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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

秋日赴阙题潼关驿楼

Autumn Day, Going to the Court, Inscribed on the Tongguan Post Tower

许浑

Xu Hun

行旅travel 五律five-character regulated verse 山川landscape

红叶晚萧萧，长亭酒一瓢。
残云归太华，疏雨过中条。
树色随关迥，河声入海遥。
帝乡明日到，犹自梦渔樵。

Red leaves at dusk rustle and sigh,
at the long pavilion a gourd of wine.
Remnant clouds return to Mount Taihua,
sparse rain passes Mount Zhongtiao.
Tree-colors follow the pass into the distance,
the river's sound reaches the far sea.
The imperial city I reach tomorrow,
yet still I dream of fisher and woodman.

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Meaning

On his way to the capital, Xu Hun pauses at the Tongguan post tower and sketches the vast autumn landscape of cloud, rain, trees, and river. The closing turn reveals his heart: though he travels toward office, he still dreams of a fisherman's and woodcutter's free life.

傍晚的红叶在风中萧萧作响，我在长亭里独饮一瓢薄酒。残余的云片飘回华山，稀疏的雨丝掠过中条山。树色随着关塞的延伸而愈显遥远，黄河的涛声一直传向大海。明天就要到达京城了，可我梦里想的，还是打鱼砍柴的日子。

Appreciation

The two middle couplets are the poem's frame, four lines writing four natures: cloud, rain, tree, river. The subtlety is that each line carries a direction—clouds 'return' to Taihua, rain 'passes' Zhongtiao, tree-colors 'follow the pass' into distance, river-sound 'enters the sea' far away. The four directions open up the broad mountains and rivers of the Guanzhong region with great economy—the high craft of five-character regulated landscape. The poem's turn is all in the closing couplet. The first six lines write the splendid rivers and mountains on the way to the capital, pressing forward; the last two suddenly fold back—the body goes to the capital, the heart goes to fisher and woodman. This reversal exposes the scholar's 'involuntary' plight. He does not refuse office, but at the gate of fame he instinctively clings to another possibility.

【白话串讲】 “红叶晚萧萧，长亭酒一瓢”——许浑秋天去长安，宿潼关驿楼。“残云归太华，疏雨过中条”——“树色随关迥，河声入海遥”——“帝乡明日到，犹自梦渔樵”——明天就到京城了，可他还梦着渔樵生活。【意象与手法】中间两联是全诗的骨架，四句写四种自然：云、雨、树、河。妙在每一句都带着方向感——云“归”太华，雨“过”中条，树色“随关迥”，河声“入海遥”。四个方向把关中的辽阔山川一举撑开，气象雄浑而笔墨极省。这是五律写景的高手段。【情感与主旨】此诗的转折全在尾联。前六句写的是赴京途中的壮丽山河，一路向前；末二句忽然折回——人在往京城去，心却往渔樵去。这一逆转，把士人“身不由己”的处境点破了。他并非不想仕进，只是在功名的门前，本能地留恋着另一种可能。【名句点睛】 “残云归太华，疏雨过中条”——十字之中有两座名山、两种天象，写景疏朗而气势自足。“归”“过”两个动词，让静止的山有了呼吸。

Background

Tongguan, in today's Tongguan county, Shaanxi, was the eastern gate of Chang'an, holding the chokepoint between the Yellow River and the Qinling. Xu Hun went to the capital to take exams (or to take office) in the Taihe reign, and at the Tongguan post tower inscribed this poem on the wall. 'Fu que' means going to the court; 'que' originally means the watchtower beside the palace gate, standing for the capital. This trip was for seeking office, yet the poem reveals a yearning for seclusion—the coexistence of two minds is the norm for Tang scholars.

潼关位于今陕西潼关县北，地处黄河与秦岭之间，是长安东面最重要的门户，自汉唐以来便是关中平原的东方锁钥，号为「百二雄关」。许浑，字用晦，润州丹阳人，晚年隐居丁卯桥，世称许丁卯，为晚唐代表性律诗名家。此诗当作于文宗大和年间，诗人自江南入京应试或赴任，途经潼关驿楼时有感题壁。诗中「赴阙」即前往朝廷，所谓「阙」原指宫门前两侧的高台，后用以代称京城长安。值得注意的是，此行本为求取功名而往，诗人笔下却于尾联生出渔樵之隐逸之思，身在魏阙而心在江湖，这种仕与隐的撕扯正是唐代士人的普遍境遇。盛唐以功业为荣，中晚唐党争频仍、仕途险恶，文人对宦海渐生警惕，许浑此诗以清爽之笔写矛盾之心，正折射出时代心理的微妙位移与末世文人的进退之困。许浑此作于雄阔山川中暗藏仕隐之叹，实为后世理解晚唐文人心态的一扇窗口，其价值远超一般即景题壁之作，值得细加玩味。

Art

This is a famous landscape piece among five-character regulated verses; its greatest skill is the spatial control of the two middle couplets. 'Remnant clouds return to Taihua' is a look back west (Huashan is west of Tongguan), 'sparse rain passes Zhongtiao' is a gaze north (Zhongtiao is north of the Yellow River in Shanxi), 'tree-colors follow the pass into distance' is a forward extension, 'river-sound enters the sea far' is an eastward imagination. Four lines, four directions, expanding the point of Tongguan into a full panorama of the pass and river, without using a single word for breadth. Moreover, the first three couplets all write scene, only the closing couplet speaks feeling—a 'six scenes, one feeling' structure, feeling stored in scene then released, so when released it hits.

此诗为五律写景名篇，最见功力处在中二联的空间调度。颔联「残云归太华，疏雨过中条」向西、向北两面展开：太华即华山，在潼关西南；中条山在黄河北岸晋南境内。颈联「树色随关迥，河声入海遥」则向关道前方延伸、向东方大海想象。四句四个方向，把立足的潼关一点扩展为整个关河全景，而通篇不着一个「阔」「远」字样，全凭物象自身的方位与动词撑开气象，这正是五律写景的高手段。尤可注意者，中二联每句第三字皆用一动词——归、过、随、入，四个动词如四枚榫钉，把云雨树河四种自然物钉入空间坐标，读来如四幅画依次推远。全诗结构为「六景一情」：前三联纯写秋晚山川，尾联方以五字点出心事，情因景蓄而后发，故一发即中，转折极有力量。起首「红叶晚萧萧」以声起，「长亭酒一瓢」以孤饮承接，景中已伏羁旅之凉，与尾联遥相呼应，章法绵密。通篇由声而景、由景而心，层层递转而不见针线之迹，足称晚唐五律章法之范，亦可见其惨淡经营之苦心。

Allusions

(1) 'Taihua' is Mount Hua, the Western March, southwest of Tongguan. (2) 'Zhongtiao' is Mount Zhongtiao, on the north bank of the Yellow River in Shanxi. (3) 'Dixiang' means the capital Chang'an. (4) 'Yuchao' means fisher and woodman, since the 'Fisherman' of the Chu Ci a standing symbol of reclusive life; Su Shi's 'Red Cliff Fu' 'fishing and woodcutting above the river islets' shares this meaning.

诗中四处用典与地名，皆非闲笔。其一「太华」，即西岳华山，因远望如花而称太华，在潼关西南，为关中名山，自《山海经》《水经注》以来载籍不绝，唐人每以华山指代西陲雄险。其二「中条」，即中条山，横亘于黄河北岸山西南部，与华山隔河相望，是晋陕之间的天然分界，诗中「疏雨过中条」点出诗人北望之视线。其三「帝乡」，语出《庄子·天地》「千岁厌世，去而上仙，乘彼白云，至于帝乡」，本指神仙居所，后多用以代称京城，此指长安。其四「渔樵」，渔父樵夫，典出《楚辞·渔父》中屈原与渔父的问答，渔父「沧浪之水清兮」之歌成为隐逸精神的符号，后世如王维「渔歌入浦深」、苏轼《赤壁赋》「渔樵于江渚之上」皆沿此意。此外「长亭」为古代驿路上供行人歇息或送别的亭舍，自北周庾信《哀江南赋》「十里五里，长亭短亭」以来，长亭便成为离愁的载体。诸多典实叠合，使一首即景小诗承载着丰厚的文化记忆与士人集体无意识。

Commentary

The Qing scholar Shen Deqian in his Tang Poems Selected and Cut said: 'The 'remnant cloud' 'sparse rain' couplet paints the autumn-dusk mountains and rivers like a picture.' Yu Bixia in his Shallow Talks on the Poetic Realm said: 'The whole poem is mainly scene; the closing line suddenly enters the thought of fisher and woodman, feeling doubly transcendent.' The Song scholar Xu Yi in his Yan-zhou Poetry Talk especially admired the 'distant' (jiong) in 'tree-colors follow the pass into distance.'

此诗历来深受选家推重，尤以中二联之写景为人称道。清沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评「残云疏雨一联，写秋晚山川之状如画」，正赏其疏朗有致。俞陛云《诗境浅说》云「通首以景为主，结句忽入渔樵之思，倍觉超脱」，点出以景蓄情、结处转深的章法之妙。宋许顗《彦周诗话》尤赏「树色随关迥」之「迥」字，以为一字尽得关道纵深。许浑在晚唐诗坛地位特殊，其律诗工稳圆熟、对仗精切，尤擅以水景见长，宋人因此有「许浑千首湿」之戏评，谓其诗十之八九不离水字；然此篇写山关河声，气象开阔，足见其笔力不专在一「湿」字。后代论者常以之与孟浩然《岁暮归南山》、王维《归嵩山作》并观，视作唐人「身仕心隐」主题的代表之作。要之，此诗以清省之笔墨写壮阔之山川，以旷达之景象结深沉之冥想，景情相生，诚五律中不可多得的佳作，亦为研究晚唐士人心态的绝佳文本。其以清省笔墨写壮阔山川、以旷达景象结深沉冥想之法，足为后世学诗者取法，非仅供一眺关河、发一己之慨而已。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse (level-beginning, first line rhyming)五言律诗（平起首句入韵）

Rhyme Rhymes with the Ping shui lower-level second Xiao group: xiao, piao, tiao, yao, qiao. The Xiao rhyme is clear and far, matching the empty breadth of the autumn pass and river; the final 'qiao' (woodman) closes on the thought of seclusion, sound and meaning both far.押平水韵下平二萧韵：萧、瓢、条、遥、樵。萧韵清越悠远，与秋日关河的空阔气象相呼应；首句「萧萧」叠字以声入韵，更添寥落之意。五韵一脉平顺，末字「樵」收于隐逸之思，音意俱远，读来如长风过耳。

Tone pattern The two middle couplets are even in level-oblique, four lines all with the verb at the third position (return, pass, follow, enter), forming neat rhythmic points, read like four pictures unfolding in turn. The closing 'reach tomorrow' in three hurried characters, 'dream fisher woodman' in three relaxed characters—one tight one loose, exactly where the mind turns.中二联平仄工稳，四句皆以动词居第三字（归、过、随、入），形成整齐的节奏点，读来如四幅画面依次展开。首联以「晚萧萧」「酒一瓢」的平声收束，舒缓起调；尾联「明日到」三字促，「梦渔樵」三字缓，一紧一松，正是心事转折之处，声情与辞情若合符契。

Reading note This poem is typical of the five-character regulated 'six scenes, one feeling': the first three couplets are all scene, feeling stored and not released until the closing couplet's five characters point it out, so the force is concentrated. Selection anthologies discussing Xu Hun's five-character regulated verses always name this the crown.此诗为五律「六景一情」的典型：前三联全为写景，情蓄而不发，至尾联始以五字点出，故力量集中、转折惊心。历来选家论许浑五律，必推此篇为压卷，原因正在于它用最经济的笔墨撑开最辽阔的空间，又以最轻的虚字收束最沉的心事。其章法之密、炼字之精、情景之融，皆可作律诗范本。值得注意的是，许浑诗多写水，世讥「千首湿」，而此篇独写山关河声，气象雄浑而笔墨极省，足证其才力不局于一格。中晚唐律诗渐趋工巧，许浑此作于工巧中保留清气，正是其能卓然成家的关键，亦为研究晚唐士人仕隐心态的绝佳标本。

Line by line

红叶晚萧萧，长亭酒一瓢。

Red leaves rustle in the evening; at the long post-house, one gourd of wine.

傍晚时分，红叶在风中萧萧作响，我在长亭里独饮一瓢薄酒。

In the evening, red leaves rustle in the wind; at the long farewell pavilion I drink alone a gourd of thin wine.

起首即以声起笔，红叶是秋色，萧萧是秋声，五字之中色声俱备，且已含羁旅将发之凉意。长亭本是送别之地，自庾信以来便是离愁的符号，此刻却无人相送，诗人只是独酌，愈显孤身赴京的寂寥。「一瓢」极写行囊之简、姿态之野，一个落第或初仕的文人在雄关之下自斟自饮，形单影只而眼界不小。这两句看似平淡叙事，实则为全诗定下苍凉而又疏放的基调，红叶的萧瑟与长亭的孤酒相互映衬，把行旅之悲与胸怀之阔一并托出，为后文壮阔的山川与深沉的渔樵之思作了恰到好处的铺垫。

The opening begins with sound: red leaves the autumn hue, rustling the autumn sound, five words holding color and sound together, and already the chill of the journey about to start. The long post-house is the place of farewell, a symbol of parting since Yu Xin, yet now no one speeds the guest; the poet drinks alone, the loneness of the solitary journey to the pass the clearer. 'One gourd' writes the simplicity of the traveling pack, the rough, unrefined posture — a failed-exam or first-appointment scholar drinking alone beneath the mighty pass, solitary in form yet not small in vision. The two lines seem plain narrative, yet they tune the poem's desolate yet free keynote, the withered leaves and the lonely wine at the post-house setting each other off, bringing out the journey's grief and the broadness of his breast together, the fitting groundwork for the grand mountains and the deep fisherman's longing below.

残云归太华，疏雨过中条。

Scattered clouds return to the Great Hua; sparse rain passes over the Zhongtiao.

残余的云片飘回华山，稀疏的雨丝掠过中条山。

Lingering cloud scraps drift back to Mount Hua; sparse threads of rain sweep over the Zhongtiao range.

这一联是全诗的骨架，妙在「归」「过」两个动词赋予静止的山水以呼吸与方向。残云向西归于太华，疏雨向北掠过中条，一西一北，把视野拉开到百里之外，而潼关作为诗人立足之点，遂被安放于一个宏大的空间坐标之中。更值得注意的是「归」字暗藏玄机：云尚有山可归，人却在离乡入京的途中，云的归宿是自然，人的归宿是未卜的宦海，这一个字表面写景，实则已为尾联的渔樵之思埋下伏笔。两句疏朗清淡，不着雕饰，却以最省俭的笔墨撑开最辽阔的气象，正是许浑五律「以少总多」的典型手段，读来如展秋山晚霁图。

This couplet is the skeleton of the poem, the beauty in the two verbs 'return' and 'pass' that give the still mountains and rivers breath and direction. Scattered clouds drift west and return to the Great Hua, sparse rain sweeps north over the Zhongtiao, one west one north, pulling the view out a hundred li, and Tongguan, the poet's standing point, is set within a vast spatial coordinate. Notable is the hidden riddle in 'return': the clouds still have a mountain to return to, while the man is on the road away from home, bound for the capital; the clouds' homecoming is nature's, the man's homecoming is the uncertain official sea — the word, on the surface writing scene, secretly plants the groundwork for the closing fisherman's longing. The two lines sparse and plain, no ornamentation, yet with the most economical brush opening the most vast air, the typical method of Xu Hun's five-character regulated verse of 'much through little', reading like unrolling a scroll of autumn mountains after rain.

树色随关迥，河声入海遥。

The tree-color follows the pass far away; the river's sound travels on to the sea.

树木的颜色随着关道向远处延伸，黄河的涛声一直传向大海。

The color of the trees extends with the pass road into the distance; the Yellow River's roar carries on toward the sea.

颈联承接颔联，继续以四方铺展。「随」字极妙，把本属静态的树色写成跟着关道一路退远、层层淡去的动态，仿佛树色也有脚步；「迥」字则一举推远，写出关道无尽延伸的纵深感。下句转而从听觉落笔，黄河涛声本不能真入大海，乃是想象之辞，而正因是想象，那份辽远才无边无际，以虚写实，空间感反而更阔。「随关迥」与「入海遥」一写视觉一写听觉，一向前一向东，与颔联的西、北合成四维，潼关一点遂被包举于整个关河全景之内。中二联四句皆以动词居要，如四枚画钉把物象钉入空间，章法之精令人叹服。

The neck couplet follows the jaw, spreading on the four sides. The word 'follows' is exquisite: it turns the static tree-color into something retreating layer by layer along the pass road, as if the trees themselves had feet; 'far away' pushes the distance at once, writing the deep perspective of the pass road's endless stretch. The next line turns to hearing: the Yellow River's roar cannot truly enter the sea, it is the language of imagination, and precisely because it is imagined, that remoteness is boundless — writing the real through the unreal, the space the vaster. 'Follows the pass far away' sight against 'to the sea' sound, one forward one east, joining with the jaw's west and north to make the four dimensions, the single point of Tongguan gathered into the whole pass-river panorama. The middle two couplets, four lines, every key word a verb, like four nails nailing the objects into space, the craft admirable.

帝乡明日到，犹自梦渔樵。

The imperial city I reach tomorrow; yet I still dream of fisherman and woodcutter.

明天就要到达京城了，可我梦中想的还是打鱼砍柴的隐居生活。

Tomorrow I shall reach the capital, yet in my dreams I still long for the fisherman's and woodcutter's recluse life.

全诗于此处陡然一折，前面六句的壮阔山河原来都是赴京路上的过眼之景，至此方点出真意。人向京城而去，心却向渔樵而去，身与念背道而驰，这正是唐人「身仕心隐」矛盾的最凝练写照。「犹自」二字最耐寻味，它既含几分自嘲——明明功名在望，梦里却还是山林；也含几分不甘与执拗——纵使身处魏阙，那一份对自由的眷恋并未因际遇改变而稍减。许浑并非真拒仕进，而是在功名的门前本能地回望另一种可能，这种清醒的眷恋比单纯的归隐之志更为真实动人。尾联以五字收束全部蓄积，景愈阔而情愈深，遂成千古名句。

The poem turns abruptly here: the grand mountains and rivers of the six lines above were after all but scenery passed on the road to the capital, and only here does the true intention show. The man goes toward the capital, the heart goes toward fisherman and woodcutter, body and thought running opposite ways — the most condensed portrait of the Tang man of 'office in the body, reclusion in the heart'. The word 'still' repays savoring: it holds both a touch of self-mockery — fame just in sight, yet the dreams still of the hills; and a touch of unwilling, stubborn longing — though set at the court, that attachment to freedom has not lessened with his fortune. Xu Hun is not truly refusing office, but at the gate of fame he instinctively looks back at another possibility, and this clear-eyed longing is more moving than a mere will to retire. The closing couplet, five words gathering all the stored feeling, the wider the scene the deeper the feeling, became a famous line through the ages.

Study

Word focus

归 The 'return' (gui) in 'remnant clouds return to Taihua' is the hidden stake of the poem's feeling. Clouds have a mountain to return to, but the man must leave home for the capital; the cloud's homecoming is natural, the man's is the official sea. On the surface it writes scene, but it has already laid the groundwork for the closing 'dream of fisher and woodman'—what poets call 'a foreshadowing leaving no trace.' 「残云归太华」的「归」字，是全诗情感的暗桩。云有山可归，而人却要离乡入京；云的归宿是自然，人的归宿是宦海。这一个字表面写景，实则已为尾联的「梦渔樵」埋下伏笔，是诗家所谓「不著痕迹的先声」。更妙在「归」带有方向性与归属感，与尾联人向帝乡、心向渔樵的背反形成无声对照：云知其所归，人却不知。许浑以一字之微，把行旅的孤与仕隐的惑都压了进去，所谓「炼字」之极高境，正在这种看似随手、实则千钧的动词选择上，既写物态又写心态，情景由此交融。

迥 The 'distant' (jiong) in 'tree-colors follow the pass into distance' means far and deep. It writes not only distance but the visual process of receding layer by layer until blurred. The Song scholar Xu Yi especially praised this character because it compresses the depth of a pass-road into a single syllable. 「树色随关迥」的「迥」是远而深之意。它不单写距离，更写视觉上层层退远、终至模糊的过程，把一个三维的纵深感压缩进一个音节。宋人许顗《彦周诗话》特别推许此字，正因为它以最简之字写最阔之境。若换作「远」字便平，换作「尽」字便断，唯「迥」字既有空间之辽，又有目光追逐、渐行渐杳的时间之感。配合前面的「随」字，树色仿佛是有生命地跟着道路退向天际，读之如见关道蜿蜒、林色淡去的画卷。一字之工，可见晚唐律诗炼字之精，亦见许浑于寻常景物中提炼深远意境的本领。

犹自 The 'still' (youzi) in 'still I dream of fisher and woodman' means 'still,' 'nonetheless.' These two empty words bear the poem's turn: already at the capital's gate, the heart 'still' thinks of fisher and woodman. It writes an involuntary longing—not a rational choice but an instinct in dreams, thus especially true and moving. 「犹自梦渔樵」的「犹自」是「仍然」「还是」。这两个虚字承载了全诗的转折：都已经快到京城门口了，心里「还是」想着渔樵。它写出了一种不由自主的惦念——不是理性的选择，而是梦里的本能，因此格外真实动人。虚字在唐诗中极难用好，用实了则板，用弱了则滑，「犹自」却以极轻极淡的口吻，举起了极重极沉的心事。它含着自嘲，也含着不甘：诗人并非不愿济世，只是本能地留恋自由。这两个字把尾联的陡转写得既自然又沉痛，使全诗的仕隐之叹落到最柔软也最结实的人心深处，千载之下读之犹觉亲切。