战国 战国 · 文 Prose
邹忌讽齐王纳谏
Zou Ji Admonishes the King of Qi to Receive Counsel
邹忌修八尺有余，而形貌昳丽。
朝服衣冠，窥镜，谓其妻曰：我孰与城北徐公美？
其妻曰：君美甚，徐公何能及君也！
城北徐公，齐国之美丽者也。
忌不自信，而复问其妾曰：吾孰与徐公美？
Meaning
The opening of 'Zou Ji Admonishes the King of Qi to Receive Counsel,' from the Strategies of the Warring States, the model of the indirect admonition. Zou Ji, the prime minister of the King of Qi, over eight chi tall and handsome and bright, looks in the mirror in the morning and asks his wife who is more handsome, he or Lord Xu of the north of the city; the wife says he is far more handsome; not trusting himself, he asks his concubine. The passage sets up the 'three questions and three answers' of the comparison of the beauty—the wife, the concubine, and the guest all say Lord Xu is not his equal—and when he sees Lord Xu and finds himself not his equal, he reflects and understands that 'the wife dotes on me, the concubine fears me, and the guest has something to ask of me'; and from this small matter of the family he infers the great matter of the state: 'the women of the palace and the attendants do not fail to dote on the king, the ministers of the court do not fail to fear the king, and all within the four borders do not fail to have something to ask of the king,' and concludes that 'the king's blindness is indeed great.' The King of Qi receives the counsel, and the state's might is felt afar.
邹忌身高八尺多，而且容貌光艳美丽。一天早晨，他穿戴好衣帽，照着镜子，对他的妻子说：「我和城北徐公相比，谁更美？」他的妻子说：「您美极了，徐公怎么能比得上您呢！」城北徐公，是齐国有名的美男子。邹忌不相信自己比徐公美，就又去问他的妾说：「我和徐公相比，谁更美？」
Appreciation
The most striking feature of the art is the 'great through the small and the comparison set on comparison' of the indirect admonition. The whole is in two parts: the first narrates, writing the 'three questions and three answers' of the comparison of the beauty—asking the wife, the concubine, and the guest, all saying Lord Xu is not his equal; and when he sees Lord Xu, sighing that he is not his equal, and reflecting in the night, understanding the source of the 'the wife dotes, the concubine fears, the guest asks.' The second argues, inferring from the family to the state, with the three comparisons of 'the women of the palace do not fail to dote on the king, the ministers of the court do not fail to fear the king, and all within the four borders do not fail to have something to ask of the king,' drawing the conclusion of 'the king's blindness is indeed great,' then writing the king's reception of the counsel and the might of the state felt afar. In structure the first and the last answer each other, advancing layer on layer: the three questions and the three answers of the family and the three comparisons of the state, the same structure and the same principle, the small matter inferring the great, the argument of the indirect admonition without a trace of the preaching.
【白话串讲】 刘向写《邹忌讽齐王纳谏》：邹忌问妻妾客：我和城北徐公谁美？都说他美。他见了徐公才发现自己远不如。他悟出：“吾妻之美我者，私我也；妾之美我者，畏我也；客之美我者，欲有求于我也”——他劝齐王广开言路，“燕赵韩魏闻之，皆朝于齐”。 【意象与手法】 全文以「三叠」结构著称：三问、三答层层推进，由家事而国事，以小喻大；先叙后议，叙事绘声绘色，议论水到渠成，类比推理严密，语言简洁生动 【情感与主旨】 本文通过邹忌以切身「比美」之事设喻讽谏，说明人常因「私、畏、求」而受蒙蔽，君主尤甚；唯有广开言路、虚心纳谏，方能明察秋毫、战胜于朝廷，寄寓了战国策士「讽谏」的政治智慧与「兼听则明」的朴素真理 【名句点睛】 「我孰与城北徐公美」「君美甚，徐公何能及君也」的问答为全文论理起点；「吾妻之美我者，私我也；妾之美我者，畏我也；客之美我者，欲有求于我也」为讽谏枢纽，「门庭若市」等成语亦出于本篇
Background
The piece is from the 'Strategies of Qi I' of the Strategies of the Warring States, a famous chapter of the national-historical book compiled by Liu Xiang of the Western Han. Liu Xiang (c. 77–6 BC), originally named Gengsheng, courtesy name Zizheng, a native of Pei (present-day Pei County, Jiangsu), a classicist and bibliographer of the Western Han, collated the imperial books and reduced the Strategies of the Warring States to thirty-three chapters, recording the words and deeds of the strategists and the persuaders of the Warring States. The story is set in the mid-Warring States, in the reign of King Wei of Qi (356–320 BC). King Wei was the restorer of Qi, at his accession 'fond of the lascivious pleasure of the long night's drinking,' then, heeding Chunyu Kun's admonition, he roused himself with a will, 'startling the world with a single cry,' rectifying the officials and rewarding and punishing clearly, and Qi was greatly governed. Zou Ji was the prime minister of the reign of King Wei, famed for the 'indirect admonition,' the history recording that he was 'over eight chi tall' and 'played the zither to see King Wei,' receiving the seal of the prime minister in three months. In the Warring States, the feudal lords contended, and the strategists moved the feudal lords with their tongues; the 'indirect admonition' of Zou Ji, the small matter inferring the great, is one of the finest of the persuaders' arts.
《邹忌讽齐王纳谏》选自《战国策·齐策一》，是西汉刘向整理编订的国别体史书《战国策》中的名篇。刘向（约前77—前6），本名更生，字子政，沛（今江苏沛县）人，西汉经学家、目录学家，曾领校秘书，删定《战国策》为三十三篇，其书主要记载战国时期谋臣策士游说诸侯、纵横捭阖的言论事迹。本篇故事发生于战国中期齐威王在位时（前356—前320）。齐威王是齐国中兴之主，即位之初「好为淫乐长夜之饮」，后听从淳于髡之谏励精图治，「一鸣惊人」，整顿吏治、赏罚分明，齐国大治。邹忌是齐威王时期的相国，以「讽谏」著称，史载其「修八尺有余」而「鼓琴见威王」，三月而受相印。战国之世，诸侯争霸，谋臣策士以口舌之辩游说君王，讽谏之术盛行；邹忌不直斥君过，而以身边小事设喻，正是策士「揣摩人主、因势利导」的典型。此篇所记虽未必全为信史，却是战国策士精神与齐威王纳谏风范的艺术结晶。
Art
The art is the 'great through the small and the comparison set on comparison': the three questions and the three answers of the comparison of the beauty in the family, and the three comparisons of the state, the same structure and the same principle, the small matter inferring the great. The structure answers layer on layer: the wife's doting, the concubine's fear, and the guest's asking, and the court's doting, the fear, and the asking, the blindness of Zou Ji by the three and the blindness of the king by the three, the indirect admonition without a trace of the preaching. The language is plain and the dialogue vivid, the 'three questions and three answers' in the same pattern advancing, the characters of the wife, the concubine, and the guest in a few words.
本文是《战国策》记言文的典范，艺术上最突出的特点是「以小喻大、层层设喻」的讽谏结构。全文分两大部分：前段叙事，写邹忌「三问三答」的比美经过——问妻、问妾、问客，皆言徐公不如己；及见徐公，自叹不如，暮寝而思，悟出「妻私、妾畏、客求」的根源。后段议论，由家事推及国事，以「宫妇左右莫不私王、朝廷之臣莫不畏王、四境之内莫不有求于王」三比，得出「王之蔽甚矣」的结论，再写齐王纳谏、国威远振的结局。结构上前后呼应、层层递进：三问三答写「蔽」之形成，三思写「蔽」之破解，三比写「蔽」之推及，类比推理贯穿始终，逻辑严密而水到渠成。语言上，问答之辞简洁传神，妻之「君美甚」亲昵，妾之「徐公何能及君也」畏惧，客之「徐公不若君之美也」敷衍，三答微殊，各肖其人；议论之辞骈散结合，气势充沛。全文不足四百字，而叙事、说理、写人俱臻化境。问答之笔尤为精绝，妻、妾、客三答声口各异，数语之间，三人情态与关系毕现，正是史传文学「以言传神」的绝技。
Allusions
The art of the indirect admonition is deeply rooted in the political culture of the Warring States. First, the 'indirect admonition' (fengjian) differs from the 'direct admonition' (zhijian): it does not rebuke the fault of the sovereign directly but admonishes in a subtle and clever way, originating in the admonitory tradition of the 'Airs' of the Book of Songs and Confucius's teaching of the 'gentle and sincere' poetry; Zou Ji's setting the comparison with the beauty and advancing from the small to the great is the classic practice of the indirect admonition, and the later Wei Zheng's direct admonition and Dongfang Shuo's humorous admonition may be read with it. Second, the 'King of Qi receiving the counsel' is recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian; the King of Qi, having heard the admonition, 'issued a command: those who can point out my fault before my face will receive the top reward,' and the admonishers crowded the court 'the court as crowded as a market,' and the neighboring states came to court, the 'victory over the court' of the close.
本文的讽谏艺术深植于战国政治文化传统。其一，「讽谏」不同于「直谏」，讲究「主文而谲谏」，即不直斥君过，而以委婉巧妙的方式讽喻，这源于《诗经》「风」的讽谕传统与孔子「温柔敦厚」的诗教；邹忌以比美设喻、由小及大，正是讽谏之道的经典实践，后世魏征之直谏、东方朔之谐谏，皆可与此参看。其二，「齐威王纳谏」本事见《史记·田敬仲完世家》，威王「一鸣惊人」后悬赏求谏，史载「诸侯闻之，皆朝于齐」，本文「燕、赵、韩、魏闻之，皆朝于齐」正合史实，可见「纳谏则国昌」是战国史家反复书写的历史经验。其三，「门庭若市」一典自此篇凝固为成语，喻进谏者或来者众多，其背后是「兼听则明，偏信则暗」的古老政治智慧，可上溯《尚书》「稽于众，舍己从人」的圣王之道。其四，「窥镜」细节尤有深意：镜是中国文化中「自省」的象征，邹忌「窥镜」而照见自我，正是《论语》「见贤思齐」、曾子「三省吾身」的自省传统的形象化。
Commentary
'Zou Ji Admonishes the King of Qi to Receive Counsel' has always been held as the model of the literature of the indirect admonition, its influence stretching over two thousand years. In thought, it expounds the great principle of the 'listening to both sides brings enlightenment' with a small matter of the daily life, and has become the textbook of the sovereign's receiving of the counsel and the minister's offering of the counsel of later ages: from Emperor Wen of Han's abolishing the punishment for the criticism, Tang Taizong's receiving of Wei Zheng, to Ming Taizu's 'opening wide the road of the speech,' the spiritual vein is one; and 'the court as crowded as a market' and 'the victory over the court' have become the common phrases of the political clarity.
《邹忌讽齐王纳谏》历来被奉为讽谏文学的典范，其影响绵延两千余年。思想上，它以一则生活小事阐发「兼听则明」的治国大义，成为后世君主纳谏、臣子进谏的教科书：从汉文帝之除诽谤、唐太宗之纳魏征，到明太祖之「广开言路」，其精神血脉一脉相承；「门庭若市」「战胜于朝廷」更成为政治清明的代名词。艺术上，它确立了「以小喻大、由近及远」的讽谏范式，为后世谏诤之文（如诸葛亮《出师表》、韩愈《讳辩》）提供了借鉴；其「三叠」结构与问答写人手法，亦为后世散文与小说叙事所取法。文体上，此篇体现了《战国策》「辩丽横肆」的文风与高度成熟的说理艺术，是先秦历史散文由记言向寓言化、文学化演进的代表。今日读之，邹忌「暮寝而思之」的自省精神与齐王「乃下令」的从谏如流，依然具有超越时代的镜鉴意义。其文以「三叠」之法层层推进，由一身之蔽推及一国之蔽，逻辑之严密、设喻之巧妙，为后世论说文树立了典范。
Prosody
Line by line
邹忌修八尺有余，而形貌昳丽。朝服衣冠，窥镜，谓其妻曰：我孰与城北徐公美？
Zou Ji was over eight chi tall, and his form and countenance were handsome and bright. In the morning he put on his robes and cap, looked in the mirror, and said to his wife: 'Who is more handsome, I or Lord Xu of the north of the city?' (The opening: the handsome and bright form, the morning mirror, and the first of the three questions, the small matter of the comparison of the beauty.)
邹忌身高八尺多，而且容貌光艳美丽。一天早晨，他穿戴好衣帽，照着镜子，对他的妻子说：「我和城北徐公相比，谁更美？」
Zou Ji was more than eight chi tall and splendid in appearance. One morning, having put on his court robe and cap, he peered into the mirror and asked his wife: 'Who is the handsomer, I or Xu Gong of the north gate?'
开篇三句写人、写事，笔法极为精炼。「修八尺有余，而形貌昳丽」先写邹忌自身之美——战国时一尺约合今二十三厘米，八尺即近一米九，「形貌昳丽」四字写其光艳照人，为后文「比美」提供前提：邹忌本已是美男子，却仍要与徐公比美，这份「不自信」正是全篇讽谏的起点。「朝服衣冠，窥镜」连用三个动作，写出晨起打扮、对镜自照的日常，「窥」字尤其传神，写出自赏中略带比较之心的情态；「谓其妻曰：我孰与城北徐公美」以第一人称问句直入，「孰与」句式既见其认真，又见其自得。此句以「美」起、以「美」问，为妻、妾、客的三重回答及此后的「三思」层层蓄势，一个爱美、自信又清醒的士人形象跃然纸上。
The opening three lines write person and event, the brush most concise. 'Over eight chi tall, and handsome of mien' first Zou Ji's own beauty - a Warring States chi about twenty-three centimeters, eight chi near a meter ninety, 'handsome of mien' four words writing his radiant looks, priming the later 'beauty contest': Zou Ji already a handsome man, yet still comparing with Xu Gong, this 'wanting of assurance' precisely the start of the whole's remonstrance. 'Dressed and capped himself, peered into the mirror' three actions in a row, writing the morning dressing and the self-glance, the word 'peered' especially telling, writing the admiring self-regard edged with comparison; 'said to his wife: Who is handsomer, I or Xu Gong of the north of the city?' a first-person question straight in, the 'who is' construction showing both his earnestness and his complacency. The line opens with 'beauty' and asks of 'beauty,' charging the three answers of wife, concubine, guest and the later 'three thoughts' layer on layer, a lover of beauty confident yet clear-sighted scholar before the eyes.
忌不自信，而复问其妾曰：吾孰与徐公美？
Zou Ji did not trust himself, and again asked his concubine: 'Who is more handsome, I or Lord Xu?' (The second of the three questions: the 'not trusting himself' the beginning of the reflection, the asking of the concubine, the comparison of the beauty advancing.)
邹忌不相信自己比徐公美，就又去问他的妾说：「我和徐公相比，谁更美？」
Zou Ji, not quite believing he was less handsome than Xu Gong, asked his concubine: 'Who is the handsomer, I or Xu Gong?'
此句是情节推进的转折点，一个「不自信」道出邹忌的清醒，是全篇「讽谏」得以成立的逻辑根基。「不自信」三字承接妻「君美甚」的夸赞而来：面对妻子的溢美，邹忌并未飘飘然，而是心生怀疑，这一细节写尽智者本色——唯其能怀疑，方能在众口一词的奉承中保持理性，也才能由此悟出「蔽」之所在。「而复问其妾」的「复」字写追问之执着，由妻及妾、由亲及疏，同一问题连问两人，既见其认真求实，又自然带出第三问（问客），构成「三问三答」的完整格局。「吾孰与徐公美」与首问「我孰与城北徐公美」句式略变而问意相同，重复中有递进：首问尚含自得，此问已带疑虑。此句为后文「徐公来，孰视之」的验证与「暮寝而思之」的彻悟埋下伏笔。
This line is the turning point of the plot, the three words 'not trusting himself' telling Zou Ji's clear-sightedness, the logical ground on which the whole's 'remonstrance' stands. 'Not trusting himself' takes up the wife's 'you are surpassingly handsome' praise: before the wife's over-praise, Zou Ji does not float, but doubts, this detail writing the wise man's quality - only one who can doubt can keep reason amid the chorus of flattery, and so grasp where the 'obscuring' lies. The word 'again' in 'again asked his concubine' writing the persistence of the follow-up, from wife to concubine, from close to distant, the same question twice, showing both his earnest seeking and naturally bringing out the third question (the guest), forming the complete pattern of 'three questions, three answers.' 'Who is handsomer, I or Xu Gong' the sentence slightly changed from the first 'who is handsomer, I or Xu Gong of the north of the city,' the same question in repetition with advance: the first still holding complacency, this already edged with doubt. The line primes the later verification when 'Xu Gong came, he eyed him closely' and the awakening when 'at night, lying down, he thought it over.'
其妻曰：君美甚，徐公何能及君也！
His wife said: 'You are far more handsome; how can Lord Xu compare with you!' (The first of the three answers: the wife's doting, 'you are far more handsome' with the tone of the praise, the source of the flattery in the doting.)
他的妻子说：「您美极了，徐公怎么能比得上您呢！」
His wife said: 'You are far the handsomer! How could Xu Gong ever equal you?'
这是「三问三答」中的第一次回答，写妻子的夸赞，寥寥数语而情态毕现。「君美甚」以「甚」字极言其美，脱口而出，不假思索，可见妻子对丈夫的爱意与偏爱；「徐公何能及君也」以反诘句式加强语气，言下之意是「徐公根本不能与您相比」，夸赞之中满是亲昵与回护。此答之妙在于「声口传神」：妻子爱夫情深，故言词热烈直率，全无掩饰，与后文妾之答语的恭顺、客之答语的客气形成微妙差别——同是一句夸赞，三人说出的语气与心态各不相同，这正是《战国策》「以言写人」的绝技。而邹忌面对这热情的夸赞并未飘飘然，反以「不自信」存疑，继而问妾，为后文「暮寝而思之」的彻悟与讽谏埋下伏笔；妻之一答，既是情节的起点，也是全篇「私、畏、求」人性洞察的引线。
This is the first answer of the 'three questions, three answers,' writing the wife's praise, a few words yet the mien fully shown. 'You are surpassingly handsome' the word 'surpassingly' pushing the beauty to the utmost, spoken on the spur of the moment, unthinking, showing the wife's love and partiality; 'how could Xu Gong compare with you!' the rhetorical question strengthening the tone, the under-meaning 'Xu Gong simply cannot compare with you,' the praise full of fondness and defense. The answer's genius in 'the voice telling': the wife loving her husband deeply, hence the words warm and direct, without concealment, subtly different from the concubine's respectful answer and the guest's polite answer - the same word of praise, three voices and three minds, precisely the Zhan Guo Ce's unmatched art of 'drawing the man through speech.' And Zou Ji before this warm praise does not float, but doubts with 'not trusting himself,' then asks the concubine, priming the later awakening and remonstrance; the wife's one answer, both the plot's start and the lead of the whole's insight into the human nature of 'private fear, awe, and seeking.'
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
'Bian Que Sees Duke Huan of Cai' and 'Zou Ji Admonishes the King of Qi to Receive Counsel' are both Warring States pieces of the indirect persuasion, yet the one is the admonition and the other the remonstrance: Duke Huan of Cai, not believing the physician's warning of the illness, 'the illness in the skin, the treatment with the heat; the illness in the marrow, the fate is with the physician,' refuses the counsel and dies—the negative example of the refused counsel; the King of Qi, hearing the indirect admonition of Zou Ji, receives the counsel, 'the court as crowded as a market,' and the might of the state is felt afar—the positive example of the received counsel. One the death of the refused, one the victory of the received, the positive and the negative in contrast, the two Warring States fables of the counsel.
《扁鹊见蔡桓公》（《韩非子·喻老》）写扁鹊屡次指出蔡桓公有疾而桓公讳疾忌医，终至病入膏肓、不治身亡；《邹忌讽齐王纳谏》写邹忌以比美小事讽谏，齐威王欣然纳谏、国威大振。二文同为战国说理文的寓言杰作，而结局相反：桓公拒谏则身死国危，威王纳谏则战胜于朝廷，恰成「纳谏者昌、拒谏者亡」的正反双璧。艺术上，扁鹊篇以时间的推移（疾在腠理、肌肤、肠胃、骨髓）层层加重危机，邹忌篇以空间的推及（家事到国事）层层扩大道理，一纵一横，皆以「以小见大」取胜；两篇合观，正是「兼听则明，偏信则暗」这一古老政治智慧的文学双证。
出师表 The Memorial on Going to War (Chu Shi Biao) 诸葛亮 · 同为臣子进谏君主的名文，一讽一恳，方法各异 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
诸葛亮《出师表》作于北伐前夕，「亲贤臣，远小人，此先汉所以兴隆也；亲小人，远贤臣，此后汉所以倾颓也」，直陈利害、情辞恳切，是「直谏」的典范；《邹忌讽齐王纳谏》以比美设喻、由近及远，是「讽谏」的典范。二文同为臣子对君主的进言，而方式迥异：邹忌以小喻大，委婉巧妙，重在「启」；诸葛亮披肝沥胆，直指要害，重在「戒」。就风格而言，邹文机智圆融，有策士之风；表文忠诚恳挚，有儒臣之范。合观可见中国谏诤文学的两种传统：讽谏与直谏，而二者皆以「致君尧舜」为归；邹忌「战胜于朝廷」与诸葛亮「北定中原」的抱负，亦见战国策士与蜀汉儒臣不同的时代气象。
劝学 Encouraging Learning 荀子 · 同为战国说理文，同擅取譬设喻、层层递进 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
荀子《劝学》「青，取之于蓝，而青于蓝」「不积跬步，无以至千里」「锲而不舍，金石可镂」，以一连串比喻论证「学不可以已」；《邹忌讽齐王纳谏》以「比美」一事设喻，由家事推及国事。二文同属战国议论散文，同以「取譬设喻」为核心手法，而体制有别：《劝学》是纯议论，比喻层见叠出、铺排而下，重在论证的周密；邹忌篇是叙事说理，比喻融于情节，重在讽谏的机巧。《劝学》喻之以物（青、冰、木、金），邹忌喻之以事（比美），一抽象一具体，一显豁一含蓄；合观可见战国说理散文「以喻明理」传统的两个方向，亦可体会荀子之浑厚与《战国策》之峻利的风格差异。