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汉 Han · 诗 Poem

客从远方来

A Guest Comes from Afar

古诗十九首

Anonymous (Nineteen Old Poems tradition)

青松虽有花，有花不如无。
贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳。
客从远方来，遗我古铜镜。
挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣。
天龙睡坤腹，土蚀金鬣绿。
因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不。

The green pine may bear flowers, yet flowers are better absent.
The poor well's spring is clear, yet it lacks a golden windlass.
A traveler came from far away and presented me an ancient bronze mirror.
I hung it in the jade hall, as if face to face with the sage Xuanyuan.
The heavenly dragon sleeps in the earth's belly; soil corrodes its golden mane to green.
So I know the beauties of Yan and Zhao, faces like jade—without this mirror, never content.
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Meaning

Through two paradoxes—a pine whose flowers are a flaw, a clear well without a golden windlass—the poem prepares its theme: value lies not in surface gifts but in what completes them. A guest brings an ancient bronze mirror; hung in the jade hall, it is like facing the sage Yellow Emperor himself. Though the dragon buried in the earth has its golden mane eaten green by soil, the mirror shines; and so the beauties of Yan and Zhao, jade-faced as they are, remain incomplete without it.

青松虽有花，有花不如无。贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳。客从远方来，遗我古铜镜。挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣。天龙睡坤腹，土蚀金鬣绿。因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The green pine bears flowers, yet it were better without them; the poor well's spring is clear, yet it has no golden windlass. A traveler comes from afar and gives me an ancient bronze mirror. Hung in the jade hall, it is like facing the sage Xuanyuan; the dragon that sleeps in the earth's belly has its golden mane eaten green by the soil. Thus I know: the jade-faced beauties of Yan and Zhao, without this mirror, are never complete. [Structure] Two paradoxical couplets open the poem by denying the value of mere ornament; the arrival of the mirror answers them with the one gift that completes what it beholds; the buried dragon measures ancient decay against enduring brightness. [Imagery] Pine flowers that spoil austerity, a clear spring without its windlass, a mirror that turns a room into a shrine, a dragon's mane corroding underground. [Theme] The poem argues that the truest gifts are those through which one sees—the mirror as the emblem of what reveals worth rather than adorning it—closing on an unfinished cadence, 'without this mirror, never,' that leaves the longing ringing.

【白话串讲】 古诗十九首《客从远方来》：“客从远方来，遗我一端绮”——“相去万余里，故人心尚尔”——“文采双鸳鸯，裁为合欢被”——“著以长相思，缘以结不解”——“以胶投漆中，谁能别离此”——他写远方的思念。 【意象与手法】 以“客从远方来，遗我一端绮”起兴；“文采双鸳鸯，裁为合欢被”以鸳鸯、合欢被象征夫妻；“著以长相思，缘以结不解”语带双关；“以胶投漆中，谁能别离此”以胶漆喻情之牢固。比兴深婉、语带双关。 【情感与主旨】 写远方的思念，通过远方人寄来的锦绮，写夫妻之间深挚不渝的爱情，以物传情，是《古诗十九首》中思妇题材的典型之作。 【名句点睛】 常考“文采双鸳鸯，裁为合欢被”以鸳鸯合欢写夫妻情；“以胶投漆中，谁能别离此”以胶漆喻情不可分。

Background

This piece is transmitted in the Han-dynasty old-style verse tradition: a five-character gushi, anonymous, in the manner of the 'Nineteen Old Poems' (Gushi shijiu shou) of the Eastern Han (c. 1st–2nd century CE), which the Wen Xuan preserved as the fountainhead of Chinese five-character lyric. Such poems speak in a plain, unadorned voice about objects and feelings—gifts from afar, mirrors, longing. The allusion to Xuanyuan (the Yellow Emperor, fabled first caster of mirrors) and the pair of opening paradoxes mark a meditation on true versus false value: flowers on a pine, a windlass-less well, and a face without its mirror. In later anthologies the piece circulated as a specimen of old-style simplicity with a turn toward the marvelous.

《客从远方来》为一首五言诗，author 记古诗十九首，kind 记诗。全诗写物感怀：起「青松虽有花，有花不如无。贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳」写青松虽有花，有花不如无，贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳；「客从远方来，遗我古铜镜。挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣」写客从远方来，遗我古铜镜，挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣；「天龙睡坤腹，土蚀金鬣绿。因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不」写天龙睡坤腹，土蚀金鬣绿，因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不。全诗以写物感怀、不得此镜终不写其感怀之情，含蓄深婉，是古诗中的名篇。此篇《客从远方来》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《客从远方来》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's art lies in 'restraint that reveals.' First, it reasons in images: the two opening couplets are syllogisms of paradox—flowers that diminish a pine, clear water that lacks its mechanism—preparing the mind to weigh essence against ornament. Second, it works by accretion rather than statement: guest, gift, hall, simile, buried dragon, and only then the human conclusion, so the final judgment on 'faces like jade' arrives as earned inference, not assertion. Third, it uses the marvelous sparingly: the dragon sleeping in the earth's belly with its golden mane corroded green gives the humble mirror a mythic pedigree and measures all earthly splendor against time. Fourth, the truncated close—'without this mirror, never'—stops short of its object, a broken cadence that makes the reader complete the thought, the old-style (gushi) device of meaning beyond the last word. The plain five-character line carries the whole argument without a single ornate term, which is precisely its strength.

此诗艺术上以「含蓄深婉、以物写情」见长。全诗多联，由青松虽有花、客从远方来而如对轩辕圣、不得此镜终不。起「青松虽有花，有花不如无。贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳」写青松虽有花：青松虽有花，有花不如无，贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳；「客从远方来，遗我古铜镜」写客从远方来：客从远方来，遗我古铜镜；「挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣」写如对轩辕圣：挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣；「天龙睡坤腹，土蚀金鬣绿」写天龙睡坤腹：天龙睡坤腹，土蚀金鬣绿；尾「因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不」写不得此镜终不：因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不。全诗以物写情，由青松虽有花而客从远方来而不得此镜终不，含蓄深婉，是古诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

The poem is woven of classical references. 'Xuanyuan' is the Yellow Emperor, whom legend credits with casting the first mirrors on the mirror tree of a magic mountain; to hang a mirror 'as if facing Xuanyuan the sage' turns the gift into an instrument of sagehood—mirrors in Chinese tradition are emblems of self-examination and of the ruler's clarity. The 'heavenly dragon sleeping in the earth's belly' evokes buried dragons and hidden treasures of ancient lore, its 'golden mane' eaten green by soil a figure for antiquity itself. 'Beauties of Yan and Zhao' recalls the proverb that Yan and Zhao produced many fine swordsmen and lovely women, the north's stock of jade-faced beauty. The mirror-gift from a distant guest follows the old formula 'a guest came from afar and left me a bolt of silk' from the Nineteen Old Poems, redirecting that famous theme from cloth to bronze, from warmth to sight.

诗中「青松虽有花有花不如无」「贫井泉虽清且无金辘轳」「客从远方来遗我古铜镜」「挂之玉堂上如对轩辕圣」「天龙睡坤腹土蚀金鬣绿」「因知燕赵佳人颜似玉不得此镜终不」等语，皆含典故故实。「青松虽有花有花不如无」写青松虽有花有花不如无；「贫井泉虽清且无金辘轳」写贫井泉虽清且无金辘轳（金辘轳写辘轳）；「客从远方来遗我古铜镜」写客从远方来遗我古铜镜（古铜镜写镜）；「挂之玉堂上如对轩辕圣」用轩辕之典（轩辕黄帝铸镜），写挂之玉堂上如对轩辕圣；「天龙睡坤腹土蚀金鬣绿」写天龙睡坤腹土蚀金鬣绿（坤腹写地）；「因知燕赵佳人颜似玉不得此镜终不」写因知燕赵佳人颜似玉不得此镜终不。诗人以轩辕铸镜等典入诗，不着痕迹，而把写物感怀之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

In the transmitted tradition this 'A Guest Comes from Afar' has been read as a meditation on objects and worth: the pine's needless flowers, the well's missing windlass, and the mirror that completes whatever it faces. The final couplet—'the beauties of Yan and Zhao, faces like jade; without this mirror, never'—is the poem's point of rest: worth unregarded is worth unproved, and the mirror, heir of the Yellow Emperor's casting, is what allows beauty to meet itself. Later readers have noted how the poem's plainness is calculated: no ornament anywhere except the mirror itself, and the one long closing line that stretches beyond the five-character norm like a sigh. Set beside Lin Bu's 'Small Plum in a Mountain Garden,' which finds virtue in a flower's austerity, or Yan Shu's 'Sand of Silk-Washing Stream,' which finds helplessness in falling petals, it shows the old-style poets' habit of arguing about value through things. For modern readers it remains a compact Han meditation on what it takes to see clearly.

这首《客从远方来》，是写物感怀之作，写青松虽有花、客从远方来、不得此镜终不之情，含蓄深婉。起「青松虽有花，有花不如无。贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳」——青松虽有花，有花不如无，贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳。写青松虽有花：青松虽有花、有花不如无，贫井泉虽清、且无金辘轳——青松有花不如无、贫井泉清无金辘轳；「客从远方来，遗我古铜镜」——客从远方来，遗我古铜镜。写客从远方来：客从远方来、遗我古铜镜——客自远方来、遗我古铜镜；「挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣」——挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣（用轩辕铸镜之典）。写如对轩辕圣：挂之玉堂上、如对轩辕圣——挂之玉堂、如对轩辕圣；「天龙睡坤腹，土蚀金鬣绿」——天龙睡坤腹，土蚀金鬣绿。写天龙睡坤腹：天龙睡坤腹、土蚀金鬣绿——天龙睡坤腹、土蚀金鬣绿；尾「因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不」——因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不。写不得此镜终不：因知燕赵佳人颜似玉、不得此镜终不——燕赵佳人颜似玉、不得此镜终不。这「因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不」，是全诗之结：以不得此镜终不写其感怀。全诗含蓄深婉，以物写情，正是古诗中的名篇。

Prosody

Form Five-character old-style verse (wuyan gushi) of the Han tradition, eleven lines with the final line lengthened诗（五言古诗）
Rhyme Freely varied rhymes with oblique endings (无, 轳, 镜, 圣, 绿, 不), shifting as the sense shifts—typical of Han gushi rather than regulated verse此诗为五言古诗，共十一句，句式长短相间（末句为长句）。押韵多变，其中「无」「轳」「镜」「圣」「绿」「不」等押虞青部韵。诗体依古诗而定，音节随情起伏，正与写物感怀的含蓄深婉相称，也见其以古诗写感怀的自然。
Tone pattern The line lengths move with the argument—cool and level in the paradoxes, brighter at the guest's arrival, solemn before the sage, deep and dark in the buried-dragon couplet, and finally stretched long in the truncated close句式上，首联「青松虽有花，有花不如无。贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳」写青松虽有花，音节清冷；「客从远方来，遗我古铜镜」写客从远方来，音节明快；「挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣」写如对轩辕圣，音节庄重；「天龙睡坤腹，土蚀金鬣绿」写天龙睡坤腹，音节幽深；尾「因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不」写不得此镜终不，音节绵长。全诗音节随情起伏，由清冷而庄重、由幽深而绵长，正合古诗「浑成」之妙，读来如写物感怀、不得此镜终不之音，含蓄而动人。
Reading note As old-style verse the poem ignores the rules of regulated tonal counterpoint: its music comes from semantic rhythm. The two paradox couplets step in even five-character beats; the arrival of the guest quickens the pace; the dragon couplet slows into dark imagery; and the last line breaks the pattern with a longer breath, a sigh that stops short. Read the opening coolly and evenly, brighten at 'a traveler came from afar,' hush the dragon couplet, and let the final line trail off unfinished—the abrupt silence is part of the poem's design.此诗为五言古诗，是写物感怀之作，也是古诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「含蓄深婉、以物写情」：「青松虽有花，有花不如无」写青松虽有花、「客从远方来，遗我古铜镜」写客从远方来、「挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣」写如对轩辕圣、「因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不」写不得此镜终不。全诗含蓄深婉，以物写情。尤为精妙者，是「挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣」用轩辕铸镜之典；而「客从远方来，遗我古铜镜」以镜写赠，「因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不」以镜写情，正是含蓄深婉的典范，为历代选本所常收。《客从远方来》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

青松虽有花，有花不如无。

The green pine may bear flowers, yet flowers are better absent.

青松虽有花，有花不如无。

Though the green pine bears blossoms, it were better it bore none.

首联写青松虽有花，起笔即见其慨。「青松虽有花」写青松虽有花，「青松」写青松、「虽有花」写虽然有花；「有花不如无」写有花不如无，「有花」写有花、「不如无」写不如没有。两句一写青松虽有花、一写有花不如无，以青松虽有花写松有花、以有花不如无写不如无花，写尽青松虽有花、有花不如无之情。以物起兴，含蓄而深婉，是「以物起兴」的妙笔。

The opening paradox. Though the green pine bears blossoms, it were better it bore none. The pine's evergreen dignity is the poem's standard; the blossoms are an irrelevant addition. The preference for the unadorned is the poem's quiet aesthetics. To have said the pine should keep to its greenness would be a preference; the pine with blossoms that would be better without them is the preference.

客从远方来，遗我古铜镜。

A traveler came from far away and presented me an ancient bronze mirror.

客从远方来，遗我古铜镜。

A traveler comes from afar, bringing me an ancient bronze mirror.

此二句写客从远方来，是全诗写赠镜的关键。「客从远方来」写客从远方来，「客」写客人、「从远方来」写从远方来；「遗我古铜镜」写遗我古铜镜，「遗我」写赠我、「古铜镜」写古铜镜。两句一写客从远方来、一写遗我古铜镜，以客从远方来写客来、以遗我古铜镜写赠镜，写尽客从远方来、遗我古铜镜之情。以镜写赠，含蓄而深婉，是「以镜写赠」的点睛之笔。

The gift. A traveler comes from afar, bringing me an ancient bronze mirror. The ancient mirror is the poem's object: not a new trinket but an antique, the kind associated with the Yellow Emperor's legendary mirror. To have said I received an old mirror would be a fact; the ancient bronze mirror brought from afar is the gift.

挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣。

I hung it in the jade hall, as if face to face with the sage Xuanyuan.

挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣。

I hang it in the jade hall, as if facing the sage Yellow Emperor.

此二句写如对轩辕圣，是全诗以典写镜的关键。「挂之玉堂上」写挂之玉堂上，「挂之」写挂它、「玉堂上」写玉堂之上；「如对轩辕圣」写如对轩辕圣，用轩辕铸镜之典写如对轩辕圣。两句一写挂之玉堂上、一写如对轩辕圣，以挂之玉堂上写挂镜玉堂、以如对轩辕圣写如对轩辕，写尽挂之玉堂上、如对轩辕圣之情。以典写镜，含蓄而深婉，是「以典写镜」的点睛之笔。

The hanging. I hang it in the jade hall, as if facing the sage Yellow Emperor. The mirror's legendary origin (the first mirror was cast by the Yellow Emperor) means hanging it is like facing the sage himself. The jade hall is the exalted setting. To have said I hung the mirror up would be an action; hung in the jade hall as if facing the Yellow Emperor is the action.

因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不。

Thus I know the beauties of Yan and Zhao, faces like jade—without this mirror, never content.

因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，不得此镜终不。

Thus I know: the beauties of Yan and Zhao have faces like jade, yet without this mirror they are never satisfied.

尾二句写不得此镜终不，是全诗立意的落点。「因知燕赵佳人颜似玉」写因知燕赵佳人颜似玉，「因知」写因而知道、「燕赵佳人颜似玉」写燕赵佳人颜如玉；「不得此镜终不」写不得此镜终不，「不得此镜」写得不到此镜、「终不」写终究不肯。两句一写因知燕赵佳人颜似玉、一写不得此镜终不，以燕赵佳人颜似玉写佳人如玉、以不得此镜终不写不得镜不罢休，写尽因知燕赵佳人颜似玉、不得此镜终不之情。以镜写情，含蓄而深挚，是全诗最动人处，也是「以镜写情」的点睛之笔。

The conclusion. Thus I know: the beauties of Yan and Zhao have faces like jade, yet without this mirror they are never satisfied. The unfinished final word (the poem's last character is missing in the tradition) is the famous gap, but the claim is clear: no beauty is complete without this mirror. The compliment to the mirror is the poem's point. To have said even jade-faced beauties need this mirror would be a compliment; the jade faces unsatisfied without the mirror is the compliment.

Study

Word focus

不如 'Bùrú' (not as good as): the plain comparative that sets the opening paradox—flowers on a pine are worse than none. It teaches the poem's first lesson, that addition is not always enhancement, and tunes the ear for the value-judgment the mirror will finally settle. 「不如」写有花不如无，是写不如无花之慨的关键。「有花不如无」着一「不如」，写比不上——着一「不如」，写有花不如无，见其不如之慨。两字写尽不如之情，是「以词写慨」的妙笔。「不如」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
遗 'Wèi' (to present, bestow): the old reading of the character as 'to give as a gift.' It marks the instant when a distant friend's regard becomes a tangible thing—the bronze mirror crossing thousands of miles—and grounds the whole poem's meditation in a single act of giving. 「遗」字写遗我古铜镜，是写赠镜之意的关键。「客从远方来，遗我古铜镜」着一「遗」，写赠送——着一「遗」字，写遗我古铜镜，见其赠镜之意。一字写尽赠镜之情，是「以一字写赠」的点睛之词。「遗」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
如对 'Rú duì' (as if facing): the simile-word that turns a hung object into a presence. To look into the mirror is 'as if facing' the sage Xuanyuan, so the gift becomes an occasion of reverence and self-scrutiny—seeing and being seen in one act. 「如对」写如对轩辕圣，是写如对圣人之态的关键。「挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣」着一「如对」，写如同面对——着一「如对」，写如对轩辕圣，见其对镜如对圣人。两字写尽如对之态，是「以词写对」的点睛之词。「如对」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
终不 'Zhōng bù' (never, in the end): the truncated close—'without this mirror, never—' lets the reader finish the thought. The incompleteness is deliberate: an unappeasable longing expressed by refusing the final word, the poem's most resonant stroke. 「终不」写不得此镜终不，是写终究不肯之态的关键。「不得此镜终不」着一「终不」，写终究不——着一「终不」，写不得此镜终不，见其志之坚。两字写尽终不之情，是「以词写志」的点睛之词。「终不」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

山园小梅 Small Plum in a Mountain Garden 林逋 · 同写咏物寄情、以物喻人，一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、一写客从远方来遗我古铜镜，皆于咏物之中见寄情 Two poems of finding feeling through things: one on sparse shadows and hidden fragrance, one on a bronze mirror from afar

Lin Bu's 'Small Plum in a Mountain Garden'—'sparse shadows cross the shallow water; hidden fragrance drifts in the moonlit dusk'—finds purity in a flower's austerity. This poem finds value in a mirror's clarity: the pine better without flowers, the mirror that completes the jade-faced beholder. Both argue worth through objects rather than statements; one is Lin Bu's pure detachment, the other the old-style poets' deep reserve, two brush methods within the tradition of lodging feeling in things.

林逋《山园小梅》「疏影横斜水清浅，暗香浮动月黄昏」，写梅之清雅，是宋诗咏物的绝唱；《客从远方来》则以「客从远方来，遗我古铜镜。挂之玉堂上，如对轩辕圣」写遗我古铜镜、如对轩辕圣。两诗同写咏物寄情、以物喻人：一写疏影横斜水清浅暗香浮动月黄昏、以梅写清雅，一写客从远方来遗我古铜镜、以镜写情；一为林逋之清逸、一为古诗之深婉，并读正可见诗写「咏物寄情」的两种笔法，皆于咏物之中见寄情。

 浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯 Sand of Silk-Washing Stream: A Cup of Wine Against a New Song 晏殊 · 同写感怀写物、无可奈何，一写无可奈何花落去、一写青松虽有花有花不如无，皆于感怀之中见无可奈何 Two meditations on worth and helplessness: one helpless before falling flowers, one weighing flowers against absence

Yan Shu's 'Sand of Silk-Washing Stream'—'helplessly, the flowers fall; a swallow I seemed to know comes back'—writes rueful acceptance of time's passing. This poem writes its own ledger of worth: flowers better absent from the pine, a face incomplete without its mirror. One finds gentle helplessness in what time removes, the other a hard-eyed weighing of what things are worth; read together, two ways of lodging rueful meditation in objects.

晏殊《浣溪沙·一曲新词酒一杯》「无可奈何花落去，似曾相识燕归来」，写感怀写物，是宋词小令的名篇；《客从远方来》则以「青松虽有花，有花不如无。贫井泉虽清，且无金辘轳」「不得此镜终不」写有花不如无、不得此镜终不。两诗同写感怀写物、无可奈何：一写无可奈何花落去、以花落燕归写惜时，一写青松虽有花有花不如无、以松花写感怀；一为晏殊之温润、一为古诗之深婉，并读正可见诗写「感怀无可奈何」的两种笔法，皆于感怀之中见无可奈何。