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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

上留田行

Song of Shangliutian

李白

Li Bai

乐府yuefu (ballad) 讽喻satire 手足brothers 李白Li Bai

行至上留田，孤坟何峥嵘。
积此万古恨，春草不复生。
悲风四边来，肠断白杨声。
借问谁家地，埋没蒿里茔。
古老向余言，言是上留田。
蓬科马鬣今已平，昔之弟死兄不葬，他人于此举铭旌。
一鸟死，百鸟鸣。
一兽走，百兽惊。
桓山之禽别离苦，欲去回翔不能征。
田氏仓卒骨肉分，青天白日摧紫荆。
交让之木本同形，东枝憔悴西枝荣。
无心之物尚如此，参商胡乃寻天兵。
孤竹延陵，让国扬名。
高风缅邈，颓波激清。
尺布之谣，塞耳不能听。

I came to Shangliutian; how towering stands a lonely grave!
Here has gathered ten-thousand-year regret; the spring grass grows no more.
A mournful wind came from all sides; my heart breaks at the white poplar's sound.
I ask whose ground this is—a tomb buried among the hao-li weeds.
An old man spoke to me: 'This, they say, is Shangliutian.'
The mound's tufts and horse-mane grass are now leveled; of old a younger brother died and the elder would not bury him, so others here raised the funeral banner.
One bird dies, and a hundred birds cry; one beast flees, and a hundred beasts start.
The birds of Huanshan suffer most in parting; they would leave but wheel back, unable to fly on.
The Tian clan was suddenly divided, bone and flesh; under the blue sky and bright sun the purple bramble was shattered.
The 'yielding' tree was one in form; its eastern branch withered while the western branch flourished.
Even heartless things are thus—why then do Shen and Shang wage war in heaven?
The princes of Guzhu and Yanling gave up their states and won fame.
Their lofty wind is distant and far; their falling waves rouse the clear.
The ballad of 'a foot of cloth'—I stop my ears, unable to hear it.

Listen

Meaning

Traveling to Shangliutian, the poet meets a lonely grave and learns from an old man of a brother who died unburied by his elder. He then denounces fraternal cruelty through a chain of allusions—birds, beasts, the Tian clan's bramble, the 'yielding' tree, and the estranged stars Shen and Shang—before holding up the selfless princes of Guzhu and Yanling as a model. The poem is a stern plea for brotherly love and a lament that even kin should turn to war.

行路来到上留田，一座孤坟何其高耸。积下这万古的遗恨，春草也不再生长。悲凉的寒风从四边吹来，白杨树声令人断肠。试问这是谁家的墓地，埋没在荒野的坟茔之中。老人对我言说，说这就是上留田。坟上的蓬草马鬣如今已平，从前弟弟死而兄长不葬，他人在此树起铭旌。一只鸟死去，百鸟哀鸣。一只兽奔逃，百兽惊惶。桓山的飞鸟离别最苦，想要离去却盘旋不能远行。田氏仓促间骨肉分离，青天白日里摧折了紫荆。交让之树本同形共生，东枝憔悴而西枝荣盛。无心无情的草木尚且如此，参商二星为何还要兴动刀兵。孤竹君与延陵季子，让国而扬名天下。高风亮节邈远绵长，挽回颓波而激扬清名。那尺布斗粟的童谣，让人塞耳不忍听闻。

Appreciation

Blending narrative, allusion and feeling, the poem moves from a traveler's encounter to a mounting indictment. It opens with the lonely grave and the old man's tale, then layers parallel images and classical references—one bird's death and a hundred's cry, the Huanshan birds, the Tian bramble, the yielding tree—to argue that even creatures and plants know kinship, before turning from things to man with the charge against Shen and Shang. It closes by contrasting the noble self-yielders with the bitter 'foot of cloth' ballad, praise and blame clear. The varied line lengths and surging yet brooding force are typical of Li Bai's yuefu, writing current affairs in an old title.

【白话串讲】 “行至上留田，孤坟何峥嵘”——李白写上留田：孤坟高耸。“积此万古恨，春草不复生”——“古老向余言，言是上留田”——“昔之弟死兄不葬”——他写一个不葬弟弟的兄长，借古讽今。“借问谁家地”——他悲叹人情的凉薄。【意象与手法】以行旅起笔，“行至上留田，孤坟何峥嵘”以孤坟营造苍凉氛围；连用排比与典故层层递进，“一鸟死，百鸟鸣”以禽兽有情反衬人之无情，“桓山之禽、田氏紫荆、交让之木”诸典写骨肉之裂；“无心之物尚如此，参商胡乃寻天兵”由物及人诘问。句式长短错落，气势奔放而情致沉郁。【情感与主旨】拟乐府之作，借上留田“弟死兄不葬”的传说抨击兄弟相残、宣扬孝悌友爱。以“孤竹延陵让国”与“尺布之谣”对照，折射诗人对当朝宗室失和、同根相煎的隐忧，是唐代新乐府精神的先声。【名句点睛】常考“一鸟死，百鸟鸣”以禽鸟有情反衬兄弟无情；“尺布之谣”以民谣写同根相煎之痛。

Background

Li Bai's 'Song of Shangliutian' is a yuefu in the old manner, using the legend of the place Shangliutian to attack fratricide and estranged kin, preaching filial piety and brotherly love. Shangliutian is said to be a place name with an old tale of a younger brother dead and an elder who would not bury him; the poet passed there, was moved, and wrote, probably in his travels or in worry over the times, voicing his satire on the royal house's discord and the loss of family feeling. The contrast in the poem between the princes of Guzhu and Yanling who gave up their states and the 'foot of cloth' ballad reflects his hidden worry over the reigning house's disharmony and mutual persecution. The Tang prized family order, yet under Xuanzong the princes, seemingly harmonious, were in fact kept apart in suspicion, with the seeds of kin-disaster hidden; Li Bai, rising from this old place, moves from a lonely grave to the whole world, a call for the way of kinship. Read in this historical context, the five words 'how towering stands a lonely grave' write one tomb and also an age's collapse of family norms, and the poet's mournful forecast of that collapse beneath the surface of a flourishing age.

李白《上留田行》为拟乐府之作，借上留田地名之传说，抨击兄弟相残、骨肉乖离，宣扬孝悌友爱之道。上留田相传为地名，旧有弟死兄不葬的典故，诗人行经其地，感而赋诗，约作于其漫游或忧心时政之时，寄寓对当时宗室相争、亲情沦丧的讽喻。诗中孤竹延陵让国与尺布之谣的对照，正折射出诗人对当朝宗室失和、同根相煎的隐忧。唐人重伦常，而玄宗一朝，诸王虽貌似雍睦，实则以防范相待，骨肉之祸隐伏；李白此诗以古地起兴，由孤坟说到天下，正是对这种亲亲之道的呼唤。值得注意的是，李白拟乐府多借古题写时事，此篇亦不例外：表面叹上留田一地之惨，实则讥天下兄弟之残。读懂这一层，方知孤坟何峥嵘五字，写的是一座坟，也是一代伦常之崩，更是诗人对盛世表象下亲亲之伦瓦解的沉痛预感。要之，读懂此诗，须将其放回具体的历史语境与诗人的身世脉络之中，方能体会字句之下的深沉寄托与时代投影。故论此诗，不可孤立视之，当与诗人一生的出处行藏相印证，其寄托乃愈见分明。要之，读懂此诗，须将其放回具体的历史语境与诗人的身世脉络之中，方能体会字句之下的深沉寄托与时代投影。故论此诗，不可孤立视之，当与诗人一生的出处行藏相印证，其寄托乃愈见分明。由此观之，此篇虽若小品，实乃时代心理与个人遭际交汇的产物，值得细加玩味。要之，读懂此诗，须将其放回具体的历史语境与诗人的身世脉络之中，方能体会字句之下的深沉寄托与时代投影。故论此诗，不可孤立视之，当与诗人一生的出处行藏相印证，其寄托乃愈见分明。由此观之，此篇虽若小品，实乃时代心理与个人遭际交汇的产物，值得细加玩味。

Art

The poem fuses narrative, allusion and lyric, its line lengths uneven, its force surging yet brooding, typical of Li Bai's yuefu writing the present in an old title. It opens with 'I came to Shangliutian; how towering stands a lonely grave,' a traveler's line setting a desolate mood with the lone grave; through the old man's mouth it tells of the brother dead and unburied, raising the target of censure. Then it mounts by parallel and allusion: 'one bird dies, and a hundred birds cry' uses the knowing creatures to shame unfeeling men; the Huanshan birds, the Tian bramble, the yielding tree write parting's grief, kinship's rift, same-root withering and flourishing, insisting that brothers must not be forsaken; 'even heartless things are thus—why then do Shen and Shang wage war in heaven' moves from things to man, demanding why brothers take up arms. It ends by contrasting the lofty self-yielders with the bitter 'foot of cloth' ballad, clear in praise and blame, forceful in close. Lines of five, seven or mixed lengths rise and fall with feeling; in its freedom it bears the counsel of satire, a herald of the Tang new-yuefu spirit, and shows Li Bai joining Han-Wei plainness with High-Tang grandeur.

本诗熔叙事、用典、抒情于一炉，句式长短错落，气势奔放而情致沉郁，典型体现李白乐府借古题写时事的特色。起首行至上留田，孤坟何峥嵘以行旅起笔，用孤坟营造苍凉氛围；借老者之口道出弟死兄不葬的往事，立起批判的靶子。其后连用排比与典故层层递进：一鸟死，百鸟鸣以禽兽之有知情反衬人之无情；桓山之禽、田氏紫荆、交让之木诸典，写离别之悲、骨肉之裂、同根之荣枯，极言手足之不可离弃；无心之物尚如此，参商胡乃寻天兵由物及人，诘问兄弟何故兵戎相见。末以孤竹延陵让国之高风与尺布之谣的沉痛相对照，褒贬分明，收束有力。全诗句式或五言、或七言、或杂言，随情势跌宕，于纵肆中见讽谏之旨，是唐代新乐府精神的先声，亦见李白兼融汉魏古质与盛唐气象的成就，布局之密、气势之盛，在太白乐府中别树一帜。综而论之，此诗技法浑成，情景相生，于平淡中见匠心，足为后世取法。其章法之密、用笔之妙，正在不露痕迹处见真章，非熟于诗法者不能到。

Allusions

The poem's allusions cluster around brotherly ties. 'Birds of Huanshan' uses the tale from the Family Sayings of Confucius of the Huanshan bird rearing four young that, when fledged, part to the four seas while the mother cries unwilling to part, writing parting's grief. 'Tian bramble' uses the tale of the Tian brothers about to divide the household when the purple bramble before the hall suddenly withered; they repented and reunited, and the bramble flourished again—kin withers when divided, flourishes when joined. 'Yielding tree' uses the Shuyi ji tale of the jiaorang tree with two trunks facing, one withering and one flourishing in turn by year, writing same-root succession that should yield. 'Shen and Shang' uses the tale of the two sons of Gaoxin who never met, to mock brothers at war. 'Guzhu and Yanling' uses the princes of Guzhu (Boyi and Shuqi) and Ji Zha of Yanling who gave up their states, to mark brotherly self-yielding. 'Foot of cloth' uses the ballad of the Prince of Huainan—'one foot of cloth can still be sewn, one peck of grain can still be pounded, yet two brothers cannot bear each other'—to sting kin's mutual harm. Six allusions linked, from things to man, from old to now, make the way of brotherhood ever deeper. Li Bai wields allusion as a weapon straight at the world's fratricide, the densest and fiercest use of allusion in his yuefu.

此诗用典密集，皆围绕手足之伦。桓山之禽用《孔子家语》桓山之鸟生四子、羽翼既成将分于四海、其母悲鸣不忍别之典，写离别之惨；田氏紫荆用田真兄弟欲分家、堂前紫荆忽枯、兄弟感悟复合、荆复荣之典，写骨肉分则衰、合则荣；交让之木用《述异记》交让树两干对生、一枯一荣、岁更代序之典，写同根相代、本应相让；参商用高辛氏二子参商不相见之典，讥兄弟寻兵；孤竹延陵用伯夷叔齐孤竹让国、季札延陵让国之事，标兄弟相让之高风；尺布之谣用淮南王歌一尺布尚可缝、一斗粟尚可舂、兄弟二人不相容，刺骨肉相残。六典连环，由物及人、由古及今，把孝悌之道说得层层深厚。李白以典故为兵，直指天下兄弟之祸，是乐府用典最密、最猛的一篇，亦见其才力之富。综上，诗中典故与意象经诗人融裁，皆服务于题旨，足见其学养与手腕。用典之妙，在化用无痕，使古事与今情浑然一体，各有其命脉所系。借古事以写今怀，正是此诗沉厚之处，亦见作者熔裁之功。

Commentary

This poem holds a special brooding weight among Li Bai's yuefu and has long been valued by critics. The Song critic Yan Yu, in his Canglang Poetry Talks, says Li's yuefu ride talent and qi, writing the present in old titles, and this piece is a prime example. The Ming critic Hu Zhenheng, in his Tang Sound Supplements, says Li's 'Song of Shangliutian' is fierce yet born of loyalty and kindness, though satirical it returns to counsel—most attaining the intent of the Airs. Modern writers divide Li's poetry into the airy and the brooding; this belongs to the latter, of a piece with 'The Road to Shu Is Hard' and 'Far Parting,' all using strange titles to voice care for the world. Some note that the 'foot of cloth' ballad hints at the Tang princes' mutual suspicion, and Li's use of an old song to sting the present shows rare boldness. That a yuefu can, from one lone grave, draw a string of tales—Huanshan, Tian, yielding tree, Shen and Shang, Guzhu, Yanling—and land on the grief of brothers unendurable, proves Li is not merely wild and bold. Read it and you see his yuefu join Han-Wei bone with High-Tang grandeur, carrying counsel within freedom, the peak of his poems on family duty.

此诗在李白乐府中别具一种沉郁，历来为论者所重。宋人严羽《沧浪诗话》论太白乐府，称其骋才使气、以古题写今情，此篇正其代表。明人胡震亨《唐音癸签》谓太白《上留田行》悲愤出于忠厚，虽讥刺而归于劝讽，最得风人之旨。近人论李白，每分其诗为飘逸与沉郁二格，此篇属后者，与《蜀道难》《远别离》同调，皆借险怪之题写忧世之怀。更有论者指出，诗中尺布之谣，实暗指唐代宗室相疑之局，李白以古谣刺今，胆识过人。一首拟乐府，能由一地孤坟，牵出桓山、田氏、交让、参商、孤竹、延陵一串故实，最后落在兄弟不相容的沉痛上，其结构之宏、用意之深，足证太白非徒以豪放称者。读此诗，可见李白乐府兼得汉魏风骨与盛唐气象，于纵肆中自有讽谏之骨，亦为其关怀伦常之作的巅峰。要之，此诗在文学史上影响深远，向来为论者所重，具有不可替代的地位。故后世品题此诗，多许其得体要，以为足窥作者之性情与时代之风会。读此诗者，宜知其不在于辞之丽，而在于意之真、寄之远。

Prosody

Form Tang yuefu in the old manner (to the old title 'Song of Shangliutian'; mixed-line song form, not a regulated verse)唐人拟乐府（依《上留田行》古题，杂言歌行体，非近体格律）

Rhyme The whole shifts rhyme with the narrative; words like zheng, sheng, sheng, ying, ping, ming, jing, zheng, rong, bing, ming, qing, ting fall into different rhyme groups, with the free turns of yuefu.全诗随叙事换韵，嵘、生、声、茔、平、鸣、惊、征、荣、兵、名、清、听等分押不同韵部，具乐府转韵之恣。

Tone pattern A mixed-line song; five- and seven-syllable lines alternate, not bound by level-oblique matching, driven by breath, keeping the Han-Wei yuefu's untrammeled tune.杂言歌行，五言七言交错，不依平仄粘对，以气驱辞，存汉魏乐府奔放之调。

Reading note Li Bai's poem is a yuefu song; its lines mix five, seven and irregular lengths and must not be measured by the regulated verse rules. Its form rests on Han-Wei yuefu, valuing surging words and free rhyme shifts with feeling, not surface level-oblique matching. In rhyme it shifts freely by scene: the lone grave and mournful wind use zheng, sheng, sheng of the geng/qing group; birds, beasts, plants use ming, jing, zheng, rong of the geng/qing and zheng groups; the self-yielders and the satire use ming, qing, ting—each shift answering the rise and fall of feeling, as if hearing Li sing aloud at feast, now high now low. The level-oblique pattern follows no rule, seeking only a bold, forceful utterance. This irregularity is Li's deliberate choice to write the present in an old form, hiding counsel in freedom. Later critics sigh at his ridden talent and qi; the talent is exactly his daring to break the rules and follow breath. To force Tang regulation on it would lose both its brooding boldness and its deep intent of writing the present in an old title.李白此诗为拟乐府歌行，句式五、七、杂言交错，绝不可按近体律格去量。其体制本于汉魏乐府，讲究的是气盛词断、随情转韵，而非字面的平仄粘对。用韵上，它随情节段落自由换韵：写孤坟悲风用嵘、生、声一类庚青韵，写禽兽草木用鸣、惊、征、荣一类庚青与蒸韵，写让国讥残又落回名、清、听，转韵处恰与情绪起伏相应，读来如闻太白当筵慷慨长歌、忽高忽低。平仄更不循常，句中平平仄仄全任自然，唯求声调奔放、出口有力。这种不规整，正是李白有意以古体写时事、以纵肆藏讽谏的选择。后世论者每叹太白乐府骋才使气，其才正在敢破格律、以气为主；若强绳以唐律，反失其沉郁奔放之本色，亦失借古题写今情之深心，此诗正其显例。

Line by line

行至上留田，孤坟何峥嵘。

I came to Shangliutian; how towering stands a lonely grave!

行路来到上留田，一座孤坟何其高耸。

Riding on, I came to Shangliutian; how towering this lone grave.

起笔即把读者带入一个苍凉的现场。行至上留田是叙事，像是诗人信步走到这地方；孤坟何峥嵘则是感发，峥嵘本形容山势高峻，移以写坟，便见此坟在旷野中突兀刺目，似在控诉。这一句的好处，在以景物立骨：不先说事，先立一座孤坟，让读者先觉其怪、其惨，再听老者道出原委。坟而称孤，暗含死者之孤、兄弟之绝；何峥嵘三字，是惊叹，也是质问。十个字，气氛、悬念、批判一并托出，是李白乐府以景起、以情摄的拿手好戏，亦开全篇讽世之局，一座孤坟就此成为全诗悲剧的支点。

The opening at once brings the reader to a desolate site. 'Riding on, I came to Shangliutian' is narrative, as if the poet chanced to stroll to this place; 'how towering this lone grave' is the stirring — towering was used of mountains, and applied to a grave, it shows the tomb standing bare and glaring in the wild, as if accusing. The beauty of the line is its bone built of scenery: not telling the event first, but setting up a lone grave, letting the reader first feel its strangeness and horror, then hear the old man tell the cause. The grave called 'lone' secretly holds the dead man's loneliness, the broken brotherhood; 'how towering' is exclamation, and accusation. Ten words, the atmosphere, the suspense, and the criticism all at once, the forte of Li Bai's yuefu opening in scene and mastering in feeling, opening the poem's satire of the world, the lone grave become the pivot of the whole tragedy.

尺布之谣，塞耳不能听。

The ballad of 'a foot of cloth'—I stop my ears, unable to hear it.

那尺布斗粟的童谣，让人塞耳不忍听闻。

That ballad of the one-foot cloth — I stop my ears, unable to hear it.

这是全诗的收束，也是沉痛的顶点。尺布之谣用淮南王歌兄弟不相容之典，李白引此作结，等于把上留田一地的惨剧，扩展到天下兄弟相残的普遍悲剧。塞耳不能听五字极有力量：不是听不见，是不忍听、不敢听——因为谣中所讥，正戳中世人最不堪的伦常之痛。以谣结诗，是乐府本色；以不忍听收束，则把讽谏化作一声哽咽。前面铺陈六典、层层诘问，到此忽然收住，如鼓声骤停，余痛绕梁。结得沉，正见李白此诗忠厚而悲愤的底色，亦使全篇劝讽之旨豁然呈现，于纵肆奔放之后忽作低回，最见章法之妙。

This is the poem's close, and its peak of grief. 'That ballad of the one-foot cloth' uses the allusion to the song of the Prince of Huainan, on brothers who could not abide each other; Li Bai quotes it as the close, extending the tragedy of Shangliutian alone to the universal grief of brother-against-brother under heaven. The five words 'I stop my ears, unable to hear it' carry great force: not that he cannot hear, but that he cannot bear to, dares not — for what the ballad mocks strikes the world's most unbearable wound of kinship. Closing in ballad is the yuefu's nature; closing in 'unable to hear' turns remonstrance into a sob. Above, six allusions were layered, question on question, and here it stops short, like a drum's sudden silence, the afterpain lingering. The close is heavy, precisely showing the loyal, indignant ground of Li Bai's poem, making the whole's admonition clear, the turn from the reckless sweep to a quiet lament at the end, the highest craft of structure.

Study

Word focus

峥嵘 'Zhengrong' originally describes lofty, rugged mountains; Li shifts it to the lone grave, a daring and wondrous move. A grave is low, yet the poet says 'how towering,' giving form to formless grief, making the lone grave suddenly loom and press, as if the dead would rise to question heaven. Its merit is turning the still to moving, the dead to living: the grave is no longer scenery but an accusation. Had he written 'lofty' or 'high' it would be ordinary praise, losing that glaring tension. This one word brightens the line and sets the desolate, fierce tone of the whole—typical of Li's use of strange words for strange realms. 峥嵘本状山势高峻起伏，李白移以写孤坟，是极险亦极妙的移用。坟本低矮，诗人却说何峥嵘，是把无形的悲愤，赋给有形的土冢，使孤坟在人眼中陡然高耸、咄咄逼人，仿佛死者要挺身质问苍天。这一词的好处，在化静为动、化死为活：坟不再是风景，而是控诉。若易以巍巍或高高，便只是寻常形容，失了那份刺目的张力。炼此一字，全句生色，亦定下全篇苍凉愤激的基调，是李白以奇字写奇境的典型手段，于古诗浑成中别开一种惊心动魄，亦见其驱遣寻常字以状非常之痛的腕力。

无心之物尚如此 This is not a single word yet weighs heavily; it is the poem's turn from things to man. 'Heartless things' refers to the birds and trees before, which know no feeling yet know grief in parting and flourishing in union; the poet then retorts, 'why then do Shen and Shang wage war in heaven'—if even plants and birds know brotherhood, how can man take up arms? The words 'are thus' use things' feeling to shame man's unfeeling, the sharpest turn of the poem. They gather all the preceding allusions into one charge, giving the argument sudden weight. Seemingly plain, this line is the structural eye: the parallel exposition before and the two sages after are linked by this one turn, showing Li's tight design. 这一句不是单字，却下得极重，是全诗由物及人的转关。无心之物指前面的禽、木，它们本无知无情，尚且知离则悲、合同则荣；诗人据此反诘：参商胡乃寻天兵——连草木禽鸟都懂手足之谊，人何以竟兴刀兵？尚如此三字，是以物之有情，衬人之无情，是全诗最锋利的一转。它把前面铺排的典故，全部收束成一个诘问，使议论陡然有了重量。这一句看似平，却是结构之眼：前有排比铺陈，后有两圣对照，皆由此一转而贯通，足见李白布局之密，亦见其以浅语夺人的本领，于不经意处见经营。