Book of Songs
硕人
佚名
Qí hóu zhī zǐ, Wèi hóu zhī qī.
Shǒu rú róu tí, fū rú níng zhī.
Qín shǒu é méi, qiǎo xiào qiàn xī, měi mù pàn xī.
Sì mǔ yǒu jiāo, zhū fén biāo biāo.
Hé shuǐ yáng yáng, běi liú huó huó.
Jiā tǎn jiē jiē, shù Jiāng niè niè, shù shì yǒu qiè.
Translation
The noble lady is tall and graceful, wearing brocade beneath a fine outer robe. She is the daughter of the Marquis of Qi, the wife of the Marquis of Wey; sister of the heir apparent, kin to the lady of Xing, and related by marriage to the Duke of Tan. Her hands are like tender white shoots; her skin is like congealed cream. Her neck is like the white larva of the longhorn beetle; her teeth are like gourd seeds. Her brow is broad as a cicada’s head, her brows like moth antennae. Her lovely smile is charming; her beautiful eyes move with light. The noble lady moves with stately ease, her carriage halted in the outskirts. Four stallions stand proud; the red ornaments on the bridles shine. With pheasant-feather screens she comes to court. Let the officers withdraw early, and do not weary the lord. The Yellow River spreads wide and full, flowing north with rushing sound. The great nets splash; sturgeon and tuna leap alive. Reeds and rushes rise tall; the Jiang women are numerous and splendid, and the accompanying gentlemen are strong and noble.
Analysis
“Shuo Ren” is one of the most famous poems in the Book of Songs on feminine beauty and aristocratic marriage. Traditionally, it is associated with Lady Zhuang Jiang of Wey. Yet the poem is not merely a portrait of physical beauty. It unfolds an entire noble world: lineage, marriage alliances, ceremonial dress, carriage, horses, attendants, river, and landscape. The first stanza establishes status. The woman is linked to Qi, Wey, Xing, and Tan through birth and marriage. She is not an isolated beauty, but a figure at the center of aristocratic relations. The second stanza then turns to the body, producing one of the most influential beauty descriptions in Chinese literature. Hands, skin, neck, teeth, forehead, brows, smile, and eyes are rendered through concrete natural images. The famous lines about her smile and glancing eyes move from still beauty to living charm. The final stanzas widen the scene. The carriage, horses, courtly movement, the broad river, fish, reeds, and attendants all magnify the atmosphere of her arrival. The poem’s achievement lies in joining personal beauty to social grandeur. The lady’s radiance comes not only from appearance, but also from bearing, ritual setting, noble identity, and the ceremonial world around her.
About the Author
“Shuo Ren” is an anonymous poem from the Airs of Wey. Traditional interpretation associates it with Lady Zhuang Jiang, wife of the Marquis of Wey and a woman of noble Qi lineage. The Wey poems preserve both popular songs and glimpses of aristocratic life. “Shuo Ren” is especially important for its refined portrayal of beauty and its ceremonial setting, which influenced later Chinese literary descriptions of feminine grace.