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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

悯农·其一

Compassion for the Farmers, No. 1

李绅

Li Shen

悯农Farmers' hardship 民生People's life 讽喻Satire

春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子。
四海无闲田，农夫犹饿死。

In spring plant one grain of millet; in autumn harvest ten thousand grains.
Under heaven no field lies idle, yet the farmer still dies of hunger.

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Meaning

In twenty plain characters Li Shen lays bare a bitter irony: the earth yields abundantly, no field lies fallow, yet the farmer who grows the grain still starves. The poem turns丰收 into an indictment of injustice, a twin gem with its companion 'Every grain is hard.'

春天种下一粒粟米，秋天收获万颗粮食。普天之下没有荒废的田地，农夫却仍然免不了饿死。

Appreciation

Four lines, twenty characters, yet of high generality. The first two, 'in spring plant one grain; in autumn harvest ten thousand,' use the numbers 'one' and 'ten thousand' to write farming's abundance. The third, 'under heaven no field lies idle,' reaches the whole world, as if all should eat their fill. The last, 'yet the farmer still dies of hunger,' turns sharply; the word 'still' flips out a cruel contrast, shocking. Line by line it builds, layering force; within plain narrative hides sharp censure, the plainer the words the deeper the pain.

【白话串讲】 “春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子。四海无闲田，农夫犹饿死”——李绅写农民的苦：田没闲着，却还是饿死。二十个字，是对整个社会最有力的质问。【意象与手法】四句二十字而具高度概括力。首二句「春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子」以「一」与「万」数词对比写农耕之丰；三句「四海无闲田」推至天下；末句「农夫犹饿死」以「犹」字陡转，丰收与饿死并置，反差触目惊心。【情感与主旨】李绅（772—846）为中唐诗人，此诗与《悯农·其二》（「锄禾日当午」）约作于唐德宗贞元十五年（799）前后，时诗人尚未显达，游学江南，目睹农民疾苦而作。诗以极朴素的语言揭露农事艰辛与社会不公，字里行间充满对农民的深切同情与对剥削现实的尖锐批判。【名句点睛】常考「农夫犹饿死」中「犹」字的表达效果（在层层丰收铺垫后陡然反转，形成强烈反差）；须联系「春种秋收、四海无闲田」的蓄势过程作答，体会以浅语写深痛的现实主义力量。

Background

Li Shen (772 to 846), a mid-Tang poet, wrote this with its companion 'Every grain is hard' about 799 (Zhenyuan 15), before he rose, while studying in the south. In the plainest language it exposes farming's hardship and social injustice. Its No. 1 (by Quan Tang Shi order) writes starvation from丰收, a sharp contrast stabbing at politics; the more famous companion writes the toil itself. The two pass down together as twin gems of ancient farmer-compassion verse.

李绅（772—846），字公垂，润州无锡人，中唐诗人，官至宰相。此诗与《悯农·其二》（「锄禾日当午」）约作于唐德宗贞元十五年（799）前后，时李绅尚未显达，游学江南，亲眼目睹农民终岁勤劳而衣食无着的惨状，遂有感而作，时人传诵。据《云溪友议》载，吕温见二诗而称赏，谓其「必为卿相」，可见二诗在当时即已知名。唐代中期均田制瓦解，土地兼并剧烈，赋役苛重，农民终岁劳作而所得尽归地主官府，天灾兵祸又频仍，杜甫「朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨」、白居易《卖炭翁》等皆写此类社会惨状。此诗以二十字浓缩这一现实，不写过程而直写结果，以丰收与饿死的强烈反差直刺时政，语言之朴素与批判之尖锐形成巨大张力，与《悯农·其二》并传千载，为古代悯农诗之双璧，也是中唐新乐府运动先声中的名篇。此诗历代传诵不衰，还因其切中「农本」思想与「民本」关怀：中国自古以农立国，「四海无闲田」本是理想境界，而「农夫犹饿死」直指理想与现实的背离，矛头直指不合理的分配制度。李绅以一粒万颗的农事常语写天下大义，正如白居易「一丛深色花，十户中人赋」的以小见大，皆中唐新乐府「唯歌生民病」精神的先声；今人读此诗，犹可体会「谁知盘中餐」背后的千钧分量。

Art

Four lines, twenty characters, yet of high generality. First two use 'one' and 'ten thousand' for abundance; third reaches the world; last turns with 'still' into shocking contrast. Line by line builds force; plain narrative hides sharp censure, plainer words deeper pain.

四句二十字，具高度概括力，章法上层层蓄势、卒章显志。首句「春种一粒粟」写农事之始，以「一粒」起笔，极言其微；次句「秋收万颗子」写收获之丰，以「万颗」对「一粒」，数量上的巨大反差写尽耕耘之得、仓廪之实，似为丰收在望的喜报。三句「四海无闲田」推及天下，以「无闲田」写四海之内田地尽辟、耕耘不辍，按常理应丰衣足食、人人温饱。末句「农夫犹饿死」陡然一转，「犹」字如雷霆乍落：如此辛勤、如此丰收、如此遍垦，农夫竟仍不免饿死！前三句步步蓄势，末句一击破的，将丰收与死亡并置，触目惊心，批判之意不言自明。全诗不用一个议论字，纯以事实的反差说话，语愈浅而痛愈深，正是「饥者歌其食」的现实主义传统在唐代的极致发挥，也是「以少总多」的典范——二十字写尽一个时代的悲剧。此诗在修辞上亦极讲究：一「种」一「收」写农事之全，「一粒」对「万颗」写丰歉之悬，「四海」对「农夫」写天下与个体，「无闲田」对「犹饿死」写耕耘与结果的悖反，全诗四句两联，处处对比、层层蓄势，无一闲字。尤妙者，末句以「犹」字作唯一的主观评点，其余皆客观白描，而批判之力反因此愈强——事实本身即是控诉，正是「不著议论而议论自深」的典范。

Allusions

This poem does not pile up allusion; it wins by plain description and contrast. 'Millet' (su), one of the five grains, was anciently called 'the good grain,' and stands here for food in general. 'Sowing in spring, reaping in autumn' quietly matches the agrarian sense of the time -- the Shang Shu's 'food is the first necessity of the seasons' and the Book of Songs' 'Seventh Month' with its rounds of field labor -- and writes the very root of farming. 'The four seas' comes from the Analects ('within the four seas all men are brothers') and here means the whole world, giving the poem's indictment universal reach. 'The farmer still dies of hunger' strikes directly at exploitation; no figure is needed, and the force comes of itself. The line inherits the Book of Songs' 'Planting and Reaping' -- 'you neither sow nor reap, why take three hundred sheaves?' -- and the lament of 'Seventh Month,' and opens the way for Nie Yizhong's 'Song of the Field-House' ('selling new silk in the second month, new grain in the fifth') and Zhang Yu's 'Silkworm Woman' ('those in silk and brocade are not the ones who raise silkworms'). In making shallow words carry deep pain and in stabbing at current politics by contrast, it became the model of later satirical verse. In intellectual lineage it inherits Mencius' 'the people are of first importance, the altars of state next' and the 'Planting and Reaping' ode's satire of the idle eater, grounded instead in the reality of farm production -- more empirical than 'a tyranny is fiercer than a tiger.' Wang Anshi's 'People of the Yellow River Bank' and Fan Chengda's 'Four Seasons of Fields and Gardens' are of one blood with it, and Zhang Yu's line is a variation on 'the farmer still dies of hunger' -- a proof of this poem's pivotal place in the Chinese tradition of pity for the farmer.

此诗不堆典故，纯以白描对比取胜。「粟」为五谷之一，古称「嘉谷」，此处泛指粮食；「春种」「秋收」暗合《尚书·舜典》「食哉惟时」与《诗经·豳风·七月》「亟其乘屋，其始播百谷」的农时观念，写农事之根本。「四海」典出《论语·颜渊》「四海之内皆兄弟」，此处指普天之下，极言地域之广，使诗的批判具有全天下性的普遍意义。「农夫犹饿死」直指剥削现实，不假比兴而力量自出，上承《诗经·伐檀》「不稼不穑，胡取禾三百廛兮」对不劳而获的质问与《七月》的农事悲吟，下开聂夷中《咏田家》「二月卖新丝，五月粜新谷」、张俞《蚕妇》「遍身罗绮者，不是养蚕人」等悯农诗的先声，其以浅语写深痛、以反差刺时政的手法，成为后世讽喻诗的典范。就思想渊源而言，此诗承《孟子》「民为贵，社稷次之」的民本思想与《诗经·伐檀》「彼君子兮，不素餐兮」的刺贪精神，而更以农业生产的现实为据，较之「苛政猛于虎」的感叹更具实证性。后世王安石《河北民》、范成大《四时田园杂兴》的悯农之作，皆与此诗血脉相通；张俞「遍身罗绮者，不是养蚕人」之句，正是「农夫犹饿死」的变奏，可见此诗在中国悯农传统中的枢纽地位。

Commentary

This poem and 'Every grain is hard' have passed a thousand years, recited by every child. Qing scholar He Shang's Wine Garden Poems said 'Tang poetry leaves no theme unmet; the farmers' misery, Li alone is acute.' With Du Fu's 'Red gates stink of wine and meat, frozen bones on the road' it shares a historian's brush. Modern times lists it as required primary-school reading, showing its eternal worth in plain words for deep pain.

此诗与《悯农·其二》并传千载，童蒙皆诵，是中国诗歌史上传播最广、影响最深的小诗之一。清人贺裳《载酒园诗话》谓「诗道至唐，无题不备；农事之惨，李公独切」，肯定其写农事之深切。与杜甫「朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨」同为揭露贫富悬殊的千古名句，而杜诗以意象对照、李诗以数词对比，一富丽一朴素，各有其力。近人将其与《诗经·伐檀》《观刈麦》并列为悯农传统的重要环节。今人更将其列为小学语文必读篇目，与「谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦」一起成为儿童认知劳动、体恤农民的第一课，其语言之朴素、立意之深刻、传播之广泛，足证优秀诗歌跨越时代的永恒力量。从传播与接受看，此诗与「锄禾日当午」一样，成为中华民族共同的童年记忆与文化符号：它是节约粮食教育的诗化载体，也是认识旧社会阶级对立的启蒙文本。历代注家虽少专门评点，然民间传诵之广、入选教材之久，已远超一般名篇；其以二十字完成「提出问题、揭示矛盾、引发反思」的完整逻辑链，正是诗歌「以小见大、以浅寓深」的至高境界，思想价值与艺术价值俱臻极至。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient poem (farmer-compassion old quatrain)五言古诗（古绝）

Rhyme 子, 死 same rising Shi rhyme; 粟, 田 do not match, free rhyme of the old quatrain子、死同押上声纸韵；粟、田不协，属古绝自由用韵

Tone pattern Ancient form, no tone regulation古体不拘平仄，五言四句，二二节拍

Reading note Old quatrain; writes farming's pain through contrast此诗为五言古诗中的古绝，体制与近体绝句不同：近体绝句须守平仄、避孤平，而古绝自由用韵、不究平仄。本诗四句，「春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子」为「平平仄仄仄，平仄仄平仄」，多处拗而古意盎然；韵脚「子」「死」押上声纸韵，而「粟」「田」不押，属古绝「前二句可不用韵」的自由形态。古绝以散句白描为主，正适合此类直白刺世的内容——若用近体严律，反嫌雕琢，削弱了民歌般的质朴力量。全诗五言二二节拍，节奏短促明快，与语言的朴素、批判的直截正相吻合；「一粒」「万颗」「四海」「犹」等数量词与副词的连用，造成音节上由缓而急、卒然收束的顿挫感，与「由丰收到饿死」的章法互为表里。此种古绝形式源于汉魏乐府五言诗，经唐代诗人的活用，成为讽喻短章最常用的载体，李绅此诗正是古绝「以短章写大事」的典范。

Line by line

春种一粒粟

In spring, we plant one grain of millet,

春天种下一粒粟米。

In spring, one grain of millet is planted.

首句写农事之始，以「一粒」起笔，极言其微。「春种」点明农时，暗合「一年之计在于春」的农谚，写农民春耕之辛劳；「一粒粟」以最小的量词写种子之微，一粒入土，渺小得几乎可以忽略。此句的妙处在于为次句「万颗」蓄势——由微到巨的反差已经埋下，全诗「一」与「万」的数量对比结构由此奠基，同时「一粒」也暗含农民付出的辛劳与收获的不成比例，为末句的悲剧埋下伏笔。

The opening line writes the farming's beginning, rising through 'one grain', saying its tiny to the utmost. 'In spring, we plant' names the farming season, secretly matching the farming proverb of 'the year's plan lies in the spring', writing the farmer's spring-plowing toil; 'one grain of millet' through the smallest measure-word writing the seed's tiny, one grain into the soil, tiny almost negligible. The beauty of the line lies in storing the groundwork for the next line's 'ten thousand seeds' — the contrast from tiny to vast already planted, the whole's number-contrast structure of 'one' and 'ten thousand' founded here, at once 'one grain' secretly holding the disproportion between the farmer's toil and the harvest, planting the groundwork for the closing line's tragedy.

秋收万颗子

in autumn, we harvest ten thousand seeds.

秋天收获万颗粮食。

In autumn, ten thousand seeds are harvested.

次句写收获之丰，以「万颗」对「一粒」，数量反差极大。「秋收」对「春种」，写出完整的农事周期，一年辛劳终有收成；「万颗」以虚数极言其多，一粒入土、万颗归仓，写尽土地之肥、耕耘之效，看似一片丰收景象。此句与首句合观，似为「天道酬勤」的喜报，实则为后文蓄势——丰收愈丰，饿死愈不可解，悲剧的荒诞性在数量对比中被无限放大。

The next line writes the harvest's abundance, through 'ten thousand seeds' set against 'one grain', the number contrast extreme. 'In autumn, we harvest' set against 'in spring, we plant', writing the complete farming cycle, the year's toil at last yielding; 'ten thousand seeds' through the virtual number saying its many to the utmost, one grain into the soil, ten thousand into the granary, writing to the full the land's richness, the tilling's effect, seemingly a scene of plenty. This line and the opening read together, seem the happy report of 'heaven rewards industry', in fact storing the groundwork for the below — the more abundant the harvest, the more inexplicable the starving, the tragedy's absurdity infinitely enlarged in the number contrast.

四海无闲田

Within the four seas, no idle field,

普天之下没有荒废的田地。

Within the four seas, no field lies fallow.

三句由一家推及天下，以「无闲田」写四海之内田地尽辟。「四海」极言地域之广，使诗的批判由个案上升为普遍现象；「无闲田」写农民终年不辍、地无遗利，勤劳已至极致。按常理，如此辛勤、如此遍垦，理应丰衣足食、天下温饱——此句将读者的预期推至顶点，与前两句共同构成层层递进的蓄势，为末句的「犹饿死」蓄满反差的动能，是「先扬后抑」章法的关键一环。

Three lines, from one household extended to all under heaven, through 'no idle field' writing the fields within the four seas all opened. 'The four seas' saying the region's breadth to the utmost, raising the poem's critique from the individual case to the universal phenomenon; 'no idle field' writing the farmers' yearlong without rest, the land's no leftover profit, industry to the extreme. By common sense, such industry, such universal reclamation, should yield warm clothes and full food, the world's plenty — this line pushing the reader's expectation to the peak, with the first two lines together forming the layer-on-layer momentum, storing the fullest contrast's force for the closing's 'and yet the farmers still starve', the key link of the 'first lift then press' craft.

农夫犹饿死

and yet the farmers still starve to death.

农夫却仍然免不了饿死。

And yet the farmers still die of hunger.

末句陡转，是全诗情感与批判的爆发点。「犹」字为诗眼：竟然、仍旧——在「春种秋收、四海无闲田」的层层铺垫之后，农夫竟仍不免饿死，丰收与死亡并置，荒诞与沉痛交织，触目惊心。此句不写剥削的过程，而直写结果，将矛头指向不合理的社会制度，批判之意不言自明。语愈浅而痛愈深，二十字的短章至此完成「由喜到悲、由扬到抑」的完整反转，千载之下读之犹觉震撼。

The closing line turns abruptly, the whole's emotional and critical eruption. The word 'and yet' is the poem's eye: unexpectedly, still — after the layer-on-layer groundwork of 'spring planting and autumn harvest, within the four seas no idle field', the farmers unexpectedly still cannot escape the starving to death, the plenty and the death set side by side, the absurdity and the grief interwoven, startling to the eye. This line writes not the exploitation's process, but directly the result, pointing the spearhead at the unreasonable social system, the critique's meaning self-evident. The plainer the word, the deeper the grief, the short piece of twenty words here completing the full reversal of 'from joy to grief, from lift to press', after a thousand years the reading still feels the shock.

Study

Word focus

犹 Adverb, 'yet, still.' After layers of丰收 buildup it flips to 'dies of hunger,' a strong contrast, the poem's most grievous point. 「农夫犹饿死」之「犹」，副词，义为「竟然、仍旧」，是全诗最沉痛的一个字。在「春种一粒粟，秋收万颗子」「四海无闲田」的层层丰收铺垫之后，一个「犹」字陡然翻出「饿死」的惨剧，形成强烈反差——丰收了却饿死，遍垦了却饿死，常理在此崩解，荒诞由此而生。「犹」字将批判的锋芒指向「丰收归谁」的深层问题：田无闲地而农犹饿死，则收获必为他人所夺，剥削之罪不言自明。一字之转，全诗境界全出，正是炼字的极致。

万颗子 'Ten thousand' says the harvest is vast, contrasting the first line's 'one grain,' highlighting the absurdity of 'no idle field yet still starvation.' 「秋收万颗子」之「万颗子」，以「万」极言收获之丰，与首句「一粒」形成强烈的数量对比。「万」是虚数，非实指，而以虚写实，极言其多，使「春种一粒」与「秋收万颗」的丰收图景生动可感。此词的高明处在于：收获愈丰，则「农夫犹饿死」愈显荒诞，对比的张力愈强——不是歉收饿死，而是丰收饿死，这正是对剥削制度的血泪控诉。与「四海无闲田」相配合，「万颗子」写仓廪之实，「无闲田」写耕耘之勤，共同反衬末句的悲剧。

一粒 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「春种一粒粟」之「一粒」，以最小的量词写种子之微，与「万颗」遥相对照，是全诗数量结构的一端。「一粒」既写种子之渺小——投入与产出极不相称，更暗含农民付出的辛劳：一粒入土，需经春耕夏耘、栉风沐雨，方有万颗之收。此词以极小的数量写极深的分量，为全诗「以少写多、以小见大」的章法奠基，也与末句「饿死」的结局形成呼应——付出的努力与悲惨的结局之间的反差，正是诗意的核心所在。