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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

上李邕

Presented to Li Yong

李白

Li Bai

壮志lofty ambition 豪放unrestrained 怀才不遇unrecognized talent

大鹏一日同风起，扶摇直上九万里。
假令风歇时下来，犹能簸却沧溟水。
世人见我恒殊调，闻余大言皆冷笑。
宣父犹能畏后生，丈夫未可轻年少。

The great roc one day mounts the wind and rises;
On the whirling updraft it soars straight to ninety thousand li.
Should the wind fall still and bring it down,
It can still churn and dash aside the waters of the vast ocean.
The world ever sees me as singing a different tune;
Hearing my grand words, all cast cold smiles.
Even Master Xuanfu could revere the younger generation;
A true man must not lightly esteem the young.

Listen

Meaning

Rebuffed by the official Li Yong in his youth, Li Bai compares himself to the mighty roc of Zhuangzi to assert his soaring ambition and warn against underestimating the young.

大鹏终有一日随长风而起，扶摇直上飞达九万里的高空。即使风停了掉下来，它鼓动翅膀仍能簸荡苍茫的大海。世人见我总是发表不合时流的言论，听到我的豪言壮语都报以冷笑。孔夫子尚且说过后生可畏，大丈夫怎能轻视年轻人呢。

Appreciation

The poem opens by invoking the great roc from Zhuangzi's 'Free and Easy Wandering,' casting the poet as a creature of boundless power that can churn the ocean even in descent. The middle lines turn sharply to the scorn of the world, where Li Bai's bold self-assertion meets only cold laughter. He answers with the authority of Confucius, who taught that the younger generation is to be feared, turning a personal slight into a principled rebuke. The tone moves from exuberant confidence to a proud, defiant conclusion. It is quintessential early Li Bai: arrogant on the surface, yet a protest against unrecognized talent underneath.

【白话串讲】 “大鹏一日同风起，扶摇直上九万里”——李白写给李邕：我是大鹏，风起就能上九万里。“世人见我恒殊调，闻余大言皆冷笑”——世人笑我大言。“宣父犹能畏后生，丈夫未可轻年少”——孔子都敬畏后生，你别轻视我这个少年。【意象与手法】全诗以大鹏意象贯穿，化用《庄子·逍遥游》“鹏之徙于南冥也，水击三千里，抟扶摇而上者九万里”的典故，将庄子笔下浩瀚无垠的鲲鹏化为诗人自我形象的投射。沧溟水指苍海大水，与大鹏的巨力形成呼应，以宏阔的自然意象衬托胸怀。宣父犹能畏后生用孔子“后生可畏，焉知来者之不如今”之事典，借圣人之言压阵，收束有力。【情感与主旨】此诗是李白青年时期干谒失败后的愤激之作，通篇洋溢着一股不甘被轻视的少年锐气。看似自负狂放，实则是对怀才不遇的激愤——大鹏比喻才能者，世人冷笑讽刺平庸之辈不识英才。最后以孔子名言收束：你们自负如孔子，孔子尚且敬畏后生，你们凭什么轻视我？这既是反驳，也是自勉。【名句点睛】 “宣父犹能畏后生，丈夫未可轻年少”——以圣人之口说凡人之失，理直气壮，读来令人拍案。李白把怼李邕的话说得既有典故支撑又有气势，是典型的李白式骄傲。

Background

In his youth Li Bai visited Li Yong, the prefect of Yuzhou, a famous patron of talent who received the young poet coldly. According to the New Tang History, Li Yong was known for cherishing men of letters and supporting the younger generation, yet he did not favor everyone he met; this rebuff instead inspired one of Li Bai's most celebrated early poems. The poem is a self-declaration of ambition addressed to a patron who underestimated him.

李白（七〇一至七六二），字太白，号青莲居士，盛唐浪漫主义诗歌之巅峰，世人尊为诗仙。此诗当作于其青年时期，约在开元七八年（七一九）前后，时李白初出蜀中、漫游天下，经渝州谒见时任渝州刺史的李邕。李邕（六七八至七四七）字泰和，江都人，以才学名重当世，擅长碑颂，亦好奖掖后进，然性颇自负，对初露头角的李白态度冷淡，未加青眼。李白遂作此诗以自明心志，借大鹏自喻，既抒少年壮志，亦暗含对李邕轻视的回应。据《新唐书》载，李邕素负美名而频遭贬斥，虽能文养士，却未必对每个人都推心置腹，李白此次干谒碰壁，反而激发出一首千古名篇。此诗由此成为研究李白早年性格与干谒经历的重要文本，亦可见盛唐士人恃才傲物的精神风貌，李白此诗虽为干谒受挫之作，却毫无乞怜之态，反以鹏鸟自况、以圣人压人，正见盛唐士人恃才傲物、不以长者之轻而易其志的精神风貌。。

Art

The poem begins with an allusion to Zhuangzi and closes with a saying of Confucius, spanning the classics of both Daoism and Confucianism within a single short work and revealing Li Bai's vast learning and untrammeled spirit. Rhetorically it uses the roc as a self-metaphor and the vast ocean as contrast, blending the real and the imaginary; the line about the world's 'cold laughter' inserts colloquial speech, creating a tension between plain and elegant registers. The structure rises, falls, then rises again, its rhythm full of dramatic swings.

全诗以庄子之鹏起兴，以孔子之言收束，一诗之中横跨道儒两家经典，展露李白博大的知识结构与豪放不羁的个性。前四句写鹏，以大鹏一日同风起、扶摇直上九万里正面立其高举之姿，复以假令风歇时下来、犹能簸却沧溟水作退一步的假设，即使无风而落，犹能簸荡沧海，极写其势能之巨、自信之坚。后四句由物及人，写世人见我恒殊调、闻余大言皆冷笑，以俚俗口语入诗，与前后典雅文辞形成雅俗对照，张力十足；末二句宣父犹能畏后生、丈夫未可轻年少搬出孔子后生可畏之语压阵，以圣人之言折服凡夫，收束有力。修辞上以大鹏自喻、以沧溟水为衬托，虚实相生，夸张而合理；章法上先扬后抑再扬，起承转合一气贯通，是李白歌行体中早年意气风发的代表作，章法上先扬后抑再扬，鹏之高举与落而簸海写尽自信，世人冷笑一转，末以宣父收束，气脉跌宕；道儒典籍横跨一篇，最见太白博学而能浑化。。

Allusions

The great roc comes from Zhuangzi's 'Free and Easy Wandering'; 'soaring straight up ninety thousand li' adapts the original line of that chapter. 'Even Master Xuanfu could fear the younger generation' alludes to the Analects ('The younger generation is to be feared'), where Xuanfu is a respectful name for Confucius. All three allusions fit the theme precisely, showing no trace of forced ornament.

大鹏：语出《庄子·逍遥游》，原写鹏之徙于南冥也，水击三千里，抟扶摇而上者九万里，本为寓言中巨大无比的神鸟，象征宏大高远之境界。李白以此自况，将庄子的哲学意象化为自我形象的投射，终生以大鹏自命，晚年《大鹏赋》亦承此志。扶摇直上九万里化用《逍遥游》原文，扶摇指盘旋而上的暴风。簸却沧溟水：簸本为扬谷去糠之动作，此处极言大鹏翅膀一扇便能簸荡苍茫大海，是典型的李白式夸张。宣父犹能畏后生：宣父为唐代对孔子的尊称（唐太宗贞观十一年诏尊孔子为宣父），畏后生用《论语·子罕》后生可畏，焉知来者之不如今也之典。三处典故横跨道儒，皆精准切题而不露堆砌之痕，可见李白用典如盐着水、浑化无迹的功力，大鹏、扶摇、簸却、畏后生四典，自庄子而论语，皆精准切题、浑化无迹，非掉书袋者所能；以圣贤自任，正开后世狂者进取之先声。。

Commentary

The Ming critic Hu Yinglin, in his 'Poetry Critical,' praised the poem's 'rolling, self-delighting' movement, from which one can imagine Li Bai's breadth of mind. The Qing critic Shen Deqian, in 'Tang Poems Selected and Edited,' called it 'grand words ablaze, yet returning to the deepest truth.'

明人胡应麟《诗薮》评此诗跌宕自喜，想见太白胸襟，可谓的评。清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》称其大言炎炎，而归于至理，指出此诗虽出以狂言，却自有道理在。此诗向来被视为李白少年意气的标本，亦有人讥其太狂，然狂者进取，正见盛唐气象。近人论李诗，多以此与《行路难》长风破浪会有时并观，认为同写少年壮志而一显一隐。诗中以孔子压李邕，既是反驳，也是自勉，于桀骜中见磊落。李白一生屡遭挫折而豪气不减，此诗已露端倪。要之，此诗以道家庄语起、以儒家圣言收，把一次干谒的碰壁写成了一篇少年中国的壮志宣言，豪气干云而理直气壮，足为盛唐浪漫精神之先声，胡应麟谓其跌宕自喜，沈德潜称其大言炎炎而归于至理；此诗以狂语写壮志，虽遭讥而豪气不改，足为盛唐浪漫精神之先声与青年李白之定调，其狂非妄，乃天才自信之自然流露，亦盛唐气象之一端。。

Prosody

Form Seven-character ancient-style poem (song-ballad form)七言古诗（歌行体）

Rhyme The first four lines rhyme on li and shui (rising tone, rhyme group 4 Zhi); the last four rhyme on xiao and shao (departing tone, rhyme group 18 Xiao). The oblique-tone rhymes suit the poem's soaring, impassioned tone.前四句押里、水（上声纸韵），后四句押笑、少（去声啸韵），仄声韵脚与全诗昂扬激越的基调吻合，四句一换韵。

Tone pattern Free of strict antithesis, driven by momentum; the first four lines unfold the roc image in one breath, the last four turn sharply to argument, rising then falling then rising, with rollicking rhythm.歌行体不拘对仗，以气势贯之；前四句大鹏意象一气呵成，后四句议论陡转，先扬后抑再扬，节奏跌宕。

Reading note The song-ballad form observes no strict tonal rules, and Li Bai wields the brush by energy alone; the poem seems to break the rules yet changes rhyme every four lines with head and tail echoing, possessing a defiant beauty of its own.此诗为七言歌行体，本不尚严格格律，而贵在气盛词畅、以气驭笔。用韵上，前四句里、水同押上声纸韵，后四句笑、少同押去声啸韵，四句一换韵，平仄虽不拘而韵脚转换与情绪起伏暗合：写鹏之高举用开阔的纸韵，写世人冷笑与末联反击则转入劲峭的啸韵，声情由宏放渐趋激切。句式以七言为主，间以散文气脉，不刻意求对，却自有一种桀骜不驯的节奏美感。李白歌行最忌弱，此诗起如惊涛、转如峭壁、收如利剑，正合其跌宕自喜、大言炎炎的评家定论。要之，此诗声律为内容服务，不以法度束缚豪情，是盛唐歌行以气胜之典范，亦足见青年李白腕下已有千钧之力。

Line by line

大鹏一日同风起，扶摇直上九万里。

Comparing himself to the roc, he writes that he too will ride the moment and soar to the high heavens.

大鹏终有一日随长风而起，扶摇直上飞达九万里的高空。

The great roc, one day, rises on the wind, soaring straight up ninety thousand li.

起句以大鹏自喻，开篇即立下宏大高远之象。大鹏出自《庄子·逍遥游》，是庄子笔下抟扶摇而上九万里的神鸟，李白借此自况，把自己的凌云之志寄托于这一巨禽。一日二字极有分量，暗示时机必至的必然性——不是也许，而是终有一日，是对未来笃信无疑的宣告。同风起三字写鹏与风的关系，风为外缘，鹏待风而举，既写出对时机的清醒认知，也暗含干谒求荐的现实处境。扶摇直上九万里以夸张之笔写其高举，扶摇本指盘旋而上的暴风，九万里则极言其远。十四字一气贯注，气势磅礴，把一个青年诗人对自身才华的自信与对未来的期许，写得酣畅淋漓，是全诗的基调所在。

The opening takes the great roc as self-figure, establishing at once the grand and far-seeing image. The roc comes from Zhuangzi's 'Enjoyment in Untroubled Ease', the divine bird that whirls up ninety thousand li on the spiral wind; Li Bai takes it for himself, entrusting his soaring ambition to this giant bird. The words 'one day' carry weight, hinting the certainty of the time to come — not perhaps, but one day, the declaration of unwavering faith in the future. 'Rises on the wind' writes the roc's relation to the wind, the wind the outer condition, the roc waiting on the wind to rise, both the clear sense of timing and the real situation of seeking recommendation. 'Soaring straight up ninety thousand li' exaggerates the high flight, 'soaring' the whirling storm wind, 'ninety thousand li' the utmost distance. Fourteen words flowing in one breath, the momentum vast, writing the young poet's confidence in his own talent and his expectation of the future to the full, the keynote of the whole.

假令风歇时下来，犹能簸却沧溟水。

Even if opportunity pauses and he falls from on high, he can still stir the vast ocean.

即使机遇暂歇、从高处落下，仍能搅动苍茫大海。

Granted the wind should die and it descend, still it can churn the waters of the vast sea.

此二句为进一层之假设，笔势更见奇崛。假令即假如，风歇时下来设想最不利的情形：即便长风停歇、大鹏从九万里高空坠落，也绝不是凡鸟可比。犹能簸却沧溟水以退为进，写其落而不弱——翅膀一簸，仍能搅动苍茫大海。簸却二字力道万钧，以极小的动作写极大的能量，是李白特有的夸张笔法，把个体的力量感放大到撼动沧海的程度。这一层极为关键：它表明诗人的自信不依赖于外在机遇（风），即便时运不济，其本身所含的势能依然足以撼动世界。由扬转抑再蓄势，使自信更具厚度，亦是对李邕冷淡的无声回应——你不以我为重，我自能簸沧溟。

These two lines are a further hypothetical layer, the brush the more extraordinary. 'Granted' means if; 'the wind should die and it descend' imagines the worst case: even if the long wind stops and the roc falls from ninety thousand li, it is no ordinary bird. 'Still it can churn the waters of the vast sea' advances by yielding, writing that its fall is no weakness — one beat of the wings, and it still stirs the great sea. The words 'churn' carry the weight of ten thousand jun, writing the greatest energy through the smallest motion, Li Bai's characteristic exaggeration, magnifying the individual's power to the point of rocking the sea. This layer is crucial: it shows the poet's confidence does not depend on external chance (the wind); even if fortune fails, the potential within him is still enough to shake the world. From raising to restraining to storing force, the confidence the deeper, and the silent answer to Li Yong's coldness — you do not think much of me, yet I can churn the sea.

世人见我恒殊调，闻余大言皆冷笑。

The world always deems my words strange; hearing my grand boasts, they only smile coldly.

世人总觉得我言论怪异，听到我的豪语只知冷笑。

The world sees me always as odd in speech; hearing my bold words, they all give a cold smile.

由物及人，由鹏转入自我处境的抒写。世人见我恒殊调写世俗之人对自己的态度：恒是总是、一贯，殊调即与众不同的言论，三字道出李白长期被排斥的人生常态，亦含举世皆浊我独清的孤独与骄傲。闻余大言皆冷笑以冷笑二字写尽庸众的轻蔑——他们听不懂，也不愿懂，只报以讥笑。这一句是全诗中唯一的压抑处，却并非真正的屈服，而是以冷静的叙述包藏愤怒，比直斥更有力量。大言在此非贬义，而是李白自嘲中对自身豪言的命名，亦与后文宣父畏后生形成反衬：世人冷笑，圣人却敬，两相对照，是非立判。此联由豪转入郁，为末联的反击蓄势。

From thing to man, from the roc to the writing of the self's plight. 'The world sees me always as odd in speech' — the worldly people's attitude toward him: 'always' means constantly, 'odd in speech' the unconventional talk, three words naming the lifelong norm of Li Bai's exclusion, holding the loneliness and pride of all the world foul and he alone clean. 'Hearing my bold words, they all give a cold smile' — the 'cold smile' writes the vulgar's contempt to the full: they do not understand, and will not, answering only with mockery. This line is the only repressed place in the poem, yet no real submission, but anger wrapped in a calm narrative, more forceful than direct reproach. 'Bold words' here is no derogation, but Li Bai's self-naming of his own proud speech in self-mockery, set off against the later 'even Confucius stood in awe of the young': the world's cold smile, the sage's reverence, the judgment clear at the contrast. This couplet turns from pride to gloom, storing force for the closing retort.

宣父犹能畏后生，丈夫未可轻年少。

Confucius himself revered the young; how can you as a true man slight me?

孔子尚且敬畏年轻人，你身为大丈夫怎能轻视我。

Even Confucius stood in awe of the young; a man of spirit must not scorn the youth.

末联收束全诗，以圣人压凡人，理直气壮。宣父犹能畏后生搬出孔子后生可畏之语，宣父为唐代对孔子的尊称，以圣人之言作凭仗，使反驳具有不可动摇的权威。丈夫未可轻年少直指李邕：你既自命大丈夫，便不该轻视后辈。未可二字语气坚定，是全诗的最强音，既是对李邕的针锋相对，也是青年李白的自重自勉。由前面世人的冷笑，到此处的圣人敬畏，诗人完成了从被嘲笑者到被敬重者的身份翻转，自信由此获得文化与道义的双重支撑。二十字把怼李邕的话说得既有典故支撑又有磅礴气势，典型的李白式骄傲，读来令人拍案，亦开后世以圣贤自任、以狂傲鸣高的先声。

The closing couplet gathers the poem, pressing the sage against the ordinary man, reasoned and defiant. 'Even Confucius stood in awe of the young' invokes Confucius's saying that the young are to be feared; 'the revered father of culture' is the Tang honorific for Confucius, and using the sage's words as warrant gives the rebuttal an unshakable authority. 'A man of spirit must not scorn the youth' points straight at Li Yong: since you call yourself a man of spirit, you must not scorn the younger generation. The words 'must not' are firm in tone, the strongest note of the poem, at once the point-for-point answer to Li Yong and the young Li Bai's self-respect and self-exhortation. From the world's cold smile above to the sage's reverence here, the poet completes the reversal of status from the mocked to the honored, the confidence gaining the double support of culture and morality. Twenty words, the reply to Li Yong both supported by allusion and sweeping in momentum, the typical Li Bai pride, reading like a clap of the hands, and opening the later tradition of taking the sages as one's warrant and singing high through arrogance.

Study

Word focus

簸却 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 簸却沧溟水之簸却，是全诗力度最奇的一处炼字。簸本指以箕上下颠动、扬去谷糠的动作，本极寻常细微；却为语助或完结之意。李白以簸却写大鹏落时扇动翅膀，竟能簸荡苍茫大海，以小驭大、以轻举重，是极度放大个体力量的李白式夸张。这一动词的妙处在于反差：动作愈轻巧，所撼动的对象（沧溟水）愈浩大，反差愈强，势能愈显。它呼应开篇扶摇直上，构成一升一落间的能量守恒——无论高举还是下坠，鹏之力皆足以动天地。以农事常语入诗而气势磅礴，正见太白点铁成金、化俗为奇的手段，亦是其浪漫豪情的语汇表征。

恒殊调 Heng means 'always, habitually'; shutiao means 'a tune different from others' — these three characters capture Li Bai's lifelong experience of exclusion, and betray a loneliness and pride of one who alone is sober in a drunken world. 世人见我恒殊调之恒殊调，写尽李白一生被误解的常态。恒是总是、一贯，殊调即异于流俗的言论与怀抱，四字之中藏着双重意味：一是外界对诗人的长期不解与排斥，二是诗人对此的清醒认知与默然承受。殊调二字，表面说言论之异，实则点出李白精神气质与世俗价值的根本错位——他所言者大，世人只见其狂。这一词为后文闻余大言皆冷笑张本，亦使全诗由个人遭际上升为天才与庸众的普遍冲突。恒字尤其沉痛，它不是一次两次，而是一以贯之的孤独，读来令人想见诗人独立于世的傲骨，亦见盛唐虽开放而容才仍难的隐痛。

未可 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 丈夫未可轻年少之未可，是全诗收束处最坚定的两个字。未可即不可、不该，语气斩截，毫无商量余地。它直指李邕（丈夫）的轻慢，以命令式的否定完成对权威的反击。与前面宣父犹能畏后生相较，圣人都敬畏后生，你一介丈夫反倒轻视，情理俱失，未可二字因此具有无可辩驳的力量。这个虚词的妙处在举重若轻：不呼号、不谩骂，只以两个平实的字把一个青年对长者轻慢的不服与自重，写得理直而气壮。它既是怼李邕的锋芒，也是李白终身不媚权贵、自重其才的性格宣言，开后世狂者进取之风。

上李邕