朝天子·咏喇叭
To the Tune of Chao Tian Zi: Ode to the Trumpet
Original
喇叭，唢呐，曲儿小腔儿大。
官船来往乱如麻，全仗你抬声价。
军听了军愁，民听了民怕。
哪里去辨甚么真共假？
眼见的吹翻了这家，吹伤了那家，只吹的水尽鹅飞罢！
Translation
Trumpet, suona, the tune is short but the tone is loud.
Official boats come and go like tangled hemp, all relying on you to boost their prestige.
Soldiers hear you and sigh, common folks hear you and fear.
Where can one tell what's true and what's fake?
Watching you blow one family to ruin, another to harm, till all is dried up and geese fly away!
Line by Line Analysis
About This Poem
This satirical sanqu poem uses the trumpet, a common instrument wielded by corrupt Ming officials to assert authority, as a metaphor for oppressive official power. Set against the mid-Ming backdrop where eunuchs and local officials abused their tax-collecting privileges to extort civilians, the poem vividly captures the chaos and fear inflicted on society. The trumpet’s loud, overbearing tone symbolizes the inflated prestige of officials who use it to intimidate both soldiers and common people. Through plain, vivid language, the poet exposes the tyranny of officialdom, voices the public’s helplessness, and predicts the inevitable collapse of such corrupt power structures.
About the Poet
王磐
Wáng Pán
Wang Pan (c. 1470–1530) was a prominent sanqu poet of the mid-Ming Dynasty. Rejecting the imperial examination system, he opted for a reclusive life in his hometown, devoting himself to literary creation. Renowned for his incisive satirical works, he used vivid imagery to expose social ills and official corruption. His pieces are marked by sharp wit, plain colloquial language, and a strong sense of social responsibility, making him a distinctive voice in Ming Dynasty literary circles.
Cultural & Historical Context
During the mid-Ming Dynasty (15th to 16th centuries), eunuchs and local officials were granted excessive power to oversee tax collection and local governance, often abusing their authority to oppress civilians—this forms the historical backdrop of the poem. Culturally, sanqu, the poetic genre here, was a folk-influenced form popular in the Ming, valued for its colloquial flexibility, which made it perfect for satirical social commentary. Socially, corruption ran rampant: officials extorted resources from ordinary people, leaving soldiers and civilians alike in fear and poverty. Wang Pan’s personal experience shaped this work: he rejected the imperial examination system, choosing a reclusive life that let him observe the public’s sufferings firsthand and stay away from corrupt official circles. His creative purpose was to expose official tyranny and give voice to the oppressed. Artistically, the poem uses the trumpet as a vivid metaphor for corrupt officials, employing plain, sharp language and a colloquial tone fitting the sanqu genre to deliver incisive satire, making social ills tangible and resonating deeply with readers.