原文

烈妇莫氏，新会人，美而寡，守志不嫁。甲午，新会被围，妇家人登陴拒守，兵窥其室无人，抽刃胁之，妇以首触墙，血流被体。兵杀之，投其首于粪盎中。事平，其姊夫往而收瘗，首重不可举。叹曰："阿姨礼义人也，生与我未尝相见。"走告妇兄，兄举之，应手而起。予吊曰："螓首邱山重，蛾眉日月光。帘帷生不卷，巾帨死犹防。"又曰："一丝孀妇命，九鼎美人头。"

白话

中文

烈妇莫氏，是新会（今广东江门市新会区）人，容貌美丽但年纪轻轻就守寡了，她坚守志节不再嫁人。甲午年（清顺治十一年，1654年），新会县城被围困，莫氏家里的男丁都登上城墙参与抵抗防守。有士兵窥探她家中无人（指没有男性保护），便拔出刀来威胁她。莫氏用头撞墙（意图自尽），顿时血流满身。士兵（未能得逞后）杀了她，并将她的头颅扔进粪桶里。战事平息后，她的姐夫前去收殓安葬她的遗体，却发现她的头颅异常沉重，无法举起。姐夫感叹道：“姨子是一位知礼守义的人啊，可惜在她生前我从未与她见过面。”他跑去告诉莫氏的兄长，莫氏的兄长去举那头颅，刚一伸手就轻松地拿起来了。我（屈大均）作诗凭吊她道：“她那蝉鬓般的额头（代指头颅）重如山丘，她那蛾眉般的美貌（代指品德）光照日月。生前她从不轻易卷起门帘（严守闺阁礼教），死后她仍在守护着自己的贞洁（巾帨象征女性贞操）。”又说道：“寡妇的性命如同悬于一丝，但这美人头颅的份量却重于九鼎（象征国家社稷的重器）。”

英文

The virtuous widow Mo Shi was a native of Xinhui (present-day Xinhui District, Jiangmen City, Guangdong). She was beautiful but widowed young, and she maintained her resolve to remain chaste and not remarry. In the Jiawu year (1654, the 11th year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty), Xinhui county seat was besieged. The men of Mo Shi's family mounted the battlements to resist and defend. Soldiers peeked into her chamber, found it empty (meaning no male protectors), drew their blades, and threatened her. Mo Shi struck her head against the wall (intending suicide), and blood immediately covered her body. The soldiers (after failing to violate her) killed her and threw her head into a manure bucket. After the conflict subsided, her elder sister's husband went to collect and bury her remains but found her head was extraordinarily heavy and could not be lifted. He sighed, saying, "My wife's sister was a person of propriety and righteousness; sadly, I never met her while she was alive." He ran to tell Mo Shi's elder brother. When the brother went to lift the head, it came up easily as soon as he touched it. I (Qu Dajun) wrote a poem to mourn her: "Her cicada-like forehead (representing her head) is as heavy as hills and mountains; her moth-like eyebrows (representing her virtue) shine like the sun and moon. While alive, her curtains were never rolled up (strictly observing female seclusion); in death, she still guarded her kerchief and towel (symbols of female chastity)." And also: "A widow's life hangs by a thread, yet this beauty's head carries the weight of the Nine Tripods (ancient symbols of state power and legitimacy)."

文化解读/分析

本条目记述了新会烈妇莫氏在战乱中坚守贞节、抗拒凌辱、最终被杀害并遭残忍亵渎的事迹。它集中体现了传统社会对女性，特别是寡妇“守志”、“从一而终”的极端要求。莫氏面对威胁，首先选择“以首触墙”自保其贞，显示了其维护名节的决心先于求生。士兵在未能得逞后将其杀害，并将头颅投入粪桶，这种极端的侮辱行为反衬出莫氏贞烈的可贵以及乱世人性的泯灭。故事中“首重不可举”，唯其兄长能举起的超自然情节，是理解其文化意义的关键。这并非单纯的迷信，而是通过一种象征性的叙事手法，强调莫氏的贞烈精神具有非凡的“重量”和道德感召力，她的冤屈和德行需要得到亲属（代表家族和社会伦理秩序）的承认和恰当处理，才能得以“安息”。屈大均的凭吊诗更是将这种道德重量提升到极致：“螓首邱山重”、“九鼎美人头”，将一位普通寡妇的殉节行为，其头颅的象征意义，比作山岳之重、堪比象征国家权力和秩序的九鼎，这极大地拔高了女性贞节在社会价值体系中的地位，认为其对维系纲常伦理具有基石般的重要性。此记载深刻反映了清初社会动荡背景下，儒家贞节观的强化及其对女性个体命运的残酷塑造，同时也展现了时人如何通过叙事和诗歌来构建和传扬道德楷模。

关键词

莫烈妇、莫氏、新会、寡妇、守节、贞烈、甲午、清初、广东新语、女语、殉节、触墙、头颅、超自然、九鼎、屈大均、岭南文化、女性史、贞节观、儒家伦理