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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

轻肥

Light Furs and Fat Horses

白居易

Bai Juyi

讽喻Satire 民生The People's Livelihood

意气骄满路，鞍马光照尘。
借问何为者，人称是内臣。
朱绂皆大夫，紫绶或将军。
夸赴军中宴，走马去如云。
尊罍溢九酝，水陆罗八珍。
果擘洞庭橘，脍切天池鳞。
食饱心自若，酒酣气益振。
是岁江南旱，衢州人食人。

Arrogant pride fills the road;
the gleam of saddle horses lights the dust.
"May I ask who these men are?"
"Eunuchs of the palace," the answer comes.
Crimson tassels mark the great lords,
purple cords, the generals among them.
Boasting, they hasten to the army feast,
galloping away thick as clouds.
Wine brims in the vessels, nine times brewed;
eight delicacies from land and water are spread.
They split open oranges from Dongting,
and slice raw the fish of the Heavenly Pool.
Fed full, their hearts are utterly at ease;
flushed with wine, their spirits rise ever higher.
That same year there was drought in Jiangnan:
in Quzhou, men ate men.

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Meaning

Written around 810 as one of Bai Juyi's ten Qinzhong Yin poems, this satire contrasts the obscene luxury of court eunuch-officials with the horror of famine in the very same year. Fourteen lines dwell with cold detachment on the eunuchs' swagger and banquet; the last two lines drop like a stone: while the powerful feast, the people of Quzhou are reduced to cannibalism. Without a word of direct comment, Bai Juyi lets the contrast itself deliver his indictment of an age in which officials gorge while the empire starves.

意气骄横，充满道路，鞍马的光彩照亮尘土。借问这是些什么人，人们说是宫中的内臣。佩朱绂的都是大夫，系紫绶的或有将军。夸耀着去赴军中的宴会，策马奔驰快如云。樽罍里斟满九酝美酒，水陆的山珍海错罗列满席。水果剥开洞庭的橘子，鱼脍切自天池的鲜鳞。吃饱了心里安然自得，酒喝足了意气更加振奋。这一年江南大旱，衢州地方人吃人。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Bai Juyi paints two scenes from the same year. First, the palace eunuchs of Chang'an, proud and glittering, ride out to a military banquet; wine, rare fruit and sliced raw fish are piled before them, and as they eat their fill and drink deep they grow only more arrogant. Then, in ten devastating characters, the poet turns to Jiangnan: drought has come, and in Quzhou people are eating people. [Structure] The poem's power lies in its structure. Fourteen lines are spent on lavish description, each couplet layering on fresh abundance, so that when the final couplet arrives the reader feels the sheer drop in the emotional floor. [Imagery] The imagery is concrete and almost cruel in its brightness: dust lit by horses, oranges from Dongting, fish sliced raw from the Heavenly Pool. Not one word of moralizing is spoken, yet the silence between the banquet and the famine speaks louder than any sermon. [Theme] This is Bai Juyi's ideal of directly singing the facts: poetry as testimony, in which the arrangement of truth itself becomes judgment.

【白话串讲】白居易写《轻肥》：“意气骄满路，鞍马光照尘”——“借问何为者，人称是内臣”——“朱绂皆大夫，紫绶或将军”——“尊罍溢九酝，水陆罗八珍”——他们吃山珍海味。“是岁江南旱，衢州人食人”——那年江南大旱，衢州人吃人——他写贫富悬殊。【意象与手法】此诗是白居易《秦中吟》十首之一，写宦官骄奢与民间疾苦的对照，是白居易讽喻诗的名篇。前八句写内臣的骄横：「意气骄满路，鞍马光照尘」写其气焰嚣张；「借问何为者，人称是内臣」点明身份——宫中的内臣（宦官）；「朱绂皆大夫，紫绶或将军」写其权位之显赫。中十句写宴会的豪奢：「夸赴军中宴，走马去如云」写其赴宴的排场；「尊罍溢九酝，水陆罗八珍」写酒食的丰盛；「果擘洞庭橘，脍切天池鳞」写果馔的珍奇；「食饱心自若，酒酣气益振」写其骄奢的满足。末两句以骤然的转折写民间疾苦：「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」——同一年江南大旱，衢州已人吃人。全诗以绝大的反差作结，不着一字议论而讽意自明，是白居易「一吟悲一事」讽喻精神的高度体现。【情感与主旨】此诗作于唐宪宗元和五年（810）前后，是白居易《秦中吟》十首之一。白居易时任左拾遗等职，在长安目睹权贵的骄奢与民间的疾苦，遂作《秦中吟》十首以讽喻时政。此诗写宦官的骄奢：意气骄横、鞍马照尘、朱绂紫绶、走马如云，赴军中盛宴、罗列八珍、擘橘脍鳞、食饱酒酣；末两句以「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」作结，写同一时空下民间的人间惨剧。诗中「尊罍溢九酝，水陆罗八珍」「食饱心自若，酒酣气益振」写权贵的骄奢，「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」写民间的惨状，以悬殊的对照，揭示出权贵之奢与民生之惨的尖锐对立。白居易作《秦中吟》的自述是「闻见之间，有足悲者，因直歌其事」，此诗正是「直歌其事」的典范——他不发议论，只是把权贵的骄奢与民间的惨状并置，让读者在巨大的反差中感受时代的创伤。「朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨」是杜甫的对照，而「衢州人食人」正是白居易笔下「朱门」的另一端，是唐代社会贫富对立的血泪写照，也是理解白居易讽喻诗精神的核心作品。【名句点睛】常考“尊罍溢九酝，水陆罗八珍”写宴会的豪奢；“是岁江南旱，衢州人食人”以骤然的转折写民间疾苦，对比惊人。

Background

Bai Juyi (772-846), courtesy name Letian, was one of the mid-Tang dynasty's greatest poets and an outspoken advocate of poetry that serves society. Composed around 810, the fifth year of the Yuanhe era, 'Light Furs and Fat Horses' is one of the ten poems in his Qinzhong Yin (Songs of Qin) series, written while he served as a Reminder in the capital. In his preface to the series he wrote that, living in Chang'an during the Zhenyuan and Yuanhe eras, he saw 'enough to grieve over' and therefore 'sang the facts directly.' The historical background is grim: eunuchs dominated both court and army, while drought and famine ravaged Jiangnan. The poem's final line was no exaggeration; records of the Yuanhe era confirm severe famine, and even cannibalism, in the Quzhou area during the great drought of 808-809.

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）被授翰林学士，元和三年授左拾遗，此后数年在长安任职，得以目睹朝政的腐败与民间的疾苦。中唐时期，宦官专权日盛，宦官（内臣）多兼任禁军将领，把持朝政、骄奢跋扈；而地方则天灾频仍、民生凋敝。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，命为《秦中吟》焉。」此诗即写他在长安所见：宦官（内臣）意气骄横、鞍马照尘，佩朱绂（红色绶带，大夫之服）、系紫绶（紫色绶带，将军之服），赴军中盛宴，罗列水陆八珍，擘洞庭之橘、切天池之鳞，食饱酒酣、意气扬扬；而「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」——同一年江南大旱，衢州（今浙江衢州）竟已人吃人。据史载，元和三年至四年江南确有旱灾，衢州等地饥荒严重，「人食人」并非夸张之辞。此诗是白居易讽喻精神的代表作：他不发议论，只把权贵的骄奢与民间的惨状并置，以「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」的十字作结，让读者在巨大的反差中感受时代的创伤。此诗与《买花》《杜陵叟》等同为《秦中吟》讽喻组诗，是理解中唐社会矛盾与白居易「文章合为时而著，歌诗合为事而作」主张的核心作品。

Art

The poem's craft rests on four pillars. First, the architecture of expansion and reversal: fourteen lines of unhurried accumulation, every couplet adding fresh abundance, followed by a two-line turn as abrupt as a mountain collapsing. Second, the technique of writing joy to expose sorrow: the more fully the eunuchs' pleasure is rendered, the more sharply the famine bites, since the comfort of the powerful is revealed as the other face of the people's agony. Third, the coldness of the language: Bai Juyi never raises his voice; he reports. The neutrality of the narration is itself the accusation, the hallmark of his method of singing the facts directly. Fourth, the extremity of the contrast: dust lit by saddled horses against human flesh eaten as food, eight rare dishes against empty fields. The contrast is pushed to its limit, and the satirical force reaches its limit with it.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，铺陈与转折的结构。全诗前十八句铺陈宦官的骄奢——意气骄满路、鞍马光照尘、朱绂紫绶、走马如云、尊罍八珍、擘橘脍鳞、食饱酒酣，层层铺陈、极写其奢；末两句骤然转折——「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」，以十字写尽民间惨状。这种「先铺陈、后转折」的结构，如高山坠石，落差极大，讽意自明。其二，以乐写哀的反衬。全诗写权贵的「乐」——骄横的意气、豪奢的宴会、满足的心境，写得越足，末两句的「哀」越显——那「食饱心自若，酒酣气益振」的满足，与「衢州人食人」的惨状，形成触目惊心的对照，以乐写哀、哀更见哀。其三，语言的冷峻。全诗不发一句议论，不表一丝情绪，只是冷峻地铺陈与对照——「食饱心自若，酒酣气益振」是冷写，「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」是冷述，越是冷峻，越见讽意之深，正是白居易「直歌其事」的本领。其四，对比的悬殊。权贵的「鞍马光照尘」与民间的「人食人」，权贵的「水陆罗八珍」与民间的「无食」，一奢一惨、一乐一哀，对比悬殊到极致，讽喻的力量也到极致。四重手法层层推进，使此诗成为白居易讽喻诗中最震撼人心的作品之一。

Allusions

The title alludes to the Analects (Yong Ye), where Confucius describes his disciple Gongxi Chi going to Qi 'riding fat horses and wearing light furs.' The phrase became shorthand for aristocratic display, and Bai Juyi adopts it as the ironic frame of his poem. The 'crimson tassels' and 'purple cords' refer to the Han-dynasty system of colored silken cords marking official rank, red for high ministers and purple for the topmost generals, used here to show how eunuchs had usurped civil and military authority. 'Nine-times-brewed' wine was a tribute liquor reserved for imperial ancestral rites, according to the Xijing zaji. The closing couplet deliberately echoes Du Fu's immortal line 'Within vermilion gates wine and meat rot; on the road lie the frozen bones of the dead,' placing Bai Juyi's famine scene inside the great tradition of protest against inequality.

此诗的意象与用语深植于讽喻传统。「轻肥」出自《论语·雍也》：「赤之适齐也，乘肥马，衣轻裘。」本指孔子弟子公西赤出使齐国时乘坐肥马、穿着轻裘的排场，后世遂以「轻肥」代指权贵的豪奢生活，白居易以此为题，正取《论语》此典，暗含对权贵骄奢的讽刺。「意气骄满路」写其气焰，「骄」字暗合《老子》「富贵而骄，自遗其咎」；「鞍马光照尘」写其排场，令人想到曹植《名都篇》「名都多妖女，京洛出少年」的贵游生活。「朱绂皆大夫，紫绶或将军」写其权位——朱绂（红色绶带）是大夫之服，紫绶（紫色绶带）是将军之服，暗用汉代官制的服色等级，写宦官之窃据高位；「夸赴军中宴，走马去如云」写其赴宴的排场，「走马去如云」令人想到李白「大车扬飞尘，亭午暗阡陌」写权贵出行的盛况。「尊罍溢九酝，水陆罗八珍」写酒食之丰——九酝是名酒（《西京杂记》「汉制，宗庙八月饮酎，用九酝」），八珍是八种珍馐，写其豪奢；「果擘洞庭橘，脍切天池鳞」写果馔之珍——洞庭橘是南方名果（唐时贡品），天池鳞是珍稀的鱼（天池或指皇家池苑），写其食不厌精。「食饱心自若，酒酣气益振」写其骄奢的满足，「心自若」写其心安理得，「气益振」写其意气更盛，暗含对其「饱汉不知饿汉饥」的讽刺。「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」以「是岁」点明年份，与前面的铺陈形成时间的对照——同一时空，权贵饕餮，百姓相食，这十字与杜甫「朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨」异曲同工，都是写贫富对立的千古名句。全诗化用《论语》、乐府、李白的意象与传统，以铺陈写奢、以对照写惨，正是白居易「直歌其事」的讽喻本领。

Commentary

'Light Furs and Fat Horses' has long been ranked among the most powerful of Bai Juyi's satires, and the phrase 'in Quzhou men ate men' has passed into the language as a byword for the horrors of famine. The Qing critic Shen Deqian praised the ending as startling and too painful to read to the end. Modern critics have emphasized the poem's achievement in social realism: without a single word of commentary, it places the luxury of the court beside the agony of the people and lets the reader feel the contradictions of the age. Together with 'Buying Flowers' and 'The Old Man of Duling,' it forms the summit of the Qinzhong Yin series and a central monument of the mid-Tang New Yuefu movement, standing alongside Du Fu's 'Song of My Journey from the Capital to Fengxian' as one of Chinese poetry's greatest testimonies on behalf of the suffering.

此诗历来被推为白居易《秦中吟》中讽喻力量最强的作品之一，也是「衢州人食人」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「结语惊人，令人不忍卒读」，近人更指出此诗以「水陆罗八珍」的豪奢与「衢州人食人」的惨状对照，是中唐社会贫富对立的血泪写照，是白居易「文章合为时而著」主张的典范。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以最简省的笔墨写出了最震撼的社会现实——全诗不发一句议论，只是把权贵的骄奢（前十八句）与民间的惨状（末两句）并置，让读者在巨大的反差中自行感受，「不著一字，尽得风流」的讽刺艺术在此达到极致。诗中「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」以十年天灾、人相食的惨状作结，与杜甫「朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨」同为写贫富对立的名句，堪称「异代同悲」。此诗与《秦中吟》其他诸首（如《买花》《杜陵叟》）共同构成白居易讽喻诗的巅峰，也是中唐「新乐府」运动的核心成果。对于今日读者，此诗是理解中唐社会矛盾与白居易讽喻精神的窗口，也是感受中国文学「为民请命」传统的典范——那骄满路的意气、人食人的惨状，穿越千年，仍在警醒着每一个时代的良知。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient-style poem in the New Yuefu manner五言古诗（新乐府体）

Rhyme The rhymes are chen, chen, jun, yun, zhen, lin, zhen and ren, all level-tone words of the zhen rhyme group. The opening line also enters the rhyme, and the final word ren ('men') recalls the word ren ('people') in line four, so that the poem both opens and closes on the word 'man.' The deep, somber timbre of the zhen rhymes suits the severity of the satire.押平声真韵与仄声相间（尘、臣、军、云、珍、鳞、振、人），首句入韵，「人」字于句首（前两句）与句末（末句）前后呼应，韵脚属真部，韵音沉郁，正合其讽喻的严峻风格。

Tone pattern Sixteen five-character lines in ancient style, free of the tonal patterns of regulated verse. The poem falls into three movements: lines 1-8 sketch the eunuchs' swagger, lines 9-14 dwell on the banquet's luxury, and lines 15-16 turn abruptly to the famine. The first fourteen lines move at a brisk, almost festive pace; the last two drop and stop dead, mirroring the structure of accumulation followed by reversal.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：前八句写内臣的骄横（意气骄满路、鞍马光照尘、朱绂紫绶、夸赴军中宴）；中十句写宴会的豪奢（尊罍溢九酝、水陆罗八珍、擘橘脍鳞、食饱酒酣）；末两句写民间的惨状（是岁江南旱、衢州人食人）。声调上，全诗以五言短句写叙事的冷峻，前十八句铺陈豪奢、节奏轻快，末两句陡然转沉、戛然而止，正合其「先铺陈、后转折」的讽喻结构。

Reading note Written in the spirit of one chant for one sorrow, this New Yuefu poem lets the cold plainness of five-character lines carry its indignation. The first fourteen lines should be read in a level, detached voice, for the calmer the delivery, the sharper the irony; the last two lines, and above all 'in Quzhou, men ate men,' should be read slowly and heavily, every word given full weight, to convey the full force of Bai Juyi's social protest.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，从内臣的骄横，到宴会的豪奢，到民间的惨状，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，前十八句铺陈权贵的骄奢、节奏轻快，末两句「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」陡然转沉、戛然而止，正合其讽喻的严峻。诵读此诗，宜以冷峻的语调读前十八句的骄奢（越是平静越见讽意），以沉痛的语调读末两句的惨状，尤其「衢州人食人」一句，要读得字字千钧、掷地有声，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》中讽喻力量最强的作品之一。

Line by line

食饱心自若，酒酣气益振。

Fed full, their hearts are utterly at ease; flushed with wine, their spirits rise ever higher.

吃饱了心里安然自得，酒喝足了意气更加振奋。

Fed to fullness, their hearts at ease; deep in wine, their spirit rises higher.

这两句是写权贵骄奢的名句，以「心自若」「气益振」写其骄奢的满足，冷峻而含讽。「食饱心自若」写其饱食后的心安理得——「心自若」写其吃饱后心中安然自得、毫无忧惧，那「自若」二字，正见其「饱汉不知饿汉饥」的麻木——他们在八珍满席的宴会上吃饱喝足，心中安然自得，何曾想到江南正有人食人？「酒酣气益振」写其酒足后的意气更盛——「气益振」写其酒酣之际意气越发振作、气焰越发嚣张，那「益振」二字，写尽权贵的骄横——酒越喝越足，气越喝越盛。两句一写「饱」后的安然、一写「醉」后的振作，把权贵在豪宴上的骄奢满足写得淋漓尽致。这两句的深意在于：它与末两句「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」形成最强烈的对照——权贵的「心自若」与百姓的「人食人」，权贵的「气益振」与百姓的「无生计」，一奢一惨、一安一痛。以「自若」写麻木、以「益振」写骄横，正是白居易冷峻的讽笔，也让这两句成为写「朱门酒肉臭」式权贵形象的名句。

These two lines are a famous line of the great and powerful's luxury, the 'hearts at ease' and 'spirit rises higher' writing their smug satisfaction, cold and satirical. 'Fed to fullness, their hearts at ease' their easy conscience after the full meal — 'hearts at ease' their heart at peace after eating, no fear, and the words show their numbness of 'the full-fed knowing not the hunger of the starving' — they have eaten their fill at the board piled with delicacies, hearts at ease, never thinking that somewhere in the southland men are eating men. 'Deep in wine, their spirit rises higher' their mounting spirit after the wine — 'spirit rises higher' their elan rising, their arrogance growing, as the wine goes round. One line the ease after the 'full meal', one the rising after the 'wine', writing to the full the powerful's smug luxury at the great feast. The depth: the lines form the sharpest contrast with the closing 'this year, the southland is a drought; in Quzhou, men eat men' — the powerful's 'hearts at ease' against the people's 'men eat men', their 'spirit rises higher' against the people's 'no livelihood', one luxury one misery, one ease one pain. Writing numbness through 'at ease', arrogance through 'rises higher', Bai Juyi's cold satirical brush, the reason these lines became a famous portrait of the powerful in the manner of 'the wine and meat stink at the great gates'.

是岁江南旱，衢州人食人。

That same year there was drought in Jiangnan; in Quzhou, men ate men.

这一年江南大旱，衢州地方人吃人。

This year, the southland is a drought; in Quzhou, men eat men.

这两句是全诗的点睛之笔，也是千古名句，以「是岁」点明年份、以「人食人」写尽惨状，讽意惊天。「是岁江南旱」写天灾——这一年江南大旱，「是岁」二字与前文的铺陈形成时间的对照：就在权贵们「尊罍溢九酝，水陆罗八珍」的那一年，江南大旱，赤地千里；「衢州人食人」写人祸——衢州地方竟已人吃人，「人食人」三字，字字惊心，写尽饥荒之惨烈——不是饿殍遍野，而是人相食，那已经是人类灾难的极致。这两句的深意在于：它以最平淡的叙述写最惨烈的事实——白居易没有惊呼，没有议论，只是平静地写下「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」，而这平静本身就是最深的愤怒：当权贵们食饱酒酣、意气骄满之时，江南的百姓却在人吃人。两句一写「天灾」、一写「人祸」，更暗含人祸甚于天灾的意味——那「人食人」的惨状，固然是天旱所致，更是权贵盘剥、官府失政的结果。以「是岁」对照前文的豪奢，以「人食人」收束全诗，正是白居易讽喻艺术的巅峰，也让这两句成为与杜甫「朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨」齐名的千古名句。

These two lines are the eye of the poem, and a famous line through the ages, the 'this year' fixing the date, the 'men eat men' writing the horror, the satire stunning. 'This year, the southland is a drought' the natural disaster — this year the southland parched, 'this year' forming the time contrast with theelaboration above: in the very year the powerful's 'cups brimmed with nine brews, the land and water spread with eight delicacies', the southland parched, a thousand li of red earth; 'in Quzhou, men eat men' the human disaster — at Quzhou, men have come to eating men, the words 'men eat men' every one striking the heart, writing the famine's extreme — not the dead along the roads, but men eating men, the ultimate of human catastrophe. The depth: the most plain narrative writes the most terrible fact — Bai Juyi does not exclaim, does not argue, but quietly writes 'this year, the southland is a drought; in Quzhou, men eat men', and the quiet itself is the deepest anger: when the powerful are fed to fullness, deep in wine, arrogant, the southland's people are eating men. One line the 'natural disaster', one the 'human disaster', secretly holding the sense that the human disaster is worse than the natural — the horror of 'men eating men', though born of the drought, is even more the result of the powerful's extortion and the officials' failure. Contrasting the luxury above through 'this year', closing the poem through 'men eat men', the peak of Bai Juyi's satirical art, and a famous line through the ages equal to Du Fu's 'behind the great gates the wine and meat stink, by the roads lie the frozen bones'.

Study

Word focus

满 Man, 'full' or 'brimming.' The word 'fills the road' in the opening line does double duty: it shows how the eunuchs' arrogance spills over the entire street, and it hints at complacent self-satisfaction, the 'fullness' of petty men suddenly risen to power. One syllable gives the swagger both spatial vastness and moral cheapness. 「满」字是写宦官气焰的关键字，一个「满」字写尽骄横之盛，力重千钧。满者，充满、布满也。白居易以「意气骄满路」写宦官的骄横，一个「满」字，至少有双重意味：其一，写气焰之盛——那骄横的意气充满道路，「满路」写其气焰之嚣张，仿佛整条道路都被其骄气充满——不是一处之气，而是满路之气，写尽宦官出行时的威势；其二，写骄横之彰——「满」还暗含「自满」之意，那意气骄横、溢于言表的姿态，正是小人得志的写照——宦官本是无才无德之辈，一旦得势便意气骄满，这「满」字正见其浅薄与嚣张。以「满」写气焰，正是白居易对权贵骄横的冷眼——「骄满路」三字，写尽那骄气横溢、目中无人的丑态。若换作「盈」「充」等字，则或失其铺天盖地的气势，或失其「满」与「路」的组合之妙；唯「满」字，以一字写尽宦官气焰之盛与骄横之彰，正是白居易炼字的功力，也让「意气骄满路」成为写权贵骄横的名句——那满路的骄气，正是中唐宦官专权时代的写照。

人食人 Ren shi ren, 'men eating men.' The most shocking phrase in the poem, it reports the famine's extreme without ornament. The first 'men' are the starving people of Quzhou; the repetition turns the phrase into an indictment of the age itself, a time when, behind the vermilion gates' wine and meat, human beings are driven to devour one another. 「人食人」三字是全诗最震撼的字眼，以三字写尽饥荒的惨状，字字惊心。人食人，即人吃人。白居易以「衢州人食人」写饥荒，一个「人食人」，至少有双重意味：其一，写惨状之极致——饥荒惨到人吃人，那已经是人类灾难的极致——不是饿死，不是逃荒，而是人相食，三字写尽人性的底线被击穿的惨状，令人不敢直视；其二，写讽喻之深沉——「人食人」的「人」，既是百姓，也是那个时代——当权贵们食饱酒酣时，百姓却在人吃人，这「人食人」正是对「人」的时代的控诉：那个「朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨」的时代，本质上就是「人食人」的时代。以「人食人」收束全诗，正是白居易讽喻艺术的巅峰——他没有写「惨不忍睹」之类的形容，只是平静地写下「人食人」三字，而这平静的叙述，比任何惊呼都更震撼。若换作「饿殍遍野」等形容，则或失其触目惊心的冲击，或失其平静叙述的力量；唯「人食人」三字，以最平淡的字眼写最惨烈的事实，正是白居易「直歌其事」的本领，也让「是岁江南旱，衢州人食人」成为千古名句。

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