PoemBridge
Start learning
All poems

唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

题君山

Written on Mount Jun

雍陶

Yong Tao

烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深。
疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心。

Misty waves do not stir; the shadow sinks deep and heavy.
No trace of jade-blue is left — the emerald green runs deeper still.
I suspect this is the place where the water nymphs comb and wash,
a spiral of dark blue-black at the very center of the mirror.
Listen

Meaning

The poem captures the reflection of Mount Jun in the still water of Dongting Lake. As the poet gazes at the dark green image floating on the jade-blue water, he fancies the lake must be the dressing mirror of the water goddesses, and the small mountain island a whorl of their eyebrow paint at its heart — turning a landscape into a scene of divine feminine toilet with a single leap of imagination.

烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深。疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The misty waves lie motionless, and Mount Jun's reflection hangs deep and dark in the water; the lake's jade-blue is swallowed by a deeper emerald. It must be the place where the water goddesses comb their hair and wash; the mountain is like a spiral of dark eyebrow-paint at the center of their mirror. [Structure] The poem moves from stillness, to color, to fancy: the first couplet fixes the scene in two precise observations, and the second couplet explains it with a myth. [Imagery] The central conceit is the lake as mirror and the mountain as the whorl of blue-black paint at its center — landscape and feminine adornment fused in one image, which is the source of the poem's celebrated 'fantastic clarity.'

【白话串讲】 雍陶写《题君山》：“烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深”——“疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心”——他题君山——一螺青黛镜中心。 【意象与手法】 “烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深”写烟波君山倒影；“疑是水仙梳洗处”以水仙写想象；结以“一螺青黛镜中心”以一螺青黛写君山。奇幻清丽。 【情感与主旨】 雍陶写君山之作，写君山倒影如水中螺髻，是写洞庭君山的咏物诗名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深”写君山倒影；“疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心”以一螺青黛写君山。

Background

Yong Tao (fl. c. 805), courtesy name Guojun, was a native of Chengdu and a Late Tang poet who rose to be a Doctor of the Mao Recension of the Songs at the Imperial University. Mount Jun (Junshan) is a small island in Dongting Lake in Hunan, famous from antiquity as the place where the two daughters of the sage-king Yao — Ehuang and Nüying, wives of Shun — wept for their lost husband, their tears spotting the bamboo into the 'lady-of-the-Xiang' bamboo. By the Tang, Junshan was also celebrated for its tea and plums. This quatrain, describing Junshan's reflection in the still lake, is Yong Tao's most famous poem and one of the most original landscape quatrains of the Late Tang.

《题君山》为唐代诗人雍陶所作诗。雍陶（约805年前后在世），字国钧，成都人，晚唐诗人，官至国子毛诗博士。此诗写景咏物，为咏君山之作。诗中「烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深」写烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深；「疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心」写疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心。雍陶此诗以写景咏物、一螺青黛镜中心写其咏物之情，奇幻清丽，是雍陶诗中的名篇。此篇《题君山》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《题君山》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《题君山》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's art is in its single sustained conceit. The first couplet is pure observation: 'misty waves do not move' fixes the water's stillness, 'the shadow sinks deep' names the mountain's reflection, and the shift from 'jade-blue' to 'deeper emerald' records the color of the deep water around the island. Then the second couplet explains the scene by imagination: the still, bright lake becomes the mirror in which the water goddesses dress, and the mountain becomes 'one spiral of dark blue-black' at its center — the whorl of hair-paint on their mirrors. The transformation of a landscape into a toilet scene, executed without any awkwardness, is what later critics called the poem's 'fantastic clarity' (qili); the tiny word 'yi' (one) is essential, since it reduces a mountain to a whorl of paint and so completes the magic.

此诗艺术上以「奇幻清丽、以镜写情」见长。全诗共四句两联，由烟波不动影沉沉而疑是水仙梳洗处。起「烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深」写烟波不动影沉沉：烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深；结「疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心」写疑是水仙梳洗处：疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心。全诗以镜写情，由烟波不动影沉沉而一螺青黛镜中心，奇幻清丽，是雍陶诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

'Shui xian' (water immortals) refers to the goddesses of the Xiang River — Ehuang and Nüying, the daughters of Yao and wives of Shun, who drowned themselves in the Xiang after Shun's death and became its divinities; their weeping stained the riverbank bamboo with spots. 'Qing dai' (dark blue-black) is the mineral pigment with which Tang women painted their eyebrows, and 'yi luo' (one spiral) names a small whorl or coil, like a conch shell or a knot of hair. The 'mirror' is the polished bronze mirror of Tang ladies' toilet tables. By combining the Xiang goddesses' legend with the vocabulary of women's dress, the poet turns Dongting Lake into a dressing chamber and Mount Jun into an adornment upon it.

诗中「烟波不动影沉沉碧色全无翠色深」「疑是水仙梳洗处一螺青黛镜中心」等语，皆含典故故实。「烟波不动影沉沉碧色全无翠色深」写烟波不动影沉沉碧色全无翠色深；「疑是水仙梳洗处一螺青黛镜中心」用水仙之典（水仙为湘水女神），写疑是水仙梳洗处一螺青黛镜中心。诗人以水仙之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把写景咏物之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

This quatrain has been admired for over a thousand years for the audacity and freshness of its conception. The first couplet is already excellent: the stillness of 'misty waves do not move,' the depth of 'the shadow sinks deep,' and the color shift from 'no jade-blue' to 'emerald deeper still' render the lake and its reflection with painterly precision. But the poem's fame rests on the second couplet. To see Mount Jun as 'one spiral of dark blue-black at the center of the mirror' is to fuse landscape and feminine adornment in a single image; the lake becomes a goddess's mirror, the mountain a touch of eyebrow paint. The leap is vast, yet the poem's even, unhurried tone makes it feel natural — the hallmark of what Chinese critics call 'fantastic yet clear.' Among Tang landscape quatrains it stands almost alone.

这首《题君山》，是雍陶写写景咏物之作，写烟波不动影沉沉、疑是水仙梳洗处、一螺青黛镜中心之情，奇幻清丽。起「烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深」——烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深。写烟波不动影沉沉：烟波不动影沉沉、碧色全无翠色深——影沉沉、翠色深；结「疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心」——疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心。写疑是水仙梳洗处：疑是水仙梳洗处、一螺青黛镜中心——梳洗处、镜中心。这「疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心」，是全诗之结：以一螺青黛镜中心写其咏物。全诗奇幻清丽，以镜写情，正是雍陶诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju)诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme The poem rhymes on shen ('deep') and xin ('heart') — level-tone words of the qin rhyme group — a single, soft, murmuring rhyme that matches the hushed stillness of the lake.此诗为七言绝句，共四句两联。押韵：「深」「心」押侵部韵。前两句起、后两句转合，平仄相间，正与写写景咏物的奇幻清丽相称，也见其以七绝写咏物的凝练。
Tone pattern The seven-character lines follow the regular 2-2-3 pause. The first couplet is slow and low, weighted by the oblique-tone closings on 'chen' and 'shen'; the second couplet lifts gently at 'yi shi' and settles on the level tone of 'xin,' its close as smooth and bright as the mirror it names.句式上，「烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深」写烟波不动影沉沉，音节沉静；结「疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心」写疑是水仙梳洗处，音节清丽。全诗音节随情起伏，由沉静而清丽，正合七绝「凝练」之妙，读来如写景咏物、一螺青黛镜中心之音，奇幻而动人。
Reading note This is a seven-character quatrain and the most famous of Yong Tao's poems, a classic example of the Late Tang landscape quatrain built on a single conceit. Its art lies in 'fantastic clarity': the first couplet renders the still lake and Mount Jun's reflection with painterly precision, and the second couplet explains the scene by imagination — the lake as the water goddesses' mirror, the mountain as a whorl of eyebrow paint at its center. The fusion of landscape and feminine adornment, carried out in an even, unhurried tone, is the source of the poem's enduring fame.此诗为七言绝句，是雍陶写写景咏物之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「奇幻清丽、以镜写情」：「烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深」写烟波不动影沉沉、「疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心」写疑是水仙梳洗处。全诗奇幻清丽，以镜写情。尤为精妙者，是「疑是水仙梳洗处」用水仙之典；而「一螺青黛镜中心」写尽镜中心之情，正是雍陶诗「奇幻清丽」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《题君山》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深。

Misty waves do not stir; the shadow sinks deep and heavy — no trace of jade-blue is left, the emerald green runs deeper still.

烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深。

Mist-waves unstirring, the reflection lies heavy; all blue-green is gone, only the deep kingfisher green remains.

起句写烟波不动影沉沉，起笔即见其烟波。「烟波不动影沉沉」写烟波不动影沉沉，「烟波不动」写烟波不动、「影沉沉」写影沉沉；「碧色全无翠色深」写碧色全无翠色深，「碧色全无」写碧色全无、「翠色深」写翠色深。一句写烟波不动影沉沉碧色全无翠色深，以烟波不动影沉沉写影沉沉、以碧色全无翠色深写翠色深，写尽烟波不动影沉沉、碧色全无翠色深之情。以烟起兴，奇幻而清丽，是「以烟起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line writes the mist-waves unstirring and the heavy reflection, the water presenting itself at once. Mist-waves unstirring: the lake surface like a sheet of mist, not a ripple; the reflection lies heavy: the island's image sunk dark in the water. All blue-green is gone, only the deep kingfisher green remains: the pale blue of the water utterly overborne, the deep green of the mountain's reflection holding all. One line writes the unstirring mist and the heavy shadow; the other the absence of blue and the depth of green - the still water turns the island into an image, and the image turns the lake into a mirror. Raising imagery through the mist, the style is fantastic and pure - a masterly stroke: Yong Tao writes Junshan in Dongting Lake by first writing the water that contains it, so that the island appears only as a reflection before it appears as land.

疑是水仙梳洗处，

I suspect this is the place where the water nymphs comb and wash,

疑是水仙梳洗处，

One would think this the place where the water goddess combs her hair,

此句写疑是水仙梳洗处，是全诗写水仙之态的关键。「疑是水仙」用水仙之典写疑是水仙，「疑是」写疑是、「水仙」写水仙；「梳洗处」写梳洗处，「梳洗」写梳洗、「处」写处。一句写疑是水仙梳洗处，以疑是水仙写水仙、以梳洗处写梳洗处，写尽疑是水仙梳洗处之情。以仙写景，奇幻而清丽，是「以仙写景」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

This line writes the place where the water goddess combs her hair, the key to the poem's treatment of the divine. One would think: uncertainty, surmise. The water goddess: the goddess of the waters, linked here to the legendary Xiang consorts who dwell on the isles of Dongting. The place where she combs her hair: the spot of her toilette. One line writes the water goddess through the surmise; the toilette through the place. Writing scenery through the immortal, the style is fantastic and pure - the consummate stroke. The few characters hold deep meaning, feeling and imagery both excellent, the poem's very eye. Between the words lie hidden undercurrents; within the plainness lies winding art - to be savored again and again before its secret yields.

一螺青黛镜中心。

a spiral of dark blue-black at the very center of the mirror.

一螺青黛镜中心。

a single shell of dark indigo at the heart of the mirror.

结句写一螺青黛镜中心，是全诗立意的落点。「一螺青黛」写一螺青黛，「一螺」写一螺、「青黛」写青黛；「镜中心」写镜中心，「镜中」写镜中、「心」写心。一句写一螺青黛镜中心，以一螺青黛写青黛、以镜中心写镜中心，写尽一螺青黛镜中心之情。以镜写情，奇幻而清丽，是全诗最动人处，也是「以镜写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

The closing line writes a single shell of dark indigo at the heart of the mirror, the poem's point. A single shell: the mountain's peak like one small spiral shell. Dark indigo: the women's pigment of deep blue-black, comparing the peak's color. At the heart of the mirror: the mirror is the lake, and the peak sits at its center. One line writes the indigo shell through the pigment; the mirror's heart through the lake. Writing feeling through the mirror, the style is fantastic and pure - the poem's most moving point, the consummate stroke. The few characters hold deep meaning, feeling and imagery both excellent, the poem's eye: the mountain is no longer mountain but a goddess's hairpin of indigo floating at the center of the mirror-lake, transforming the grand Dongting into an intimate toilette table - smallness within vastness, the very magic of Yong Tao's fancy.

Study

Word focus

烟波 'yan bo' (misty waves): yan (mist) with bo (waves) names the hazy surface of Dongting Lake; it is at once a visual veil and the raw material of the mirror conceit that follows. 「烟波」写烟波不动影沉沉，是写烟波之态的关键。「烟波不动影沉沉」着一「烟波」，写烟波——着一「烟波」，写烟波不动影沉沉，见其波之烟。两字写尽烟波之态，是「以词写波」的妙笔。「烟波」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
翠色 'cui se' (emerald hue): the kingfisher-green that deepens the color scale from jade-blue; applied to the island's reflection, it renders the dark, translucent green of the deep water around Mount Jun. 「翠色」写碧色全无翠色深，是写翠色之态的关键。「碧色全无翠色深」着一「翠色」，写翠色——着一「翠色」，写碧色全无翠色深，见其色之翠。两字写尽翠色之态，是「以词写色」的点睛之词。「翠色」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
水仙 'shui xian' (water immortals): here the goddesses of the Xiang River — Ehuang and Nüying, wives of Shun; the word turns the lake into their dressing chamber and provides the mythological frame for the whole conceit. 「水仙」写疑是水仙梳洗处，是写水仙之态的关键。「疑是水仙梳洗处」着一「水仙」，写水仙——着一「水仙」，写疑是水仙梳洗处，见其仙之水。两字写尽水仙之态，是「以词写仙」的点睛之词。「水仙」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
青黛 'qing dai' (dark blue-black): the mineral pigment women used to paint their eyebrows; applied to a mountain, it fuses landscape and feminine adornment in one sensuous stroke, and is the poem's most celebrated word. 「青黛」写一螺青黛镜中心，是写青黛之态的关键。「一螺青黛镜中心」着一「青黛」，写青黛——着一「青黛」，写一螺青黛镜中心，见其黛之青。两字写尽青黛之态，是「以词写黛」的点睛之词。「青黛」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

水调歌头·明月几时有 Prelude to Water Melody — 'When will the moon be clear and bright?' 苏轼 · 同写咏物感怀、奇幻旷达，一写我欲乘风归去、一写疑是水仙梳洗处一螺青黛镜中心，皆于咏物之中见奇幻 Both poems look upon a landscape with a leap of imagination — one riding the wind to the jade towers of the moon, one turning a lake into the water goddesses' mirror; both belong to the tradition of 'fantastic clarity.'

Su Shi's 'Prelude to Water Melody' — 'I would ride the wind and go back home, yet fear those jade towers and jade halls, too high and cold for a man' — leaps from the moon to the moon palace, its imagination vast and bold. Yong Tao's poem leaps from Dongting Lake to the water goddesses' mirror, its imagination small and exquisite. The one is the sweeping fantasy of the song lyric, the other the delicate conceit of the quatrain; read together they show two scales of Chinese poetic imagination, both 'fantastic yet clear.'

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒」，写咏物感怀、奇幻旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；雍陶《题君山》则以「疑是水仙梳洗处，一螺青黛镜中心」「烟波不动影沉沉」写水仙梳洗处、影沉沉。两诗同写咏物感怀、奇幻旷达：一写我欲乘风归去、以乘风写超然，一写疑是水仙梳洗处一螺青黛镜中心、以水仙写咏物；一为苏轼之旷达、一为雍陶之奇幻，并读正可见诗写「咏物感怀」的两种笔法，皆于咏物之中见奇幻。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of the Ganyhou Song — 'Facing the drizzling evening rain that pours on the river and sky' 柳永 · 同写江上凝望、奇幻清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写烟波不动影沉沉碧色全无翠色深，皆于江上之中见凝望 Both poems open from a gaze across water — one upon the autumn river in drizzling rain, one upon the still lake and Mount Jun's reflection; both make the act of gazing the pivot of the poem.

Liu Yong's 'Eight Beats of the Ganyhou Song' — 'Facing the drizzling evening rain that pours on the river and sky, one washing clears the autumn' — turns the gaze across the river into a long homesick meditation. Yong Tao's poem turns the gaze at the still lake into a leap of pure fancy, ending not in feeling but in an image. The one looks through water to feeling, the other through water to imagination; read together they show how the same landscape motif can be tuned to sorrow or to wonder.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写江上凝望、奇幻清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；雍陶《题君山》则以「烟波不动影沉沉，碧色全无翠色深」「一螺青黛镜中心」写影沉沉、镜中心。两诗同写江上凝望、奇幻清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写烟波不动影沉沉碧色全无翠色深、以翠色写君山；一为柳永之清丽、一为雍陶之奇幻，并读正可见诗写「江上凝望」的两种笔法，皆于江上之中见凝望。