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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

将赴吴兴登乐游原一绝

Climbing Leyou Terrace on My Way to Wuxing: A Quatrain

杜牧

Du Mu

清时有味是无能闲爱孤云静爱僧欲把一麾江海去乐游原上望昭陵

In an age of peace, the sweetest savor is to be useless;
at leisure I love the lone cloud, in stillness I love the monk.
I would take my standard and go away to the rivers and seas;
on Leyou Terrace I gaze toward Zhaoling.

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Meaning

Written as Du Mu was about to take up the post of prefect of Wuxing (Huzhou), this quatrain first mocks himself as useless in a so-called peaceful age, then affects the hermit's ease of loving clouds and monks, then declares he will shoulder his standard and leave for the south. The final turn is the poem's heart: on Leyou Terrace he gazes not at the capital's splendor but at Zhaoling, Tang Taizong's tomb, longing for the Zhenguan golden age and silently lamenting the decline of the late Tang.

清平之时，有味的是无能，闲时爱孤云，静时爱高僧。欲把一麾，往江海去，乐游原上，遥望昭陵。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Climbing Leyou Terrace before leaving for the Wuxing prefecture, Du Mu begins with sardonic self-mockery: in this so-called peaceful age, the only thing worth savoring is being useless — at leisure he loves the lone cloud, in stillness the monk. He will shoulder his single standard and go away to the rivers and seas; and then, on Leyou Terrace, he turns his gaze not to the capital's splendor but to Zhaoling, the tomb of Tang Taizong. [Structure] The quatrain descends in four steps: ironic self-mockery, the consolation of idle ease, the decision to depart, and the final gaze — each line a turn of the screw, with the last line doing the work of the whole poem. [Imagery] 'Lone cloud' and 'monk' draw the hermit's world he affects to love; 'rivers and seas' point both to Lake Tai at Wuxing and to the classical escape into retirement; Zhaoling, Taizong's tomb, condenses the whole Zhenguan golden age into one object of sight. [Feeling] The poem's famous restraint is that it never says 'the dynasty is failing.' The wound is visible only in what he looks at: the sage-emperor's grave instead of the living capital. This is the late-Tang art of sorrow through allegory.

【白话串讲】杜牧写《将赴吴兴登乐游原一绝》：“清时有味是无能，闲爱孤云静爱僧”——“欲把一麾江海去，乐游原上望昭陵”——他赴吴兴登乐游原——乐游原上望昭陵。【意象与手法】首句“清时有味是无能”自嘲清时无能；次句“闲爱孤云静爱僧”写闲静之趣；三句“欲把一麾江海去”写将赴江海为官；末句“乐游原上望昭陵”写登原望昭陵，追慕太宗盛世。含蓄深沉。【情感与主旨】杜牧将赴吴兴刺史任前登乐游原之作，以自嘲写感时，以“乐游原上望昭陵”追慕太宗盛世，是杜牧登临怀古的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“清时有味是无能，闲爱孤云静爱僧”写自嘲闲趣；“欲把一麾江海去，乐游原上望昭陵”以望昭陵写追慕。

Background

Du Mu (803-ca. 852), courtesy name Muzhi, came from Jingzhao Wannian (today Xi'an) and is ranked with Li Shangyin as the 'Little Li-Du' of the late Tang. A gifted strategist and polemicist as well as poet, he watched the dynasty rot under eunuch domination and independent warlords, and much of his poetry hides political criticism in historical scenes. This quatrain was written around 850, when he was appointed prefect of Huzhou (Wuxing, by Lake Tai in Zhejiang). Before leaving the capital he climbed Leyou Terrace, the plateau south of Chang'an long famous as a place of high vistas, and looked toward Zhaoling, the tomb of Tang Taizong at Liquan — the emblem of the Zhenguan golden age (627-649) that late-Tang loyalists invoked when criticizing their own times.

此诗为晚唐诗人杜牧的《将赴吴兴登乐游原一绝》之作，是登临感时的名篇。杜牧（803—约852），字牧之，京兆万年（今陕西西安）人，晚唐诗人，与李商隐并称「小李杜」。他一生怀才不遇，虽有心济世而仕途多舛，晚年出任湖州刺史（吴兴即湖州）。此诗写于将赴吴兴刺史任前，登乐游原而感时：「清时有味是无能」，写清平之时，有味的是无能——「清时」写所谓清平之时，「有味是无能」写有味的是无能，正是不遇者的自嘲——那清时本是有为之世，而自己却「无能」，只能以闲为味；「闲爱孤云静爱僧」，写闲时爱孤云，静时爱高僧——「闲」「静」写闲静之境，「爱孤云」「爱僧」写闲云野鹤之趣，正是「无能」之人的闲趣；「欲把一麾江海去」，写欲把一麾，往江海去——「一麾」写一麾出守，汉制刺史出行以麾为符信，江海指吴兴，在太湖之滨，「欲把一麾江海去」写将赴吴兴为官；「乐游原上望昭陵」，写乐游原上，遥望昭陵——乐游原为长安城南的高原，登之可望全城，昭陵为唐太宗陵墓，在礼泉九嵕山，「望昭陵」写追慕太宗的贞观盛世。全诗以登临写感时，含蓄深沉，是杜牧登临怀古「感时伤事」的代表作。

Art

The quatrain is a masterpiece of compression. Its chief device is irony: 'In an age of peace, the sweetest savor is to be useless' says the opposite of what it means — if the age were truly well governed, why should a man of Du Mu's talent find nothing to do? The self-mockery licenses the second line's affectation (loving clouds and monks because he has nothing better to love) and makes the departure in the third line both a resignation and a revenge. Structurally the poem is a staircase: each line is a turn — self-mockery, consolation, decision, and finally the gaze. And that final act of looking is chosen with deadly precision: not toward the capital's splendor but toward Taizong's tomb, so the whole late-Tang lament is compressed into one silent image. Twenty-eight characters, no political word spoken, and the entire dynasty's sickness is present.

此诗艺术上以「自嘲反语」与「登临寄慨」为特色，在登乐游原的描写中写尽感时的深衷。首句「清时有味是无能」，以「清时」写所谓清平之时，以「有味是无能」写有味的是无能——「有味是无能」是反语，正话反说：那「清时」若真有味，何以自己只能「无能」？正是怀才不遇者的自嘲；次句「闲爱孤云静爱僧」，以「闲」「静」写闲静之境，以「爱孤云」「爱僧」写闲云野鹤之趣——那闲静的爱云爱僧，正是「无能」之人的闲趣，也是无奈的自遣；三句「欲把一麾江海去」，以「一麾」写一麾出守，以「江海去」写将赴吴兴——「欲把」二字，写将赴任的决意，也写离京的无奈；末句「乐游原上望昭陵」，以「乐游原上」写登原，以「望昭陵」写追慕太宗——那登高望远之处，望向的不是繁华的长安，而是太宗的昭陵，正是「感时」的深衷：晚唐国势日衰，诗人追慕贞观盛世而不可得。全诗由「清时有味」的自嘲，经闲云爱僧的自遣、一麾江海的决意，而归于「望昭陵」的感时，层层递进，正是登临诗「登临寄慨」的极致。

Allusions

Every key phrase is an allusion. 'Peaceful age' (qing shi) is the conventional compliment to a well-governed era — Ban Gu's 'Eastern Capital Rhapsody' says such ages 'repeatedly arrived' — so using it of the late Tang is deliberate irony. 'One standard' (yi hui) comes from the old saying that a prefect set out for his post with a single banner-token, recorded in Yan Yanzhi's verse; by Du Mu's time the phrase meant being sent out (often demoted) to a provincial post, so 'I would take my standard to the rivers and seas' is self-mockery wrapped in official vocabulary. 'Rivers and seas' points literally to Wuxing on Lake Tai, but echoes the classical escape 'upon the rivers and seas' of retirement. Leyou Terrace was the site of the Leyou Garden built under Emperor Xuan of Han and a Tang capital's favorite height; Zhaoling is Tang Taizong's tomb at Liquan, the standing emblem of the Zhenguan golden age.

此诗用典皆围绕感时与登临展开。「清时」，写清平之时——「清时」本为太平盛世之称，班固《东都赋》「清时屡臻」，此处「清时有味是无能」，以反语写所谓清平之时，正是「正言若反」的自嘲。「一麾」，用「一麾出守」之典——汉制刺史出行以麾为符信，颜延之《五君咏》「一麾乃出守」，后以「一麾出守」写贬官外任、出为刺史；「欲把一麾江海去」，写将赴吴兴刺史任，正是「一麾出守」的自嘲与自慰。江海，指吴兴——吴兴在太湖之滨，故称「江海」，「江海去」写离京赴任，暗含「泛舟江海」的归隐之意，正是「无为而治」的期待。乐游原，为长安城南的高原——汉宣帝时建乐游苑于其上，唐时为士人登临胜地，李商隐《乐游原》「向晚意不适，驱车登古原」，杜牧《登乐游原》「长空澹澹孤鸟没」，皆登乐游原而感时；「乐游原上望昭陵」，写登原望陵。昭陵，为唐太宗陵墓，在礼泉九嵕山——昭陵是贞观盛世的象征，「望昭陵」写追慕太宗的贞观之治，正是「感时」的深衷：晚唐国势日衰，诗人追慕盛世而不可得。这些典故，或写清时、或写一麾出守、或写江海、或写乐游原、或写昭陵，皆围绕感时与登临这一核心，织成一张含蕴的情网，正是杜牧诗「用典深婉」的特点。

Commentary

This quatrain has been the most discussed of Du Mu's climbing poems precisely because of its silence. No commentator has missed the point that 'In an age of peace, the sweetest savor is to be useless' is irony, and that 'gazing toward Zhaoling' is a political act: by looking at Taizong's tomb instead of the living capital, Du Mu condemns the present without naming it. Compared with Li Shangyin's Leyou Terrace lyric ('the sunset is infinitely fine, only near dusk'), Du Mu's sorrow is sharper and more historical — less elegy than reproach. In the history of political allegory in Chinese poetry, the twenty-eight characters of this poem are a classic model of the late-Tang manner: say less than you mean, and let the reader supply the grief.

读此诗，最值得注意的是「清时有味是无能」的反语与「乐游原上望昭陵」的深衷之间的呼应。首句「清时有味是无能」，表面是自嘲：清平之时，有味的是无能——我这样无能的人，倒正适合这清平之时，以闲为味。但细味之，这正是正话反说：那「清时」若真清平，何以有志之士只能「无能」？杜牧有心济世，却仕途多舛，晚年出守吴兴，正是「无能」的自嘲——不是真无能，而是有志不获骋。而末句「乐游原上望昭陵」，正是这自嘲的深衷：登乐游原，本可望长安繁华，诗人却望的是昭陵——太宗的陵墓。那「望昭陵」，是追慕贞观盛世，也是慨叹晚唐的国势日衰：杜牧生于晚唐，藩镇割据、宦官专权，国势江河日下，诗人登原而望，望的是太宗治下的盛世，正是「感时」的深衷。首句的「清时无能」自嘲，与末句的「望昭陵」感时，一嘲一叹，正是此诗的张力所在：那自嘲的「无能」，正是对「清时」的失望；那「望昭陵」的追慕，正是对盛世的渴望。全诗二十八字，无一处直说「忧国」，而那「望昭陵」的一望，正是忧国之深衷——这正是杜牧「含蓄深沉」的风格，也是晚唐士人感时伤事的共同心声。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qi-yan jue ju): four lines, twenty-eight characters诗（七言绝句）

Rhyme neng, seng and ling rhyme in the level-tone 'deng' (zheng) group, a clear, bright and lingering ring that carries the quatrain's single turn from self-mockery to historical longing; the unrhymed first line sets the ironic tone.此诗为七言绝句，押平声「登」部韵，「能」「僧」「陵」等字皆属下平十蒸韵，韵脚清亮而绵长，正合诗情「登临感时」的声调。首句「清时有味是无能」以「清时」起，写反语自嘲；次句「闲爱孤云静爱僧」，写闲静之趣；三句「欲把一麾江海去」，以「欲把」转折，写将赴吴兴；末句「乐游原上望昭陵」，以「望昭陵」收束，写感时深衷。整体声调由起句的含蓄，到末句的深沉，一嘲一叹，正合登临诗「登临寄慨」的诗情。

Tone pattern The tone-pattern of the jue ju allows only twenty-eight characters, so every word must bear weight: the opening line is compressed irony; 'at leisure / in stillness' runs in easy parallel; 'I would take' turns the poem; and the final 'gaze' closes it in depth. The voice moves from biting self-mockery, through idle ease, to one act of looking — and with that gaze the whole late-Tang sadness is felt.句式上，此诗善用「有味是无能」「闲爱」「静爱」「欲把」「望」等凝练语：「清时有味是无能」，以「有味是无能」写反语，句法凝练；「闲爱孤云静爱僧」，以「闲爱」「静爱」写闲静之趣，对偶自然；「欲把一麾江海去」，以「欲把」写决意，转折有力；「乐游原上望昭陵」，以「望」字写追慕，收束深沉。全诗由自嘲入自遣、由自遣入决意、由决意入感时，句式随之由含蓄转凝练、由凝练转深沉，正是登临诗「登临寄慨」的节奏美学。

Reading note In this quatrain Du Mu perfected the late-Tang art of political allegory: nothing is named, yet everything is meant. The structure is a four-step descent — the irony of the 'peaceful age,' the consolation of clouds and monks, the departure for the rivers, and finally the gaze at Taizong's tomb; the poem's famous depth lies in ending on an image rather than a statement.作为晚唐七绝，《将赴吴兴登乐游原一绝》的声律之美，在于以清亮的蒸韵与凝练顿挫的句式，写出登临感时的含蓄深沉情思。全诗首句「清时有味是无能」以「清时有味是无能」的反语写自嘲，含蓄起笔；次句「闲爱孤云静爱僧」以闲云爱僧写闲静之趣，自遣自慰；三句「欲把一麾江海去」以一麾江海写将赴吴兴的决意，「欲把」转折；末句「乐游原上望昭陵」以望昭陵写追慕贞观盛世的深衷，深沉收束。全诗由自嘲入自遣、由自遣入决意、由决意入感时，层层递进而声情相谐，正是杜牧「含蓄深沉」风格的体现。就全诗而言，此诗以登乐游原写感时，含蓄深沉，是晚唐登临诗的名篇，与李商隐《乐游原》同为登乐游原之作，而一写「向晚意不适」的怅惘，一写「清时有味是无能」的自嘲，可见「乐游原」这一母题在晚唐诗人笔下的感时深衷，也可见晚唐士人追慕盛世而不可得的共同心境。

Line by line

清时有味是无能

In an age of peace, the sweetest savor is to be useless

清平之时，有味的是无能。

In a quiet age, only the useless find savor.

这一句是全诗的起笔，以反语自嘲，是此诗感时心态的开端。「清时」，写所谓清平之时——那自称清平的时世，正是晚唐国势日衰的写照；「有味是无能」，写有味的是无能——「有味」写有味道、有滋味，「无能」写无才能，那清时之中，有味的是无能，正是不遇者的自嘲。以「清时有味是无能」写自嘲，比直写「怀才不遇」更见含蓄与反讽——那「清时」本是有为之世，而自己却「无能」，只能以闲为味，正是「正言若反」；「无能」二字，写尽不遇的无奈，也暗含对「清时」的失望。这一起笔，以反语自嘲，是此诗感时心态的开端，也是「乐游原上望昭陵」的铺垫——正因「清时无能」，才望昭陵而追慕盛世。

The opening line is the start, self-mockery in reverse, the beginning of the poem's feeling for the age. 'In a quiet age' — the so-called peaceful times, actually late Tang's declining years; 'only the useless find savor' — the useless alone have a taste for leisure. In a supposedly accomplished age, he alone is 'useless', taking idleness as savor — a praise turned inside out, the word 'useless' holding both frustration and disappointment in the 'quiet age'. It prepares gazing toward Zhaoling.

欲把一麾江海去

I would take my standard and go away to the rivers and seas

欲把一麾，往江海去。

I would take my pennon and leave for the rivers and seas.

这一句写将赴吴兴刺史任，是此诗由自嘲转入登临的枢纽。「欲把」，写欲持、将执——「欲把」二字，写将赴任的决意；「一麾」，用「一麾出守」之典——汉制刺史出行以麾为符信，后以「一麾出守」写贬官外任、出为刺史；「江海去」，写往江海去——吴兴在太湖之滨，故称「江海」，「江海去」写离京赴任。以「一麾江海去」写赴任，比直写「出守湖州」更见典故与意味——那「一麾出守」，本是贬官外任的无奈，诗人却以「欲把」写决意，正是自嘲与自慰；「江海去」三字，写离京赴任，暗含「泛舟江海」的归隐之意。这一句，是此诗由自嘲转入登临的枢纽，也是「乐游原上望昭陵」的铺垫——将赴江海，才登原望陵，作别长安。

This line writes his departure to the post at Wuxing, the pivot from self-mockery to climbing. 'I would take' — the resolve to set out; 'my pennon' uses the allusion to a governor going out with his banner, a demotion to provincial post; 'leave for the rivers and seas' — Wuxing by Taihu, the departure from the capital, carrying the wish to roam the waterways. It prepares climbing the plain to look toward the mausoleum.

乐游原上望昭陵

On Leyou Terrace I gaze toward Zhaoling

乐游原上，遥望昭陵。

From the high ground of Leyou Plain, I gaze toward Zhaoling.

这一句是全诗的结穴，写登乐游原遥望昭陵，是此诗感时深衷的最高点。「乐游原上」，写乐游原之上——乐游原为长安城南的高原，登之可望全城，是唐时士人登临胜地；「望昭陵」，写遥望昭陵——昭陵为唐太宗陵墓，在礼泉九嵕山，是贞观盛世的象征，「望昭陵」写追慕太宗的贞观之治。以「乐游原上」写登临，以「望昭陵」写感时，正是「登临寄慨」的极致——登高望远之处，望向的不是繁华的长安，而是太宗的昭陵，正是追慕盛世的深衷；「望」字，写那远远的追慕，也写那不可得的怅惘。这一结句，含蓄深沉，是此诗感时深衷的最高点，也是「清时有味是无能」的答案——正因「清时无能」，才望昭陵而追慕盛世。

This closing line is the poem's apex, climbing Leyou Plain to gaze toward Zhaoling. Leyou Plain is the high southern ground of Chang'an; Zhaoling is the tomb of Emperor Taizong, in Liquan, the symbol of the Zhenguan golden age. The word 'gaze' holds the distant admiration and the unattainable longing. It is the deepest feeling for the age: precisely because in this 'quiet age' he is 'useless', he gazes toward Zhaoling and yearns for the glorious past.

Study

Word focus

清时 'Peaceful age' — a conventional term for a well-governed era (Ban Gu's 'Eastern Capital Rhapsody' says such ages repeatedly arrived); here used with heavy irony of the declining late Tang. 「清时有味是无能」之「清时」，写所谓清平之时，是此诗感时意象的核心语。「清时」本为太平盛世之称——班固《东都赋》「清时屡臻」，后以「清时」写太平盛世；「清时有味是无能」，写清平之时，有味的是无能——那自称清平的时世，正是晚唐国势日衰的写照。以「清时」写时世，比直写「晚唐」更见含蓄与反讽——那「清时」若真清平，何以有志之士只能「无能」？「清时」二字，正是「正言若反」的反语，写尽不遇者的失望与无奈。这一词，是此诗感时意象的核心，也是「望昭陵」的铺垫——正因「清时无能」，才望昭陵而追慕贞观盛世，那「清时」与「昭陵」，一今一古，正是感时的对照。

一麾 'One standard' — from the old saying that a prefect set out for his post with a single banner-token; it came to mean being appointed (or demoted) to a provincial post, and here covers Du Mu's departure for Wuxing. 「欲把一麾江海去」之「一麾」，用「一麾出守」之典，是此诗赴任意象的关键语。「一麾」即一柄旌麾——用「一麾出守」之典，汉制刺史出行以麾为符信，颜延之《五君咏》「一麾乃出守」，后以「一麾出守」写贬官外任、出为刺史；「欲把一麾江海去」，写将赴吴兴刺史任。以「一麾」写赴任，比直写「刺史」更见典故与意味——那「一麾出守」，本是贬官外任的无奈，诗人却以「欲把」写决意，正是自嘲与自慰；「一麾」二字，写一麾出守的决绝，也暗含「无为而治」的期待。这一词，是此诗赴任意象的关键，与「江海去」相连，一写一麾出守，一写泛舟江海，正是离京赴任的写照，也是「望昭陵」的铺垫。

昭陵 The tomb of Tang Taizong at Jiuzong Mountain in Liquan, the symbol of the Zhenguan golden age that Du Mu longs for and can no longer find. 「乐游原上望昭陵」之「昭陵」，写唐太宗陵墓，是此诗感时深衷的核心语。「昭陵」为唐太宗陵墓，在礼泉九嵕山——昭陵是贞观盛世的象征，也是唐王朝鼎盛之时的见证；「乐游原上望昭陵」，写登乐游原遥望昭陵。以「昭陵」写盛世，比直写「贞观」更见象征与追慕——那昭陵，是太宗的陵墓，也是盛世的象征，望昭陵正是追慕太宗的贞观之治；「望」字，写那远远的追慕，也写那不可得的怅惘。这一词，是此诗感时深衷的核心，也是「清时有味是无能」的对照——那「清时」的今，与「昭陵」的古，一今一古，正是感时的深衷：晚唐国势日衰，诗人追慕贞观盛世而不可得。