明 Ming · 诗 Poem
岳阳楼
Yueyang Tower
岳阳楼春色醉巴陵，阑干落洞庭。
水吞三楚白，山接九疑青。
空阔鱼龙气，婵娟帝子灵。
何人夜吹笛，风急雨冥冥。
Waters swallow the white of Three Chu; hills join the green of Nine Doubts.
Empty and wide, the breath of fish and dragon; graceful, the spirit of the imperial maidens.
Who plays the flute at night? Wind swift, rain dim and dark.
Meaning
Spring colours intoxicate Baling; beyond the rail Dongting lies open and bright. The waters swallow the white light of Three Chu; the hills join the green shadows of Nine Doubts. Empty and wide, the breath of fish and dragon; graceful, the spirit of the imperial maidens. Who plays the flute at night? Wind swift, rain dim and dark.
春色令人陶醉于巴陵，栏杆外洞庭湖一片空明。江水吞没了三楚的白色波光，山峦连接着九疑的青色峰影。空阔的水面有鱼龙之气，婵娟的帝子之灵。是什么人在夜里吹笛，风急雨暗，天色冥冥。
Appreciation
Yang Ji, one of the early-Ming 'Four Masters of Wu', pairs clear grace with quiet grandeur. The poem moves from present scene to antiquity, from the real to the void: the opening couplet 'Spring colours intoxicate Baling; the rail drops to Dongting' uses 'intoxicate' for spring's richness and 'drops' for the lake-sky's vastness, an open start. It then swallows Three Chu's white waves and joins Nine Doubts' green shadows, where 'swallow' and 'join' give water and hill a surging motion and white-green colouring its majesty near High Tang; from geography it turns to myth — the breath of fish and dragon, the spirit of the Xiang maidens — and closes on a night flute in swift wind and dim rain, clear, vast, with endless aftertaste.
【白话串讲】 “春色醉巴陵，阑干落洞庭。水吞三楚白，山接九疑青”——杨基写岳阳楼：春色醉了巴陵，栏杆下就是洞庭。水吞三楚，山接九疑，这是明代人眼里的岳阳楼。 【意象与手法】 此诗章法由景及古、由实入虚。首联「春色醉巴陵，阑干落洞庭」以「醉」写春色之酽、以「落」写湖天之旷，起势开阔；颔联「水吞三楚白，山接九疑青」为全诗警策，「吞」「接」二动词赋予水山以磅礴动势，「三楚白」「九疑青」以色彩对举，境界雄浑；颈联「空阔鱼龙气，婵娟帝子灵」由地理转入神话，怀想湘妃，空灵缥缈；尾联「何人夜吹笛，风急雨冥冥」以笛声、急风、冥雨收束，清空苍茫，余味不尽。 【情感与主旨】 杨基为明初「吴中四杰」之一，诗风清丽兼擅雄阔。此《岳阳楼》七律约作于其游历湖广、登临岳阳楼时。岳阳楼俯临洞庭、遥接君山，自唐以来为登览名胜，杜甫、范仲淹先后有作。明初诗人登楼，既写江山形胜，亦多怀古之思，「帝子」即指舜妃娥皇女英（湘水之神），「鱼龙」暗合洞庭渊深。 【名句点睛】 「水吞三楚白，山接九疑青」为全诗警策，炼字（吞、接）与设色（白、青）俱佳，雄浑近盛唐，为常考重点；「何人夜吹笛，风急雨冥冥」以景收束，清空苍茫。
Background
Yang Ji was one of the early-Ming 'Four Masters of Wu', his style clear-grace yet also grand. This 'Yueyang Tower' seven-character lü was likely written when he travelled through Huguang and climbed Yueyang Tower. Yueyang Tower overlooks Dongting, far linking Jun Mountain; since Tang it has been a famous climbing spot, Du Fu and Fan Zhongyan wrote in turn. Early-Ming poets climbing the tower wrote both river-mountain grandeur and much nostalgia—'imperial maidens' refers to Shun's consorts Ehuang and Nüying (Xiang river goddesses), 'fish and dragon' hints Dongting's depth. Yang Ji's poem inherits Tang magnitude above, opens early-Ming court–Wu style below, a representative of his seven-character lü.
杨基（1326—1378），字孟载，号眉庵，祖籍嘉定州（今四川乐山），生长吴中，元末明初诗人，与高启、张羽、徐贲并称「吴中四杰」。其诗兼学唐宋，清丽中见雄阔，尤长于五七言律诗。此《岳阳楼》七律约作于其游历湖广、登临岳阳楼之时。岳阳楼位于今湖南岳阳，下临洞庭湖，遥对君山，自古为登览名胜，唐代杜甫《登岳阳楼》、宋代范仲淹《岳阳楼记》皆传诵千古，使此楼成为湖湘文化与家国情怀的象征。明初诗人登临名胜，既写江山形胜，亦多怀古之思。诗中「帝子」即指舜妃娥皇女英，相传舜南巡死于苍梧，二妃追至洞庭，死于湘水，为湘水之神，见于《楚辞·九歌·湘夫人》；「鱼龙」暗合洞庭水深莫测的传说。杨基此诗上承唐人气象，下开明初吴中诗风，是其七律代表作之一，也是明代前期诗人追摹盛唐诗风的典型文本。又，杨基为「吴中四杰」之一，其诗早年学温李，后出入盛唐，诗风由绮丽渐趋清雄，此诗登岳阳楼而写洞庭之壮，正是其中年游历湖广时「眼界既开，诗格遂进」的产物；明代诗坛自高棅《唐诗品汇》倡「盛唐为正宗」以来，学唐之风渐盛，杨基此诗正是这一风气的产物，亦可见明初诗人追摹盛唐而自具面目的努力。
Art
This poem moves from scene to antiquity, from real to void. The first couplet 'Spring colours intoxicate Baling; the rail drops to Dongting' with 'intoxicate' writes spring's richness, with 'drops' writes the lake-sky's vastness, open start; the second couplet 'Waters swallow the white of Three Chu; hills join the green of Nine Doubts' is the poem's finest stroke, 'swallow' 'join' give water and hill a surging motion, 'Three Chu white' 'Nine Doubts green' set colours against each other, majestic, near High Tang; the third couplet 'Empty and wide, the breath of fish and dragon; graceful, the spirit of the imperial maidens' turns from geography to myth, recalling the Xiang consorts, empty and ethereal; the last couplet 'Who plays the flute at night? Wind swift, rain dim and dark' closes with flute sound, swift wind, dim rain, clear and vast, endless aftertaste. Diction strict, antithesis neat.
此诗章法由景及古、由实入虚，五律一体而气象雄浑。首联「春色醉巴陵，阑干落洞庭」以「醉」写春色之酽、以「落」写湖天之旷，「醉」字拟人，春色浓酽竟令人沉醉，开篇即立饱满情绪；「落」字写阑干之外洞庭湖横陈眼底，湖天之旷如在目前，起势开阔。颔联「水吞三楚白，山接九疑青」为全诗警策：「吞」「接」二动词赋予水山以磅礴动势，水势浩大竟似吞没三楚之地，山势绵延直与九疑相接；「三楚白」「九疑青」以色彩对举，白青相映，境界雄浑，直逼盛唐。颈联「空阔鱼龙气，婵娟帝子灵」由地理转入神话，「鱼龙气」写洞庭渊深的神秘，「帝子灵」怀想湘妃，空灵缥缈，深化怀古之思。尾联「何人夜吹笛，风急雨冥冥」以笛声、急风、冥雨收束，由白日之景转入夜雨之象，清空苍茫，余味不尽。全诗炼字精严，对仗工稳，由景入古、由古入虚，章法井然。此诗对仗之精工尤可称道：颔联「水吞三楚白，山接九疑青」，动词「吞」「接」相对，色彩「白」「青」相对，地理「三楚」「九疑」相对，虚实相生；颈联「空阔鱼龙气，婵娟帝子灵」，「空阔」对「婵娟」、「鱼龙」对「帝子」、「气」对「灵」，工整中见灵动；两联一写实景一写虚想，实虚相济，正是五律中二联「一景一情」的典型配置，其格律之精严，直可追配唐人。
Allusions
'Three Chu' refers to the Warring-States Chu lands (west, east, south Chu), speaking Dongting's breadth; 'Nine Doubts' is Nine Doubt Mountain in Hunan, said to be Shun's burial place. 'Imperial maidens' from Chu Ci·Nine Songs·Xiang Furen 'the imperial maidens descend to the north isle', refers to Yao's daughters, Shun's consorts Ehuang and Nüying, who died in the Xiang and became Xiang river goddesses, here nostalgic. 'Fish and dragon' transforms Du Fu's 'fish and dragon lonely, autumn river cold', writing Dongting's depth. 'Flute' hints Huan Yi playing the flute and Li Bai 'in Yellow Crane Tower they play the jade flute', adding vastness with flute sound and rain. Allusions fit Dongting and Xiang-Chu, weighty yet not stalled.
诗中用典皆贴洞庭湘楚，厚重而不滞。「三楚」指战国楚地（西楚、东楚、南楚），言洞庭水域之广，水势足以涵盖三楚，极言其壮阔；「九疑」即九嶷山，在湖南宁远，相传为舜葬之处，山接九疑，写山势之绵远，亦暗引舜帝南巡的传说。「帝子」语出《楚辞·九歌·湘夫人》「帝子降兮北渚」，指尧之女、舜之妃娥皇女英，二妃死于湘水，为湘水女神，诗人怀想帝子之灵，正是登临怀古的题中应有之义。「鱼龙」化用杜甫《秋兴》「鱼龙寂寞秋江冷」，写洞庭渊深、气象苍茫。「吹笛」暗用桓伊弄笛及李白「黄鹤楼中吹玉笛」的意象，以笛声风雨添苍茫之致。诸典皆与洞庭、湘楚、湖湘文化密切相关，信手拈来而融化无迹，既增诗的厚度，又不碍清丽的风格。另，「洞庭」本为湘楚神话的渊薮：湘妃泪洒斑竹、洞庭龙宫传说、范仲淹「先天下之忧而忧」的楼记，皆使此楼此湖承载了厚重的文化记忆，诗人登楼而思帝子、想鱼龙、闻笛声，正是与这一文化记忆的对话，诗中的「帝子灵」与「夜吹笛」一写湘妃之灵、一写江上笛声，皆承《楚辞》与唐人「潇湘夜雨」的意象传统，使此诗兼具山水之壮与神话之美。
Commentary
Qing critic Shen Deqian, in Ming Shi Bie Cai, recorded Yang Ji's poems, saying his 'five-character ancient and seven-character lü both enter Tang's gate'. Moderns, on the Four Masters of Wu, say Yang Ji 'writes all forms, best at grand width'; this 'Yueyang Tower' second couplet 'Waters swallow the white of Three Chu; hills join the green of Nine Doubts' is always named by anthologists and critics as an early-Ming seven-character lü with High-Tang magnitude.
清人沈德潜《明诗别裁集》录杨基诗，称其「五古、七律俱入唐人门径」，以为其律诗可以追配唐人；近人论「吴中四杰」，谓杨基「诗兼众体，最擅雄阔」，此《岳阳楼》颔联「水吞三楚白，山接九疑青」向为选家与论者并称，以为明初七律中具盛唐气象之作。此诗的价值，一在它是明代前期诗人追摹盛唐诗风的成功范例，颔联的雄浑气象直可追配杜甫《登岳阳楼》「吴楚东南坼，乾坤日夜浮」的境界；二在它由景及古、由实入虚的章法，将登临写景与湘楚怀古融为一体，体现了明初诗人承袭唐宋而又自出机杼的创作追求；三在它作为岳阳楼这一文化地标的诗歌谱系中的一环，与杜甫、范仲淹等人的作品并读，可见同一楼台在不同时代的文学呈现，是研究明代诗歌与湖湘文化的重要文本。又，此诗与杜甫《登岳阳楼》、范仲淹《岳阳楼记》并观，可见「岳阳楼」题材在文学史上的三次高峰：杜诗写身世之悲，范记写士人之志，杨诗写山水之壮，一体而三面，正见同一题材在不同时代、不同文体中的丰富呈现，杨诗虽不及杜诗之沉郁、范记之宏阔，然其雄浑清丽，自足名家，是明代七律中咏岳阳楼的代表作。
Prosody
Line by line
春色醉巴陵，阑干落洞庭。
Spring colours intoxicate Baling; the rail drops to Dongting.
春色令人陶醉于巴陵，栏杆外洞庭湖一片空明。
Spring drunk makes Baling drunk; beyond the railings Dongting lies spread.
首联起笔开阔，以「醉」「落」二字立骨。「醉」字拟人，春色浓酽竟令人沉醉，将春之酽、人之情融为一体，开篇即立饱满情绪，也暗写诗人登楼赏春的欣然；「阑干落洞庭」写凭栏远眺，洞庭湖横陈眼底，「落」字最妙，湖水本在地面，诗人居高临下，洞庭如在脚下铺展，「落」字写出登高俯瞰的视角与湖天之旷的视觉冲击。两句一写春色之酽、一写湖天之旷，一近一远，由情入景，起势不凡。「醉」字以人写春，将主观情绪注入客观景物；「落」字以动写静，将静态的湖面写出铺展的动态，二字炼动，正是五律起句「以一字立骨」的典型笔法，也为全诗定下雄浑而明丽的双重基调。
The drunk. Spring drunk makes Baling drunk; beyond the railings Dongting lies spread. The drunk spring and the Dongting below the railings are the opening. To have made spring drunk would be a personification; the spring-drum-makes-Baling-drunk-beyond-the-railings-Dongting-lies-spread is the personification.
水吞三楚白，山接九疑青。
Waters swallow the white of Three Chu; hills join the green of Nine Doubts.
江水吞没了三楚的白色波光，山峦连接着九疑的青色峰影。
The water swallows the three Chu regions in white; the hills join the nine Doubts in blue.
颔联是全诗警策，雄浑近盛唐。「吞」「接」二动词赋予水山以磅礴动势：「吞」字写水势之浩大，洞庭之水竟似吞没三楚之地，「吞」字以吞噬之态写水之广，气势夺人；「接」字写山势之绵远，远山直与九疑相接，「接」字以连绵之态写山之远，境界宏阔。「三楚白」「九疑青」以色彩对举，三楚之地烟波浩渺一片白色，九疑之山青峰叠翠满目青色，白青相映，设色明丽而气象雄浑。此联以动词写势、以色彩写境，「吞」「接」二字力透纸背，直可追配杜甫《登岳阳楼》「吴楚东南坼，乾坤日夜浮」的雄浑境界，是明代七律中难得的盛唐气象之作，也是全诗最见功力、最富盛名的一联。
The swallow. The water swallows the three Chu regions in white; the hills join the nine Doubts in blue. The swallowing water and the joining hills are the grand couplet matching Du Fu. To have swallowed the three Chu would be a swallowing; the water-swallows-the-three-Chu-regions-in-white-the-hills-join-the-nine-Doubts-in-blue is the swallowing.
空阔鱼龙气，婵娟帝子灵。
Empty and wide, the breath of fish and dragon; graceful, the spirit of the imperial maidens.
空阔的水面有鱼龙之气，婵娟的帝子之灵。
Vast and empty, the breath of fish and dragons; fair, the spirits of the imperial daughters.
颈联由地理转入神话，是登临怀古的深化。「空阔鱼龙气」写洞庭湖水面空阔、渊深莫测，「鱼龙气」化用杜甫「鱼龙寂寞秋江冷」，以鱼龙潜跃的想象写湖水的深邃神秘，空阔之中自有一股苍茫之气；「婵娟帝子灵」怀想湘妃，「婵娟」写其姿容之美，「帝子灵」指娥皇女英之灵，二妃为湘水之神，典故出自《楚辞·九歌·湘夫人》「帝子降兮北渚」。两句由实景转入虚想，由眼前的水天转入悠远的神话，鱼龙之气写湖之神秘，帝子之灵写湖之灵秀，虚实相生，将洞庭湖从山水之景升华为文化之境，为尾联「何人夜吹笛」的苍茫之象作了情感与想象的铺垫，也正见诗人登临怀古、追思湘楚人文的深致。
The spirits. Vast and empty, the breath of fish and dragons; fair, the spirits of the imperial daughters. The fish-dragon breath and the Xiang consorts' spirits are the mythology. To have invoked the Xiang consorts would be an allusion; the vast-and-empty-the-breath-of-fish-and-dragons-fair-the-spirits-of-the-imperial-daughters is the allusion.
何人夜吹笛，风急雨冥冥。
Who plays the flute at night? Wind swift, rain dim and dark.
是什么人在夜里吹笛？风急雨暗，天色冥冥。
Who is playing the flute at night? The wind is wild, the rain is dark.
尾联以景收束，清空苍茫，余味不尽。「何人夜吹笛」以问句起笔，夜半笛声，不知何人吹奏，一个「何人」，将读者的想象引向笛声的来源——是湘灵？是迁客？是隐者？笛声本已凄清，加之「风急雨冥冥」的景物烘托：急风骤雨，天色冥冥，笛声在风雨中若隐若现，苍茫之象扑面而来。此联妙在以声写景、以景衬情：白日登楼所见的雄浑春景，至夜化为风雨冥冥中的笛声，由明而暗、由实而虚，正如诗人由赏景而入怀古的心路历程。结句不写人物的感受，只写风急雨冥与笛声，而苍茫怅惘之情自在其中，正是「以景结情」的典范，余韵悠长，令人回味不尽。
The flute. Who is playing the flute at night? The wind is wild, the rain is dark. The who-is-playing-the-flute question and the wild-wind-dark-rain are the close. To have closed on the night flute would be a close; the who-is-playing-the-flute-at-night-the-wind-is-wild-the-rain-is-dark is the close.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Du's poem writes Dongting's vastness and lonely perilous fate; Yang Ji's seven-character lü writes spring-view majesty—compare Tang and Ming same-topic climbing.
杜甫《登岳阳楼》「昔闻洞庭水，今上岳阳楼。吴楚东南坼，乾坤日夜浮」与本诗同题岳阳楼、同写登临洞庭的壮阔景象。差异在：杜诗写于流寓漂泊之际，以「吴楚东南坼，乾坤日夜浮」写洞庭之壮，以「亲朋无一字，老病有孤舟」写身世之悲，是家国之忧与个人之愁的交织，沉郁顿挫；杨诗写于明初游历之时，以「水吞三楚白，山接九疑青」写洞庭之雄，以「帝子灵」「夜吹笛」写怀古之思，是山水之赏与湘楚之思的融合，雄浑清丽。一沉郁一清雄，可见唐人与明人同题登览的气象异同，并读正能体会岳阳楼这一文化地标在不同时代诗人笔下的不同风采。
游岳阳楼记 A Record of Touring Yueyang Tower 袁中道 · 同写明代岳阳楼、同为明人山水感怀 Same (same-titled Yueyang Tower / Ming landscape reflection)Both write Ming Yueyang Tower; Yang in seven-character lü nostalgia, Yuan in travel prose spirit-and-nature—compare same-topic different forms.
袁中道《游岳阳楼记》写其登岳阳楼的所见所感，与本诗同为明人写岳阳楼之作。差异在：杨基以七律写登临，以「吞」「接」写洞庭之壮、以「帝子灵」写怀古之思，是诗体的凝练与意象的经营；袁中道以游记散文写登临，以「水大至，江涨溢城」写洞庭之变，以「第见风帆沙鸟、烟云竹树而已」写眼前之景，是散文的铺叙与性灵的流露。一诗一文、一凝练一散漫，可见明人面对同一楼台的两种书写方式，并读正能体会文学体裁对山水感怀表达方式的影响，以及明代山水文学诗与文并盛的丰富面貌。