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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

买花

Buying Flowers

白居易

Bai Juyi

讽喻Satire 民生People's Livelihood

帝城春欲暮，喧喧车马度。
共道牡丹时，相随买花去。
贵贱无常价，酬直看花数。
灼灼百朵红，戋戋五束素。
上张幄幕庇，旁织巴篱护。
水洒复泥封，移来色如故。
家家习为俗，人人迷不悟。
有一田舍翁，偶来买花处。
低头独长叹，此叹无人喻。
一丛深色花，十户中人赋。

In the capital, spring is about to pass away; carriages and horses stream noisily by.
All agree it is the peony season; one after another they go off to buy flowers.
Noble or common, there is no fixed price; what you pay is reckoned by the number of blooms.
A hundred glowing red blossoms fetch five plain bolts of white silk.
Above, awnings are spread to shade them; beside them, hedges are woven to protect them.
Water is sprinkled, mud sealed over; transplanted, their color remains as before.
Every family has made it a custom; everyone is lost in it and does not wake.
There is an old farm laborer who happens to come to the flower market.
Head bowed, he sighs alone; no one understands his sigh.
One clump of deep-hued flowers equals the yearly tax of ten middling households.

Listen

Meaning

In late spring the capital's carriages and horses crowd toward the peony market, where a hundred glowing blooms fetch five bolts of white silk and the finest plants are shaded with awnings and guarded by hedges. Buying flowers has become the obsession of every household. Against this extravagance the poet sets an old farm laborer who bows his head and sighs: one clump of dark peonies costs the yearly tax of ten ordinary households.

帝城的春色将要过去，车马喧喧而过。都说正是牡丹盛开的时节，相随着去买花。贵贱没有固定的价格，付钱要看花的朵数。灼灼百朵的红牡丹，价值五束白绢。上面张起帷幕遮蔽，旁边编起篱笆围护。洒水又封泥，移来颜色依然如故。家家习以为俗，人人沉迷而不觉悟。有一个田舍老翁，偶然来到买花的地方。低头独自长叹，这叹息没有人能懂得。一丛深色的花，价值十户中等人家一年的赋税。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] As spring ends in the capital, carriages and horses fill the streets and everyone hurries to buy peonies. Prices follow the number of blossoms, and the rarest plants are shaded, fenced, watered, and sealed with earth to keep their color. Every family has made this a custom; no one stops to think. Only an old farm laborer, passing by, lowers his head and sighs: one clump of deep-hued flowers equals a year's taxes from ten ordinary households. [Structure] The first twelve lines pile up the spectacle of flower buying; the last eight introduce the laborer whose sigh delivers the verdict. Satire is built by contrast rather than by argument. [Imagery] Glowing blossoms borrowed from the Book of Songs and five bolts of plain silk turned against their original meaning create the poem's central irony: beauty priced in silk, and silk that is the people's tax in disguise.

【白话串讲】白居易写《买花》：“帝城春欲暮，喧喧车马度”——“共道牡丹时，相随买花去”——“灼灼百朵红，戋戋五束素”——“上张幄幕庇，旁织巴篱护”——“家家习为俗，人人迷不悟”——“有一田舍翁，偶来买花处”——“一丛深色花，十户中人赋”——一丛牡丹花，抵十户人家的税。【意象与手法】此诗是白居易《秦中吟》十首之一，写长安权贵买花的豪奢与农民的困苦，是白居易讽喻诗的名篇。前十二句写买花的盛况：「帝城春欲暮，喧喧车马度」写买花的时节与喧闹；「共道牡丹时，相随买花去」写买花的流行；「灼灼百朵红，戋戋五束素」写牡丹的昂贵；「上张幄幕庇，旁织巴篱护」写对花的珍护；「家家习为俗，人人迷不悟」写买花之风已成俗。后八句写田舍翁的叹息：「有一田舍翁，偶来买花处」引出老农；「低头独长叹，此叹无人喻」写其叹息；「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」点明主旨——一丛深色花的价格，抵得上十户中等人家一年的赋税。全诗前写权贵的豪奢，后写农夫的叹息，以「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」作结，讽意自明，是白居易「直歌其事」的又一典范。【情感与主旨】此诗约作于唐宪宗元和五年（810）前后，是白居易《秦中吟》十首之一。时白居易在长安任职，目睹长安贵族买牡丹的豪奢之风——暮春时节，车马喧喧，买花者络绎不绝，一丛牡丹价值连城；而乡下的农民终年劳作，一家的赋税尚且难以为继。诗中「灼灼百朵红，戋戋五束素」写牡丹之贵，「家家习为俗，人人迷不悟」写买花之风，「有一田舍翁，偶来买花处」引出老农的叹息，「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」点明主旨。全诗最深刻之处，在于以「田舍翁」的叹息作结：老农不是买花者，而是偶然路过，他低头独叹——那叹息无人能懂，却道出了全诗的主旨：一丛花的钱，抵得上十户中等人家一年的赋税；权贵买花的一掷千金，正是农民终年辛劳也难企及的天文数字。这种「以花写贫富」的构思，正是白居易讽喻诗的独到之处——他不直接写苛政，不直接写民怨，只写一丛花的价格与十户人家的赋税，让读者在数字的对照中感受贫富的悬殊。此诗是白居易「唯歌生民病」精神的具体体现，也是理解中唐社会矛盾的核心作品。【名句点睛】常考“灼灼百朵红，戋戋五束素”写牡丹之昂贵；“一丛深色花，十户中人赋”点明主旨——一丛深色花的价格，抵得上十户人家一年的赋税。

Background

Bai Juyi (772-846) wrote this poem around 810, when he was a Hanlin academician and Reminder of the Left in Chang'an. It belongs to his ten Qin Zhong Yin poems, composed to sing plainly of what he saw and heard in the capital. In the mid-Tang the aristocracy's passion for peonies reached a peak: celebrated plants sold for tens of thousands of cash while peasants struggled to pay their taxes. Bai Juyi's stated ideal, that poems should be written for the age and for the occasion, is fully realized here.

此诗约作于唐宪宗元和五年（810），是白居易《秦中吟》十首之一。白居易于元和二年（807）任翰林学士，三年授左拾遗，此后数年在长安任职。中唐时期，长安贵族好牡丹成风：每年暮春，长安城中的权贵豪门争相购买牡丹，一株名贵的牡丹价值数万钱，买花者车马喧喧、络绎不绝；而广大农民终年劳作，却难以为继。白居易在《秦中吟》序中自述：「贞元、元和之际，予在长安，闻见之间，有足悲者，因直歌其事。」此诗即写其在长安所见：帝城暮春，车马喧喧，人们争相买花——「灼灼百朵红，戋戋五束素」写牡丹之昂贵（百朵红牡丹，价五束白绢）；「上张幄幕庇，旁织巴篱护」写对花的珍护（张帷幕以蔽日，编篱笆以护花）；「家家习为俗，人人迷不悟」写买花之风的流行；而「有一田舍翁，偶来买花处」，这位老农「低头独长叹」——他看得懂这花的代价：「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」——一丛深色牡丹的价钱，抵得上十户中等人家一年的赋税。唐代的「中人」（中等人家）一年赋税是相当可观的数目，白居易以「十户中人赋」写一丛花的价值，正是以具体数字揭示贫富的悬殊。此诗与《轻肥》《杜陵叟》等同为《秦中吟》讽喻组诗，是白居易「文章合为时而著，歌诗合为事而作」主张的实践，也是理解中唐社会贫富矛盾的核心作品。

Art

The poem's craft lies first in accumulation: twelve lines build the buying craze, carriages, crowds, prices, awnings, and hedges, layer upon layer, so that the final couplet lands like a hammer blow. Second, it argues with numbers: a hundred blooms for five bolts of silk and one clump equal to ten households' taxes let arithmetic carry the moral weight. Third, it speaks through a character: the laborer does not buy flowers, yet he alone understands their cost, and his unheeded sigh does the work of a sermon. Fourth, the tone stays cold and level, without one line of direct comment, in Bai Juyi's manner of singing the matter plainly.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，先铺陈后点题的构思。全诗前十二句铺陈长安买花的盛况——车马喧喧、牡丹当令、灼灼百朵、戋戋五束、张幕编篱、家家成俗，层层铺陈、极写其盛；后八句写田舍翁的叹息——低头独长叹、此叹无人喻，末两句「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」点明主旨。这种「先写盛况、后点题旨」的结构，如层层铺垫后的骤然一击，讽意自明。其二，以数字写贫富。全诗最有力的不是议论，而是数字：「灼灼百朵红，戋戋五束素」写花价之贵，「十户中人赋」写赋税之重，以「一丛深色花」对「十户中人赋」，让读者在具体数字的对照中感受贫富的悬殊，正是「直歌其事」的本领。其三，以人物写讽喻。全诗没有直接抨击，而是引入「田舍翁」这一人物——他不买花，只是偶然路过，低头独叹，「此叹无人喻」写其叹息无人能懂，而正是这无人能懂的叹息，道破了全诗的主旨，以人物之叹写讽喻之意，比直接的议论更深刻。其四，冷静的笔调。全诗从「帝城春欲暮」到「十户中人赋」，始终以冷静的笔调叙事，不发一句议论，不表一丝情绪，正是白居易「直歌其事」的冷峻风格。四重手法层层推进，使此诗成为白居易讽喻诗中的名篇。

Allusions

The word glowing is taken from the Book of Songs, where it describes the peach blossom's dazzling red, here redrawn for peonies. Five bolts of plain silk adapts the Book of Changes phrase about bundled silks, originally a modest gift, now used ironically for an extravagant price. The capital's peony craze was famous in Tang times; Liu Yuxi's line that only the peony is the true color of the kingdom and that when it blooms it moves the capital describes the same fashion. The laborer's solitary sigh also continues the yuefu tradition of letting an old man's voice carry social criticism.

此诗的意象与用语深植于乐府与咏物传统。「帝城春欲暮」写长安暮春，「帝城」指长安，令人想到唐人咏长安的诸多诗篇；「喧喧车马度」写买花的喧闹，「车马度」令人想到王维「车马客」的意象与李白「大车扬飞尘」写权贵出行。「共道牡丹时，相随买花去」写买牡丹之风的流行——唐代长安贵牡丹成风，有「牡丹之盛，盖亦尚矣」之说，刘禹锡「唯有牡丹真国色，花开时节动京城」即写此风。「灼灼百朵红」化用《诗经·周南·桃夭》「桃之夭夭，灼灼其华」的「灼灼」——本写桃花之盛，白居易借以写牡丹之红，「灼灼」写其光彩照人；「戋戋五束素」化用《易经》「束帛戋戋」（《贲卦》：「束帛戋戋」），本写礼品之薄，白居易借以写花价之昂——五束白绢（素）换一丛花，「戋戋」用典而反其意。「上张幄幕庇，旁织巴篱护」写对花的珍护——张帷幕以蔽日，编篱笆以护花，写权贵对花的呵护备至，与「田舍翁」的叹息形成对照。「家家习为俗，人人迷不悟」写买花之风的流行，「迷不悟」令人想到《老子》「俗人昭昭」与屈原「举世皆浊我独清，众人皆醉我独醒」——满城买花者「迷不悟」，唯田舍翁「独长叹」。「低头独长叹」化用《古诗十九首》「回车驾言迈」的感慨笔法，「独长叹」写老农的孤独叹息。「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」以「一丛」对「十户」、「花」对「赋」，是白居易讽喻诗的经典句式，令人想到其《轻肥》「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」的对照笔法。全诗化用《诗经》《易经》、乐府的传统，以铺陈写豪奢、以数字写悬殊，正是白居易「直歌其事」的讽喻本领。

Commentary

Critics have long ranked this among the finest of the Qin Zhong Yin. Shen Deqian praised it, saying that through the old farmer's sigh the extravagance of buying flowers is seen and the satire is self-evident. Its special value is to turn a daily trifle, buying flowers, into a portrait of an age's inequality: one throw of money by the rich is a sum the poor cannot earn in a year. Read with The Extravagant Feast and The Old Man of Duling, it shows the range of Bai Juyi's satirical genius.

此诗历来被推为白居易《秦中吟》中的名篇，也是「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」这一千古名句的出处。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人沈德潜评此诗「以老农之叹，写买花之奢，讽意自见」，近人更指出此诗以「一丛花」与「十户赋」的数字对照，揭示出中唐社会贫富的悬殊，是白居易「唯歌生民病」主张的典范。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以「买花」这一看似寻常的日常现象，写出了整个时代的贫富对立——长安权贵买牡丹的一掷千金，正是乡间农民终年辛劳也难企及的天文数字；而那「低头独长叹」的田舍翁，正是白居易笔下最动人的形象——他不买花，却看得懂花的代价。此诗与《轻肥》《杜陵叟》等同为《秦中吟》讽喻组诗，一写买花的豪奢、一写宦官的骄横、一写苛税的盘剥，从不同侧面揭示了中唐社会的矛盾。对于今日读者，此诗是理解中唐社会贫富对立与白居易讽喻精神的窗口，也是感受中国文学「以小事写大时代」传统的典范——那喧喧的车马、灼灼的牡丹、低头长叹的老农，穿越千年，仍在诉说着花的代价与时代的创伤。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient-style verse in the new yuefu manner, twenty lines.五言古诗（新乐府体）

Rhyme The oblique-tone rhymes, du, qu, su, hu, gu, wu, chu, yu, and fu, belong to the falling-tone yu category, giving a short, clipped sound that suits the cold severity of the satire.押去声遇韵与仄声相间（度、去、素、护、故、悟、处、喻、赋），首句不入韵，韵脚属遇部，韵音短促，正合其讽喻的冷峻风格。

Tone pattern Free of the strict patterns of regulated verse, the poem uses the steady five-character line as a narrative vehicle. The first twelve lines move lightly with the buying season; the last two lines, one clump of dark flowers and ten households' yearly tax, drop to a heavy close and stop abruptly, matching the structure of buildup followed by verdict.此诗为五言古体，共二十句，不受近体格律束缚，以五言的沉实句式为叙事服务。全诗按内容可分为三层：前十二句写买花的盛况（帝城春暮、车马喧喧、牡丹当令、灼灼百朵、张幕编篱、家家成俗）；次六句写田舍翁的叹息（有一田舍翁、低头独长叹、此叹无人喻）；末两句写主旨（一丛深色花、十户中人赋）。声调上，全诗以五言短句写叙事的冷峻，前十二句铺陈买花的盛况、节奏轻快，末两句「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」骤然转沉、戛然而止，正合其「先铺陈、后点题」的讽喻结构。

Reading note As ancient-style verse it breaks the rules of regulated tonal patterns yet controls rhythm with precision: a light cadence for the spectacle, weight for the conclusion. Read the buying scenes in a level voice, for the calmer the tone the sharper the irony, and let the final couplet fall slowly, word by word.此诗是五言古体，共二十句，以「一吟悲一事」为宗旨，格律自由而声情冷峻，正是白居易「新乐府」讽喻诗的本领。全诗三层，从买花的盛况，到田舍翁的叹息，到主旨的点题，层层推进，末两句骤然转折。声调上，全诗以五言短句写叙事的冷峻，前十二句铺陈买花的豪奢、节奏轻快，末两句「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」骤然转沉、戛然而止，正合其讽喻的严峻。诵读此诗，宜以平和的语调读买花的盛况（越是平静越见讽意），以沉痛的语调读田舍翁的叹息，以凝重的语调读「十户中人赋」的点题，尤其末两句，要读得字字千钧，方能传达出白居易讽喻的力量。白居易讽喻诗以「直歌其事」著称，此诗正是其《秦中吟》中以「小事写大时代」的名篇。

Line by line

家家习为俗，人人迷不悟。

Every household has made it a custom; everyone is lost in it and does not wake.

家家习以为俗，人人沉迷而不觉悟。

Every household has made it a custom; every man is sunk in it, undeceived.

这两句是写买花之风的点睛之笔，以「习为俗」「迷不悟」写满城买花的沉迷，冷峻而含讽。「家家习为俗」写风之普遍——买花已不是少数权贵的奢侈，而是「家家」习以为常的风俗，「习为俗」写其积习成风——那买花的豪奢，已从个别现象变成了普遍的风气；「人人迷不悟」写迷之深沉——「人人」沉迷其中而不觉悟，「迷不悟」写其沉迷之深——满城的人都在买花、赏花，却没有人想到这花的代价，没有人想到那十户人家的赋税。两句以「家家」「人人」对举，写买花之风已弥漫整个社会，从权贵到平民，从城市到乡村，人人沉迷、无人醒悟。这两句的深意在于：它为后文「田舍翁」的叹息作了最有力的铺垫——正因为「家家习为俗，人人迷不悟」，那「低头独长叹」的田舍翁才显得格外孤独，他的叹息才格外刺耳；而「迷不悟」三字，更是对那个时代的清醒批判——满城皆醉，唯翁独醒。以「习为俗」写风之盛、以「迷不悟」写迷之深，正是白居易冷峻的讽笔，也让这两句成为写「时代风气」的名句。

These two lines are the eye of the writing on the flower-buying fashion, through 'made it a custom' and 'sunk in it, undeceived' writing the whole city's flower-buying infatuation, cold and satiric. 'Every household has made it a custom' writes the fashion's universality — flower-buying is no longer the luxury of a few nobles, but 'every household's' habitual custom, 'made it a custom' writing its accumulation into a fashion — the extravagance of flower-buying has turned from an individual phenomenon into the general air; 'every man is sunk in it, undeceived' writes the depth of the infatuation — 'every man' sunk in it and undeceived, 'sunk in it, undeceived' writing the depth of the infatuation — the whole city buying flowers, viewing flowers, and no one thinks of the cost of these flowers, no one thinks of the tax of those ten households. Two lines, through the pairing of 'every household' and 'every man', writing the fashion's spread through the whole society, from the nobles to the commoners, from the city to the village, every man sunk, none awakened. The depth of the lines lies in: they store the most powerful groundwork for the later 'country old man's' sigh — precisely because 'every household has made it a custom, every man is sunk in it, undeceived', the 'head bowed, alone sighing long' country old man seems the more lonely, his sigh the more jarring; and the three words 'sunk in it, undeceived' are the sober critique of that age — the whole city drunk, the old man alone awake. Writing the fashion's height through 'made it a custom', the infatuation's depth through 'sunk in it, undeceived', precisely Bai Juyi's cold satiric brush, and making these two lines the famous writing on 'the age's air'.

一丛深色花，十户中人赋。

One clump of deep-hued flowers equals the yearly tax of ten middling households.

一丛深色的花，价值十户中等人家一年的赋税。

One cluster of deep-colored flowers — the tax of ten middle households.

这两句是全诗的点题之笔，也是千古名句，以「一丛花」与「十户赋」的数字对照，写尽贫富的悬殊。「一丛深色花」写花之贵——「一丛」写花之少，只是「一丛」深色的牡丹；「十户中人赋」写价之昂——这一丛花的价格，抵得上「十户」中等人家一年的赋税，「中人赋」是唐代对中等人家一年赋税的专称，以具体的制度名词写具体的数额，让那「贵」有了可感的刻度。两句以「一」对「十」、「丛」对「户」、「花」对「赋」，对仗精工而寓意深长：一丛花是权贵的消遣，十户赋是百姓的生计；权贵的一掷千金，正是百姓的终年血汗。这两句的深意在于：它以最冷静的数字写出了最深刻的社会现实——那一丛深色花的代价，不是权贵的「一掷千金」能概括的，而是十户中等人家一年的赋税、一年的生计；白居易没有写一句议论，只是让这数字自己说话，而那「田舍翁」低头长叹的原因，也正在这数字之中。以数字写悬殊、以对仗写对照，正是白居易讽喻艺术的巅峰，也让「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」成为千古名句。

These two lines are the poem's point, and a famous line through the ages, through the number contrast of 'one cluster of flowers' and 'the tax of ten households', writing the full disparity of rich and poor. 'One cluster of deep-colored flowers' writes the flower's costliness — 'one cluster' the smallness, only 'one cluster' of deep-colored peony; 'the tax of ten middle households' writes the price's height — this one cluster's price equals 'ten middle households'' year's tax, 'the middle household's tax' the Tang dynasty's special term for a middle household's year tax, using the concrete institutional name for the concrete amount, giving that 'costliness' a sensible scale. Two lines, 'one' against 'ten', 'cluster' against 'household', 'flower' against 'tax', the couplet exquisite and the meaning deep: one cluster of flowers is the nobles' pastime, ten households' tax is the people's livelihood; the nobles' throwing of a thousand pieces of gold is precisely the people's yearlong sweat. The depth of the lines lies in: they write the most profound social reality in the calmest numbers — the cost of that one cluster of deep flowers is not summed by the nobles' 'throwing a thousand gold', but ten middle households' year tax, a year's livelihood; Bai Juyi writes not one word of argument, but only lets the numbers speak, and the reason for that 'country old man' head bowed and sighing long lies in these numbers. Writing the disparity through numbers, the contrast through the couplet, precisely the peak of Bai Juyi's satiric art, and making 'one cluster of deep-colored flowers, the tax of ten middle households' a famous line through the ages.

Study

Word focus

灼灼 Glowing or brilliant, borrowed from the Book of Songs to describe the peonies' dazzling red. The splendor of the blooms is measured against the price in white silk, so the brighter the flower, the heavier the implied criticism of extravagance. 「灼灼」二字是写牡丹光彩的关键字，化用《诗经》而写尽牡丹之盛，生动而典雅。灼灼，光彩鲜明的样子（《诗经·周南·桃夭》「桃之夭夭，灼灼其华」，本写桃花的光彩）。白居易以「灼灼百朵红」写牡丹，一个「灼灼」，至少有双重意味：其一，写花之盛——「灼灼」写牡丹光彩照人、鲜艳夺目，那百朵红牡丹在阳光下灼灼生辉，仿佛在燃烧，「灼灼」二字写尽牡丹的繁盛与明艳；其二，写价之昂——「灼灼」用《诗经》典，本写桃花之盛，白居易借以写牡丹之贵，那「灼灼百朵红」的牡丹，正是「戋戋五束素」的代价，花越灼灼，价越昂贵。以「灼灼」写牡丹，正是白居易「以典写物」的本领：他用《诗经》中最鲜活的字眼写牡丹的光彩，又用这光彩反衬其价格的昂贵——花越美，买花的豪奢越显，农民的困苦越深。若换作「艳艳」「红红」等词，则或失其《诗经》的典雅，或失其燃烧般的动感；唯「灼灼」二字，以古雅的字眼写尽牡丹的光彩，也让「灼灼百朵红，戋戋五束素」成为写花价的名句。

独 Alone: in the old laborer's solitary sigh. Against the crowds buying flowers, he alone sees the cost; his loneliness is both the loneliness of being unheard and the loneliness of being the only one awake. 「独」字是写田舍翁的关键字，一个「独」字写尽老农的孤独，力重千钧。独者，独自、唯独也。白居易以「低头独长叹」写田舍翁，一个「独」字，至少有双重意味：其一，写叹息之孤独——满城的人都在买花、赏花、沉迷不悟，唯有这田舍翁「低头独长叹」——他的叹息是「独」的，没有人理会，没有人懂得，「独」字写尽老农在喧闹中的孤独；其二，写清醒之孤独——正因为「人人迷不悟」，唯有田舍翁看懂了花的代价，他的清醒是「独」的——众人皆迷，唯他独醒，这「独」字既是叹息的孤独，也是清醒的孤独。以「独」写老农，正是白居易对田舍翁形象的精心塑造：「独长叹」的「独」，与「喧喧车马」「家家习为俗」「人人迷不悟」的「众」形成对照——众人皆迷，唯翁独醒；众人皆乐，唯翁独叹。若换作「自」「正」等字，则或失其孤独的意味，或失其清醒的对照；唯「独」字，以一字写尽田舍翁在满城沉迷中的孤独与清醒，正是白居易炼字的功力，也让「低头独长叹」成为写「清醒者」的名句。

买花