ChineseStudy

287. The Sui Palaces | Li Shangyin

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English translation

Setting out south on a whim, he took no precautions; in the nine-fold palace, who reviewed the sealed memorials of remonstrance?

Setting out on a whim shows Emperor Yang of Sui indulging his will and touring without restraint; taking no precautions means he kept no guard against danger, hinting at his recklessness. The nine-fold palace is the emperor's deep palace; to review is to read and heed; the sealed memorials of remonstrance are the petitions of officials urging caution. The couplet asks and condemns at once: a ruler so casual in travel and so deaf to advice—there the seeds of ruin already show.

In the spring wind the whole realm cuts palace brocade, half for saddle flaps, half for sails.

The whole realm shows how wide the levies reached and how vast the waste, not literally every household but the sheer scale of it. Cutting palace brocade means slicing up the finest court fabric for practical uses. A saddle flap is the pad hung at the horse's flanks to keep off mud; a sail is a boat's sail. Half for mudflaps, half for sails—one for travel north, one for the southern tour—all of it the pomp of Emperor Yang's progresses.

赏析 · Commentary

不戒严与不听谏 · No Guard, No Counsel

前两句抓的是任性与闭目塞听：出游不加戒备，谏书无人过问。这两点看似不同，其实是一事——皇帝的意志压过了规矩与忠言。诗人连用反问，语气冷峻，先给隋炀帝的南游定了性。

The opening couplet seizes on willfulness and closed ears: travel without guards, memorials without a reader. The two look different but are one thing—the emperor's will overriding rules and honest counsel. With two questions in a row the poet sets a cold tone and fixes the character of Emperor Yang's southern tour from the start.

用一匹锦写尽奢靡 · Extravagance Told Through a Bolt of Brocade

后两句不列车队、不数船只，只说全国裁锦，一半做障泥、一半做帆。锦本是宫廷的贵物，如今大批裁作挡泥和船帆，奢侈细到这种程度，反倒显出荒谬。诗不喊“劳民伤财”，只让“半作障泥半作帆”自己说话。

The closing couplet does not list carriages or count boats; it says only that the realm cuts brocade, half for mudflaps and half for sails. Brocade is a precious stuff of the court, and to cut it in bulk for mudflaps and sails is luxury carried to such a degree that it turns absurd. The poem does not cry out about wasting lives and wealth; it lets half for mudflaps, half for sails speak for itself.

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