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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

经邹鲁祭孔子而叹之

Passing Through Zou and Lu, Offering Sacrifice to Confucius with a Sigh

唐玄宗

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (Li Longji)

夫子何为者，栖栖一代中。
地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫。
叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷。
今看两楹奠，当与梦时同。

Master, what did you strive for?
Restless and hurrying all your days.
The ground is still the town of the Zou clan;
The house has become the palace of the Prince of Lu.
You sighed for the phoenix and lamented your own ill fortune;
You grieved for the captured unicorn and cursed your Way's exhaustion.
Now I see the offerings set between the two pillars -
They should match what you saw in your dream.

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Meaning

Traveling through the homeland of Confucius, Emperor Xuanzong sacrifices at the sage's temple and meditates on his life: Confucius rushed from state to state without rest, his old home is now a prince's palace, and his Way never prevailed - he sighed for the phoenix that would not come and grieved at the capture of the unicorn. Yet the emperor's own offerings between the two pillars fulfill the dream Confucius had before death: the Way defeated in life is honored at last.

夫子您究竟是为了什么，一生辛劳奔波于当世之中？此地还是鄹邑旧地，您的故居已成鲁王之宫。您叹息凤凰不至、身世困顿，感伤麒麟被获、大道难行。如今看到两楹之间陈列的祭奠，正与您当年梦中所见相同啊。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Master, for what did you toil, hurrying all your life? The ground is still the Zou town, but the house is now the Prince of Lu's palace. You sighed for the phoenix and your own failure; you grieved at the unicorn's capture and your Way's end. Today the offerings stand between the two pillars, as in your dream. [Structure] The poem moves in four steps: a question about his life, the change of place, the failure of his Way, and the fulfillment of his dream. Each couplet narrows from life to death to legacy. [Allusion] Almost every line carries a classical reference, yet the poem never feels crowded, because all the allusions serve one theme: a life that seemed defeated, crowned by posthumous honor. [Tone] Solemn and grave, as befits an emperor addressing a sage; the humility of the closing dream is the poem's deepest courtesy.

【白话串讲】唐玄宗写《经邹鲁祭孔子而叹之》：“夫子何为者，栖栖一代中”——“地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫”——“叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷”——“今看两楹奠，当与梦时同”——他祭孔子——栖栖一代中。【意象与手法】以“栖栖一代中”写夫子一生之奔波；“地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫”写故里；“叹凤”“伤麟”用孔子自叹之典写其道穷之悲；结以“今看两楹奠，当与梦时同”以孔子临终“两楹之梦”作结，点明今日之祭正应当年之梦。庄重典雅。【情感与主旨】唐玄宗经孔子故里邹鲁、祭祀孔子时的追念与感叹，于叹逝中见圣道不灭之意，是帝王祭孔诗中的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“夫子何为者，栖栖一代中”写夫子奔波；“叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷”以叹凤伤麟写道穷。

Background

Tang Xuanzong (685-762), personal name Li Longji, presided over the brilliant Kaiyuan era (713-741) before the An Lushan Rebellion ended his reign in decline. This poem was written during his eastern progress to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifices on Mount Tai, when he passed through Zou and Lu - the region of Confucius's birthplace, Zouyi, in the state of Lu (southeast of present-day Qufu, Shandong). A patron of Confucian learning, Xuanzong ordered sacrifices at the sage's temple. The poem is a rare example of an emperor writing directly on Confucius and remains an important document of Tang state veneration of Confucianism.

《经邹鲁祭孔子而叹之》为唐玄宗李隆基所作五言律诗。唐玄宗（685—762），即李隆基，庙号玄宗，在位前期励精图治，开创「开元盛世」，晚年因安史之乱而国势转衰。此诗为玄宗东封泰山，途经孔子故里邹鲁时，祭祀孔子而作。题中「邹鲁」指孔子故里，孔子生于鲁国陬邑（今山东曲阜东南），其地属邹、鲁之境。诗中「夫子何为者，栖栖一代中」以设问起笔，叹夫子一生奔波；「地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫」写孔子故里之变迁；「叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷」用《论语》《春秋》中孔子叹凤、伤麟之典，写其道穷之悲；「今看两楹奠，当与梦时同」用孔子临终「两楹之梦」之典，写今日之祭。唐玄宗尊崇儒学，此诗以帝王之尊写对先圣的追念，庄重典雅，情辞兼至，是唐代帝王诗中的名篇，也是研究唐代尊孔崇儒政策的重要文献。此篇《经邹鲁祭孔子而叹之》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 economy of allusion and its architectural progression. It opens with a question that summarizes a whole life, answers it with the restless hurrying of the Analects, then pairs endurance and change in the contrast of 'still' and 'now'. The third couplet stacks the two great symbols of Confucius's disappointment - the absent phoenix and the captured unicorn - in perfect parallelism. The closing couplet then performs the poem's great turn: the emperor's own offerings fulfill the sage's death-dream, so that failure in life is answered by honor after death. Every couplet answers the one before it, and the last answers them all.

此诗艺术上以「用典精切、庄重典雅」见长。全诗八句，前六句写孔子一生之行与道之穷，后两句写今日之祭。首联「夫子何为者，栖栖一代中」以设问起笔：夫子您究竟是为了什么，一生辛劳奔波于当世之中？「何为者」一问，涵盖对孔子一生之概括，「栖栖」写其奔走列国、席不暇暖之状，一问一叹，笔意深远。颔联「地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫」写孔子故里之变迁：此地还是鄹邑旧地，而您的故居已成鲁王之宫，「犹」「即」二字，见故里犹存而宅第易主，暗含世事变幻之叹。颈联「叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷」用孔子叹凤、伤麟之典，写其道穷之悲：叹息凤凰不至、身世困顿，感伤麒麟被获、大道难行，两个典故，写尽孔子一生之道不行于时。尾联「今看两楹奠，当与梦时同」以孔子临终「两楹之梦」作结：如今看到两楹之间陈列的祭奠，正与您当年梦中所见相同。此联既是写今日之祭，亦是写圣道之终得尊崇，于叹逝中见圣道不灭之意。全诗由问而叹、由叹而祭，层层推进，庄重典雅，是帝王祭孔诗中的佳作。

Allusions

Hurrying: from the Analects, where Confucius is asked why he is so restless, describing his ceaseless journeys between states. Zouyi: the town of the Zou clan, Confucius's birthplace. The palace of the Prince of Lu: tradition held that the Han Prince of Lu, building his palace, broke into Confucius's former residence. The phoenix: Confucius sighed, 'The phoenix comes not, the river gives no chart; I am done' (Analects). The unicorn: in the fourteenth year of Duke Ai, a unicorn was caught in a hunt; Confucius took it as a sign his Way was exhausted and stopped writing the Spring and Autumn Annals. The two pillars: from the Book of Rites, Confucius dreamed before death of sitting between two pillars receiving offerings, and knew he would die; after his death his disciples placed the offerings there.

此诗用典密集而精切，皆关孔子一生之事。「叹凤」用《论语·子罕》之典：孔子尝叹「凤鸟不至，河不出图，吾已矣夫」，以凤鸟不至叹己之道不行于时；「伤麟」用《春秋》获麟之典：鲁哀公十四年，西狩获麟，孔子见而伤之，以为「吾道穷矣」，遂绝笔于《春秋》。「叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷」一联，连用二典，写尽孔子一生之道穷身否。「两楹奠」用《礼记·檀弓》之典：孔子临终，梦坐奠于两楹之间，自知将死，叹曰「予殆将死也」，后果然。「今看两楹奠，当与梦时同」，即以此典，写今日之祭正应孔子当年梦中两楹之奠，圣道虽一时不行，而终得后人尊崇。诗中「栖栖」亦出《论语·宪问》，「丘何为是栖栖者与」，写孔子奔走之状。全诗几乎句句用典，而浑然天成，正是帝王诗「以典写圣德」的典范。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

This poem is prized as the finest of Tang imperial poems on Confucius. Commentators praise its accurate allusions and solemn dignity, and above all the closing couplet, in which an emperor's sacrifice is made to coincide with the sage's prophecy - a stroke that converts political ceremony into spiritual recognition. Because Xuanzong wrote it before the rebellion destroyed his own reign, later readers have noted the pathos of the promise it makes. For students, the poem is the standard example of the dignified register of Tang regulated verse: every word measured, every allusion exact, and the emotion held behind formal composure.

这首《经邹鲁祭孔子而叹之》，是唐玄宗御制之作，写其经过孔子故里、祭祀先圣时的追念与感叹，庄重典雅，情辞兼至。首联「夫子何为者，栖栖一代中」，以设问起笔：夫子您究竟是为了什么，一生辛劳奔波于当世之中？「栖栖」二字，出自《论语》，写孔子奔走列国、席不暇暖之状。这一问，问得深致——夫子一生所为何来？是行道，是济世，而其道终未行于当世。颔联「地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫」，写孔子故里之变迁：此地还是鄹邑旧地，而您的故居已成鲁王之宫。「犹」「即」二字，见故里犹存而宅第易主，暗含世事沧桑之叹。颈联「叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷」，用孔子叹凤、伤麟两个典故，写尽其一生的困顿与道穷：凤鸟不至，叹己身之否；麒麟被获，怨大道之穷。两个典故，把孔子一生之道不行于时写得沉痛而深切。尾联「今看两楹奠，当与梦时同」，用孔子临终两楹之梦作结：如今看到两楹之间陈列的祭奠，正与您当年梦中所见相同。这一结，意味深长——孔子临终梦见两楹之奠，自知将死；如今两千余年之后，帝王亲临祭奠，正应当年之梦。圣道虽一时不行于当世，而终得万世之尊崇，这「当与梦时同」，正是对孔子之道的最高礼赞。全诗由问而叹、由叹而祭，层层推进，既是帝王之祭，亦是后世对先圣的深切追念。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse (wulü, recent-style, level-tone opening)五言律诗（近体，平起式）

Rhyme The poem rhymes on the eastern group of the level tone: middle (zhong), palace (gong), exhausted (qiong), and same (tong), one rhyme throughout; its deep, broad resonance matches the solemnity of an imperial sacrifice.全诗押平声韵「中」「宫」「穷」「同」，韵脚同属东冬类（中、宫、穷、同），一韵到底，韵部宽舒而音调庄重。五律以平韵谐畅为常，此诗「中」「宫」「穷」「同」四韵音色浑厚，正与帝王祭孔的庄重情调相称；「同」字收束全篇，与「当与梦时同」之句相映，韵脚亦含圣道不灭之意，声情与辞情相凑。

Tone pattern The poem begins with a slow question, moves through the measured antithesis of 'still' and 'now', deepens with the paired laments of the third couplet, and resolves in the level cadence of 'same'. The sound is grave throughout, like a rite performed in speech.句式上，首联「夫子何为者，栖栖一代中」平起，以设问起笔，音节舒缓含叹；颔联「地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫」对仗工整，「犹」「即」相对，写故里变迁，音节庄重；颈联「叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷」用典，「叹」「伤」相对，写道穷之悲，音节沉郁；尾联「今看两楹奠，当与梦时同」以「同」字平收，音节转舒，情调由叹逝归于深远。全诗平仄相间、音节随情起伏，读来如帝王临祭先圣、追念低回之音，庄重而深远。

Reading note This is a model wulü: strict parallelism in the middle couplets, a single rhyme, and a closing couplet that answers the whole. Its distinction is register - the language of state ritual applied to a private meditation on a sage. Read in a low, unhurried voice, the poem sounds like the rite it describes, and the final 'same' falls like the closing note of a bell.此诗为五言律诗，是唐玄宗御制诗中的名篇，也是唐代帝王尊孔崇儒的文献见证。全诗的艺术特色在于「用典精切、庄重典雅」：首联「夫子何为者，栖栖一代中」以设问起笔，涵盖对孔子一生的追念；颔联「地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫」写故里之变迁，暗含世事沧桑之叹；颈联「叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷」连用叹凤、伤麟二典，写尽孔子之道穷身否；尾联「今看两楹奠，当与梦时同」用两楹之梦作结，点明今日之祭正应当年之梦，于叹逝中见圣道不灭。全诗由问而叹、由叹而祭，层层推进，庄重典雅。尤为精妙者，是「叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷」一联，以两个典故写尽孔子一生，而以「今看两楹奠，当与梦时同」一结，把帝王之祭与先圣之梦相接，既见追念之深，亦见圣道之尊，正是帝王诗以典写圣德的典范，为后世所称赏。

Line by line

夫子何为者，栖栖一代中。

Master, what did you strive for? Restless and hurrying all your days.

夫子您究竟是为了什么，一生辛劳奔波于当世之中？

What did the Master live for, ceaselessly busy through his generation?

首联以设问起笔，涵盖对孔子一生的追念。「夫子何为者」一问，问得深致而含敬仰——夫子一生奔波，究竟所为何来？是行道，是济世，这其一生的意义，尽在一问之中；「栖栖一代中」答之以奔波之状，「栖栖」出《论语》，写孔子奔走列国、席不暇暖，「一代中」写其生于斯世、困于斯世。两句一问一叹，把对孔子一生的追念与对其道不行于时的叹惋，写得含蓄而深切，起笔即定全诗庄重叹逝的基调。

The opening couplet begins with a question, covering the remembrance of Confucius' whole life. 'What did the Master live for?' is asked with depth and reverence: for what did the Master travel and toil all his days? To practice the Way, to save the age — the meaning of his whole life lies in the question. 'Ceaselessly busy through his generation' answers with the picture of his toil, 'ceaselessly' from the Analects, writing Confucius rushing between the states, never resting, 'his generation' that he was born into and trapped by. One question, one sigh, the remembrance of his life and the regret that his Way did not prevail, restrained and deep, setting the solemn, elegiac tone at once.

地犹鄹氏邑，宅即鲁王宫。

The ground is still the town of the Zou clan; the house has become the palace of the Prince of Lu.

此地还是鄹邑旧地，而您的故居已成鲁王之宫。

The land is still the estate of the Zou clan; his house has become the palace of the Lu king.

颔联写孔子故里之变迁，暗含世事沧桑之叹。「地犹鄹氏邑」写此地还是孔子的出生之地鄹邑，「犹」字见故地之名犹存，虽历千年而不改；「宅即鲁王宫」写孔子的故居已成鲁王之宫，「即」字见其宅第已易主，为后人所据。两句一存一易，以「犹」「即」相对照，见故里犹存而宅第变迁，沧海桑田之感油然而生。诗人不直写对孔子之追念，而以此故地变迁写之，含蓄蕴藉，既见其对先圣的缅怀，亦暗含人事代谢、圣迹凋零之叹，是五律中「以物写情」的妙笔。

This couplet writes the change in Confucius' native place, holding the sigh for the world's mutability. 'The land is still the estate of the Zou clan' — this place is still Zou, the land of Confucius' birth, the word 'still' showing the old name surviving, unchanged through a thousand years; 'his house has become the palace of the Lu king' — his old dwelling has become the palace of a Lu king, the word 'become' showing the house has passed to others. One surviving, one changed, 'still' against 'become', the native place surviving while the dwelling changed, the sense of seas turning to fields rising of itself. He does not write the remembrance directly, but through the change of the old place, restrained and pregnant, showing both reverence for the sage and the lament for the passing of human affairs and the fading of the sage's traces.

叹凤嗟身否，伤麟怨道穷。

You sighed for the phoenix and lamented your own ill fortune; you grieved for the captured unicorn and cursed your Way's exhaustion.

叹息凤凰不至、身世困顿，感伤麒麟被获、大道难行。

He sighed that the phoenix came not, grieving his own lot; he mourned the captured lin, lamenting the Way's end.

颈联连用叹凤、伤麟两个典故，写尽孔子一生之道穷身否，是全诗最沉痛处。「叹凤嗟身否」用《论语》之典，孔子叹凤鸟不至，嗟叹己身之困顿否塞；「伤麟怨道穷」用《春秋》获麟之典，孔子见西狩获麟而伤之，怨叹大道之穷绝。两句一叹一怨，一写身之否、一写道之穷，把孔子一生「道不行于时」的悲剧写得深切而沉痛。诗人以帝王之尊，却能深入体味先圣道穷之悲，两个典故信手拈来而意蕴深远，正是「用典精切」的体现，也为尾联圣道终得尊崇作了铺垫。

The neck couplet piles two allusions, the phoenix sigh and the captured lin, writing to the full the poet's own grief and Confucius' blocked Way, the bitterest place of the poem. 'He sighed that the phoenix came not, grieving his own lot' uses the Analects allusion: Confucius sighed that the phoenix came not, grieving his own fortune's obstruction; 'he mourned the captured lin, lamenting the Way's end' uses the Spring and Autumn Annals allusion: Confucius, seeing the lin captured on a western hunt, grieved and lamented the Way's doom. One sigh, one lament, one his blocked lot, one the Way's end, writing deep and bitter the tragedy that his Way did not prevail in his time. The Emperor, from his throne, yet enters deeply the grief of the sage's blocked Way, the two allusions taken up as if by hand, profound in meaning, the mark of apt allusion, preparing the closing couplet's vision that the sage's Way is at last honored.

今看两楹奠，当与梦时同。

Now I see the offerings set between the two pillars - they should match what you saw in your dream.

如今看到两楹之间陈列的祭奠，正与您当年梦中所见相同啊。

Now I see the offerings between the two pillars; surely they are as he saw them in his dream.

尾联以孔子临终两楹之梦作结，是全诗的点睛之笔。「今看两楹奠」写如今看到两楹之间陈列的祭奠，正是诗人亲临祭祀之景；「当与梦时同」写此景正与孔子当年梦中两楹之奠相同，「当」字含推测之意，亦含笃信之意。两句用《礼记》孔子临终梦奠两楹之典，把今日帝王之祭与两千年前先圣之梦相接——孔子临终梦见两楹之奠而自知将死，如今圣道终得万世尊崇，帝王亲临致祭，正应当年之梦。这「当与梦时同」，既是对孔子的深切追念，亦是对圣道不灭的礼赞，以梦作结，庄重而深远，是全诗立意之所在。

The closing couplet ends with Confucius' dying dream of offerings between the two pillars, the poem's eye. 'Now I see the offerings between the two pillars' — seeing the offerings laid between the two pillars, the scene of the Emperor's own sacrifice; 'surely they are as he saw them in his dream' — this scene is as Confucius saw it in his dying dream, the word 'surely' holding both conjecture and conviction. It uses the Record of Rites allusion: Confucius, dying, dreamed of offerings between the pillars and knew his end was near. Today, the Emperor himself comes to sacrifice, the sage's Way at last honored through the ages, answering the dream. 'Surely they are as he saw them in his dream' is both the deep remembrance of Confucius and the praise of the Way's imperishability, ending in the dream, solemn and far-reaching, the landing of the poem's thought.

Study

Word focus

栖栖 Restless, hurrying: from the Analects, where Confucius is described as always on the move; it sums up his ceaseless journeys between states and gives the poem its note of weary veneration. 「栖栖」出《论语·宪问》「丘何为是栖栖者与」，写孔子奔走列国、席不暇暖之状。「栖栖一代中」着一「栖栖」，写尽孔子一生为行道而奔波劳碌、不得安处之状，既是写其行迹，更是写其志业。两字音调急促，正与孔子奔走之状相合，是首联一问一叹中的点睛之词，含敬仰亦含叹惋。「栖栖」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。

犹 Still, as before: the place keeps its ancient name; the word stresses endurance - the holy ground survives every change of dynasty. 「犹」字是颔联写故里变迁的关键。「地犹鄹氏邑」着一「犹」，写此地之名犹存、故地犹在，虽历千年而地名不改；与下句「宅即鲁王宫」之「即」相对照，「犹」存「即」变，一存一变，写尽世事沧桑而圣迹之名长存。两字对举，于平实处见深意，是五律「炼字于对仗」的典范。「犹」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。

怨 To lament, to reproach: Confucius's grief that his Way was exhausted - not anger at others, but sorrow that the Way did not prevail in his time. 「怨」字写孔子伤麟之时的怨叹，是颈联写道穷之情的关键。「伤麟怨道穷」着一「怨」字，写孔子见西狩获麟，以为「吾道穷矣」而怨叹，这「怨」不是怨天尤人，而是对大道不行于时的深沉悲慨。着一「怨」字，使孔子的道穷之悲显得真切而沉痛，与上句「叹凤嗟身否」之「嗟」相映，一嗟一怨，写尽圣人身世之悲，是「以一字写尽千古」的妙笔。

当 Should, ought to be: the offerings now correspond to the dream; a word of quiet certainty that joins the emperor's rite to the sage's prophecy. 「当」字是尾联的关键，写今日之祭与当年之梦的相合。「当与梦时同」着一「当」字，含推测之意，亦含笃信之意——如今两楹之奠，应当正与夫子当年梦中所见相同。这「当」字于不确定中见确信，把帝王之祭与先圣之梦相接，既见其对孔子之道的尊崇，亦见其对圣道不灭的信念，是全诗立意的点睛之笔。「当」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。