Canonical Classics ← 第十一回
第十一回
遊yóu地dì府fǔ太tài宗zōng還huán魂hún
進jìn瓜guā果guǒ劉liú全quán續xù配pèi

Touring the Underworld, Taizong Returns to Life · Presenting Melons and Fruit, Liu Quan Renews the Marriage Bond

帝王儀容
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script 繁
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

帝王儀容 The Emperor Arrayed

戴dài一yì頂dǐng沖chōng天tiān冠guān,穿chuān一yì領lǐng赭zhě黃huáng袍páo。戴dài一yì顶dǐng冲chōng天tiān冠guān,穿chuān一yì领lǐng赭zhě黄huáng袍páo。
繫xì一yì條tiáo藍lán田tián碧bì玉yù帶dài,踏tà一yí對duì創chuàng業yè無wú憂yōu履lǚ。系xì一yì条tiáo蓝lán田tián碧bì玉yù带dài,踏tà一yí对duì创chuàng业yè无wú忧yōu履lǚ。
貌mào堂táng堂táng,賽sài過guò當dāng朝cháo;貌mào堂táng堂táng,赛sài过guò当dāng朝cháo;
威wēi烈liè烈liè,重chóng興xīng今jīn日rì。威wēi烈liè烈liè,重chóng兴xīng今jīn日rì。
好hǎo一yí個gè清qīng平píng有yǒu道dào的de大dà唐táng王wáng,起qǐ死sǐ回huí生shēng的de李lǐ陛bì下xià。好hǎo一yí个gè清qīng平píng有yǒu道dào的de大dà唐táng王wáng,起qǐ死sǐ回huí生shēng的de李lǐ陛bì下xià。

逐句解 Line by line

戴dài一yì頂dǐng沖chōng天tiān冠guān,穿chuān一yì領lǐng赭zhě黃huáng袍páo。 戴dài一yì顶dǐng冲chōng天tiān冠guān,穿chuān一yì领lǐng赭zhě黄huáng袍páo。

He wore a sky-piercing crown and donned a robe of ochre-yellow.

The 沖天冠, the "sky-piercing" cap, was the sovereign's; 冠 here is the noun, guān. The 赭黃袍, ochre-yellow robe, was reserved to the emperor by law — wearing that particular colour was a capital offence for anyone else.

繫xì一yì條tiáo藍lán田tián碧bì玉yù帶dài,踏tà一yí對duì創chuàng業yè無wú憂yōu履lǚ。 系xì一yì条tiáo蓝lán田tián碧bì玉yù带dài,踏tà一yí对duì创chuàng业yè无wú忧yōu履lǚ。

He fastened a belt of Lantian green jade and trod in a pair of 'founding, care-free' boots.

藍田碧玉 is the celebrated green jade of Lantian in Shaanxi, the finest in China. And then the boots: 創業無憂履, "founding-the-enterprise, free-of-care" boots. Chinese court dress ran to auspicious names, and these ones are effectively a slogan worn on the feet. 繫 is xì, to fasten.

貌mào堂táng堂táng,賽sài過guò當dāng朝cháo; 貌mào堂táng堂táng,赛sài过guò当dāng朝cháo;

His countenance imposing, surpassing the courts of the age;

賽過當朝 is to outshine the present age; 朝 is cháo.

威wēi烈liè烈liè,重chóng興xīng今jīn日rì。 威wēi烈liè烈liè,重chóng兴xīng今jīn日rì。

his majesty blazing, flourishing anew this very day.

重興, chóng xīng, is to flourish again — 重 as chóng, "once more," not zhòng, "heavy," and 興 as xīng, to rise. Both words are doing double duty: the reign flourishes again, and so does the man.

好hǎo一yí個gè清qīng平píng有yǒu道dào的de大dà唐táng王wáng,起qǐ死sǐ回huí生shēng的de李lǐ陛bì下xià。 好hǎo一yí个gè清qīng平píng有yǒu道dào的de大dà唐táng王wáng,起qǐ死sǐ回huí生shēng的de李lǐ陛bì下xià。

What a Tang king, ruling in peace and virtue! What a Lord Li, risen from death to life!

清平有道, "peaceful and possessed of the Way," is the formula for a good reign. And 起死回生 — "raise the dead, return to life" — is still the everyday Chinese superlative for a doctor or a rescue: to bring someone back from the brink. Here, for once, it is meant literally.


總評 Commentary

The regalia rhapsody re-crowns the emperor, working down from cap to robe to jade belt to auspiciously named boots in order to reassert an authority that spent the last three days being led about hell by a clerk.

Its closing couplet makes the restoration explicit: risen from death to life. The clothes are not decoration here; they are the evidence that the underworld has let him go, and let him go whole.