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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

观种树

Watching the Planting of Trees

白居易

Bai Juyi

种树皆待春，春至难久留。
君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁。
心意已零落，种之仍未休。
胡为好奇者，无事自买忧。

To plant trees, all must wait for spring;
but when spring comes, it cannot linger long.
Look at the flowers that live from dawn to dusk —
who can escape the sorrow of parting from them?
The heart's fond purpose has already withered away,
yet the planting still does not cease.
Why must the eager and the curious
buy sorrow for themselves when nothing compels it?
Listen

Meaning

Watching someone plant trees, Bai Juyi turns an ordinary garden scene into a small parable of attachment. Trees are planted for spring, but spring soon passes and the flowers last barely a morning, so every act of planting courts the grief of loss. And yet planting goes on. His conclusion is a gently mocking verdict — largely on himself: why do enthusiasts buy sorrow at full price when nothing forces them to care?

种树皆待春，春至难久留。君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁。心意已零落，种之仍未休。胡为好奇者，无事自买忧。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Planting waits for spring, but spring cannot stay; the flowers open for a single morning, and no one escapes the sorrow of losing them. The planter's spirit has already withered with them, yet still he plants on. Why do the eager and the curious buy sorrow for themselves for nothing? [Structure] The poem moves in a four-beat spiral — planting, spring's brevity, the flower's one-morning life, and the paradox of planting on — each step tightening the link between cultivation and grief until the final question closes the circle. [Imagery] The coinage 'buying sorrow' gives the poem its sting: attachment becomes a purchase, and the planter a customer who keeps paying for pain.

【白话串讲】 白居易写《观种树》：“种树皆待春，春至难久留”——“君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁”——“心意已零落，种之仍未休”——“胡为好奇者，无事自买忧”——他观种树——谁免离别愁。 【意象与手法】 “种树皆待春，春至难久留”写种树待春；“君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁”写花落离愁；“心意已零落，种之仍未休”写种之不休；结以“胡为好奇者，无事自买忧”以自买忧写感慨。平易哲理。 【情感与主旨】 白居易写观种树之作，由种树待春而春难久留写花落离愁，结以“无事自买忧”写不必执着，体现白居易诗平易而含哲理的特点。 【名句点睛】 常考“种树皆待春，春至难久留”写种树待春；“君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁”写花落离愁。

Background

Bai Juyi (772–846) was the leading poet of the mid-Tang, famous for a plain, direct style and for poems that teach through everyday scenes. His collected works contain many short pieces like this one, in which he watches planting, flowers, or rain and extracts a philosophical jest or moral. The poem belongs to the tradition of 'poetry of principle' (liqu), verse whose pleasure lies in a small, self-mocking insight rather than in ornate description — a mode he practiced throughout his career, from the desperate social protests of the Chang'an years to the garden philosophy of his Luoyan retirement.

《观种树》为唐代诗人白居易所作诗。白居易（772—846），字乐天，号香山居士，下邽人，唐代诗人。此诗写咏物哲理，为观种树之作。诗中「种树皆待春，春至难久留」写种树皆待春，春至难久留；「君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁」写君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁；「心意已零落，种之仍未休」写心意已零落，种之仍未休；「胡为好奇者，无事自买忧」写胡为好奇者，无事自买忧。白居易此诗以咏物哲理、无事自买忧写其哲理之情，平易哲理，是白居易诗中的名篇。此篇《观种树》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《观种树》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's craft is its spiral argument. Each couplet adds one degree of pressure: trees wait for spring, spring cannot stay, the flower lives a single morning, and still the planting continues — until the final question names the folly. The diction is plain as speech, with direct addresses ('look', 'why must') that create a conversational voice. The metaphor of 'buying sorrow' is the poem's invention: it makes attachment look like a commercial transaction, and the self-mocking humor that follows is classic Bai Juyi — he indicts the planter while quietly counting himself among the buyers.

此诗艺术上以「平易哲理、以春写情」见长。全诗共八句四联，由种树皆待春而君看朝夕花而心意已零落。起「种树皆待春，春至难久留」写种树皆待春：种树皆待春，春至难久留；「君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁」写君看朝夕花：君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁；「心意已零落，种之仍未休」写心意已零落：心意已零落，种之仍未休；结「胡为好奇者，无事自买忧」写无事自买忧：胡为好奇者，无事自买忧。全诗以春写情，由种树皆待春而无事自买忧，平易哲理，是白居易诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

The poem carries no formal literary allusions; its power comes from resonance. The 'flowers of dawn and dusk' echo the old Chinese lament for ephemeral blossoms found in the Book of Songs and the Han yuefu tradition of flower-imagery, where falling petals stand for lost time. The closing idea that the planter 'buys sorrow for nothing' reads against the Buddhist and Daoist notion that most suffering is self-inflicted, a theme Bai Juyi returned to often in his later years, when he liked to joke that his own enthusiasms were a form of voluntary trouble.

诗中「种树皆待春春至难久留」「君看朝夕花谁免离别愁」「心意已零落种之仍未休」「胡为好奇者无事自买忧」等语，皆含典故故实。「种树皆待春春至难久留」写种树皆待春春至难久留；「君看朝夕花谁免离别愁」写君看朝夕花谁免离别愁；「心意已零落种之仍未休」写心意已零落种之仍未休；「胡为好奇者无事自买忧」写胡为好奇者无事自买忧。诗人以朝夕花等语入诗，不着痕迹，而把咏物哲理之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

A minor but characteristic piece in Bai Juyi's large collection, 'Watching the Planting of Trees' is valued for exactly what it is: a small philosophical joke told in the voice of a man talking to himself in a garden. Teachers often use it as an introduction to the 'poetry of principle' tradition, and its phrase 'buying sorrow for nothing' has survived as a proverbial way of describing self-inflicted worry.

这首《观种树》，是白居易写咏物哲理之作，写种树皆待春、君看朝夕花、心意已零落、无事自买忧之情，平易哲理。起「种树皆待春，春至难久留」——种树皆待春，春至难久留。写种树皆待春：种树皆待春、春至难久留——皆待春、难久留；「君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁」——君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁。写君看朝夕花：君看朝夕花、谁免离别愁——朝夕花、离别愁；「心意已零落，种之仍未休」——心意已零落，种之仍未休。写心意已零落：心意已零落、种之仍未休——已零落、仍未休；结「胡为好奇者，无事自买忧」——胡为好奇者，无事自买忧。写无事自买忧：胡为好奇者、无事自买忧——好奇者、自买忧。这「胡为好奇者，无事自买忧」，是全诗之结：以无事自买忧写其哲理。全诗平易哲理，以春写情，正是白居易诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form An ancient-style five-syllable poem (five-character gutishi)诗（五言古体）
Rhyme The poem rhymes on liu (留), chou (愁), xiu (休) and you (憂), all of the you (尤) rhyme group, whose soft, murmuring vowels suit the poem's ruminative mood.此诗为五言古体。押韵：「留」「愁」「休」「忧」等部。句句自然流转，声情平易，正与写咏物哲理的平易哲理相称，也见其以古体写哲理的流转。
Tone pattern Short five-syllable lines move in gentle two-line units — assertion, question, paradox, final verdict — and the single rhyme runs unbroken through the poem like a thread of thought, keeping the tone meditative rather than dramatic.句式上，「种树皆待春，春至难久留」写种树皆待春，音节平易；「君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁」写君看朝夕花，音节低回；「心意已零落，种之仍未休」写心意已零落，音节悠长；结「胡为好奇者，无事自买忧」写无事自买忧，音节婉转。全诗音节随情起伏，由平易而低回、由悠长而婉转，正合古体「流转」之妙，读来如咏物哲理、无事自买忧之音，平易而动人。
Reading note As an ancient-style poem it is free of the parallel-couplet and tonal regulations of the regulated verse, and Bai Juyi uses that freedom for plain-spoken argument; the monorhyme gives the piece a song-like, conversational flow that matches its garden-philosophy manner.此诗为五言古体，是白居易写咏物哲理之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「平易哲理、以春写情」：「种树皆待春，春至难久留」写种树皆待春、「君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁」写君看朝夕花、「心意已零落，种之仍未休」写心意已零落、「胡为好奇者，无事自买忧」写无事自买忧。全诗平易哲理，以春写情。尤为精妙者，是「种树皆待春」写尽皆待春；而「无事自买忧」写尽自买忧，正是白居易诗「平易哲理」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《观种树》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

种树皆待春，春至难久留。

To plant trees, all must wait for spring,<br>but when spring comes, it cannot linger long.

种树皆待春，春至难久留。

All trees are planted waiting for spring; when spring comes, it cannot be kept.

起句写种树皆待春，起笔即见其种树。「种树皆待春」写种树皆待春，「种树」写种树、「皆待春」写皆待春；「春至难久留」写春至难久留，「春至」写春至、「难久留」写难久留。一句写种树皆待春春至难久留，以种树皆待春写皆待春、以春至难久留写难久留，写尽种树皆待春、春至难久留之情。以春起兴，平易而哲理，是「以春起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line plants trees all waiting for spring, and notes that when spring comes it cannot be kept; rising through spring, it is plain and philosophical.

君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁。

Look at the flowers that live from dawn to dusk —<br>who can escape the sorrow of parting from them?

君看朝夕花，谁免离别愁。

Look at the flowers that open and close in a morning — who is free from sorrow at parting?

此句写君看朝夕花，是全诗写朝夕花之态的关键。「君看朝夕花」写君看朝夕花，「君看」写君看、「朝夕花」写朝夕花；「谁免离别愁」写谁免离别愁，「谁免」写谁免、「离别愁」写离别愁。一句写君看朝夕花谁免离别愁，以君看朝夕花写朝夕花、以谁免离别愁写离别愁，写尽君看朝夕花、谁免离别愁之情。以花写情，平易而哲理，是「以花写情」的点睛之笔。

This line bids the reader look at the flowers that open and close in a single morning, and asks who is free from parting sorrow; writing through the flower, it voices the pathos of fragile beauty.

心意已零落，种之仍未休。

The heart's fond purpose has already withered away,<br>yet the planting still does not cease.

心意已零落，种之仍未休。

My own heart already scattered and fallen, yet I plant on without rest.

此句写心意已零落，是全诗写心意之态的关键。「心意已零落」写心意已零落，「心意」写心意、「已零落」写已零落；「种之仍未休」写种之仍未休，「种之」写种之、「仍未休」写仍未休。一句写心意已零落种之仍未休，以心意已零落写已零落、以种之仍未休写仍未休，写尽心意已零落、种之仍未休之情。以心写情，平易而哲理，是「以心写情」的点睛之笔。

It writes that the poet's own heart is already scattered and fallen, yet he plants on without rest; writing through the heart, it turns the planting into an image of unquiet longing.

胡为好奇者，无事自买忧。

Why must the eager and the curious<br>buy sorrow for themselves when nothing compels it?

胡为好奇者，无事自买忧。

Why must a curious man, with nothing the matter, buy his own sorrow?

结句写无事自买忧，是全诗立意的落点。「胡为好奇者」写胡为好奇者，「胡为」写胡为、「好奇者」写好奇者；「无事自买忧」写无事自买忧，「无事」写无事、「自买忧」写自买忧。一句写胡为好奇者无事自买忧，以胡为好奇者写好奇者、以无事自买忧写自买忧，写尽胡为好奇者、无事自买忧之情。以忧写情，平易而哲理，是全诗最动人处，也是「以忧写情」的点睛之笔。

The closing line asks why a curious man, with nothing the matter, should 'buy his own sorrow'; ending on that sorrow, it is the poem's point — the quiet philosophy of a man who has known loss.

Study

Word focus

种树 Planting trees: the poem's humble starting point and its central metaphor — every act of cultivation is a bet on spring's return, and therefore a contract with loss. 「种树」写种树皆待春，是写种树之态的关键。「种树皆待春」着一「种树」，写种树——着一「种树」，写种树皆待春，见其树之种。两字写尽种树之态，是「以词写种」的妙笔。「种树」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
朝夕 Morning and evening, compressed to mean a single day. The word collapses a flower's whole lifespan into one day, sharpening the sense of fragility. 「朝夕」写君看朝夕花，是写朝夕之态的关键。「君看朝夕花」着一「朝夕」，写朝夕——着一「朝夕」，写君看朝夕花，见其夕之朝。两字写尽朝夕之态，是「以词写朝」的点睛之词。「朝夕」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
零落 Withered and fallen: describing both the flowers' fate and the planter's fading enthusiasm, the word quietly fuses outer scene with inner state. 「零落」写心意已零落，是写零落之态的关键。「心意已零落」着一「零落」，写零落——着一「零落」，写心意已零落，见其落之零。两字写尽零落之态，是「以词写落」的点睛之词。「零落」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
好奇 'Lovers of the new': the eager and curious who cannot resist planting and gathering novelty. The mockery is gentle, and it includes the poet himself. 「好奇」写胡为好奇者，是写好奇之态的关键。「胡为好奇者」着一「好奇」，写好奇——着一「好奇」，写胡为好奇者，见其奇之好。两字写尽好奇之态，是「以词写奇」的点睛之词。「好奇」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

水调歌头·明月几时有 Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Clear? 苏轼 · 同写哲理感怀、平易旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写种树皆待春春至难久留，皆于哲理之中见平易 Both poems extract philosophy from an act of gazing and turn it toward consolation.

Su Shi's lyric, written while gazing at the moon, answers the pain of parting with the consolation that men have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion, and that this has been hard to perfect since ancient times. Bai Juyi's short poem, written while watching a tree planted, ends with the wry verdict that the planter 'buys sorrow for nothing'. One is philosophical consolation, the other philosophical self-mockery — two flavors of the same meditative gaze.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写哲理感怀、平易旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；白居易《观种树》则以「种树皆待春，春至难久留」「无事自买忧」写难久留、自买忧。两诗同写哲理感怀、平易旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写种树皆待春春至难久留、以种树写哲理；一为苏轼之旷达、一为白居易之平易，并读正可见诗写「哲理感怀」的两种笔法，皆于哲理之中见平易。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of the Ganzhou Song 柳永 · 同写树下凝望、平易清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写种树皆待春春至难久留，皆于树下之中见凝望 Both poems gaze upon an autumn scene and let the mind wander from the visible to the invisible.

Liu Yong's lyric, opening on the evening rain spilling over the river sky, moves from a washed-clear autumn to longing for home. Bai Juyi's short poem moves from the planting of trees to the brevity of spring and flowers. Both practice 'seeing the object and giving birth to feeling', but Liu Yong's sorrow is homesickness while Bai Juyi's is the sorrow of attachment itself — one grieves for a place, the other for the human habit of caring.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写树下凝望、平易清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；白居易《观种树》则以「种树皆待春，春至难久留」「君看朝夕花」写难久留、朝夕花。两诗同写树下凝望、平易清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写种树皆待春春至难久留、以种树写哲理；一为柳永之清丽、一为白居易之平易，并读正可见诗写「树下凝望」的两种笔法，皆于树下之中见凝望。