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唐 Tang · 文 Prose

马说·版本二

On Horses — Version Two

韩愈

Han Yu

名篇Theme 托物言志Theme 文言文Theme 人才Theme

策之不以其道，食之不能尽其材，鸣之而不能通其意，执策而临之，曰：天下无马！
呜呼！
其真无马邪？
其真不知马也！

Whipping it without the right way,
Feeding it without fulfilling its ability,
And, when it neighs, not understanding its meaning —
Then, holding the whip and facing it, he says:
'There are no good horses in the world!'
Alas! Are there truly no good horses?
It is that he truly does not know horses!

Listen

Meaning

The second version of the famous essay 'On Horses' by Han Yu, the great master of the Tang prose. After the exposition of the good horse and the horse-knower — the talent and the one who recognizes it — the essay comes to the accusation: whipping it without the right way, feeding it without fulfilling its ability, and, when it neighs, not understanding its meaning — the three failures of the horse-keeper, the one who has a good horse and does not know how to keep it. Then, holding the whip and facing it, he says: there are no good horses in the world! The accusation of the blind keeper. And the close: alas! Are there truly no good horses? It is that he truly does not know horses! The essay is the cry of the talent unrecognized: the good horse is there, and the keeper who does not know horses denies it.

鞭策它不按照正确的方法，喂养它不能竭尽它的才能，它鸣叫却不能通晓它的意思，拿着鞭子面对着它，说：天下没有好马！唉！难道真的没有好马吗？实在是真的不认识好马啊！

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Whipping it without the right way, feeding it without fulfilling its ability, and, when it neighs, not understanding its meaning — then, holding the whip and facing it, he says: 'There are no good horses in the world!' Alas! Are there truly no good horses? It is that he truly does not know horses! [Structure and Thought] The passage moves from the three failures of the keeper — the whipping, the feeding, the understanding — through the keeper's false conclusion — there are no good horses — to the close's correction: it is that he truly does not know horses. [Key Technique] The essay's art is the paradox of the blind: the keeper, who has the good horse and keeps it wrongly, concludes that there are no good horses — the ignorance that denies the very thing it holds — corrected in the close's double question. [Emotional Tone] Sharp, sorrowful, and accusing: the passage is the accusation of the blind keeper and the cry of the unrecognized talent, the ignorance that denies the good horse.

【白话串讲】韩愈写《马说》的结尾：“策之不以其道，食之不能尽其材，鸣之而不能通其意”——鞭打不用正确方法、喂料不能让它吃饱、听到嘶鸣不能懂它的心思——“执策而临之，曰：天下无马”——他说天下不是没有千里马，是没有识马的人。【意象与手法】本文托物寓意，以千里马喻贤才，以伯乐喻识才者，以食马者喻当权者，层层设喻而主旨自明。排比句「策之……食之……鸣之……」三句连用，如连珠炮发，历数用马者之三失；「其真无马邪？其真不知马也」以反问与感叹对举，语气由质问转断言，铿锵有力。语言犀利，情感激越，是韩愈「不平则鸣」的典型。【情感与主旨】借千里马不遇伯乐之叹，抒写贤才不被识用、屈辱沉沦的悲愤，批判当权者昏聩无能却自欺欺人，寄寓韩愈自己怀才不遇的牢骚与对人才问题的深切关怀。【名句点睛】「其真无马邪？其真不知马也」以自问自答收束，把「天下无马」的谎言与「不知马」的真相揭穿，反问之激、断言之冷，双峰并峙，成为批判「不识人才」的千古名句。

Background

Han Yu (768–824) was the great master of the Tang prose, the leader of the movement for the ancient style. 'On Horses' is one of his most famous essays, an allegory of the unrecognized talent: the good horse is the talent, and the horse-knower is the one who recognizes it. This second version of the essay carries the accusation of the keeper — the one who has the good horse and keeps it wrongly, then denies that there are good horses. The essay is usually read as Han Yu's cry over his own unrecognized talent, his repeated memorials to the throne unanswered.

《马说》约作于韩愈贞元十一至十六年（795—800）间。韩愈（768—824），字退之，河阳人，郡望昌黎，世称韩昌黎，唐宋八大家之首，古文运动领袖。贞元年间，韩愈三试不第，困居长安，屡上书宰相求仕而不得，饱尝怀才不遇之苦，遂借「千里马」立言，感慨贤才之不遇。《马说》全文四段：首段「世有伯乐，然后有千里马」立论，次段「马之千里者，一食或尽粟一石，食马者不知其能千里而食也」写千里马之屈，第三段「策之不以其道，食之不能尽其材，鸣之而不能通其意」正面批判食马者，末段「呜呼！其真无马邪？其真不知马也」点破主旨。此版本二即第三、四段，是全文的批判高潮与结论。文题「马说」之「说」为论说文体，托物寓意，以马喻人；「伯乐相马」的典故见于《战国策·楚策》与《列子·说符》，韩愈借旧典翻新意，把「识马」之难升华为「识才」之痛，成为千古「怀才不遇」主题的代表作。又此文本作于韩愈困居长安之际，三上宰相书而不得，遂以「马」自喻，以「食马者」喻当权者，借千里马之屈写士之不遇，其愤慨与期待兼而有之。

Art

The passage's art is the art of the blind accusation. The three failures of the keeper are listed in the parallel clauses: whipping without the right way, feeding without fulfilling the ability, and, when it neighs, not understanding the meaning — the three failures of the keeping. Then the keeper's conclusion: holding the whip and facing it, he says there are no good horses in the world — the blind conclusion, the ignorance that denies the very thing it holds. And the close corrects the conclusion in the double question: alas! Are there truly no good horses? It is that he truly does not know horses! — the answer that turns the denial back on the denier, the cry of the unrecognized talent.

此段是《马说》的批判核心，艺术上以「三层递进、两重对照」见长。其一是排比递进：开篇三句「策之不以其道，食之不能尽其材，鸣之而不能通其意」，以「策之」「食之」「鸣之」三个动宾短语领起，历数食马者的三大过失——驾驭无方、饲养不周、沟通不通，三句皆以「不」字否定收束，如连珠炮发，一失、二失、三失，层层递进，把「不知马」的具体表现写得淋漓尽致；「不能」三见，笔锋直指「不能」背后的「不知」，为末句「不知马也」的断言蓄势。其二是动作与言语的对照：「执策而临之」写食马者手握马鞭、面对良马的倨傲姿态，与「曰：天下无马」的自欺之言形成绝妙对照——明明马在眼前而曰「无马」，其昏聩可笑、可悲可叹尽在其中。其三是反问与断言的对照：「其真无马邪」以反问置疑，「其真不知马也」以断言定谳，一疑问一肯定，语气由激荡转沉痛，如两记重锤，把「天下无马」的谎言彻底击碎。语言上「呜呼」之叹、「邪」「也」之问，虚词传情，一唱三叹，正是韩愈「气盛言宜」的典范。

Allusions

The essay carries no learned allusion; its art is the plain allegory. 'The good horse' (qianli ma) is the thousand-li horse — the talent; 'the horse-knower' (Bole) is the knower of the horse, the one who recognizes the talent; 'the horse-keeper' (shima zhe) is the keeper, the one who has the talent and does not know how to keep it — the allegory of the unrecognized talent of the age.

本文用典虽隐，而文化内涵极深。其一是「伯乐相马」的典故传统：伯乐（孙阳）是春秋时善相马者，其事见《战国策·楚策》「骥于是俛而喷，仰而鸣，声达于天」及《列子·说符》九方皋相马的故事，「世有伯乐，然后有千里马」即承此典而立论——千里马常有而伯乐不常有，马之荣辱系于识者之有无。其二是「食马」之喻的深层意蕴：「食之不能尽其材」暗用《诗经·小雅·白驹》「皎皎白驹，食我场苗」的养贤之典，亦承《孟子》「养贤」之说——「尽其材」即「尽其才」，喂养不周则才美不外见，喻贤才得不到应有的待遇与施展空间。其三是「鸣之而不能通其意」的沟通之喻：马之鸣即士之言，鸣而不得通，喻贤才的建言献策无人理会，暗含韩愈三上宰相书而不得的切肤之痛。其四是「天下无马」的反语：「无马」实为「无识马者」，以「无」字立靶而「不知」字破的，正是论说文「先树敌而后破敌」的章法。合观诸典，可见韩愈以马喻士、以养马喻用贤的完整喻体系统，是「托物寓意」的极致。

Commentary

This passage is among the most famous of the Tang essays, quoted for its sharp accusation and its close. The three failures of the keeper and the final 'it is that he truly does not know horses' are among the most quoted lines of Han Yu's prose. Critics praise the passage's force: the blindness of the keeper corrected, and the cry of the unrecognized talent asserted in the close.

《马说》是韩愈流传最广的散文名篇，此段的批判锋芒与千古慨叹，历千年而深植人心。就思想价值言，本文提出的人才命题——「世有伯乐，然后有千里马」「千里马常有，而伯乐不常有」「其真不知马也」——揭示了人才不被识用的普遍悲剧，成为中国人才观的经典表达：千里马喻人才，伯乐喻识才者，食马者喻当权者，三者关系成为后世论人才问题的基本范式。就文学价值言，本文以「说」体托物寓意，寓议论于形象，语言凝练犀利，「呜呼」「邪」「也」的虚词运用使抒情与议论交融，是韩愈古文「文以明道」「不平则鸣」主张的完美实践，苏轼评其「文起八代之衰」，此篇即其明证。就影响言，「伯乐相马」成为成语，「千里马」成为人才的代名词，本文历代入选教材，哺育了无数代人的才识观念；当代「识才」「用才」「人尽其才」的人才思想，亦可溯源于此。文中所寄的怀才不遇之慨，更与屈原「香草美人」传统一脉相承，是中国士人「不遇」母题的正宗谱系。

Prosody

Form Prose essay (guwen) of the ancient style, with the rhythm of the parallel and the question古文论说文（托物寓意的说体）

Rhyme The passage is prose and does not rhyme; its rhythm is the rhythm of the parallel clauses and the closing questions.本文为古文，不押韵，而以排比、反问与虚词构成声情。开篇三句「策之不以其道，食之不能尽其材，鸣之而不能通其意」为同构排比，三「之」三「不能」，如三叠浪头，一拍紧似一拍；「执策而临之，曰：天下无马」以短句转出，音节促迫，模拟食马者之武断；「呜呼」一叹，声情陡转；「其真无马邪？其真不知马也」以反问与断言相对，一扬一抑，收束如两记重锤，余响不绝。

Tone pattern The cadence is that of the accusation: the level listing of the three failures, the false conclusion of the keeper, and the close's rising double question answered by the assertion.句式骈散兼行：排比句整饬如对仗（策之／食之／鸣之），叙事句以散行出之（执策而临之）；语气由批判的凌厉（不能三见）转感叹的沉痛（呜呼），再转质问的激越（其真无马邪）与断言的决绝（其真不知马也），声情起伏，一气贯注。

Reading note The passage's sound matches its force: the three parallel clauses — 'ce zhi bu yi qi dao, shi zhi bu neng jin qi cai, ming zhi er bu neng tong qi yi' — list the failures in the even, pressing cadence; the keeper's 'tianxia wu ma' falls with the false conclusion; and the close — 'qi zhen wu ma xie? qi zhen bu zhi ma ye!' — rises with the double question, the sound of the denial turned back on the denier.作为托物寓意的论说文，此段的声律之美不在平仄押韵，而在「以句法驭气、以虚词传情」。开篇三句排比，句句同构而长短略参（八、九、十字），如三箭连发，节奏急促而锋芒毕露；「执策而临之，曰：天下无马」则转用短句，以「执策」「临之」「曰」的连续动作描写模拟食马者的一举一动，音节促迫而姿态毕现；「呜呼」二字以叹词顿挫，如长歌当哭，把批判的热度推向顶点；末句「其真无马邪？其真不知马也」以「邪」「也」两个语气词相对，前问后答、前扬后抑，如钟磬两声，一激越一沉雄，把「怀才不遇」的悲愤凝于声情之中。韩愈主张「气盛则言之短长与声之高下者皆宜」，此段正是「气盛言宜」的标本：批判处气盛，故句短而促；悲慨处气沉，故声缓而长；论断处气决，故语重而坚。诵读此段，宜快读排比、顿读「执策而临之」、长叹「呜呼」、重读末句，方见韩愈古文声情并茂之妙。

Line by line

策之不以其道，食之不能尽其材，鸣之而不能通其意，

Whipping it without the right way, feeding it without fulfilling its ability, and, when it neighs, not understanding its meaning —

鞭策它不按照正确的方法，喂养它不能竭尽它的才能，它鸣叫却不能通晓它的意思。三句排比历数「食马者」驾驭、饲养、沟通的三大过失。

To drive it not according to its way; to feed it not to the full of its talent; when it neighs, not to understand its meaning.

此三句排比是《马说》批判锋芒的集中体现，历数「食马者」（用马之人，暗喻当权者）的三大过失。「策之不以其道」写驾驭无方——鞭策良马却不得其法，喻用才者不谙用才之道；「食之不能尽其材」写饲养不周——「尽其材」即竭尽其才，喂养不足则「才美不外见」，喻贤才得不到应有的待遇与施展空间；「鸣之而不能通其意」写沟通不通——马之鸣即士之言，鸣而不通，喻贤才的谏言无人理会。三句皆以「之」指马（兼指士），以「不能」否定收束，一失、二失、三失，层层递进，把「不知马」的具体表现写得穷形尽相；而「不以其道」「不能尽其材」「不能通其意」三语，正与首段「世有伯乐，然后有千里马」的立论遥相呼应——伯乐之所以为伯乐，正在于能「以其道」策之、「尽其材」食之、「通其意」鸣之，今之食马者三失俱全，「不知马」之实已成定谳。句式上三句同构而长短略参，如三叠浪头，一拍紧似一拍，为下文「天下无马」的反语与「其真不知马也」的断言蓄足声势。

This set of three parallel lines is the concentrated showing of the Treatise on Horses' edge, enumerating the three faults of 'the feeder' (the horse-user, secretly figuring the powerful). 'To drive it not according to its way' writes the driving without the method — whipping the fine horse without the way, figuring the talent-user not knowing the way of using talent; 'to feed it not to the full of its talent' writes the feeding without the care — 'to the full of its talent' means exhausting its talent, feeding insufficient then 'the talent's beauty not shown', figuring the worthy not getting the due treatment and space; 'when it neighs, not to understand its meaning' writes the communication without the grasp — the horse's neighing is the scholar's word, neighing and not understood, figuring the worthy's remonstrance unheard. Three lines all take 'it' for the horse (and the scholar), closing with 'cannot' in negation, one fault, two faults, three faults, layer on layer, writing 'not knowing the horse's' concrete showing to the utmost; and the three phrases, 'not according to its way', 'not to the full of its talent', 'not to understand its meaning', precisely echo from afar the opening's 'in the world there is Bole, and then the thousand-li horse' — the reason Bole is Bole lies precisely in being able to drive it 'according to its way', feed it 'to the full of its talent', understand it in its neighing; the modern feeders have all three faults, the fact of 'not knowing horses' is already the verdict. In sentence form, the three lines parallel in structure and slightly varied in length, like three stacked waves, one beat tighter than the next, storing the fullest momentum for the later irony of 'no horses under heaven' and the verdict of 'truly he does not know horses'.

执策而临之，曰：天下无马！

Then, holding the whip and facing it, he says: 'There are no good horses in the world!'

拿着鞭子面对着它，说：天下没有好马！这是写食马者面对良马却视而不见、妄下断语的自欺姿态。

He holds the whip and stands before it, saying: there are no good horses under heaven!

「执策而临之」五字，是全段最富戏剧性的细节。「执策」写食马者手握马鞭，「临之」写其居高临下地面对眼前之马——手握鞭子的人，正是最该识马、养马、用马的人；然而他面对良马，竟「曰：天下无马」。「执策」与「曰：天下无马」构成最尖锐的反讽：鞭子在他手中，马就在他眼前，他本该知道「策之」之法、「尽其材」之道，却信口断言天下无马——不是马不存在，而是他的眼界、他的认知、他的态度使马在他面前「不存在」。这七个字写尽当权者的昏聩与傲慢：手握权柄（策）而目无良才（马），却以「天下无马」推卸责任，其自欺欺人之态，令人可气复可叹。在行文上，此句承上三句的排比批判，转用短促的动作描写，如镜头定格，把批判的对象从「三失」的具体行为聚焦到「一言」的荒唐论断，为下文「呜呼」之叹、「其真不知马也」之断语作了最有力的铺垫。

The five words 'he holds the whip and stands before it' are the whole passage's most dramatic detail. 'Holds the whip' writes the feeder gripping the horsewhip, 'stands before it' writing his standing high before the horse — the man gripping the whip is precisely the one who should most recognize, nourish, and use the horse; and yet before the fine horse, he says: 'there are no good horses under heaven!'. 'Holds the whip' and 'saying: there are no good horses under heaven' form the sharpest irony: the whip in his hand, the horse before his eyes, he should have known the way of 'driving it', the way of 'its talent', and yet speaks at random of no good horses under heaven — not that the horses do not exist, but his sight, his cognition, his attitude make the horses 'not exist' before him. These seven words write to the full the powerful's dullness and arrogance: gripping the authority (the whip) and eyeing no worthy talent (the horse), yet shifting the blame with 'no horses under heaven', his self-deception, making one angry and one sigh. In the essay's flow, this line carries on the above's three parallel critiques, turning to the short action description, like the lens fixed, focusing the critique's object from the concrete 'three faults' to the absurd verdict of 'one word', storing the most powerful groundwork for the later sigh of 'alas' and the verdict of 'truly he does not know horses'.

呜呼！其真无马邪？其真不知马也！

Alas! Are there truly no good horses? It is that he truly does not know horses!

唉！难道真的没有好马吗？实在是真的不认识好马啊！两句以感叹与反问收束全篇，揭穿「天下无马」的谎言，点明「不知马」的真谛。

Alas! Are there truly no good horses? Truly, he does not know horses!

此二句是《马说》的点题之笔，也是全文情感的总爆发。「呜呼」一声长叹，承上文「天下无马」的荒唐论断而发，愤懑之情喷薄而出；「其真无马邪」以反问置疑「天下无马」之说，「其」字表推测语气，句末「邪」字上扬发问，如厉声质问，把矛头直指食马者；「其真不知马也」以断言定谳，「也」字拖长，如重锤落地，把「无马」的谎言与「不知马」的真相一并揭穿。两句的结构是「反问—断言」的递进：先问「真的没有马吗」，随即自答「是真的不认识马啊」——问句给读者以思考的余地，断语则斩钉截铁，一疑一断，把批判的力度推至顶点。值得注意的是，「真」字两见（其真无马邪、其真不知马也），前「真」是反语的质问，后「真」是实指的断言，同字异用，见出语气由激越到沉痛的转折；而「邪」之问与「也」之断，虚词相对，音节一扬一抑，把「怀才不遇」的千古悲愤凝于八字之中，遂成批判「不识人才」的千古名句。

These two lines are the Treatise on Horses' point, and the whole's total emotional eruption. 'Alas!' the long sigh, rising from the above's absurd verdict of 'no horses under heaven', the grievance pouring out; 'are there truly no good horses?' uses the counter-question to doubt the saying of 'no horses under heaven', the word 'truly' the conjectural tone, the line's end '?' rising in question, like the sharp rebuke, pointing the spearhead straight at the feeder; 'truly, he does not know horses!' the verdict, the word '!' drawn out, like the heavy hammer falling, laying bare together the lie of 'no horses' and the truth of 'not knowing horses'. The two lines' structure is the progression of 'counter-question — verdict': first asking 'truly no horses?', then answering itself 'truly he does not know horses!'; the question giving the reader the room to think, the verdict decisive, one doubt one verdict, pushing the critique's force to the peak. Noting that the word 'truly' appears twice, the first 'truly' the ironical question, the second the factual verdict, the same word differently used, showing the tone's turn from the soaring to the grieving; and the question of '?' and the verdict of '!', the function words set against, the syllables one rising one falling, condensing the thousand-year grief of 'the unrecognized talent' into eight words, becoming the famous line through the ages of critiquing 'not recognizing talent'.

Study

Word focus

策 'The whip; to whip' — the whip held and the whipping, the symbol of the keeping and the blindness. 「策之不以其道」之「策」字，本义为马鞭，此处用作动词，意为鞭策、驾驭，是全段批判的第一个落点。一个「策」字，牵出「策之」与「执策」的前后呼应：前句「策之不以其道」写食马者鞭策无方，后句「执策而临之」写其手握马鞭的倨傲，一「策」一「执」，把「用鞭者」与「不知马者」的重合写得入木三分——正因手握鞭子的人不懂鞭策之道，良马才「才美不外见」。在深层寓意上，「策」暗喻统治手段：当权者「策」天下之士，正如食马者「策」千里之马，不得其道则士不尽其才，韩愈以「策」字打通了「驭马」与「治人」的界限，使批判从养马之术上升到治国之道。此字在首段「执策而临之」的「执策」中又转为名词，一动词一名词、一策一执，词性的转换正见行文之灵活；而「策之」「执策」的重复出现，也使「策」成为贯穿全段的核心意象，是韩愈炼字「一字立骨」的典范。

尽其材 'To fulfill its ability' — the feeding that does not fulfill the ability, the second failure of the keeping. 「食之不能尽其材」之「尽其材」三字，是全段的人才观核心，也是「托物寓意」的题眼。「尽」是竭尽、充分发挥，「材」本指马之材力，双关人才之才能——「尽其材」即让马（士）的才能得到充分发挥。这三字的深意有三：其一，立「尽」为用才之标准——千里马的价值在于「一食或尽粟一石」「日行千里」，若食不饱力不足，则「才美不外见」，用才者之责正在于创造条件使才「尽」其用；其二，反衬「不能」之失——「不能尽其材」正写食马者之失职，非马无材，乃人不尽其材，把批判的矛头由「马」转向「人」，为「其真不知马也」的断言张本；其三，「材」之一字，通「才」而见双关之妙——以「材」写马，以「才」喻人，一字双关，使养马之喻与用才之旨浑融无间。后世「人尽其才」的成语，正由「尽其材」化出，可见这三字已超越本文，成为中国人才思想的核心表述，其凝练处，一字不可移易。

呜呼 'Alas' — the sigh of the close, the sorrow of the cry over the unrecognized talent. 「呜呼！其真无马邪」之「呜呼」二字，是全段情感的爆发点，也是韩愈古文「不平则鸣」的声情标志。「呜呼」是文言感叹词，其声由「呜」之低回转「呼」之激越，恰如一声长叹由胸中喷出，愤懑、悲悯、无奈兼而有之。此二字用得极妙：其一，承上启下——上文「曰：天下无马」的荒唐论断，正需这一声长叹来转折，叹其昏聩，亦叹其可悲；其二，为反问蓄势——「呜呼」一叹，如锣鼓一声，把读者的情绪调动起来，随即「其真无马邪」的反问才格外有力；其三，见韩愈的性情——韩愈为人刚直，「不平则鸣」是其文论主张，此「呜呼」之叹，正是其郁结之气的不自觉流露，是「文如其人」的注脚。在古文传统中，「呜呼」多见于哀祭之文（如韩愈《祭十二郎文》「呜呼哀哉」），韩愈以叹词入论说文，使议论带上了抒情的热度，论理与抒情交融，正是韩文「气盛」的体现；此二字一出，全段由冷峻的批判转入沉痛的悲慨，声情为之一变。