唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
营州歌
Song of Yingzhou
营州少年厌原野，狐裘蒙茸猎城下。
虏酒千钟不醉人，胡儿十岁能骑马。
The northern liquor of a thousand cups cannot drunken them; the barbarian boys can ride a horse at ten.
Meaning
A swift sketch of the pastoral life at Yingzhou, a northeastern Tang frontier prefecture: its youths, at home on the steppe, hunt in fox-fur and drink hard, and its children ride by age ten. Gao Shi, who traveled the Yan-Zhao borderlands, writes with folk-like plainness a portrait of frontier folkways, lighter and brighter than his stern 'Song of Yan.'
营州的少年娴熟于草原旷野，披着蓬松的狐裘在城下打猎。北方的烈酒喝上千钟也醉不了人，胡地的儿童十岁便能纵马驰骋。
Appreciation
Only four lines, yet form and spirit are both caught. The first line's 'bred on' (厌, read as 餍, 'versed in') points to the youth's natural fit with the grassland; 'shaggy fox-fur' draws his rough dress. The last two lines, with the hyperbole 'a thousand cups not drunk' and 'ride at ten,' stress the Hu boys' hard drinking and riding. The language is plain as a folk song, unadorned yet vivid.
【白话串讲】 营州的少年整天泡在原野上，穿着狐裘在城下打猎。“胡儿十岁能骑马”——高适写边地少年，一句“十岁能骑马”，写尽了北方的豪迈。 【意象与手法】 诗仅四句，却形神兼备。首句「厌原野」之「厌」通「餍」，作「饱习、娴熟」解，点出少年与草原的天然契合；「狐裘蒙茸」以服饰写其粗犷。后二句以「千钟不醉」「十岁能骑」的夸张对比，凸现胡儿豪饮善骑的剽悍。语言质朴如民歌，毫无雕饰而画面鲜活。 【情感与主旨】 高适早年游历燕赵边地，对东北边州风土人情十分熟悉。营州为唐东北边州（治今辽宁朝阳），多游牧民族杂居。此诗以白描手法写营州少年豪放尚武的游牧生活，展现边地特有的风土与民性，是高适少有的轻快明丽之作。 【名句点睛】 考点重在关键字理解与风土特色：常考「厌」字释义（通「餍」，饱习、习惯，易误读为「厌恶」）；「千钟不醉」「十岁能骑马」的夸张手法与边地民性描写。
Background
In his early years Gao Shi traveled the Yan-Zhao borderlands and knew the northeastern frontier's customs well. Yingzhou was a northeastern Tang prefecture (seat today's Chaoyang, Liaoning), where many nomadic peoples lived mixed. This poem uses plain description to write the bold, martial, pastoral life of Yingzhou's youths, showing a frontier local color rare among his works and different in tone from his stern frontier masterpiece 'Song of Yan.'
高适（约704—765），字达夫，渤海蓨人，盛唐边塞诗派的代表诗人，与岑参并称「高岑」。高适早年家贫，长期浪游燕赵，北游蓟门，对东北边州的风土人情十分熟悉，其边塞诗多写亲身见闻，故真切感人。营州为唐东北边州，治今辽宁朝阳，地处奚、契丹等游牧民族聚居之地，汉胡杂处，是唐王朝东北边防的重要屏障。此诗约作于开元年间高适北游蓟门之时，以白描手法写营州少年豪放尚武的游牧生活，展现边地特有的风土与民性。全诗四句二十八字，无一处议论，纯以画面与数字写人写性，是高适诗中少有的轻快明丽之作，与其沉雄悲壮的边塞名篇《燕歌行》风貌迥异，可见诗人笔致的多面性，亦为考察盛唐边地民俗的珍贵诗料。高适少时家贫，尝以求丐自给，然胸怀大志，喜言王霸大略，其北游燕赵，正为体察边事、寻求用世之机。营州一带，奚、契丹诸族杂居，汉胡共处，少年驰猎、豪饮善骑，正是边州日常。诗人以赞许的笔调写其风土，与后来《燕歌行》写战争之悲不同，正见其对边地生活的真切感受与多元书写，亦为其「诗多胸臆语」的又一注脚，读此诗者当知高适不仅善写征戍之苦，亦善写边地之乐。
Art
Only four lines, yet form and spirit are both caught. The first line's 'bred on' (厌, read 餍, 'versed in') points to the youth's natural fit with the grassland; 'shaggy fox-fur' draws his rough dress. The last two lines, with the hyperbole 'a thousand cups not drunk' and 'ride at ten,' stress the Hu boys' hard drinking and riding. The language is plain as a folk song, unadorned yet vivid.
诗仅四句，却形神兼备，章法一目了然。首句「营州少年厌原野」，一「厌」字通「餍」，作饱习、娴熟解，点出少年与草原的天然契合——他不是初来乍到的过客，而是与旷野共生共长的主人；「狐裘蒙茸猎城下」以服饰写其粗犷，狐裘蓬松，城下围猎，一幅边地少年行猎图跃然纸上。后二句以夸张对举：「虏酒千钟不醉人」写其豪饮，「胡儿十岁能骑马」写其善骑，一酒一马，一成人一幼童，以数字的极度夸大凸现边地民性的剽悍。全诗语言质朴如民歌，无一典故，无一雕饰，而人物之形神、边地之气息自然流出，正是「清水出芙蓉」式的白描高境，与高适「多胸臆语，兼有气骨」的沉雄之作相映成趣。同时，此诗之妙在以点带面：不写边地全貌，而专取「少年」一角，以少年之猎、之饮、之骑，写边地尚武之风与剽悍之民性，由一人见一族，由一事见一地，正是以少总多的笔法。四句之中，一写其娴、一写其貌、一写其量、一写其能，形神兼备，层层勾勒，而无一字抽象议论，边地气象自然流出，此正白描之极诣，亦见盛唐绝句「短章写大」的容量。
Allusions
This poem has no explicit allusion; it is plain, factual portraiture in the manner of 'regional-custom verse.' 'Barbarian wine' (lu jiu) and 'barbarian boys' (hu er) were the Tang period's ordinary terms for the northern nomads and the wine they brewed -- not contemptuous, though modern readers must not misread them as slurs. 'A fox-fur coat, shaggy and loose' (hu qiu meng rong) draws on the Book of Songs (Beifeng, 'Mound Hill': 'fox fur, shaggy and loose, and your carriage does not go east') -- ancient diction lending the plain sketch a weight of antiquity; meng rong describes the coat's thick, tousled look. The character yan (in 'they yan it down') is the same as yan (to be sated), meaning 'to be full,' then 'to be thoroughly used to' -- the key to the whole poem. The poem wins by recording local life as it is; needing no allusion, its spirit is complete in itself. It shows that when High Tang poets wrote of the frontier, they could produce works as weighty and allusive as 'Song of the Yan,' or fresh pieces like this that take the scene before the eyes and the words on the tongue. In poetic lineage, Northern Dynasties yuefu wrote much of steppe life -- the 'Song of the Chile' with its 'sky is vast, the wilds are boundless, the wind bends the grass and shows the cattle and sheep,' and the 'Mulan' ballad with its girl riding in gallant array. Gao Shi takes this vein and compresses it, writing the feeling of Northern yuefu in the form of a Tang quatrain -- the very product of the mingling of northern and southern poetics. The terms lu jiu and hu er appear as generic names for northern peoples since the Records of the Historian; the Tang used them without contempt, and the reader should know whence they come rather than read old language with latter-day eyes.
本诗无明确典故，纯用白描写实，正合「风土诗」一脉的体性。「虏酒」「胡儿」为唐人对北方游牧民族及其所酿之酒的泛称，非贬义，乃当时通语，今人读之不可误解为轻蔑。「狐裘蒙茸」化用《诗经·邶风·旄丘》「狐裘蒙戎，匪车不东」之古语，以古语写边服，为白描平添一层厚重古意，蒙茸（蒙戎）形容狐裘蓬松杂乱之貌。「厌」字通「餍」，本义饱足，引申为饱习、满足，是理解全诗的关键字。全诗以实写风土取胜，不假典故而风神自足，可见盛唐诗人写边塞题材时，既有如《燕歌行》那样用典铺陈的沉雄之作，也有如本篇这般直取眼前景、口中语的清新之篇。就诗歌传统而言，北朝乐府多写草原游牧生活，如《敕勒歌》「天苍苍，野茫茫，风吹草低见牛羊」写草原之壮阔，《木兰诗》写女子驰骋之英姿，高适此诗承此一脉而更加凝练，以唐人绝句之体写北朝乐府之情味，正是南北诗风交融的产物。又「虏酒」「胡儿」之称，亦见于《史记》以来对北方民族的泛称，唐人用之并无贬义，读此诗者当知其所自，不可以后世之见误解古人之语。
Commentary
Ming critic Hu Yinglin's Poetry Improvisations ranked Gao Shi's seven-character quatrains 'first of the Tang.' Though short, this poem makes the frontier youth's bearing leap from the page. Later readers set it beside Cen Shen's frontier verse, saying Gao 'writes mostly from the breast, with bone too'; this one shows his fresh side beyond the stern.
明人胡应麟《诗薮》论七言绝句，列高适为「有唐第一」，虽就其全貌而言，然此诗亦足当之：二十八字写尽边地少年的形神，后人无此手笔。清人论高适诗，多以「多胸臆语，兼有气骨」概括其沉雄一面，而此诗正见其于沉雄之外尚有清新明丽的一面——写边塞而不见悲苦，写风土而满怀欣悦，与岑参边塞诗的奇丽又自不同。后世或以之与岑参《走马川行》并观，一则纪风土、一则写战事，可见盛唐边塞诗的多重面目。此诗语言之质朴、节奏之明快，近于民歌，远承北朝乐府写草原生活之传统，下启唐人风俗诗之先声，为考察边地民俗与审美心态提供了绝佳样本。清人论高适，或谓其「诗多胸臆语，兼有气骨」，或谓其「五十始为诗，即工」，而此诗写边地风土之清新明快，正见其另一面。近人论唐人七绝，特赏此诗「以极短之章写极真之景」，谓其如一幅边地风俗画。又此诗与王之涣《凉州词》、王翰《凉州词》同为边塞绝句，而王诗写征戍之悲，此诗写风土之乐，一悲一乐，恰见盛唐边塞诗题材之广，亦可比较其异，共见盛唐气象的丰富。
Prosody
Line by line
营州少年厌原野
Youths of Yingzhou are bred on the open plain.
营州的少年娴熟于草原旷野。
The youths of Yingzhou are bred on the wide plains.
起句写人，是全诗的总纲。「营州」点明地域，为东北边州、游牧民族聚居之地，地域色彩浓厚；「少年」点明歌咏对象，青春年少，充满活力；「厌原野」三字是全句之眼，「厌」通「餍」，作饱习、娴熟解——少年不是偶尔涉足旷野，而是生于斯、长于斯，与草原旷野融为一体，天然契合。若误读「厌」为「厌恶」，则诗意全失，故历来教材特标此字。一句七字，写尽少年与边野的血肉关系，为后文写其猎、其饮、其骑张本，起笔即定下全诗轻快明丽的基调。
The opening line writes men, the poem's total outline. Yingzhou names the region, a northeastern border prefecture, a home of nomadic peoples; the regional color is strong. Youths names the subject of song, young, full of vigor. Bred on the wide plains is the line's eye; bred means saturated, practiced - the youth does not occasionally visit the wilderness, but is born and raised there, fused with the plains, naturally at one. If one misreads bred as detests, the meaning is wholly lost; hence textbooks specially mark this character. Seven characters exhaust the flesh-and-blood bond between the youth and the border wild, preparing the later hunting, drinking, riding; the opening at once sets the poem's light, bright keynote.
狐裘蒙茸猎城下
In shaggy fox-fur they hunt below the city wall.
披着蓬松的狐裘在城下打猎。
In shaggy fox-furs they hunt beneath the city wall.
此句写少年的形象与行猎。「狐裘」写其服饰，狐皮为北方御寒之衣，亦是猎获之物，以衣着点出边地气候与生活方式；「蒙茸」写狐裘蓬松杂乱之貌，化用《诗经》「狐裘蒙戎」之古语，二字写尽不修边幅的粗犷之气；「猎城下」写其行猎之地在城下旷野，与首句「厌原野」呼应，少年弯弓纵马、追逐猎物的身影宛然在目。此句不写面容、不写动作细节，仅以服饰与地点勾勒，而边地少年的剽悍形象已跃然纸上，白描之笔，传神之至，是全诗画面感最强的句子。
This line writes the youth's image and the hunt. Fox-furs writes his dress: fox pelts are northern winter clothing, also hunting trophies; through clothing, the border climate and way of life. Shaggy writes the fox-fur's loose, rough look, adapting the Book of Songs's fox-furs shaggy; two characters exhaust the rough air of the unkempt. Beneath the city wall writes the hunting ground in the wilderness below the wall, echoing the opening bred on the wide plains; the youth bending the bow, galloping the horse, chasing prey, as if before the eyes. This line writes neither face nor action detail, only sketches through clothing and place, yet the border youth's fierce image leaps onto the page - plain drawing, most vivid, the poem's most pictorial line.
虏酒千钟不醉人
The northern strong wine - a thousand cups, yet it intoxicates not.
北方的烈酒喝上千钟也醉不了人。
They drink a thousand cups of the northern wine and are not drunk.
此句转写边地之酒与饮者之量，是典型的夸张手法。「虏酒」指北方游牧民族所酿之酒，当时通语，非贬称；「千钟」以极言其多，钟为古代酒器，「千钟」谓饮酒无算；「不醉人」写酒烈而人不醉。三词合观，极言边地少年酒量之豪、性格之旷——千钟烈酒入肚而神色如常，非海量不能，非豪情不可。此句妙在以「不醉」写「能饮」，以夸张写真实：盛唐诗人写边塞每喜作此夸饰之语，如李白「会须一饮三百杯」，皆以数字之极言写胸襟之豪放，此诗亦然，读之觉酒气扑面、豪气干云。
This line turns to the border wine and the drinker's capacity, a typical hyperbole. Northern wine means the wine brewed by northern nomads, the current term, not a derogation. A thousand cups exaggerates quantity; zhong is an ancient wine vessel; a thousand cups means drinking beyond count. Intoxicates not writes the wine strong yet the man not drunk. The three words together exaggerate the border youth's grand drinking and open character - a thousand cups of strong wine inside, yet his countenance unchanged; only a vast capacity, only a grand heart. The line's subtlety lies in using not drunk to write can drink, hyperbole to write the real: High-Tang poets writing the frontier often love such exaggerated speech, like Li Bai's must drink three hundred cups; all use numerical extremes to write the bosom's grandeur; this poem too - reading it, one feels the wine's breath on the face, the heroic air touching the clouds.
胡儿十岁能骑马
The barbarian boys can ride a horse at ten.
胡地的儿童十岁便能纵马驰骋。
The barbarian boys ride horses at ten years old.
结句写边地儿童的骑术，是全诗风土特色的集中体现。「胡儿」指游牧民族的孩童；「十岁」言其幼小；「能骑马」言其技艺精熟。三者对举，写尽游牧民族「生于马背、长于马背」的生活方式——十岁孩童已能纵马驰骋，则成人骑术之精可想而知，由小见大，以少总多。此句与「虏酒千钟不醉人」相对，一写饮、一写骑，一成人、一幼童，皆以夸张之笔写边地民性之剽悍，层层推进，收束全诗。结句以「骑马」落笔，画面生动，余味悠长，边地少年的形象至此圆满，令人过目不忘。
The closing line writes the border children's riding, the concentrated expression of the poem's local color. Barbarian boys means nomadic children. Ten years old writes their youth. Can ride horses writes their skill. The three set against each other, exhausting the nomadic way of life of born on horseback, grown on horseback - a ten-year-old child already galloping, the adults' riding skill is imaginable; from small see large, with little sum the many. This line sets against the northern wine - a thousand cups: one writes drinking, one riding; one adult, one child; both use hyperbole to write the border people's fierceness, advancing layer upon layer, closing the poem. The closing lands on riding horses, the picture vivid, the aftertaste long; the border youth's image is here completed, unforgettable.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both by Gao Shi; compare the difference between his stern and his fresh frontier manners.
《燕歌行》与《营州歌》同出高适之手，同写边塞，而面目迥异。《燕歌行》为二十八句长歌，铺陈征战之苦、将士之悲，沉雄悲壮，用典炼句，气象苍凉，是高适边塞诗的沉雄代表作；《营州歌》仅四句，白描风土，写少年猎骑之乐，轻快明丽，语近民歌。一写战争的惨烈与士卒的悲慨，一写边地的生机与少年的豪迈；一沉郁顿挫，一清新明快。并读二诗，可见高适诗笔的两面：既能作「战士军前半死生」的沉雄之叹，亦能作「胡儿十岁能骑马」的欣悦之咏，其胸次之广、笔致之多，正为盛唐边塞诗大家的风范。
走马川行奉送出师西征 Song of the Zouma River 岑参 · 同属盛唐边塞诗，一纪风土一写战事 Both high-Tang frontierCompare Gao writing local custom with Cen writing battle, two frontier angles.
岑参《走马川行奉送出师西征》写西征将士穿越沙漠、迎战匈奴的壮举，以「风头如刀面如割」「马毛带雪汗气蒸」的奇丽笔触写边地之酷寒与将士之勇武；高适《营州歌》写营州少年猎骑宴饮的日常生活，以「狐裘蒙茸」「十岁能骑马」的质朴白描写边地之民风。二诗同属盛唐边塞诗，而视角迥异：岑参写战事之奇，高适纪风土之真；岑诗奇丽雄放，高诗质朴明快。合观可见盛唐边塞诗的两大路数——以战争场景写边塞，与以生活风俗写边塞，各极其致，皆以亲历见闻为根基。