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唐 Tang · 词 Ci lyric

啰唝曲

The Luohong Song

刘采春（唐）

Liu Caichun

民歌Folk song 闺怨Boudoir lament 商妇Merchant's wife 五言绝句Five-character quatrain

不喜秦淮水，生憎江上船。
载儿夫婿去，经岁又经年。

I do not love the waters of Qinhuai,
and hate the river boats even more.
They carried my husband far away,
year after year, with no return.

Listen

Meaning

A merchant's wife, left alone by the riverside, pours out her grief by blaming the Qinhuai River and its boats for carrying her husband away; the years pass one after another with no sign of his return.

不喜欢那秦淮河的水，更憎恶江上来往的船。它们载走了我的丈夫，一去便是整年又整年。

Appreciation

The poem's power lies in its 'unreasonable blame': the river and boats are innocent things, yet because they took the husband away, the woman says she does not love the water and hates the boats. This childlike, outspoken logic is the essence of folk song. The colloquial phrase shengzeng ('downright loathe') lifts the feeling from mere dislike to piercing resentment, while 'year after year' conveys the endlessness of waiting in plain, unadorned words.

【白话串讲】 “不喜秦淮水，生憎江上船”——刘采春写啰唝曲：她不喜欢秦淮水，憎恨江上船。“载儿夫婿去，经岁又经年”——因为那船载走了她的丈夫，一去经年。一个女子的迁怒，其实是想念。【意象与手法】以女子口吻直抒对江船的怨恼，“不喜秦淮水，生憎江上船”本是无情物却因载走夫婿而令人不喜、生憎，以无理之语写至情之痴；后两句“载儿夫婿去，经岁又经年”点出商人重利轻别、长年不归的市井现实。用白描与民歌特有的率真口吻，不假雕饰而怨情毕露。【情感与主旨】中唐流行于江南的民歌，由伶人刘采春所唱而广为传诵，写商人妇的离愁别恨。真实记录唐代商品经济下商人妇的生存境遇，在闺怨诗中别具生活气息，为中唐市民文学兴起的先声。【名句点睛】常考“不喜秦淮水，生憎江上船”以迁怒于物写相思之深；“载儿夫婿去，经岁又经年”以经岁又经年写别离之久。

Background

Luohong Qu was a folk song popular in Jiangnan during the mid-Tang, made famous by the singing of the entertainer Liu Caichun. In this period, commerce flourished along the canals; men traveled far to trade and often failed to return for years, leaving merchant wives behind. Liu Caichun, herself a performer and transmitter of such songs, collected and adapted these oral lyrics. The poem records the voice of an ordinary city woman, bypassing the usual literati filter, and shares the spirit of the New Music Bureau (xin yuefu) advocated by Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi.

《啰唝曲》是中唐时期流行于江南的民歌，由伶人刘采春所唱而广为传诵，多写商人妇的离愁别恨。刘采春为唐代著名女艺人，其夫周季崇亦为伶人，她所唱《啰唝曲》实为其采录改编的民间组诗，世称刘采春作。要理解这首诗，先要明白它生长的背景：中唐商品经济勃兴，运河沿岸商旅往来频繁，男子经商远出、长年不归成为普遍的社会现象，由此催生了大量商人妇题材的歌诗。这首诗以女子口吻，直抒对江船的怨恼，是市井女性声音的真实记录。刘采春本人既是表演者也是传播者，她的歌声使这些民间小唱突破里巷、进入文人视野，与元稹、白居易所倡新乐府「为事而作」的精神暗合。这首诗的价值，正在于它不假文人润色而自有鲜活的生命力，是唐代俗文学与文人诗交融的珍贵标本。更深一层看，这首诗的主语是一个无名女子，她没有姓氏、没有来历，只以「儿」自称，却凭借一句怨水恨船的直白进入了文学史。这说明在唐代，即便男性主导的文坛，市井女性的声音仍可能经由表演与传唱获得记录。刘采春作为表演者的中介作用因而格外关键：她不是单纯的转录者，而是把民间情绪提炼、定型、传播的人。若无她，这些声音或早已散入江风。从这个意义上，《啰唝曲》既是个人之怨，也是一代商妇集体命运的回声。

Art

The art of this poem is the art of raw feeling. It opens with two parallel curses—'not love' and 'outright hate'—directed at the river and the boats, a transferred anger typical of folk poetry. There are no allusions, no ornate words, and no crafted transitions. The syntax follows speech, not poetic convention. 'Carrying my husband away' explains the blame, and 'year after year' stretches time into an endless ache. This is white description (baimiao) at its purest, and it marks the vitality of mid-Tang popular literature.

此诗艺术上最动人处，在以「无理之语」写「至情之痴」，全用白描与民歌特有的率真口吻，不假雕饰而怨情毕露。前两句「不喜秦淮水，生憎江上船」，秦淮之水、江上之船本是无情物，却因载走夫婿而令人「不喜」乃至「生憎」，这种把迁怒加于无生命之物的写法，正是民歌最朴野也最真挚的逻辑——爱恨太满，便不分对象。「生憎」二字尤见力度，比「不喜」更进一层，是咬牙切齿的怨。后两句「载儿夫婿去，经岁又经年」，点出商人重利轻别、长年不归的市井现实，「经岁又经年」以叠字写时间之长和归期之渺，语浅情深。全诗二十字，无一典、无一丽词，却字字含怨，体现了中唐俗文学直抒胸臆的趣味，与文人闺怨诗的含蓄蕴藉判然两途。此诗之妙又在语气之「真」：一个市井女子口吻，不须铺垫，劈头便是不喜生憎，如当面对人诉说，毫无文人诗起承转合的算计。它的力量正来自这种「无技术」——二十字无一字讲究，却字字到位，恰如民间剪纸，粗处见魂。中唐俗文学以此类小唱为骨，上接乐府、下启词曲，此诗正处其转捩之处，宜以活态歌声去读，方不负刘采春当初的唱本。

Allusions

The poem contains no classical allusion, but it draws on cultural geography and social custom. The Qinhuai River, since the Six Dynasties, had been a symbol of Nanjing's splendor and separation, a place where merchants and travelers gathered. The stock image of the merchant who 'values profit over parting' appears in Li Bai's 'Changgan xing' and Bai Juyi's 'Pipa xing'; this song belongs to the same tradition. The narrator's self-reference as er ('I') is a colloquialism found in Dunhuang song lyrics, marking the poem as genuine women's oral speech rather than a literati imitation.

诗中虽无深典，却牵涉一组重要的文学传统与社会现象。「秦淮」即秦淮河，六朝以来便是金陵繁华与离别的象征水域，商旅汇聚、歌酒连宵，本与商人妇的离散命运深深纠缠；以此水起兴，暗含江南商埠的地理背景。「载儿夫婿去」的「夫婿」指其丈夫，唐人呼丈夫为「夫婿」是市井常语，而商人重利轻别离的主题，则与李白《长干行》「早晚下三巴，预将书报家」、白居易《琵琶行》「老大嫁作商人妇，商人重利轻别离」同一社会根源。诗中「经岁又经年」写长年不归，正可与此类作品互证，共同拼出唐代商品经济下女性等待的群像。民歌不引书而自合世情，其「典」在风俗而不在典册。再从文学传统看，以「水」「船」为怨的意象并非孤发：南朝乐府《那呵滩》已有「闻欢下扬州，相送江津湾」的送别之悲，至唐而商人妇题材大盛，水与舟遂成离散的共名。刘采春此曲以秦淮、江船入歌，正把个体的离愁接入这条绵长的江南水系叙事。「儿」的市井自称，亦与敦煌曲子词中「奴」「儿」等口语自称同一语域，可见此诗并非偶然的文人拟作，而是活生生的民间话语。它不引一典而处处是风俗之典，恰是民歌以世情为典故的最高明的写法。

Commentary

Liu Caichun has been praised as the leading female poet of the Tang largely because of this song. Although later critics often note its 'unpolished' quality, they also recognize that its directness is exactly its strength. The poem asks us to listen with the ears of a singer: the curse against the river, the pause after 'outright hate,' the dragging voice on 'year after year.' It is a precious document of Tang folk song, of women's voices, and of the close bond between poetry and music. The water and boats are not the real enemy; what is hated is fate itself.

刘采春由此被誉为唐代女诗人之冠，其《啰唝曲》组诗与元稹、白居易所倡新乐府精神暗合，可见民间歌诗对文人创作的滋养。与李白《长干行》、白居易《琵琶行》中商妇形象相比，此诗更见民间本色，语言近乎脱口而出却字字含怨，是中唐市民文学兴起的先声。它的流传亦赖歌妓传唱，反映唐代音乐与诗歌的紧密结合。历代论者多注意其「非文人手笔」的天然，清人冒襄、近人论唐诗者多以之与文人闺怨对举，称其「质而不俚，怨而不怒」。其实这首诗的力量正在「俚」与「怒」之间：它不讲究温柔敦厚，而让一个女子直直地恨一条河、恨一条船，这种不加修饰的怨，恰恰最贴近真实的人生。它是研究唐代民间歌谣与女性声音不可绕过的材料。值得补充的是，这组《啰唝曲》在唐代并非孤篇，而是六首组成的组诗，刘采春所唱多为民间采录，经歌妓辗转传唱而遍于江南。其价值不仅在文学，更在声音层面：诗因乐传，乐以诗存，是研究唐代音乐与诗歌共生关系的活标本。后世词曲源流，实已于此民间小唱中见其端倪。清人论词每追溯唐人绝句与民歌，刘采春此曲正可与敦煌曲子词并观，同为庶民情感未经文人过滤的直写。正因其真，故能穿越礼教与阶层，被不同身份的读者共同记取。诗之能流传，本不靠作者的门第，而靠它是否说中了人心的某处。刘采春唱出的怨，千年之后仍让听者心动，正因为离愁别恨从未随时代老去。一条秦淮水，载走的何止唐代的夫婿，也是所有等待者的春天。水与船本无情，被怨的其实是命运。

Prosody

Form Five-character quatrain (folk-song style, not regulated verse)五言绝句（民歌体，不依近体粘对，随口成歌）

Rhyme No regulated rhyme scheme; the lines follow natural speech cadences and would have been carried by the melody of the song.此诗前两句「水」「船」不押近体韵，后两句「去」「年」亦非严韵，本为乐府民歌，以自然语调行腔，不尚叶韵；若以方音歌之，则别有宛转之致。

Tone pattern No strict tonal pattern; the tones follow colloquial pronunciation and song melody rather than the rules of recent-style verse.五言绝句本可不论平仄，此诗「不喜秦淮水，生憎江上船」随口语起伏，「载儿夫婿去，经岁又经年」更近说话节奏，故读来如闻女子诉语，与文人律绝之谨严声调异趣。

Reading note The rhythm of this poem lies in its breath and emotion, not in prosodic rules. 'Not loving the Qinhuai water' and 'hating the river boats more' are parallel in structure but not in tonal opposition. The final line's repeated 'year after year' invites a drawn-out vocal delivery, turning an ordinary phrase into the sound of unending waiting. As a folk song, its form is closer to the ancient yuefu than to the regulated quatrain, even though it is written in twenty five-character lines.民歌之律在「顺口」不在「合谱」。此诗若以近体尺度衡量，几乎无一处讲平仄粘对，但这恰是它的好处：它要的不是诗品的端严，而是歌者的自然。刘采春唱此曲时，本就是依乐定辞，声调随情走，故「不喜」「生憎」这种口语能坦然入诗。后世文人模拟闺怨，往往失其「真」，正因多了一层格律与教养的过滤；此诗之不可及，在全无过滤。此诗虽列五绝之形，实则一首乐府民歌，本不受近体声律约束，其节律全依歌者的气息与乐句，故读来如话如诉。前两句「不喜秦淮水，生憎江上船」以两平列短句直抛怨情，后两句「载儿夫婿去，经岁又经年」以因果相接收束根由，结构极简却极完整，恰如一首小令的起与合。刘采春当日依调而歌，必于生憎处略顿、于经岁又经年处拖腔，方显怨之绵长。后世文人虽能仿其体，却难仿其声，正因这声腔原在歌喉不在纸面，是研究唐代诗乐共生不可忽略的一例。

Line by line

不喜秦淮水，生憎江上船。

The woman says she does not love the Qinhuai River water and, even more strongly, she loathes the boats on the river. These are the two concrete objects that carried her husband away.

不喜欢那秦淮河的水，更憎恶江上来往的船。

I do not love the Qinhuai water; I downright hate the boats on the river.

起笔两句极「无理」也极「有情」。秦淮之水、江上之船，本是过眼的无情物，女子却对它们生出「不喜」乃至「生憎」的恨意，原因只在它们载走了丈夫。这种迁怒，是民歌最本色、最孩子气的逻辑：心里装满离愁，便看什么都不顺眼。「生憎」比「不喜」重得多，是明明白白的厌弃，二字把怨气推到极点。值得注意的是，她恨的不是造成离散的社会（经商），而是水与船这些具体的「帮凶」，这种把大痛苦落在小物件上的写法，反比直诉身世更揪心。二十字未出「夫」字，而夫之去已在不言中。

The opening two lines are extremely 'unreasonable' and extremely 'feeling'. The Qinhuai water, the river boats, are feelingless things passing by, yet the woman has conceived 'dislike' and even 'downright hate' for them, the cause only that they carried her husband away. This displaced anger is the ballad's most native, most childlike logic: the heart full of parting grief, and everything seen displeases. 'Downright hate' is far heavier than 'dislike', plain rejection, the two words pushing the grievance to the extreme. Notable: she hates not the society that causes the separation (the merchant's trade), but the concrete 'accomplices' of water and boats; this landing of the great pain on small objects is more piercing than a direct tale of her lot. Twenty words, the word 'husband' not once uttered, yet his going is already beyond words.

载儿夫婿去，经岁又经年。

She explains the curse: the boats carried my husband away, and a year has passed, and then another year. The repeated years make the waiting seem endless.

它们载走了我的丈夫，一去便是整年又整年。

They carried off my husband, year after year, year after year.

后两句揭开前两句怨恨的根由：原来水与船之可恨，全在「载儿夫婿去」。一个「儿」字是女子自称的娇语、市井语，透出娇憨与亲昵，也反衬出分离之苦。「经岁又经年」以叠词写时间之沓长，岁复年、年复岁，归期全无，把等待的熬煎写得平淡而深挚。这一句的好处在不渲染：没有泪，没有病，只说「经岁又经年」，却让人想见无数个独对秦淮的晨昏。前两句的「无理之怨」至此有了坚实的「有情之据」，全诗形成一个完整的小小冤案——水船无罪，而怨不可遏，正是民歌以痴写真的妙处。

The last two lines uncover the cause of the opening grievance: the water and boats are hateful, all in that 'they carried off my husband'. The one word 'I' is the woman's own fond, colloquial self-address, breathing the coy and intimate, and setting off the bitterness of the parting. 'Year after year, year after year' uses the doubled words for the endless time, year on year, year on year, the homeward date nowhere, writing the torment of waiting in plain, deep words. The beauty of the line is its refusal to embellish: no tears, no illness, only 'year after year', yet the reader imagines countless dawns and evenings alone facing the Qinhuai. The 'unreasonable grievance' of the opening two lines here finds its solid 'reasonable ground', and the whole poem forms a complete small injustice — the water and boats are guiltless, yet the grievance cannot be checked, the ballad's art of writing truth through folly.

Study

Word focus

生憎 Outright loathing; sheng here intensifies the verb, meaning 'hard, downright'; zeng means 'to hate.' It turns a gentle dislike into a bitter curse. 「生憎」是诗中力度最强的一个词。生，犹言偏、硬是；憎，厌恶。合起来是「硬是讨厌、打心底里憎恶」，比一般的「不喜」重十倍。它把女子对江船的怨写到咬牙切齿的程度，却又不失民歌的率真。这两个字是全诗情绪的引爆点：前句「不喜」尚是淡淡的嫌，到「生憎」已是明明白白的恨，情绪由此完成升级。生憎一词在唐人口语中极活，常见于市井歌诗与变文，刘采春以之入曲，正取其凶狠直白的力度，把女子怨到极处的口吻写得活灵活现。相较于文人诗中「怅望」「伤怀」之类的含蓄，这一个生憎字，胜却千言万语的委婉。

儿 Colloquial self-reference used by women in Tang speech, roughly 'I' or 'me,' with a familiar, plaintive tone. It gives the poem a living, feminine voice. 「载儿夫婿去」的「儿」是诗中唯一的第一人称，也是唯一的亲昵语。它既点出歌者女性身份，又带出市井少妇娇憨自称的口吻，与文人诗中庄重的「妾」「余」截然不同。一个「儿」字，让这首怨歌有了具体的、活生生的说话人，也使「夫婿」二字更显亲密——越是亲，失去时越是怨，这个自称恰是反衬离苦的妙笔。儿的使用法在唐代民间极为普遍，敦煌写本与曲子词中女子多自呼为儿，正是市井却不粗鄙的活语言。刘采春选这一个字，等于为歌者立住了身份与声口，使读者一开口便听见一个鲜活的江南商妇在说话，而非文人假托的闺怨主角。

经岁又经年 Literally 'passing a year and then another year.' The repetition of synonyms for 'year' makes time feel unnaturally long and emphasizes the husband's endless absence. 「经岁又经年」以岁、年二字叠用，写时间之长、归期之渺。岁与年本近义，重叠而言，是把「久」这件事本身反复咀嚼，生出沓长无边的感觉。它不写如何思念，只写时间怎样流走，而以「又」字串联，仿佛每年都在同样的等待里轮回。这种以时间写哀的手法，语极浅而味极深，是民歌「不著力而有力」的范例。经岁又经年亦承汉乐府「行行重行行」与南朝「年年岁岁」的叠沓遗风，是民间歌诗写久别的共同句式。刘采春以口语的重复道出无尽的等待，岁与年本无别，偏要叠说，正是心里盘算归期而终无归期时的痴念。

秦淮 The Qinhuai River, the famous river of Nanjing, a center of commerce, pleasure, and parting since the Six Dynasties. Its name evokes the entire commercial geography of separation. 「秦淮」即秦淮河，六朝金粉之地，亦是运河商旅汇聚之区。诗中以秦淮起兴，不只是点明地理，更暗含江南商埠的文化记忆——这里既是繁华所在，也是离散的起点。水与船在秦淮最为密匝，女子的怨便也有了最恰当的舞台。一个地名，把个人的离愁接上了整条江南水系的商业脉络。秦淮河在唐人诗中常是离别的代名，李白「风吹柳花满店香，吴姬压酒唤客尝」亦写江南水边送别，可见秦淮一水承载着多少聚散的记忆。刘采春偏从此水起句，把私人之怨安放在最富离情的水域，水愈温柔，被怨时便愈显无理而动人，正是民歌以熟典翻新意的本领。

啰唝曲