唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
悯农·其二
Compassion for the Peasants (No. 2)
锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土。
谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。
Their sweat drops into the soil beneath the young grain;
Who knows that every grain upon the plate
Is steeped in toil, each single one, early and late?
Meaning
At high noon, under the fierce sun, the farmer is still weeding in the field; his sweat drops one by one into the earth beneath the young grain. Who knows that every grain of rice in the bowl is steeped in the tiller's toil?
正午烈日当空，农人仍在田里锄草；汗水一滴滴落进禾苗下的泥土。有谁知道那饭碗里的每一粒米饭，都浸透着耕者的辛劳。
Appreciation
The first two lines come like a film's close-up: 'at noon' writes the time's cruelty, 'they weed the grain' the labor's toil, 'their sweat drops into the soil' the body's suffering—three images stack into a burning, bitter weight. The last two wheel sharply into argument; 'who knows' and 'is steeped in toil' close with a rhetorical question, lifting the concrete labor into reverence for food, plain yet weighing a thousand catties. It is the very voice of the New Yuefu—written for the matter, popular and staunch.
【白话串讲】 “锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土。谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦”——李绅写农民锄地：正午的太阳下，汗水滴进土里。这首二十个字的诗，让中国人懂得粮食的重量。 【意象与手法】 前两句以电影特写般的组合写景：「日当午」写时之酷，「锄禾」写事之劳，「汗滴禾下土」写身之苦，三个画面叠出灼热艰辛。后两句陡转议论，「谁知」「皆辛苦」以反问收束，将具象劳作升华为对粮食的敬畏，浅近而力重千钧。 【情感与主旨】 李绅（772—846）为中唐诗人，元和新乐府倡导者之一。《悯农》二首约作于早年，以极浅之语道尽农民疾苦，后世奉为蒙学劝俭之诗。此首以「锄禾」「汗滴」写耕作之艰，以「盘中餐」写粮食之贵，怜农悯农之情溢于言表。 【名句点睛】 高频考点：赏析「锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土」的画面与炼字；理解末二句由实入虚、惜粮劝农的主旨；体会新乐府通俗刚健之风。
Background
Li Shen (772–846) was a mid-Tang poet and one of the advocates of the Yuanhe New Yuefu. The two 'Compassion for the Peasants' poems (the first, 'In spring one grain of millet is sown,' and the second, 'At noon they weed the grain') were likely written in his early years; in the plainest words they exhaust the farmers' suffering, and later ages took them as primer verses urging thrift.
李绅（772—846），字公垂，无锡人，中唐诗人，与白居易、元稹同倡新乐府运动，是「元和新乐府」的倡导者之一，其《新题乐府》二十首开风气之先。《悯农》二首（其一「春种一粒粟」、其二「锄禾日当午」）约作于诗人早年，一说是其青年时目睹农民劳作之苦有感而发，一说是入仕后见官吏横征暴敛而作，各本记载微异。此二诗以极浅之语道尽农民疾苦，历来被奉为蒙学劝俭之诗，妇孺皆能成诵。中唐时期，土地兼并加剧，赋税繁苛，农民终岁勤劳而不得温饱，李绅身为士大夫而能体恤民瘼，以二十字写出耕者之辛与食者之安，正合新乐府「为事而作、惟歌生民病」的精神。此诗语言之通俗、情感之恳切、警策之有力，皆为新乐府运动「文章合为时而著，歌诗合为事而作」主张的生动注脚。李绅出身官宦之家，六岁丧父，少孤力学，深知民间疾苦，其《新题乐府》二十首，元稹、白居易皆推重之。此二诗相传为李绅青年时进京途中，见农人劳作而作；或谓其任国子助教时，见学生浪费粮食而作，诸说虽异，而其悯农之意则一。又此诗与张俞《蚕妇》「遍身罗绮者，不是养蚕人」、梅尧臣《陶者》「十指不沾泥，鳞鳞居大厦」同属悯农恤民之作，而李诗以劝俭为主，别具一格，正见悯农诗的两重面向。
Art
The first two lines come as a film's close-up: 'at noon' writes the time's cruelty, 'they weed the grain' the labor's toil, 'their sweat drops into the soil' the body's suffering—three pictures stack into burning hardship. The last two wheel sharply into argument; 'who knows' and 'is steeped in toil' close on a rhetorical question, lifting the concrete labor into awe of food, plain yet weighing a thousand catties.
前两句以电影特写般的组合写景：「日当午」写时之酷，正午烈日，一天中最热的时辰；「锄禾」写事之劳，锄草松土，最重最累的农活；「汗滴禾下土」写身之苦，汗水落地，粒粒可数。三个画面层层叠出，灼热、辛劳、苦涩扑面而来，不着一字议论而艰辛自见。后两句陡转议论，「谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦」以反问收束：由田间跃至餐桌，由劳作跃至食粮，将具象的锄禾汗滴升华为对粮食的敬畏。一实一虚、一叙一议，章法陡峭而自然，浅近之语而力重千钧。此诗之妙尤在「谁知」二字：发问的对象是天下食粟之人，一问而警醒，一问而惭愧，惜粮劝农之旨尽在不言之中，故能千古传诵。又此诗之妙在以少总多：二十字中，不写农人一生，而取「日当午」一瞬；不写万顷之田，而取「禾下土」一隅；不写天下饥民，而取「盘中餐」一粒，由一瞬见一生，由一粒见万粟，以小见大，以少总多，正是绝句的至高法度。且前两句纯用白描，后两句纯用议论，叙议之间转捩自然，议论不落空疏，皆因有前两句之实景托底，此正虚实相生之妙，为千古劝俭诗之冠冕。
Allusions
The poem uses few allusions, relying purely on plain description. 'Every grain upon the plate' grows from the yuefu line 'who knows the bitterness within' and the pity-the-peasant tradition; with Bai Juyi's 'Watching the Wheat Reaping' and Nie Yizhong's 'The Farming Family' it shares the New Yuefu spirit of 'composed for the matter.'
本诗少用典，纯以白描见功，正合新乐府「其辞质而径」「其言直而切」的创作宗旨。「盘中餐」一语化用乐府「谁知此中苦」一脉的悯农传统，六朝乐府与汉魏歌谣中写农事之苦者代有其作，如古乐府「田家何所乐，春事在陇亩」之类，李绅「谁知盘中餐」正是这一传统的凝练升华。与白居易《观刈麦》「足蒸暑土气，背灼炎天光」、聂夷中《田家》「二月卖新丝，五月粜新谷」同属新乐府「为事而作」的悯农谱系，而李诗以二十字写尽，最为凝练。全诗不假典故而意蕴自厚，正见新乐府以俚语入诗、以直笔写实的审美取向，与六朝绮靡文风形成鲜明对照。就文学传统而言，悯农之诗源远流长：《诗经·豳风·七月》写农事之勤苦，《伐檀》「不稼不穑，胡取禾三百廛兮」已斥不劳而获，汉乐府《孤儿行》写孤儿之悲，皆悯农之先声。李绅此诗承此一脉，而独以「盘中餐」之近景立言，将农事之劳与食事之安直接接通，较之前人更见切近，正合新乐府「惟歌生民病」的宗旨，其劝俭之意，亦为白居易《观刈麦》「念此私自愧，尽日不能忘」之先导，可见元和新乐府精神之一贯。
Commentary
The Song critic Zhou Zizhi said 'this poem is enough to instruct the world.' Moderns hail it as 'a twenty-character History of Compassion for the Peasants'; recited from the primer to the court, its power to urge thrift is unmatched in any age.
宋人周紫芝评此诗谓「此诗足以风天下」，一语中的——二十字中蕴含的劝俭惜粮之义，足以教化天下。近人更誉其为「二十字一部《悯农》史」，以极短篇幅写尽农民一生之辛劳，自蒙学至庙堂，自士大夫至田舍翁，无不能诵，劝俭之效古今无两。历代笔记多载此诗流传之广：或谓儿辈诵之可以知稼穑之艰，或谓富家子读之可以省一饭之费。与《悯农》其一「春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子。四海无闲田，农夫犹饿死」并读，其一写耕获之丰而农夫犹饿之社会不公，此首写锄禾之苦而粒粒皆辛之劳动价值，一针砭时弊，一劝喻世人，双璧并辉，使「谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦」成为中华民族惜粮勤俭的文化符号，其影响远超诗歌领域。又此诗流传之广，为唐诗之冠：自宋至今，蒙馆童蒙无不诵之，宴席饭桌常引以相诫，「谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦」已成为中国人惜粮美德的文化符号。近人编《唐诗三百首》，或未收此诗，而其影响实不在三百首之下，正见「诗无定价，传诵者为上」。与《悯农》其一并观，其一写「四海无闲田，农夫犹饿死」之社会不公，此首写「粒粒皆辛苦」之劳动价值，一刺一劝，相映成趣，共为悯农诗之双璧，历千载而愈见其价值。
Prosody
Line by line
锄禾日当午
At noon they weed the grain under the blazing sun;
正午烈日当空，农人仍在田里锄草。
The sun at noon, I hoe the millet rows.
起句点明劳作之时与劳作之事。「锄禾」指为禾苗松土锄草，是田间最繁重的农活，弯腰屈背、挥锄不停；「日当午」写正午时分，烈日当空，一天中暑热最盛之时。二者并置，时之酷与事之劳形成强烈对照：正因日当午而犹锄禾，方见农人之艰辛。此句纯以叙述出之，不用一形容之词，而灼热难当之感已在目前——读者仿佛看见烈日下的田垄、弯背的农人、挥动的锄头。五字平平道来，无一字用力，而画面自现，正是新乐府「其辞质而径」的典型笔法，为下句「汗滴禾下土」蓄势。
The opening line names the labor's hour and the labor's work. 'Hoe the millet' means loosening the soil and weeding the seedlings, the heaviest field labor, bending the back and swinging the hoe without stop; 'the sun at noon' writes the midday hour, the fierce sun overhead, the day's hottest moment. The two set side by side, the time's fierceness and the work's toil forming the sharp contrast: precisely because the sun is at noon and still hoeing the millet, the farmer's hardship may be seen. This line purely through the narrative, not one adjective, and the burning hardship is already before the eyes — the reader as if seeing the sun-scorched ridges, the bent-back farmer, the swinging hoe. Five words plainly spoken, not one word of force, and the picture of itself, precisely the new yuefu's typical brush of 'the words plain and direct', storing the groundwork for the next line's 'sweat drops fall to the soil beneath the millet'.
汗滴禾下土
Their sweat drops into the soil beneath the young grain;
汗水一滴滴落进禾苗下的泥土。
Sweat drops fall to the soil beneath the millet.
此句是全诗最富画面感的特写镜头。「汗」是劳动之汗，「滴」写汗珠落地之态，如电影慢镜头般清晰可辨；「禾下土」点明汗水落入之处——不是别处，正是禾苗之下的泥土，农人的汗水浇灌了庄稼，也渗入了大地。一个「滴」字，将抽象的辛劳化为具象的汗珠，一字千钧；「禾下土」三字，又暗示汗水与粮食的因果联系——今日之汗，成就他日之餐。此句与前句「日当午」呼应，酷热与汗水相生，劳作之苦层层加深，画面感、声音感（汗滴落地）兼备，为后两句的议论提供了最坚实的情感基础。
This line is the whole's most pictorial close-up. 'Sweat' the labor's sweat, 'drops' writing the sweat-beads' falling to the ground, clear as the film's slow shot; 'the soil beneath the millet' naming where the sweat falls — not elsewhere, precisely the soil beneath the seedlings, the farmer's sweat watering the crops, and seeping into the great earth. The one word 'drops' turns the abstract toil into the concrete sweat-bead, one word a thousandweight; 'the soil beneath the millet' three words, again hinting the causal link of the sweat and the grain — today's sweat, the future's meal. This line echoes the above's 'the sun at noon', the fierce heat and the sweat giving birth, the labor's hardship layer on layer, the pictorial and the sound (the sweat-drop falling) together, providing the solidest emotional base for the last two lines' argument.
谁知盘中餐
Who knows the food on the plate,
有谁知道那饭碗里的米饭。
Who knows the food on the plate,
此句由田间陡转餐桌，由写景转议论，章法奇崛。「谁知」二字是反问的起点，也是全诗情感的爆发点——天下食粟之人，有几个想到过每一粒饭的来源？「盘中餐」指碗中之食，以具体的「餐」代抽象的「粮食」，亲切可感。此句妙在视角的突然转移：前两句写农人之苦，此句忽问食者之知，一苦一安、一劳一食，对照鲜明。一个「谁」字，既泛指天下人，又似直指读者自身，发问的力量直抵人心。由此句引出末句「粒粒皆辛苦」，议论不流于说教，而源于深切的悲悯，故能感人至深。
This line turns abruptly from the field to the table, from scene to argument, the craft strange. The words 'who knows' are the starting point of the counter-question, and the whole's emotional eruption — of all the world's grain-eaters, how many have thought of the source of every grain? 'The food on the plate' means the bowl's food, using the concrete 'food' for the abstract 'grain', intimate and sensible. The beauty of the line lies in the sudden shift of viewpoint: the first two lines write the farmer's hardship, this line suddenly asks the eater's knowing, one hardship one ease, one toil one food, the contrast sharp. The one word 'who', both generally meaning all the world's men, and as if pointing straight at the reader, the question's force reaching the heart. From this line draws the closing 'every grain is the fruit of toil', the argument not falling to the preaching, but from the deep compassion, hence moving to the utmost.
粒粒皆辛苦
Every grain upon the plate is steeped in toil, each single one.
每一粒米饭都浸透着耕者的辛劳。
every grain is the fruit of toil.
结句点明主旨，是全诗的警策。「粒粒」以叠字写每一粒，无一遗漏；「皆」字总括无遗，强调辛苦之普遍、之必然；「辛苦」二字直指前文「锄禾」「汗滴」的劳作之艰。三词连用，力透纸背：由一餐之饭，想到万粒之米；由万粒之米，想到终岁之劳。此句由实入虚，将具象的劳作升华为对粮食的敬畏，是惜粮劝农主题的凝练表达。妙在不说「勿浪费」「当珍惜」等教训之语，而仅以「皆辛苦」三字点醒，让读者自悟自警，含蓄而有力。二十字至此圆满，从田间到餐桌，从劳动到粮食，完成了最朴素也最深刻的表达，故能千古传诵，成为中华民族勤俭美德的文化符号。
The closing line names the theme, the poem's warning. 'Every grain' through the doubled word writing each grain, not one omitted; 'is' the all-inclusive summary, stressing the toil's universality, necessity; 'the fruit of toil' two words pointing straight at the above's 'hoe the millet', 'sweat drops' labor's hardship. Three words used in a row, the force piercing the paper: from one meal's rice, thinking of ten thousand grains; from ten thousand grains, thinking of the yearlong toil. This line from the real to the unreal, elevating the concrete labor into the reverence for grain, the condensed expression of the theme of treasuring grain and exhorting farming. The beauty lies in not saying the lesson words of 'waste not' and 'cherish', but only through 'is the fruit of toil' three words awakening, letting the reader understand and warn himself, restrained and forceful. The twenty words here complete, from the field to the table, from labor to grain, accomplishing the plainest and yet the profoundest expression, hence chanted through the ages, becoming the cultural symbol of the Chinese nation's thrift and industry.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both from the same Compassion set; one writes the hardship of sowing and reaping, the other the toil of the summer sweat.
《悯农》其一「春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子。四海无闲田，农夫犹饿死」与其二「锄禾日当午」同出李绅之手，同悯农人之苦。其一从宏观着眼，写春种秋收、四海无闲田而农夫犹饿死，揭示耕者无食的社会不公，锋芒直指剥削制度；其二从微观入手，写日当午锄禾、汗滴禾下土的劳作之艰，再由「盘中餐」警醒世人，侧重于劳动价值与惜粮之义。一针砭时弊，一劝喻世人；一写社会之病，一写劳动之贵。二诗并读，可见李绅悯农的完整思考：既悯农人之劳，亦刺社会之弊，二十字一首，双璧并辉，皆为悯农诗的不朽经典。
观刈麦 Watching the Wheat Reaping 白居易 · 同属新乐府悯农题材，铺陈与凝练之别 Same (New Yuefu pity-the-peasant)Both New Yuefu pity-the-peasant works; Bai spreads out, Li is terse.
白居易《观刈麦》以「足蒸暑土气，背灼炎天光」写麦收之劳，以「家田输税尽，拾此充饥肠」写贫妇之悲，并自省「今我何功德，曾不事农桑」，篇幅较长，铺陈细致，情辞恳切；李绅《悯农》其二仅二十字，以「锄禾」「汗滴」「粒粒」凝练写意，含蓄警策。二诗同属新乐府悯农谱系，同写农人之苦，而白诗铺陈、李诗凝练；白诗以叙事见长，李诗以警句取胜；白诗落笔于社会现实的展示，李诗着力于惜粮之理的昭示。并读可见新乐府运动内部两种风格的互补：铺陈者以真切动人，凝练者以警策传世。