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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

黄陵庙

Huangling Temple

李群玉

Li Qunyu

小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然。
野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊。
风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃。
犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川。

North of Little Maid Islet, by the misty water's edge,
The two maidens' beauty stands as vivid as ever.
The wild temple faces the river, hushed in the spring,
On the ancient wordless stele the grass grows thick.
The wind turns at sunset, blowing the fragrant herbs;
The moon sinks in the deep hills as cuckoos weep.
They seem still to knit their brows, gazing toward the royal progress —
Their sorrow breaks at Jiuyi, sundered by the Xiang.
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Meaning

Huangling Temple stands on the Xiang River, dedicated to the two consorts of the sage emperor Shun. Visiting it in spring, Li Qunyu finds the goddesses' images still lifelike in the deserted temple, their ancient stele blank and overgrown. Wind, sunset, moonset, and weeping cuckoos build an atmosphere of desolate grief, and the closing couplet imagines the two women still watching the road south where Shun died — their longing cut off forever by mountains and river. The poem turns a decaying shrine into a monument of love and fidelity.

小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然。野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊。风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃。犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] North of Little Maid Islet, at the river's edge in the clouds, the two goddesses' images remain as lifelike as ever. The wild temple faces the river, silent in spring; the ancient stele has no characters, only thick grass. Wind at sunset blows the fragrant herbs; at moonset in the deep hills the cuckoos weep. As if still knitting their brows and gazing toward the royal progress, the two women's sorrow breaks at Jiuyi, sundered by the Xiang. [Imagery] Every image is one of silence, decay, and sound at night: the wordless stele, the thick grass, the wind, the cuckoo. [Structure] The first couplet locates the temple and its goddesses; the second describes the ruin; the third moves from sunset to moonrise, from sight to sound; the fourth supplies the story the images imply. [Theme] The poem is about fidelity that outlives its object: the temple decays, but the two women still wait.

【白话串讲】 李群玉写《黄陵庙》：“小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然”——“野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊”——“风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃”——“犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川”——他写黄陵庙——野庙向江春寂寂。 【意象与手法】 “小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然”写黄陵庙与二妃；“野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊”写野庙寂寂；“风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃”写日暮杜鹃；结以“犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川”写二妃望舜。凄婉咏史。 【情感与主旨】 李群玉写黄陵庙之作，写湘妃庙的荒寂与二妃望舜不归的哀愁，以“月落山深哭杜鹃”写哀怨，是咏二妃题材的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊”写庙之荒寂；“犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川”写二妃望舜。

Background

Li Qunyu (c. 808–c. 862), courtesy name Wenshan, was a native of Lizhou and one of the last distinctive poetic voices of the late Tang. Huangling Temple, on the banks of the Xiang River in Hunan, was dedicated to the two consorts of the sage king Shun — Ehuang and Nuying — who, according to legend, wept for Shun when he died on his southern progress (his body buried beneath Mount Jiuyi) until their tears spotted the bamboo, and then drowned themselves in the Xiang. The temple and its 'spotted bamboo' had been a pilgrimage site of longing since ancient times. Written in the late Tang, when the dynasty was visibly crumbling, the poem's ruined temple and eternal waiting acquired an elegiac resonance beyond the legend itself.

《黄陵庙》为唐代诗人李群玉所作诗。李群玉（约808—约862），字文山，澧州人，唐代诗人。此诗写怀古咏史，为咏黄陵庙之作。诗中「小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然」写小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然；「野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊」写野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊；「风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃」写风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃；「犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川」写犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川。李群玉此诗以怀古咏史、九疑愁断隔湘川写其咏史之情，凄婉咏史，是李群玉诗中的名篇。此篇《黄陵庙》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《黄陵庙》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 accumulation: it never states the legend directly but builds the atmosphere in which the legend becomes inevitable. The first couplet places the goddesses' images — still 'as vivid as ever' — against their setting, and the word 'wild' in the second line's second half quietly tells the reader the temple is deserted. The couplet 'the wind turns at sunset, blowing the fragrant herbs; the moon sinks in the deep hills as cuckoos weep' is the technical center: it moves the poem from day to night, from sight to sound, and from the temple's stillness to the landscape's lament. The cuckoo, whose call is traditionally heard as 'better go home,' here weeps for the two women who can never go home. Only in the final couplet does the poet supply the story — the knitted brows, the gaze toward the south — and by then the images have made the emotion inevitable.

此诗艺术上以「凄婉咏史、以庙写情」见长。全诗共八句四联，由小姑洲北浦云边而野庙向江春寂寂而风回日暮吹芳芷。起「小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然」写小姑洲北浦云边：小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然；「野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊」写野庙向江春寂寂：野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊；「风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃」写风回日暮吹芳芷：风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃；结「犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川」写九疑愁断隔湘川：犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川。全诗以庙写情，由小姑洲北浦云边而九疑愁断隔湘川，凄婉咏史，是李群玉诗中的名篇。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's legend is the story of Ehuang and Nuying, Shun's two consorts. When Shun died on his southern progress and was buried beneath Mount Jiuyi (Nine Doubts), the two women searched for him, wept until their tears spotted the riverside bamboo (the origin of the 'spotted bamboo'), and finally drowned in the Xiang River, becoming the river's goddesses. 'Little Maid Islet' (Xiaogu zhou) is a sandbar in the Xiang near the temple. The 'royal progress' (xun shou) is the emperor's inspection tour — Shun's fatal journey south. The cuckoo's weep continues the tradition of the bird-as-weeper (linked to the Shu king Wang Di, who wept blood and was transformed into the cuckoo). 'Jiuyi' and 'the Xiang' name the mountain and the water that separate the living women from their dead lord.

诗中「小姑洲北浦云边二女容华自俨然」「野庙向江春寂寂古碑无字草芊芊」「风回日暮吹芳芷月落山深哭杜鹃」「犹似含颦望巡狩九疑愁断隔湘川」等语，皆含典故故实。「小姑洲北浦云边二女容华自俨然」用湘妃之典（湘妃写娥皇女英），写小姑洲北浦云边二女容华自俨然；「野庙向江春寂寂古碑无字草芊芊」写野庙向江春寂寂古碑无字草芊芊；「风回日暮吹芳芷月落山深哭杜鹃」用杜鹃之典（杜鹃写望帝啼血），写风回日暮吹芳芷月落山深哭杜鹃；「犹似含颦望巡狩九疑愁断隔湘川」用九疑、湘川之典（九疑写九嶷山，湘川写湘江），写犹似含颦望巡狩九疑愁断隔湘川。诗人用湘妃、九疑之典入诗，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。

Commentary

The poem has been praised for 'writing the legend through the scene': the goddesses are never named, only 'the two maidens,' and their story emerges entirely from the ruined temple, the blank stele, and the night sounds. Critics note the closing couplet as the poem's hinge — 'they seem still to knit their brows' gives the statues a living grief, and 'sorrow breaks at Jiuyi, sundered by the Xiang' converts geography into emotion: the mountain and the river become the distance between wife and husband, life and death. In the late Tang context, some readers have heard in the poem's ruined temple a broader elegy for a dynasty itself in decay, though the legend's power needs no such amplification.

这首《黄陵庙》，是李群玉写怀古咏史之作，写小姑洲北浦云边、野庙向江春寂寂、风回日暮吹芳芷、九疑愁断隔湘川之情，凄婉咏史。起「小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然」——小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然。写小姑洲北浦云边：小姑洲北浦云边、二女容华自俨然——浦云边、自俨然；「野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊」——野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊。写野庙向江春寂寂：野庙向江春寂寂、古碑无字草芊芊——春寂寂、草芊芊；「风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃」——风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃。写风回日暮吹芳芷：风回日暮吹芳芷、月落山深哭杜鹃——吹芳芷、哭杜鹃；结「犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川」——犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川。写九疑愁断隔湘川：犹似含颦望巡狩、九疑愁断隔湘川——望巡狩、隔湘川。这「犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川」，是全诗之结：以九疑愁断隔湘川写其咏史。全诗凄婉咏史，以庙写情，正是李群玉诗中的名篇。

Prosody

Form Poem: seven-character regulated verse (qilü), eight lines in four couplets诗（七言律诗）
Rhyme The poem rhymes on ran ('thus'), qian ('lush'), juan ('cuckoo'), and chuan ('river') — all level-tone words of the xian rhyme group (the seventh pingshui group). Its clear, ringing tones suit the poem's moonlit, haunted atmosphere.此诗为七言律诗，共八句四联。押韵：「然」「芊」「鹃」「川」押先部韵。平仄相间，对仗工整，正与写怀古咏史的凄婉咏史相称，也见其以律诗写咏史的凝练。
Tone pattern As regulated verse, the poem maintains tonal alternation and strict parallelism in its middle couplets — 'wild temple' answering 'ancient stele,' 'wind turns at sunset' answering 'moon sinks in deep hills.' The rhythm broadens as the poem moves from afternoon to moonrise to moonless night, and the final couplet's long, level close sounds like a sigh.句式上，「小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然」写小姑洲北浦云边，音节凄婉；「野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊」写野庙向江春寂寂，音节低回；「风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃」写风回日暮吹芳芷，音节沉郁；结「犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川」写九疑愁断隔湘川，音节悠长。全诗音节随情起伏，由凄婉而低回、由沉郁而悠长，正合律诗「凝练」之妙，读来如怀古咏史、九疑愁断隔湘川之音，凄婉而动人。
Reading note This is Li Qunyu's most anthologized poem and a late-Tang masterpiece of the 'temple-visiting' mode. Its achievement is atmospheric: the ruined shrine, the blank stele, and the cuckoo's weep generate the legend without stating it, so that the final couplet's reference to Shun's progress lands like the answer to a question the scene has already asked. The seven-character line proves ideal for the slow accumulation of images, and the xian rhyme's bright, carrying sound keeps the grief from turning harsh.此诗为七言律诗，是李群玉写怀古咏史之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「凄婉咏史、以庙写情」：「小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然」写小姑洲北浦云边、「野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊」写野庙向江春寂寂、「风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃」写风回日暮吹芳芷、「犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川」写九疑愁断隔湘川。全诗凄婉咏史，以庙写情。尤为精妙者，是「二女容华自俨然」用湘妃之典；而「九疑愁断隔湘川」用九疑之典，正是李群玉诗「凄婉咏史」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《黄陵庙》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

小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然。

North of Little Maid Islet, at the water's edge in the clouds, the two maidens' beauty stands as vivid as ever.

小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然。

North of Xiaogu Isle, by the cloud-edged shore, the two goddesses stand in all their grace.

起句写小姑洲北浦云边，起笔即见其小姑洲。「小姑洲北浦云边」写小姑洲北浦云边，「小姑洲北」写小姑洲北、「浦云边」写浦云边；「二女容华自俨然」用湘妃之典写二女容华自俨然，「二女容华」写二女容华、「自俨然」写自俨然。一句写小姑洲北浦云边二女容华自俨然，以小姑洲北浦云边写浦云边、以二女容华自俨然写自俨然，写尽小姑洲北浦云边、二女容华自俨然之情。以洲起兴，凄婉而咏史，是「以洲起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line writes north of Xiaogu Isle, by the cloud-edged shore, where the two goddesses stand in grace; rising through the isle, it is mournful and historical, the start of the temple elegy.

野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊。

The wild temple faces the river, hushed in spring; on the ancient wordless stele the grass grows thick.

野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊。

The wild temple faces the river; spring is silent; the old stele is uninscribed, the grass grows rank.

此句写野庙向江春寂寂，是全诗写野庙之态的关键。「野庙向江春寂寂」写野庙向江春寂寂，「野庙向江」写野庙向江、「春寂寂」写春寂寂；「古碑无字草芊芊」写古碑无字草芊芊，「古碑无字」写古碑无字、「草芊芊」写草芊芊。一句写野庙向江春寂寂古碑无字草芊芊，以野庙向江春寂寂写春寂寂、以古碑无字草芊芊写草芊芊，写尽野庙向江春寂寂、古碑无字草芊芊之情。以庙写景，凄婉而咏史，是「以庙写景」的点睛之笔。

This line writes the wild temple facing the river in silent spring, the uninscribed old stele and rank grass; through the temple it writes the deserted shrine, the key scenic image.

风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃。

The wind turns at sunset, blowing the fragrant herbs; the moon sinks in the deep hills as cuckoos weep.

风回日暮吹芳芷，月落山深哭杜鹃。

At dusk the wind turns and stirs the fragrant iris; the moon sets, and in the deep hills the cuckoo mourns.

此句写风回日暮吹芳芷，是全诗写风回之态的关键。「风回日暮吹芳芷」写风回日暮吹芳芷，「风回日暮」写风回日暮、「吹芳芷」写吹芳芷；「月落山深哭杜鹃」用杜鹃之典写月落山深哭杜鹃，「月落山深」写月落山深、「哭杜鹃」写哭杜鹃。一句写风回日暮吹芳芷月落山深哭杜鹃，以风回日暮吹芳芷写吹芳芷、以月落山深哭杜鹃写哭杜鹃，写尽风回日暮吹芳芷、月落山深哭杜鹃之情。以风写景，凄婉而咏史，是「以风写景」的点睛之笔。

This line writes the wind turning at dusk to stir the fragrant iris, the moon setting and the cuckoo mourning in the deep hills; through the wind it writes the grief-laden evening, the mournful crux.

犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川。

They seem still to knit their brows, gazing toward the royal progress; their sorrow breaks at Jiuyi, sundered by the Xiang.

犹似含颦望巡狩，九疑愁断隔湘川。

They seem still to frown, watching the royal progress; Nine Doubts Mountain is sundered by the Xiang, grief breaking the heart.

结句写九疑愁断隔湘川，是全诗立意的落点。「犹似含颦望巡狩」写犹似含颦望巡狩，「犹似含颦」写犹似含颦、「望巡狩」写望巡狩；「九疑愁断隔湘川」用九疑、湘川之典写九疑愁断隔湘川，「九疑愁断」写九疑愁断、「隔湘川」写隔湘川。一句写犹似含颦望巡狩九疑愁断隔湘川，以犹似含颦望巡狩写望巡狩、以九疑愁断隔湘川写隔湘川，写尽犹似含颦望巡狩、九疑愁断隔湘川之情。以川写情，凄婉而咏史，是全诗最动人处，也是「以川写情」的点睛之笔。

The closing line writes that they seem still to frown, watching the royal progress, while Nine Doubts Mountain is sundered by the Xiang, grief breaking the heart; through the river it lands the feeling, the poem's most moving point — the Xiang goddesses' endless longing across the parted waters.

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Word focus

小姑 'Little Maid': a small sandbar (Little Maid Islet) in the Xiang River near Huangling Temple; the tender name of the place sets a note of gentle, feminine sorrow beside the temple of the two goddesses. 「小姑」写小姑洲北浦云边，是写小姑之态的关键。「小姑洲北浦云边」着一「小姑」，写小姑——着一「小姑」，写小姑洲北浦云边，见其姑之小。两字写尽小姑之态，是「以词写姑」的妙笔。「小姑」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。
野庙 'Wild temple': a temple left to the wilds — no pilgrims, no rites. One word establishes the ruin that the following lines (blank stele, thick grass) confirm, and the neglect that makes the legend's fidelity more moving. 「野庙」写野庙向江春寂寂，是写野庙之态的关键。「野庙向江春寂寂」着一「野庙」，写野庙——着一「野庙」，写野庙向江春寂寂，见其庙之野。两字写尽野庙之态，是「以词写庙」的点睛之词。「野庙」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。
杜鹃 'Cuckoo': the cuckoo, whose call is traditionally heard as 'better go home' and which legend links to a king who wept blood; here it weeps for the two women who can never go home, giving the night landscape a voice. 「杜鹃」写月落山深哭杜鹃，是写杜鹃之态的关键。「月落山深哭杜鹃」着一「杜鹃」，写杜鹃——着一「杜鹃」，写月落山深哭杜鹃，见其鹃之杜。两字写尽杜鹃之态，是「以词写鹃」的点睛之词。「杜鹃」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。
湘川 'The Xiang's waters': the Xiang River, where the two consorts drowned and became goddesses; here it marks the final barrier between the living women's longing and the dead Shun's grave across the water. 「湘川」写九疑愁断隔湘川，是写湘川之态的关键。「九疑愁断隔湘川」着一「湘川」，写湘川——着一「湘川」，写九疑愁断隔湘川，见其川之湘。两字写尽湘川之态，是「以词写川」的点睛之词。「湘川」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 ('How long will the full moon appear?') 苏轼 · 同写咏史感怀、凄婉旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写小姑洲北浦云边二女容华自俨然，皆于咏史之中见凄婉 Both meditate on time and human feeling with bright, far-reaching calm — one on the moon's eternal recurrence, one on fidelity that outlasts death.

Su Shi finds consolation in the moon's constancy and the law that 'men have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion'; Li Qunyu finds it in constancy of another kind — two women still waiting after millennia, their sorrow unrelieved. One reconciles us to parting, the other enshrines the refusal to be reconciled; both fix their gaze on something that does not change.

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、凄婉旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；李群玉《黄陵庙》则以「小姑洲北浦云边，二女容华自俨然」「九疑愁断隔湘川」写自俨然、隔湘川。两诗同写咏史感怀、凄婉旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写小姑洲北浦云边二女容华自俨然、以湘妃写咏史；一为苏轼之旷达、一为李群玉之凄婉，并读正可见诗写「咏史感怀」的两种笔法，皆于咏史之中见凄婉。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of the Ganzhou Melody ('Facing the drizzling evening rain that sprinkles the sky') 柳永 · 同写江畔凝望、凄婉清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写野庙向江春寂寂古碑无字草芊芊，皆于江畔之中见凝望 Both gaze at river scenery from a standpoint of longing with clear, melancholy coloring — one for home, one for the dead.

Liu Yong's wanderer, facing the evening rain on the river, longs for home and his distant love; Li Qunyu's poet, facing the Xiang at Huangling Temple, contemplates a longing that can never be satisfied. The same river-and-dusk imagery carries homesickness in one and undying grief in the other — two registers of the classical river landscape.

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」，写江畔凝望、凄婉清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；李群玉《黄陵庙》则以「野庙向江春寂寂，古碑无字草芊芊」「月落山深哭杜鹃」写春寂寂、哭杜鹃。两诗同写江畔凝望、凄婉清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写野庙向江春寂寂古碑无字草芊芊、以野庙写咏史；一为柳永之清丽、一为李群玉之凄婉，并读正可见诗写「江畔凝望」的两种笔法，皆于江畔之中见凝望。