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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

茅屋为秋风所破歌

Song of My Cottage Unroofed by Autumn Gales

杜甫

Du Fu

民生People's Livelihood 忧国Concern for the State 叙事Narrative

八月秋高风怒号，卷我屋上三重茅。
茅飞渡江洒江郊，高者挂罥长林梢，下者飘转沉塘坳。
南村群童欺我老无力，忍能对面为盗贼。
公然抱茅入竹去，唇焦口燥呼不得，归来倚杖自叹息。
俄顷风定云墨色，秋天漠漠向昏黑。
布衾多年冷似铁，娇儿恶卧踏里裂。
床头屋漏无干处，雨脚如麻未断绝。
自经丧乱少睡眠，长夜沾湿何由彻！
安得广厦千万间，大庇天下寒士俱欢颜，风雨不动安如山。
呜呼！
何时眼前突兀见此屋，吾庐独破受冻死亦足！

In the eighth moon the autumn gales furiously howl;
They roll up three layers of straw from my thatched bower.
The straw flies across the river and spreads in shower,
Some hanging knotted on the tops of trees that tower,
Some swirling down and sinking into water foul.
Urchins from southern village know I'm old and weak,
They rob me to my face without a blush on the cheek,
And holding armfuls of straw, run into bamboos deep.
I call them till my lips are parched and throat is sore,
But get no answer; I come back and sigh once more.
When wind subsides, clouds turn to black; autumn is pale;
Darkness soon falls and it begins to snow and hail.
My cotton quilt is cold, for years it has been worn;
My restless children kick in sleep and it is torn.
The roof leaks o'er beds, leaving no corner dry;
Without cease the rain falls thick and fast from the sky.
After the troubled times troubled has been my sleep.
Wet through, how can I pass the night so long and deep!
Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles,
I'd house all scholars poor and make them beam with smiles.
In wind and rain these mansions would stand like mountains high.
Alas! Should these houses appear before my eye,
Frozen in my unroofed cot, content I'd die.

Listen

Meaning

The poem narrates how autumn winds rip the thatch from Du Fu's newly built cottage, how village children take the straw, and how rain leaks through the roof. From his own suffering, Du Fu imagines a vast shelter for all cold scholars, expressing a selfless wish to endure hardship so others may be warm.

八月秋深，狂风怒吼，卷走了我屋顶层层茅草。茅草飞过江洒落郊野，高的挂住林梢，低的飘转沉入塘坳。南村孩童欺我年老无力，竟忍心当面抱走茅草像盗贼。他们公然抱草走进竹林，我喊得唇焦口燥也拦不住，回来拄杖独自叹息。一会儿风停云黑，秋空漠漠逼近昏暗。布被多年冰冷如铁，孩子睡相不好蹬破了被里。床头漏雨没有干处，雨脚如麻下个不停。自遭战乱很少安眠，长夜沾湿如何挨到天明！怎能得到千万间广厦，普遍庇护天下寒士都展笑颜，风雨中安稳如山。唉！何时眼前突兀耸起这样的房屋，纵使我茅庐独破、冻死也心甘！

Appreciation

The poem moves from vivid description of the wind stealing thatch and the rain soaking the bed to a sudden, powerful shift: 'Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles, I'd house all scholars poor and make them beam with smiles.' This leap from personal misery to universal compassion epitomizes Du Fu's humanitarian spirit.

【白话串讲】屋顶被风掀了，茅草被孩子抢走了，杜甫躺在漏雨的屋里，想的却是“安得广厦千万间，大庇天下寒士俱欢颜”——自己住破屋，却盼天下人有房住，这就是杜甫。【意象与手法】歌行体长篇，叙事、抒情、议论一气流转。从“风卷茅”到“屋漏雨”三层白描，由小见大【情感与主旨】上元二年（761），杜甫在成都草堂落成不久，秋风破屋、夜雨漏床。时安史之乱未平，诗人虽得一隅暂安，仍饱尝贫寒【名句点睛】此诗为唐杜甫之作，精要赏析详见下方深度赏析。

Background

In 761 AD, shortly after building his thatched cottage in Chengdu, Du Fu suffered a storm that tore off the roof. The Tang dynasty was still reeling from the An Lushan Rebellion. This poem channels his immediate hardship into a timeless plea for the welfare of all educated poor.

唐肃宗上元二年（761）秋，杜甫在成都西郊浣花溪畔的草堂中写下此诗。草堂经营于乾元二年（759）冬至上元元年（760）春之间，是诗人历尽陇右流亡、辗转入蜀之后，倚仗亲友接济才勉力筑成的栖身之所。草堂初成时，杜甫曾有《堂成》《江村》一类语气疏朗的闲适之作，仿佛乱世之中终得一隅安顿。然而这份安顿本极脆弱：茅草苫顶、竹木为骨，经不起一场秋日大风。此诗所写，正是八月狂风掀去屋茅、继而夜雨漏床的一段真实遭遇。其时安史之乱尚未平定，史思明虽死而史朝义继起，中原兵火不息，关中饥荒频仍，杜甫虽暂居西南一隅，随时仍可能再度失所，故篇中「自经丧乱少睡眠」一语，不是修辞而是实录。诗题标一「歌」字，明其为乐府歌行体，属杜甫中年以后自创新题、以当世时事入诗的一路，与《兵车行》《丽人行》同一家法。就版本而论，此篇文字异同不多，唯「高者挂罥长林梢」之「罥」字，旧本或讹作形近之字，今通行本从「罥」，训为缠挂；「何时眼前突兀见此屋」之「见」，旧读如现，谓耸现于目前，若读为看见则语意稍弱。就文学传统而言，此诗上承《诗经》怨而不怒的刺时精神，中接汉乐府《东门行》《妇病行》写贫家苦况的白描笔法，下与白居易《新制布裘》推己及人的立意遥相呼应，遂成中国诗史上以自身之寒推念天下之寒的典范文本。

Art

A narrative, lyric, and argumentative song-style poem. It uses three layered scenes—wind stealing thatch, children taking straw, rain leaking—to build tension. The line 'Could I get mansions...' suddenly elevates the tone. Vivid verbs like 'howl' and 'roll' bring the storm to life; direct speech at the end expresses ultimate sacrifice.

全篇为歌行体，句式长短参差，以七言为骨而杂以九言、十一言，随情势推涌而变，故能一气奔注又层层顿宕。章法凡四转。首段五句写风卷茅，纯用动词铺排，怒号、卷、飞、洒、挂罥、飘转、沉，一连数个动作把风势之猛与茅草之溃写成一段动态影像，末以高者、下者分承，视线由林梢之高落到塘坳之低，空间由是张开。次段五句写群童抱茅，转入叙事与自嘲，「欺我老无力」五字下得沉痛，「忍能对面为盗贼」看似厉声斥骂，实则是老病无力时的一句气话，「唇焦口燥呼不得」以生理细节写窘迫，「归来倚杖自叹息」一句收束，动作与神情俱见。三段八句写夜雨屋漏，笔调由动转静、由外入内：云墨色、向昏黑染出天色，冷似铁以触觉写被之旧薄，踏里裂以孩童睡态反衬贫窘，雨脚如麻以线状之喻写雨之密而不绝，短短数句之内触觉、视觉、心觉层层交叠。末段五句忽然拔起，「安得广厦千万间」以设想之辞翻出胸襟，由一己屋漏推及天下寒士，句式由七言展为九言、十一言，声情随之开阔如山岳。最耐寻味者在收束：诗人不求己屋之全，而愿以吾庐独破、受冻而死换取天下之安，个体苦难遂彻底让位于普世关怀，全诗因此由写实的窘迫升为道德的崇高。此即由小见大、卒章显志之法，而其所以不觉空阔者，全赖前三段风卷茅、童抱茅、雨漏床的层层实写垫底。

Allusions

The phrase 'Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles' echoes the Confucian ideal of universal care, as seen in Mencius's idea of extending one's compassion. 'Hanging knotted on the tops of trees' (罥) and 'water foul' (塘坳) are precise descriptions drawn from immediate observation.

此诗少用故实而多化传统。「三重茅」之「重」为层义，古人苫屋以茅数重相压，愈重则愈厚实，卷去三重则屋顶几尽，一字便见损失之巨，非确指三层。「挂罥」之「罥」本义为捕鸟兽之网，引申为缠绕、挂住，《说文》训网，杜甫以之写茅草缠挂树梢，取其纠结难解之态，旧本讹作他字者皆失其妙。「布衾」与锦衾相对，《诗经·唐风·葛生》有角枕粲兮、锦衾烂兮之语，锦衾为贵，布衾为贱，杜甫特书布衾，且曰多年，寒素之状不待多言。「冷似铁」的取喻承汉魏乐府以日常器物比况体感的路数，与《古诗为焦仲卿妻作》一类白描同源，而以金属之冷硬写旧被之失絮，尤为切至。「恶卧」为唐人口语，谓睡态不安、辗转踢蹬，非谓品行不端，此类俗语入诗正是杜甫歌行的本色。「丧乱」二字为杜诗关键语汇，指安史之乱以来的天下离散，《诗经·大雅》已有丧乱弘多之语，杜甫屡用之，《春望》《北征》皆然。「广厦」之想，远接儒家老者安之的仁者胸怀，近承汉魏赋家铺写宫室之壮，而反其意用之：赋家写广厦以颂王侯，杜甫写广厦以庇寒士。「寒士」一词，历代注家有宽狭之辨：或谓专指贫寒士人，或谓泛指天下穷民。就「大庇天下」的口气与全诗由己及人的推衍看，当以泛指为长，方不至于把这份胸襟局限在一个阶层之内。

Commentary

Huang Che of Song praised: 'Zimei's intent is to suffer himself for others' benefit—not empty words.' Pu Qilong of Qing said: 'What a broad mind in the line 'Could I get mansions...'!' Both recognize the genuine altruism of the poem.

此诗自宋以来即被视为杜甫仁心的直接见证。宋人编次杜集、注杜成风，诸家于篇末数句多致推崇，以为可与《自京赴奉先县咏怀五百字》中穷年忧黎元、《又呈吴郎》中已诉征求贫到骨并读，同属推己及人之作。宋儒以杜甫为诗中之圣，其根据不在辞采之富而在此种胸襟；朱熹论杜，尤重其忠厚恻怛，此诗正是显例。明清评家论歌行章法，亦多举此篇为范，以为长短句错落而不散，转折凡四而气脉不断，末段忽作高唱而不觉突兀。清人论杜多重沉郁顿挫，此诗则于沉郁之外别见开阔，故有以为杜集中最见性情者。近代以来，此诗因其鲜明的民生关怀而长期进入各级教科书，成为流传最广的杜诗之一，「安得广厦千万间，大庇天下寒士俱欢颜」二句更被反复引用于论述居住与民生的场合，几乎化为成语。传播史上值得注意的一点是，此诗在流传中的重心逐渐由前三段的写实转向末段的宏愿：早期读者往往被其白描的真切所动，后世征引则多止于末数句，遂使全诗被读成一篇仁者宣言。然而若只取末段，便失了风卷茅、雨漏床的切身之痛，那宏愿的分量也随之减轻。惟合前后并观，才见其崇高原是从苦难里长出来的。

Prosody

Form Seven-character song-style (ancient style, a 'ge' poem)七言为主的杂言歌行体（乐府新题），古体，不拘平仄粘对

Rhyme Free rhyming shifts: howl/bower, shower/tower/foul, weak/cheek/deep, sore/more, pale/hail, worn/torn, dry/sky, sleep/deep, miles/smiles, high/eye/die.全篇数次换韵，随段落转折而变：首段押平声豪肴一系（号、茅、郊、梢、坳），音响宏亮，与风势相称；中间数段多押入声与仄韵（力、贼；得、息；色、黑；铁、裂），短促迫塞，如喘息不畅；末段转押平声寒删一系（间、颜、山），忽复开朗宽舒，终以入声屋韵（屋、足）收束，斩截有力

Tone pattern Primarily seven-character lines with occasional nine-character lines; does not follow regulated tonal patterns, matching the narrative and emotional flow.古体歌行，不受近体平仄格律约束，惟以句中自然音节与虚字调节缓急。七言为常调，间以九言（如南村群童欺我老无力）、十一言（如大庇天下寒士俱欢颜），长句处气脉舒展，短句处顿挫紧凑，全凭情势驱使

Reading note Starts with personal suffering and culminates in a universal wish; the detailed, realistic narrative makes the final lofty sentiment more powerful, epitomizing Du Fu's 'somber and stirred' (沉郁) style.此诗的声律安排与情感起伏几乎完全同步，是歌行体因情立格的范例。开篇押豪肴宽韵，韵母开口度大，读来自带呼号之势，与八月秋高风怒号的意象浑然一体；茅飞渡江以下连用郊、梢、坳三韵脚，一路顺流而下，恰似茅草被风追逐、无处停驻。中间写群童抱茅与夜雨屋漏，韵脚忽转入声与仄声，力、贼、得、息、色、黑、铁、裂诸字皆收音短促，如齿间咬定，读之气不得畅，正与诗人唇焦口燥、彻夜难眠的窘迫相合；这一段句式亦最参差，九言、十一言错出，读时须屡屡换气，音节上的滞碍即是心境上的滞碍。至末段安得广厦以下，韵脚一转为平声寒删，间、颜、山三字开口宏敞，声音忽然放开，与胸襟之豁然全然应合；而结尾屋、足二字复归入声，一句斩然而止，不作余音摇曳，正见其决绝。全诗押韵之疏密、句式之长短、平仄之相激，皆非预设成格，而是随情走笔，故读来虽长而不觉冗，虽杂而不觉乱。此种以声传情、不拘常调的写法，是杜甫歌行体最见功力处。

Line by line

八月秋高风怒号，卷我屋上三重茅。

In the eighth moon the autumn gales furiously howl; They roll up three layers of straw from my thatched bower. — 'Howl' personifies the wind's violence; 'roll up' emphasizes sudden destruction, immediately linking natural force and personal distress.

八月秋深，狂风怒吼，卷走了我屋顶层层茅草。

In the eighth month, autumn high, the wind howls in anger; it rolls off the triple layer of thatch from my roof.

起句不作铺垫而径以时令、风势入题，八月秋高四字先立一个高远空阔的背景，秋高则天旷，天旷则风无所阻，风势之烈已在言外。怒号以人的情态写风，赋无知之物以蛮暴之意，一个怒字定下全诗被欺凌的基调。次句一转为受害者的视角，卷我屋上三重茅，我字直入，使天灾立刻成为切身之痛；三重言其厚，卷之而去言其易，愈见风力之不可抗。两句之间由天及屋、由远及近，十四字已把灾变的规模与自身的无力同时交代清楚。

The opening, without padding, enters at once through the season and the wind's force; the four words 'eighth month, autumn high' first set a lofty, open background, autumn high and the sky vast, the wind unblocked, the wind's fierceness already between the words. 'Howls in anger' writes the wind through human emotion, giving the senseless thing the brute will, the one word 'anger' tuning the whole's keynote of being wronged. The next line turns to the victim's view, 'rolls off the triple layer of thatch from my roof', the word 'my' entering straight, making the natural disaster at once a personal pain; 'triple' writes its thickness, 'rolls off and away' its ease, the more showing the wind's unresistibility. Between the two lines, from heaven to the house, from far to near, the fourteen words at once set out the disaster's scale and one's own powerlessness.

布衾多年冷似铁，娇儿恶卧踏里裂。

The quilt of years is cold as iron; my child, sleeping ill, has kicked the lining apart.

布被多年冰冷如铁，孩子睡相不好蹬破了被里。

The quilt of years is cold as iron; my child, sleeping ill, has kicked the lining apart.

此二句是全诗写贫最刻骨处。布衾已贱，又加多年，则絮败板结可知；不说薄而说冷似铁，以金属之硬冷代替絮暖，触觉之外更带出一种绝望的质地，此喻在唐诗中甚为罕见而极精准。下句不写自己冻，偏写娇儿恶卧踏里裂，一个娇字满含爱怜，恶卧是唐人口语，写小儿睡不安稳、辗转蹬踢，本是童稚常态，然被里一踏即裂，则被之朽薄自明。以孩子的无心之动揭出家计之窘，比直陈贫寒沉痛得多，且父子相依、无以为庇之情亦于此透出。

These two lines are the poem's most bone-deep writing of poverty. The cloth quilt already cheap, and years old, then the wadding's rotted and hardened may be known; writing not 'thin' but 'cold as iron', using metal's hard cold in place of the wadding's warmth, beyond the touch bringing a desperate texture, this metaphor rare and most exact in Tang verse. The next line writes not his own freezing, but the child's 'sleeping ill, kicked the lining apart', the one word 'dear' full of tenderness, 'sleeping ill' the colloquial of the time, writing the little child's restless sleep, the tossing and kicking, originally the child's normal state; yet the lining kicks apart at a touch, then the quilt's rot and thinness of itself clear. Using the child's unknowing motion to reveal the household's straits, far more piercing than a plain stating of poverty, and the father-son dependence, the having no shelter, shows through here.

床头屋漏无干处，雨脚如麻未断绝。

The roof leaks o'er beds, leaving no corner dry; Without cease the rain falls thick and fast from the sky. — 'Like hemp' describes rain's density and relentlessness; 'no dry spot' emphasizes utter misery, setting up the poem's climactic wish.

床头漏雨没有干处，雨脚如麻下个不停。

By the bed, the leaking roof leaves no dry spot; the rain's feet like hemp, never ceasing.

屋既失茅，雨必透顶，此句正承前段而来，章法极密。无干处三字看似平淡，实是彻夜辗转、处处试探之后的结论，其中有多少挪移躲避的狼狈，都被这三字压住不说。雨脚如麻之喻最见工力：雨丝垂落成线，密集交错如乱麻，既写其形，又写其乱，更暗含心绪之纠结难理；未断绝则由空间转入时间，把一夜之长坐实。前句写无处可避，后句写无时可待，绝望遂由两个方向合围而来，为下文长夜何由彻的哀叹作足了铺垫。

The roof having lost its thatch, the rain must penetrate; this line carries on the above, the craft most close. The three words 'no dry spot' seem plain, in fact the conclusion of the whole night's tossing and testing, how much shifting and dodging'splight, all pressed down by these three words, not said. The metaphor of 'the rain's feet like hemp' the most crafty: the rain threads hanging into lines, dense and crossing like tangled hemp, both writing the shape, and the tangle, and secretly the mind's knot; 'never ceasing' turns from space to time, fixing the night's length. The upper line writes nowhere to hide, the lower no time to wait, the despair closing in from two directions, storing the fullest groundwork for the later sigh of 'how shall the long night end'.

安得广厦千万间，大庇天下寒士俱欢颜，风雨不动安如山。

Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles, I'd house all scholars poor and make them beam with smiles. In wind and rain these mansions would stand like mountains high. — The turn with 'Could I get' shifts from personal to universal; the wish for 'all scholars poor' elevates the poem, marking the peak of Du Fu's compassionate spirit.

怎能得到千万间广厦，普遍庇护天下寒士都展笑颜，风雨中安稳如山。

Oh, could I get ten thousand great houses, to shelter all the cold scholars of the world, all of joyful face, unmoved by wind and rain, firm as a mountain!

三句忽然拔起，为全诗筋节所在。安得二字是设想之辞，明知不可得而偏要想，愿望之切正由此显。广厦对茅屋，千万间对三重茅，天下寒士对一己之身，处处以宏大反衬前文之窘迫，而其立意不在自怜，恰在忘我。俱欢颜写众人之乐，风雨不动安如山则以山为喻，把安稳落到极处，与开篇风怒号、卷屋茅遥相对照，一破一立，结构上形成完整的回环。句式由七言拓为九言、十一言，声气随愿望一同开阔，读之如闻胸中郁气一泻而出。

The three lines suddenly rise, the sinew of the whole. 'Oh, could I get' the hypothetical word, knowing it cannot be got and yet insisting on imagining, the wish's keenness showing here. The 'great houses' against the 'thatched hut', 'ten thousand' against 'triple', 'all the cold scholars of the world' against 'my single self', everywhere using the grandeur to set off the above's straits, and its thesis lies not in self-pity but precisely in self-forgetting. 'All of joyful face' writes the many's joy, 'unmoved by wind and rain, firm as a mountain' using the mountain for the metaphor, landing the stability to the extreme, answering from afar the opening's 'wind howls in anger' and 'rolls off the thatch', one breaking one establishing, forming the complete circle of structure. The sentence form expands from seven to nine, eleven words, the breath open with the wish, the reading as if hearing the heart's long-held grief pouring out.

呜呼！何时眼前突兀见此屋，吾庐独破受冻死亦足！

Alas! Should these houses appear before my eye, Frozen in my unroofed cot, content I'd die. — Ends with self-sacrifice: willing to die frozen alone so others may be warm. The concluding line reveals a saintly magnanimity, suffused with sorrow and resolve.

唉！何时眼前突兀耸起这样的房屋，纵使我茅庐独破、冻死也心甘！

Alas! When will such houses rise before my eyes? Then though my own hut alone be broken, and I freeze to death, I shall be content!

呜呼一声长叹，把前面的宏愿重新拉回现实：广厦终属想象，故不得不以叹辞承之。突兀见此屋写幻想中楼宇拔地而起的情景，见字旧读如现，有陡然涌现于目前之意，其急切之状可掬。末句是全诗道德分量的落点：独破二字与前文天下相对，明知众人得庇而己身仍寒，却曰死亦足。足者，满足也，是心愿已偿的口气。以一己之冻死换天下之欢颜而犹以为足，此语不假雕饰，却使一场秋风破屋的私人不幸，转成中国诗史上最动人的仁者告白。

The long sigh of 'Alas!' pulls the above's grand wish back to reality: the great houses after all belong to the imagination, hence must be carried by the sigh. 'Rise before my eyes' writes the imaginary towers rising from the ground, the word 'rise' read as 'appear', the meaning of the sudden emergence before the eyes, the eagerness palpable. The closing line is the landing of the poem's moral weight: 'my own hut alone be broken' set against the above's 'the world', knowing the many sheltered and himself still cold, and yet saying 'I shall be content'. 'Content' means satisfied, the tone of the wish fulfilled. Exchanging one's own freezing to death for the world's joyful faces and still thinking it enough, this speech unadorned, and yet turns a private misfortune of the autumn wind breaking the hut into the most moving confession of benevolence in Chinese poetry history.

Study

Word focus

怒 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 风怒号之怒，是全诗第一个着力的字。风本无情，加一怒字，则天地俨然含有敌意，草堂之破遂不只是气象事件，而带上被欺压的意味。此字与下文群童之欺我老无力暗相照应：天欺之，人亦欺之，诗人四面受迫的处境由是成立。杜甫用字最善以人情灌注物象，如《春望》之感时花溅泪、《登高》之无边落木萧萧下，皆同此法。若易怒为急、为劲，只见风力而无情态，全诗那股被逼到墙角的委屈便无处安顿。

卷 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 卷字写风掀屋茅，妙在举重若轻。茅苫数重，本经年压覆、盘结成片，非零星可拈，而风一至则整片翻起如卷席，故用卷不用吹、不用掀。卷含席卷、成片而去之意，既见风力之整，又见损失之尽。下文茅飞渡江、洒于江郊、挂于林梢、沉于塘坳，皆由此一卷字派生，是一句之枢。且卷我屋上之我，使这一动作直指诗人所有物，物之失即身之危，用字之间已含痛惜，非旁观者语。

铁 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 冷似铁之铁，是唐诗中极见胆魄的一个喻体。被本柔物，以铁譬之，则其絮之败、其质之硬、其触之冷，三义俱到。铁又是无情之物，以之写贴身之衾，遂使卧眠这最私密的安顿也变成一种硬冷的折磨。此喻不假华词而力量极大，正合杜甫以拙为工的一路。后世写贫寒者多沿此法，如以石、以冰、以霜为喻，然铁字兼具重量与冷硬，且与下句踏里裂之裂声相激，音义两见其苦，终难替换。

足 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 受冻死亦足之足，是全诗最后一字，也是分量最重的一字。足训满足、够了，本是安然自得的口气，用在死之后，遂生出巨大的反差：常人以生为足，诗人以天下得庇为足，己身之死不过是达成此愿所付的代价。一字之内，个人生死被彻底放到了苍生安顿之后。此字不用甘、不用愿，正因足含有心愿已偿、更无所求之意，语气平静而意志决绝。全篇由怒字起，以足字收，一头是天地之暴，一头是人心之定，格局于此圆成。