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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

隋宫

The Sui Palace

李商隐

Li Shangyin

咏史history 讽喻satire

紫泉宫殿锁烟霞，欲取芜城作帝家。
玉玺不缘归日角，锦帆应是到天涯。
于今腐草无萤火，终古垂杨有暮鸦。
地下若逢陈后主，岂宜重问后庭花。

The Ziquan palace locks the mist and rosy cloud;
He would make Wucheng his imperial house.
Had the jade seal not passed to the sun-browed one,
The brocade sails should have roamed to the world's end.
Now in the rotting grass no fireflies glow;
Through all ages the drooping willows keep the evening crow.
If underground he meets the lord of Chen,
How could he ask again of the Backyard Flowers?

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Meaning

The palace at Ziquan (Chang'an) locks away the mist and rosy clouds, yet Emperor Yang of Sui would make Wucheng (Jiangdu) his imperial home. Had the imperial seal not passed to Li Yuan (of the "sun-brow" aspect), the brocade-sailed dragon boats should have voyaged to the world's end. Today in the rotting grass there are no more fireflies; from of old only the drooping willows keep the evening crows. If underground he met Chen Houzhu, how could he again ask after the "Backyard Flowers"?

紫泉（长安）的宫殿锁住了烟霞，隋炀帝却想取芜城（江都）作为帝王之家。若不是玉玺归于李渊（日角之相），那锦帆龙舟应当游遍了天涯。到如今腐草之中再无萤火，自古以来只有垂杨陪伴着暮鸦。若是地下相逢陈后主，难道还该重新追问那《后庭花》？

Appreciation

A late-Tang historical satire in seven-character regulated form, the poem borrows the ruin of the Sui to warn the poet's own age. Its strength is argument made into poetry: rather than denounce Emperor Yang, it imagines what would have been—had the throne not passed to Li Yuan, the brocade sails would have roamed to the world's end—and lets the absurdity condemn itself. The closing conceit, of Yang meeting the doomed Chen Houzhu in the underworld and still asking after the "Backyard Flowers," turns the satire to a chilling jest. The tone is cold and detached, the wit sharp, exactly the "gentle yet many-thorned" manner of Li Shangyin's historical verse.

【白话串讲】 “紫泉宫殿锁烟霞，欲取芜城作帝家”——李商隐写隋炀帝：修了长安宫还要修扬州。“于今腐草无萤火，终古垂杨有暮鸦”——当年的萤火都没了。“地下若逢陈后主，岂宜重问后庭花”——到了地下见陈后主，还好意思问《后庭花》吗？【意象与手法】本诗以议论为诗而毫不枯率，设想奇绝。首联‘紫泉宫殿锁烟霞，欲取芜城作帝家’以长安之弃对比江都之营，讥其舍本【情感与主旨】《隋宫》为李商隐咏史七律，约作于唐文宗大和、开成间（830年代）【名句点睛】中高考常取尾联‘地下若逢陈后主，岂宜重问后庭花’及虚拟手法设题。考点一

Background

"The Sui Palace" is a seven-character regulated historical poem by Li Shangyin, likely written in the 830s during the reigns of Emperor Wenzong (Taihe and Kaicheng). In the first year of the Daye era, Emperor Yang of Sui founded the eastern capital and opened the canal, touring Jiangdu (Wucheng) again and again, building dragon boats with brocade sails in the utmost luxury, until the state fell. Li lived in the late Tang, and saw rulers like Xianzong and Jingzong love building works, delight in touring, and slight the court; he used the Sui matter to satirize his own time. "Sui Palace" in the title refers to the Jiangdu traveling palace. With cold, stern brush he writes of Yang's excess and ruin, carrying the warning that "dissipation brings downfall"—a representative late-Tang "borrow the past to satirize the present" poem.

李商隐《隋宫》为咏史七律，约作于唐文宗大和、开成间（公元830年代），时李商隐科场蹭蹬、身寄幕府，居洛阳一带，感于晚唐政局的衰颓而借隋事以讽今。隋炀帝杨广营建东都洛阳后，又大业元年（605）开凿通济渠，自洛阳引谷、洛水入河，再入汴、泗以通淮，南下江都（扬州），造龙舟及杂船数万艘，锦帆相望，穷极奢靡，最终身死国灭。李商隐此诗以隋炀帝「舍长安而营江都」的荒唐发端，极写其游乐无度，再以亡国作结，讽意深婉。「紫泉」指长安宫殿，典出司马相如《上林赋》「丹水更其南，紫渊径其北」，唐时避高祖李渊讳，改「渊」为「泉」。「芜城」指江都，鲍照有《芜城赋》写广陵之荒芜，后世遂以「芜城」代扬州。版本方面，此诗见《李义山诗集》卷六，题或作《隋宫》，与另一首《隋宫》（「乘兴南游不戒严」七绝）并传，文字诸本大体一致，未见重大异文。「玉玺不缘归日角」之「日角」，用《后汉书·李固传》「（李固）状貌有奇表，顶角匿犀」及相术「日角龙颜」之说，指唐高祖李渊。此诗与《南朝》《齐宫词》《马嵬》等同为李商隐咏史讽喻一路的力作。李商隐生当唐王朝由盛转衰之际，甘露之变后宦官专权、藩镇跋扈，诗人咏史，多借前朝荒淫亡国之事以警当世，故《隋宫》之讽，实为「借古讽今」的时事之思，与杜牧《阿房宫赋》「后人哀之而不鉴之」之慨，同出于一种对晚唐国运的深切忧虑。

Art

This poem makes argument into verse without any dryness, its conceit wonderfully strange. The first couplet "The Ziquan palace locks the mist and rosy cloud; he would make Wucheng his imperial house" contrasts the abandonment of Chang'an with the building of Jiangdu, mocking the forsaking of the root; the second couplet "Had the jade seal not passed to the sun-browed one, the brocade sails should have roamed to the world's end" uses a counterfactual (subjunctive) turn, pushing further—had Li Yuan not replaced Sui, Yang's touring would have reached the world's end, cold and sharp; the third couplet "Now in the rotting grass no fireflies glow; through all ages the drooping willows keep the evening crow" writes the desolation after rise and fall; the last couplet "If underground he meets the lord of Chen, how could he ask again of the Backyard Flowers" closes on an absurd conceit, satirizing to the utmost. The whole piece states no moral word, yet the mockery shows of itself.

此诗艺术上最显著的特点是「以议论为诗而毫不枯率，以虚拟见奇」。首联「紫泉宫殿锁烟霞，欲取芜城作帝家」用「锁」字写长安宫殿之空寂，以「欲取」二字写炀帝之奢念，长安之弃与江都之营两相对照，讥其舍本逐末、荒弃根本。颔联「玉玺不缘归日角，锦帆应是到天涯」是全诗设想最奇处——诗人不作史实的正面陈述，而是以「不缘……应是……」的虚拟语气翻空出奇：若非玉玺已归李渊，炀帝的锦帆龙舟当游遍天涯。这种「反事实」的假设，把炀帝游乐无度的本性推演到极致，比正面描写更为警策。颈联「于今腐草无萤火，终古垂杨有暮鸦」以今昔对照写亡国之景：炀帝曾于洛阳景华宫放萤，如今腐草之中萤火已绝；昔日运河两岸垂杨夹岸，如今唯有暮鸦栖其上，繁华尽成荒凉，「无萤火」「有暮鸦」的对比，写尽兴亡之感。尾联「地下若逢陈后主，岂宜重问后庭花」更以荒诞的虚拟收束——炀帝若在地府重逢陈后主，难道还好意思再问那《玉树后庭花》？以亡国之君相逢亡国之君的奇想，一笔点破炀帝至死不悟的荒淫。全诗四联，两用虚拟假设，章法严整而想象飞动，是李商隐咏史诗「以虚驭实」的典范。颔联以「玉玺」「日角」之符命对「锦帆」「天涯」之游乐，庄谐并置，遂使讽刺之意于工稳的对仗中透出，愈见深婉。

Allusions

The allusions are precise. "Ziquan" originally names the Chang'an palace (the character "yuan" changed to "quan" to avoid the taboo on Tang Gaozu's name Li Yuan), standing for the Sui capital; "sun-brow" is a term of physiognomy, a brow bulging like the sun, meaning the mark of an emperor—here it refers to Li Yuan (Tang Gaozu); "Wucheng" is the ruins of Guangling (Jiangdu) as sung in Bao Zhao's "Rhapsody on the Ruined City," standing for the Sui traveling palace at Jiangdu; "fireflies" uses the story of Emperor Yang gathering bushels of fireflies for a night tour; "Backyard Flowers" is Chen Houzhu's "Jade Tree Backyard Flowers," long called the "song of a fallen state." The allusions bind the falls of Sui and Chen, deep in satiric meaning.

此诗用典绵密，几乎句句有来历，而能以意驭典，不显堆垛。「紫泉」典出司马相如《上林赋》「紫渊径其北」，指长安御苑之水，借代长安宫殿；唐避李渊讳，改「渊」为「泉」，一字之改，恰透出时代印痕。「芜城」用鲍照《芜城赋》典，鲍赋写广陵兵燹后的荒芜，后世遂以「芜城」为扬州的别称，李商隐用以指江都，兼带荒芜之兆，一笔双关。「玉玺」「日角」用帝王符命之说——《史记·秦始皇本纪》有「传国玉玺」，《后汉书·李固传》记李固「顶角匿犀」、相书有「日角龙颜，帝王之表」，李商隐借「日角」指代李渊，谓天命已归李唐。「腐草为萤」出《礼记·月令》「季夏之月……腐草为萤」，古人误以为萤火虫由腐草化生；又《隋书·炀帝纪》载炀帝「于景华宫征求萤火，得数斛，夜出游山，放之，光遍岩谷」，李商隐反用其典，谓今之腐草竟无萤火，暗讽炀帝放萤之奢终成空。「垂杨」暗指炀帝开运河时于堤上植柳，其「锦帆」则指炀帝南巡之龙舟，锦帆相属，皆史有明载。尾联「陈后主」「后庭花」，指陈后主叔宝与《玉树后庭花》曲，史传隋灭陈时，炀帝（时为晋王）曾亲临其事，故「地下相逢」之设想，有史实为据，非凭空杜撰。「锦帆」之典，《隋书》及《大业拾遗记》皆载炀帝龙舟「以锦为帆」，李商隐取以代指炀帝南巡之奢华，亦暗含「锦帆」终为「覆舟」之兆的讽刺。「垂杨」植柳事，史载炀帝开运河，命沿堤种柳，因柳能遮阴护堤，故有「隋堤柳」之称，白居易新乐府「隋堤柳」亦尝咏及之。

Commentary

The Qing critic Qu Fu, in "The Meaning in the Poetry of Yuxi Sheng," said of the two lines "if underground he meets": "sharp and fresh, bare and exposed—truly Yuxi (Li Shangyin's style name)." Shen Deqian said "beyond the words there is the meaning 'the Backyard Flowers remain as before.'" Modern critics often group it with "Jia Sheng" and "Mawei" as the three great "gentle yet many-thorned" historical satires of Li Shangyin. The closing conceit—of Yang meeting Chen Houzhu in the underworld—binds "sun-brow" and "Backyard Flowers" into one, mocking to the bone yet with a jesting tone, the very cunning of late-Tang historical verse.

《隋宫》是李商隐咏史诗中的名篇，历代选本多所采录。清沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评此诗「刺炀帝之荒淫，而以诙谐出之，尤为警绝」，点出其以谐谑寓讥刺的特点。纪昀评《李义山诗集》，谓此诗「运实于虚，设想奇绝，然非正大之论」，虽微有保留，亦不得不服其设想之妙。何焯《义门读书记》论李商隐咏史，谓其「善于翻案，亦善于用虚」，正可移评此诗颔联、尾联两处虚拟之笔。诗中「地下若逢陈后主，岂宜重问后庭花」二句，以亡国之君相逢亡国之君的奇想，成为咏史讽喻的经典名句，后世传诵不绝，常与杜牧《泊秦淮》「商女不知亡国恨，隔江犹唱后庭花」并提，见出晚唐诗人对「后庭花」这一亡国之音意象的偏爱。此诗在传播史上，因用典密集、虚拟手法奇绝，长期被视为李商隐「深婉精丽」风格的代表，与《马嵬》《南朝》并称咏史三绝。近世学者论李商隐咏史，多以此诗为例，阐明其「以史为鉴而能出之以想象」的独特取径——不斤斤于史事的铺陈，而于虚处见精神，实为晚唐咏史诗之别开生面者。沈德潜所谓「以诙谐出之」，正指尾联「地下若逢陈后主」的荒诞设想——以笑谑之语写亡国之痛，是李商隐咏史诗独有的冷峭。此诗与《南朝》「地下若逢陈后主，岂宜重问后庭花」同用「地下相逢」之想，可见李商隐对此一构思的偏爱，亦见其咏史诗「于虚处见精神」的一贯手眼。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated poem (seven-character lü)七言律诗

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, lower-level six ma group (cloud, house, end, crow, flowers)平水韵下平六麻韵，押「家」「涯」「鸦」「花」四韵，首句入韵

Tone pattern First line enters rhyme, level-onset level-close首句「紫泉宫殿锁烟霞」平平平仄仄平平，次句「欲取芜城作帝家」仄仄平平仄仄平，为平起平收式。颔联「玉玺不缘归日角，锦帆应是到天涯」仄仄仄平平仄仄对平平平仄仄平平，颈联「于今腐草无萤火，终古垂杨有暮鸦」平平仄仄平平仄对平仄平平仄仄平，中二联对仗工稳，平仄精严。

Reading note Eight lines in four couplets, middle two antithetical; a famous "borrow the past to satirize the present" historical poem of Li Shangyin.此诗为七言律诗，首句入韵，押下平六麻韵，韵脚「家、涯、鸦、花」同属麻韵，开口洪亮，声气悠扬，而所写却是亡国之哀，声情与意境的张力，正见李商隐「以丽声写哀情」的独特风调。六麻韵部字音清亮开阔，读来琅琅上口，诗人却借此写尽繁华落尽的苍凉，声之宏与意之悲形成强烈反差，愈显沉痛。颔联「玉玺不缘归日角，锦帆应是到天涯」以「日角」对「天涯」，一仄一平，工整之中见虚拟语气之流转；颈联「于今腐草无萤火，终古垂杨有暮鸦」以「无萤火」对「有暮鸦」，一无一有，声律上的正反对应，恰好强化了语义上的盛衰对照。尾联「地下若逢陈后主，岂宜重问后庭花」以反问收束，「岂宜」二字提顿，使全诗在诙谐而冷峻的诘问中戛然而止。全诗四联皆工，而能于工整之中运飞动之想，是李商隐七律「深婉精丽」风格的典型体现。

Line by line

紫泉宫殿锁烟霞

The Ziquan palace locks away the mist and rosy clouds.

紫泉（长安）的宫殿锁住了烟霞

The palaces of Ziquan - that is, Chang'an - stand locked away amid drifting mist and rosy clouds.

首句以「锁」字写尽长安宫殿的空寂。紫泉借指长安，本是帝都所在，宫殿巍峨，如今却「锁」于烟霞之中——「锁」是封闭、弃置，烟霞本是无羁之物，却被宫殿所「锁」，一锁字既写出了宫殿的空无人迹，也暗示了炀帝弃长安而就江都的荒诞。帝王之家本应坐镇京城、守其根本，炀帝却让这巍峨宫阙空锁烟霞，去经营那偏远的江都，舍本逐末之讥，已在不言中。「锁烟霞」三字，以壮丽之景写荒弃之意，是李商隐以丽景写哀情的典型笔法，也为全篇定下了「繁华其表、荒诞其里」的基调。

The opening line drains the Chang'an palaces of all their grandeur with a single verb, "locks." Ziquan stands for Chang'an, seat of the empire, its halls once towering; now they are locked in mist and cloud - locked, abandoned, sealed off. Mist and cloud, the very things that wander free, are shown penned in by an empty palace. One word at once paints the silence of uninhabited halls and hints at the absurdity of Emperor Yang, who deserted Chang'an for distant Jiangdu. A ruler should hold the capital and guard the root; instead he lets these mighty towers rust in the clouds and nurtures a pleasure city on the far waterfront - the reproach of putting branch before root is already fully spoken, though nothing is said. "Locked in mist and cloud" wields a magnificent scene to express desolation: Li Shangyin's signature manner of dressing grief in splendor, and it sets the poem's keynote - splendor on the surface, folly at the core.

玉玺不缘归日角

Had the jade seal not passed to the sun-browed Li Yuan,

若不是玉玺归于李渊（日角之相）

Had the imperial jade seal not passed to Li Yuan, the man of the sun-browed physiognomy.

此句是全诗「反事实」设想的起点。「不缘」二字提出一个假设的前提——若不是天命已归、玉玺已落于李渊之手；「日角」借相术「日角龙颜」之典指代李渊，谓李唐已得天下。诗人不作正面史叙，而以「若不是」的虚拟语气，为下句「锦帆应是到天涯」张本。这种「反事实」的写法，妙在把历史的必然性与炀帝欲望的无止境并置：正因为李唐代隋，炀帝的南游才戛然而止；而诗人的假设，却让炀帝的锦帆在想象中继续驶向天涯。一「不缘」一「应是」，虚虚实实之间，炀帝游乐无度、至死不悟的本性被推演到了极致，比任何正面铺陈都更为警策。

This line is the starting point of the poem's counterfactual. "But for" raises a conditional premise: had the Mandate of Heaven not shifted, had the jade seal not fallen to Li Yuan. "Sun-browed" borrows from physiognomy - the sun-browed, dragon-visaged portent - to name Li Yuan and announce that Tang already held the world. Rather than narrating history directly, the poet adopts the hypothetical "but for" to prepare the next line, "the brocade sails should have reached the world's end." The virtuosity lies in juxtaposing historical necessity with the emperor's boundless appetite: precisely because Tang replaced Sui, Emperor Yang's southern progress was cut short; yet in the poet's supposition his brocade sails sail on toward the horizon. Between "but for" and "should have" - half illusion, half fact - the ruler's insatiable, unrepenting pursuit of pleasure is pushed to its logical extreme, more admonishing than any direct denunciation.

于今腐草无萤火

Now, among the rotting grass, not a firefly glows.

到如今腐草之中再无萤火

Today, among the decaying grass, no fireflies are to be found.

此句以眼前实景写亡国之哀。隋炀帝曾在景华宫广征萤火，夜游时放之，光遍岩谷，是史上著名的奢靡之举；而今时过境迁，连腐草之中也再无萤火。腐草化萤本出《礼记·月令》，是古人对自然现象的误解，李商隐却借此反用——当年炀帝求萤，如今腐草无萤，一个「无」字，写尽了繁华的彻底消散。此句与下句「终古垂杨有暮鸦」构成「无」与「有」的对照：该有萤火的腐草已无，不该有暮鸦的垂杨却有，盛衰之变、兴亡之感，全在这一无一有之间。诗人以极冷峻的笔调写极沉痛的感慨，正是咏史诗的至高境界。

This line mourns a fallen dynasty through a scene before the eyes. Emperor Yang once gathered great quantities of fireflies at the Jinghua Palace to release on night excursions, their light flooding the cliffs and valleys - a notorious extravagance. Now, years later, even the rotting grass holds no firefly. The notion that decaying grass turns into fireflies comes from the Monthly Ordinances of the Book of Rites, an ancient misreading of nature; Li Shangyin turns it inside out. Where Yang once sought fireflies, the rotting grass today offers none; the single word "none" exhausts the utter dispersion of splendor. It answers the next line, "through all ages the drooping willows keep the evening crow," in a contrast of absence and presence: where fireflies should be, none are; where crows should not be, crows are. The rise and fall, the grief of changing ages, all lie between that one "none" and that one "still are." With an icy-cold pen the poet writes an anguished lament - the highest realm of historical verse.

地下若逢陈后主

If in the underworld he should meet the last lord of Chen,

若是地下相逢陈后主

If, down in the underworld, he were to meet the last ruler of the Chen dynasty.

尾联首句以一个荒诞的设想收束全篇。陈后主叔宝是陈朝亡国之君，隋灭陈时炀帝（时为晋王）曾亲临其事，故「地下相逢」的想象有史实为据。诗人设想炀帝死后若在地府重逢陈后主，二人皆亡国之君，相逢无言，唯有难堪。这个「若逢」的虚拟，把现实的历史审判延伸到了幽冥世界，诙谐之中见冷峻，荒诞之中见深意——炀帝生前极尽奢华、视陈后主为亡国笑柄，孰料自己亦步其后尘，身死国灭。一「若」字，既是对炀帝的嘲弄，也是对所有荒淫亡国之君的棒喝，笔力千钧。

The first line of the closing couplet ends the poem on an absurd conceit. Chen Houzhu, last ruler of the Chen dynasty, was himself conquered by Sui; Emperor Yang - then Prince of Jin - personally directed that campaign, so the imagined meeting underground rests on fact. The poet supposes that, dead, Yang might meet Chen Houzhu in the nether world: two rulers who lost their realms, meeting in silence, having nothing to say but shame. This hypothetical "if" extends the judgment of history into the realm of shadows; its jesting tone conceals a cold profundity. Alive, Yang indulged in every luxury and mocked Chen Houzhu as a laughingstock of a fallen king - only to follow the same road to ruin and extinction. That single "if" is both a taunt aimed at Yang and a warning aimed at every dissolute ruler who lost his empire; its stroke carries the weight of a thousand catties.

Study

Word focus

锁 In "the Ziquan palace locks the mist and rosy cloud," the word "locks" writes how the Chang'an palace, empty, locks away its mist and cloud, abandoned and unlived-in, hinting at the folly of the Sui ruler who left the root for the branch. 「锁」字见于首句「紫泉宫殿锁烟霞」，是全诗炼字的第一个着力点。「锁」是封闭、禁锢之意，本应写「宫殿被烟霞笼罩」，李商隐却反客为主，说宫殿「锁」住了烟霞——仿佛这巍峨宫阙不仅锁住了自身的繁华，也锁住了那无羁的烟霞。一个「锁」字，写出长安宫殿的空寂弃置，与「欲取芜城作帝家」的「取」字形成尖锐对照：这边是「锁」而不用，那边是「取」而营之，炀帝舍本逐末、弃长安而就江都的荒诞，尽在这一「锁」一「取」之间。此字以丽景写哀情，以壮语写荒弃，是李商隐「运实于虚」笔法的第一步。

无 a final question particle, close to 'will you?' 「无」字见于「于今腐草无萤火」，是颈联今昔对照的支点。腐草化萤，本是《礼记·月令》的旧说，炀帝又曾广征萤火、夜游放之，故「腐草」「萤火」皆是隋朝奢靡的物证；而今一个「无」字，宣告了这一切的彻底消亡。这个「无」字，与下句「有」字构成工对——「无萤火」对「有暮鸦」，一无一有，写尽盛衰之变。萤火是炀帝盛时放逸之物，暮鸦是隋亡之后栖止之物，该有的已无，不该有的却有，历史以这样残酷的对比，惩罚了炀帝的奢靡。李商隐以一个极普通的「无」字，承载了如此厚重的兴亡之慨，正是其炼字的高明处。

重问 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「重问」二字见于尾联「岂宜重问后庭花」，是全诗讥刺的收束之笔。「重问」者，再次询问也。史传隋灭陈时，炀帝曾亲见陈后主之亡，对其耽于《玉树后庭花》的荒淫当有所知；如今炀帝自己亦亡于荒淫，「重问」后庭花，则是明知故问、重蹈覆辙。李商隐着一「重」字，点出了炀帝对前车之鉴的视而不见——陈后主殷鉴在前，炀帝却不肯记取，终至同归覆亡。「岂宜」二字再以反问加强，谓「难道还该」，诙谐之中见冷峻。一个「重问」，把炀帝的荒淫与昏聩一笔点透，收束得既含蓄又犀利。

隋宫