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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

石头城

Stone City

刘禹锡

Liu Yuxi

怀古Nostalgia for the Past 沧桑Vicissitudes 金陵Jinling

山围故国周遭在，潮打空城寂寞回。
淮水东边旧时月，夜深还过女墙来。

The mountains still surround the ancient capital, all the same,
The tide beats against the empty city and silently returns.
By the eastern side of the Huai River the moon of old,
At dead of night still climbs over the parapet wall.

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Meaning

The mountains and the tide remain unchanged, but the city is empty and desolate; the same old moon now shines on the ruins. The poem contrasts the constancy of nature with the transience of human glory, expressing a profound sense of historical vicissitude.

群山依旧环绕着这座六朝故都，周遭的形势依然如故；江潮拍打着空寂的石头城，又寂寞地退去。秦淮河东边那轮曾照临六朝的旧时明月，在夜深时分依然越过城上的女墙照临此地。全诗借山、潮、月、城的依旧如故，反衬人事兴废的无常，于空寂苍茫中寄寓深沉的兴亡之感。

Appreciation

The first line sets the scene with enduring mountains; the second line personifies the tide as 'lonely', emphasizing the desolation. The third and fourth lines focus on the moon, a witness to past splendor, now crossing the ruined wall. Through these images, the poet conveys the rise and fall of dynasties without a single direct word of emotion.

【白话串讲】 “山围故国周遭在，潮打空城寂寞回”——六朝的繁华都散了，只有月光还在夜深时照过石头城的女墙。刘禹锡写金陵的兴亡，写进了中国文人的集体记忆。【意象与手法】全诗以「山」「潮」「月」「城」四种恒常景物并置，层层反衬：山之「围」与城之「空」对照，潮之「打」与回之「寂寞」对照，月之「旧时」与世之新灭对照，以自然的永恒反写人事的无常。末句「还过」二字以拟人笔法，使明月如旧友故人，冷眼见证兴废，含蓄深远。【情感与主旨】此诗约作于唐穆宗长庆四年（824），刘禹锡由夔州调任和州途中经金陵（今南京）时。诗人早年参与永贞革新而遭贬谪二十余年，面对六朝古都的荒废，借咏史抒写兴亡之慨与时世沧桑，亦暗含对藩镇割据、国势渐衰的隐忧。【名句点睛】默写易错：「周遭」勿误作「遭周」，「寂寞回」易误作「寂寞还」，「女墙」易误作「女樯」。赏析常考：①以景写情、不着一字议论的含蓄手法；②「旧时月」意象的时空意味；③与《乌衣巷》同组的怀古笔法。

Background

Written around 824 AD when Liu Yuxi, a poet who had suffered political exile for over twenty years, passed by the Stone City in Jinling (modern Nanjing). He used the ruins of the Six Dynasties’ capital to express his own feelings of historical change and underlying concern for the declining Tang empire.

此诗为刘禹锡《金陵五题》组诗之首，约作于唐穆宗长庆四年（824）秋冬间。时刘禹锡由夔州刺史调任和州刺史，途中经金陵（今南京），登临凭吊六朝故都遗迹，先后写下《石头城》《乌衣巷》《台城》《生公讲堂》《江令宅》五首咏古之作，总题《金陵五题》，并自序谓友人白居易读后曾以「潮打空城寂寞回」叹赏，称后人无复措词，可见此诗在当时即负盛名。石头城即金陵城，三国孙吴于楚金陵邑旧址依山临江而筑，凭险据守，为六朝政治军事重镇，历经繁华鼎盛，隋唐以后渐趋荒废，成为兴亡凭吊的象征。刘禹锡早年参与永贞革新，失败后被贬连州、朗州、夔州、和州，流转南方二十余年，饱经政治风浪而气骨不衰。诗人置身荒城，仰望群山、俯听潮声，深感山川依旧而王朝代谢，遂以二十八字写尽六代繁华归乌有的苍茫。诗题虽曰怀古，实则以自然之永恒对照人事之短促，暗寓对中唐藩镇割据、国势日衰的隐忧，也寄托自身仕途沉浮、去国怀乡的感慨，是唐人咏史怀古中以小见大、以景寓情的典范。诗中所咏石头城至唐宋已成废墟，登临者代不乏人，唯刘禹锡以二十八字摄其神理，遂为金陵怀古之祖。

Art

The poem excels in contrast and personification. The enduring natural elements (mountains, tide, moon) are set against the ruined human city. The tide 'silently returns' and the moon 'still passes' as if they are conscious beings. The poem is subtle, with no direct expression of sorrow, yet the sorrow permeates every line.

全诗无一悲字而悲意自出，妙在以景语写情语、以恒常反衬无常。首句「山围故国周遭在」写群山依旧环抱故都，「故国」二字点出六朝旧事，「周遭在」三字强调山川形胜分毫未改，为全诗立下「物是人非」的对照框架。次句「潮打空城寂寞回」笔势一转，「空城」写城郭荒废、人烟断绝，「寂寞」以拟人手法赋予无情潮水以人的孤寂，潮来潮去皆成空响，兴亡之感顿生。三四句「淮水东边旧时月，夜深还过女墙来」由实入虚、由昼入夜：秦淮河畔那轮照过六朝繁华的明月，夜深时依旧越过女墙照临废都，「旧时」与「夜深」拉开时间纵深，「还过」二字以拟物笔法写月之如期而至，仿佛旧友故人执意归来凭吊，冷眼见证兴废而默无一言。全诗以「山」「潮」「月」三种永恒之物，层层衬托「城」之荒废，不作议论、不抒愤慨，而苍凉之气弥漫全篇。写景层层推进：山是远景、潮是近景、月是夜景，空间由外而内、时间由昼入夜，终以月光照城的特写收束，得含蓄蕴藉之极致。前两句实写山之围、潮之打，后两句虚写月之来，实景与虚景相生，二十八字如一幅水墨长卷，由远及近、由明及暗，层层收束于月光一点，章法之整饬与意境之苍茫相得益彰。

Allusions

The 'ancient capital' (guguo) evokes the tradition of nostalgia from the Book of Songs. The 'parapet wall' (nyuqiang) is a common architectural feature. The Huai River (Qinhuai) was the center of the Six Dynasties’ pleasure quarters. The image of the 'old moon' symbolizing temporal continuity is a hallmark of Liu Yuxi's nostalgic poetry.

「故国」本指前朝旧都，语承《诗经·王风·黍离》「彼黍离离」所开创的故国之思传统，后世以黍离麦秀之叹写亡国凭吊，刘禹锡用之而更见沉静。「女墙」即城上呈凹凸状的矮墙，古已有之，为城防工事之实写，一个寻常军事名词入诗，反而衬出城郭萧瑟、无人戍守的荒凉。淮水即秦淮河，六朝时两岸市廛繁盛、笙歌彻夜，是金陵繁华的象征，诗人以「淮水东边」定位明月，暗将昔日脂粉金粉之都与今日空城对照，繁华与荒凉尽在一条河的两岸铺开。「旧时月」意象遥承张若虚「江畔何人初见月」的月照人间之思，又与同期《乌衣巷》「旧时王谢堂前燕」同一机杼，以恒常之物见证变迁。全诗化用皆不着痕迹，熔《诗经》兴亡传统、六朝金陵掌故与唐人月意象于一炉，实为《金陵五题》怀古脉络的总纲。后世苏轼「人生到处知何似」之问、王安石「六朝旧事随流水」之叹，皆可于此诗见其端绪；金陵一地的兴亡意象自此成为诗词创作的公共题材，此诗实居开山之位。

Commentary

Qing critic Shen Deqian in 'Tangshi Biecai' commented: 'It only writes of mountains, water, and moon, yet the splendor of the Six Dynasties all vanishes to nothing, making one think beyond the words.' Modern scholar Yu Biyun in 'Shijing Qian Shuo' said: 'In twenty-eight characters, it contains immense emotion; its profound and majestic spirit is unmatched even in the early and High Tang.'

清·沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评此诗：「只写山水明月，而六代繁华俱归乌有，令人于言外思之。」一语道破其以景写情、言外见意的艺术奥秘。近人俞陛云《诗境浅说》谓：「二十八字中，寓万分感慨，其气魄之沉雄，寄托之遥深，皆初盛唐所未有。」以为此等以小喻大、以恒写变的笔力，已超出一般咏古之作。刘禹锡晚年与白居易唱和，白氏尝叹「潮打空城寂寞回」为吾知后之诗人无复措词矣，足见此句在当时即被推为绝唱。此诗与《乌衣巷》并为《金陵五题》双璧，千年以来，凡金陵怀古之作鲜有出其右者；宋代王安石《桂枝香·金陵怀古》、元代萨都剌《满江红·金陵怀古》诸作，皆可视为对此诗金陵咏叹传统的遥承与发扬，其以不言言言的写法更成为后世怀古诗词反复取法的范式。今人读此诗，既可赏其以景写情的艺术，亦当体其忧国伤时之怀，二十八字中涵泳着中唐士人对历史与现实的深沉思考，常读常新。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qijue)七言绝句（七绝）

Rhyme The characters 'hui' (return) and 'lai' (come) rhyme in the level tone, Upper Level Ten Hui rhyme group.「回、来」押平声韵，属《平水韵》上平十灰韵，首句入韵

Tone pattern Starts with oblique tone and first line is rhymed; the first two lines are partially antithetical.仄起首句入韵式，四句皆合律；前两句「山围故国周遭在，潮打空城寂寞回」字数结构大体相对，具对仗之形

Reading note One of Liu Yuxi's 'Five Poems on Jinling', using historical sites to express the rise and fall of dynasties, blending emotion into scenery.此诗为七言绝句，属近体诗中最短小的体制，二十八字而境界宏阔，正合「绝句贵含蓄」之体性。首句入韵，押「灰」韵，韵腹开阔悠长，与怀古题材的苍茫气象相称。平仄上为仄起首句入韵式，全篇合律；前两句以「故国」「空城」相对，山川与江潮、恒在与荒废互为映衬，虽非严格工对，已具流水对之意。三、四句由实转虚、由昼入夜，「旧时月」「还过女墙」以虚字「还」转接，声情舒缓，正合深夜月行之静寂。绝句体小易工，此诗以景语写情语，二十八字中藏无限感慨；首句入韵而句句不粘滞，音节浏亮而情调沉郁，声情与辞情浑然一体，正是以小见大的典范。诵读此诗，宜缓声低吟，于「回」「来」二韵处稍作停顿，方见其苍茫往复之致。

Line by line

山围故国周遭在

The mountains still surround the ancient capital, all the same. 'Ancient capital' points to Jinling's past glory; 'still surround' emphasizes nature's constancy, contrasting with human change.

群山依旧环绕着这座六朝故都，四周的形势依然如故。

Mountains still encircle the old capital, all around as of old.

「故国」指六朝建都的金陵，点明凭吊对象，一字即勾起数百载兴亡旧事；「周遭在」写群山环抱、形势未改，山是永恒的见证者。诗人不写人事而先写山川，以依旧在的山水为参照，为后文「空城」「旧时月」的今昔对照立骨。群山无言而自亘古，恰衬出城与人世之短暂，此句语调舒缓，如山形绵亘，于不动声色中已埋下「物是人非」的伏笔，是全诗时空框架的起点。此句以动衬静、以今追昔，为全诗定下苍茫基调。

'The old capital' means Jinling, seat of the Six Dynasties, naming the object of the lament, and one word evoking the rise and fall of centuries; 'all around as of old' the mountains encircling, the terrain unchanged, the mountains the eternal witnesses. The poet writes not human affairs first but mountains and rivers, using the unchanged landscape as the measure, laying the bone for the later contrast of 'empty city' and 'moon of olden days'. The mountains wordless and from of old, precisely setting off the city's and the world's brevity; the tone of this line unhurried, like the stretching range, and in no change of face the foreshadowing of 'things unchanged, men changed' already planted, the start of the poem's space-time frame. Writing stillness through motion, pursuing the past through the present, the line tunes the whole's vast, desolate keynote.

潮打空城寂寞回

The tide beats against the empty city and silently returns. 'Empty city' suggests desolation; 'silently returns' personifies the tide, enhancing the feeling of loneliness and impermanence.

江潮拍打空寂的石头城，又寂寞地退去。

The tide beats on the empty city, and turns back in loneliness.

「空城」直写城郭荒废、人烟断绝，与上句「故国」形成繁华与废墟的对照；「寂寞」以拟人手法将无情的潮水写得含情脉脉，潮来潮去都无人应和，愈见江山之寂。一「打」一「回」，潮的往复与城的死寂互相映衬，仿佛历史兴衰的潮声在空城上徒然回响。潮水千百年来执着拍打，城却早已人去楼空，执着的自然与废弃的人事两相对照，兴亡之感不待言说而自出，此句正是沈德潜所称只写山水明月而六代繁华俱归乌有的枢纽。

'The empty city' writes directly the city's ruin, the human trace gone, set against the 'old capital' above in the contrast of splendor and ruin; 'in loneliness', through personification, writing the unfeeling tide as full of feeling, the tide coming and going with none to answer, the river and hills the more desolate. One 'beats' one 'turns back', the tide's ebb and the city's death set each other off, as if the sound of history's rise and fall echoed vainly over the empty city. The tide for a thousand years persistently beats, and the city long since emptied of men; the persistence of nature set against the abandonment of human affairs, the feeling of rise and fall showing itself without words, this line precisely the pivot Shen Deqian praised — writing only the river, hills, and moon, and the Six Dynasties' splendor all turned to nothing.

淮水东边旧时月

By the eastern side of the Huai River the moon of old. The 'moon of old' is a witness to past prosperity, now shining on ruins, creating a sense of nostalgia.

秦淮河东边，还是那轮曾照临六朝的昔日明月。

East of the Huai River, the moon of olden days,

淮水即秦淮河，六朝时金粉繁华之所；「旧时月」三字穿越时间，将今月与古月叠合为一，明月还是那轮明月，而人间已历尽兴亡，意境苍凉悠远。以「旧时」修饰月，既写月之恒常，更暗含对往昔繁华的追忆与对今日荒凉的感慨。秦淮河边的繁华曾照于月下，如今繁华已逝而月色依旧，诗人不写「月依旧」而写「旧时月」，把时间之流凝于一字，与《乌衣巷》「旧时王谢堂前燕」同一机杼，是刘禹锡怀古的标志性笔法。

The Huai River is the Qinhuai River, the place of the Six Dynasties' gilded splendor; the words 'moon of olden days' cross time, layering the present moon and the ancient moon into one — the bright moon is still that bright moon, while the human world has lived through rise and fall, the mood vast and far. Modifying the moon through 'of olden days' writes both the moon's constancy, and secretly the recollection of the past splendor and the lament for today's desolation. The Qinhuai splendor once shone beneath the moon, and now the splendor is gone and the moonlight unchanged; the poet writes not 'the moon unchanged' but 'the moon of olden days', condensing the flow of time in one word, the same working as 'the swallows of old before the halls of Wang and Xie' in the Black Garlic Lane, the signature brush of Liu Yuxi's historic verse.

夜深还过女墙来

At dead of night still climbs over the parapet wall. The moon's action is depicted as habitual, underscoring the theme of constancy amid change.

夜深时分，月光依旧越过城上的矮墙照临这座废都。

late into the night, it still crosses the parapet and comes.

「夜深」拉长时间纵深，万籁俱寂中唯余月光移动；「还过」以拟物笔法写月之如期而至、恋恋不去，仿佛旧友故人执意归来，冷眼见证兴废而默无一言。「女墙」是城防工事的实写，月光越过女墙，恰如历史越过繁华，照见废墟，城防早已无用而月色依旧殷勤。以月之恒常反衬城之荒废，含不尽之意见于言外，余韵悠长；「来」字收束全诗，如月华漫漫铺来，将二十八字凝聚的苍茫推向远处，是以景结情的绝佳收束。

'Late into the night' lengthens the depth of time, and in the universal stillness only the moonlight moves; 'still crosses' the thing-as-person brush, writing the moon's coming as promised, its lingering unwilling to leave, as if an old friend stubbornly returning, watching the rise and fall with cold eyes and silent. 'The parapet' the real writing of the city's defense, the moonlight crossing the parapet, precisely as history crossing the splendor, shining on the ruins, the defense long useless and the moonlight as assiduous as ever. Setting off the city's ruin through the moon's constancy, the meaning beyond the words, the aftertaste long; the word 'comes' closes the poem, like the moonlight slowly spreading, pushing the vastness condensed in the twenty-eight words toward the distance, the perfect close of 'closing in scene'.

Study

Word focus

空 Empty: The word 'empty city' concisely depicts abandonment and sets the desolate tone. 「空城」之「空」是全诗诗眼：既写城池荒废、人去城空的实况，又渲染万籁俱寂、繁华落尽的氛围，更暗含万事皆空的历史虚无感。一字而兼写实景、氛围与哲理，统摄全篇悲凉基调，与「故国」「旧时」相配合，构成今昔、实虚、盛衰的多重对照，凝练至极。此字不写人事之变而人事之变自见，正是刘禹锡炼字以简驭繁的功力所在。此字与「旧时」「故国」同构，三字鼎立，撑起全诗今昔对照的骨架。

寂寞 Lonely: Personification of the tide, giving it human emotion, making the scene more bleak. 本是写人之心理状态的词，此处移用于潮水，是典型的拟人手法。潮本无情，因空城无人应和而显寂寞，物之寂寞实即人之寂寞、江山之寂寞。以无情之物含情，倍增苍凉，与「空城」呼应，将兴亡之慨写得含而不露。一个形容词将潮水人格化，使历史兴衰的沉重化为潮声的往复空响，正是刘禹锡以景写情的本色。拟人之外兼有移情，以我之寂寞写潮之寂寞，物我同悲，最见唐人诗心。

旧时 Of old: Emphasizes the moon's perpetual nature, contrasting with the transient human world. 「旧时月」之「旧时」是怀古的关键词，强调明月之恒常依旧，与「故国」「空城」所代表的人事变迁形成尖锐对照。同一轮月，照过六朝金粉，又照今日荒城，时间在月身上凝缩为可感的意象。「旧时」二字轻描淡写，却承担了全诗今昔对照的重心，深化了历史沧桑之感；后世怀古诗词中「旧时」一词屡见不鲜，正自此诗与《乌衣巷》之用法而来，可见其示范意义。较之「昔时」「往昔」，「旧时」更近口语，亲切中愈显沧桑，是炼字入神的范例。

石头城