唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
古朗月行
The Moon at the Mountain Pass
小时不识月，呼作白玉盘。
又疑瑶台镜，飞在青云端。
仙人垂两足，桂树何团团。
白兔捣药成，问言与谁餐？
蟾蜍蚀圆月，大明夜已残。
羿昔落九乌，天人清且安。
阴精此沦惑，去去不足观。
忧来其如何，凄怆摧心肝。
I called it a white jade plate.
Or guessed it was the mirror of the Jade Terrace,
Flying in the blue clouds.
An immortal lets down both feet,
The cassia tree is round and round.
The white hare pounds the elixir,
I ask, for whom is the feast?
A toad nibbles the full moon,
The bright night is already broken.
Yi once shot down nine suns,
Heaven and man were clear and at peace.
The yin essence has fallen into darkness,
Go away, not worth looking at.
When sorrow comes, how can it be?
Grief and anguish tear my heart.
Meaning
The poem recalls childhood innocence about the moon, envisions mythical scenes, then shifts to a lament that the moon is being eclipsed by a toad, symbolizing corruption. It ends with deep sorrow over the state of affairs.
小时候不识月，唤作白玉盘；又疑瑶台镜，飞在青云端。月中仙人垂足，桂树团团；白兔捣药成，问与谁共餐？后蟾蜍蚀月，大明夜残；想当年后羿射日，天清人安。今月既沦惑，去去不足观。忧来何如，唯凄怆摧心肝。诗人借神话写月之圆缺，暗喻朝政昏暗、忠良见弃的忧愤。
Appreciation
The first eight lines capture a child's pure imagination, comparing the moon to a white jade plate or a mirror from heaven, and weaving tales of immortals and a hare. The tone shifts abruptly in the second half: the toad eating the moon signifies evil encroaching on good. The use of myth and historical allusion (Yi shooting down suns) contrasts a golden past with a dark present. The emotional climax is personal anguish.
【白话串讲】 李白小时候不认识月亮，把它叫作白玉盘，又怀疑是瑶台的镜子。一个诗人的天真，从童年写起——这首写月亮的诗，藏着李白最纯净的童心。 【意象与手法】 此诗为唐李白之作，精要赏析详见下方深度赏析。 【情感与主旨】 《朗月行》为乐府旧题，李白拟作此题写月并有所寄托，约作于唐玄宗天宝后期（约750年后） 【名句点睛】 此诗为唐李白之作，精要赏析详见下方深度赏析。
Background
'Ancient Moon at the Mountain Pass' is an old yuefu title. Li Bai wrote this during the Tianbao era (c.750 AD) when the Tang court was declining under corrupt ministers like Li Linfu and Yang Guozhong. The poem uses the moon's phases to allegorize the political situation.
《朗月行》为乐府旧题，属《杂曲歌辞》，南朝宋鲍照首作，原写明月之景与人生之感。李白此题加一「古」字，谓拟古乐府而作，约成于唐玄宗天宝后期（约750年后）。此时李白虽曾待诏翰林，却早已被玄宗「赐金放还」，离开长安，然仍心系朝政；而朝廷之上，玄宗晚年沉湎声色，宠信杨贵妃与杨国忠，朝政日趋昏暗，安禄山叛乱已在酝酿之中。学界普遍认为，此诗以月喻君、以「蟾蜍蚀圆月」喻奸佞蔽君，暗讽天宝年间的政治危机——明月本应清辉满天，如今却被蟾蜍所蚀、沦为昏惑，正是玄宗晚年朝纲败坏的象征。李白生平至此已历尽仕途的得意与失意，从待诏翰林的荣耀到放还出京的落寞，其忧国忧民之心未泯，遂借咏月寄托对国事的深切忧虑。版本方面，此诗收入《李太白集》，文字诸本基本一致，无重大异文。全诗以神话写月，由儿时的天真想象写到对月蚀沦惑的忧愤，将个人的身世之感与家国的兴亡之痛熔于一炉，是李白乐府中寄托深沉的篇章。
Art
The poem is divided into two distinct parts: first a whimsical, childlike fantasy, then a somber political allegory. The contrast is stark. Mythological images are piled up in the first half; then the toad, the eclipse, and Yi the archer introduce a historical dimension. The language is vivid and the structure dramatic.
此诗的艺术特色在于「以天真的笔调写深沉的忧愤」，前后两部分形成强烈的情感落差。前半八句写儿时对月的天真想象：「小时不识月，呼作白玉盘。又疑瑶台镜，飞在青云端」，以白玉盘、瑶台镜两个比喻，写出孩童眼中的月亮之皎洁圆满，天真烂漫、浑然可爱；继而写月中仙人垂足、桂树团团、白兔捣药，全是神话世界的瑰丽想象，笔调轻快、色彩明丽。后半八句笔锋陡转：「蟾蜍蚀圆月，大明夜已残」写月蚀，月由圆满转为残亏，暗喻朝政由清明转为昏暗；「羿昔落九乌，天人清且安」追想后羿射日的英雄时代，寄托对清明政治的渴望；「阴精此沦惑，去去不足观」直写月之沦惑；末句「忧来其如何，凄怆摧心肝」以直抒胸臆收束，情感由隐而显、由含蓄而喷发。全诗以「月」为线索，贯穿神话与现实、天真与忧愤、个人的童年记忆与家国的现实危机，前半的烂漫与后半的沉痛互为映衬，愈见其悲。手法上，比喻、用典、象征兼用，尤以「蟾蜍蚀月」的象征最见功力——以神话写现实，以天象喻人事，是李白「兴寄深微」的代表。
Allusions
The 'white jade plate' and 'mirror of the Jade Terrace' draw from earlier poetry. The immortal, cassia tree, and hare pounding medicine come from moon mythology (e.g., Youyang Zazu). The toad eclipsing the moon is from Zhang Heng's Lingxian. Yi shooting the nine suns comes from Huainanzi. 'Yin essence' refers to the moon, from Shiji.
此诗大量化用古代神话，几可谓「神话的博物馆」。「白玉盘」「瑶台镜」以器物喻月，瑶台为西王母所居，《穆天子传》《淮南子》多载之。「仙人垂两足，桂树何团团」写月中仙人伐桂之景，典出后世盛传的吴刚伐桂之说，段成式《酉阳杂俎》载月中桂树高五百丈，吴刚学仙有过，谪令伐桂；「仙人垂两足」之状，或本诸《初学记》所引纬书中月中有仙人之说。「白兔捣药」出傅玄《拟天问》「月中何有？白兔捣药」，见《太平御览》所引。「蟾蜍蚀圆月」源于古代月蚀神话，古人以蟾蜍为月精，谓月蚀为蟾蜍食月所致。「羿昔落九乌」出《淮南子·本经训》——尧之时十日并出，焦禾稼、杀草木，羿仰射十日，中其九日，天下遂安，此「落九乌」即射落九个太阳的神话。「阴精」指月，古人以月为阴之精，故称「阴精」。至于「问言与谁餐」的设问笔法，远承屈原《天问》对宇宙天象的追问传统。学界对此诗的解读有分歧：主流意见主「政治寄托说」，谓蟾蜍蚀月喻杨国忠、安禄山等奸佞蔽君；亦有学者主「纯咏月说」，谓其不过借神话写月之圆缺，未必有深意，二说并存。
Commentary
Hu Yinglin (Ming) noted: 'The first half sounds like a nursery rhyme, the second half like an abrupt change, truly marvelous.' Chen Hang (Qing) said: 'This satirizes the time when favor and corruption blinded the ruler.' Wang Qi thought it referred to An Lushan's rebellion. The poem blends innocence and satire.
《古朗月行》历代评价不一，然其「小时不识月，呼作白玉盘」四句早已成为童蒙必读的名句，流传极广。明清选本中，《唐诗别裁集》选入此诗，沈德潜谓其「以月之晦明，喻朝政之治乱」，明确以「政治寄托说」立论；《唐诗品汇》《唐诗选》等亦多收录。清高宗敕编《唐宋诗醇》评李白乐府，谓其「逸气凌云，天然秀丽」，此诗前半的天真烂漫正可当之。现代学界对「政治寄托说」多所阐发，结合天宝后期的历史背景，认为「蟾蜍蚀月」「阴精沦惑」确有所指。从接受史看，此诗的价值呈现为两个层面：一是作为蒙学读物，其前四句以孩童视角写月，语言浅近、比喻生动，最易为儿童接受，故千余年来传诵不衰；二是作为政治讽喻诗，其以神话写现实的「兴寄」手法，上承《诗经》「比兴」、下启晚唐咏史讽谏之作，在中国诗歌的比兴传统中占有位置。此诗的影响还见于后世对「月蚀」「蟾蜍」意象的沿用，以及文人以天象喻政事的笔法之中。
Prosody
Line by line
小时不识月
When I was small I did not know the moon.
小时候不识月
When I was small, I did not know the moon.
「小时」二字开篇点出视角——这是一个孩童的记忆，稚拙而真切。「不识月」三字是全诗的起点，唯其「不识」，才会把月亮错认为别的东西，才会有一连串天真的想象。李白以成人的笔写孩童的心，落笔极轻、极自然，却为全诗奠定了「天真」的基调。这五个字看似平淡无奇，实则暗藏匠心：它把时间拉回到遥远的童年，与后文「大明夜已残」「凄怆摧心肝」的现实忧愤形成巨大的时空落差——唯其当年之天真，愈显今日之沉痛。起句之轻，正为结句之重蓄势。
The words 'when I was small' open by fixing the viewpoint — a child's memory, naive and true. 'I did not know the moon' is the poem's starting point: precisely because he did not know, he mistook it for other things, and the chain of childlike fancies follows. Li Bai writes the child's heart with an adult's hand, the touch light and natural, yet laying the 'naivete' of the whole poem. It seems plain, yet secretly it pulls time back to distant childhood, setting up a vast gap with the grief of 'the bright moon now dimmed' below — the more naive the child, the more poignant the man.
呼作白玉盘
I called it a white jade plate.
唤作白玉盘
I called it a white jade plate.
「呼作」二字最见童趣——孩童不认识月亮，便大声地、自信地把它叫作「白玉盘」，那份不加思索的笃定，正是天真的写照。「白玉盘」这个比喻妙在贴切与朴素：白玉之白，恰是满月之色；盘之圆，恰是满月之形，一「白玉盘」三字，既状其色、又状其形，还暗含孩童对珍贵之物的联想（白玉盘是家中珍藏的器皿），色、形、意俱到。李白不用「如」「似」等比喻词，而用「呼作」，把比喻写成了孩童的命名行为，主观而生动。这一句与下句「又疑瑶台镜」并列，一「呼」一「疑」，写出了孩童对月亮既肯定又猜测的两种心理，天真之态跃然纸上。
The words 'I called it' best show the child's humor — the child, not knowing the moon, calls it loudly and confidently a 'white jade plate', the certainty of someone who has not reasoned. The metaphor is apt and plain: white jade for the moon's color, a plate for its round form; three words, color and shape at once, and the child's association with a precious household vessel. Li Bai uses not 'like' but 'I called it', turning the metaphor into a child's act of naming, subjective and alive. With the next line, 'I also wondered at the mirror of Jade Terrace', one 'called' and one 'wondered', show the child's double reaction of certainty and guess.
白兔捣药成
The white rabbit has pounded the medicine done.
白兔捣药成
The white rabbit has pounded the medicine to completion.
「白兔捣药」是月中神话中最温柔的一笔。古人谓月中有白兔持杵捣药，药成可长生。李白写「捣药成」，一个「成」字，写出了一番劳作终有结果的过程，也暗含对「长生」「圆满」的期待。此句与前文「仙人垂两足，桂树何团团」共同构成月中世界的完整图景：仙人、桂树、白兔，皆在那一轮明月之中，安宁而美好。然而这「成」字背后，恰是后文「蟾蜍蚀圆月」的对照——捣药既成，本该圆满长生，却遭蟾蜍所蚀，月亏夜残。天真的神话世界越是美好，被「蚀」后的沦惑便越令人痛心，此句的铺垫作用正在于此。
'The white rabbit pounds the medicine' is the gentlest stroke of the moon myth. The ancients said a white rabbit in the moon held a pestle and pounded the elixir of immortality. Li Bai writes 'the medicine done', the word 'done' showing a labor reaching its result, and the hope for immortality and perfection. Together with 'the immortals trailing their feet, the cassia so round', it makes the complete moon-world: immortals, cassia, white rabbit, all within the bright moon, peaceful and beautiful. Yet behind this 'done' lies the contrast of 'the toad eats the moon' below — the medicine made, perfection and immortality expected, yet the moon is eaten and dimmed; the fairer the myth, the more grieving the fall.
蟾蜍蚀圆月
The toad has eaten the round moon.
后蟾蜍蚀月
The toad has eaten the round moon.
此句是全诗的转折，也是寄托的关键。蟾蜍食月是古代月蚀神话，古人每见月蚀，便谓蟾蜍吞月。「蚀」字下得极狠，它写的不只是月的亏缺，更是一种被侵蚀、被破坏的痛感——圆满的月亮被蟾蜍一点点吞噬，光明渐渐消残。结合天宝后期的政治背景，此句历来被解为奸佞蔽君的象征：蟾蜍喻杨国忠、安禄山之流，圆月喻玄宗或清明之治，月被蚀喻朝政被祸乱。神话在此处被赋予了现实的锋芒，天真的咏月之笔陡然转为忧国的讽喻之笔。此句上承前半的烂漫，下启后半的忧愤，是全诗意脉的中枢。
This line is the poem's turn, the crux of its allegory. The toad eating the moon is the ancient eclipse myth: when the moon was eclipsed, the ancients said the toad had swallowed it. The word 'eaten' is fierce — not merely the moon's waning but the pain of erosion, the bright moon swallowed little by little by the toad, its light fading. Read against the late Tianbao political background, this line has traditionally been read as the treacherous obscuring the ruler: the toad for Yang Guozhong and An Lushan, the round moon for Emperor Xuanzong or the clear reign, the eclipsing moon for the court's corruption. Myth here takes on a sharp edge, the naive moon-poem turning suddenly into political lament; it carries the romantic first half and leads into the grief of the second.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
鲍照《朗月行》为乐府此题的首创，其诗写明月之皎洁、时序之推移，是典型的南朝拟乐府写景之作，情调清丽而格局有限。李白此题加一「古」字，谓拟古而作，却将鲍照的写景咏月，改造为以月喻君、以神话寓忧愤的政治讽喻。鲍诗止于对月的观赏与感慨，李诗则借月之圆缺写国运之盛衰，格局由个人而及家国。同是《朗月行》，鲍照写的是「月色」，李白写的是「月运」，一浅一深、一景一志，可见李白拟古乐府「借旧题以写新意」的本领，也见出南朝拟乐府与盛唐乐府在精神气象上的根本差异。
把酒问月 Raising My Cup, I Question the Moon 李白 · 同咏明月，一旷达一忧愤 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
李白《把酒问月》「青天有月来几时？我今停杯一问之」与《古朗月行》同是李白的咏月名篇，然情调迥异。《把酒问月》以「我今停杯一问之」的洒脱，对月发问，写「古人今人若流水，共看明月皆如此」的旷达，是诗人与月的神游共舞；《古朗月行》则以「蟾蜍蚀圆月」「凄怆摧心肝」写月之沦惑，寄托忧国忧民之痛，是诗人借月的家国之忧。一诗旷达、一诗沉痛，恰可见李白咏月诗的两副面孔——他既能与月对饮、超然物外，也能借月讽政、忧心如焚。同一个月亮，照出的是李白既飘逸又深沉的完整人格。
天问 Heaven's Questions 屈原 · 神话设问与忧愤传统的承续 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
屈原《天问》对天地日月、神话传说连发一百七十余问，「羿焉彃日？乌焉解羽？」「夜光何德，死则又育？」即涉及后羿射日与月之盈亏，与李白此诗「羿昔落九乌」「问言与谁餐」的神话设问一脉相承。二人都借对天象、神话的追问，寄寓对现实的忧愤——屈原因见疑被放而问天，李白因朝政昏暗而咏月，其「凄怆摧心肝」的沉痛，正与《天问》的悲愤遥相呼应。从《天问》到《古朗月行》，「借天象神话以写忧思」的传统绵延千载，李白此诗正是这一传统的盛唐回响，其以神话写现实的手法，直可溯至屈原。