唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
浪淘沙
Lang Tao Sha (Waves Scouring the Sand)
白浪茫茫与海连，平沙浩浩四无边。
暮去朝来淘不住，遂令东海变桑田。
Washing on without cease from dusk to dawn, they turn the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields.
Meaning
This tiny quatrain turns a river-mouth scene into a meditation on time. The first couplet paints the white waves joining the sea and the level sands stretching to the horizon; the second reveals the agent of change — the tireless washing of the waves, night and day, which over ages has turned the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields. Its theme is the creative power of time and persistence: weak, patient forces accomplish world-changing work.
白浪茫茫，与海相连，平沙浩浩，四边无边。暮去朝来，淘洗不停，于是使得东海变成桑田。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] White waves run boundless until they merge with the sea; level sands spread vast and edgeless in every direction. From dusk to dawn the washing never stops, until it has turned the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields. [Structure] Two couplets, two moves: the first paints, the second explains — from scene to principle, small to great. [Imagery] The reduplicatives 'boundless' (mangmang) and 'vast' (haohao) give the water and sand their immensity, and the single verb 'wash' (tao) carries the whole weight of time. What seems a seascape becomes a clock: 'from dusk to dawn' measures the days, and 'mulberry fields' measures the ages. The poem's genius is to find a world-transforming power in the commonest river sight.
【白话串讲】 白居易写《浪淘沙》：“白浪茫茫与海连，平沙浩浩四无边”——“暮去朝来淘不住，遂令东海变桑田”——潮起潮落淘不尽，让东海都变成了桑田——他写时间的流逝。 【意象与手法】 此诗是白居易《浪淘沙》组诗之一，写江海的壮阔与时间的伟力，是白居易哲理诗中的小令名篇。前两句写景：「白浪茫茫与海连，平沙浩浩四无边」写白浪连海、平沙无边的壮阔景象。后两句写理：「暮去朝来淘不住，遂令东海变桑田」写浪淘的永恒与时间的伟力——暮去朝来，浪淘不住，终使东海变为桑田。全诗前写景、后写理，由景入理，以浪淘写时间的伟力，是白居易「以小见大」的本领。 【情感与主旨】 此诗是白居易《浪淘沙》组词（或作诗）之一，约作于中唐时期，是一首借浪淘沙写时间伟力的小诗。「浪淘沙」本是唐代教坊曲名，后为词牌名；白居易《浪淘沙》六首多以水为题材，写江海的壮阔与人生的感慨。此诗写浪淘沙的景象与哲理：白浪茫茫、平沙浩浩，写江海的壮阔；暮去朝来、淘不住，写浪淘的永恒；遂令东海变桑田，写时间的伟力——那「沧海桑田」的变化，正是浪淘不息的杰作。诗中「暮去朝来淘不住」写时间的流逝——暮去朝来，日复一日，浪淘不息；「遂令东海变桑田」写时间的力量——正是这不息的淘洗，终使东海变为桑田。「沧海桑田」本是形容世事巨变的成语（典出葛洪《神仙传》「东海三为桑田」），白居易以此写浪淘的伟力：那看似柔弱的水浪，日夜不息地淘洗，终能改变沧海桑田的面貌。全诗以极简的笔墨，写出时间与坚持的力量，是白居易哲理诗中「以小见大」的名篇，也是理解其「以诗说理」风格的一个缩影。 【名句点睛】 常考“白浪茫茫与海连，平沙浩浩四无边”写江海之壮阔；“暮去朝来淘不住，遂令东海变桑田”写时间之伟力，由景入理。
Background
Bai Juyi (772–846) wrote this quatrain as one of his six 'Lang Tao Sha' poems, composed in the middle Tang period. 'Lang Tao Sha' was originally the name of a Tang conservatory (jiaofang) melody — a folk song — which later became a ci tune-title. Bai's six poems on this title mostly take water as their subject, writing either the grandeur of rivers and seas or reflections on life. This one, in just twenty-eight characters, turns the scouring waves into a meditation on the power of time; the image of the Eastern Sea becoming mulberry fields comes from Ge Hong's 'Biography of the Immortals,' where the Goddess Magu says she has seen the Eastern Sea turn into mulberry fields three times. As a precursor of the 'Lang Tao Sha' tune, this poem also laid the thematic and imaginative foundation for later ci lyrics on the same title.
此诗是白居易《浪淘沙》组诗中的一首，约作于中唐时期。「浪淘沙」是唐代教坊曲名，本为民间歌曲，后演为词牌（《浪淘沙》词调即由此来）。白居易《浪淘沙》共六首，多以水为题材，或写江海的壮阔，或写人生如水的感慨。此诗写浪淘沙的景象与哲理：前两句「白浪茫茫与海连，平沙浩浩四无边」写江海壮阔之景——白浪茫茫、与海相连，平沙浩浩、四边无边，极写水势的浩渺；后两句「暮去朝来淘不住，遂令东海变桑田」写浪淘的永恒与时间的伟力——暮去朝来，浪淘不息，终使东海变为桑田。「沧海桑田」典出葛洪《神仙传》：麻姑自云「接待以来，已见东海三为桑田」，本写神仙眼中世事的巨变；白居易以「遂令东海变桑田」写浪淘的伟力，把「沧海桑田」的成语化为具体的画面——那日夜不息的浪淘，正是沧海桑田的制造者。此诗语言极简（二十八字），却写尽了江海的壮阔与时间的伟力，是白居易哲理诗中以小见大的名篇。作为「浪淘沙」词牌的先声，此诗也为后世的《浪淘沙》词（如李煜「帘外雨潺潺」）提供了题材与意境的基础，是理解唐宋词体演进与白居易「以诗说理」风格的重要作品。
Art
The poem's art can be read on four levels. First, the design 'from scene to principle': the first couplet paints the white waves and level sands, the second draws the conclusion about time, so grandeur prepares philosophy. Second, the reduplicatives: 'boundless' (mangmang) gives the waves their endless expanse, 'vast' (haohao) gives the sands their breadth, so the scene has scale before it has meaning. Third, the verb 'wash' (tao): a humble, domestic word for rinsing sand, here charged with the whole labor of time — 'from dusk to dawn' measures its repetition, 'without cease' its constancy. Fourth, the closing transformation: 'turn the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields' converts a stock idiom about change into the visible product of washing, ending on the largest possible image. Four devices in twenty-eight characters — the model of Bai Juyi's 'small seeing great.'
此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，由景入理的构思。全诗前两句写景（白浪茫茫、平沙浩浩），后两句写理（暮去朝来、东海桑田），由景入理、层层推进——先以壮阔之景引人入胜，再以深刻的哲理收束，是「以小见大」的典范。其二，叠字的运用。「白浪茫茫」「平沙浩浩」以「茫茫」「浩浩」两个叠字写水势与沙势的浩渺——「茫茫」写白浪的无边无际，「浩浩」写平沙的广阔无垠，叠字的运用使画面有了气势，也暗合水的浩渺与沙的厚重。其三，时间的描写。「暮去朝来淘不住」以「暮去朝来」写时间的流逝——暮去朝来，日复一日，那浪淘从未停止，「淘不住」写浪淘的永恒——正是这不息的淘洗，积累成改变天地的伟力。其四，以变写理的收束。「遂令东海变桑田」以「沧海桑田」的变化收束，把「暮去朝来淘不住」的时间之力推向极致——那「东海变桑田」的巨变，正是「淘不住」的浪淘积累的结果，以变写理、以结果写过程，余味无穷。四重手法层层推进，使这二十八字的小诗成为白居易哲理诗中的名篇。
Allusions
The poem stands deep in the tradition of water and time. 'Boundless' (mangmang) recalls the boundless waters of the Songs of Chu and Li Bai's 'the Yellow River's waters come from the sky'; 'vast' (haohao) recalls Wang Wei's frontier desert, 'a lone wisp of smoke in the immense desert.' 'From dusk to dawn' (mu qu zhao lai) echoes the time-consciousness of the Nineteen Old Poems ('man dwells between heaven and earth, like a traveler afar') and Tao Yuanming ('the prime years do not return; the day cannot have two dawns'). 'Washing without cease' recalls the Analects, where Confucius on the riverbank says, 'It passes on just like this, not ceasing day or night' — flowing water as time. The closing 'the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields' uses the 'seas into mulberry fields' (canghai sangtian) allusion from Ge Hong's 'Biography of the Immortals' (Shenxian zhuan): the Goddess Magu tells Wang Fangping that since she came to court she has seen the Eastern Sea turn into mulberry fields three times. Bai Juyi turns the idiom into the concrete product of the waves' washing, and Cao Cao's 'I climb the Jieshi rock to view the blue sea' stands behind the sea's grandeur.
此诗的意象与典故深植于水与时间的传统。「白浪茫茫与海连」写水势之浩渺，「茫茫」写水的无边无际，令人想到《楚辞》「登昆仑兮食玉英」的水意象与李白「黄河之水天上来」的壮阔；「平沙浩浩四无边」写沙势之广袤，「浩浩」写沙的广阔，令人想到王维「大漠孤烟直，长河落日圆」的边塞意象。「暮去朝来淘不住」写时间的流逝与浪淘的永恒，「暮去朝来」令人想到《古诗十九首》「人生天地间，忽如远行客」与陶渊明「盛年不重来，一日难再晨」的时间意识；「淘不住」写浪淘的永不停息，令人想到《论语》「子在川上曰：逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜」——孔子以流水写时间的流逝，白居易以浪淘写时间的伟力，正是「逝者如斯」传统的延续。「遂令东海变桑田」用「沧海桑田」之典——典出葛洪《神仙传》：麻姑对王方平说「接待以来，已见东海三为桑田」，本写神仙眼中世事的巨变；白居易以「东海变桑田」写浪淘的伟力，把「沧海桑田」的成语化为「淘」的具体成果，令人想到曹操「东临碣石，以观沧海」写海的壮阔与「星汉灿烂，若出其里」的苍茫。全诗化用《论语》、葛洪、曹操的意象与传统，以浪淘写时间、以沧海写桑田，正是白居易「以诗说理」的本领，也让这二十八字的小诗成为「时间改变世界」的经典表达。
Commentary
This quatrain is prized as the finest of Bai Juyi's six 'Lang Tao Sha' poems and the source of the celebrated line 'washing on without cease from dusk to dawn, they turn the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields.' Critics point to it as the model of Bai's 'small seeing great' manner — a river-mouth sight turned into a proof that time and persistence change the world. The poem's special place in literary history is that, in twenty-eight characters, it fuses the 'it passes on just like this' consciousness of time with the 'seas into mulberry fields' sense of change: the weak, patient waves are the makers of geological miracle. As the forerunner of the 'Lang Tao Sha' ci tune, it provided the source of theme and imagery for later lyrics — Li Yu's 'the rain purls outside the curtain' and Liu Yong's 'dusk rain spills over the river sky' both echo 'white waves stretch boundless to the sea.' For modern readers the poem is a window onto Bai Juyi's 'philosophy in poetry' and onto the Chinese tradition of writing time as water.
此诗历来被推为白居易《浪淘沙》组诗中的名篇，也是「遂令东海变桑田」这一名句的出处。历代论者对此诗评价较高：论者多指出此诗以「暮去朝来淘不住」写时间的伟力，以「东海变桑田」写沧海桑田的变化，是白居易「以诗说理」、以小见大的典范。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以二十八字的小诗，写出了「时间与坚持改变世界」的深刻哲理——那「白浪茫茫」「平沙浩浩」的江海壮阔，那「暮去朝来」「淘不住」的浪淘不息，那「东海变桑田」的沧桑巨变，都是时间伟力的证明。诗中「暮去朝来淘不住，遂令东海变桑田」两句，把「逝者如斯」的时间意识与「沧海桑田」的沧桑变化融为一体——那日夜不息的浪淘，正是改变天地的伟力；那看似柔弱的流水，正是创造奇迹的力量。此诗作为「浪淘沙」词牌的先声，也为后世的《浪淘沙》词提供了题材与意境的源头：李煜「帘外雨潺潺」的哀愁、柳永「暮雨洒江天」的苍茫，都可在白居易「白浪茫茫与海连」中找到影子。对于今日读者，此诗是理解白居易「以诗说理」风格的窗口，也是感受中国文学「以水写时间」传统的典范——那淘不住的浪、变桑田的海，穿越千年，仍在诉说着时间与坚持的力量。
Prosody
Line by line
白浪茫茫与海连，平沙浩浩四无边。
White waves stretch boundless to the sea; level sands run vast and wide on every side.
白浪茫茫，与海相连，平沙浩浩，四边无边。
White waves, boundless, join the sea; the level sand, vast, has no border on four sides.
这两句是写江海壮阔的名句，以「茫茫」「浩浩」写水势与沙势的浩渺，画面壮阔。「白浪茫茫与海连」写水——白浪茫茫，与大海相连，「白浪」写浪花之白，「茫茫」写水势之浩渺无垠，「与海连」写江海相连、水天一色，那白浪与海连成一片，极写水势的壮阔；「平沙浩浩四无边」写沙——平沙浩浩，四边无边，「平沙」写沙滩之平阔，「浩浩」写沙势之广袤无垠，「四无边」写其四面无边、与天相接，那平沙延展到天边，极写沙势的浩瀚。两句一写水、一写沙，以「茫茫」「浩浩」两个叠字写浩渺之景，以「与海连」「四无边」写无垠之势，把江海交汇处的壮阔景象写得如在目前。这两句的深意在于：它以壮阔之景为后文「东海变桑田」的哲理作了铺垫——那「茫茫」的白浪、「浩浩」的平沙，正是「淘不住」的浪淘所在；那壮阔的江海，正是时间伟力的舞台。以叠字写浩渺、以壮阔铺垫哲理，正是白居易「由景入理」的本领，也让这两句成为写江海壮阔的名句。
These two lines are a famous passage on the grandeur of river and sea, using 'boundless' and 'vast' for the expanse of water and sand, the picture grand. 'White waves, boundless, join the sea' writes the water — white waves, boundless, joining the great sea, 'white waves' the foam's whiteness, 'boundless' the waters' measureless reach, 'join the sea' the river and sea as one, water and sky the same color, the grandeur to the full. 'The level sand, vast, has no border on four sides' writes the sand — the flat sandbar, vast, no border, 'level sand' its breadth, 'vast' the expanse, 'no border' its stretching to the sky, meeting the heavens. One line water, one sand, the doubled words 'boundless' and 'vast' for the measureless scene, 'join the sea' and 'no border' for the reach, writing the grandeur of the river-sea meeting as before the eyes. The depth: the grand scene prepares the philosophy of 'the eastern sea becomes a mulberry field' below — the 'boundless' white waves and 'vast' level sand are the very ground that the waves 'scour', the grand river-sea the stage of time's force.
暮去朝来淘不住，遂令东海变桑田。
Washing on without cease from dusk to dawn, they turn the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields.
暮去朝来，淘洗不停，于是使得东海变成桑田。
Dusk goes, dawn comes, the scouring never stops; so the eastern sea becomes a mulberry field.
这两句是全诗写哲理的点睛之笔，也是千古名句，以「淘不住」写浪淘的永恒，以「东海变桑田」写时间的伟力。「暮去朝来淘不住」写浪淘之永恒——暮去朝来，日复一日，那浪淘从未停止，「暮去朝来」写时间的流逝，「淘不住」写浪淘的永不停息——那「淘」是浪淘沙的「淘」，也是时间之流冲刷一切的「淘」，日夜不息、永不停歇；「遂令东海变桑田」写时间之伟力——正是这不息的淘洗，终使东海变为桑田，「遂令」写结果的自然——不是偶然，而是「淘不住」的必然结果，那「东海变桑田」的巨变，正是浪淘不息的积累。两句一写「过程」（淘不住）、一写「结果」（变桑田），以「暮去朝来」写时间的持续，以「东海变桑田」写时间的力量，把「时间改变世界」的哲理写得具体而震撼。这两句的深意在于：它以浪淘沙的日常景象，写出了「坚持与时间」的伟力——那看似柔弱的浪花，日夜不息地淘洗，终能改变沧海桑田；那看似缓慢的时间，日复一日地流逝，终能创造翻天覆地的变化。以「淘不住」写坚持、以「变桑田」写伟力，正是白居易「以小见大」的本领，也让这两句成为千古名句。
These two lines are the poem's philosophical eye and a famous couplet, using 'the scouring never stops' for the eternity of the waves, and 'the eastern sea becomes a mulberry field' for time's force. 'Dusk goes, dawn comes, the scouring never stops' the waves' eternity — dusk goes, dawn comes, day after day, the scouring never ceases, 'dusk goes, dawn comes' time's passing, 'the scouring never stops' the ceaseless washing; the 'scour' is the sand-scouring of the waves, and more, the flow of time washing all, day and night, never resting. 'So the eastern sea becomes a mulberry field' time's force — this ceaseless washing at last turns the eastern sea into a mulberry field, 'so' the natural result, not chance but the necessary outcome of the ceaseless scouring, the great change of sea to field the accumulation of the waves. One line the 'process' (never stops), one the 'result' (becomes field), 'dusk goes, dawn comes' the duration, 'the eastern sea becomes a mulberry field' the force, writing the philosophy that 'time changes the world' concretely and shatteringly. The depth: through the everyday sight of wave-scouring sand, it writes the force of 'persistence and time' — the seemingly feeble waves, washing day and night, at last change the sea and fields; the seemingly slow time, flowing day after day, at last creates earth-shaking change.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Cao Cao's 'Viewing the Blue Sea' ('I climb the Jieshi rock to view the blue sea'; 'the sun and moon seem to rise from it; the splendid Milky Way seems to issue from it') uses the sea to write the breadth of a statesman's mind — the peak of 'writing the self through the sea.' Bai Juyi's 'Lang Tao Sha' instead uses the waves to write the power of time, ending with 'they turn the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields' — the model of 'writing philosophy through the sea.' Both write the sea: Cao Cao writes the grandeur of a heroic breast, Bai Juyi the power of time; one writes spectacle, one writes principle.
曹操《观沧海》「东临碣石，以观沧海」「日月之行，若出其中；星汉灿烂，若出其里」以观海写天地之气象，是「以海写胸怀」的巅峰。白居易《浪淘沙》则「白浪茫茫与海连，平沙浩浩四无边」，以观浪写时间之伟力，以「东海变桑田」写沧海桑田的哲理，是「以海写理」的典范。同为写海，曹操写「日月之行」的壮阔胸怀，白居易写「东海变桑田」的时间哲理；一写气象，一写哲理。两诗对读，可见「海」这一意象在诗歌中的两种写法——曹操以海写胸怀之壮，白居易以海写时间之力，也可见「以海写志」与「以海说理」的不同。
浪淘沙·把酒祝东风 Lang Tao Sha — Raising My Cup to the Eastern Wind 欧阳修 · 同词牌，一写惜春一写哲理 Same tune-title; one cherishes spring, the other meditates on time.Ouyang Xiu's 'Lang Tao Sha — Raising My Cup to the Eastern Wind' ('this year's flowers are redder than last year's; what a pity that next year's flowers will be lovelier still — with whom shall I share them?') uses the cherishing of spring to write the partings of life, a celebrated Song lyric of 'cherishing time.' Bai Juyi's 'Lang Tao Sha' instead uses the scouring waves to write the power of time — 'they turn the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields' — a celebrated Tang poem of 'philosophy.' Both use the 'Lang Tao Sha' title: Bai Juyi writes the vast change of seas into mulberry fields, Ouyang Xiu the uncertainty of blossoms falling and opening; one writes the great change of the world, the other the mutability of a single season.
欧阳修《浪淘沙·把酒祝东风》「今年花胜去年红。可惜明年花更好，知与谁同」以惜春写人生聚散，是宋词《浪淘沙》中「惜时」的名篇。白居易《浪淘沙》则「暮去朝来淘不住，遂令东海变桑田」，以浪淘写时间的伟力，是唐诗《浪淘沙》中「哲理」的名篇。同为《浪淘沙》，白居易以「东海变桑田」写时间的沧桑，欧阳修以「明年花更好」写聚散的惆怅；一写沧海桑田的巨变，一写花开花落的无常。两诗对读，可见《浪淘沙》词牌从白居易到欧阳修的演进，也可见唐诗「以水写理」与宋词「以花写情」的不同风貌。
登幽州台歌 Song of Climbing the Youzhou Terrace 陈子昂 · 同为时间之叹，一写苍茫一写伟力 Both poems sigh before time; one writes its vast desolation, the other its creative power.Chen Zi'ang's 'Song of Climbing the Youzhou Terrace' ('I see not the men of old before me, nor the men to come after; I think of the boundlessness of heaven and earth, and alone, in sorrow, my tears fall') uses the climb to write time's vastness and the loneliness of the individual — the peak of 'writing grief through time.' Bai Juyi's 'Lang Tao Sha' instead uses the scouring waves to write time's power — 'they turn the Eastern Sea into mulberry fields' — the model of 'writing philosophy through time.' Both face time: Chen Zi'ang writes the smallness and grief of man within it, Bai Juyi the world-changing power of time itself; one weeps, one reasons calmly.
陈子昂《登幽州台歌》「前不见古人，后不见来者。念天地之悠悠，独怆然而涕下」以登台写时间的苍茫与个人的孤独，是「以时间写悲慨」的巅峰。白居易《浪淘沙》则「暮去朝来淘不住，遂令东海变桑田」，以浪淘写时间的伟力，是「以时间写哲理」的典范。同为面对时间，陈子昂「念天地之悠悠」写人在时间中的渺小与悲慨，白居易「东海变桑田」写时间改变世界的伟力；一怆然涕下，一从容说理。两诗对读，可见唐人面对时间的两重姿态——陈子昂的悲慨与白居易的达观，也可见「时间」母题在唐诗中的丰富表达。