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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

巴山道中除夜书怀

Written on New Year's Eve on the Road in the Ba Mountains

崔涂

Cui Tu

迢递三巴路羁危万里身乱山残雪夜孤烛异乡春渐与骨肉远转于僮仆亲那堪正漂泊明日岁华新

The three Ba roads stretch long and far,
A lonely body, ten thousand miles from home.
Among disordered hills, a night of leftover snow;
A solitary candle, a spring in a foreign land.
Gradually I grow distant from my own flesh and blood,
And turn instead for closeness to my servant boy.
How can I bear this drifting, wandering life—
Tomorrow the new year's bloom begins again.

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Meaning

On New Year's Eve, stranded in the Ba mountains far from home, the poet contrasts the warmth of family he has lost with the thin comfort of a servant's company, and dreads the arrival of another year while still adrift. It is a poignant record of late-Tang official-traveller loneliness and the alienation of exile.

迢递三巴路，羁危万里身。乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春。渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲。那堪正漂泊，明日岁华新。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poet is on the long, perilous Ba roads, a solitary traveller ten thousand li from home. On a snowlit night among rugged hills he lifts a lone candle in a foreign spring. Year by year he drifts from his kin and grows close only to his servant; how can he endure such wandering when tomorrow the new year dawns? [Structure] A regulated octet: the first couplet states the journey's length and the traveller's peril; the second paints the lonely night; the third marks the emotional pivot—kin recede, servant draws near; the fourth cries out at the drifting life as the year turns. [Imagery] 'Disordered hills,' 'leftover snow,' 'solitary candle,' and 'foreign spring' compose a cold, isolated tableau; the candle is the single warm point against the vast, indifferent night. [Emotion] The poem's power is in its quiet desperation—the intimacy with a servant betraying how far he has fallen from family, and the dread of a new year that brings no return.

【白话串讲】崔涂写《巴山道中除夜书怀》：“迢递三巴路，羁危万里身”——“乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春”——“渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲”——“那堪正漂泊，明日岁华新”——他在巴山道中度除夕——乱山残雪夜。【意象与手法】首联“迢递三巴路，羁危万里身”写三巴迢递、万里羁身；颔联“乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春”写乱山残雪、孤烛异乡；颈联“渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲”写骨肉渐远、僮仆转亲；尾联“那堪正漂泊，明日岁华新”写漂泊难堪、岁华更新。苍凉真切。【情感与主旨】崔涂写除夕羁旅思亲之作，写巴山道中除夕的漂泊与思亲，以“乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春”写尽异乡除夕之孤，是除夜诗的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春”以乱山残雪写异乡除夕；“渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲”写骨肉渐远。

Background

Cui Tu (c. 850–c. 905), a late-Tang poet who spent much of his life as a wandering official and examination candidate, repeatedly failing to secure stable office. Living through the dynasty's decline, he wrote many poems of travel, isolation, and New Year's Eve melancholy. This octet belongs to the rich Tang tradition of 'chu ye' (New Year's Eve) poems, alongside Gao Shi's famous piece, and reflects the rootless existence of late-Tang literati adrift between courts.

此诗为晚唐诗人崔涂的《巴山道中除夜书怀》之作，是除夜诗的名篇。崔涂，字礼山，晚唐诗人，其诗多写羁旅漂泊。此诗作于巴山道中的除夕之夜，写除夕羁旅思亲的漂泊之情。「迢递三巴路」，写迢递三巴之路——三巴（巴郡、巴东、巴西）的路，迢递遥远；「羁危万里身」，写羁旅危困的万里之身——万里之身，羁旅而危困；「乱山残雪夜」，写乱山残雪的除夕之夜——乱山之中，残雪之夜；「孤烛异乡春」，写孤烛异乡的除夕之春——孤烛之下，异乡的春；「渐与骨肉远」，写渐渐与骨肉疏远——离骨肉渐远；「转于僮仆亲」，写转而与僮仆相亲——与僮仆转而亲近；「那堪正漂泊」，写那堪正在漂泊——漂泊之中，难以忍受；「明日岁华新」，写明日的岁华更新——除夕之后，明日的岁月更新。全诗以除夜写羁旅的漂泊与思亲，那「乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春」的孤寂，那「渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲」的疏远，那「那堪正漂泊，明日岁华新」的漂泊，苍凉而真切，是除夜诗「羁旅思亲」的代表作。

Art

The poem's strength is its rigorous regulated form harnessed to escalating loneliness. Each couplet tightens the screw: the opening 'long roads / perilous body' establishes distance and vulnerability; the second couplet's 'disordered hills, leftover snow' against 'solitary candle, foreign spring' sets outer cold against a fragile inner light. The third couplet is the emotional crux—'gradually distant from flesh and blood, turned instead to the servant for intimacy'—where social station inverts under exile's pressure. The closing cry 'how can I bear this drifting' meets the impersonal 'tomorrow the new year is new,' a stark contrast between private sorrow and public time. Neat antithesis and plain diction make the grief restrained yet piercing.

此诗艺术上以「以节写悲」与「对照见情」为特色，在除夜的描绘中写尽羁旅的漂泊。首联「迢递三巴路，羁危万里身」，以「迢递三巴路」写路之迢递，以「羁危万里身」写身之羁危——「迢递」「万里」写路远身孤，「羁危」写羁旅危困，正是漂泊的大背景；颔联「乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春」，以「乱山残雪夜」写乱山残雪之夜，以「孤烛异乡春」写孤烛异乡之春——「乱山」「残雪」写环境的荒寒，「孤烛」「异乡」写年节的孤寂，正是除夜的写照，「夜」「春」相对，一冬一春，正是除夕的转换；颈联「渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲」，以「渐与骨肉远」写骨肉渐远，以「转于僮仆亲」写僮仆转亲——「渐」写渐渐，「转」写转而，正是「远」与「亲」的对照，那骨肉渐远而僮仆转亲，正是羁旅的孤独；尾联「那堪正漂泊，明日岁华新」，以「那堪正漂泊」写漂泊难堪，以「明日岁华新」写岁华更新——「那堪」写难堪，「岁华新」写更新，正是除夜的转折，那漂泊之中，明日岁华更新，正是羁旅的悲凉。全诗由迢递三巴写起，经乱山残雪、孤烛异乡的孤寂，而归于那堪漂泊、岁华更新的悲凉，以节写悲、对照见情，正是除夜诗「羁旅思亲」的极致。

Allusions

No explicit classical allusion governs the poem; its force is autobiographical and situational. 'Three Ba' refers to the Ba region of eastern Sichuan, a byword for remoteness, and 'flesh and blood' is the standard classical term for close kin. The 'servant' intimacy is a topos of exile poetry. The new year echoes the conventional turn-of-year motif, here emptied of celebration and filled with dread.

此诗用典于关键处见深意。「三巴」，写巴郡、巴东、巴西——「三巴」为巴地三郡（巴郡、巴东、巴西），蜀地之称，「迢递三巴路」写三巴之路迢递。「羁危」，写羁旅危困——「羁」写羁旅，「危」写危困，「羁危」写羁旅危困，「羁危万里身」写羁旅危困的万里之身。「骨肉」，写至亲骨肉——「骨肉」写血缘至亲，「渐与骨肉远」写渐渐与骨肉疏远。「僮仆」，写僮仆——「僮仆」写家中的僮仆，「转于僮仆亲」写转而与僮仆亲近。值得注意的是，「转于僮仆亲」一句，深见羁旅之悲——古以「骨肉」为亲，而羁旅之中，骨肉渐远，唯僮仆相亲，正是「举目无亲」的写照；杜甫《无家别》「存者无消息，死者为尘泥」写乱世无家，崔涂此句写羁旅无亲，同是「以亲疏之变写孤独」的深意。这些意象，或写三巴、或写羁危、或写骨肉、或写僮仆，皆围绕除夜羁旅与思亲这一核心，织成一张苍凉真切的情网，正是晚唐羁旅诗「以节写悲」的特点。细按「骨肉」之亲与「僮仆」之疏，本应亲者疏、疏者亲，而羁旅之中竟至骨肉渐远、僮仆转亲，正是「亲疏倒置」写尽漂泊的孤独——那「渐」「转」二字，写亲疏变迁之渐与转，正是羁旅日久、举目无亲的写照，较直写「思乡」更见身世之悲。

Commentary

Tang critics and later anthologists value this octet as a quintessential 'New Year's Eve on the road' poem. Its unsentimental candour—finding closeness with a servant because family is unreachable—gives it a raw, modern feeling within the regulated form. Often paired with Gao Shi's 'Written on New Year's Eve' ('My hometown thinks of me a thousand li away'), it shows the late-Tang inflection of the theme: not mere homesickness but existential rootlessness, the poet a leaf blown by the dynasty's dying winds.

读此诗，最值得注意的是「乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春」与「渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲」所写出的「除夕的孤寂与亲疏的变迁」。前两联写除夕的处境：迢递三巴路，羁危万里身——那是路远身孤，正是漂泊；乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春——那是乱山残雪，孤烛异乡，正是除夕的孤寂。那「夜」「春」相对，格外动人：除夕之夜，本是万家团圆之时，而那乱山残雪之夜，正是异乡的除夕；那孤烛之下的「春」，正是异乡的春。而颈联「渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲」，是全诗情感的关键：那骨肉渐远，而僮仆转亲——「渐」「转」二字，写亲疏的变迁；那骨肉渐远，正是羁旅日久；那僮仆转亲，正是举目无亲。这「转于僮仆亲」，最见漂泊之悲：羁旅之中，唯僮仆相伴，正是无亲可依的写照。而尾联「那堪正漂泊，明日岁华新」，是全诗的收束：那漂泊之中，明日岁华更新——除夕之后，又是新春，而那漂泊之人，依然漂泊。那「岁华新」，正是以春之新，衬漂泊之旧；那「明日」的转折，正是年关的深悲。崔涂此诗，以除夜写羁旅的漂泊与思亲，那除夕的孤寂与亲疏的变迁，正是晚唐士人漂泊无依的深衷。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated octet诗（五言律诗）

Rhyme Rhymes on shen, chun, qin, and xin, all in the zhen category—long, clear tones suiting the plaintive New Year mood.此诗为五言律诗，押平声「真」部韵，「身」「春」「亲」「新」等字皆属上平十一真韵，韵脚悠长而清亮，正合诗情「除夜书怀」的声调。首联「迢递三巴路，羁危万里身」以「迢递」「羁危」相对，一写路远、一写身孤，工对而见漂泊；颔联「乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春」，以「乱山残雪」「孤烛异乡」相对，一写夜荒、一写春孤，工对而见孤寂；颈联「渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲」，以「骨肉远」「僮仆亲」相对，一写疏远、一写亲近，工对而见变迁；尾联「那堪正漂泊，明日岁华新」，以「那堪」「明日」收束，写年关转折。整体声调由首联的漂泊，到尾联的悲凉，悠长而清亮，正合除夜诗「羁旅思亲」的诗情。

Tone pattern Balanced antithesis throughout (for example, 'distant Ba roads / perilous ten-thousand-li body,' 'disordered hills, leftover snow / solitary candle, foreign spring,' 'gradually distant from flesh and blood / turned to the servant for intimacy'); the closing shifts to a looser, sighing cadence with 'how can I bear / tomorrow.'句式上，此诗善用对仗与虚字：「迢递三巴路，羁危万里身」，以「三巴路」「万里身」相对，一写路、一写身，对仗自然；「乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春」，以「乱山残雪」「孤烛异乡」相对，「夜」「春」写除夕转换，对仗精工而见孤寂；「渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲」，以「渐」「转」写变迁，「骨肉远」「僮仆亲」写亲疏，对仗精工而见深意；「那堪正漂泊，明日岁华新」，以「那堪」「明日」写年关转折，转折而见悲凉。全诗由写漂泊入写孤寂、由写孤寂入写变迁，对仗整饬而句法多变，正是除夜诗「以节写悲」的节奏美学。

Reading note A late-Tang five-character lüshi. Its music lies in the clear zhen rhyme and exact couplet antithesis conveying festive-eve loneliness. From the distant roads and perilous body, through the snowlit night and solitary candle, to the kin/servant inversion and the year's turning, sound and sentiment move together—a model of the 'writing sorrow through the festival' rhythm.作为晚唐五律，《巴山道中除夜书怀》的声律之美，在于以清亮的真韵与精工的对仗，写出除夕羁旅思亲的漂泊之情。全诗首联「迢递三巴路，羁危万里身」以三巴迢递、万里羁身写漂泊，路远身孤；颔联「乱山残雪夜，孤烛异乡春」以乱山残雪、孤烛异乡写除夕，夜荒春孤；颈联「渐与骨肉远，转于僮仆亲」以骨肉渐远、僮仆转亲写亲疏变迁，一远一亲；尾联「那堪正漂泊，明日岁华新」以那堪漂泊、明日岁华新写年关转折，一悲一新。全诗由写漂泊入写孤寂、由写孤寂入写变迁，层层递进而声情相谐，正是除夜诗「以节写悲」的体现。就全诗而言，此诗以除夜写羁旅的漂泊与思亲，苍凉而真切，是除夜诗的名篇，与高适《除夜作》同为除夕羁旅之作，而一写「故乡今夜思千里」的思亲，一写「孤烛异乡春」的孤寂，可见除夜思亲这一母题在唐诗中的两种深衷，也可见晚唐士人漂泊无依的身世写照。

Line by line

乱山残雪夜

Among disordered hills, a night of leftover snow;

乱山残雪的除夕之夜。

A night of scattered hills and lingering snow,

这一句写除夕之夜的荒寒，是此诗除夜意象的核心。「乱山」，写乱山——「乱山」写群山杂乱，正是巴山的荒寒；「残雪夜」，写残雪之夜——「残雪」写将融未融之雪，「夜」写除夕之夜，「残雪夜」写残雪未消的除夕之夜。以「乱山残雪夜」写除夕，比直写「除夕之夜」更见荒寒与画面——那乱山残雪，正是除夕之夜的荒寒；「乱」「残」二字，写尽巴山的荒寒，正是「孤烛异乡春」的铺垫。这一句，是此诗除夜意象的核心，与「孤烛异乡春」相对，一写夜之荒寒，一写春之孤寂，正是除夕的写照——那乱山残雪之夜，正是异乡的除夕。

This line writes the desolate cold of New Year's Eve, the core of the poem's Eve imagery. The words scattered hills write the tumbled range, exactly the desolate cold of the Ba hills; lingering snow writes the snow half-melted, and the night writes New Year's Eve. Using scattered hills and lingering snow for the Eve, more than directly saying New Year's Eve, shows the desolation and the picture - the scattered hills and lingering snow, exactly the Eve's desolation; the two words scattered and lingering write to the full the Ba hills' cold, exactly the ground for the lone candle, the foreign spring. This line is the core of the Eve imagery, set against the lone candle, the foreign spring, one writing the night's desolation, one writing the spring's loneliness, exactly the picture of the Eve - the night of scattered hills and lingering snow, exactly the New Year's Eve in a foreign land.

孤烛异乡春

A solitary candle, a spring in a foreign land.

孤烛异乡的除夕之春。

a lone candle, the spring in a foreign land.

这一句写除夕之夜的孤寂，是此诗异乡意象的核心。「孤烛」，写孤烛——「孤烛」写孤独的烛火，正是除夕之夜的孤灯；「异乡春」，写异乡之春——「异乡」写他乡，「春」写除夕的春（除夕一过即新春），「异乡春」写异乡的春。以「孤烛异乡春」写除夕，比直写「除夕」更见孤寂与辛酸——那孤烛之下，异乡的春，正是除夕的孤寂；「孤」「异」二字，写尽异乡的孤寂，正是「乱山残雪夜」的回应。这一句，是此诗异乡意象的核心，与「乱山残雪夜」相对，一写夜之荒寒，一写春之孤寂，正是除夕的写照——那孤烛之下的春，正是异乡的除夕。

This line writes the loneliness of New Year's Eve, the core of the poem's foreign-land imagery. The words lone candle write the solitary flame, exactly the lone lamp on the Eve; foreign land writes the strange place, and spring writes the Eve's spring (once the Eve passes, the new spring comes). Using the lone candle, the foreign spring for the Eve, more than directly saying New Year, shows the loneliness and bitterness - beneath the lone candle, the foreign spring, exactly the Eve's loneliness; the two words lone and foreign write to the full the foreign land's loneliness, exactly the echo of scattered hills and lingering snow. This line is the core of the foreign-land imagery, set against scattered hills and lingering snow, one writing the night's desolation, one writing the spring's loneliness, exactly the picture of the Eve - the spring beneath the lone candle, exactly the foreign New Year's Eve.

明日岁华新

Tomorrow the new year's bloom begins anew.

明日的岁华更新。

Tomorrow, the year will turn new.

这一句是全诗的结穴，写明日岁华更新，是此诗年关转折的最高点。「明日」，写明日——「明日」写除夕之后，正是年关的转折；「岁华新」，写岁华更新——「岁华」写岁月的年光，「新」写更新，「岁华新」写明日的岁华更新。以「明日岁华新」写除夕，比直写「新年」更见转折与悲凉——那除夕之后，明日岁华更新，正是年关的转折；「岁华新」三字，写岁华更新，正是「那堪正漂泊」的对照。这一结句，转折悲凉，是此诗年关转折的最高点，也是全诗的深衷——那漂泊之中，明日岁华更新，正是以春之新，衬漂泊之旧。

This line is the landing of the whole, writing that tomorrow the year will turn new, the highest point of the poem's year-turn. The word tomorrow writes after the Eve, exactly the turn of the year; the year will turn new writes the year's renewal. Using tomorrow the year will turn new for the Eve, more than directly saying the New Year, shows the turn and the desolation - after the Eve, tomorrow the year turns new, exactly the turn of the year; the three words the year will turn new write the renewal, exactly the contrast with how can I bear, still wandering. This closing line turns in desolation, the highest point of the year-turn, and the whole's deep heart - in the midst of wandering, tomorrow the year turns new, exactly using the spring's newness to set off the wandering's oldness.

Study

Word focus

羁危 Perilous / precarious lodging — describes the traveller's vulnerable, endangered state far from home. 「羁危万里身」之「羁危」，写羁旅危困，是此诗漂泊意象的核心语。「羁危」即羁旅危困——「羁」写羁旅，「危」写危困，「羁危」写羁旅危困；「羁危万里身」，写羁旅危困的万里之身。以「羁危」写漂泊，比直写「漂泊」更见危困与沉重——那羁旅危困，正是漂泊之身；「羁危」二字，写羁旅危困，正是「万里身」的困顿。这一词，是此诗漂泊意象的核心，与「万里身」相连，一写羁旅，一写万里，正是漂泊的大背景——那羁危的万里之身，正是除夜漂泊的写照。

孤烛 Solitary candle — the single light in a foreign night, symbol of the poet's isolation. 「孤烛异乡春」之「孤烛」，写孤独的烛火，是此诗孤寂意象的核心语。「孤烛」即孤独的烛火——「孤」写孤独，「烛」写烛火，「孤烛」写除夕之夜的孤灯；「孤烛异乡春」，写孤烛异乡的除夕之春。以「孤烛」写除夕，比直写「孤灯」更见除夕的氛围——那孤烛，正是除夕之夜的孤灯；「孤烛」二字，写孤独的烛火，正是「异乡春」的孤寂。这一词，是此诗孤寂意象的核心，与「异乡春」相连，一写孤烛，一写异乡，正是除夕的孤寂——那孤烛之下的春，正是异乡的除夕。

漂泊 Drifting / wandering — the rootless condition of an exile with no fixed home. 「那堪正漂泊」之「漂泊」，写漂泊流离，是此诗羁旅意象的核心语。「漂泊」即漂泊流离——「漂」写漂流，「泊」写停泊，「漂泊」写行踪无定，漂泊流离；「那堪正漂泊」，写那堪正在漂泊。以「漂泊」写羁旅，比直写「流浪」更见行踪无定与悲凉——那漂泊，正是行踪无定；「漂泊」二字，写漂泊流离，正是「那堪」的所在。这一词，是此诗羁旅意象的核心，与「那堪」相连，一写漂泊，一写难堪，正是除夜的深悲——那漂泊之中，正是年关难堪的写照。