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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

送元二使安西

Seeing Yuan the Second Off on His Mission to Anxi

王维

Wang Wei

送别Farewell 友情Friendship

渭城朝雨浥轻尘，客舍青青柳色新。
劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人。

The morning rain in Weicheng wets the light dust;
The willows by the inn are fresh and green.
I urge you to drink one more cup of wine;
West of the Yang Pass, no old friends will be seen.

Listen

Meaning

In the early morning at Weicheng, a light rain settles the dust. The willows near the guest house are fresh and green after the rain. I urge you to drink one more cup of wine, for west of the Yang Pass you will find no old friends.

渭城清晨一场细雨，悄悄润湿了道上轻扬的尘土；客舍旁的杨柳经雨洗过，青翠鲜亮，一派清新。我劝您再饮下这一杯饯行的酒罢，要知道向西出了阳关，一路便难再见故旧亲朋。

Appreciation

The first two lines describe the farewell setting: morning rain, clean dust, and green willows, which allude to the tradition of breaking willow branches to express reluctance. The last two lines shift from scene to emotion: the repeated urging to drink another cup conceals the poet's reluctance to part. The line 'West of the Yang Pass, no old friends will be seen' foresees the loneliness of the journey, making the toast heavy with feeling. This poem was later set to music as 'Three Refrains of the Yang Pass' and became an eternal farewell masterpiece.

【白话串讲】 “劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人”——王维在渭城一场小雨里送别朋友，从此这首歌被唱了一千多年，成了中国最著名的送别曲《阳关三叠》。【意象与手法】全诗语淡情浓，看似脱口直白，却字字含情。“浥”字写雨之轻、尘之净，下字极准【情感与主旨】唐玄宗开元年间，元二奉命出使安西都护府（今新疆库车一带），王维在渭城（即咸阳，长安近郊）设宴饯行【名句点睛】常考“劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人”所抒深挚不舍与以劝酒传情之妙；此诗入乐称《阳关三叠》

Background

During the Kaiyuan reign of Emperor Xuanzong, Yuan the Second was sent on a mission to the Anxi Protectorate (modern Kuqa, Xinjiang). Wang Wei held a farewell banquet in Weicheng (Xianyang, near Chang'an). Weicheng was a key departure point for westward journeys. The morning rain settled the dust, fitting for a long trip. The poem was later set to music as 'Three Refrains of the Yang Pass' and became a representative Tang farewell song.

此诗作于唐玄宗开元年间，是王维为一位行第为二的元姓友人饯行之作。元二奉命出使安西都护府，其治所在龟兹（今新疆库车一带），为唐经营西域的军政中枢，自长安西行须出河西走廊、越玉门阳关，路程逾数千里，往返动辄数年。王维设宴于渭城，即秦代咸阳故城，在长安西北渭水北岸，是唐人西出送别的惯常之地：出长安西行者多在此分手，故渭城柳、灞陵桥同为唐诗中送别的地理符号。题中使字点明公务性质，一去非游历而是任事，归期难以自定，此为全诗依恋之情的现实根据。就时代背景言，开元天宝之际唐朝在西域用力甚勤，士人从军入幕、奉使绝域者众，出塞既是功名之途，也是生离之险，故送别之作在盛唐蔚为大宗，而此篇独以浅语见深情。版本方面，此诗题目异称最多：或作《渭城曲》，或作《送元二使安西》，宋人乐书又称《阳关曲》《阳关三叠》，皆因其入乐传唱而得名。文字上，第一句渭城朝雨浥轻尘之浥字，或本作湿，然浥有润湿而不至于淋漓之意，于晨雨轻尘之境最合，故通行本从浥；第三句劝君更尽一杯酒之尽字，或作进，二字皆通，而尽字含饮干之意，情态更为决绝殷切。全诗为七言绝句，语言平易到近乎口语，而所积之情极厚，是唐人绝句中以淡语写深情的极致。

Art

The poem is simple in language but rich in emotion. The word '浥' (wet) precisely describes the light rain moistening the dust. '柳色新' (fresh willow color) hints at the farewell custom of breaking willows (liu homophone for 'stay'), blending scene with feeling. The last two lines, led by '劝' (urge), shift from scene to feeling, placing all reluctance in the wine. The words '更' (more) and '无故人' (no old friends) build layers, showing the essence of Tang quatrains.

此诗二十八字，前二句写景，后二句写情，结构简明到极处，而层次转折极密。首句渭城朝雨浥轻尘，写的是送别当日的天气：一场晨雨，恰好压住了道上的轻尘。此句妙在两处：一是朝雨点出时辰，晨雨初罢即须分手，时间之促已在言外；二是浥轻尘暗含行路之事，尘为道路之物，雨湿轻尘则路不扬灰，本是行人之幸，然此一念随即勾出远行的正题，写景之中已藏送意。次句客舍青青柳色新，转写眼前物色。客舍本是羁旅之所，柳色新则是雨后经洗、格外青翠。柳在送别诗中素为折柳赠别的象征，此处不说折柳，只说柳色之新，情意遂含而不露；且青青、新字连用，画面明净鲜活，与离别的黯然形成微妙的反差——景色愈美，愈不忍别，这是以乐景写哀情的高明处。三句忽然由景入人，劝君更尽一杯酒，一个更字最见分量：更者再也，则此前已饮多杯，而临行仍不肯罢手，那份挽留之意全在这一字之中。末句西出阳关无故人，是全诗的重心与情感的落点，不写自己的不舍，只替友人设想此后的孤单，替人着想而己之深情自见，是最含蓄也最厚重的写法。全篇不用一个哀字、愁字，不设一处夸张之语，纯以白描直陈，而离情之重压得住二十八字，故历来被视为绝句中语淡情浓的第一等作品。

Allusions

Weicheng was the capital of Qin, Xianyang, a common farewell spot near Chang'an. Yang Pass, south of Jade Gate Pass, was a strategic pass to the Western Regions. Beyond it lay desolate lands, hence 'no old friends'. Willow (liu) homophones with 'stay' (liu), and since the 'Book of Songs' (Xiaoya, 'Caiwei') the custom of breaking willows at parting had been established. The fresh willow color quietly references this tradition.

此诗几乎不用故实，其力量全在地名与物象所积的文化重量。渭城即秦咸阳故城，汉改渭城县，在长安西北渭水之滨，唐人西行多至此而别，故渭城在诗中不只是地点，而是送别的代名词，后世称此诗为渭城曲，即取其地以名其情。柳色之柳，关系尤重：折柳赠别之俗，源出汉代，《三辅黄图》记灞桥折柳送客之事，柳与留谐音，遂成惜别的固定象征；六朝乐府《折杨柳》一类曲辞更把柳与离情牢牢绑定。王维此处不言折柳，只写柳色青青，是把一个用得极熟的象征还原为眼前实景，反而更觉清新。阳关为汉武帝置，在敦煌西南，与玉门关并为汉唐通西域的门户，因在玉门之南而称阳关。阳关在唐人语中已是内外之界：出关则为异域，故西出阳关四字不只是地理描述，而是文明与人情的分界线。安西即安西都护府，唐经营西域的军政重镇，其地在天山南麓，去长安万里。故人一词，唐人用为老朋友、旧相识，此处兼含亲故之意，无故人三字所写非仅缺少朋友，而是整个熟悉的人间世都留在了关内。至于诗中的朝雨、轻尘、客舍，皆是行旅生涯的寻常物事，王维取之入诗而不加装饰，正见其取境之真。

Commentary

After being set to music, this poem was often sung at farewells in Tang times. Liu Yuxi's 'Song for He Kan' includes 'Only He Kan remains, singing Weicheng again,' showing its wide circulation. Later, 'Yang Pass' became synonymous with parting places, proving the poem's deep and enduring influence through the centuries.

此诗自唐代即被谱入乐府广为传唱，是唐诗中传播史最丰富的作品之一。因其反复叠唱的演唱方式，宋人称之为《阳关三叠》；关于三叠的具体唱法，宋以来聚讼纷纷，或谓每句叠唱，或谓后二句叠唱，或谓通篇三遍，说法虽异，而此诗曾长期作为送别的仪式性歌曲则确凿无疑。唐宋人诗文中屡见唱彻阳关、听罢阳关一类语句，可知一曲阳关几乎等同于告别的礼节，其影响已由文本溢入生活。历代评家论此诗，几乎一致推许其语浅情深：不用僻字，不设奇喻，二十八字皆如口头道出，而读之令人黯然，此种境界最不易到。清代诗论家论绝句之法，多举末句为例，谓其不说自己怎样，只说对方如何，正是所谓不写而写、意在言外。宋人论王维诗，尤重其秀雅自然，而此诗更进一层，达于自然而不见工的地步。经典地位方面，此诗与李白《赠汪伦》、高适《别董大》并称唐人送别绝句的代表，而以情味之醇厚论，多推此篇为首。近现代以来，末二句劝君更尽一杯酒、西出阳关无故人已成汉语中最常被引用的饯别之辞，出现在无数分别的场合，其生命早已越出诗歌的边界，成为一种共通的情感语汇。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qijue)七言绝句（近体），首句入韵

Rhyme Level-tone rhyme, first line rhyming; rhymes on 尘 (chen), 新 (xin), 人 (ren) (Upper Ping Sheng, Zhen rhyme group)押平声真韵（上平十一真），韵脚为尘、新、人三字。真韵为细音，收音轻柔绵长，宜写低回缠绵之情；三个韵脚由尘而新而人，由物及人，末以人字收住，声与意同时落到全诗的核心

Tone pattern First line: 仄平平仄仄平平; second: 仄仄平平仄仄平; third: 仄平平仄仄平仄; fourth: 平仄平平平仄平合七绝常格，平仄粘对严整，四句之内两联相对而不求对仗。前二句写景，句法平列；后二句抒情，以劝君二字领起，句式一转为直陈口语，音节遂由舒缓转为恳切。末句西出阳关无故人，连用四个实字收束，音节沉着不作摇曳，与情感的决绝相合

Reading note The last two lines end with urging to drink and foreshadowing loneliness; the poem was set to 'Three Refrains of the Yang Pass'; 'willow fresh' implies farewell custom, scene and feeling intertwined.此诗格律并无奇险处，其声情之妙全在平易中见节制。押真韵是极要紧的选择：尘、新、人三字皆细音，收音时唇齿微收、气息绵长，读来自有一种低声叮咛的意味；若换作开口宏亮之韵，纵是同样的字句，也会变成慷慨送行，而不是这般依依不舍。三个韵脚的排列亦见次序：尘是脚下之物，新是眼前之色，人是心中之念，声音每落一次，视线便由地面移向柳色、再移向人事，末以人字定住，音尽而意不尽。句法上，前二句纯是白描，主语隐去，只列物象，节奏平稳如叙；后二句忽以劝君二字破出，人声乃入，音节随之紧起来，第三句在更尽处稍作停顿，第四句则一气直下，四个实字连缀，不容回环。这种前松后紧、前静后动的安排，恰与饯别的实际过程同步：先是雨后清晨的闲静，继而酒至临行的仓促。此诗后来被谱为《阳关三叠》，反复叠唱而不觉其烦，正因其字句之间本已留有可供回环咏叹的余地，音乐所做的只是把这份未尽之意再拉长一次而已。

Line by line

渭城朝雨浥轻尘，

The morning rain at Weicheng wets the light dust,

渭城清晨一场细雨，悄悄润湿了道上轻扬的尘土。

The morning rain at Weicheng has lightly wetted the dust on the road.

开篇不写离愁而写天气，看似闲笔，实则处处关情。渭城是唐人西行分手之地，一出此名，送别的意味已定。朝雨点明时辰之早，晨雨方歇即须启程，时间之促迫尽在不言。浥字最见斟酌：不曰洗、不曰湿，而曰浥，取润湿而不淋漓之意，写出一场恰到好处的小雨。轻尘二字更藏深意，尘本道路之物，雨压轻尘，于行人本是幸事，然一念及路，便念及远行，念及远行便念及分别。写景之中已含送意，是绝句起句的高明法门。

The opening writes not the parting grief but the weather, seemingly a casual stroke, in fact holding feeling everywhere. Weicheng is the Tang place of the westward parting, and once the name is spoken, the parting's meaning is fixed. 'The morning rain' names the early hour, the morning rain just ended and the road must start, the time's urgency beyond words. The word 'wets' shows the most care: not 'washes', not 'drenches', but 'wets', taking the meaning of moistening without soaking, writing the just-right light rain. The words 'light dust' the deeper meaning: dust is originally the road's thing, the rain pressing the light dust is of itself a blessing for the traveler, yet the thought of the road brings the thought of the far journey, and the far journey brings the thought of the parting. Within the scenic writing, the parting meaning already held, the high method of the quatrain's opening line.

客舍青青柳色新。

the guest house green, the willows fresh.

客舍旁的杨柳经雨洗过，青翠鲜亮，一派清新。

The willows by the inn, washed by rain, are green and fresh.

次句转写眼前物色，两个意象皆有着落。客舍是羁旅寄宿之所，一见此名便知眼前人已是待发之身；柳则是唐人折枝赠别的旧俗所系，柳与留谐音，几乎不能不引起离思。妙在诗人绝口不提折柳，只写柳色经雨而新，把一个用得极熟的象征还原成清晨眼前的实景，含蓄而不落套。青青与新字连用，画面明净鲜活，几近欢愉，然愈是好景愈不忍别，这一点反差正是全诗最幽微的用力处：以乐景写哀情，哀便格外深。

The next line turns to the things before the eyes, both images in their place. The guest house is the lodging of travel, and at the name the reader knows the man before the eyes is one about to start; the willow is tied to the Tang custom of breaking the willow to speed the guest, the willow and the 'stay' homophonic, the parting thought almost unavoidable. The beauty is that the poet not one word of breaking the willow, only writes the willow's color fresh after rain, restoring the most worn symbol to the real morning scene, restrained and not cliche. 'Green' and 'fresh' used together, the picture bright and vivid, almost joyful; yet the fairer the scene, the harder the parting, and this contrast is the poem's most subtle force — writing grief through a joyous scene, and the grief the deeper.

劝君更尽一杯酒，

I urge you to drain one more cup of wine,

我劝您再饮下这一杯饯行的酒罢。

I urge you to drink this one more cup of the farewell wine.

第三句由景入人，是全诗的转关。劝君二字口气恳切，如在耳边；一个更字最有分量：更者再也，则此前已饮多杯，酒已尽兴，而临别之际仍要再劝一杯，那份挽留、那份不忍收场的心思全在这一字之中。尽字含一饮而干之意，比进字更为殷切决绝。全句不着一个愁字，只是一个再劝一杯的动作，而其中含着多少欲言未言：路远、期长、后会难期，都被压进这一杯酒里。以最日常的举动承载最重的情意，是此诗动人之本。

The third line turns from scene to man, the poem's pivot. The words 'I urge you' the earnest tone, as if in the ear; the one word 'more' the weightiest: 'more' means another, and already many cups drunk, the wine at its fullest, and yet at the parting he must urge one more cup, the retention, the loathness to end, all in this one word. The word 'drain' holds the meaning of drinking dry, the more earnest and decisive than 'raise'. The whole line not one word 'grief', only the action of urging one more cup, and within it how much unspoken: the far road, the long term, the hard reunion, all pressed into this one cup. Bearing the heaviest feeling through the most everyday action, this is the root of the poem's moving power.

西出阳关无故人。

for west of Yang Pass, no old friends.

要知道向西出了阳关，一路便难再见故旧亲朋。

Know that, west of Yang Pass, you will find no old friends.

末句是全诗的重心，也是历代传诵不绝的原因。妙处在于视角的转换：诗人不说自己此后如何寂寞，偏替远行者设想出关以后的境况，替人着想而己之不舍自见，此即不写而写、意在言外。西出二字见方向，阳关为汉唐通西域的门户，出关便是异域，故这三字不只是地理，而是熟悉的人间世的边界。无故人三字下得极重：所缺不是一二知交，而是整个可以称为故旧的世界。全句语气平缓，如叮嘱如自语，却把万里之外的孤单一举写定，酒因此不能不再劝一杯。

The last line is the weight of the whole, and the reason it has been chanted through the ages. The beauty lies in the shift of viewpoint: the poet says not how lonely he himself will be, but thinks in the traveler's place of the lot after passing the pass, and by thinking for the other the own loathness shows itself of itself, this is the 'writing through not writing, the meaning beyond the words'. The words 'west of' the direction; Yang Pass the Han-Tan gateway to the Western Regions, and passing the pass is the foreign land, hence these three words are not only geography, but the boundary of the familiar human world. The words 'no old friends' laid the cruellest: what is lacking is not one or two intimates, but the whole world that may be called old friends. The whole line's tone is even, like an injunction, like a self-saying, and yet fixes the loneliness of ten thousand li away in one stroke, hence the wine cannot but be urged one more cup.

Study

Word focus

浥 To moisten, without dripping; describes the morning rain just enough to settle dust, not ruin the mood, showing precise word choice. 浥字训润湿，程度介于洒与湿之间，是全诗第一个可见匠心之字。若用洗，则雨大而声势见；若用湿，则平直而无韵致；唯浥字写出一场极轻的晨雨，只把浮尘按下，而不至于泥泞沾衣。此字既定了雨之量，也定了全诗的调子：一切都是轻的、静的、克制的，连天气都不肯用力，正与后文不着愁字而愁自深的写法相配。且浥轻尘暗关行路，尘为道路之物，写尘即写路，写路即牵动远行，一个动词把景与事悄然缝在一起。

新 Fresh; the willows are green after rain, a fresh scene that contrasts with parting; 'liu' homophones with 'stay', hinting at breaking willows at farewell. 柳色新之新，是全诗最明亮的一个字，也是最耐咀嚼的一处反差。雨后柳叶经洗，青翠如初生，故曰新；就画面言，它使清晨的客舍前忽然亮起一片鲜碧，几乎带着喜气。然而此刻正是分手之时，景之新与情之旧、物之生意与人之黯然恰成对照——愈是好天良景，愈显得这一别不合时宜。以乐景写哀，古人称为反衬，而此处反衬做得极轻，不加一字点醒，全靠一个新字自然生出落差。若易为深、为浓，则色重而生气减，那份令人不忍的鲜活也随之消失。

更 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 劝君更尽一杯酒之更，是全诗情感的枢纽，也是最见分量的虚字。更者再也、又也，它默默交代出一个前提：此前已经饮过许多杯了。酒既已足，话既已尽，按理该起身上路，而诗人偏要再劝一杯，其所以如此，正因一杯饮尽便是启程之时，故只能以再一杯来延宕那不可延宕的时刻。一切挽留、不舍、欲言未言，都藏在这个再字里。此字若删，全句仅存劝酒之事而无留人之情；若换作且、作复，语气便松，那种明知无用而仍要一试的执拗就淡了。

无 a final question particle, close to 'will you?' 无故人之无，是全诗最重的一个字，二十八字的重量最终都压在它身上。无是彻底的否定，不是少、不是稀，而是一个也没有；所否定的又不是寻常事物，而是故人——熟悉的面孔、共同的过往、可以不设防的谈笑。以一个否定词写尽异域的孤单，比铺陈风沙苦寒有力得多，因为苦寒是可以忍的，而无人相识是无从抵御的。且此字用在末句末位，一落而全诗收住，不作宽解、不留余地，那份沉重遂在诗尽之后继续弥漫。惟其如此，前面那杯酒才不能不再劝一次。