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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

妾薄命

A Concubine's Thin Fate

李白

Li Bai

乐府Theme 闺怨Theme 女性命运Theme 李白Theme

汉帝重阿娇，贮之黄金屋。
咳唾落九天，随风生珠玉。
宠极爱还歇，妒深情却疏。
长门一步地，不肯暂回车。
雨落不上天，水覆难再收。
君情与妾意，各自东西流。
昔日芙蓉花，今成断根草。
以色事他人，能得几时好。

The Han Emperor cherished A-Jiao, and housed her in a golden room.
Her spittle fell from the ninth heaven, turning to pearls and jade upon the wind.
Love at its height must wane; deep jealousy only cools the affection.
The Long Gate is but a step away, yet he will not turn his carriage back a moment.
Rain that falls cannot return to heaven; water once spilled is hard to gather again.
The lord's heart and the mistress's—each flows its own way, east and west.
She who was a lotus bloom is now a root-cut weed.
To serve another by one's beauty—how long can such favor last?

Listen

Meaning

Li Bai retells the fall of Emperor Wu's favorite, A-Jiao, to warn that beauty alone can never hold love.

汉武帝宠爱陈阿娇，将她藏进黄金屋。她咳唾之沫仿佛落自九天，随风化作珠玉。宠爱到极点终会消退，嫉妒虽深恩情却已疏远。长门宫虽只一步之遥，君王却不肯暂且回车一见。雨水落下再难回到天上，泼出的水难以重新收回。君王的情意与妾身的心思，各自像水流向东向西。往日的她如芙蓉花儿，如今却成了断根的枯草。凭着美色侍奉他人，又能有几时美好。

Appreciation

Li Bai's 'Qie Bo Ming' (A Concubine's Thin Fate) revives an old yuefu title to retell the fall of Chen A-Jiao, the empress whom Emperor Wu of Han once promised to 'house in a golden room' and later abandoned to the Cold Palace (Changmen) when jealousy cooled his love. The poem's power lies in stark contrast: the lavish opening — golden chamber, 'spittle falling from the ninth heaven, becoming pearls and jade on the wind' — collapses into the desolate close, where the favored one becomes a 'root-cut weed.' Two proverbial images fix the irreversibility of lost favor: rain that will not climb back to heaven, water spilled that cannot be gathered again. The final lines step back from the anecdote to state the moral directly, in the plain, proverbial voice yuefu favors: 'serving others by one's beauty — how long can that be good?' On the surface a palace-woman's lament, the poem also mirrors a scholar's anxiety before capricious patronage, and the universal fragility of favor won by appearance alone. Concise, rhythmic, and architecturally balanced, it stands as one of Li Bai's most quoted yuefu on the theme of love's mutability.

【白话串讲】 “汉帝重阿娇，贮之黄金屋”——李白写妾薄命：汉武帝金屋藏娇。“宠极爱还歇，妒深情却疏”——宠到极处爱就歇了。“长门一步地，不肯暂回车”——“雨落不上天，水覆难再收”——“君情与妾意，各自东西流”——他写宠衰的悲剧。【意象与手法】以“汉帝重阿娇、贮之黄金屋”开篇用金屋藏娇典点出极盛之宠；“宠极爱还歇”一转写失宠入长门；“雨落不上天、水覆难再收”两个比喻道尽恩断义绝之不可逆；结尾“以色事他人、能得几时好”直抒议论。叙事波澜起伏，善用对比、比喻与典故。【情感与主旨】借陈皇后阿娇由宠到弃的典故，抒写女子色衰爱弛的哀怨，实亦暗含诗人对世态炎凉、君臣际遇无常的感慨。末二句揭橥“以色事人”的残酷逻辑，既是对宫闱女性的悲悯，也隐喻才士以文干谒、难保恩宠的惶惧。【名句点睛】常考“雨落不上天，水覆难再收”以覆水难收写恩断难复；“以色事他人，能得几时好”直揭以色事人的残酷。

Background

'A Concubine's Thin Fate' (Qie Bo Ming) is a yuefu title handed down from the palace of Emperor Wu of Han. Li Bai revives it around the story of Chen A-Jiao, the empress whom the emperor doted on ('I would build a golden house for her') and later abandoned to the Cold Palace (Changmen Palace) when her jealousy cooled his love. Li Bai uses the old tale to generalize about the fragility of favor won by beauty alone.

李白《妾薄命》为乐府旧题，借汉武帝陈皇后阿娇由宠到弃的典故，抒写女子色衰爱弛的哀怨，实亦暗含诗人对世态炎凉、君臣际遇无常的感慨。陈阿娇为汉武帝刘彻嫡亲表姐，幼时武帝言「若得阿娇作妇，当作金屋贮之」，及即位立为皇后，擅宠骄贵；后卫子夫得幸，阿娇妒而失宠，废居长门宫，抑郁而死。这个由极贵到极弃的故事，自汉以来便是文人咏叹的母题。李白写此诗，表面是代宫怨，内里却是一代诗仙对自身际遇的影射：他献赋玄宗、待诏翰林，也曾如传奇般被宠，终以「赐金放还」收场，深知「以色事人」与「以才事君」同有难久之理。要读懂此诗，须把「妾」看作所有曾得恩宠终被疏远的人的共名——不独宫妃，亦包括文士、包括一切仰赖他人恩渥的弱者。此为李白乐府「借古讽今、以女性命运寄托身世之慨」的典型之作。李白写《妾薄命》，表面是代宫中失宠女子立言，深层却藏着对自身际遇的影射：他曾待诏翰林、蒙玄宗优渥，终以赐金放还收场，深知「以色事人」与「以才事君」同样难久。读懂这一层寄托，方能从此诗华艳的乐府外壳下，听见一位天才诗人关于恩宠与失落的沉痛自白。

Art

Li Bai contrasts lavish opening and desolate close: 'golden room' against 'root-cut weed,' 'pearls and jade' against 'spilled water.' Two proverbial images—rain that will not climb back to heaven, water that will not return to the basin—fix the irreversibility of lost love. The final line steps back from the story to deliver the moral directly, in the plain, proverbial voice yuefu favors.

此诗艺术上最见李白乐府的叙事波澜与对比之力。全诗以汉帝重阿娇、贮之黄金屋开篇，用「金屋藏娇」典点出极盛之宠；继而以「咳唾落九天，随风生珠玉」极写骄贵，把宠妃的每一举动都写得如天降祥瑞。然「宠极爱还歇」一转，如高山坠石，写失宠入长门，君王咫尺不回；复以「雨落不上天，水覆难再收」两个比喻，道尽恩断义绝之不可逆，比喻通俗而力重千钧。结尾「昔日芙蓉花，今成断根草」「以色事他人，能得几时好」以今昔对比与直抒议论收束，点明以色事人终难长久的题旨。其结构如潮：起处满潮，转处退潮，结处涸泽，起伏分明。语言明白流畅而情感沉痛，善用对比、比喻、典故，体现了李白乐府借古事写今情、以女性命运寄身世之慨的典型手法。全诗如潮，起处满潮写金屋之宠，转处退潮写长门之弃，结处涸泽写断根之零落，起伏分明而情致一贯。李白乐府最擅以通俗比喻承载深重哀感，此诗「雨落不上天」「水覆难再收」诸句，皆取眼前景物为喻，使深理变浅、浅语变重，正是其清水出芙蓉一派的本色。

Allusions

A-Jiao is Chen A-Jiao, Empress of Han Wudi; 'golden house' (jiaowu) recalls the emperor's childhood vow. The 'Long Gate' (Changmen) Palace is where the discarded empress lived; 'lotus' (furong) stands for the beloved's beauty, 'root-cut weed' for her ruin. The spilled-water and fallen-rain images became commonplaces for irreversible loss.

诗中典故皆围绕「金屋—长门」这一盛衰轴线展开。「汉帝重阿娇，贮之黄金屋」用「金屋藏娇」事，出自《汉武故事》，写武帝幼时愿以金屋贮阿娇之盟，极言初始之宠。「咳唾落九天，随风生珠玉」化用《庄子》「唾沫」与乐府夸饰笔法，写宠妃咳唾皆成珠玉，极言骄贵。「长门一步地，不肯暂回车」暗用司马相如《长门赋》事：陈皇后失宠后以千金请相如作赋以悟主，然终未复幸，李白拈「长门」「回车」写君王咫尺不回的冷酷。「雨落不上天，水覆难再收」本于古谚「覆水难收」，写恩断之不可追。「芙蓉花」对「断根草」，芙蓉喻盛时容色，断根草喻弃后零落，意象出自《古诗》以花草喻容衰的传统。这些典故串联成一条从宠到弃的完整叙事链，使个人哀怨获得历史的纵深。诗中金屋、长门、覆水、芙蓉、断根诸典，串联成一条由宠到弃的完整叙事链，使个人哀怨获得历史的纵深。李白用典不求繁密，但求贴切，每一个典故都是阿娇命运的一个注脚，也暗暗照见诗人自己的身世之慨，故能于乐府的浅白中见出沉郁；尤其「长门一步地」暗用长门赋事，把君王咫尺不回的冷酷写得触目，是典故化为情景的妙手。

Commentary

Critics note that Li Bai, usually the poet of freedom and wine, here writes a tight, moralizing palace-yuefu in the manner of the old 'bo ming' songs. The power lies in the closing aphorism: a beauty who 'serves another by her looks' buys a favor with an expiry date—a sharp, almost worldly verdict from a poet not known for prudence.

在唐人闺怨乐府中，此诗别具沉郁之力，与李白《长门怨》诸作可相发明。诗中「长门一步地，不肯暂回车」将陈皇后幽居长门的悲凉凝于咫尺之间；末二句「以色事他人，能得几时好」揭橥以色事人的残酷逻辑，既是对宫闱女性的悲悯，也隐喻才士以文干谒、难保恩宠的惶惧，寄慨遥深，非寻常闺怨可比。近人论李白乐府，多推其「借男女之情写君臣之义」的寄托之妙，此诗正是一例：表面的宫怨，内里是自伤不遇。明人胡应麟、清人沈德潜评李诗，皆重其「天然」「沉郁」两端，此诗以明白语写沉痛情，恰兼二者。它与《长门怨》《玉阶怨》同列李白宫怨乐府之林，而议论最为直截，故历来为论「寄托」者所引。此诗在唐人闺怨乐府中别具沉郁之力，明人胡应麟、清人沈德潜论李诗，皆重其天然、沉郁两端，此诗以明白语写沉痛情，恰兼二者。它将宫闱之怨升格为对「以色事人」这一普遍规律的冷峻揭示，寄慨遥深，非寻常闺怨可比；千载之下读之，仍能感到那一声能得几时好里，既有对女子的悲悯，也有对才士命运的惶惧。

Prosody

Form English explanation is being prepared.乐府诗（五言，不依近体格律，从汉乐府歌行体出）

Rhyme English explanation is being prepared.此诗以古乐府自由行腔，句意转韵，不守近体一韵到底之规；「屋」「玉」「疏」「车」「收」「流」「草」「好」随情换韵，读来如谣如谚，正合乐府本色。

Tone pattern English explanation is being prepared.五言乐府本不论平仄粘对，此诗随语势起伏，「汉帝重阿娇，贮之黄金屋」平仄相闲，「宠极爱还歇，妒深情却疏」以口语成句，故声调自由而情致流转，与律诗之谨严异趣。

Reading note Five-character pentameter yuefu, free of the strict tonal bindings of regulated verse, with a flowing narrative line. Rhyme carries through the even-numbered lines; the paired proverbial couplets give the poem its proverbial, song-like weight.乐府之律在「歌」不在「格」。李白写乐府，最忌被近体束缚，此诗以五言短句、随情换韵，正得其自由之趣。其声调之妙在「似谣」：读来如民间女子自诉，不端不饰，与诗中宫怨的「真」相称。若强依律诗平仄，必失其天然慷慨。清人论李诗乐府，重在「气」与「情」的奔泻，此诗的声律正为此服务——形式退后，内容向前，是盛唐乐府的典型。乐府之律在歌不在格，李白写此诗最忌被近体束缚，故以五言短句、随情换韵，得其自由慷慨之趣。其声调之妙在似谣：读来如民间女子自诉，不端不饰，与诗中宫怨的真相称；若强依律诗平仄，必失其天然。清人论李诗乐府重在气与情的奔泻，此诗的声律正为此服务——形式退后、内容向前，是盛唐乐府以情驭律的典型，亦见太白不屑为格律所拘的仙才本色。

Line by line

汉帝重阿娇，贮之黄金屋。

The Han Emperor cherished A-Jiao, and housed her in a golden room.

汉武帝宠爱陈阿娇，将她藏进黄金屋。

The Han emperor loved Ajiao dearly, and housed her in a house of gold.

开篇两句以「金屋藏娇」的著名典故起势，先立极盛之宠的标杆。汉帝对阿娇，不只用情，更以「重」字写其分量；贮之黄金屋，则以物质的极奢写恩宠的极浓。这一联是全诗的「满潮」：所有后来的凉薄，都从这最初的金屋反衬出来。李白不写阿娇如何得宠的细节，只以「重」「贮」二字点出份量，留白处恰是读者已知的繁华。起笔越暖，后文越冷，这是全诗对比结构的根基。

The opening two lines rise on the famous allusion of 'the golden house for the beloved', first setting the benchmark of favor at its height. The Han emperor, for Ajiao, not only loved but wrote its weight through 'loved dearly'; housed in the golden palace, the extreme of luxury writing the extreme of favor. This couplet is the poem's 'high tide': all the later coldness is set off against this first golden house. Li Bai writes no detail of how Ajiao won favor, only the two words 'loved' and 'housed' naming the weight, and the blank is the splendor the reader already knows. The warmer the opening, the colder the below — the ground of the whole poem's contrast structure.

宠极爱还歇，妒深情却疏。

Love at its height must wane; deep jealousy only cools the affection.

宠爱到极点终会消退，嫉妒虽深恩情却已疏远。

Love at its height must fade; jealousy, though deep, makes the favor recede.

这一联是转折点，也是全诗的理脉。「宠极爱还歇」写物极必反，宠到顶点便开始回落，是世事的无情规律；「妒深情却疏」更进一层：阿娇之妒，正因其情深，然情越深、妒越甚，君王反而越远。这两句把「因爱生妒、因妒失宠」的心理链条写得冷静彻骨。李白于此露出史家般的清醒：他不为阿娇辩，而是指出悲剧的内在逻辑——深情与失宠竟是同一件事的两面。这种不滥情的理智，使宫怨升格为对人性的洞察。

This couplet is the turning point, and the poem's line of reason. 'Love at its height must fade' writes the reversal when things reach their extreme — favor at its peak begins to decline, the ruthless law of the world; 'jealousy, though deep, makes the favor recede' goes further: Ajiao's jealousy springs precisely from deep feeling, yet the deeper the feeling, the stronger the jealousy, and the further the sovereign withdraws. These two lines write the psychological chain of 'jealousy born of love, favor lost through jealousy' with a bone-deep calm. Li Bai here shows a historian's clarity: he does not plead for Ajiao, but points out the tragedy's inner logic — deep feeling and lost favor are two sides of the same thing. This unsentimental reason raises the palace grievance into an insight into human nature.

长门一步地，不肯暂回车。

The Long Gate is but a step away, yet he will not turn his carriage back a moment.

长门宫虽只一步之遥，君王却不肯暂且回车一见。

The Changan Palace is but one step away, yet he would not turn his carriage even a moment.

这一联写失宠后的凄绝，妙在「一步地」与「不肯」的反差。长门宫离君王所在不过一步，地理的近反衬心理的远；「不肯暂回车」写君王连片刻的回头都没有，冷酷到近乎残忍。「暂」字尤狠：不是要他长住，只求片刻回车，仍不可得。李白暗用《长门赋》事，却不写赋之哀婉，而写车之不复，把千言万语压进五个字。这一步之遥，是人间最远的距离，也是全诗最刺心的一笔。

This couplet writes the desolation after the loss of favor, the beauty in the contrast between 'one step' and 'would not'. The Changan Palace is but one step from where the sovereign stays; the nearness of place sets off the distance of heart; 'would not turn his carriage even a moment' writes the sovereign's not even a moment's backward look, cold to the point of cruelty. The word 'even' is the cruelest: he does not ask for a long stay, only a moment's turning of the carriage, and still it is refused. Li Bai secretly uses the allusion to the Changan Fu, yet writes not the fu's pathos, but the carriage's non-return, pressing a thousand words into five. This step of distance is the farthest distance in the world, and the most piercing stroke of the poem.

雨落不上天，水覆难再收。

Rain that falls cannot return to heaven; water once spilled is hard to gather again.

雨水落下再难回到天上，泼出的水难以重新收回。

Rain falls, and cannot climb back to the sky; water spilled, and cannot be gathered again.

这一联以两个自然比喻写恩断之不可逆，是民歌式的通俗而有力。「雨落不上天」写既坠不可回，「水覆难再收」写既泼不可聚，两个意象都取自日常经验，却道尽关系的死局。李白乐府最擅此道：不搬书袋，而取眼前景物作喻，使深理变浅、浅语变重。这两句在结构上承上启下：前写失宠之状，此写失宠之定局，后文「各自东西流」便顺流而下。比喻的重复（皆言不可追）本身也是一种强调，如妇人絮语，愈絮愈悲。

This couplet, through two natural metaphors, writes the irreversibility of the severed favor, ballad-like, plain and forceful. 'Rain falls, and cannot climb back to the sky' the fallen cannot return; 'water spilled, and cannot be gathered again' the poured cannot be gathered; both images taken from daily experience, yet telling the deadlock of the relation. Li Bai's yuefu excels here: no book-learning, but the scene before the eyes for metaphor, turning the deep truth plain, the plain words heavy. Structurally, the couplet carries the above and leads the below: the above writes the state of lost favor, this the settled fact, and the later 'each flowing east and west' follows of itself. The repetition of the metaphor (all speaking the unrecoverable) is itself an emphasis, like a woman's murmured talk, the more it murmurs, the more the grief.

昔日芙蓉花，今成断根草。

She who was a lotus bloom is now a root-cut weed.

往日的她如芙蓉花儿，如今却成了断根的枯草。

The lotus flower of old days, now a root-broken weed.

这一联是今昔对比的凝缩，也是全诗词采最丽之处。「芙蓉花」写盛时容色之清艳，「断根草」写弃后零落之无依，一荣一枯、一有根一无根，反差惊心。芙蓉出水、断草离土，都是极具体的物象，李白用以写人，不著一个「老」字而老态自成，不著一个「弃」字而弃意自见。更巧在「断根」暗应前文「水覆」——根断则不可活，如覆水之不可收，意象彼此呼应，结构绵密。这一联把前面所有的叙事，收束成一幅触目惊心的画面。

This couplet is the condensation of past and present, and the most luxuriant diction of the poem. 'The lotus flower of old days' the clear, bright beauty of her prime; 'now a root-broken weed' the rootless, fallen desolation after abandonment — one flowering one withered, one rooted one rootless, the contrast striking. The lotus rising from the water, the weed torn from the soil, are both the most concrete things, and Li Bai uses them for the person, not one word 'old' yet old age of itself, not one word 'abandoned' yet abandonment showing of itself. The further cleverness: 'root-broken' secretly answers the 'water spilled' above — root broken means life cannot return, as spilled water cannot be gathered, the images answering each other, the structure close. This couplet gathers all the narrative above into a picture that strikes the eye.

以色事他人，能得几时好。

To serve another by one's beauty—how long can such favor last?

凭着美色侍奉他人，又能有几时美好。

She who serves another with beauty — for how long can the beauty last?

结句直抒议论，是全文的题旨，也是李白「寄托」的出口。「以色事他人」五字，把阿娇的悲剧归结为一条普适的律令：美色是会凋的，倚美色而得的一切都随之凋。「能得几时好」以问作结，不是疑问而是断言——答案人人皆知，却人人不愿信。这一句表面训女子，内里训所有倚仗外在恩渥者，包括以才色干谒的文士。李白把它放在结尾，使一首宫怨诗有了箴言的重量；也正因这一句，此诗超出「怨」而近于「警」。

The closing line speaks the argument direct, the theme of the whole, and the outlet of Li Bai's 'allegory'. The five words 'serves another with beauty' reduce Ajiao's tragedy to a universal law: beauty fades, and everything won through beauty fades with it. 'For how long can the beauty last?' ends in question, not a question but an assertion — the answer all men know, yet all men refuse to believe. This line, on the surface admonishing women, at heart admonishing all who rely on outward favor, including the scholars who seek office through talent and charm. Li Bai places it at the end, giving a palace-grievance poem the weight of a maxim; and precisely because of this line, the poem rises beyond 'grievance' toward 'warning'.

Study

Word focus

贮 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「贮之黄金屋」的「贮」字极有分量。贮是收藏、安置，把人当作珍物一般「贮」起来，既写出宠之专，也暗含物化——阿娇在武帝眼中近乎一件私藏的宝。这个字一面是恩，一面是占有，为后文「弃」埋下伏笔：既然是「贮」物，便也可随时弃置。一字之中已伏下盛衰两面的基因。这一个「贮」字把人当作珍物收藏，既写出专宠之深，也暗含占有与物化的冷意，为后文失宠见弃预先埋下伏笔。盛时越是郑重其事的收藏，败时便越是轻飘飘的弃置，一字之中已藏尽盛衰两面的基因。

歇 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「宠极爱还歇」的「歇」字写恩宠的停止，如风停、如火灭，极平实却极冷。它不写「绝」而写「歇」，仿佛只是暂歇，却因前文「极」字，可知此歇便不会再起。这个字把不可挽回的结局，说得像日常自然现象，冷静中更见残忍，是李白以淡语写重情的范例。「歇」字写恩宠之止，如风停火灭，平实而冷峻；不写「绝」而写「歇」，仿佛只是暂歇，然前有「极」字压阵，可知此歇永无再起。李白以极淡之笔写极重之悲，正见其乐府不靠雕琢、全凭性情的力量。

断根草 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「断根草」是全诗最惨的意象。草本微弱，断根则必死，用它比弃妇，写其失所依凭、朝不保夕。与「芙蓉花」对举，荣枯之反差全在此三字。断根更暗扣「水覆难收」——根断如覆水，皆是不可复原之局。这个意象既俗且痛，是乐府「即事为喻」的看家本领。「断根草」以最微贱的植物喻最无依的弃身，与「芙蓉花」对举，荣枯之反差尽在三字之中。断根既暗合「水覆难收」之不可复，也写出弃后朝不保夕的飘零，是乐府即事为喻、以俗为痛的典型手笔。

色 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「以色事他人」的「色」是全诗的结论性字眼，也是李白寄托的落点。色指容色、美貌，事人指侍奉、倚靠。李白以此一字总括阿娇之败，也总括一切倚外物得宠者的宿命。这个字把具体的宫闱故事，抽象成一条人间通则，使诗歌从「怨」上升到「理」，是结句能压住全篇的关键。结句以「色」字总括阿娇之败，也总括一切倚仗外在恩渥者的宿命，把具体的宫闱故事抽象成一条人间通则。正是这一个字，使全诗的宫怨越出怨而近于警，有了箴言般的重量。

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