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晋晋 · 辞 Ci verse

归去来兮辞

The Homeward Journey (Gui Qu Lai Xi Ci)

陶渊明

Tao Yuanming

归隐Seclusion 田园Pastoral 抒情Lyrical 名篇Masterpiece

归去来兮，田园将芜胡不归？
既自以心为形役，奚惆怅而独悲？
悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追。
实迷途其未远，觉今是而昨非。
舟遥遥以轻飏，风飘飘而吹衣。
问征夫以前路，恨晨光之熹微。

Go home! The garden grows wild—why not return?
Since I have let my mind be enslaved to my body, why lament and grieve alone?
I see the past cannot be mended; I know the future may yet be pursued.
Truly my straying path is not far; I wake to find today right and yesterday wrong.
The boat glides light on the water; the wind flutters and blows my robe.
I ask the traveler of the road ahead, and regret the faint light of dawn.

Listen

Meaning

The poet cries out to return home, for his garden is going to waste, and reproaches himself for having enslaved his true mind to his bodily needs in office. He realizes the past cannot be undone but the future can still be recovered, and that his error in serving was not far gone. The closing lines picture the light boat and fluttering robe of his homeward voyage, eager yet hampered by the lingering dim dawn.

回去吧！田园快要荒芜了，为什么不回去？既然已经让心志被形体所役使，又何必惆怅而独自悲伤？我明白过去的事已不可挽回，知道未来的日子还可以补救。实在说迷途还不算远，已觉悟到今天归隐是对的、昨天做官是错的。船儿轻快地在水上飘荡，风儿飘飘吹动我的衣裳。向行人打听前面的路程，只恨晨光还是那么微弱。

Appreciation

The opening cry 'Go home!' breaks like a long whistle, declaring a break with official life, and the urgency of the untended garden summons his homeward heart. He then confesses the regret of 'mind enslaved to body' and completes a reversal of values with 'the straying path is not far' and 'today right, yesterday wrong,' ending with the homeward boat and his anxious question about the road. The 'ci' form, marked by the 'xi' particle, mingles the soaring tone of the Chu ci with the fluency of prose, and the whole moves from resolve to journey to joy in one breath.

【白话串讲】陶渊明辞官回家，写《归去来兮辞》：“归去来兮，田园将芜胡不归”。“既自以心为形役，奚惆怅而独悲”——“悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追”——“舟遥遥以轻飏，风飘飘而吹衣”——“木欣欣以向荣，泉涓涓而始流”——他写归隐的快乐。【意象与手法】辞体以「兮」字为标志，四六句相杂、一韵到底，兼有楚辞的悠扬与散文的流转；全文以「归」为纲，由决意到归途到归后的欣悦，一气呵成【情感与主旨】陶渊明不愿「为五斗米折腰」，此辞是其与仕途决裂的宣言书——在「心为形役」的忏悔中确立「觉今是而昨非」的人生选择，宣告人格自由高于禄位【名句点睛】常考「悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追」的悔悟自新、「实迷途其未远，觉今是而昨非」的价值决断——在晋宋易代的政治黑暗里，这是个体以归隐保全精神独立的宣言

Background

Tao Yuanming (365–427), styled Yuanliang, was a poet of the late Eastern Jin and early Liu Song, called 'the foremost poet of recluses, ancient and modern.' He served several short posts before, in the eleventh month of 405, resigning as magistrate of Pengze after barely eighty days because he would not bow to a petty inspector for the sake of five pecks of rice, and wrote this 'Homeward Journey' to declare his resolve. The Eastern Jin was politically corrupt—Huan Xuan's usurpation and Liu Yu's dominance—and this piece is a recluse's manifesto of preserving his person amid chaos. According to the Jin History, it was written on his journey home, in the same spirit as 'Long have I been in the cage; now I return to nature.' Later 'homeward journey' became a byword for retirement, echoed by Su Shi and Xin Qiji.

陶渊明（365—427），字元亮，一说名潜，字渊明，私谥靖节先生，浔阳柴桑（今江西九江）人，东晋末至南朝宋初诗人，被称为「古今隐逸诗人之宗」。他出身没落的仕宦之家，曾祖陶侃为东晋名将，至其父辈家道中落。陶渊明一生数仕数隐，先后任江州祭酒、镇军参军、彭泽令等职，皆不久即辞。义熙元年（405）十一月，任彭泽令八十余日，因郡遣督邮至县，吏请束带见之，陶渊明叹曰「吾不能为五斗米折腰，拳拳事乡里小人邪」，即日解绶去职，赋《归去来兮辞》以明志。当时东晋末年政治腐败，桓玄篡位、刘裕专权，士人出处进退多陷于名利倾轧；陶渊明此辞正是乱世中个体以退守田园、保全人格的宣言。据《晋书》本传，此辞作于归田之际，文中「舟遥遥以轻飏」写归途之景，当为辞官归家途中所作，与其《归园田居》「久在樊笼里，复得返自然」同一精神。后世以「归去来」为归隐代称，苏轼、辛弃疾皆曾和其意，影响深远。

Art

The piece is a 'ci,' stemming from the Chu ci yet tending toward prose, a transitional form between poem and essay. Its lines are mainly six-character with four-character and longer lines, pivoting on the 'xi' particle; the opening is a ringing six-character cry, while the reflective couplets are neat yet flowing. In structure the whole is threaded by 'return': resolve, then the joy of the journey, then home and contentment, unfolding in rings. The language is fresh and unadorned; 'the wind flutters my robe' and 'regret the faint dawn' are plain sketches vivid as painting. Above all it speaks in the first person throughout—'why not return,' 'I see,' 'I know,' 'I wake'—fusing argument, feeling, and narrative, and giving the 'ci' form a new lease in Tao's hands.

此文体裁为「辞」，源于楚辞而趋于散文化，是诗与散文之间的过渡文体。句式以六言为主、间以四言与长句，以「兮」字为语气枢纽：「归去来兮，田园将芜胡不归」六言「兮」字顿挫，回环咏叹；「悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追」「实迷途其未远，觉今是而昨非」四六相偶，对仗工整而气韵流动。章法上，全文以「归」为线索层层推进：首段决意归去（「田园将芜胡不归」），次段写归途之乐（「舟遥遥以轻飏」），后文则写归家、园中、出游、感怀，由决意到行动再到安顿，结构回环而情感逐层舒展。语言上清新自然，不事雕琢，「风飘飘而吹衣」「恨晨光之熹微」以白描写归途情态，如画如歌。尤可注意者，全文以第一人称直抒胸臆，「胡不归」「奚惆怅」「悟」「知」「觉」等字句句自我剖白，将议论、抒情、叙事熔于一炉，在楚辞的浪漫咏叹中注入晋人散文的理性与质朴，形成「辞」体在陶渊明手中的新变。尤以「归去来兮」的复沓呼唤贯穿首尾，使全文如一首自问自答的抒情长调，诵读之间，归田之志沛然满纸。

Allusions

The piece uses allusions without trace, yet its roots run deep. 'Go home' echoes the Shi Jing's 'why not return' and the Chu ci tradition of the homeward sigh. 'Mind enslaved to body' derives from the Zhuangzi's distinction of mind and body, here a Daoist critique of sacrificing one's true self for salary. 'The past cannot be mended' is from the Analects' song of the madman of Chu, which Tao turns to mark his flip from office to retirement. 'The straying path is not far' reworks the Lisao's 'turn back before the straying is far,' and 'today right, yesterday wrong' quietly follows the Zhuangzi's waking from a dream. The sources span the Shi Jing, Chu ci, Analects, and Zhuangzi, yet melt into plain confession—the very 'plain yet ornate' nature of Tao's poetry.

此辞用典不着痕迹，而文化渊源极深。其一是「归去来兮」四字：化用《诗经·邶风·式微》「式微式微，胡不归」的召唤句式，又承楚辞「归去来」的咏叹传统，以一声长叹开启归隐主题；其二是「心为形役」：《庄子·人间世》言「心」与「形」之辨，陶渊明以「心为形役」指斥为禄位而役使本心，正是道家「全性保真」思想的文学化表达；其三是「悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追」：语本《论语·微子》「往者不可谏，来者犹可追」（楚狂接舆之歌），陶渊明借孔子所记隐士之歌自况，完成从仕到隐的价值翻转；其四是「迷途其未远」：化用《离骚》「回朕车以复路兮，及行迷之未远」，屈原回车的意象在此变成陶渊明归田的行动，「觉今是而昨非」则暗承《庄子》「觉而后知其梦」的醒悟结构。典源遍及《诗经》、楚辞、论语、庄子，却融化于口语般的自白中，不见堆砌之痕，正是陶诗「质而实绮、癯而实腴」的本色。典源虽古，而意绪全新，处处为「归」字服务，正是陶渊明以我驭典、古为今用的高明所在。

Commentary

The Homeward Journey is Tao Yuanming's manifesto of seclusion and the founding program of Chinese reclusive literature; once written, 'homeward journey' became a byword for retirement, consoling the disappointed for ages—Li Bai's pride, Su Shi's copying of it in exile, all echo it across dynasties. In literary history it breaks the Chu ci's ritual-lament tradition to open a lyrical prose-poem of free personal choice, together with the 'Return to the Garden' poems establishing Tao as the poet of the pastoral. Zhu Guangqian called Tao one of China's greatest poets, his person and art one; this piece is the extreme of 'character is poetry'—the bone of not bowing, the clarity of today-right-yesterday-wrong, and the joy of the light boat, fused in the words.

《归去来兮辞》是陶渊明归隐的宣言书，也是中国隐逸文学的开山纲领。此辞一出，「归去来」遂成归隐的代名词，历代文人失意之时无不引以自慰：唐代李白「安能摧眉折腰事权贵」的傲岸，宋代苏轼谪居黄州时反复书写此辞（并作《哨遍》隐括其意）、晚年自号「东坡居士」的旷达，皆可视为此辞精神的隔代回响。文学史上，此辞以「辞」体突破楚辞的祭祀咏叹传统，开创以自由抒写个人生活与心灵抉择的抒情散文诗，与《归园田居》五首互为表里，共同奠定陶渊明田园诗人的地位。近人朱光潜论陶渊明为「中国文学史上最伟大的诗人之一」，称其人格与艺术浑然一体；此辞正是「人格即诗」的极致：不为五斗米折腰的骨气、觉今是而昨非的清醒、舟轻风飘的欣悦，三者在文字中凝为一体。历代评家如苏轼谓「渊明欲仕则仕，不以求之为嫌；欲隐则隐，不以去之为高」，此辞所昭示的，正是这种超越了名利计较的人格自由。

Prosody

Form The 'ci' form (a lyrical prose between the Chu ci and prose), mainly six-character with four-character and longer lines.辞体（楚辞体向散文过渡的抒情文），六言为主、间以四言与长句

Rhyme The piece rhymes on 'return,' 'grieve,' 'pursue,' 'wrong,' 'robe,' 'dawn'—all in the ancient 'wei' rhyme, sustained throughout. The long even-toned rhymes with the 'xi' sighs make a low, lingering music; the same rhyme threads the whole, so the theme of 'return' keeps echoing in sound, like a bell whose note lingers.此辞以「归」「悲」「追」「非」「衣」「微」为韵脚，属上古音微部，一韵到底，回环往复。平声韵的悠长与「兮」字句的咏叹相配合，形成低回婉转、一唱三叹的声情：押韵字皆为平声，音调舒缓绵长，正合归田心境的从容安闲；段与段之间换意不换韵，以同韵贯穿全文，使「归」的主题在声音层面不断回响，如钟磬一鸣而余音不绝。

Tone pattern Mainly six-character lines with mixed lengths: six-character lines are leisurely, four-character are crisp, longer lines flow like clouds. The 'xi' particle regulates the breath; empty words like 'why,' 'how,' 'of' make the sentences sway. The tone moves from the opening decisive cry to the light joy of the homeward journey, flowing with the boat.句式以六言为主而长短相杂：六言句（「归去来兮，田园将芜胡不归」）从容舒卷，四言句（「悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追」）整饬顿挫，长句（「问征夫以前路，恨晨光之熹微」）则如行云流水。「兮」字分布于句中或句尾，调节声气的开合；「胡」「奚」「之」「以」等虚词穿插，使句子摇曳生姿。全文语调由开篇的决绝呼唤，渐次转为归途的轻快欣悦，声情随行舟而流转。

Reading note The beauty of the piece's sound is the union of the Chu ci's aria with the Jin prose's fluent brush. The 'xi' particle is the breath-hinge: taken from Qu Yuan yet turned from ritual lament to everyday lyric, placed mid-line it marks rhythm, placed at the end it lengthens feeling, so the whole reads like a singable long lyric. Rhyming throughout on the even 'wei' tones suits the leisurely mood of return, while empty words within avoid stiffness. Six-character lines as the backbone, with four-character and long lines mixed, make the air舒展自如—a key link in the Chu ci's transition toward prose.《归去来兮辞》的声律之美，是楚辞的咏叹传统与晋人散文的流走笔法相结合的产物。「兮」字是全文的声气枢纽：承自屈原《离骚》《九歌》的「兮」字句式，在陶渊明手中由祭祀性的咏叹变为日常化的抒情，或置句中（「舟遥遥以轻飏」）顿挫节奏，或置句尾（「归去来兮」）拖长声情，使全文如一首可吟可诵的抒情长调。押韵方面，全辞一韵到底（微部），韵脚「归、悲、追、非、衣、微」皆为平声，音调舒缓，恰与归田的从容心境相应；而段内又以虚词的穿插调节节拍，避免了一韵到底可能带来的板滞。句式上六言为骨干，四言、长句相杂，「悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追」的偶句与「问征夫以前路」的散句交错，整散相济，使文气舒卷自如。这种「以辞为文、以文入辞」的体制，上承楚辞的浪漫咏叹，下开唐宋抒情散文的先声，在声律史上是楚辞体向散文体过渡的关键一环，诵读时尤能体会陶渊明「质而实绮、癯而实腴」的语言魅力。

Line by line

归去来兮，田园将芜胡不归？

Go home! The garden grows wild—why not return? — The opening cry is the emotional heading. 'Go home' answers the garden and bids farewell to office; 'the garden grows wild' turns the abstract reason into a concrete, homely pull. 'Why not return' directly continues the Shi Jing's 'why not return,' a heavenly question whose resolve already fills the line.

回去吧！田园快要荒芜了，为什么还不回去呢？

Come back! The fields and gardens are about to run to weeds—why not return?

开篇一声「归去来兮」，如长啸破空，是全辞的情感总纲。「归去来」三字中，「来」为语助词，无实义而增咏叹之致，一声呼唤既是对田园的应答，也是向官场的告别。紧随其后的「田园将芜胡不归」以反问句逼出归意：田园将荒芜，是田园在召唤，也是本心在召唤——把归隐的理由从抽象的道义（不为五斗米折腰）落实为具体的牵挂（田园将芜），使「归」有了土地与家园的温度。「胡不归」三字直承《诗经·式微》「式微式微，胡不归」的呼唤传统，一声天问式的反问，不作任何解释辩白，归隐的决心已在语气中沛然莫御。全辞以问句起、以问句终（「寓形宇内复几时，曷不委心任去留」），首尾呼应，而此问正是全篇的引擎，此后所有悔悟、欣悦、旷达皆由此一声「归去来」生发。

The call. Come back! The fields and gardens are about to run to weeds—why not return? The return-home call and the fields-about-to-weeds, why-not-return question, are the essay's engine. To have said he decided to return home would be a decision; the come-back-the-fields-about-to-weeds-why-not-return question is the decision.

悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追。

I see the past cannot be mended; I know the future may yet be pursued. — The philosophical expression of Tao's turning point, reworking the madman of Chu's song from the Analects, yet more inward. 'See' and 'know' show awake resolution: the past is denied without regret, the future is reclaimed—'pursue' is active, chasing the unspoiled true life.

我明白过去的事已不可挽回，知道未来的日子还可以补救。

I know the past cannot be retrieved, but I know the future can still be caught.

此联是陶渊明人生转折的哲学表达，化用《论语》楚狂接舆「往者不可谏，来者犹可追」之歌，而境界更为内在。「悟」「知」二字领起，点出这不是一时冲动，而是清醒的觉悟——「已往之不谏」是对仕宦岁月的整体否定，不辩解、不追悔，一笔带过；「来者之可追」则把希望投向归田之后的人生，未来尚可补救，生命犹可自新。两句对仗工整，「已往」对「来者」、「不谏」对「可追」，时间被划分为一弃一取的两段，弃的是为形役之心，取的是返自然之真。深一层看，此联暗承《庄子》「觉而后知其梦」的醒悟结构：从官的迷梦中醒来，方知田园为真。以悔悟的语气说出决断，以平静的口吻完成颠覆——「知来者之可追」的「追」字尤其有力，不是消极逃避，而是主动追赶那未被名利污染的本真生活。

The realization. I know the past cannot be retrieved, but I know the future can still be caught. The Confucius-song allusion (the past beyond counsel, the future still to be pursued) is the turning. To have said he learned from the past and hoped for the future would be a realization; the past-unretrievable against the future-still-to-be-caught is the realization.

实迷途其未远，觉今是而昨非。

Truly my straying path is not far; I wake to find today right and yesterday wrong. — The value-core of the whole. 'Straying path' means the official career; 'not far' leaves room for dignity without remorse. 'Today right, yesterday wrong' cuts life in two with no hesitation—the clearest verdict a scholar could give on office versus garden, freedom versus bowing.

实在说迷路还不算远，已觉悟到今天（归隐）是对的、昨天（做官）是错的。

The lost road was not in fact far; I know now that today is right and yesterday was wrong.

「实迷途其未远」化用《离骚》「及行迷之未远」，屈原以回驾自勉，陶渊明以归田自解，在楚辞的意象里注入晋人的理性。「迷途」指仕宦之路——在陶渊明看来，为五斗米折腰的人生如同歧路亡羊，所幸「未远」，八十余日的彭泽令生涯尚可挽回，故无沉沦之痛而有新生之喜。「觉今是而昨非」是全文的价值核心：「觉」字点明此为清醒判断而非情感冲动，「今是」指归田守真，「昨非」指折腰事人，一「是」一「非」将人生截然两分，语气斩截，毫无犹疑。此联之所以千古传诵，在于它以最简的语言完成了中国士人最重大的价值翻转——官场与田园、折腰与守真、形役与心闲，孰是孰非，陶渊明在此给出终极裁决。后之读者于失意困顿中读此，无不感到一种当头棒喝般的清醒力量。

The verdict. The lost road was not in fact far; I know now that today is right and yesterday was wrong. The Li Sao allusion (the lost road not far) and the today-right-yesterday-wrong are the essay's value judgment. To have said he knew he was right to leave office would be a judgment; the lost-road-not-far against the today-is-right-yesterday-wrong is the judgment.

舟遥遥以轻飏，风飘飘而吹衣。

The boat glides light on the water; the wind flutters and blows my robe. — The turn from resolve to action, the real scene of departure. 'Glides light' shows the double state of anxious-to-return yet at ease; 'the wind flutters my robe' brings the picture alive—not the man hurrying home but wind and boat bearing him, all heaven aiding the return.

船儿轻快地在水上飘荡，风儿飘飘吹动着我的衣裳。

The boat drifts lightly and far; the wind flaps my robe.

此联由决意转入行动，写归舟启程的实景，是全文由「心」转向「身」的枢纽。「舟遥遥以轻飏」写船行水上之轻快：「遥遥」状其远逝之态，「轻飏」状其御风之势，船轻水缓，正是归心似箭又心境安闲的双重写照——同样的水路，来时载满仕途的疲惫，去时满载自由的轻盈。「风飘飘而吹衣」以衣袂飘举写风之清快，衣随风流，人随舟归，一个「吹」字让整幅画面活了起来：不是人急着回家，而是风推着船、吹着衣，天地万物都在成全这场归途。两句以「遥遥」对「飘飘」、「轻飏」对「吹衣」，叠字与动词相映成趣，白描中见神采。这一联的欢快基调，与后文「恨晨光之熹微」的急切相续，把归田写得如一次奔向光明的航行，其喜悦是真实的、身体的、扑面而来的。

The boat. The boat drifts lightly and far; the wind flaps my robe. The light boat and the flapping robe are the physical joy of the return. To have described the boat home would be a scene; the boat-drifting-light-and-far against the wind-flapping-my-robe is the scene.

Study

Word focus

归去来兮 Go home! — The eye of the whole piece; 'xi' and 'lai' are particles, the real sense in 'go home,' yet the sigh rests on the two empty words. 'Return' is Tao's lifelong verb, here a long cry lifting 'return' from an act to a way of being—returning to the mind's true rest. Later 'homeward journey' became a byword for retirement, fixed as a landmark in the scholar's spirit. 「归去来兮」是全辞的题眼，四字中「兮」为语助，「来」亦为语助，实义唯「归去」二字，而咏叹之情全在这两个虚字上。「归」是此辞的动词核心，陶渊明一生吟咏不绝：《归园田居》五首、《归鸟》诗皆以「归」立题，此辞更以一声长叹开场，把「归」从行动升华为生存方式——不是回一个地理上的家，而是回到本心所安的生命状态。「来」字使呼唤带上亲昵与催促，「兮」字拖长声气，使四字如一声从胸腔深处发出的长啸。与《诗经》「式微式微，胡不归」相比，陶渊明省去反复的哀叹而代之以决绝的呼唤，足见其归隐不是被迫，而是自觉的奔赴。后世以「归去来」为归隐的代称，苏轼《哨遍》隐括此辞，辛弃疾更以「归去来兮」入词首句，可见这四个字已凝固为中国文人精神史上的一个路标。

心为形役 Mind enslaved to body. — The named root of the ailment and the starting point of Tao's philosophy. 'Mind' is the true nature, 'body' the flesh and its needs; to bow for salary is the mind enslaved. Tao makes it a concrete experience of the eighty-day Pengze post. Its worth is that he not only names the ill but gives the cure—awakening from it leads to 'happy in heaven's lot,' the mind restored as master. The phrase became a common self-check for later literati on retirement. 「既自以心为形役」之「心为形役」，是全辞病根的指认，也是陶渊明人生哲学的出发点。「心」指本心、真性，「形」指形体、肉身及其种种欲望需求——为俸禄而折腰、为名利而奔走，便是心被形所役使。此语本于《庄子》「心」与「形」之辨与「全性保真」之说，陶渊明却将它落实为一次具体的人生经验：彭泽令八十余日的折腰生涯，正是「形役」的实证。可贵处在于陶渊明不仅指出病根，更给出药方——「奚惆怅而独悲」以自问自解，先否定了自怜的沉溺；「悟已往之不谏，知来者之可追」则以行动回应，把忏悔转为自新。因此「心为形役」四字不是绝望的哀叹，而是觉醒的起点：识破形役，方能脱去形役，此后「乐夫天命复奚疑」，正是心复为主的必然归宿。此语亦成后世文人检讨仕隐得失的常用语。

迷途 Straying path. — Reworked from the Lisao's 'turn back before the straying is far,' yet new: Qu Yuan's straying is political perplexity, Tao's is office itself—to be an official is to be lost. 'Not far' makes the negation carry no regret, the return no penance. Read with 'today right, yesterday wrong,' it completes the value system; later 'turn back from the straying path' became an idiom whose source is here. 「实迷途其未远」之「迷途」二字，化用《离骚》「及行迷之未远」而别开新境。屈原的「行迷」指政治上的受挫与困惑，他选择回车复路、继续求索；陶渊明的「迷途」则直指仕宦本身——做官便是迷路，辞官才是归路。这层转义极大胆：在「学而优则仕」的儒家传统里，仕途本是正途，陶渊明却以「迷」字将其整体否定，宣告另一条人生道路（田园）才是「觉」之所在。「未远」二字尤其要紧：它使否定不带悔恨，使回归不必赎罪——迷途既未远，今日之归便是迷途知返，尊严与自由两全。与「觉今是而昨非」连读，「迷途」对应「昨非」，「觉」对应「今是」，全辞的价值判断体系由此完整建立。后世「迷途知返」成为成语，其源正在此辞；而陶渊明以归田践行之，使这个成语从劝诫变为一种真实活过的人生。