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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

送梓州李使君

Farewell to Prefect Li of Zizhou

王维

Wang Wei

送别Farewell 山水Landscape

万壑树参天，千山响杜鹃。
山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉。
汉女输橦布，巴人讼芋田。
文翁翻教授，不敢倚先贤。

Through myriad ravines great trees pierce the sky, o'er thousand hills the cuckoo's call draws nigh.
A night of rain within the mountains deep, on treetop tips a hundred founts their vigils keep.
Han maidens render tung-cloth as their due, Ba folk contest the taro fields in suit.
Wen Weng then turned to teaching with his might—dare not recline on worthies of old light.

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Meaning

Countless ravines and peaks are crowned with towering trees and echo with the cuckoo's song. After a night's rain the mountain springs seem to hang from the treetops. The Han women pay their tax of tung cloth and the Ba people quarrel over taro fields. Wen Weng once transformed Shu through education; you, my friend, must go and build your own legacy rather than rest on the fame of worthies past.

千山万壑中古树参天，千山万壑里杜鹃啼鸣。山中春雨一夜下过，雨后树梢上仿佛悬挂着百重泉流。汉女向官府缴纳橦布，巴人为芋田之事争讼。文翁兴学化蜀的事迹早已流传，你此次前往，不必只想着倚仗先贤的余荫。

Appreciation

Unlike most farewell poems, this one never dwells on parting sorrow. Instead Wang Wei paints the majestic rivers and mountains of Shu and its local customs, then urges his friend to govern well and spread learning. The opening couplet is rare among his works for its grand, masculine energy, while the middle scenes move from sublime landscape to earthy folklore. The closing allusion to Wen Weng turns the poem into a stirring charge to public service.

【白话串讲】王维写《送梓州李使君》：“万壑树参天，千山响杜鹃”——“山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉”——“汉女输橦布，巴人讼芋田”——“文翁翻教授，不敢倚先贤”——他送李使君去蜀地做官。【意象与手法】此诗是王维送别诗中的名篇，其妙处在于不写离情别绪，而以壮阔的笔触写蜀地的山水风物，勉励友人赴任后施展教化。首联「万壑树参天，千山响杜鹃」以对仗写蜀地山水的雄奇，万壑千山、树参天、响杜鹃，气势恢宏，是王维诗中少有的雄浑之笔；颔联「山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉」以「雨」与「泉」写蜀地山水的灵秀，夜雨过后，树梢上仿佛悬挂着百重泉流，想象奇特；颈联「汉女输橦布，巴人讼芋田」转写蜀地的风土民情，汉女输布、巴人讼田，写出蜀地的民俗；尾联「文翁翻教授，不敢倚先贤」以文翁兴学的典故勉励友人，劝其到任后兴教化、治民事。全诗从山水到民俗再到教化，由景入事、由事入理，是一首别开生面的送别诗。【情感与主旨】此诗是王维送友人李使君赴任梓州（今四川三台一带）之作，约作于开元末或天宝年间。与一般送别诗多写离情不同，此诗不写「送」，而写友人将赴任之地的山水与民情，并勉励其到任后施行教化。首联写蜀地山水的壮阔，是「为友人壮行」；颔联写蜀地山水的灵秀，是「为友人绘景」；颈联写蜀地的民俗，是「为友人告民情」；尾联以文翁兴学的典故，勉励友人效法先贤、兴教化民。全诗虽无一字写「离情」，而勉励之情、期望之殷自在其中，正见王维送别诗「以壮语为友人壮行」的特点。诗中既流露出对友人前程的期许，也寄托了王维「为政以德、教化万民」的政治理想，是盛唐送别诗中气象最宏阔、立意最高远的一首。【名句点睛】常考“万壑树参天，千山响杜鹃”以工对写蜀地山水之雄奇；“山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉”写树梢悬挂百重泉，想象奇特。

Background

This poem was written by the Tang poet Wang Wei as a farewell to his friend Prefect Li, who was departing for Zizhou (administrative seat in present-day Santai, Sichuan), around the late Kaiyuan or early Tianbao reign of Emperor Xuanzong. Zizhou belonged to the Jiannan region in Shu, a land of towering, strange mountains and rich produce, where Han and Ba peoples lived intermingled and grew tung cloth and taro. The Tang court often sent officials as prefects (shijun) to Shu; Prefect Li's life is no longer documented. Wang Wei wrote this at the height of his landscape style. Notably, though titled 'Farewell,' the poem barely touches on parting sorrow, devoting its length to Zizhou's scenery and customs and to the allusion of Wen Weng's teaching. Wen Weng was the Shu commandery governor under Emperor Jing of the Western Han who founded schools and transformed local culture—a famed good official. Wang Wei hopes Li will emulate him. This 'urging service instead of saying goodbye' reflects the high Tang scholar's sense of public duty and Wang Wei's own Confucian ideals joined to his poetic craft.

此诗为唐代诗人王维所作，送友人李使君赴任梓州（治所在今四川三台县）之作，约作于唐玄宗开元末年或天宝初年。梓州属剑南道，地处蜀中，山川雄奇、物产丰饶，其地有汉人聚居区与巴人杂居区，产橦布（苧麻织成的布）、种芋田。唐代朝廷常派员赴蜀中任刺史（使君），李使君即王维所送的这位赴梓州任刺史的友人，其生平已不可详考。王维作此诗时，正值其山水诗风成熟之际，诗中「万壑树参天，千山响杜鹃」的雄浑，「山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉」的灵秀，皆是其写景功力的体现。值得注意的是，此诗虽题为「送」，却几乎不写离情别绪，而是以极大的篇幅描绘梓州的山水民情，并以文翁兴学的典故勉励友人。文翁是西汉景帝时的蜀郡太守，他在成都兴办学校、推行教化，使蜀地文风大盛，是历史上著名的良吏。王维在诗中用此典，正是期望李使君到任后能如文翁一般兴教化、治民事。这种「送人而不言别、以政绩相勉」的写法，体现了盛唐士人以天下为己任的胸怀，也可见王维虽以山水田园诗著称，其骨子里仍怀有经世济民的理想，此诗正是其「儒者情怀」与「诗家笔法」的结合。

Art

The poem's art lies in uniting rugged landscape with deep exhortation. First, crafted parallelism and momentum: the opening 'myriad ravines / thousand peaks' paints Shu's immensity; 'trees pierce sky' and 'cuckoo cries' join sight and sound with awe-inspiring force—a rare masculine stroke for Wang Wei. The second couplet follows with the strange beauty after rain. Second, structure from scene to affair: the first two couplets depict nature, the third turns to folklore (Han women's cloth, Ba people's suits), the last closes with the Wen Weng allusion—layered from scenery to will. Third, the interplay of real and unreal: the solid scenes gain an airy quality through 'hundred springs'; the later affairs carry the unreal hope placed in the friend. Fourth, unity of grandeur and grace: both the vast 'myriad peaks' and the delicate 'hundred springs' appear, grand yet ethereal—Wang Wei's inclusive landscape vision.

此诗的艺术成就在于将雄浑的山水描写与深挚的劝勉之情完美结合，可从四个层面解析。其一，工对与气势。首联「万壑树参天，千山响杜鹃」以「万壑」「千山」对举，极写蜀地山水的广袤与雄奇，「树参天」状其高，「响杜鹃」写其声，视觉与听觉并作，气势磅礴，是王维诗中罕见的雄浑之笔；颔联「山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉」承接首联，写雨后的奇景——夜雨过后，山中百泉飞泻，仿佛悬挂在树梢之上，想象奇特而逼真，是历来传诵的名句。其二，由景入事的结构。前两联写山水，颈联转写民俗：「汉女输橦布，巴人讼芋田」，以工对写蜀地的生产与生活，由自然转入人事；尾联以文翁典故收束，勉励友人。全诗由山水而民俗而教化，层层推进，从写景到言志，结构严谨而自然。其三，虚实相生的境界。前两联写景极实（树、山、雨、泉），却因「百重泉」的想象而虚实相生；后两联写事则实中见虚，以文翁的典故寄托对友人的期许。其四，雄浑与灵秀的统一。此诗既有「万壑千山」的雄浑，又有「百重泉」的灵秀，雄浑而不失空灵，正是王维山水诗「兼收并蓄」的体现。四重手法相得益彰，使此诗成为送别诗中的别调、山水诗中的佳作。

Allusions

The allusion centers on the closing 'Wen Weng then turned to teaching, dare not lean on the worthies.' Wen Weng, Shu governor under Emperor Jing of the Western Han, per the Han Shu 'Biographies of Excellent Officials,' seeing Shu's backwardness, sent clerks to Chang'an to study and founded schools in Chengdu; graduates were exempted from corvée and given office, so Shu's learning flourished 'equal to Qi and Lu.' 'Wen Weng transforming Shu' became the classic allusion for local officials promoting education. Wang Wei uses it to urge Li to found schools in Zizhou. The word 'turn' implies renewing Shu through teaching. 'Dare not lean on the worthies' is a modest exhortation: Wen Weng's legacy already runs deep, but you should not merely rest on the sages' shade—build your own deeds and carry on. It both spurs the friend and hints at surpassing the master. The lines 'Han maidens render tung cloth, Ba folk contest taro fields,' though not allusions, faithfully depict Shu's customs—tung cloth as a local product, taro as livelihood—adding local color and realism. The poem uses few, precise allusions, concentrated at the close, perfectly turning from scene to exhortation.

此诗的典故集中在尾联「文翁翻教授，不敢倚先贤」。「文翁」是西汉景帝时的蜀郡太守，据《汉书·循吏传》记载，文翁见蜀地僻陋，有蛮夷之风，遂选派郡县小吏赴长安求学，并在成都兴办学校，入学者免除徭役，学成者委以官职，于是蜀地教化大兴，「蜀地学于京师者比齐鲁焉」。文翁兴学是中国教育史上著名的美谈，后世遂以「文翁化蜀」为地方官兴教劝学的典故。王维以此典勉励李使君，正是期望他能如文翁一般，在梓州兴办学校、推行教化。「翻教授」的「翻」字，有「翻转、改易」之意，暗含「以教化改变蜀地」的期许。「不敢倚先贤」则是一句谦辞与勉励——意思是说文翁的教化功绩早已在蜀地留下深远影响，你此次前往，不必只想着倚仗先贤的余荫，而应自树政绩、继往开来。此语既是对友人的鞭策，也暗含「青出于蓝」的期许。此外，「汉女输橦布，巴人讼芋田」二句虽非典故，却如实写出蜀地的风物民情：橦布（苧布）是蜀地的特产，芋田是蜀人赖以为生的产业，汉女输布、巴人争讼，正是蜀中汉巴杂处、农商并兴的真实写照，为王维此诗增添了浓郁的地方色彩与写实精神。全诗用典少而精，集中在尾联，恰到好处地完成了从写景到劝勉的转折。

Commentary

Long praised as Wang Wei's most imposing farewell poem and an unusual piece among his landscapes, its opening grandeur and the second couplet's strange beauty are much admired: the Qing critic Shen Deqian called the opening 'the most vigorous of Wang Youcheng's pentasyllabic regulated verses'; modern readers note 'a hundred springs at the treetops' as a famous Tang line for its airy, strange imagination. Its special value in farewell history is breaking the tearful, clinging tone—writing landscape not sorrow, exhortation not farewell, sending the friend off with grand scenery and high ambition, typical of high Tang's majestic farewells. Compared with 'A Song at Weicheng' ('pray drink another cup of wine'), this shows Wang Wei's broader breast and higher aim. It influenced later poets such as Lu You. For today's readers it is the key to Wang Wei's 'vigorous' side and a model of 'sending off with grandeur instead of regret.'

此诗历来被推为王维送别诗中最具气魄的一首，也是其山水诗中的别调。历代论者多激赏首联「万壑树参天，千山响杜鹃」的雄浑与颔联「山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉」的奇丽：清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评首联为「右丞五律之最雄浑者」，近人更指出「山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉」二句以「泉在树杪」写雨后山景，想象奇特、境界空灵，是唐诗写景的名句。在送别诗史上，此诗的独特价值在于：它打破了送别诗「执手相看泪眼」的缠绵格调，不写离情而写山水，不写惜别而写劝勉，以壮阔的景与高远的志为友人壮行，是盛唐送别诗「气象雄浑」的典型代表。相较于王维《送元二使安西》「劝君更尽一杯酒」的深情，《送梓州李使君》更见其胸襟的开阔与抱负的高远。此诗对后世影响深远，宋代陆游入蜀后写「细雨骑驴入剑门」等诗，即可见王维蜀道山水诗的遗泽。对于今日读者，此诗是理解王维「雄浑」一面的钥匙，也是学习送别诗「以壮行代惜别」的范本，更是感受盛唐士人「经世济民」理想的窗口。

Prosody

Form Pentasyllabic regulated verse (level-tone opening, first line not rhyming)五言律诗（平起首句不入韵）

Rhyme Rhymes with the lower-level 'xian' rhyme; rhyme words are 'tian' (sky), 'quan' (spring), 'tian' (field), 'xian' (worthy). The first line's 'he' is oblique and does not rhyme—the first-line non-rhyming form. The rhyme words are clear and open, matching the landscape mood of 'trees pierce sky' and 'hundred springs.'押下平一先韵，韵脚为「天」「泉」「田」「贤」。首句「壑」字仄声不入韵，属首句不入韵之格。韵脚「天」「泉」「田」「贤」皆属先部，韵音清朗开阔，与「树参天」「百重泉」的山水意境相谐。

Tone pattern Wan he shu can tian—oblique-oblique-oblique-level-level; qian shan xiang du juan—level-level-oblique-oblique-level; shan zhong yi ye yu—level-level-oblique-oblique-oblique; shu miao bai chong quan—oblique-oblique-oblique-level-level; and so on. The whole follows the pentasyllabic regulated tone pattern; the second couplet's 'yi ye yu' uses three oblique tones in a row, an artful irregularity showing Wang Wei's occasional rugged turns within strict form.万壑树参天，仄仄仄平平；千山响杜鹃，平平仄仄平；山中一夜雨，平平仄仄仄；树杪百重泉，仄仄仄平平；汉女输橦布，仄仄平平仄；巴人讼芋田，平平仄仄平；文翁翻教授，平平平仄仄；不敢倚先贤，仄仄仄平平。全诗平仄合于五律格律，颔联「山中一夜雨」三仄连用，拗中见变，正见王维于严整中偶作拗峭的功力。

Reading note A level-opening, first-line non-rhyming pentasyllabic regulated verse, rhyming with level-tone 'xian,' strictly formed. Four couplets: opening writes landscape's grandeur, second its grace, third its customs, last its exhortation to teach—from scene to affair to principle. Read the opening with a grand tone, the second with an airy one, the third plainly, the last with depth, so the layers show in the voice. Wang Wei's pentasyllabics are famed for 'ripe fullness'; this is the most vigorous in that mode.此诗是平起首句不入韵的五言律诗，押平声先韵，格律严谨。全诗四联结构分明：首联写山水之雄，颔联写山水之秀，颈联写风物之实，尾联写教化之劝，由景入事、由事入理，章法井然。声调上，首联「万壑树参天，千山响杜鹃」对仗工整、音节铿锵，气势雄浑；颔联「山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉」以「一夜雨」三仄连用，拗中见奇，恰合山雨的骤至与百泉的飞泻；颈联「汉女输橦布，巴人讼芋田」平仄相间，如叙家常；尾联「文翁翻教授，不敢倚先贤」从容收束，寄寓深意。诵读此诗，宜以雄浑的语调读首联，以空灵的语调读颔联，以平实的语调读颈联，以深沉的语调读尾联，使全诗的层次在声调中呈现。王维五律以「浑厚」著称，此诗正是其五律中气象最雄浑者。

Line by line

万壑树参天，千山响杜鹃。

Great trees tower to the sky through countless ravines; the cuckoo cries out across a thousand mountains. — The opening antithetical couplet captures the grandeur of Shu's landscape; 'myriad ravines' and 'thousand peaks' amplify its vastness, while lofty trees and resounding birdsong combine sight and sound to paint a magnificent, vigorous scene that braces the friend for his post.

千山万壑中古树参天，千山万壑里杜鹃啼鸣。

Ten thousand ravines, the trees pierce the sky; a thousand hills, the cuckoo cries.

起句以对仗写蜀地山水的雄奇，是全诗气势最盛的一联。「万壑树参天」以「万壑」极言山谷之多，以「树参天」状古木之高，视觉上先声夺人，写出蜀地崇山峻岭、古木蔽天的壮阔；「千山响杜鹃」以「千山」与「万壑」对举，以「响杜鹃」写杜鹃鸟的啼鸣响彻千山，听觉上磅礴而来，仿佛那「不如归去」的啼声在山谷间回荡不绝。两句一写树之高、一写鸟之响，视觉与听觉并作，把蜀地山水的雄奇写得淋漓尽致。值得注意的是，「万壑」与「千山」互文见义，实指同一片崇山峻岭，而「参天」之树与「响」之杜鹃，一个写静态的巍峨，一个写动态的喧响，动静相生，使画面既雄浑又充满生机。这两句气象阔大，是王维诗中少见的雄浑之笔，也为友人赴任的蜀地涂抹上一层壮丽的色彩，暗含「为友人壮行」之意。

The opening line, in couplet, writes the grandeur of Shu's hills and waters, the poem's most imposing couplet. 'Ten thousand ravines, the trees pierce the sky' — 'ten thousand ravines' the numberless valleys, 'the trees pierce the sky' the old trees' height, the sight seizing the ear at once, writing Shu's lofty mountains and old trees screening the sky; 'a thousand hills, the cuckoo cries' — 'a thousand hills' set against 'ten thousand ravines', 'the cuckoo cries' the cuckoo's call ringing through a thousand hills, the sound rolling in, as if the cry of 'better return' echoes unending in the valleys. Two lines, one the trees' height, one the bird's cry, sight and sound together, writing the grandeur of Shu's hills and waters to the full. The more to note, 'ten thousand ravines' and 'a thousand hills' interwoven, in fact the same lofty range; and the trees 'piercing the sky' and the 'crying' cuckoo, one the static towering, one the dynamic noise, motion and stillness giving birth, making the picture at once grand and alive. These two lines' air is vast, the rare grand stroke in Wang Wei's verse, and they color the Shu land of the friend's post with a layer of splendor, secretly holding the meaning of 'a grand send-off for the friend'.

山中一夜雨，树杪百重泉。

A single night of rain in the mountains; a hundred tiers of springs hang from the treetops. — A famous line for its strange, lovely imagination: after the rain the mountain streams pour down as if suspended among the branches. The 'hundred springs at the treetops' turns a real scene into a vision of airy grace, shifting from the rugged grandeur above to the delicate beauty of Shu's waters.

山中下了一夜春雨，雨后树梢上仿佛悬挂着百重泉流。

One night of rain in the hills; at the treetops, a hundred layers of springs.

这两句写雨后山景，是历来传诵的名句，以想象的奇丽著称。「山中一夜雨」是铺垫，写山雨一夜而下，为后句的奇景蓄势；「树杪百重泉」是奇景——雨过之后，山间的泉水纷纷奔泻，而那泉水仿佛不是从山涧流下，而是从树梢间倾泻而出，一层又一层，重重叠叠，故曰「百重泉」。这一想象的妙处在于：它写出了雨后山水的特殊情态——因为一夜雨，山中的泉水暴涨，无数道泉水从高崖上飞落，站在山下仰望，那些瀑布仿佛是从树梢的枝叶间流淌下来的，「树杪」二字把泉的位置写得既实又虚，实者是真有泉在树间，虚者是泉本来自山巅而诗人看似树杪。这种「无理而妙」的想象，正是王维山水诗「以神写形」的体现。两句承接首联，由「千山万壑」的雄浑转入「百重泉」的灵秀，一放一收，使全诗的意境更加丰富，也暗含对蜀地山水「宜人宜居」的赞美，为友人赴任增添了几分亲切。

These two lines write the post-rain mountain scene, a famous line through the ages, famed for the strange beauty of the imagination. 'One night of rain in the hills' the groundwork, writing the mountain's rain through the night, storing the force for the wonder of the next line; 'at the treetops, a hundred layers of springs' the wonder — after the rain, the mountain springs pour forth, and the springs seem to flow not from the ravines, but to pour from among the treetops, layer on layer, piled and piled, hence 'a hundred layers of springs'. The beauty of this imagination: it writes the special state of the hills and waters after rain — because of the night's rain, the mountain springs swell, and countless streams fly down from the high cliffs, and standing below the hills and gazing up, the cascades seem to flow down from among the treetops' branches; the words 'treetops' write the springs' place both real and imagined — real in that there are springs among the trees, imagined in that the springs come from the hilltop and the poet seems to see the treetops. This 'unreasonable and yet wonderful' imagination is precisely the showing of Wang Wei's landscape verse of 'writing the spirit through the form'. Two lines carry on the opening, turning from the grandeur of 'a thousand hills, ten thousand ravines' to the elegance of 'a hundred layers of springs', one release one gathering, making the poem's realm the richer, and secretly holding the praise of the Shu hills and waters' 'fit to dwell', adding a touch of intimacy to the friend's post.

Study

Word focus

参天 Piercing the sky / towering. — Describes the ancient trees of Shu with majestic energy; 'can' means to reach into the clouds. Paired with 'myriad ravines' it sketches the heroic contour of the landscape in the fewest strokes and sets the poem's grand, send-off tone. 'Pierce the sky' lets the giant trees stand forever before the reader and makes this opening a perennial masterpiece. 「参天」二字是首联的点睛之笔，写蜀地古木之高，气象雄浑。参者，高入云霄也；参天，即直插天际。王维以「树参天」状蜀地之树，至少有三层意味：其一，写树之高——蜀地崇山峻岭间古木森森，高耸入云，一个「参天」写尽其巍峨；其二，写势之盛——「万壑」之中处处是参天大树，不是一棵两棵，而是满山满壑，气势恢宏；其三，写地之雄——树参天正说明山之高峻，蜀道之难、蜀山之雄，皆可由「参天」二字想见。与「万壑」二字相配合，「万壑树参天」五字，以最经济的笔墨勾勒出蜀地山水的雄浑轮廓，为全诗定下壮阔的基调。若换作「摩天」「干云」等词，虽义近而气魄稍逊；唯「参天」二字，既通俗又雄壮，正合此诗「以壮语送行」的整体风格。这一「参天」，让蜀地的古木永远挺立在读者眼前，也让这首送别诗因这雄浑的起句而成为千古名篇。

翻 To turn / transform. — The pivotal word in 'Wen Weng then turned to teaching': it means to overturn and renew, hinting that Wen Weng flipped Shu's rustic ways into a land of learning. It also answers 'dare not lean on the worthies'—urging the friend not to rest on past glory but to renew the region himself, a verb that carries both admiration and exhortation. 「翻」字是尾联的关捩，也是理解王维劝勉之意的关键。「文翁翻教授」的「翻」，历来有数解，此处宜作「翻转、改易」解——即「以教化翻转（蜀地）」，暗含文翁将蜀地由蛮夷之风翻转为文教之盛的意思。但「翻」字的妙处更在于它与「不敢倚先贤」的呼应：王维对友人李使君说，文翁当年「翻教授」，翻转了蜀地的风气，而你此次前往梓州，不必只倚仗先贤的余荫（「不敢倚先贤」），而应像文翁一样，自己去翻转一地的风气。这个「翻」字，既有对先贤功业的追慕，更有对友人的鞭策——不是躺在先贤的功劳簿上，而是继往开来、自树政绩。若换作「兴」「行」等字，则只写文翁兴学的事实，失去「翻转风气」的动态感与「青出于蓝」的期许；唯「翻」字，一个动词写尽文翁化蜀的功业，也暗含对友人的殷切期望，正是此诗炼字见意之处。