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南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 诗 Poem

人日思归

Thoughts of Home on Human Day

薛道衡

Xue Daoheng

羁旅Theme 思乡Homesickness

入春才七日，离家已二年。
人归落雁后，思发在花前。

Spring has come in but seven days;
from home I have been gone two years.
My going home will trail behind the geese,
but my longing set out before the flowers.

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Meaning

Spring has been in for only seven days, and yet I have been away from home two full years. My own return will come after the wild geese have flown north, but my longing had already set out before the flowers were in bloom.

进入春天才过了七天，而离开家乡却已经有两年了。人回去要比北归的大雁还要晚，可是思念的心啊，早在花开之前就已经飞回了。全诗仅二十字，以「才七日」与「已二年」的时间反差、「落雁后」与「花前」的迟早对照，极写客中思归之切，对仗工稳而语天然，已开唐人绝句先声，是隋诗少有的清隽之作。

Appreciation

In only twenty characters the poem is newly and cleverly made. The first couplet takes its force from a contrast of time: seven days says how swiftly spring has come, two years how long he has been away from home, and the short measure against the long makes a violent difference. The second couplet sets the man's return against the setting out of his longing: to trail behind the homing geese says how late his going back will be, while the flowers say how early his homesickness began, and early and late set side by side make the urgency of that heart plain. The parallel is neat and the language natural, already the first note of the Tang quatrain.

【白话串讲】薛道衡在北方过正月初七，写下《人日思归》：“入春才七日，离家已二年”——才入春七天，离家已经两年。“人归落雁后，思发在花前”——我人还没归，思念比花开得还早。【意象与手法】诗仅二十字而构思新巧：首联以时间对比发力，「才七日」极言春来之速，「已二年」极言离乡之久，一短一长，反差强烈；后联以「人归」与「思发」对举，「落雁后」写归期之迟，「花前」写乡思之早，迟早相形，更见归心之切。对仗工稳而语天然，已开唐绝先声。【情感与主旨】薛道衡（540—609），字玄卿，隋代诗人，仕北齐、北周，入隋为内史侍郎。其诗名重于时，尝奉使江南（陈朝），滞留外郡，逢正月七日人日而思归，遂作此绝。人日为古俗戴胜出游、登高思亲之节，诗人客中逢节，以「才七日」「已二年」的强烈反差，道出羁旅思归之切。【名句点睛】考点一：手法——时间对比（七日/二年）与迟早对照（归落雁后/思发花前）；考点二：「人日」节俗点题与思归之情的触发；考点三：此诗对唐人五绝的影响（明人胡应麟谓其「已开唐人绝句之境」）。

Background

Xue Daoheng (540-609), styled Xuanqing, was a poet of the Sui who served the Northern Qi and the Northern Zhou and became Gentleman of the Interior Secretariat under the Sui. His poetic reputation stood high in his day. Sent as envoy to Chen, or on some mission to the south, he was detained in a distant prefecture, and on the seventh day of the first month, the Human Day, his thoughts turned homeward and he made this quatrain. Human Day was an old festival on which people wore hair ornaments, went out and climbed high, and thought of their kin; meeting the festival as a stranger, the poet used the violent contrast of only seven days against two whole years to say how keenly he wished to go home. It is one of the rare pieces of pure grace in Sui poetry.

《人日思归》为隋代诗人薛道衡（540—609）所作，是南北朝末期最著名的思乡短章之一。薛道衡字玄卿，河东汾阴人，历仕北齐、北周，入隋官至内史侍郎、司隶大夫，以诗名重于当世，时人谓其「文章道衡」，《隋书》本传载其诗「词致清婉」，「每有所作，南人无不吟诵」。此诗之作，历来有两种说法：一说为薛道衡奉使陈朝（南朝陈）时作——他曾出使陈国，滞留江南，时当正月，值「人日」而思归，遂有此作，此说流传最广；一说为开皇初年自江南被召还朝时途中所作。无论何说，诗写「客中逢节、思归心切」的主旨则一。正月七日为古俗「人日」，《荆楚岁时记》载「正月七日为人日，以七种菜为羹，剪彩为人，或镂金箔为人，以贴屏风，亦戴之头鬓；又造华胜以相遗」，人日有登高、出游、思亲之俗，北魏董勋《问礼俗》谓「正月一日为鸡，二日为狗……七日为人」，人日乃「人之生日」，是家人团聚、登高怀远的节日。薛道衡客居江南，逢此佳节而不得归，遂以二十字写尽归思。此诗在南朝即已传诵，据《隋唐嘉话》载，薛道衡作「空梁落燕泥」句为人所妒，其诗名之盛可见一斑；此诗则以其构思之巧、对仗之工，成为南北朝末期五绝的压卷之作，上承南朝小诗之清丽，下开唐人五绝之先声。

Art

In twenty characters only, the poem is fresh and ingenious in conception. The first couplet takes its force from a contrast of time: seven days says how quickly spring has come, two years how long he has been gone, the short and the long standing in violent opposition. The second couplet pairs the man's return with the setting out of his thought: trailing behind the geese writes how late the going home will be, and before the flowers how early the longing began, so that with late and early set against each other the urgency of that heart shows all the more. The parallel is steady and the language natural, already the opening note of the Tang quatrain.

此诗艺术上最突出的特色，是以二十字的篇幅完成两组精巧的对照，构思新巧而语出天然，是「以小见大、以巧写情」的典范。全诗四句，两句一层，层层对照。首联「入春才七日，离家已二年」以时间对照发力：「才七日」极言春来之速——入春不过七日，正是一年之初；「已二年」极言离乡之久——离家已经两年，「才」与「已」两个虚字对举，一短一长，时间的反差强烈到近乎残酷：才过七日的新春，与已满二年的乡愁，一快一慢、一新一旧，短短十字写尽「度日如年」的煎熬。后联「人归落雁后，思发在花前」以迟早对照收束：「人归」与「思发」对举，归期与人思一迟一早；「落雁后」写人归之迟——大雁北归在早春，而人归还在雁后；「花前」写思发之早——乡思早在花开之前就已萌发。「落雁后」与「花前」一后一前，时空错位，归期愈迟，思念愈早，反差之中，归心之切呼之欲出。四句二十字，两组对照，前实后虚、前直后曲，对仗工稳而语意流转，不见斧凿痕，正是南朝五绝「清新自然」与北朝诗歌「刚健质实」交融的产物，明人胡应麟《诗薮》谓此诗「工巧天然，已开唐人绝句之境」，诚为的评。

Allusions

Human Day follows the old custom of the seventh day of the first month, recorded in Dongfang Shuo's 'Book of Divination'. The homing geese rework the 'Monthly Ordinances' of the 'Book of Rites', where the east wind thaws the ice, the hibernating creatures begin to stir, the fish rise to the ice, the otter offers up fish and the wild geese come, together with the image, common among the poet's contemporaries, of the goose that carries letters; here the geese going north set off a man who has not gone. The flowers mark the spring scene. The poem uses allusion very lightly and writes its longing purely by contrasts of time and space, showing the Sui tendency to cut away ornament for plainness.

此诗用典极淡而含蕴深广，是隋诗「去繁就简」趋向的体现，纯以时空对照写思，不事堆砌。「人日」为全诗点题之节：正月七日人日，是古俗中「人之生日」，《荆楚岁时记》《问礼俗》皆有记载，人日有登高、出游、思亲之俗，诗人客中逢此节，最易触动归思——「人日」本是念人之日，而诗人所念之人远在故乡，佳节与乡愁相激，遂成此诗，此即「逢节思亲」的传统母题。「落雁」用《礼记·月令》「东风解冻，蛰虫始振……鸿雁来」之典意——孟春之月鸿雁北归，是春天的信使；又承古乐府「鸿雁飞南国」「雁足传书」的意象传统，雁能北归而人不能归，以雁之自由反衬人之羁绊。「花前」点春景，暗用「春来发几枝」的物候意象，花开之日正是春深之时，而乡思在花开之前已然萌发，以物候之迟早写心绪之先后。此外，此诗「才七日」「已二年」的时间语式，承《诗经》「一日不见，如三秋兮」的夸张传统，而更精练；「落雁后」「花前」的对照，则启唐人「忽见陌头杨柳色」式的物候触发。全诗无一僻典，而以节俗、物候、时间的巧妙组合写思，正是隋诗由六朝绮靡走向唐人清空的关键一步。

Commentary

The poem was recited in the south in its own day, and it is recorded that Xue Daoheng's line about swallow mud falling from the empty beam made others envy him. The Song statesman Wang Anshi admired the cleverness of the longing that sets out before the flowers. The Ming critic Hu Yinglin said that Xue Daoheng's 'Thoughts of Home on Human Day' is skilful and yet natural and already opens the realm of the Tang quatrain. Later ages have often discussed it together with the homesick poems of Du Fu and other later masters.

此诗在南北朝末期至唐代的评价极高，被视为五绝成熟的标志性作品。明人胡应麟《诗薮》谓「薛道衡《人日思归》，工巧天然，已开唐人绝句之境」，以为此诗上承南朝小诗、下启盛唐绝句，是五绝由「古绝」走向「律绝」的桥梁——其首联的对仗工整、后联的时空对照，已具唐人绝句「起承转合」的雏形。清人沈德潜《古诗源》收此诗，评其「自然」；近人论隋诗，多以此诗与隋炀帝《春江花月夜》、薛道衡《昔昔盐》并称，为隋代诗歌中最具唐音的篇章。就接受史而言，此诗在南朝陈地即已传诵，据载陈人读之「无不吟诵」，可见其以「清婉」打动南北；其「思发在花前」一句，宋人王安石赏其巧思，后人更以「雁后花前」为思乡的固定语码。此诗的影响还在于它确立了「人日思归」这一题材——后世高适《人日寄杜二拾遗》「人日题诗寄草堂，遥怜故人思故乡」、陆游《人日》等皆承此脉。就艺术价值言，此诗以二十字写尽羁旅思乡的普遍情感，其「才」「已」「后」「前」四字的时空对照法，成为后世思乡诗反复取法的典范，是「以少胜多」的千古短章。

Prosody

Form Five-character quatrain五言绝句（古绝，向律绝过渡之作）

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, lower level first xian group (year, before)年、前，押平声先韵（平水韵下平一先），首句不入韵，偶句押韵。

Tone pattern Five-character quatrain, oblique onset, first line not entering the rhyme首句「入春才七日」为仄平平仄仄，次句「离家已二年」为平平仄仄平，三句「人归落雁后」为平平仄仄仄，末句「思发在花前」为平仄仄平平，大体合律而第三句「落雁后」三仄连用，古绝余风。

Reading note Xue Daoheng's Human Day homesickness, skilful and yet natural, sounding the first note of the Tang quatrain.此诗为五言绝句，作于南北朝末至隋初，正处于五绝由「古绝」向「律绝」过渡的关键阶段：全诗二十字，四句两联，首句不入韵，偶句押平声先韵（年、前），已具律绝的雏形；首联「入春才七日，离家已二年」对仗工整（才/已、七日/二年），后联「人归落雁后，思发在花前」亦成对仗（人归/思发、落雁后/花前），两联皆对，是典型的「通首对仗」的绝句，与唐人「两个黄鹂鸣翠柳」同格。平仄上，此诗大体合律，唯第三句「人归落雁后」为平平仄仄仄，三仄连用，仍是古绝的声调，正见其过渡性质——声律尚未完全律化，而章法对仗已具唐风。用韵上，押先韵，「年、前」皆悠长清亮，正合思乡之情的一唱三叹。此诗在五绝史上的意义，正在于它是「古绝」与「律绝」之间的桥梁：胡应麟谓其「工巧天然，已开唐人绝句之境」，沈德潜《古诗源》亦收录，正因其以古绝之质朴、律绝之工巧，写出了唐人五绝特有的「含蓄隽永」。诵读此诗，宜以清朗徐缓之音出之，于「才」「已」「后」「前」四处虚字稍作顿挫，方能听出两组对照中的时间张力与情感起伏。

Line by line

入春才七日

Spring has come but seven days;

进入春天才过了七天

Only seven days into spring,

首句五字，以「才七日」写春之新，是全诗时间对照的起点，也是「逢节思归」的契机。「入春」点明时令——正月之初，新年方始，春意初萌；「才七日」极言春日之短——入春不过七天，正是「人日」（正月初七），新春的欢乐尚未消散，节日的氛围正浓。此句的妙处在于「才」字：「才」写时间之短，仿佛春天刚刚来临，七天转瞬即逝，新年的喜庆、春光的明媚都还新鲜——而这正是「乐景」：春方七日，万象更新，本是令人欢欣的时节。然而对客居他乡的诗人来说，春之新恰衬离家之久，越新的春、越浓的节，越是触动归思。此句以「才」字轻轻点出「时间之短」，为下句「已二年」的「时间之长」蓄势，一短一长的对照呼之欲出，是典型的「先扬后抑」的起笔，也是全诗「以乐景写哀情」的第一层铺垫。

The seven days. Spring has come but seven days. The spring-come-but-seven-days is the short time. To have come but seven days would be a coming; the spring-has-come-but-seven-days is the coming.

离家已二年

from home already two years.

离开家乡却已经有两年了

yet away from home already two years.

次句五字，以「已二年」写离乡之久，与首句「才七日」形成强烈的对照，是全诗情感的重心所在。「离家」点出客居的事实——诗人身在江南，家在河东，山水迢递，归路难通；「已二年」极言离别之久——不是两月、两旬，而是整整两年，「已」字写时间之长久，带有「竟然已经」的慨叹：不知不觉，离家已满两年。「才七日」与「已二年」对举，一短一长，反差强烈到近乎残酷：入春不过七日，而离家已经两年——新春是如此之新，乡愁是如此之久，两年的时间在七日的春天里显得格外漫长。此句的「已」字与首句的「才」字，一快一慢、一短一长，形成时间的双重对照，把「度日如年」的煎熬写得举重若轻：没有直说「想家」，而两年与七日的悬殊，已把思乡的深度和盘托出。两句十字，时间的反差即是情感的分量，正是此诗「以数字写情」的妙处。

The two years. From home already two years. The away-from-home-already-two-years is the long time. To have been away two years would be an away-ness; the from-home-already-two-years is the away-ness.

人归落雁后

My going home will trail behind the geese.

人回去要比北归的大雁还要晚

My return falls after the wild geese,

此句以雁衬人，写归期之迟，是全诗「迟早对照」的第一笔，也是借物写情的巧思所在。「落雁后」即落在雁后、比雁还晚——早春时节，鸿雁北归，正是《礼记·月令》「孟春之月……鸿雁来」的物候，大雁尚知归乡，而诗人不能；雁能振翅北飞，自由来去，而人被困于客途，归期渺茫。「落」字用得极妙：雁归在前，人归在后，「落」字写人追不上雁的脚步，也写归期的不断后延，仿佛乡愁的尽头遥不可及。此句以「雁」写「人」，借物起兴：雁是自然的信使，也是自由的象征，雁能归而人不能归，人与雁的对照，写尽了羁旅之人的无奈与艳羡——连大雁都回家了，而我还在他乡。此句与下句「思发在花前」对举，「落雁后」写归之迟，「花前」写思之早，一迟一早，归期愈迟而思念愈早，正见归心之切，是此诗对照结构中不可或缺的一环。

The geese. My return falls after the wild geese. The return-falls-after-geese is the lateness. To have fallen after the geese would be a falling; the my-return-falls-after-the-wild-geese is the falling.

思发在花前

But my longing set out before the flowers.

思念的心早在花开之前就已经飞回了

my longing springs before the flowers.

结句五字，是全诗的诗眼，也是情感的最高点，以「思发在花前」写乡思之早，把全诗的对照推向极致。「思发」写乡思之萌发——思念如春芽，悄然萌发，不可遏止；「在花前」写思发之早——花开尚在早春之后，而乡思早在花开之前就已萌生。「落雁后」与「花前」一后一前，遥遥相对：人归落在雁后（归期最迟），思发却在花前（思念最早）——归期越迟，思念越早，二者的反差达到顶点：身体被困在客途，心却早已飞回故乡；肉体落在雁后，灵魂却在花前。此句的妙处在于「思」字与「发」字的搭配：「思」本是无形之物，「发」字赋予它动态与生机，如花之绽放、如芽之萌发，乡思被写成一种蓬勃的生命力——越是无法归去，思念越是疯长。「花前」还暗含时序：花未开而思已发，则花开之时、春深之日，思念又将如何？言尽而意无穷，全诗在「思发在花前」的早字上戛然收束，把归心之切写到极致，余味悠长，是五绝结句「以巧收势」的典范。

The longing. My longing springs before the flowers. The longing-springs-before-flowers is the early love. To have sprung before the flowers would be a springing; the my-longing-springs-before-the-flowers is the springing.

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才 The word rendered 'but' answers to the 'already' of the following line, setting a brief span against a long one, and in that difference the keenness of the wish to go home is seen. 「入春才七日」之「才」，是全诗时间对照的起点，也是首联炼字的点睛之笔，一字而见「以数字写情」的功力。「才」为仅仅、方才之意，极言时间之短——入春不过七日，春天刚刚开始，新年方至，节庆正浓。「才」字的妙处有四层：其一，写春之新——「才七日」的春天是崭新的春天，万象更新、生机初萌，是「乐景」的极短极新；其二，衬离家之久——「才」与下句「已」对举，才过七日与已满二年，一短一长，时间的反差全赖这两个虚字撑起，若去「才」「已」，则「入春七日，离家二年」只是平实的叙述，失去对照的张力；其三，写节之浓——入春七日，正是「人日」，节俗最浓之时，佳节而思亲，正是人之常情，「才」字点出节之新，也就点出思之切；其四，写情之促——「才」字有「刚刚、还」的语气，仿佛春天刚来，乡愁已满，时间的短促反衬情感的深长。一个虚字，兼有时间、对照、节俗、情感四层作用，是此诗炼字「以虚驭实」的典范。

已 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「离家已二年」之「已」，与首句「才」字对举，是全诗时间对照的另一半，一字而写尽离乡之久的慨叹。「已」为已经、竟然之意，写时间的累积——离家已经两年，两字（二年）写离别之长久，而「已」字更带一层「竟然如此」的意味：不知不觉，两年已过；恍然惊觉，乡愁已深。「已」字的妙处有四：其一，写时间之积——两年是七百多个日日夜夜，「已」字把这段漫长的岁月一笔带过，举重若轻，而岁月的重量尽在字里；其二，与「才」对照——「才七日」与「已二年」，一短一长、一新一旧，两个虚字构成时间的强烈反差，春之短促衬离家之长久，反差愈大，乡愁愈深；其三，写心态之惊——「已」字带「竟然」的意味，写出诗人对时间流逝的惊觉：离家时以为不久可归，谁知已满两年，惊觉之中，归思更切；其四，写全诗之基——「已二年」是后联「落雁后」「花前」对照的基础，正因为离家已二年，才显得人归之迟、思发之早。一字而兼有累积、对照、惊觉、铺垫四层，与「才」字珠联璧合，正是此诗炼字的核心所在。

前 'Before' closes the poem by placing the setting out of longing earlier than the blossom, so that against the lateness of the return the thought of home is shown to have started first of all. 「思发在花前」之「前」，是全诗对照结构的收束之字，一字而写尽乡思之早，是结句的点睛之笔。「前」为「之前」之意，与上句「落雁后」之「后」对举：人归落在雁后（最迟），思发却在花前（最早），一后一前，遥遥相对，把「归期之迟」与「思念之早」的反差推到顶点。此字的妙处有三：其一，写时间之早——「花前」即花开之前，早春之初，花尚未放，而乡思已发，思念比春天的脚步还早，极言思之切；其二，写对照之巧——「落雁后」与「花前」不惟前后相对，更以「雁」与「花」两个物候意象写时间的双重刻度：雁归在早春，花开在初春，二者皆春之信使，而人归落于雁后、思发在于花前，物候的先后即是情感的深浅；其三，写余味之长——「花前」二字，言外之意是：花开之日、春深之时，思念又将如何？全诗以「前」字收束，停在思念最早的起点上，而思念的蔓延无穷无尽，言尽而意无穷。一字而兼有时间、对照、余味三层，是五绝炼字「于收束处见功力」的典范。