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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

登金陵凤凰台

On Climbing the Phoenix Terrace in Jinling

李白

Li Bai

怀古History 登临Climbing high

凤凰台上凤凰游，凤去台空江自流。
吴宫花草埋幽径，晋代衣冠成古丘。
三山半落青天外，二水中分白鹭洲。
总为浮云能蔽日，长安不见使人愁。

The phoenix once played on the terrace, then flew away; the terrace stands empty while the river flows on alone.
The blossoms of Wu palaces bury the hidden path; the courtiers of the Jin are now mounds of ancient earth.
The three peaks half-fall beyond the blue sky; the two streams divide White Egret Isle.
Always it is floating clouds that can blot out the sun; I cannot see Chang'an, and my heart is filled with sorrow.

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Meaning

Climbing the Phoenix Terrace in Jinling (Nanjing), the poet contrasts the terrace's former glory with its present emptiness and reads the rise and fall of six dynasties in the landscape. The closing lines turn personal: like clouds hiding the sun, petty courtiers block the throne, and he who was driven from Chang'an can no longer see the capital.

凤凰台上曾有凤凰遨游，如今凤去台空，唯有长江自顾东流。吴国宫殿的花草埋没了幽僻小径，晋代名门的冠盖化作座座古坟。三山半隐半现于青天之外，白鹭洲被江中二水分隔东西。终究是浮云遮住了太阳，望不见长安，让人满怀愁绪。

Appreciation

The opening couplet sets a desolate tone by opposing the vanished phoenix to the self-flowing river. The second couplet compresses whole dynasties into 'Wu palaces' and 'Jin courtiers,' its parallelism broad and stable. The third couplet opens vast space, using grand scenery to counter the sorrow. The last line turns the natural image of clouds hiding the sun into a double meaning of political obstruction, ending on feeling rather than description.

【白话串讲】李白登凤凰台：“凤去台空江自流”，吴宫花草、晋代衣冠都已成古丘。“总为浮云能蔽日，长安不见使人愁”——他借凤凰台，写自己报国无门的忧。【意象与手法】起联以「凤去台空」虚实对举，奠定苍凉基调；颔联「吴宫」「晋代」以朝代代兴亡，对仗工稳而涵盖深远；颈联「三山半落」「二水中分」拓开辽阔空间，壮景反衬愁思；尾联「浮云蔽日」双关天象与朝政，以景结情。全诗七律格高意远，开阖有度。【情感与主旨】此诗约作于天宝年间李白离长安后漫游金陵时。诗人登台远眺，由凤凰台之兴废联想到六朝之覆亡，再借「浮云蔽日」暗讽朝中奸邪当道，抒发自己报国无门、怀才不遇的忧愤，怀古之中深藏对国运的关切。【名句点睛】常考：①结句「浮云蔽日」的双关意蕴与情感；②怀古伤今的结构（由古及今、由景及情）；③与崔颢《黄鹤楼》的比较阅读；④「吴宫花草」「晋代衣冠」的以朝代指代兴亡。

Background

Li Bai wrote this around the Tianbao era after leaving Chang'an and wandering to Jinling. Legend says he climbed Yellow Crane Tower, saw Cui Hao's famous poem there, felt he could not surpass it, and composed this terrace poem to rival it along a different, history-minded path. Jinling was the old capital of six dynasties; the Phoenix Terrace was built in the Southern Dynasties. The poet joins the decline of those dynasties with his own political disappointment.

此诗约作于唐玄宗天宝年间（742—756）李白离开长安、漫游金陵（今南京）之时。天宝三载（744），李白因遭权贵谗毁，被唐玄宗「赐金放还」，被迫离开他政治理想所寄的长安，此后漫游梁宋、齐鲁、江东等地。金陵为六朝故都，东吴、东晋、宋、齐、梁、陈相继建都于此，繁华与覆亡循环往复，历来是怀古诗人凭吊兴亡之地。凤凰台在金陵城西，相传南朝刘宋元嘉年间有凤凰集于山上，遂筑台以志其瑞。李白登台俯瞰，六朝兴废、个人际遇一齐涌上心头，遂有此作。相传李白登黄鹤楼见崔颢题诗「昔人已乘黄鹤去」，自觉难胜，乃作此诗拟之而另辟怀古一路。诗中以凤去台空写盛衰无常，以吴宫晋代缩六朝兴亡，以浮云蔽日暗喻权奸当道，将个人「报国无门」之悲与国运之忧融合无间，是李白七律中最重要的作品，也是唐代怀古诗的典范。天宝年间，唐王朝表面繁盛而危机四伏，李白此诗正写于这一转折时刻，故其怀古之中别有一种盛极而衰的忧患意识，兼具个人之悲与时代之忧。

Art

The opening uses 'phoenix gone, terrace empty' as a virtual-real contrast that sets the desolate key. The second couplet substitutes dynasties for rise and fall, its antithesis firm yet far-reaching. The third couplet 'three peaks half-fall, two streams divide' opens broad space, grand scenery countering sorrow. The close 'floating clouds hide the sun' is a pun on weather and court politics, ending in feeling; the seven-character regulated form is lofty and well-paced.

此诗章法谨严，气脉浑成，为七律正格。起联「凤凰台上凤凰游，凤去台空江自流」以「凤凰」二字顶针复沓起势，三用「凤」字而回环跌宕：台上曾游凤凰是虚写盛时，凤去台空是实写今日，虚实对举，「自流」二字以江之无情反衬人事之无常，苍凉之气扑面而来。颔联「吴宫花草埋幽径，晋代衣冠成古丘」以「吴宫」「晋代」两个朝代缩六朝兴废，花草埋径、衣冠成丘，一「埋」一「成」，将历史之湮灭写得触目惊心，对仗工稳而涵盖深远。颈联「三山半落青天外，二水中分白鹭洲」陡然放开，写登台远眺之壮景：三山若隐若现于天外，白鹭洲为二水所分，空间无限开阔，以江山之永恒反衬人事之短暂，为尾联愁思蓄势。尾联「总为浮云能蔽日，长安不见使人愁」双关天象与朝政，以景结情，将个人之愁升华为忧国之思，全诗由古及今、由景及情，开阖有度，格高意远。全诗一气流转，如江河奔泻，正是李白「以气运律」的大家手笔。

Allusions

'Floating clouds hide the sun' comes from the Nineteen Old Poems ('floating clouds hide the white sun, the wanderer does not return') and Lu Jia's New Discourses ('evil ministers obscure the worthy as floating clouds block sun and moon'), a figure for treacherous men blinding the ruler. Li Bai uses it both for the literal failure to see Chang'an and for hinting that vile courtiers block the worthy, allusion without a seam, feeling laid deep.

此诗用典密而不滞。「凤凰台」本事为南朝刘宋元嘉年间凤凰集于金陵山上的祥瑞传说，诗人借凤去台空写祥瑞不再、盛时难再。「吴宫花草」用三国东吴建都金陵之史实，暗指吴主孙权宫苑之繁华早已湮没于花草之下；「晋代衣冠」用东晋士族衣冠南渡、风流云散之旧事，「衣冠」指豪门贵族的服饰，代指名流士族。颈联「三山」「白鹭洲」皆为金陵实有之地，白鹭洲即今南京城西长江中之沙洲，为点明登临之地实写。「浮云蔽日」典出《古诗十九首》「浮云蔽白日，游子不顾返」及陆贾《新语·慎微》「邪臣之蔽贤，犹浮云之障日月」，喻奸邪蒙蔽君王。李白借此既写望长安不见之实景，又暗指朝中小人当道、贤路壅塞，用典而不着痕迹，怀古、伤今、自伤三者合一，寄慨遥深。此外，「凤去台空」之「凤」本为祥瑞之鸟，其去而台空，暗含盛世不再、祥瑞难逢之慨，与尾联「浮云蔽日」前后呼应，使全诗用典形成由「凤」到「云」的意象链条，天然浑成。

Commentary

Song critic Liu Chenweng praised the opening as 'unrivalled for a thousand years.' Ming anthologist Gao Bing ranked it among the canonical seven-character regulated poems. Later readers pair it with Cui Hao's Yellow Crane Tower; Yan Yu said 'for Tang seven-character regulated verse, Cui Hao's Yellow Crane Tower and Li Bai's Phoenix Terrace should be first,' yet Li's wins by spirit and implication.

此诗历来评价极高，被视为李白七律的代表作。宋人刘辰翁评「起句千古擅场」，谓起联顶针叠字之妙空前绝后。明代高棅《唐诗品汇》列此诗为七言律诗正宗。后人常将此诗与崔颢《黄鹤楼》并称，严羽《沧浪诗话》谓「唐人七律，当以崔颢《黄鹤楼》、李白《凤凰台》为第一」。崔诗以苍茫怀古胜，李诗以气魄寄托胜：崔颢写乡愁，李白写忧国，境界更阔大。清代沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评此诗「从心化出」，指其用典、对仗、结构皆如天造地设。近人论者以为此诗的价值不仅在其艺术成就，更在于它浓缩了李白一生的政治悲慨：从「仰天大笑出门去」的豪情，到「长安不见使人愁」的忧愤，一登临之作，写尽盛唐才士与朝廷的关系。此诗是怀古、登临、言志三体合一的典范，对后世登临怀古之作影响深远。读此诗可知，怀古之佳作不在堆砌典故，而在以古人之酒杯浇自己之块垒；李白此诗正以此超越一般怀古诗，成为唐诗中寄慨遥深的典范。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated verse (qilü)七言律诗

Rhyme Pingshui rhyme, lower-level eleventh You (流, 丘, 洲, 愁)平水韵·下平十一尤韵：流、丘、洲、愁。

Tone pattern First line enters rhyme; oblique-onset first-line pattern首句入韵，仄起首句入韵格：「凤凰台上凤凰游」为仄平平仄仄平平，平仄基本合律；中二联对仗工稳，气脉浑成。

Reading note A canonical qilü; the two middle couplets antithesize with precision, breath unified, a famous climbing-and-history poem.此诗为七言律诗，首句入韵，押平水韵下平十一尤韵，「流」「丘」「洲」「愁」四字一韵到底，音感宽缓悠长，与全诗苍茫怀古之情相谐。全诗八句四联，起联顶针叠字起势，颔联以朝代对举写兴亡，颈联放开写景，尾联收束言愁，起承转合极为严整，是七律的典型结构。李白素以歌行绝句擅长，七律存世不多，此诗为其七律之首。首联三用「凤」字而不觉重复，反而形成回环跌宕之势，是李白以歌行之气运入律诗的创造。此诗与崔颢《黄鹤楼》并称唐人七律双璧，严羽《沧浪诗话》推为「唐人七律第一」之二，其格律之精严与气韵之浑成，足为后世七律典范。

Line by line

凤凰台上凤凰游，凤去台空江自流。

The phoenix once played on the terrace, then flew away; the terrace stands empty while the river flows on alone.

凤凰台上曾有凤凰遨游，如今凤去台空，唯有长江自顾东流。

On the Phoenix Tower, phoenixes once roamed; now the phoenixes are gone, the tower empty, and the river flows on.

「凤凰台上凤凰游，凤去台空江自流」为全诗起联，以顶针复沓之笔奠定苍凉基调。三用「凤」字，「凤凰台上凤凰游」写昔之盛：凤凰栖止，祥瑞所钟，何等繁华；「凤去台空」写今之衰：凤凰一去，高台空存，只余空旷。一盛一衰，虚实对举，历史的无常尽在八字之中。「江自流」三字尤为精警：长江依旧东流，不因人事变迁而有丝毫改变，「自」字写出江之无情，以江之永恒反衬人事之短暂，以自然之恒常对照历史之代谢。此联以凤凰之兴衰起兴，托物言志，为全诗怀古伤今的基调定音，起势之高、用力之深，历代评家叹为观止。

On the Phoenix Tower, phoenixes once roamed; now the phoenixes are gone, the tower empty, and the river flows on is the opening couplet, laying the desolate key in the chain-repetition brush. Using the word phoenix three times, On the Phoenix Tower, phoenixes once roamed writes the former splendor: the phoenixes roosting, the omen gathered, how glorious. Now the phoenixes are gone, the tower empty writes the present decay: the phoenixes gone, the high tower empty, only the void left. One glory one decay, the real and the void set against each other, the world's mutability all within eight characters. The three words the river flows on are especially alert: the Yangtze still flowing east, not changing a hair for human affairs, the word of itself writing the river's indifference, setting the river's eternity against human affairs' brevity, nature's constancy against history's change. This couplet rises through the phoenix's rise and fall, lodging the bent in the thing, fixing the whole's key of mourning the past and grieving the present, the opening's height and the stroke's depth, the critics of ages sighing at it.

吴宫花草埋幽径，晋代衣冠成古丘。

The blossoms of Wu palaces bury the hidden path; the courtiers of the Jin are now mounds of ancient earth.

吴国宫殿的花草埋没了幽僻小径，晋代名门的冠盖化作座座古坟。

The flowers of Wu's palace have buried the hidden paths; the gentry of Jin have become ancient mounds.

「吴宫花草埋幽径，晋代衣冠成古丘」为颔联，以两个朝代缩六朝兴废，怀古之笔简劲有力。「吴宫」指东吴宫殿，「晋代衣冠」指东晋豪门士族，吴、晋分别代表六朝之始与盛，二句合观，六朝数百年的繁华与消亡尽收其中。「花草埋幽径」写昔日宫苑化为荒径，花草疯长，掩埋了旧时的路径，一个「埋」字写出自然之力对人工繁华的吞噬；「衣冠成古丘」写昔日贵族的冠冕袍服化为坟冢，一个「成」字写出生命由荣到枯的转化。此联以「吴宫」对「晋代」、「花草」对「衣冠」、「埋」对「成」、「幽径」对「古丘」，对仗精工而含蕴深远，是七律中借朝代写兴亡的典范句式。

The flowers of Wu's palace have buried the hidden paths; the gentry of Jin have become ancient mounds is the jaw couplet, summing the rise and fall of the Six Dynasties in two dynasties, the mourning brush concise and forceful. Wu's palace means the palace of Eastern Wu, the gentry of Jin the great clans of Eastern Jin, Wu and Jin standing respectively for the beginning and the height of the Six Dynasties, the two lines together taking in the splendor and vanishing of the Six Dynasties' centuries. The flowers have buried the hidden paths writes the former palace gardens turned to wild paths, the flowers running wild and burying the old paths, the single word buried writing nature's swallowing of man-made splendor. The gentry have become ancient mounds writes the former nobles' crowns and robes turned to tombs, the single word become writing life's turning from glory to decay. This couplet parallels Wu's palace against the Jin dynasty, flowers against gentry, buried against become, hidden paths against ancient mounds, the parallelism wrought yet pregnant, the model sentence of the seven-character regulated verse writing rise and fall through dynasties.

三山半落青天外，二水中分白鹭洲。

The three peaks half-fall beyond the blue sky; the two streams divide White Egret Isle.

三山半隐半现于青天之外，白鹭洲被江中二水分隔东西。

Three peaks half-outside the blue sky; two waters dividing Egret Isle.

「三山半落青天外，二水中分白鹭洲」为颈联，是全诗唯一的纯写景联，也是空间最大、境界最阔的一联。「三山」指金陵城西南长江边三座并列的山峰，「半落青天外」写三山高耸入云，仿佛一半已隐入天外，以夸张之笔极言其高，亦写出远眺之迷茫；「二水中分白鹭洲」写长江水流至白鹭洲处分而为二，洲被水分，水绕洲流，动静相生，画面开阔而灵动。此联对仗天成，「三山」对「二水」、「半落」对「中分」、「青天外」对「白鹭洲」，字字工稳。更为重要的是，此联以永恒壮阔的江山反衬颔联中人事之短暂：吴宫晋代已成丘墟，而三山二水依旧，为尾联的愁思蓄足了势。

Three peaks half-outside the blue sky; two waters dividing Egret Isle is the neck couplet, the whole's only pure scenery couplet, and the one of largest space and broadest realm. The three peaks mean the three parallel peaks by the Yangtze southwest of Jinling, half-outside the blue sky writing the three peaks towering into the clouds, as if half already hidden beyond the sky, in the hyperbolic brush writing their height to the utmost, and also the vagueness of the distant gaze. Two waters dividing Egret Isle writes the Yangtze at Egret Isle parting in two, the isle divided by the water, the water winding the isle, motion and stillness breeding each other, the picture open and alive. This couplet's parallelism is heaven-wrought, three peaks against two waters, half-outside against dividing, the blue sky against Egret Isle, every word exact. More important, this couplet uses the eternal and grand rivers and hills to set off the jaw couplet's human affairs' brevity: Wu's palace and Jin's gentry have become mounds, yet the three peaks and two waters remain, gathering force for the tail couplet's grief.

总为浮云能蔽日，长安不见使人愁。

Always it is floating clouds that can blot out the sun; I cannot see Chang'an, and my heart is filled with sorrow.

终究是浮云遮住了太阳，望不见长安，让人满怀愁绪。

Always the drifting clouds can veil the sun; Chang'an out of sight, it makes me grieve.

「总为浮云能蔽日，长安不见使人愁」为尾联，是全诗情感升华的点睛之笔。「浮云蔽日」语出《古诗十九首》与陆贾《新语》，本喻奸邪蒙蔽君王，此处双关：既写登台远眺时云雾遮日、望不见长安的实景，又暗喻朝中权奸当道、贤臣被逐的时局。「长安不见」是李白政治理想破灭的象征——长安是他「济苍生、安社稷」理想之所在，如今被浮云所蔽，遥不可及，正如理想被现实所阻。「使人愁」三字直抒胸臆，将个人的怀才不遇升华为对国运的忧患，由怀古而伤今，由伤今而自伤，层层深入。此联以景结情，含蓄而有力，为全诗画上沉郁苍凉的句号。

Always the drifting clouds can veil the sun; Chang'an out of sight, it makes me grieve is the tail couplet, the eye-dotting stroke of the whole's feeling sublimated. The drifting clouds can veil the sun comes from the Nineteen Old Poems and Lu Jia's New Discourses, originally meta-phoring the wicked blinding the ruler, here double: at once writing the real sight of the mist veiling the sun and Chang'an hidden on the distant climb, and secretly meta-phoring the time of wicked power in court and the worthies driven out. Chang'an out of sight is the symbol of Li Bai's political ideal shattered - Chang'an the place of his ideal of saving the people and settling the state, now veiled by the drifting clouds, far beyond reach, even as the ideal is blocked by reality. The three words it makes me grieve directly utter the breast, sublimating the personal being-unrecognized into the concern for the state's fortune, from mourning the past to grieving the present, from grieving the present to grieving the self, layer by layer deepening. This couplet closes feeling through scenery, reserved and forceful, drawing the brooding desolate period on the whole.

Study

Word focus

自 The 'self' (自) in 'the river flows on its own' (江自流) marks the river's indifference to human affairs, countering the heartlessness of dynastic change. 「凤去台空江自流」之「自」字，是全诗诗眼之一，写尽历史无情。「自」即独自、径自，江水不管凤凰之来去、不管朝代之兴亡，自顾自地东流不息。这个副词至少有四层深意：其一，写江之永恒，凤凰会去，台会空，而长江千古如斯，以自然之恒常对照人事之无常；其二，写江之无情，江水对台之盛衰漠不关心，冷眼旁观，愈显人事之悲凉；其三，写世之代谢，六朝帝王将相皆已湮没，唯有江水依旧，暗含「浪淘尽千古风流人物」之意；其四，写己之无奈，诗人面对历史与自然的双重永恒，深感个人之渺小与无力。「自」字看似寻常，却一字写尽怀古之情，与杜甫「不尽长江滚滚来」异曲同工。

埋 The 'bury' (埋) in 'blossoms bury the hidden path' (花草埋幽径) lets nature's green overgrow the palace grounds, writing desolation and the power of time. 「吴宫花草埋幽径」之「埋」字，炼字精警，写尽繁华之湮灭。「埋」即掩埋、覆盖，此处写吴宫昔日之繁华小径，如今已被疯长的花草层层掩埋，不见踪迹。此字之妙有三：其一，以动写静，「埋」字暗含一个持续进行的过程——花草年年生灭，一代代将宫苑的痕迹覆盖殆尽，时间的吞噬力由此具象化；其二，以物写史，花草本是寻常植物，在此却成了历史的掩埋者，自然之力胜过人工之力，六朝宫殿的繁华在花草的蔓生中化为乌有；其三，以字见情，一个「埋」字，写出诗人面对历史遗迹时的苍茫之感——一切荣华终将被时间掩埋，古今皆然。「埋」与下句「成」字呼应，「埋」是逐渐的湮灭，「成」是最终的转化，二字合观，六朝兴亡如在目前。

蔽 The 'block' (蔽) in 'floating clouds block the sun' (浮云蔽日) is a pun on clouds hiding the sun and evil men blinding the ruler, one word joining the literal and the figurative. 「总为浮云能蔽日」之「蔽」字，是全诗双关之枢纽，一字关合实景与虚指。「蔽」即遮蔽、遮挡，表面写浮云遮住太阳，使长安不可望见；深层则暗喻奸邪蒙蔽君王，使贤才不得进用。此字之妙有四层：其一，写实景，登台远眺，云雾茫茫，长安在视线之外，「蔽」字是视觉的写真；其二，写朝局，浮云喻权奸，日喻君王，「蔽」字暗指天宝年间李林甫、杨国忠等权臣蒙蔽玄宗、排挤贤才的时局；其三，写自身，李白被「赐金放还」，正是「浮云蔽日」的牺牲品，「蔽」字凝聚了他的政治愤懑；其四，写传统，「浮云蔽日」自《古诗十九首》以来已成文学母题，「蔽」字承其神髓而更见沉痛。一字双关，实景虚指，含蓄有力。