先秦 Pre-Qin · 诗经 Classic of Poetry
采葛
Gathering Kudzu
彼采葛兮，一日不见，如三月兮！
彼采萧兮，一日不见，如三秋兮！
彼采艾兮，一日不见，如三岁兮！
One day without seeing her
Is like three months long.
She gathers the southernwood;
One day without seeing her
Is like three autumns long.
She gathers the mugwort;
One day without seeing her
Is like three years long.
Meaning
The poem expresses the intense longing of a lover, where a single day of separation feels like three months, three seasons, or three years, growing increasingly unbearable.
那个采葛的姑娘啊，一日不见，竟如隔三月之久！继而写她采萧、采艾，思念便由「三月」递进为「三秋」「三岁」。诗人以采集植物的劳动起兴，极写相思之切——时间因情而拉长，一日竟抵三月、三秋、三岁。全诗重章叠句，仅换「葛、萧、艾」与「月、秋、岁」数字，却将炽烈的眷恋与焦灼写得层层递进、惊心动魄，是《诗经》中刻画相思心理最精炼传神的名篇。
Appreciation
This poem is a masterpiece of brevity and emotional escalation. Through the technique of repetitive variation, each stanza shifts the plant being gathered (kudzu, southernwood, mugwort) and the time unit (months, autumns, years), intensifying the speaker's yearning. The progression from 'three months' to 'three autumns' to 'three years' vividly portrays how love distorts time, making a single day feel endless. The poem is a testament to the power of folk songs in capturing universal human emotions with simple yet profound language.
【白话串讲】 那人去采葛了，一天不见，像过了三个月；三天不见，像过了三年。“一日不见，如三秋兮”——中国人说想念，三千年前就有了标准答案。 【意象与手法】 全诗三章重章叠句，结构整一而仅易数字：植物由葛而萧而艾，时间度量由「月」而「秋」而「岁」。这种递进式复沓并非平行重复，而是使思念随章节推演愈积愈深，如波叠浪。以「采葛」等劳作起兴，由眼前实事实景自然过渡到内心虚情，兴而兼比。语言极简，短短三十余字，「一日不见」四字反复出现，形成强烈节奏与心理张力。 【情感与主旨】 《采葛》出自《诗经·国风·王风》，为先秦民间恋歌。王畿之地战乱频仍、征役繁重，男女暌隔乃常态，民间遂多相思之唱。此诗当是情人分离、一日不见而相思刻骨的真实抒写，以「一日不见」写相思，最得民间歌谣率真动人之处。 【名句点睛】 此诗为先秦《诗经》之作，重点在重章叠句的递进结构与「一日不见，如三秋兮」的夸张手法，及由此凝成的「一日三秋」成语。
Background
This poem is from the 'Wang Feng' section of the Book of Songs (Shijing), a collection of folk songs from the Eastern Zhou period (770–256 BCE). The region of Wang (present-day Luoyang area) was often troubled by wars and corvée labor, leading to frequent separations between loved ones. Originally a love song, some later Confucian commentators interpreted it allegorically as a poem about political loyalty, but its straightforward expression of longing remains its most appealing feature.
《采葛》出自《诗经·国风·王风》，为先秦民间恋歌。王风所采为东周王畿（今洛阳一带）之诗，彼时周室东迁、政令衰微，平王、桓王之际战乱频仍、征役繁重，男丁或戍边、或服役，男女暌隔乃常态，民间遂多相思之唱。此诗当是情人分离、一日不见而相思刻骨的真实抒写：以「采葛」「采萧」「采艾」的农事起兴，写思念之人一日不见之焦灼。汉代《毛诗序》附会此诗为「惧谗」之作，谓采葛、采萧、采艾喻「事君三章」，然而就诗文本与情味观之——全诗无一字涉君臣、无一语含隐晦，纯以「一日不见，如三月/三秋/三岁兮」直诉衷肠，显为热烈坦率的情歌，后世解诗者多从朱熹之说，以为男女相思之辞。此诗以极短的篇幅写极深的相思，最得民间歌谣率真动人之处，是《王风》中艺术成就最高的篇章之一，也是《诗经》中传诵最广的情歌名篇。此诗以极短的篇幅写极深的相思，亦为中国诗歌「以时间写深情」传统之源头，后之「衣带渐宽终不悔」者皆自此一脉流出。
Art
The poem employs the classic folk technique of repeated stanzas with slight variations (重章叠句). Each stanza follows the same structure, changing only the plant name and the time measure. This progression creates a cumulative emotional effect. The use of concrete actions (gathering plants) as a trigger for emotion is a hallmark of the Book of Songs' 'xing' (stimulus) technique. The language is extremely concise, with only twenty-four characters in total, yet it conveys a profound sense of longing.
全诗三章重章叠句，结构整一而仅易数字：植物由葛而萧而艾，时间度量由「月」而「秋」而「岁」。这种递进式复沓并非平行重复，而是使思念随章节推演愈积愈深，如波叠浪、层层加码——「一日不见」的焦灼，从「三月」到「三秋」再到「三岁」，时间单位逐级拉长，夸张逐级放大，情感逐级深化，读者的感受亦随之层层递进，如登三级台阶，一步高过一步。以「采葛」等劳作起兴，由眼前实事实景自然过渡到内心虚情，兴而兼比：采葛、采萧、采艾者正是思念之人，睹其劳作而思其人，触物生情，天然浑成，兴中有比、比中见情。「一日不见」四字在每章反复出现，形成强烈节奏与心理张力：反复咏叹同一句话，正见思念之萦绕不去、时刻不忘，一唱三叹，愈叹愈深。语言极简，三章仅三十余字，却将炽烈的眷恋与焦灼写得惊心动魄，是以少胜多的典范，亦是重章叠句艺术效果的极致体现。三章如三叠浪，一波高过一波；读者随章节而进，情感亦随「月」「秋」「岁」之递进而层层加码，终至不可复加，正是复沓之妙。
Allusions
The line 'One day without seeing her is like three autumns' has become the Chinese idiom '一日三秋' (yī rì sān qiū), meaning 'one day apart feels like three years.' It is widely used to describe intense yearning. The plants mentioned—kudzu (葛), southernwood (萧), and mugwort (艾)—were commonly used in daily life: kudzu for making cloth, southernwood for rituals, and mugwort for medicine, grounding the poem in realistic details.
「一日不见，如三秋兮」为全诗最著之句，后世凝为成语「一日三秋」（或「一日不见，如隔三秋」），典出此处，用以极言相思之深、时间因情而缓——一日本短，因思念而漫长如三秋，主观时间对客观时间的颠覆，正是此句千古流传的心理基础。「三秋」古人或解为三季（九个月），或泛指三年（秋可代年，如「千秋万代」），与末章「三岁」呼应，皆为夸张之辞，开后世「度日如年」「一日三秋」表达之先河。萧、艾皆香草：萧即艾蒿一类的香蒿，古人采之以供祭祀；艾为艾草，古人采之以灸病，皆先秦日常所用。诗人借日常采集起兴，承《诗经》「兴」法传统——「先言他物以引起所咏之词」，采葛、采萧、采艾皆是先秦农事，由所思念之人正在从事的劳作切入，亲切自然，如见其人。从意象脉络看，《诗经》中「采」字起兴者甚多（《卷耳》「采采卷耳」、《芣苢》「采采芣苢」），皆以劳动场景写人情，此诗承其绪而专写相思，愈显纯粹，是「兴」法运用最精纯的篇章之一。
Commentary
Zhu Xi, the Neo-Confucian scholar, commented that gathering kudzu, southernwood, and mugwort were common activities for making clothes, offering sacrifices, and healing, respectively. He noted that 'one day without seeing' shows the depth of longing. Later critics like Fang Yurun praised the poem as the 'ancestor of all poems about friendship and longing.' Today it is celebrated as one of the most poignant love poems in Chinese literature.
朱熹《诗集传》谓：「采葛所以为絺绤，采萧所以共祭祀，采艾所以疗疾病。皆贵贱通用之事。而曰『一日不见』，则思之切矣。」又引或说以为「淫奔」之诗——无论作恋歌或作他解，朱熹皆点出「思之切」三字，正是全诗主旨，可见宋儒亦不能掩其相思之情。清代方玉润《诗经原始》称其为「千古怀友、怀恋之祖」，极赞「一日不见，如三秋」之妙；清代姚际恒《诗经通论》亦谓「如三秋兮」一句「千古奇语」。从文学史看，此诗确立了「以时间之夸张写思念之深」的经典范式：后世「一日不见，如隔三秋」「度日如年」皆自此化出，王维「独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲」、李白「相思相见知何日」等皆承此抒情血脉，以时间之主观拉长写思念之深切。全诗三章递进、以少总多，是《诗经》重章叠句手法运用最精妙的篇章之一，亦是「国风」相思诗之绝唱，两千余年来感动无数读者，堪称中国情诗的源头性名篇，其艺术价值历久弥新。
Prosody
Line by line
彼采葛兮，一日不见，如三月兮！
She gathers the kudzu vines; one day without seeing her, it is like three months! This opening sets up the pattern of situating the beloved in a common activity and immediately expressing the speaker's emotional distortion of time.
那个采葛的人啊，一天不见，竟像隔了三个月！
He who gathers the kudzu—one day without seeing him is like three months!
首章以「彼采葛兮」起兴：那个采葛的人啊——「彼」字远指，写思念之人正在远处劳作，一个「采葛」的画面将对方的身影带入眼前，由景及情，自然引出「一日不见，如三月兮」的倾诉，起笔平实而情味已出。「一日」与「三月」的对比是夸张之笔：一日本是二十四小时，思念中却漫长如三个月，时间因情而拉长，主观感受取代客观计时——这是全诗艺术的核心：以心理时间写情感浓度。「如三月兮」的「兮」字是语气词，舒缓咏叹，将急切的倾诉化作低回的歌唱，一急一缓，正是相思的焦灼与缠绵。此章立起全诗范式：重章叠句、易字递进，以「月」为起点，为后文「三秋」「三岁」的层层加码定下基调。起笔平淡而情深，民歌的质朴与真挚扑面而来，如初春溪水，清浅而见底。
The kudzu. He who gathers the kudzu—one day without seeing him is like three months! The gathers-kudzu and the one-day-three-months are the opening. To have gathered the kudzu would be a gathering; the he-who-gathers-the-kudzu-one-day-without-seeing-him-is-like-three-months is the gathering.
彼采萧兮，一日不见，如三秋兮！
She gathers the southernwood; one day without seeing her, it is like three autumns! The time unit expands from months to autumns (a season), increasing the sense of longing.
那个采萧的人啊，一天不见，竟像隔了三秋！
He who gathers the southernwood—one day without seeing him is like three autumns!
第二章由「采葛」变为「采萧」，由「三月」递进为「三秋」，思念随物象转换而愈深。采萧（香蒿）仍是农事，但物象之变暗示时间之推移：昨日采葛、今日采萧，日复一日，思念之人劳作的场景在眼前轮转，而「一日不见」的焦灼却有增无减，日日的等待叠成更深的相思。「三秋」较「三月」更进一层：古人以「秋」代年（「千秋万代」），「三秋」可解为三季，亦可解为三年，无论何解，皆比「三月」为长——思念愈深，时间愈显漫长，夸张逐级放大，如波浪一层高过一层。「如三秋兮」是千古名句，后世「一日三秋」成语即出于此：把看不见尽头的等待写得具体可感，是此诗最富表现力的创造。第二章承上启下，将情感推向更深一层，句式依旧而分量已重，正是重章叠句「同而不同」的妙处。
The southernwood. He who gathers the southernwood—one day without seeing him is like three autumns! The gathers-southernwood and the one-day-three-autumns are the deepening. To have gathered the southernwood would be a gathering; the he-who-gathers-the-southernwood-one-day-without-seeing-him-is-like-three-autumns is the gathering.
彼采艾兮，一日不见，如三岁兮！
She gathers the mugwort; one day without seeing her, it is like three years! The final stanza reaches the extreme, showing how love intensifies time's passage.
那个采艾的人啊，一天不见，竟像隔了三年！
He who gathers the mugwort—one day without seeing him is like three years!
末章易「萧」为「艾」，易「三秋」为「三岁」，将夸张推向顶点：一日不见，竟如隔了三年——时间单位由月而秋而岁，层层加码，思念的焦灼亦如潮水般层层涌高，至「三岁」而达于极致，如烈火烧至最旺，如箭矢射至最远。值得注意的是，第三章仍是「一日不见」，而感受已如「三岁」：这正写思念的循环往复、日甚一日——不是第一次一日不见的初愁，而是日积月累、与日俱增的深痛，越到后面越沉重，正是思念之「加速度」。三章以「三月—三秋—三岁」的递进收束，把相思的炽烈与焦灼写得淋漓尽致、惊心动魄，读者的情感也被一步步推向顶点。末章戛然而止，不着一字余论，而「如三岁兮」的叹息余音袅袅，千古之下犹在耳畔，仿佛那声叹息至今未落。全诗至此完成由「月」到「岁」的完整递进，重章叠句的艺术力量发挥到极致。
The mugwort. He who gathers the mugwort—one day without seeing him is like three years! The gathers-mugwort and the one-day-three-years are the climax. To have gathered the mugwort would be a gathering; the he-who-gathers-the-mugwort-one-day-without-seeing-him-is-like-three-years is the gathering.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
'Jianjia' uses natural imagery and a sense of distance, while 'Cai Ge' uses daily labor and concrete time exaggeration.
《蒹葭》「蒹葭苍苍，白露为霜。所谓伊人，在水一方」与《采葛》同为《国风》写相思之名篇，然抒情方式一隐一显，可比较二者。《蒹葭》以蒹葭白露的朦胧秋景起兴，写「溯洄从之」「溯游从之」的执着求索，伊人「在水一方」而可望不可即，意境迷离怅惘，含蓄幽远，如水月镜花；《采葛》以采葛采萧的农事起兴，直写「一日不见，如三秋兮」，情感热烈直露，坦率痛快，如烈火烹油。一以景写情、朦胧蕴藉，一以直陈写情、淋漓尽致；一写追寻之执着、求之不得的怅惘，一写相思之焦灼、度日如年的煎熬。二诗并读，可见《国风》写「思」的两种极致，皆千古绝唱，而一偏于「境」、一偏于「情」，正是《诗经》抒情艺术多样性的证明。
九月九日忆山东兄弟 九月九日忆山东兄弟 王维 · 同写思念怀人之情 Both poems convey homesickness or longing. Wang Wei's poem is about missing family on a festive day, while 'Cai Ge' is about missing a lover. The former uses a specific date and imagery of climbing, the latter uses folk repetition.Both use the theme of separation but differ in context and style.
王维《九月九日忆山东兄弟》「独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲。遥知兄弟登高处，遍插茱萸少一人」与《采葛》同写思念：一为先秦民歌写男女相思，一为唐人七绝写兄弟亲情，题材有别而深情同理。「每逢佳节倍思亲」与「一日不见，如三秋兮」皆以特殊时刻写思念之深：佳节与一日不见，都是思念被放大的瞬间，情感原理相通。差异在：王诗以「异乡—佳节」的特定情境反衬，以「遍插茱萸少一人」的对面落笔（遥想兄弟思念自己）写牵挂，工巧含蓄，是文人诗的匠心，如精雕之玉；《采葛》以「一日—三秋」的时间夸张直诉衷肠，层层递进，是民歌的本色，如浑璞之石。一巧一拙、一婉一直，而深情同理，可见中国诗歌写思念的两大传统——民歌的直率与文人的含蓄，皆能动人。