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先秦 Pre-Qin · 诗经 Classic of Poetry

绵蛮

Mian Man (The Twittering Oriole)

无名氏

Anonymous

诗经Book of Songs 小雅Minor Odes of the Kingdom 讽谕Satire and Admonition 先秦Pre-Qin 劳苦Toil and Hardship

绵蛮黄鸟，止于丘阿。
道之云远，我劳如何。
饮之食之，教之诲之。
命彼后车，谓之载之。
绵蛮黄鸟，止于丘隅。
岂敢惮行，畏不能趋。
饮之食之。
教之诲之。
命彼后车，谓之载之。
绵蛮黄鸟，止于丘侧。
岂敢惮行，畏不能极。
饮之食之，教之诲之。
命彼后车，谓之载之。

The twittering oriole rests upon the hillside's bend.
Give him to drink, give him to eat; instruct him, teach him; command the rear carriage, bid them take him on.
The twittering oriole rests upon the hill's far corner.
Give him to drink, give him to eat; instruct him, teach him; command the rear carriage, bid them take him on.
The twittering oriole rests beside the hill.
Give him to drink, give him to eat; instruct him, teach him; command the rear carriage, bid them take him on.

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Meaning

A minor official, worn by distant service, compares himself to a small oriole forced to rest on a lonely hillside. He sighs at the length of the road and the depth of his fatigue, and pleads that those above would give him food, teaching, and a place in the rear carriage. Through three repeated stanzas the poem voices the humble hope of the lowly for a little compassion from their superiors.

绵蛮鸣叫的黄鸟，栖息在弯曲的山坳里。路途是那么遥远，我的劳苦又该如何是好。请给他水喝给他饭吃，教诲他指点他。

Appreciation

The poem's art lies in its blended 'xing (evocation) and bi (comparison)' and in its structure of repeated stanzas with incremental change. The opening image of the oriole on the hillside mirrors the wanderer's displacement, while the four-line plea is repeated unchanged across all three stanzas, creating a tension between shifting circumstance and unwavering need. This restrained, 'sorrow without bitterness, grievance without anger' music is a hallmark of the Feng and Xiao Ya manner.

【白话串讲】诗经《绵蛮》：“绵蛮黄鸟，止于丘阿。道之云远，我劳如何”——黄鸟叫，停在山上，路太远，我太累。“饮之食之，教之诲之。命彼后车，谓之载之”——有人给他吃喝，教他，用车载他。这是行役之人的悲歌。【意象与手法】以「绵蛮黄鸟，止于丘阿」起兴自况困顿，「饮之食之」写所求不过温饱与教。【情感与主旨】刺大臣寡恩、遗忘微贱，写旅人困顿望人援手，亦见君臣相恤之理想。【名句点睛】「道之云远，我劳如何」一声嗟叹，行役之艰与望恤之切俱出。

Background

"Mian Man" is one of the poems in the "Minor Odes" (Xiao Ya) of the Book of Songs. The Mao preface reads it as a satire by a lowly minister against the chaos of the age, claiming great ministers lacked benevolence and forgot the humble, refusing them food, teaching, and a ride. Zhu Xi's "Collected Commentaries on the Book of Songs" offers a contrary reading, taking it as a poem comforting the labor of envoys, in which superiors command the rear carriage to carry them and provide them food and instruction, thus showing the proper mutual care between ruler and servant. Though one reading sees blame and the other praise, both center on the core of "a traveler in distress hoping for another's hand." The poem opens with the image of the twittering oriole resting on the hill's bend—a bird that should perch on tall trees now lodged in a secluded hollow—as a metaphor for the displaced, toiling minor official. Its three stanzas repeat with only minor substitutions ("hill's bend," "corner," "side"; "how great my toil," "cannot hasten," "cannot reach the end"), deepening the sense of a journey growing ever longer and wearier. Though classed among the Minor Odes, its tone resembles the Airs (Feng), making it a typical Zhou-dynasty poem of conscripted travel and a witness to the Xiao Ya's many realist works drawn from the people.

《绵蛮》为《诗经·小雅》之一篇，旧说多围绕「行役之劳」与「在上之恤」展开。《毛诗序》云：「《绵蛮》，微臣刺乱也。大臣不用仁心，遗忘微贱，不肯饮食教载之，故作是诗也。」其说以诗中之「我」为微贱之臣，劳于行役而不得在位者体恤，因作歌以讽在上者之寡恩。朱熹《诗集传》则另立一说，以为「此亦慰劳使者之诗」，谓使臣行役劳苦，居上位者命后车载之、饮食教之，诗以此见君臣相恤之道。二说虽一以为刺、一以为美，然皆不离「旅人困顿而望人援手」之核心。诗以「绵蛮黄鸟，止于丘阿」起兴，黄鸟本应集于乔木，今止于丘阿（山之曲处），隐喻微臣失所、行旅困顿之状。全诗三章重沓，仅易「丘阿」「丘隅」「丘侧」与「如何」「不能趋」「不能极」数字，写旅途愈远、劳苦愈深，而「饮之食之，教之诲之，命彼后车，谓之载之」的恳切期待贯穿始终。此诗虽列《小雅》，而体近风诗，为周代行役诗之典型，亦见《小雅》中多有采自民间、写征役之苦的写实之作。（其以微臣行役之劳写怨，体近风诗，为周代行役诗之典型。）

Art

The essence of this poem's art is the dual technique of "evocation that is also comparison" and the structure of repeated stanzas advancing by degrees. The opening "The twittering oriole rests upon the hillside's bend" first evokes the bird's smallness and shelterless lodging, which figuratively mirrors the speaker's unhomed wandering; then "The way is long, how great my toil" moves from object to self, blending evocation with comparison so scene and feeling fuse. The finest touch is the three-stanza progression: the first speaks of the "bend" and "how great my toil," the second turns to the "corner" and "fear I cannot hasten," the third reaches the "side" and "fear I cannot reach the end"—the hill's parts shift from bend to corner to side, and the journey from distant to weary to ended, layer upon layer deepening the hardship of travel. Set against this, the four lines "Give him to drink, give him to eat; instruct him, teach him; command the rear carriage, bid them take him on" are repeated word-for-word across all three stanzas, producing an affective tension of "change within the unchanging"—the setting shifts yet the plea hardens, making the distress deeper and the longing keener. Such a method, fixing emotion through repetition while advancing time and space through changed rhymes, is among the most matured stanzaic arts of the Book of Songs; seemingly simple, it stores up within repetition a power that is sorrowful yet not bitter, grievous yet not wrathful. Through repetition-with-variation it writes a journey ever longer and toil ever deeper, with disciplined structure and intensifying irony—the very best of the Feng poets' ability to command much with little.

此诗艺术之要，在「兴而比」的双重手法与重章递进的结构。起句「绵蛮黄鸟，止于丘阿」先以鸟之小而止于山曲起兴，鸟之无所依托正喻「我」之行役无归；继而「道之云远，我劳如何」由物及人，兴中有比，情景交融。最精妙处在三章之递进：首章言「丘阿」「我劳如何」，次章转「丘隅」「畏不能趋」，末章至「丘侧」「畏不能极」，丘之部位由阿而隅而侧，行程由远而疲而极（至），层层加深行旅之艰；与之相对，「饮之食之，教之诲之，命彼后车，谓之载之」四句在三章中一字不易地复沓，形成「变中有不变」的声情张力——环境愈变而所求愈坚，愈显其困顿之深、企望之切。这种以复沓固结情感、以换韵推进时空的笔法，是《诗经》最成熟的章法之一，看似简单重复，实则于重复中蓄满哀而不伤、怨而不怒的力量。（变中有不变之复沓，哀而不伤，尽得风人「谲谏」之旨。）其以变中有不变之复沓固结情感，以换韵推进时空，看似重复而哀而不伤怨而不怒之力尽蓄其中。其复沓递进写旅途愈远而劳苦愈深，章法精严而讽意愈浓，最见风诗以简驭繁之能。

Allusions

The allusions and named objects in the poem all derive from Zhou-dynasty travel and chariot-horse institutions. "Mian man" is a reduplicative adjective—some say the oriole's cry, some its small and delicate appearance; the Mao commentary glosses it as "the look of a small bird," while Zhu Xi calls it "the bird's voice," and today it is mostly read as the soft twitter of a helpless fledgling, conveying weakness and dependence. "Hill's bend," "corner," and "side" refer to the curves, angles, and flanks of a hill—all places along a journey—implicitly suggesting winding roads and unending advance. "Rear carriage" means the secondary or attendant chariot; Mencius speaks of "scores of rear carriages," and in antiquity envoys traveled with a principal and a rear chariot, in which the exhausted could be carried, hence "command the rear carriage, bid them take him on" describes the superior's act of charitable courtesy. "Give him to drink, give him to eat; instruct him, teach him" echoes the ancient precepts of the Documents and the Analects on nourishing and educating the people, placing "food" beside "instruction" to show that care lies not only in livelihood but in moral teaching. All these named things are not empty ornament but rooted in the Zhou ritual-music system; the reader must know the chariot-horse institutions to fully grasp the weight of the word "carry."

诗中典故与名物，皆本于周代行役与车马之制。「绵蛮」为叠音形容词，或谓黄鸟鸣声，或谓小鸟文采貌，《毛传》训「小鸟貌」，朱熹《集传》谓「绵蛮，鸟声」，今多以鸟鸣软语解之，以状其柔弱无依。「丘阿」「丘隅」「丘侧」指山丘之曲、角、旁，皆行旅所经之地，暗喻道路纡曲、前行无已。「后车」即副车、从车，《孟子·万章下》有「后车数十乘」之语，古代使臣出行有正车与后车，疲困者可载于后车，故诗云「命彼后车，谓之载之」，正写在上者施恤之礼。「饮之食之，教之诲之」化用《尚书》《论语》中养民教民之古训，将「饮食」与「教诲」并提，示体恤不仅在于温饱，更在于德教。凡此名物，皆非虚设，而深植于周代礼乐制度之中，读诗者须知其车马之制，方能尽解「载之」二字的分量。（后车、丘阿皆周代行役车马与地理之实，非虚设之词。）后车即副车从车，周代使臣出行有正车后车，疲困者载于后车，此字关车马之制与体恤之礼，非虚设之词，丘阿丘隅丘侧之换字写行程由远及极尤为风诗重章换字之精。

Commentary

Commentators through the ages have disagreed on the poem's theme yet agreed on its gentle, warm brush. The Mao preface fixed its tone as satire: "a minor minister satirizing the chaos... the great minister lacking benevolence, forgetting the lowly, refusing them food, teaching, and a carriage." Zhu Xi's "Collected Commentaries" reversed this, reading it as "also a poem comforting the envoy," taking "give him to drink and eat" as a literal description of the superior's care. The Qing scholar Fang Yurun struck a middle path, finding the feeling "lamenting yet warm and gentle," satirical yet soft. The modern scholar Yu Guanying rendered it as the song of a laborer hoping someone would feed him, teach him, and let him ride—classifying it among the folk songs of toil. Whether read as blame or praise, all admit the "I" is a distressed traveler and the four-line plea his minimal hope for survival; this consensus proves the poem captures the eternal sympathy of the humble minister dependent on others.

历代说诗者于《绵蛮》题旨分歧，而于其温厚之笔则无异议。《毛诗序》定其调为刺：「微臣刺乱也……大臣不用仁心，遗忘微贱，不肯饮食教载之。」以诗为在下者讽在上者寡恩之作。朱熹《诗集传》卷九则反其说：「此亦慰劳使者之诗。言绵蛮之黄鸟，止于丘阿，而自歌曰：道路悠远，我之劳苦如何哉？然有饮之食之者，教之诲之者，命彼后车，谓之载之者矣。」径以「慰劳」释之，视「饮之食之」为实写上位之恤。清人方玉润《诗经原始》折中之，以为诗之情「哀怨而温厚」，虽刺而不失柔婉。现代学者余冠英《诗经选》译其意为行役者「希望有人给他吃喝、教他、让他搭车」，归之于民间劳者之歌。诸家或刺或美，要皆承认诗中「我」为困顿之行旅者，而「饮之食之」四句为其最低限度的生存企盼，此一共识足证此诗写尽小臣微贱、仰庇于人的千古同慨。（刺美之歧虽存，要皆承认此诗写尽小臣微贱之千古同慨。）毛序刺乱朱熹慰劳方玉润哀怨温厚，诸说或刺或美而皆认行旅困顿之企盼，此即风诗写小民之诚。

Prosody

Form Four-character verse, Minor Odes, repeated-stanza form诗经·小雅·四言体重章体

Rhyme Rhymes: 'bend' & 'how' (Ge category); 'corner' & 'hasten' (Hou); 'side' & 'end' (Zhi); the repeated lines 'eat / teach / carry' form a fixed sound-peg.阿、何（歌部）；隅、趋（侯部）；侧、极（职部）；之、诲、载复沓协声

Tone pattern Regular four-character lines interspersed with particles like 'yun' and 'zhi'; three stanzas shift rhyme in progression.四言为正，杂以「云」「之」等语助虚词，三章换韵递进

Reading note "Mian Man" is a classic example among the Minor Odes of four-character, repeated-stanza poetry. The whole piece has three stanzas of eight lines each, taking the four-character line as its standard form, with particles like 'zhi' and 'yun' interspersed to relax the rhythm. Its rhyme is highly ordered: stanza one rhymes 'bend' with 'how' in the Ge category; stanza two rhymes 'corner' with 'hasten' in the Hou category; stanza three rhymes 'side' with 'end' in the Zhi category—three stanzas, three rhyme shifts, the rhyme turning with the stanza, paralleling the spatial advance of the journey from distant to ended. Meanwhile the lines 'give him to drink, give him to eat; instruct him, teach him; command the rear carriage, bid them take him on' are wholly repeated across the three stanzas; their words 'zhi,' 'teach,' 'carry' form a fixed sound-peg running through the whole poem, creating a polyphonic effect of 'changed rhyme within unchanged lines.' Structurally, each stanza's first four lines write the evocation and the toil (scene and feeling), the last four the plea (reason and hope), symmetric and even. Four-character poetry reached its fullest elegance in the Minor Odes; though this poem writes a minor official's distress, its music is warm and composed, neither forced nor exposed—it is the 'music of the Xiao Ya, mourning yet thoughtful,' beyond the 'music of troubled times, resentful and angry.' Its melody, sorrowful yet not fierce, matches its content of 'satire without anger,' fully showing the Book of Songs' achievement of uniting sound and feeling.《绵蛮》为《小雅》中四言重章诗之典型，全篇三章，章八句（末章「饮之食之」后无句号亦计入），以四言为正格，间用「之」「云」等虚字舒缓节奏。其用韵极有法度：首章「阿」「何」押歌部，次章「隅」「趋」押侯部，三章「侧」「极」押职部，三章三换韵，韵随章转，与行旅由远及极的空间推进相表里；而「饮之食之，教之诲之，命彼后车，谓之载之」数句在三章中完全复沓，其「之」「诲」「载」等字形成贯穿全诗的固定声栓，造成「变韵中有不变句」的复调效果。章法上，每章前四句写兴与劳（景与情），后四句写所求（理与望），结构匀整对称。四言诗至《小雅》已极醇雅，此诗虽写微臣之困，而音节温厚从容，不迫不露，正是「乱世之音怨以怒」以外的「小雅之音哀以思」——其声调之哀婉而不激烈，恰与其「刺而不怒」的内容互为表里，足见《诗经》声情合一的造诣。

Line by line

绵蛮黄鸟，止于丘阿。

The twittering oriole rests upon the hillside's bend.

绵蛮鸣叫的黄鸟，栖息在弯曲的山坳里。

The twittering yellow bird rests in the curve of the hill.

此二句为全诗起兴，亦是《诗经》「感物起情」的范本。黄鸟本应集于高木，今乃「止于丘阿」——山丘的偏曲之处，其位低微、其境幽独，恰与诗中行役微臣的失所无归形成隐喻同构。诗人不直言己之苦，而先写鸟之栖迟，使读者于鸟之柔弱无所托中，自然照见人之飘零；这种「先言他物以引起所咏之词」的兴法，较之比喻更为含蓄蕴藉。更妙在「绵蛮」一声，既状鸟语之软，又暗含行旅者疲弱之态，声情与物象浑然一体。起兴之句看似闲笔，实已定下全诗哀而不伤、怨而不怒的基调，为后文「我劳如何」的直抒铺垫了温厚的情感底色。

These lines open the poem by evoking feeling from things, a model of the Book of Songs. The yellow bird should gather on high trees, yet 'rests in the curve of the hill'—the low, secluded bend of the slope, forming a metaphoric parallel with the humble traveler's lost, unhoused state. The poet does not speak his own hardship but first writes the bird's roosting, so that the reader, in the bird's weakness and want of a perch, naturally sees the man's drifting. More exquisite is 'twittering,' which both imitates the soft birdsong and hints at the traveler's weariness, sound and object fused. The opening seems a casual stroke, yet it has already fixed the keynote of grief without hurt, resentment without anger, laying a warm emotional ground for the later 'how great is my toil.'

道之云远，我劳如何。

The way is long; how great is my toil and pain!

路途是那么遥远，我的劳苦又该如何是好。

The way is so far; what will become of my toil?

「道之云远」四字，由起兴转入正写，将空间之辽远与身心之疲惫并置。「云」为语助词，无实义而助长咏叹之调；「如何」一问，不是真求答案，而是劳苦至极、无可奈何的叹息。此句之妙，在把抽象的行役之苦，凝缩为一个开放式的喟叹——读者不见具体如何苦，却从「云远」与「如何」的呼应中，体会到前路漫漫、归期无着的苍茫。它与首章「丘阿」相承，构成「鸟止于阿、人疲于道」的平行映照。这种以虚词传神、以疑问写哀的手法，正是《诗经》小雅温厚深婉之处，不须铺陈惨状，而困顿之状已跃然纸上，亦为后世羁旅诗「前路漫漫」主题之先声。

'The way is so far' moves from evocation to direct writing, placing the distance of the road beside the exhaustion of body and mind. 'So' is a particle without substance, lending the chant its drawn-out tone; 'what' is not a request for answer but a sigh of toil beyond endurance. The line condenses the abstract hardship of enforced travel into an open sigh—the reader sees no specific suffering, yet feels, in the echo of 'so far' and 'what,' the vastness of the road ahead and the uncertainty of return. It carries forward the first stanza's 'curve of the hill,' forming the parallel of 'bird resting in the bend, man worn on the road.' This way of conveying feeling through empty words and writing grief through a question is the gentle depth of the Lesser Odes—no need to pile up misery, the exhaustion is already vivid, and it anticipates the later theme of the long road of exile verse.

饮之食之，教之诲之。

Give him to drink, give him to eat; instruct him, teach him.

请给他水喝给他饭吃，教诲他指点他。

Give him drink and food, teach him and instruct him.

此四句（连下「命彼后车，谓之载之」）为全诗情感之归宿，亦全诗的「眼」。在极写行旅之劳后，诗人不呼天抢地，只朴实地提出最低限度的企盼：饮食以活命，教诲以立身，载之以代步。值得注意的是「教之诲之」与「饮之食之」并列，示体恤不止于温饱，更在德业之引导，暗合周代「养民教民」的仁政理想。四句在三章中一字不易地复沓，形成全诗最稳定的情感锚点——环境愈变（丘阿、丘隅、丘侧）而所求愈坚，愈显其困顿之深、企望之切。这种将生存吁求写得如此平实而庄重的笔法，使一首行役小诗升华为对「在上者当有仁心」的温和诘问，怨而不怒，尽得风人之旨。

These four lines (with 'bid the rear carriage, tell them to take him up') are the emotional landing and the eye of the whole poem. After writing the hardship of travel to the full, the poet does not call heaven or beat his breast, but simply raises the humblest hope: food and drink to keep life, teaching to establish character, a carriage to carry him. Notable is the placing of 'teach him and instruct him' beside 'give him drink and food,' showing that care reaches beyond mere sustenance to guidance in virtue, echoing the Zhou ideal of 'nurturing and teaching the people.' The four lines repeat verbatim through three stanzas, forming the steadiest emotional anchor—the setting changes (bend, corner, side of hill) yet the request grows firmer, showing the depth of plight and the urgency of hope. This plain yet solemn writing of survival's plea lifts a small travel poem into a gentle question to those above: that they show a ruler's heart.

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绵蛮 A reduplicative adjective for the oriole's soft twitter, here also subtly mirroring the weary, helpless bearing of the traveling speaker. 「绵蛮」为叠音形容词，是《诗经》中典型的双声/叠韵状声词。《毛传》训「小鸟貌」，朱熹《集传》谓「鸟声」，今人多以小鸟软语鸣声解之。其妙不仅在摹声，更在「以声写态」：一声「绵蛮」，既状黄鸟啼鸣之柔，又暗喻诗中行役者疲惫孱弱、无所依傍的神情，声情与物象浑融。叠音词在《诗经》中俯拾皆是（如「关关」「参差」「依依」），而「绵蛮」独以柔婉之声反衬困顿之境，形成声与情的微妙反差。炼此二字，不须繁辞，已先声夺人地将读者带入一种温厚而略带哀愁的语调，足见风诗炼字「因声达意」的高明——选字之要，有时不在义之深浅，而在声之可否传情。

后车 The rear or attendant chariot; in antiquity the exhausted envoy could be carried in it, so the phrase bears the Zhou institution of chariots and the courtesy of superior care. 「后车」即副车、从车，古代使臣出行有正车在前、后车相随，疲困者可载于后车，故诗云「命彼后车，谓之载之」。此二字看似平常，实关周代车马之制与体恤之礼。孟子所谓「后车数十乘」，正见后车为随行之备。「载之」之「之」代指困顿的行役者，一「命」字点出施恤者的在上之位与主动之姿。诗人将沉重的阶级落差，凝于「后车」这方寸之间：微臣不能自前，唯赖上位者一念之仁，命车相载。炼此一词，既写出了行役制度的具体场景，又不动声色地揭示了人际间的权力关系，使「载之」二字既有礼制之实，又有温情之盼，是小处见大的炼字范例。

丘阿 The curved hollow of a hill; with 'corner' and 'side' it forms a spatial progression marking the journey from distant to ended. 「丘阿」指山丘的弯曲处（阿，曲也），与下二章「丘隅」（角落）、「丘侧」（旁侧）构成一组空间递换。诗人以鸟止于「丘阿」起兴，丘阿之偏曲低凹，恰喻微臣所处之边缘失所；而三章依次言阿、隅、侧，并非随意换字，而是暗写行程由远及近、由缓入迫的空间推移——山愈深、路愈曲，行者愈无所托。这种以地名微变带动情感深化的手法，是《诗经》重章换字的核心技巧：「丘」字一贯而「阿隅侧」递换，既保持声韵复沓之和谐，又使意境层层转深。一字之易，而羁旅之艰如画卷徐展，可见风诗炼字于「重复中的细微变化」最讲究。

绵蛮