火炙地眠」写无火炙地眠，「无火」写无火、「炙地眠」写炙地眠；「半夜皆立号」写半夜皆立号，「半夜」写半夜、「皆立号」写皆立号。两句一写无火炙地眠、一写半夜皆立号，以无火炙地眠写炙地眠、以半夜皆立号写皆立号，写尽无火炙地眠、半夜皆立号之情。以寒起兴，沉痛而悲慨，是「以寒起兴」的妙笔。

The opening two lines write that without fire they warm the ground to sleep, and at midnight stand and wail; rising through the cold, they are bitter and desolate, the start of the poem's grief.

霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃。

Frost blows through the four broken walls; the pain is inescapable.

霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃。

Frost winds break through the four walls; the agony is inescapable.

此二句写霜吹破四壁，是全诗写霜吹之态的关键。「霜吹破四壁」写霜吹破四壁，「霜吹」写霜吹、「破四壁」写破四壁；「苦痛不可逃」写苦痛不可逃，「苦痛」写苦痛、「不可逃」写不可逃。两句一写霜吹破四壁、一写苦痛不可逃，以霜吹破四壁写破四壁、以苦痛不可逃写不可逃，写尽霜吹破四壁、苦痛不可逃之情。以霜写情，沉痛而悲慨，是「以霜写情」的点睛之笔。

These two lines write frost winds breaking through the walls, the key image of the cold; the word 'break' shows the wind's assault on flimsy huts, and 'the agony is inescapable' the suffering with no escape.

高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮。

In the high hall they beat the bells and drink; until dawn one hears the boiling and roasting.

高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮。

In the high halls they strike the bells and feast, cooking and roasting heard till dawn.

此二句写高堂搥钟饮，是全诗写高堂之态的关键。「高堂搥钟饮」写高堂搥钟饮，「高堂」写高堂、「搥钟饮」写搥钟饮；「到晓闻烹炮」写到晓闻烹炮，「到晓」写到晓、「闻烹炮」写闻烹炮。两句一写高堂搥钟饮、一写到晓闻烹炮，以高堂搥钟饮写搥钟饮、以到晓闻烹炮写闻烹炮，写尽高堂搥钟饮、到晓闻烹炮之情。以堂写情，沉痛而悲慨，是「以堂写情」的点睛之笔。

These two lines set the rich halls against the freezing poor: striking bells and feasting, the sounds of roasting and cooking carried until dawn; through the hall they write the cruel contrast of extravagance.

寒者愿为蛾，烧死彼华膏。

The frozen poor would rather be moths and burn to death in that brilliant lamp-oil.

寒者愿为蛾，烧死彼华膏。

The freezing would be moths, burned to death in the rich man's scented grease.

此二句写寒者愿为蛾，是全诗写愿蛾之态的关键。「寒者愿为蛾」用飞蛾之典写寒者愿为蛾，「寒者」写寒者、「愿为蛾」写愿为蛾；「烧死彼华膏」写烧死彼华膏，「烧死」写烧死、「彼华膏」写彼华膏。两句一写寒者愿为蛾、一写烧死彼华膏，以寒者愿为蛾写愿为蛾、以烧死彼华膏写烧死华膏，写尽寒者愿为蛾、烧死彼华膏之情。以蛾写情，沉痛而悲慨，是「以蛾写情」的点睛之笔。

These two lines use the moth-allusion: the freezing would become moths and burn themselves to death in the wealthy man's scented lamp; through the moth they write the people's desperate longing even for a little warmth.

游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶。

Who are those who wander at ease? It is the gentleman whose heart is stifled with grief.

游遨者是谁，君子为郁陶。

Who are these revelers? The upright man is choked with grief.

结句写君子为郁陶，是全诗立意的落点。「游遨者是谁」写游遨者是谁，「游遨者」写游遨者、「是谁」写是谁；「君子为郁陶」写君子为郁陶，「君子」写君子、「为郁陶」写为郁陶。两句一写游遨者是谁、一写君子为郁陶，以游遨者是谁写者是谁、以君子为郁陶写为郁陶，写尽游遨者是谁、君子为郁陶之情。以郁写情，沉痛而悲慨，是全诗最动人处，也是「以郁写情」的点睛之笔。

The closing line asks who these revelers are, and says the upright man is choked with grief; ending on the word 'grief', it is the poem's point — the pained conscience of a gentleman confronting the age's injustice.

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Word focus

无火 No fire: with no fuel to warm the ground they sleep on. The phrase opens the poem and fixes the poor's condition in two bare characters; the cold is not described, it is assumed. 「无火」写无火炙地眠，是写无火之态的关键。「无火炙地眠」着一「无火」，写无火——着一「无火」，写无火炙地眠，见其火之无。两字写尽无火之态，是「以词写火」的妙笔。「无火」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。
冷箭 Cold arrow: the bitter winter wind, named as a piercing missile. The metaphor makes the weather an active assailant, and its sudden question gives the wind a mysterious, cruel intent. 「冷箭」写冷箭何处来，是写冷箭之态的关键。「冷箭何处来」着一「冷箭」，写冷箭——着一「冷箭」，写冷箭何处来，见其箭之冷。两字写尽冷箭之态，是「以词写箭」的点睛之词。「冷箭」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。
华膏 Brilliant lamp-oil: the rich oil burning in the lamps of the wealthy. It is at once the image of wealth and of the warmth the poor are denied; the moths' death in it becomes the poor man's impossible dream. 「华膏」写烧死彼华膏，是写华膏之态的关键。「烧死彼华膏」着一「华膏」，写华膏——着一「华膏」，写烧死彼华膏，见其膏之华。两字写尽华膏之态，是「以词写膏」的点睛之词。「华膏」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。
郁陶 Stifled with grief: sorrow pent up in the chest with no outlet, an old word from the Shang shu and Shi jing for the sage's sorrow for the people. It ends the poem on the poet's own suppressed anguish. 「郁陶」写君子为郁陶，是写郁陶之态的关键。「君子为郁陶」着一「郁陶」，写郁陶——着一「郁陶」，写君子为郁陶，见其陶之郁。两字写尽郁陶之态，是「以词写郁」的点睛之词。「郁陶」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 Bright? 苏轼 · 同写民生感怀、深沉旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写无火炙地眠半夜皆立号，皆于民生之中见深沉 Two poems of deep feeling: the wanderer's philosophical consolation and the frozen poor's raw cry.

Su Shi's lines about men's sorrow and joy, parting and reunion, rise above personal grief into cosmic acceptance; Meng Jiao's poem stays inside the body, amid cold, hunger, and broken walls. Where Su Shi consoles, Meng Jiao accuses. Read together they mark two poles of Chinese lyric feeling: transcendence and endurance.

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」，写民生感怀、深沉旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；孟郊《寒地百姓吟》则以「无火炙地眠，半夜皆立号」「高堂搥钟饮，到晓闻烹炮」写炙地眠皆立号、搥钟饮闻烹炮。两诗同写民生感怀、深沉旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写无火炙地眠半夜皆立号、以寒夜写民生；一为苏轼之超然、一为孟郊之沉痛，并读正可见诗写「民生感怀」的两种笔法，皆于民生之中见深沉。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of Ganzhou: Facing the Evening Rain Sweeping the River Sky 柳永 · 同写羁旅民生、悲慨深挚，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写霜吹破四壁苦痛不可逃，皆于羁旅之中见民生 Two poems of the wanderer's cold: the traveler's autumn rain and the poor man's frost.

Liu Yong's famous opening washes the world in evening rain and the traveler's tender regret; Meng Jiao's frost blows through four broken walls. Both write the body's exposure to weather, but Liu Yong's sorrow has leisure and scenery, while Meng Jiao's has only cold and walls: the same theme at two ends of the social scale.

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」，写羁旅民生、悲慨深挚，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；孟郊《寒地百姓吟》则以「霜吹破四壁，苦痛不可逃」「寒者愿为蛾，烧死彼华膏」写破四壁不可逃、愿为蛾烧华膏。两诗同写羁旅民生、悲慨深挚：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写霜吹破四壁苦痛不可逃、以寒夜写民生；一为柳永之清丽、一为孟郊之沉痛，并读正可见诗写「羁旅民生」的两种笔法，皆于羁旅之中见民生。