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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

题乌江亭

Written at the Wujiang Pavilion

杜牧

Du Mu

咏史history-chant 怀古nostalgia 翻案Theme

题乌江亭胜败兵家事不期，包羞忍耻是男儿。
江东子弟多才俊，卷土重来未可知。

Victory and defeat are a soldier's lot, never fixed;
to bear shame and endure disgrace—that is a man.
The sons of Jiangdong are many a fine talent;
who knows but he might rise again from the dust?

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Meaning

Victory and defeat are the common lot of the soldier, never to be foretold; he who can bear shame and endure disgrace is the true man. Among the sons of Jiangdong are many a fine talent; who is to say he could not rise again from the dust?

胜败本是兵家常事，难以预料；能含羞忍耻、包羞忍辱的，才是真正的男儿。江东子弟中多有才俊，若能重整旗鼓，卷土重来也未可知。诗人借项羽乌江自刎之事翻案立论，惋惜其轻弃根基，寄寓忍耻图强、再图再起的人生见解。

Appreciation

The whole poem is given to argument, yet its argument carries feeling. The first line, 'Victory and defeat are a soldier's lot, never fixed', breaks in and takes a free and unbound view; the second, 'to bear shame and endure disgrace—that is a man', comes down at once with a judgement, overturning the old ideal of 'die rather than yield'. The last two, 'The sons of Jiangdong are many a fine talent; who knows but he might rise again from the dust', close on a supposition, both regretting that Xiang Yu threw away his base and quietly holding a hope that the hero might rise again. The opening, the carrying, the turn, the close flow in one breath; the overturning of the case loses none of its candour, and in the historical insight a heroism shows—a typical bone of the 'Lesser Li and Du' historical verse.

【白话串讲】 “胜败兵家事不期，包羞忍耻是男儿”——杜牧在乌江亭写项羽：胜败难料，能忍辱才是男儿。“江东子弟多才俊，卷土重来未可知”——如果项羽渡江回去，江东子弟未必不能卷土重来。【意象与手法】全诗以议论见长，却议论带情。首句「胜败兵家事不期」破空而起，立一通脱之见；次句「包羞忍耻是男儿」直下断语，翻「宁死不屈」之案；后两句以假设收束，惋惜中见期待，起承转合，一气流转。【情感与主旨】此诗为杜牧于会昌年间宦游途中经乌江亭（今安徽和县东北，项羽自刎处）所作。诗人借题咏史，一反司马迁、王安石以「不肯过江东」为悲壮或批评的传统，提出「包羞忍耻」方为男儿、卷土重来未可知的翻案之论，寄寓自身怀才不遇、渴望建功的胸襟。【名句点睛】常考翻案手法与情感主旨：诗人对项羽自刎持惋惜与批评的态度，认为胜败常事，应忍耻图强、卷土重来；「未可知」三字的留白之妙，以及与王安石《叠题乌江亭》、李清照《夏日绝句》的对比阅读。

Background

The poem was written when Du Mu, in the Changqing years, passed the Wujiang Pavilion (northeast of present-day Hexian in Anhui, where Xiang Yu took his own life) on his official travels. Xiang Yu, defeated at Gaixia, retreated to Wujiang; the pavilion warden urged him to cross the river and rebuild, but Yu refused, saying he had no face to see the elders of Jiangdong, and cut his own throat. Du Mu writes on the place and overturns the tradition—of Sima Qian and Wang Anshi, who saw 'refusing to cross Jiangdong' as tragic or as blameworthy—with his own overturning argument that only he who 'bears shame and endures disgrace' is a man and that rising again was not impossible, lodging his own unfulfilled talent and his longing to make a name. It is a representative piece of the Tang 'overturning historical verse'.

此诗为杜牧于会昌年间宦游途中经乌江亭（今安徽和县东北，项羽自刎处）所作，时诗人约在四十岁上下，正当壮年而仕途多舛。史载项羽兵败垓下，突围至乌江，亭长劝其渡江以图再举，项羽以「无颜见江东父老」拒之，遂自刎而亡。司马迁《史记·项羽本纪》以「岂不谬哉」叹其「自矜功伐」，然于其慷慨赴死又深致惋惜，故千百年来项羽之死被读作悲壮的英雄挽歌。杜牧借题咏史，一反传统，提出「包羞忍耻」方为男儿、卷土重来未可知的翻案之论——胜败乃兵家常事，何必以一死谢江东？此论既是史识，亦是自况：杜牧出身世家而仕途困顿，屡遭排挤，诗中寄寓的正是自己忍辱图进、渴望建功的胸襟，是唐人咏史「翻案诗」的代表作。杜牧生于晚唐，祖父杜佑为宰相，家世显赫而仕途蹭蹬，其咏史多借古人抒怀才不遇之慨；此诗以项羽之败写『忍耻图成』之见，正是其自负才略而郁郁不得志的心理投射，亦是晚唐士人于国势颓靡中重提进取精神的回响。

Art

全诗以议论见长，却议论带情、一气流转。首句「胜败兵家事不期」破空而起，不写景、不叙事，直以判断句立一通脱之见——胜负无常，乃兵家常识，一句扫平「胜者为王」的成见，为全诗翻案立下基石。次句「包羞忍耻是男儿」紧承其势，直下断语，翻「宁死不屈」的传统之案，把「忍耻」重新定义为男儿的品格，语意斩截，掷地有声。后两句「江东子弟多才俊，卷土重来未可知」以假设收束：江东子弟多是才俊，若能渡江再举，胜负尚未可知——「多才俊」是实写历史（八千江东子弟骁勇善战），「未可知」是虚写可能，实虚相济，既惋惜项羽轻弃根基，又暗含对英雄再起的期待。四句起承转合，一气呵成，翻案而不失痛快，于史识中见豪气，正是「小李杜」咏史风骨所在。尤妙者在『未可知』三字的留白——不作断言而留有余地，既见史识之通达，又见情感之吞吐，议论而不失诗味，正是杜牧咏史『以论为诗而情韵不匮』的所在。

Allusions

The poem sings of Xiang Yu's story, from the 'Basic Annals of Xiang Yu' in the Shiji: after Gaixia, Xiang Yu reached Wujiang, where the warden urged him to cross and rebuild, but Yu, saying he had no face to see the elders of Jiangdong, killed himself. 'The sons of Jiangdong' are the eight thousand youths of Wu who first rose with him. 'Bear shame and endure disgrace' quietly uses the allusion of Goujian of Yue, who slept on brushwood and tasted gall to endure disgrace and in the end destroyed Wu—exactly a contrast to Xiang Yu. Du Mu takes history as a mirror and, through Xiang Yu's defeat, speaks his view of 'endure disgrace to achieve', the allusion exact and the new insight sharp.

诗咏项羽本事，典出《史记·项羽本纪》：垓下之战后，项羽率二十八骑突围至乌江，亭长舣船以待，劝其「江东虽小，地方千里，众数十万人，亦足王也」，羽笑曰「纵江东父兄怜而王我，我何面目见之」，遂自刎。「江东子弟」即当年随项羽起兵的八千吴中子弟，皆精锐骁勇，「多才俊」实有所指；「卷土重来」后为成语，指失败后重新整顿再图再举，即源于此诗。而「包羞忍耻」暗用越王勾践卧薪尝胆之典——勾践兵败会稽，忍辱事吴，终灭吴雪耻，恰可为项羽之反衬：同一忍字，勾践以之成霸业，项羽以之丧身，成败只在一念之间。杜牧以史为鉴，借项羽之败抒「忍耻图成」之见，用典精切而立意新警，是咏史诗中「以议论用典」的典范。此外，『卷土重来』一语由诗中凝结为成语，通行千载，足见此诗语言之生命力；以史事立论、以典故证理，使二十八字成为一篇浓缩的史论，正是唐人咏史『以诗代论』的极致。

Commentary

The Song poet Wang Anshi wrote 'Again, Written at the Wujiang Pavilion' to rebut him: 'a hundred battles wore the warriors, the centre lost, the tide could not turn', holding Du Mu's view impractical. Li Qingzhao's 'Summer Quatrain' goes the other way and honours his ardour. Wu Qiao of the Qing, in his 'Poetry Talks by the Brazier', says of Du Mu that 'his overturning lines are candid enough'. The modern scholar Qian Zhongshu holds that this poem 'makes history into verse, yet its feeling and flavour never fail'. It has been taken through the ages as 'overturning historical verse', standing with Wang Anshi and Li Qingzhao as the three great cases of the Xiang Yu poem.

此诗一出，遂成咏项羽诗「翻案」一派的标杆，与后人的反翻案之作并成千古公案。宋·王安石有《叠题乌江亭》驳之：「百战疲劳壮士哀，中原一败势难回。江东子弟今虽在，肯与君王卷土来？」谓项羽民心已失，卷土重来实无可能，与杜牧立论相反；李清照《夏日绝句》「生当作人杰，死亦为鬼雄。至今思项羽，不肯过江东」则反杜牧而崇其烈，赞其宁死不屈的气节。三家之说，各有所见：杜牧重策略，王安石重形势，李清照重气节，正可见同一历史题材在不同诗人笔下的多面开掘。清·吴乔《围炉诗话》评杜牧「翻案语亦自痛快」；近人钱锺书谓此诗「以史论为诗，而情韵不匮」——以议论入诗而不失诗味，正是杜牧咏史高于一般史论处。此诗与《赤壁》《泊秦淮》等同为杜牧咏史名篇，体现了晚唐咏史诗由抒情转向议论的总体趋向。此诗与《赤壁》《题桃花夫人庙》等并为杜牧咏史翻案之代表作，其史识与诗才兼备，启宋人咏史议论之先声，影响及于王安石、苏轼诸家，在咏史诗史上占有承上启下的重要地位。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, upper-level four zhi group (fixed, man, know)韵脚为期、儿、知，押平水韵上平四支韵，首句「期」字入韵，平起平收，一韵到底，音节明快斩截。

Tone pattern First line entering the rhyme, level onset and level close首句入韵，平起平收；四句以议论一气贯注，「不期」「是男儿」「未可知」皆以虚字或判断收句，声调随论势起伏。

Reading note A famous overturning historical piece of Du Mu's, arguing from Xiang Yu's suicide at Wujiang, candid and heroic.此诗为七言绝句，四句二十八字，通篇以议论为骨，是咏史绝句「以论为诗」的典型。章法上严格遵循起承转合：首句「胜败兵家事不期」破空立论，是「起」；次句「包羞忍耻是男儿」紧承立论、翻案断言，是「承」；三句「江东子弟多才俊」转写史实、提供论据，是「转」；末句「卷土重来未可知」以假设虚写收束，是「合」，四句环环相扣，一气流转，如论文之立论、论证、结论。平仄为平起平收式，「期」「儿」「知」同押四支韵，韵脚均为平声且音节敞亮，配合「不期」「男儿」「可知」这些以平声收尾的词语，读来斩截明快，正合议论诗的爽利之气。杜牧咏史绝句每以议论翻案见长，此诗与《赤壁》齐名，同为代表，足为揣摩咏史诗章法与声情之范本。

Line by line

胜败兵家事不期，

Victory and defeat are a soldier's lot, never fixed.

胜败本是兵家常事，难以预料。

Victory and defeat are a soldier's lot, never to be foreseen.

首句破空立论，以一句判断为全诗翻案立下基石。「胜败兵家事不期」直陈胜败无常乃兵家常识——战争的胜负本非人力所能完全预料，「不期」二字写尽其中的偶然与变数。此句妙在两点：一是以理破情，历来咏项羽者多从悲壮、气节着眼，杜牧却先立一个通脱的理性前提，把「败」从道德评判中解放出来，还其「兵家常事」的本来面目；二是为下文蓄势，正因为胜败不期，才不必以一死谢之，才有「忍耻」「再来」的余地。一句平实判断，笔力千钧，扫平成见，是翻案诗「先立论、后翻案」的典型章法，起手即见史识。

The opening line bursts forth with a thesis, laying the cornerstone for the poem's reversal of judgment. Victory and defeat are a soldier's lot, never to be foreseen states flatly that victory and defeat in war are beyond human reckoning; never to be foreseen exhausts the chance and uncertainty within. The line's art is twofold: first, it breaks emotion with reason - most who wrote of Xiang Yu looked to heroism and martyrdom; Du Mu first sets a detached, rational premise, liberating defeat from moral judgment and restoring it to its nature as a soldier's common lot. Second, it stores force for what follows: precisely because victory and defeat are unforeseeable, death is not the only answer, and bearing shame, making a comeback, remain possible. A plain judgment, weighing a thousand catties, sweeping away prejudice - the typical structure of a revisionist poem: first the thesis, then the reversal; historical insight appears from the first stroke.

包羞忍耻是男儿。

To bear shame and endure disgrace—that is a man.

能含羞忍耻的，才是真正的男儿。

To bear shame and endure disgrace - that is what makes a true man.

次句直下断语，翻「宁死不屈」的传统之案，是全诗的立骨之句。「包羞忍耻」指忍受羞辱，杜牧却赋予它「男儿」的品格定义——忍得一时之辱，方成丈夫之业，暗用勾践卧薪尝胆终灭吴的史实为证。此句与首句一破一立：首句破「败为耻」之见，此句立「忍为雄」之论，逻辑严密，语意斩截。「是男儿」三字尤为决断，不容置疑，把「忍耻」从懦弱的表现翻转为刚强的品格，观念一新。历来论者或以项羽之死为壮烈，杜牧却以为一死易而忍辱难——死节是匹夫之勇，忍耻是英雄之量，此论虽与传统相左，却正见诗人独具只眼的史识与豪气。

The second line delivers its verdict, reversing the tradition of death before dishonor, the bone of the poem. To bear shame and endure disgrace means swallowing humiliation; Du Mu gives it the defining character of a true man - he who endures a moment's shame may accomplish a man's work, secretly citing Gou Jian, who slept on brushwood and tasted gall until he destroyed Wu. This line and the first break and establish together: the first breaks the notion that defeat is shame; this establishes the theory that endurance is heroism - logic tight, diction decisive. That is what makes a true man is especially absolute, admitting no doubt, flipping shame-bearing from weakness to strength - a new conception. Later critics called Xiang Yu's death heroic; Du Mu holds that dying is easy while enduring disgrace is hard - death for principle is the courage of a common man, bearing shame is the measure of a hero. Though opposed to tradition, the view reveals the poet's uniquely clear historical insight and his daring.

江东子弟多才俊，卷土重来未可知。

The young men of Jiangdong are many and talented; regrouping his forces, he might yet come back - who knows?

江东子弟中多有才俊，若能重整旗鼓，卷土重来也未可知。

Among the youths of Jiangdong there are many talents; if he could rally his forces and return, who knows what might happen?

末二句以假设收束，是翻案之论的具体化与情感化。「江东子弟多才俊」实有所指——当年随项羽起兵的八千江东子弟骁勇善战，司马迁盛赞「江东虽小，地方千里」，若依亭长之劝渡江，仍大有可为；「卷土重来未可知」以「未可知」三字虚写可能，不作断言，留有余地，既惋惜项羽轻弃根基，又暗含对英雄再起的期待。两句一实一虚：才俊是史实，重来是假设，实虚相济，使议论不流于空洞。此联的妙处还在情感：表面冷静论史，骨子里却有一股不甘的豪气——惜其不能忍，盼其能再来，正是杜牧自己怀才不遇、渴望再起的胸襟的投射，史识与情感浑然一体。

The last two lines close in supposition, the concretization and emotionalization of the revisionist argument. The young men of Jiangdong are many and talented points to fact: the eight thousand Jiangdong youths who followed Xiang Yu to war were fierce fighters; Sima Qian praised Jiangdong, small though it be, as a territory of a thousand li; had he accepted the ferryman's advice and crossed the river, much remained possible. Regrouping his forces, he might yet come back - who knows? writes the possibility in the hypothetical who knows, no assertion, leaving room: at once regret that Xiang Yu so lightly abandoned his base, and hidden expectation that the hero might rise again. One line factual, one hypothetical: talented youths are history, coming back is supposition; the real and the imagined interweave, keeping argument from emptiness. The couplet's art lies also in emotion: on the surface coolly judging history, at heart an unresigned heroism - pity that he could not endure, hope that he might return; this is the projection of Du Mu's own unrecognized talent and hunger for a comeback. Historical insight and feeling are fused.

Study

Word focus

不期 'Never fixed' means cannot be foretold; it stresses the uncertain gain and loss, laying the ground for the overturning argument of 'endure disgrace to achieve'. 「胜败兵家事不期」之「不期」二字，是全诗立论的基石。「期」有预期、料定之意，「不期」即难以预料——战争的胜负受制于天时、地利、人和无数变数，非人力所能逆料。此二字妙在两点：一是把「败」从道德与命定的樊笼中解放出来——胜败既属常事，项羽之败便非天意注定，更非耻辱，为「包羞忍耻」「卷土重来」的翻案腾出了逻辑空间；二是语气笃定而不武断，「不期」是陈述客观规律，不是强词夺理，故下文翻案令人信服。若易以「难料」「无常」则失其简劲，唯「不期」二字以最平淡的词语承载最通脱的史识，举重若轻，正是杜牧咏史「以常语写奇论」的本色。

未可知 'Who knows but' leaves room; it both regrets Xiang Yu's throwing his base away and holds a hope that the hero might rise again, a heroic spirit within the historical insight. 「卷土重来未可知」之「未可知」三字，是翻案之论的收束之笔，妙在留白。「未可知」即「说不定、未必不能」，诗人不作肯定断言，而以虚写留下无限可能——江东才俊若在，卷土重来未必无望。此三字之力有四：一是分寸得体，翻案而不武断，以推测语气立论，反更令人信服；二是情感蕴藉，字里行间透出对项羽的惋惜——不是不能，而是不为，一念之失，遂成千古之恨；三是余味悠长，以「未可知」收束，如叩问、如叹息，把判断留给读者；四是寄寓自身，杜牧仕途坎坷而志不稍挫，「未可知」正是其不甘沉沦、渴望再起的心声。三字虚写，胜于千言实论，是咏史诗以虚作结的典范。