唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
曲江二首·其一
Qujiang: Two Poems, No. 1
一片花飞减却春，风飘万点正愁人。
且看欲尽花经眼，莫厌伤多酒入唇。
江上小堂巢翡翠，花边高冢卧麒麟。
细推物理须行乐，何用浮名绊此身。
Let me watch the last blossoms pass before my eyes; do not refuse the wine, though it enters the lips steeped in sorrow.
By the little hall on the river, kingfishers build their nest; beside the flowers, a qilin lies couched by the lofty tomb.
Ponder closely the principle of things and seize the day — why let hollow fame entangle this body?
Meaning
Watching petals fall along the Qujiang river in late spring 758, Du Fu lets the fading flowers mirror his own fading fortunes at court. Each fallen petal seems to subtract from the year's beauty, and the swirling petals become an image of his grief. Drinking among the flowers, he contrasts the river's deserted halls and ancient tombs with vanished glory. The poem closes with a rational consolation — seize pleasure while you may, since empty fame only binds — but that consolation is steeped in political disappointment and foreboding for a dynasty still at war.
一片花瓣飞落，就减去了几分春色，如今风飘万点，更让人愁苦。姑且看那将尽的花从眼前飞过，不要厌弃那伤情的酒入口太多。江上的小堂里，翡翠鸟在筑巢；花边的古冢旁，麒麟石像卧着。细细推究事物的道理，应当及时行乐，何必让虚名束缚此身。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] One petal falls, and spring seems less; then the wind shakes down ten thousand at once, which is precisely what breaks the heart. The poet drinks among the flowers, not for joy but to drown sorrow. Across the river, birds nest in a deserted hall; beside the flowers, stone qilin guardians lie at an old tomb — splendor turned to ruin. His conclusion is to enjoy life while he can and let empty fame go. [Structure and Imagery] The poem advances from feeling to scene to reasoning: the first couplet magnifies grief from one petal to ten thousand; the second turns to wine as refuge; the third sets living birds against a dead tomb, a contrast that quietly maps the Tang's decline; the fourth rationalizes into carpe diem. Du Fu's technique of writing joy to voice sorrow makes the surface gaiety darker, not lighter — the consolation is the wound speaking.
【白话串讲】 杜甫写《曲江二首·其一》：“一片花飞减却春，风飘万点正愁人”——一片花瓣飘落，春色就少一分。“江上小堂巢翡翠，花边高冢卧麒麟”——“细推物理须行乐，何用浮名绊此身”——他说要行乐，别被浮名绊住。 【意象与手法】 此诗是杜甫写春游曲江、感时伤春的名篇，是《曲江二首》之一。前两联写伤春之情：「一片花飞减却春，风飘万点正愁人」以「一片花飞」写春色的消减，以「风飘万点」写春尽的愁绪，由一瓣到万点，伤春之情层层加深；「且看欲尽花经眼，莫厌伤多酒入唇」写诗人对花饮酒的无奈，花将尽而人伤怀，唯以酒消愁。后两联写感慨：「江上小堂巢翡翠，花边高冢卧麒麟」写曲江边的景物——小堂巢翡翠、高冢卧麒麟，繁华与荒凉对照，暗含世事无常；「细推物理须行乐，何用浮名绊此身」点明主旨，推究物理、及时行乐，不为浮名所累。全诗由伤春到行乐，由景物到物理，层层推进，是杜甫「以酒遣愁、以理自解」的名篇。 【情感与主旨】 此诗作于唐肃宗乾元元年（758）春，时杜甫在长安任左拾遗。此前，杜甫因疏救房琯触怒肃宗，几遭不测，虽得免罪，但已不受重用。乾元元年春，杜甫游曲江，见春光将尽，触景伤情，写下此诗。诗中「一片花飞减却春，风飘万点正愁人」写伤春，「且看欲尽花经眼，莫厌伤多酒入唇」写以酒遣愁，「细推物理须行乐，何用浮名绊此身」写看破世事、及时行乐。表面上看，这是一首「及时行乐」的诗，但实则暗含深意：杜甫此时仕途失意，理想受挫，那「莫厌伤多酒入唇」的纵酒，「何用浮名绊此身」的看破，都是失意中的自我排遣。诗中「江上小堂巢翡翠，花边高冢卧麒麟」以繁华与荒凉对照，暗含对世事无常的深沉感慨——昔日的繁华（曲江曾是唐代最繁华的游赏之地），如今小堂空巢、高冢卧麟，正是盛世将衰的写照。全诗表面写行乐，实则写国事之忧与身世之慨，是杜甫「以乐写忧」的名篇，也是理解其乾元元年复杂心境的重要作品。 【名句点睛】 常考“一片花飞减却春，风飘万点正愁人”由一瓣到万点写伤春之情层层加深；“细推物理须行乐，何用浮名绊此身”点明及时行乐、不为浮名所累的主旨。
Background
Du Fu (712-770) wrote this in spring 758, the first year of the Qianyuan era, while serving as a low-ranking remonstrance official (Left Shiyi) at Chang'an. The year before, he had risked his life by memorializing to save the dismissed chancellor Fang Guan, earning Emperor Suzong's lasting displeasure, and the An Lushet Rebellion still raged unresolved. Qujiang, once the most celebrated pleasure ground of the Kaiyuan glory days, had been scarred by war; its falling blossoms and ruined halls gave the poet a mirror for his stalled career and for a dynasty fading like spring.
此诗作于唐肃宗乾元元年（758）春，是杜甫《曲江二首》的第一首。杜甫于至德二载（757）投奔唐肃宗，任左拾遗（门下省谏官）。但他因上疏营救房琯（时为宰相，因陈涛斜之败被罢），触怒肃宗，几遭杀身之祸，虽经宰相张镐营救得免，但此后备受冷遇，实际上已被疏远。乾元元年春，杜甫在长安任左拾遗，游曲江，见春光将尽、国事日非，触景伤情，写下此诗。曲江是唐代长安城东南的著名风景区，玄宗开元年间大加修葺，成为皇家与士庶的游赏胜地，安史之乱中曾遭战火破坏。杜甫此诗写于曲江之畔：一片花飞、风飘万点，春光将尽；江上小堂、翡翠筑巢，花边高冢、麒麟卧地——昔日的繁华胜地，如今已显荒凉。诗中「细推物理须行乐，何用浮名绊此身」看似及时行乐，实则暗含深沉的忧思：杜甫此时仕途失意（因救房琯而失宠），国事日非（安史之乱未平，回纥兵骄横，藩镇割据初现），那「莫厌伤多酒入唇」的纵酒、「何用浮名绊此身」的看破，正是失意与忧国的双重排遣。此诗是杜甫乾元元年心境的重要写照，也是其「以酒遣愁、以理自解」诗风的代表作，与《曲江二首·其二》及同时期的《春望》《哀江头》等，共同记录了杜甫在长安的忧患岁月。
Art
Four layers of craft stand out. First, escalation: one petal becomes ten thousand points, so private sorrow scales into cosmic melancholy. Second, the self-contradictory drinking: the poet drinks to drown care yet refuses the comfort the wine offers — the mouth drinks while the heart rejects solace. Third, antithetical contrast in the third couplet: kingfishers nesting in a living hall against qilin stone guardians couched at a tomb — one alive, one dead, one present, one ancient — quietly equating the river's decay with the dynasty's. Fourth, the rational close: weighing the principle of things argues toward carpe diem, yet the complaint that hollow fame entangles the body betrays the anger of a man whose own fame — service to the throne — has been refused.
此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，层层递进的伤春。首联「一片花飞减却春，风飘万点正愁人」由「一片」到「万点」，由一瓣的飞落写到万点的飘零，伤春之情层层加深——「一片花飞」已减春色，何况「风飘万点」；而「减却春」与「正愁人」的递进，更把伤春之情推向深处。其二，以酒遣愁的无奈。颔联「且看欲尽花经眼，莫厌伤多酒入唇」写诗人对花饮酒——花将尽而人伤怀，唯以酒消愁，「且看」写无可奈何的赏玩，「莫厌」写借酒浇愁的放纵，一个「伤多」写愁之深，一个「莫厌」写愁之无奈。其三，繁华与荒凉的对照。颈联「江上小堂巢翡翠，花边高冢卧麒麟」以工对写曲江景物——昔日繁华的小堂如今翡翠筑巢，花边的古冢卧着麒麟石像，「巢翡翠」与「卧麒麟」一活一死、一今一古，繁华与荒凉对照，暗含世事无常的感慨，也暗喻大唐由盛转衰的国运。其四，以理自解的收束。尾联「细推物理须行乐，何用浮名绊此身」点明主旨——推究万物消长之理，不如及时行乐，何必为浮名所累。「细推物理」是理性的思索，「须行乐」是情感的选择，「何用浮名」是看破的宣告。四重手法层层推进，使此诗成为杜甫「以乐写忧、以理遣情」的名篇。
Allusions
Qujiang itself carries resonance: an imperial resort repaired under Xuanzong, now war-scarred. The wine-as-solace gesture echoes Cao Cao's 'What can dispel care? Only Du Kang' and Li Bai's cup that drowns care but adds more care. The tomb with its qilin recalls Han yuefu grave songs and Li Bai's 'Wu palace flowers buried on hidden paths, Jin-era caps and robes become ancient mounds.' The closing carpe diem reworks the Han 'Nineteen Old Poems' — life barely reaches a hundred, yet we nurse a thousand years of care, so why not roam with a candle in hand — while hollow fame answers Tao Yuanming's 'net of dust' and Li Bai's refusal to bow to power.
此诗的意象与用语深植于古诗传统。「曲江」是长安名苑，开元年间玄宗大加修葺，为唐代游赏胜地，杜甫此诗借曲江之景写伤春，暗含对盛世不再的感慨。「一片花飞减却春」化用谢朓「芳洲采杜若」以来写春的意象，而「风飘万点」更以夸张写春尽的飘零，令人想到宋祁「红杏枝头春意闹」的写春与李煜「林花谢了春红」的伤春。「且看欲尽花经眼」的「经眼」写花在眼前飞过，暗含「过眼云烟」的意味；「莫厌伤多酒入唇」化用曹操「何以解忧，唯有杜康」与李白「抽刀断水水更流，举杯消愁愁更愁」的以酒消愁传统。「江上小堂巢翡翠」的「翡翠」是翡翠鸟，「花边高冢卧麒麟」的「麒麟」是墓前石兽（麒麟是传说中的瑞兽，常作陵墓前的石雕），「高冢卧麒麟」暗含「英雄回首即神仙」的历史沧桑（《汉乐府》「蒿里谁家地」写墓地），令人想到李白「吴宫花草埋幽径，晋代衣冠成古丘」的咏史感慨。「细推物理须行乐」化用《古诗十九首》「生年不满百，常怀千岁忧。昼短苦夜长，何不秉烛游」的及时行乐思想，也暗含《庄子》「知其不可奈何而安之若命」的道家哲理；「何用浮名绊此身」的「浮名」化用陶渊明「误落尘网中」与李白「安能摧眉折腰事权贵」的弃名思想。全诗化用古诗、乐府、庄子的意象与传统，以伤春写行乐、以行乐写忧思，正是杜甫「以典写情、化古为新」的本领。
Commentary
Critics have long ranked this among Du Fu's finest meditations on spring. Qiu Zhaotao's Du Shi Xiang Zhu praises the opening couplet as startlingly pointed, and Pu Qilong's Du Shi Xin Jie reads it as flower-for-spring, spring-for-the-age, age-for-the-poet, layered inward. Its special place in literary history comes from fusing personal disappointment with dynastic foreboding: the deserted halls and couched qilin became a byword for the Tang's turn from splendor to decline. Compared with the direct outcry of 'Spring View' — grieving the times, the flowers splash tears — here grief is wrapped in gaiety, making it the subtler, more characteristic Du Fu.
此诗历来被推为杜甫感时伤春的名篇，也是《曲江二首》中的代表作。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人仇兆鳌《杜诗详注》评「一片花飞减却春」为「发端警策」，浦起龙《读杜心解》更指出此诗「以花写春、以春写时、以时写身世」，层层深入。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以「伤春」写「感时」，把个人的失意（仕途受挫）与时代的忧虑（国运日衰）融为一体——表面是「一片花飞」的伤春、「须行乐」的看破，骨子里却是「正愁人」的忧思与「何用浮名」的愤慨。诗中「江上小堂巢翡翠，花边高冢卧麒麟」一联，以曲江的荒凉景象暗喻大唐由盛转衰的国运，更是历来传诵的名句。此诗与《曲江二首·其二》及《春望》《哀江头》等，共同构成杜甫乾元年间长安诗作的核心，记录了其在国难与身世双重压力下的复杂心境。相较于《春望》「感时花溅泪，恨别鸟惊心」的直接抒情，此诗以「行乐」写「忧思」，更见含蓄曲折，正是杜甫「以乐写忧」的典范。对于今日读者，此诗是理解杜甫乾元元年心境的窗口，也是感受中国诗歌「伤春感时」传统的典范——那一片飞花、万点飘风的曲江春色，穿越千年，仍在诉说着诗人对国运与身世的深沉忧思。
Prosody
Line by line
一片花飞减却春，风飘万点正愁人。
A single petal flies — and spring is diminished; the wind scatters ten thousand petals, just the thing to grieve the heart.
一片花瓣飞落，就减去了几分春色，如今风飘万点，更让人愁苦。
One petal flying away subtracts from the spring; the wind now drifts ten thousand petals, and grieves me indeed.
这两句是全诗的起笔，也是历来传诵的名句，以花落写伤春，层层递进。「一片花飞减却春」写一瓣之落——一片花瓣飞落，就减去了一分春色，「减却春」三字极妙：以「减」写春色的消减，仿佛那春色是可以计数的，一片花飞便减去一分，花开时的每一片飞落，都是春色的减损；「风飘万点正愁人」写万点之飘——如今风起，万点花瓣纷飞飘落，更让人愁苦，「风飘万点」以夸张写春尽的飘零，「正愁人」直点愁绪。两句由「一片」到「万点」、由「减却春」到「正愁人」，伤春之情层层加深：一片花飞已减春色，何况万点飘零？这两句既是写景，也是写情，更暗含对时代与身世的感慨——那「减却春」的，何止是春色，还有大唐的国运与诗人的年华。以一片写万点、以花落写春尽，正是杜甫「以小见大」的笔法，也是「一片花飞减却春」成为千古名句的原因。
These two lines are the opening of the poem, and a famous line through the ages, writing the grief of spring through falling blossoms, layer on layer. 'One petal flying away subtracts from the spring' the fall of one petal — one petal flying away, subtracting a part of the spring; the words 'subtracts from the spring' exquisite: 'subtract' writes the spring's lessening, as if the spring were countable, one petal flying subtracts one part, and each petal falling when flowers bloom is a subtraction of spring. 'The wind now drifts ten thousand petals, and grieves me indeed' the drifting of ten thousand — now the wind rises, ten thousand petals flying and falling, the grief the deeper; 'the wind drifts ten thousand' the exaggeration of the spring's end, 'grieves me indeed' naming the grief. Two lines, from 'one petal' to 'ten thousand', from 'subtracts from the spring' to 'grieves me indeed', the grief of spring deepening layer on layer: one petal flying already subtracts the spring, how much more the drifting of ten thousand? These lines are both scene and feeling, and secretly hold the lament for the age and the self — what 'subtracts from the spring' is more than the spring, but the Tang's fortune and the poet's years. Writing the ten thousand through the one petal, writing the spring's end through the falling flowers, Du Fu's method of 'the great through the small', and the reason 'one petal flying away subtracts from the spring' became a famous line through the ages.
细推物理须行乐，何用浮名绊此身。
Ponder closely the principle of things and seize the day — why let hollow fame entangle this body?
细细推究事物的道理，应当及时行乐，何必让虚名束缚此身。
Pondering the way of things, one must make the most of life; why let empty fame bind this body?
这两句是全诗的点题之笔，以理自解，写看破世事、及时行乐，是杜甫失意时的自我排遣。「细推物理须行乐」写推究物理——细细推究万物消长之理（花开花落、盛衰无常），既然人生无常、春色易尽，便应当及时行乐，「细推」写理性的思索，「须行乐」写由此推出的结论，以理写情，把伤春的无奈转化为理性的开解；「何用浮名绊此身」写看破浮名——何必让浮名束缚此身，「浮名」写虚名之轻（如过眼云烟），「绊此身」写虚名之累（如绳索束缚），「何用」的反问，写对浮名的彻底看破。这两句表面是「及时行乐」的达观，骨子里却是失意者的自我开解——杜甫此时仕途失意（因救房琯而失宠），那「细推物理」的达观，「何用浮名」的看破，正是对现实无奈的一种排遣。而「浮名」二字，更暗含对自身遭遇的感慨：他本以「致君尧舜上」为志，如今却为「浮名」所困，那「何用浮名绊此身」的看破，既是解脱，也是愤慨。以理写情、以达观写愤慨，正是这两句的深意所在。
These two lines are the point-naming of the poem, resolving through reason, writing the seeing through the world and the making of the hour, Du Fu's self-consolation in disappointment. 'Pondering the way of things, one must make the most of life' the pondering of the way — carefully pondering the rise and fall of all things (flowers bloom and fall, glory and decay without rule); since life is uncertain and spring easily spent, one should make the most of the hour, 'pondering' the rational thought, 'one must make the most of life' the conclusion drawn, writing feeling through reason, turning the helpless grief of spring into a rational release. 'Why let empty fame bind this body?' the seeing through empty fame — why let empty fame bind this body, 'empty fame' the lightness of the empty name (like a cloud passing), 'bind this body' the burden of it (like a rope), 'why let' the counter-question, the thorough seeing through. These two lines, on the surface the resigned 'make the most of life', at root the self-consolation of the disappointed — Du Fu at this time disappointed in office (out of favor for saving Fang Guan), and the resignation of 'pondering the way', the seeing through of 'empty fame', are a release from the helplessness of reality. And the words 'empty fame' secretly hold the lament for his own lot: he made his ambition 'to make the prince like Yao and Shun', and now he is bound by 'empty fame' — the seeing through of 'why let empty fame bind this body' is both release and indignation. Writing feeling through reason, writing indignation through resignation, the depth of these two lines.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
No. 2 shows Du Fu pawning his spring clothes daily to buy wine and staggering home drunk from the river — wine debts are common wherever I go, and living to seventy has always been rare — the face of self-indulgent escapism. No. 1 instead opens with a single petal diminishing spring, brooding over the petals and hollow fame. Read together, they complete his 758 state of mind: grieving spring's end, cursing fame's bondage, and drowning both in wine.
《曲江二首·其二》「朝回日日典春衣，每日江头尽醉归。酒债寻常行处有，人生七十古来稀」写诗人典衣沽酒、醉游曲江的放达，以「人生七十古来稀」看破生死，更见其纵酒行乐的一面。此诗《曲江二首·其一》则「一片花飞减却春，风飘万点正愁人」，写伤春的愁绪与看破的感慨，更见其伤春感时的一面。同为《曲江二首》，一写「风飘万点」的伤春，一写「日日典衣」的纵酒；一愁一放，一伤春一行乐。两诗对读，可见杜甫同一时期心境的复杂——他既为春光易逝而愁，也为浮名误身而叹，更以纵酒行乐自解，正是乾元元年失意心境的完整呈现。
春望 Spring View 杜甫 · 同写长安春景，一忧国一伤春 Both write of Chang'an in spring — one mourns the broken state, one mourns the dying season'Spring View' (the state is shattered, hills and rivers remain; in the city's spring, grass and trees grow deep; grieving the times, the flowers splash tears) voices patriotic anguish at rebel-torn Chang'an, the summit of his writing scene to voice grief. No. 1 of Qujiang writes the same capital's spring as a single petal diminishing spring, resolving in carpe diem. Both prove that for Du Fu spring always carries foreboding for dynasty and self.
《春望》「国破山河在，城春草木深。感时花溅泪，恨别鸟惊心」写安史之乱中长安的破败，以「花溅泪」「鸟惊心」写忧国之情，是杜甫「以景写忧」的巅峰。此诗《曲江二首·其一》则「一片花飞减却春」，写曲江春尽的伤春，以「细推物理须行乐」写看破浮名，是杜甫「以春写忧」的另一种表达。同为写长安之春，一写「国破」的沉痛（春望），一写「春尽」的愁绪（曲江）；一忧国（感时花溅泪），一伤春（一片花飞减却春）。两诗对读，可见杜甫写长安春景的两种心境，也可见其忧国与伤春的相通——那春色，都承载着他对国运与身世的深沉忧思。
水调歌头·明月几时有 Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Clear and Bright? 苏轼 · 同为失意自解，一写行乐一写问月 Both are self-consolations in disappointment — one seizes the day, one questions the moonSu Shi's people have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion; the moon has its dark and clear, its waxing and waning — this has been hard to perfect since antiquity achieves philosophical detachment by questioning the moon, ending in the generosity of may we share one long beauty though a thousand miles apart. Du Fu's weighing the principle of things and seizing the day reasons toward present pleasure and renounces hollow fame. Where Su Shi is expansive and open, Du Fu is grave and burdened — the difference between Song lyric openness and Tang poetic weight.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」以问月写对人生无常的看破，以「千里共婵娟」作旷达的自解，是苏轼失意时的名篇。杜甫《曲江二首·其一》则「细推物理须行乐，何用浮名绊此身」，以推究物理写及时行乐，以看破浮名作失意的自解。同为失意时的自我开解，苏轼以「月有阴晴圆缺」的哲理自解，杜甫以「细推物理」的理性自解；一旷达（千里共婵娟），一沉郁（何用浮名绊此身）。两诗对读，可见唐宋诗人在失意时的两种心境——苏轼是「行到水穷处」的旷达，杜甫是「何用浮名」的沉郁，也可见唐诗「沉郁」与宋词「旷达」的差异。