魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem
美女篇
The Beautiful Lady
美女妖且闲，采桑歧路间。
柔条纷冉冉，叶落何翩翩。
攘袖见素手，皓腕约金环。
头上金爵钗，腰佩翠琅玕。
明珠交玉体，珊瑚间木难。
罗衣何飘飖，轻裾随风还。
顾盼遗光彩，长啸气若兰。
行徒用息驾，休者以忘餐。
借问女安居，乃在城南端。
青楼临大路，高门结重关。
容华耀朝日，谁不希令颜。
媒氏何所营，玉帛不时安。
佳人慕高义，求贤良独难。
众人徒嗷嗷，安知彼所观。
盛年处房室，中夜起长叹。
Soft branches sway and droop; the leaves fall, how they flutter.
She rolls her sleeve and shows a white hand; a gold ring circles her bright wrist.
On her head a golden phoenix hairpin; at her waist a green langgan stone.
Bright pearls deck her jade body; coral set among woodnan.
Her gauze robe how it floats; her light skirt turns on the wind.
A glance leaves glowing light; her long call breathes like orchid.
Wayfarers halt their carts; the resting forget their meal.
'Pray, where does the lady dwell?' — at the south end of the town.
A green tower fronts the great road; tall gates with double bars.
Her beauty outshines the morning sun; who would not covet such a face?
What does the matchmaker busy at? the bridal gifts not in time.
The fair one admires the noble-minded; to find a worthy man is hard indeed.
The crowd vainly clamors; how could they know her mind?
In her prime she keeps to her room; at midnight she rises and sighs long.
Meaning
The lady is both beautiful and serene, gathering mulberry at a crossroads. Soft branches sway, leaves flutter down. She rolls her sleeve to show a white hand, a gold ring on her bright wrist. A golden phoenix pin crowns her hair, a green langgan stone hangs at her waist. Bright pearls deck her jade body, coral set among woodnan gems. Her gauze robe floats, her light skirt turns on the wind. A glance sheds glowing light; her long call breathes like orchid. Travelers stop their carts, the resting forget to eat. Asked where she lives, she is at the south end of town, a green tower on the great road with tall barred gates. Her beauty outshines the morning sun; who would not desire such a face? Yet the matchmaker is slow, the gifts not sent in time. The fair one admires the noble-minded; a worthy man is hard to find. The crowd clamors in vain; how could they know her heart? In her prime she keeps to her room and at midnight rises to sigh.
美女既艳丽又娴静，在岔路口采桑。柔嫩的枝条轻轻摇曳，落叶翩翩飘飞。卷起衣袖露出素手，洁白的腕上套着金环。头上插着金雀钗，腰间佩着翠琅玕。明珠缀满玉体，珊瑚间杂着木难。罗衣何等飘逸，轻裾随风回旋。顾盼之间流溢光彩，长啸时气息如兰。行路的人为之停下车马，休息的人为之忘了用餐。借问这女子住在哪里？她住在城南那一端。青楼临着大路，高门重重关锁。容颜辉耀如朝日，谁不倾慕她的美貌。媒人究竟在忙些什么？聘礼总不及时安置。佳人仰慕高义之人，欲求贤士实在太难。众人空自喧哗，哪里知道她心中所瞩。正值盛年却独处房室，夜半起身长声叹息。
Appreciation
Cao Zhi's 'The Beautiful Lady' is a yuefu modeled on the Han 'Mulberry by the Path' but turned to his own purpose. The art inherits Han yuefu's spread yet adds literati ornament: from the mulberry-setting (soft branches) to the figure (white hand, gold ring, floating robe), then to her spirit (glowing glance, orchid breath), layer on layer of color, bright yet not loud. The structure pivots on 'her beauty outshines the morning sun': the first half writes her 'beauty', the second her 'grievance', moving from form to spirit, from looks to will. The analogy is deep and steady; the line 'the fair one admires the noble-minded' wakes the whole's allegory, its aftertaste in 'at midnight she sighs long'.
【白话串讲】 “美女妖且闲，采桑歧路间”——曹植写一个采桑的美女：“攘袖见素手，皓腕约金环”。“盛年处房室，中夜起长叹”——她正当盛年却独守空房，半夜起来长叹。曹植写美女，其实写的是自己怀才不遇。 【意象与手法】 艺术上承汉乐府铺陈而加以文人藻绘：由采桑环境（柔条冉冉）到人物形貌（素手金环、罗衣飘飖），再到风神（顾盼遗彩、长啸若兰），层层设色，明丽而不失清雅。结构以「容华耀朝日」为枢纽，前半写其「美」、后半写其「怨」，由形入神、由貌及志。比兴深稳，「佳人慕高义」一句点醒全篇托寓，余味在「中夜长叹」之中。 【情感与主旨】 《美女篇》为曹植乐府诗，拟汉《陌上桑》而别出机杼。其写作背景当在黄初、太和间，曹植屡徙封地、备受兄侄猜忌，空怀「戮力上国、流惠下民」之志而不得用。诗以「美女」自况，「高义」喻明主，「求贤良独难」正是诗人求用于世而频遭冷遇的写照，是曹植后期「以艳笔写孤愤」的代表。 【名句点睛】 常考：一、表现手法，须答「以美女喻贤才（托物言志、比兴）」及其自伤不遇的主旨；二、「佳人慕高义，求贤良独难」的托寓；三、与《陌上桑》的异同——罗敷拒使君显其智，美女叹失时写其怨。
Background
Cao Zhi's 'The Beautiful Lady' is a yuefu modeled on the Han 'Mulberry by the Path' yet turned anew. It was likely written in the Huangchu and Taihe years, when Cao Zhi was repeatedly transferred among fiefs and watched with suspicion by his brother and nephew, his great ambition 'to labor for the upper state and shed grace below' left unused. The poem uses the 'beautiful lady' as his own image; 'the noble-minded' stands for a wise lord, 'to find a worthy man is hard' is precisely the poet's plaint of seeking employment and meeting cold neglect — of one piece with his 'Miscellaneous Poems' ('retirement is not my intent'), a representative of Cao Zhi's later 'writing lone anger in a gorgeous brush'.
曹植（一九二至二三二），字子建，曹操第三子，封陈王，谥思，世称陈思王。他早年「生乎乱、长乎军」，才华横溢，深得曹操宠爱，几立为太子；建安二十五年曹丕即位后，备受猜忌，屡徙封地，自鄄城而雍丘、而东阿，名为王侯、实同囚徒，黄初、太和间「抱利器而无所施」。《美女篇》约作于此期，拟汉乐府《陌上桑》而翻转其意：罗敷采桑拒使君，美而有主、明而有守；美女采桑无人问，盛年独处、良媒不来。诗以美女自况，以「高义」喻明主，以「求贤良独难」写求仕无门之悲，与《杂诗》「闲居非吾志，甘心赴国忧」、《求自试表》请缨报国而不得之慨同一怀抱。此篇正是曹植后期「以艳笔写孤愤」的代表，在绮罗香泽之中藏着失意王侯的满腹心事。就诗题而言，「美女」之题虽承《陌上桑》而来，而曹植取义尤深：汉人以「美人」喻贤才多有其例，曹植则把这一传统与自身遭际紧密结合——他以美女之盛年独处写自己之盛年失志，以良媒不至写明主难逢，题材愈艳而寄托愈深。此诗与《杂诗》「南国有佳人，容华若桃李」同旨，皆以佳人不遇写志士失时，而此篇铺陈更富、转折更显，堪称其「以艳写怨」一体的压卷之作。
Art
The art inherits Han yuefu's spread yet adds literati ornament: from the mulberry-setting (soft, drooping branches) to the figure (white hand, gold ring, floating gauze), then to her spirit (glowing glance, orchid breath), layer on layer of color, bright yet clean. The structure pivots on 'her beauty outshines the morning sun': the first half writes her 'beauty', the second her 'grievance', moving from form to spirit, from face to will. The analogy is deep and steady; 'the fair one admires the noble-minded' wakes the whole allegory, its aftertaste lingering in 'at midnight she sighs long'.
全诗承汉乐府铺陈之法而加以文人藻绘，结构以「容华耀朝日」为枢纽，前后两半判然有别。前半极力铺写美女之美：由采桑环境（柔条冉冉、叶落翩翩）起，次写形貌（素手金环、金爵钗、翠琅玕），再写衣饰（明珠珊瑚木难、罗衣飘飖、轻裾随风），继而写风神（顾盼遗彩、长啸若兰），最后以旁证收束（行徒息驾、休者忘餐）——由物及人、由形及神、由自述及旁证，层层设色，明丽而不失清雅，极尽铺陈之能事。后半由「容华耀朝日，谁不希令颜」转入「怨」：青楼高门写其居之贵，媒氏玉帛写求婚之迟，佳人慕高义写其择偶之严，众人嗷嗷写世俗不解，结以「盛年处房室，中夜起长叹」，怅惘不尽。由形入神、由貌及志，比兴深稳，全篇的托寓在「佳人慕高义」一句点醒，而余味尽在「中夜长叹」之中。细论其铺陈之妙，尤在「以物写人」与「以人衬人」两法并用：金环、珠玉、罗衣等物，不是死板的罗列，而是由腕及头、由身及衣的循序展开，如工笔画之层层晕染；行徒息驾、休者忘餐，则是以旁人的失态反衬美人的出众，与《陌上桑》「耕者忘其犁，锄者忘其锄」同一机杼而更见凝练。后半转怨，不写怨而写求之难、解之少：「媒氏何所营」一问问得俏皮而沉痛，「众人徒嗷嗷」以世俗的喧哗反衬她的孤高，笔法由浓而淡、由铺而收，正见曹植谋篇的从容。
Allusions
The whole models the Han yuefu 'Mulberry by the Path' (Luofu gathering mulberry, the magistrate's suit) but overturns its ending — Luofu has her 'the magistrate has his wife' refusal; the beauty has her 'matchmaker not in time' regret, hence 'modeled yet made to grieve'. 'Golden phoenix pin', 'woodnan' (a kind of gem, from the Bencao and Nanyuezhi), 'langgan' are common precious ornaments in Han-Wei verse, not recondite; 'noble-minded' reworks the virtue praised in the Records of the Three Kingdoms, standing for a wise lord's favor — the allegory is clear.
本篇整体拟汉乐府《陌上桑》之体而翻转其结局，此为最大的「用典」——罗敷有「使君自有妇」之拒，美女则有「媒氏不时安」之憾，一显其智、一写其怨，拟作而翻新意。「金爵钗」为雀形金钗，「琅玕」为美石，「木难」为宝珠（出《南越志》），「珊瑚」「明珠」皆汉魏诗中习见珍饰，非僻典而见华贵；「青楼」指涂青之楼、豪门闺阁，非后世妓馆之义；「媒氏」为《周礼·地官》掌媒合男女之官，「玉帛」为古代聘礼，皆有所本。「长啸」为魏晋士人抒怀之习尚，阮籍善啸，此处写美女长啸气若兰，已暗含士人风神。「求贤良独难」承《楚辞·离骚》「求宓妃之所在」以来以美人求偶喻贤士求主的比兴传统，曹植承屈赋之绪而光大之，托意分明。此外，「明珠交玉体，珊瑚间木难」一句，以明珠、珊瑚、木难三种珍宝层层装点，写其体之贵；「罗衣何飘飖，轻裾随风还」以风写衣、以衣写人，见其举止之轻盈，皆承汉乐府铺陈衣饰的传统而更求精工。「行徒用息驾，休者以忘餐」用《陌上桑》「耕者忘其犁，锄者忘其锄」之笔，而由农耕场景移于行旅之人，更见美人惊动四方的魅力。至于「高义」一词，本为称美他人德行之语，此处以之自许所慕，正是曹植「骨气奇高」的自我期许，其托意之分明，直可作《求自试表》的诗化读本。
Commentary
The Qing critic Wang Fuzhi says Cao Zhi's poetry 'a brocade-tiger talent, most ornate yet with bone and spirit within'. The Ming critic Hu Yinglin calls 'The Beautiful Lady' 'most rich and beautiful, yet its entrustment is far and deep'. Moderns hold this piece writes lone anger in gorgeous words — on the surface it describes beauty, within it commits a will; it is the forerunner where the sixth-century 'palace style' shell meets the 'voicing-feeling' core, gorgeous yet not licentious, grieved yet not angry, so later readers still feel bone and spirit within the ornate, truly the height of Cao Zhi's later style.
历代评家于此篇推崇备至。明胡应麟《诗薮》称《美女篇》「辞极赡丽，而托喻遥深」，点出藻丽与托寓并存的特色；清王夫之评曹植「绣虎之才，备极藻丽而风骨自在」，谓其华美之中自有刚健风骨；沈德潜《古诗源》谓子建诗「五色相宣，八音朗畅」，亦许其辞采。此篇以艳辞写孤愤，表面赋美、内里赋志，是六朝「宫体」外形与「咏怀」内核相揉的先声；其艳而不淫、怨而不怒，遂使后人读之，于绮语中亦觉风骨自在，诚为曹植后期诗风之极则。就文学史而言，此诗上承《陌上桑》的铺陈传统，下启六朝以美人喻志士的托寓写法，是乐府文人化进程中的里程碑。再就其美学品格言之，此诗设色浓艳而不失清刚，铺陈繁富而不失流转，正是曹植「骨气奇高，词采华茂」的体现——艳是其表，怨是其里，而骨气贯乎其中，故虽写闺中女儿，读之却有志士之感。后世宫体诗写女性多流于物化，曹植此篇则始终以美女为有德性、有选择的主体，其「慕高义」「求贤」的主动姿态，正是其高出流辈之处。此诗在文学史上的意义，不止于一首咏美人诗，更是中国诗歌「托物言志」传统在汉魏之际的一次深化与典范化。
Prosody
Line by line
美女妖且闲，采桑歧路间
The lady is fair and still; she gathers mulberry by the parting road.
美女既艳丽又娴静，在岔路口采桑。
The beauty is lovely and serene, picking mulberry by the fork of the road.
破题两句即立起人物形象。「妖」状艳丽，「闲」状娴静，一写容貌、一写性情，二字对举，奠定了美人内外兼美、孤高自许的基调——艳而不俗，静而不冷，正是曹植理想中的淑女与志士合一之象。「采桑歧路间」点明身份与场景，采桑是汉乐府写劳动女性的习见起式（《陌上桑》罗敷即采桑城南隅），此处故意置于「歧路」——岔路象征选择的关口，为后文「求贤良独难」的择偶择主之思暗埋伏笔。两句仿《陌上桑》而起，却更重德性之闲，见出曹植拟作而自出机杼。
The opening two lines establish the figure. Lovely writes beauty; serene writes composure - one for face, one for temperament, setting the beauty's inner-outer perfection, proud of herself. Picking-mulberry-by-the-fork-of-the-road names the identity and scene: mulberry-picking is the Han yuefu's usual start for laboring women (as in Mulberry by the Path); here deliberately placed at the fork - a fork symbolizes the moment of choice, secretly preparing the later finding-worthy-hard mate-choice theme. The couplet imitates Mulberry by the Path yet weights the virtue's serenity, showing Cao Zhi's imitation with his own invention.
顾盼遗光彩，长啸气若兰
A glance leaves glowing light; her long call breathes like orchid.
顾盼之间流溢光彩，长啸时气息如兰。
Her glance sheds radiance; her long sigh breathes like orchids.
此联由形入神，是写美人的传神之笔。「顾盼遗光彩」写她顾盼之间，眼波流转，光彩四溢，「遗」字极妙——光彩不是收于自身，而是洒落于外，令观者目眩；「长啸气若兰」以啸写其风神，长啸本为魏晋士人抒怀之习，此处移以写女子，则见其气度不凡，且「气若兰」以兰香拟气息，雅而不艳。一写目、一写声，目之所及、声之所出皆有过人之处，美人于是不仅有形貌之丽，更有神采之逸。此联为后文「谁不希令颜」的众人倾慕提供了依据，也为「慕高义」的孤高自许蓄势，藻绘而不俗。
This couplet moves from form to spirit, the beauty's spirit-transmitting stroke. Her-glance-sheds-radiance writes her glance's overflowing light; the shed character is fine - radiance not held in herself but scattered outward, dazzling the viewer. Her-long-sigh-breathes-like-orchids uses the long whistle (a Wei-Jin scholar's expression) for her bearing; breath-like-orchids uses orchid scent for her breath, elegant not gaudy. One line for eyes, one for voice; both sight and sound exceed the ordinary. The beauty hence has not only form's loveliness but spirit's elevation. This couplet prepares the later who-does-not-long-for-the-fair-face admiration, and the admiring-high-principle proud resolve.
佳人慕高义，求贤良独难
The fair one admires the noble-minded; to find a worthy man is hard indeed.
佳人仰慕高义之人，欲求贤士实在太难。
The beauty admires high principle; to find a worthy man is truly hard.
此二句是全篇托寓之眼，一语破的。前文铺陈其美、其贵、其盛年，至此方揭出问题的症结：她不是无人可嫁，而是不肯轻许——「慕高义」见其择偶标准之高，非高义之士不嫁；「求贤良独难」见其求而不得之憾，「良」为副词，加重「难」的分量，难上加难。以美人求贤偶喻志士求明主，正是屈赋「求女」传统的延续：贤士如美女，非明主不事，而明主难逢，盛年易逝。两句看似写婚嫁，实则写君臣遇合之难，曹植的失意与自持、渴望与矜持，尽在此十字之中。
These two lines are the rhapsody's hidden eye, hitting the mark. The preceding lines laid out her beauty, nobility, and prime; here the problem's crux emerges: she is not unmarriageable but unwilling to marry lightly. Admiring-high-principle writes her high mate standard - only high-principle men. To-find-a-worthy-man-is-truly-hard writes the regret of seeking yet not finding; truly is an adverb weighing the difficulty. Using a beauty seeking a worthy mate as metaphor for a worthy man seeking a wise lord continues the Li Sao's seeking-woman tradition: the worthy is like the beauty, serving no lord but the wise; yet the wise lord is hard to meet, the prime years pass. These two lines seem to write marriage, but in truth the meeting of lord and vassal; Cao Zhi's disappointment and self-restraint, longing and reserve, are all in these ten characters.
盛年处房室，中夜起长叹
In her prime she keeps to her room; at midnight she rises and sighs long.
正值盛年却独处房室，夜半起身长声叹息。
In her prime she sits alone in her chamber; at midnight she rises with a long sigh.
结句以孤芳自伤收束，怅惘不尽。「盛年处房室」写美人正值青春盛年却独守空房，「处」字平静而沉痛，盛年与房室对举，愈见韶华虚度之悲；「中夜起长叹」写夜半不寐、起身长叹，长叹无声胜有声，把前文铺陈的美、贵、慕、难尽数收进这一声叹息之中。此句与《杂诗》「闲居非吾志，甘心赴国忧」同一怀抱，皆以女性独处之象写志士失时之悲。全诗至此戛然而止，不着一怨字而怨深如海，正是「怨而不怒」的典范，曹植后期失志之悲毕见于此。
The closing line resolves in solitary self-pity, lasting wistfulness. In-her-prime-she-sits-alone-in-her-chamber writes the beauty in her youth yet alone in her room; sits is calm yet painful, prime set against chamber, the wasted youth's grief all the more visible. At-midnight-she-rises-with-a-long-sigh writes the sleepless midnight rising and sighing - the long sigh, silent yet more eloquent, gathers the preceding beauty, nobility, admiration, and difficulty into one sigh. This line shares the Miscellaneous Poems's idle-life-is-not-my-wish, willing-to-face-national-grief spirit, both using the woman's solitude for the worthy man's mistimed grief. The poem stops abruptly here, not one resentment word yet resentment deep as the sea; this is the complaint-without-anger model, Cao Zhi's late disappointment fully shown.
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Cao's poem models this piece; Luofu shows wit refusing the magistrate, the beauty sighs her untimely match — see the modeled piece's overturn and literati turn.
《陌上桑》写罗敷采桑城南隅、使君求婚而罗敷盛夸其夫以拒之，美而有守、智而能辩；《美女篇》写美女采桑歧路间、良媒不至而盛年独处，美而孤高、怨而自持。二诗同为采桑美女题材，同为铺陈其美之体，而结局一拒一叹：罗敷之拒显其智与圆满，美女之叹写其怨与失落。曹植拟《陌上桑》而翻转其意，正见文人拟乐府由民间故事的谐趣转向自我心迹的托寓，是乐府文人化进程中的关键一环。
洛神赋 The Luo River Goddess 曹植 · 同：同一作者，同以美人意象写情志 Same (author / beauty image)Both use the beauty image for feeling; the goddess commits a heart-song to the ruler, the beauty commits the grief of unmet employment — read Cao Zhi's beauty-writing together.
《洛神赋》写洛神「翩若惊鸿，婉若游龙」之容、「恨人神之道殊」之叹，以神女寄心曲于君王；《美女篇》写美女「盛年处房室，中夜起长叹」，以人间淑女寓不遇之悲。二作同出曹植手笔，同以美人意象写君臣遇合之思，一为赋体的铺张扬厉、一为乐府的清丽流美。洛神之恋可望而不可即，美女之求可慕而不可得，同是曹植后期理想破灭之悲的不同投影，合观可见其美人书写的完整谱系。
七哀诗 Seven Laments 曹植 · 同：同以女性形象写君臣际遇 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
《七哀诗》「明月照高楼，流光正徘徊」「君若清路尘，妾若浊水泥」写弃妇思君，以夫妇喻君臣，托言「愿为西南风，长逝入君怀」而终「君怀良不开」；《美女篇》写佳人慕高义而求贤独难，以淑女待嫁喻志士求用。二诗一写被弃之怨、一写待聘之叹，同以女性形象写曹植与曹丕、曹叡父子间的君臣际遇，情感基调一沉痛、一幽怨。合观可见曹植后期诗以艳笔写孤愤的两副面孔，亦见汉魏诗比兴传统在曹植手中的深化。