Life

Yu Xin was born and raised in Jiangling, which was once the capital of Chu. His family was wealthy and aristocratic, and Yu became an important official of the Liang dynasty. As such, he served as the lover and patron of aspiring statesman Wang Shao.

In 554, Yu Xin was sent as an ambassador to the Western Wei in Chang'an, a mission that did not meet with success. On the way to his mission, he visited Wang Shao, now an official censor, who rejected further advances. After the fall of the Liang dynasty in 557, three of his children that remained in the Liang capital were executed. Yu was held in Chang'an for the rest of his life.

Works

Along with the poet and official Xu Ling and the fathers of both men, Yu is known for the Xu-Yu Style (徐庾体), which was known as "fancy and alluring". Perhaps his most famous poem is The Lament for the South (哀江南賦), which James Hightower has described as the highest development of the fu form of poetry. A translation of this poem can be found in:

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生平

八世祖庾滔隨晉室南渡，官至散騎常侍，家于江陵。伯父庾於陵，梁太子洗馬，為昭明太子掌文翰。祖父庾易，累闢官不就。父庾肩吾，梁太子中庶子、度支尚書，贈散騎常侍、中書令。

庾信少有文學，十五歲時任昭明太子侍讀，十九歲時與徐陵被選為第二任皇太子蕭綱文德省學士，隨父及徐摛、徐陵父子出入禁宮，為文綺艷，稱「徐庾體」。

侯景之亂爆發，庾信時為建康令，率兵防守朱雀航，因賊人皆掛鐵製面具，竟率眾出奔。其後梁元帝偏安江陵，信亦奔隨而效力朝廷，奉命出使西魏。值西魏南侵，庾信滯留長安不得歸；江陵既陷，仕於西魏，後亦仕於北周，曾授官洛州刺史。

北周皇帝雅好文學，庾信特蒙恩禮，與諸王亦多所周旋款洽。陳朝與北周通好後，南北流寓之士許還舊國，王克、殷不害等得以還鄉，北周皇帝卻愛惜庾信而不遣。唯有庾信與王褒不得南回。

庾信雖然位望通顯，常有鄉關之思，乃作《哀江南賦》以致其意。北周天和四年，北周武帝作北周象戲並與大臣共同編寫《象經》，由王褒作《象戲經序》、庾信作《進象經賦表》、《象戲賦》。

遷北後的庾信與滕王宇文逌（逌音悠）友善，並由宇文逌在579年（大象元年）編訂了第一本庾信集。

駢文風格

庾信前期仕梁，文章以綺艷為宗，音韻諧美，為齊梁之極則。後期滯留北方，常有鄉關之思，多亡國之痛，身世之感，發為蒼涼悲壯，沉鬱頓挫之音。

庾信駢文於駢體中寓散行氣格，遣事用典，多採貼自然，明麗中見蒼渾，綺縟中有流轉。內容華實相扶，情文兼至，既有文採，亦見風骨，結合南方文學的華美，和北方文學的剛健。

評價

庾信的駢文、駢賦，可與鮑照並舉，代表了南北朝駢文、駢賦的最高成就；庾的辭賦與徐陵一起被稱為「徐庾體」，代表作有《哀江南賦》、《枯樹賦》等。

庾的詩歌，則初步融合了南北詩風，對唐詩有重要影響。有《庾子山集》傳世。

史評其寫作風格「綺艷」，杜甫又稱其「清新」、「老成」。此六字者，詩家難兼，子山備之。張溥《庾開府集》題辭稱：「後羈長安，臣于宇文，陳帝通好請還，終留不遣。雖周宗好士，滕、趙賞音，築宮虛館，交齊布素。而南冠、西河，旅人發嘆，鄉關之思，僅寄于江南一賦，其視徐孝穆之得返舊都，奚啻李都尉之望蘇屬國哉。」

杜甫《戲為六絕句》六首之一：「庾信文章老更成，凌雲健筆意縱橫。」成語「凌雲健筆」一詞由此而來。《詠懷古跡》第一：「庾信平生最蕭瑟，暮年詩賦動江關。」

李商隱有詩：「可憐庾信尋荒徑，猶得三朝托後車。」

隋人王通說：「徐陵、庾信古之誇人也，其文誕。」金人王若虛則批評:「嘗讀庾氏諸賦，類不足觀，而愁賦尤狂易可怪。然子美推稱如此，且譏誚嗤點者。予恐少陵之語未公，而嗤點者未為過也。」

清人全祖望認為庾信身仕西魏、北周，又借「天醉」為自己的失節開脫，全然無恥。

注釋

參考書目

• 《周書·王褒庾信傳論》

• 《北史·庾信傳》

• 北周滕王宇文逌《庾信集序》

• 清水凱夫著，韓國基譯：《六朝文學論文集》（重慶：重慶出版社，1989）。

• 田曉菲：〈庾信的「記憶宮殿」：中古宮廷詩歌中的創傷與暴力 〉。

• 矢嶋美都子：〈關于庾信「遊仙詩」中所表現的「藤」 〉。