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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

潼关吏

The Officer at Tong Pass

杜甫

Du Fu

叙事Narrative 忧国Concern for the state

士卒何草草，筑城潼关道。
大城铁不如，小城万丈余。
借问潼关吏，修关还备胡。
要我下马行，为我指山隅。
连云列战格，飞鸟不能逾。
胡来但自守，岂复忧西都。
丈人视要处，窄狭容单车。
艰难奋长戟，万古用一夫。
哀哉桃林战，百万化为鱼。
请嘱防关将，慎勿学哥舒。

How toil-worn are the soldiers, building walls along the Tong Pass road.
The great wall is stronger than iron, the small one rises a myriad feet.
Let me ask the Tong Pass officer — do you repair the pass to guard against the Hu?
He asks me to dismount and walk on, and points out the corner of the hill for me.
The battle palisades rise linked with the clouds; even flying birds cannot cross them.
If the Hu come, we need only hold our ground — why worry again for the western capital?
Old man, look at the strategic spot: so narrow it admits a single cart.
In times of danger, raise the long halberds — since antiquity one man has held it against ten thousand.
Alas, the battle at Taolin — a million men turned into fish!
Please charge the general guarding the pass: never, never take Gexu as your model.

Listen

Meaning

Written on the road in 759, the poem records Du Fu's meeting with an officer supervising the rebuilding of Tong Pass's defenses. Through a dialogue, the officer proudly describes the pass's impregnable walls and argues that holding the position alone will protect the capital. Du Fu ends by invoking the catastrophic defeat of 756, when General Gexu Han was forced to give battle and his army perished — and begs the defenders not to repeat that mistake. The poem is at once a documentary sketch, a strategic argument, and a warning told in the form of a roadside ballad.

士卒们多么辛苦，在潼关道上筑城。大城坚如铁铸，小城高万丈有余。我借问潼关的吏役，他说修关是为了防备胡人。他请我下马步行，为我指点山边的险要之处。战格连云而立，飞鸟也不能飞越。胡人来了只要坚守，又何必担忧西都（长安）失守。老人家你看那要冲之处，狭窄得只容一辆车通过。艰难时奋起长戟，万古以来一夫当关、万夫莫开。可悲啊，当年的桃林之战，百万大军化为鱼鳖。请嘱咐那守关的将领，千万不要学哥舒翰啊。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] On the road at Tong Pass the poet sees soldiers laboring to rebuild the walls. He questions the officer in charge, who proudly shows him the terrain: palisades that reach the clouds, a defile so narrow a single cart blocks it. The officer argues the pass need only be held. But the poet remembers 756, when Gexu Han was forced to fight in the open and his army was annihilated, and he ends with an urgent plea: do not imitate Gexu. [Structure] The poem falls into three movements: four lines of eyewitness report, ten lines of dialogue with the officer, and six lines of historical warning. The dialogue carries the middle; the poem's point is made only at the end, when the officer's confidence is suddenly measured against the dead. [Technique] The irony is structural: the more solid the defenses described, the more painful the memory of how they were once thrown away. Du Fu says nothing against the officer — the warning is placed in the mouth of history itself, through the image of men drowned and turned into fish.

【白话串讲】杜甫写《潼关吏》：“士卒何草草，筑城潼关道”——“借问潼关吏，修关还备胡”——“连云列战格，飞鸟不能逾”——“胡来但自守，岂复忧西都”——“请嘱防关将，慎勿学哥舒”——他提醒守将别学哥舒翰。【意象与手法】此诗是杜甫「三吏」之一，写乾元二年诗人途经潼关，见士卒筑城、询问守关之策的情景，是杜甫现实主义诗篇中的名作。全诗以问答展开：「士卒何草草，筑城潼关道」写所见；「大城铁不如，小城万丈余」写潼关城防的坚固；「借问潼关吏，修关还备胡」以问答点明筑城的目的；「要我下马行，为我指山隅」以下，潼关吏向诗人介绍关防的险要与守城之策；末四句笔锋一转，「哀哉桃林战，百万化为鱼」以桃林之战（安史之乱中哥舒翰兵败潼关、全军覆没）的惨痛教训作结，「请嘱防关将，慎勿学哥舒」叮嘱守将切莫重蹈覆辙。全诗由所见所闻到守关之策，再到历史的教训，层层推进，以对话写时事，以史实警当世，是「三吏」中思致最深沉的一首。【情感与主旨】此诗作于唐肃宗乾元二年（759）春，时杜甫从洛阳回华州途中经过潼关。潼关是长安东面的门户，形势险要，素有「一夫当关，万夫莫开」之称。安史之乱爆发后，叛军攻破潼关，唐军守将哥舒翰被迫出关迎战，在灵宝桃林一带大败，二十万大军溃散，叛军遂长驱直入，攻陷长安，此即诗中「哀哉桃林战，百万化为鱼」所写。乾元二年，唐军相州之败后，朝廷重新经营潼关防务，潼关吏正率士卒筑城。杜甫目睹此景，写下此诗。诗中既写潼关城防的坚固与士卒的辛苦，也借潼关吏之口写守关之策（「胡来但自守」「万古用一夫」），更以哥舒翰兵败的惨痛教训作结（「慎勿学哥舒」）。全诗的主旨，在于杜甫对潼关防务的关切与对国事深沉的忧虑：他既欣慰于朝廷重新布防，又担忧守将重蹈哥舒翰「轻出迎战」的覆辙——守关之要，不在战，而在守；不在勇，而在智。诗中既有对士卒辛劳的体恤，也有对国家安危的关切，更有对历史教训的警醒，是杜甫「三吏」中忧患意识最强烈的一首。【名句点睛】常考“大城铁不如，小城万丈余”写潼关城防之坚；“请嘱防关将，慎勿学哥舒”以哥舒翰兵败之史为鉴，叮嘱守将切莫重蹈覆辙。

Background

Du Fu (712–770) wrote this poem in the spring of 759, while returning from the devastated Luoyang region to his post at Huazhou. It is the third of his celebrated Three Officers. Tong Pass, between the Yellow River and the Qinling mountains, was the gateway to the capital. In 756 the Tang general Gexu Han, with some 200,000 men, was pressured by the court into leaving the pass to fight the rebels; his army was destroyed at Taolin (near present-day Lingbao, Henan), the rebels took the pass, and Chang'an fell. By 759 the court was rebuilding the defenses, and Du Fu's poem is both a record of that effort and a warning against the recklessness that had cost the dynasty its capital.

此诗作于唐肃宗乾元二年（759）春，是杜甫「三吏」之一。乾元元年，唐军九节度使围困相州（邺城）失败后，安史叛军复振，洛阳再度告急，长安也受到威胁。唐肃宗重新布置潼关防务，派士卒加固城防，以防叛军西进。杜甫此时正从洛阳回华州任所，途经潼关，目睹士卒筑城，写下此诗。潼关位于今陕西潼关县，地处黄河与秦岭之间，形势险要，是关中与中原之间的咽喉要道，素有「潼关固则长安安」之说。安史之乱初期（天宝十五载，756），唐军守将哥舒翰率二十万大军守潼关，因唐玄宗、杨国忠逼迫其出关迎战，哥舒翰被迫在灵宝桃林一带与叛军决战，大败，二十万大军几乎全军覆没，叛军遂攻陷潼关，进而攻入长安。这就是诗中「哀哉桃林战，百万化为鱼」所写的历史教训。杜甫此诗写作时，正值朝廷重新布防潼关之际，诗人既欣慰于城防的加固，又担忧守将重蹈哥舒翰「轻出迎战」的覆辙，故以「请嘱防关将，慎勿学哥舒」作结。诗中「连云列战格，飞鸟不能逾」「胡来但自守，岂复忧西都」「丈人视要处，窄狭容单车」「艰难奋长戟，万古用一夫」等句，借潼关吏之口写出守关的正确策略——坚壁清野、以守为主，正暗含对哥舒翰「轻出迎战」的批评。此诗与《新安吏》《石壕吏》合称「三吏」，是杜甫「诗史」精神的集中体现，也是对安史之乱这一重大历史事件的深刻反思。

Art

The poem's chief device is its question-and-answer structure: 'Let me ask the Tong Pass officer — do you repair the pass to guard against the Hu?' The officer's long reply carries most of the poem, so the description of the defenses comes from the mouth of a participant, with the vividness and bias of eyewitness speech. Against this, Du Fu sets the terse counter-image of the past — a million men turned into fish — in his own voice. The contrast between the huge fortifications and the single narrow cart-track (barely admits one cart) turns the terrain itself into an argument: the pass was always meant to be held, not fought from. The closing couplet shifts register to direct advice — never take Gexu as your model — and it is this change of voice, from reporter to adviser, that gives the poem its moral force.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，问答体的叙事结构。全诗以「借问潼关吏，修关还备胡」的问答展开，潼关吏的回答（「要我下马行，为我指山隅」「连云列战格」「胡来但自守」「丈人视要处」「艰难奋长戟」）占全诗大半篇幅，通过守关吏之口写出潼关的险要与守关之策，比诗人直接叙述更真实、更有说服力。其二，写景与写实交织。开头「士卒何草草，筑城潼关道」写筑城的辛劳，「大城铁不如，小城万丈余」写城防的坚固，「连云列战格，飞鸟不能逾」写战格（防御木栅）之高，皆是实景的写实；而「哀哉桃林战，百万化为鱼」则以历史的惨剧写现实的警醒，虚实交织。其三，对比与反衬。「大城铁不如」与「小城万丈余」是大小之对比，「胡来但自守，岂复忧西都」是守与战之辨，「万古用一夫」的险要，正反衬「百万化为鱼」的惨败——越是写潼关的坚固，越显得当年哥舒翰兵败的可惜；越是写「一夫当关」的险要，越见「百万化为鱼」的惨痛。其四，以史警世的收束。末四句「哀哉桃林战，百万化为鱼。请嘱防关将，慎勿学哥舒」，以桃林之战的史实作结，叮嘱守将切勿重蹈覆辙，把全诗的关切落在对国事的深沉警醒上，是「以史为鉴」的典范。四重手法层层推进，使此诗成为杜甫「三吏」中思致最深沉、忧患最强烈的一首。

Allusions

Three references carry the weight. Gexu is Gexu Han, the Tang general famous for victories over the Tibetans, who lost the pass in 756 after being forced out to battle. Taolin names the site of that defeat, where the drowned soldiers became fish — a classical image of an army's annihilation drawn from ancient texts describing a state rotting away like fish. 'One man holding it against ten thousand' echoes the proverbial saying about Tong Pass, 'one man at the pass, ten thousand cannot open it', found in early philosophical writings. The phrase old man (zhangren) is the traditional respectful form for an elder, used here by the young officer for the middle-aged poet.

此诗的典故集中在「哀哉桃林战，百万化为鱼。请嘱防关将，慎勿学哥舒」几句。「桃林战」指天宝十五载（756）唐军与安史叛军在灵宝桃林（今河南灵宝一带）的决战：安禄山叛军攻潼关，唐军守将哥舒翰本欲坚守，但因唐玄宗、杨国忠的逼迫，被迫出关迎战，在桃林一带中伏，二十万大军几乎全军覆没，叛军乘势攻破潼关，攻入长安。因唐军多坠入黄河溺死，故杜甫以「百万化为鱼」形容其惨败，化用《左传》「齐侯伐我北鄙……中行献子将伐齐」及古语「鱼烂而亡」的意象。哥舒翰是唐代名将，曾屡破吐蕃，威震边关，但因安史之乱中被迫出关迎战、兵败被俘而成为历史教训，杜甫以「慎勿学哥舒」叮嘱守将，正是「以史为鉴」的深意。「连云列战格」的「战格」，是古代防御工事（用木桩横木等构成的障碍物），「飞鸟不能逾」以夸张写其高峻，令人想到李白《蜀道难》「黄鹤之飞尚不得过，猿猱欲度愁攀援」的写法。「丈人视要处，窄狭容单车」的「丈人」，是古代对年长者的尊称（《论语》「遇丈人，以杖荷蓧」），潼关吏称杜甫为「丈人」，正见其年长而受尊敬。「万古用一夫」则暗合「一夫当关，万夫莫开」的成语（《淮南子》「一人守隘，而千人弗能过也」），写潼关的险要。全诗用典精当，化史事、成语于问答叙事之中，正是杜甫「以史入诗、以典警世」的本领。

Commentary

Among the Three Officers this poem is often ranked the most sober. Qing commentators praised its detailed questions and answers, deep worry and far-seeing counsel, and later critics have called it a model of advising the state through poetry. Its special value is that it records a concrete military argument — hold the pass, do not risk battle — drawn from a catastrophe still fresh in memory. Read together with The Officer at Xin'an and The Officer at Shihao, it shows the range of Du Fu's documentary art: conscription, exaction, defense. Later patriotic poets, from Lu You to Wen Tianxiang, inherited its tradition of using poetry to voice anxiety for the state.

此诗历来被推为杜甫「三吏」中的名篇，也是唐代边塞诗（实则关防诗）中忧患意识最强烈的一首。历代论者对「哀哉桃林战，百万化为鱼。请嘱防关将，慎勿学哥舒」的结尾评价极高：清人仇兆鳌《杜诗详注》评此诗「问答详明，忧深虑远」，近人更指出此诗以潼关吏之口写守关之策，以哥舒翰之败警守将，是「以诗谏政」的典范。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它不仅是杜甫途经潼关的纪实，更是对安史之乱这一历史教训的深刻反思——杜甫在诗中明确主张「胡来但自守」的坚守之策，反对哥舒翰「轻出迎战」的冒险之举，这种军事上的清醒认识，在当时具有极强的现实意义。此诗与《新安吏》《石壕吏》合称「三吏」，从不同角度记录了乾元二年战乱中的社会现实：新安吏写征兵的荒唐，石壕吏写吏役的凶暴，潼关吏写防务的忧虑。三诗合观，可见杜甫「诗史」体系的完整与深邃。此诗对后世影响深远，宋代陆游、文天祥等爱国诗人，皆承其「以诗忧国」的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解杜甫「诗史」精神与安史之乱历史的窗口，也是感受中国诗歌「忧国忧民」传统的典范——那潼关道上的筑城之声与桃林之战的惨痛教训，穿越千年，仍在提醒我们居安思危。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient-style verse (guti), twenty lines五言古诗

Rhyme The poem rhymes throughout in the level-tone Yu (yu) group: yu (yu), hu (hu), yu (yu), yu (yu), du (du), che (che), fu (fu), yu (yu), shu (shu). The opening line ends on the oblique-tone word dao, which does not rhyme. A single sustained rhyme gives the narrative its somber, continuous momentum.押平声虞韵（道、余、胡、隅、逾、都、车、夫、鱼、舒），一韵到底（「道」为仄声不入韵，「余」字入韵），韵脚属虞部，韵音沉郁，正合其纪实叙事的风格。

Tone pattern Free of the strict tonal patterns of regulated verse, the poem uses the plain five-character line as a narrative instrument. Its three movements — eyewitness report, dialogue, and warning — each carry a distinct rhythm: the short, hurried lines of the opening, the unhurried pace of the officer's replies, and the slow, heavy fall of the closing admonition.此诗为五言古体，共二十句，不受近体格律束缚，以五言的沉实句式为叙事服务。全诗按内容可分为三层：首四句写见闻（士卒筑城、大城小城）；次十句写问答（借问潼关吏、下马指山隅、连云战格、胡来自守、丈人视要处、万古一夫）；末六句写教训（哀哉桃林战、百万化为鱼、嘱防关将、慎勿学哥舒）。声调上，全诗以五言短句写叙事的紧凑，一韵到底使声情沉郁贯注，正合其「诗史」的纪实风格。

Reading note A twenty-line ancient-style poem that writes history through a roadside conversation. Its prosody serves its documentary purpose: one level-tone rhyme sustained from beginning to end binds the whole narrative into a single somber breath, while the free rhythms of guti allow the plain speech of the question-and-answer. The tonal design moves from the clipped urgency of the opening report, through the measured exposition of the officer's description, to the grave, lingering close of the historical warning — a prosodic curve that mirrors the poem's emotional arc.此诗是五言古体，共二十句，以叙事的笔法写时事，格律自由而声情沉郁，正是杜甫「以诗写史」的本领。全诗三层：首四句写见闻，节奏急促（士卒草草、筑城潼关、大城铁不如）；次十句写问答，节奏从容（借问吏、下马指山隅、连云战格、胡来自守、丈人视要处、万古一夫），以潼关吏之口写关防的险要与守策；末六句写教训，节奏沉痛（哀哉桃林战、百万化为鱼、慎勿学哥舒）。声调上，全诗以五言短句写叙事的紧凑，一韵到底使声情沉郁贯注，从筑城的急促到问答的从容再到教训的沉痛，层层推进。诵读此诗，宜以急促的节奏读开头的见闻，以从容的语调读中间的问答，以沉痛的语调读结尾的教训，使全诗的情感在声调中层层深入。杜甫五古以「沉郁顿挫」著称，此诗正是其五古中问答叙事与忧患意识结合的代表作。

Line by line

连云列战格，飞鸟不能逾。

The battle palisades rise linked with the clouds; even flying birds cannot cross them.

战格连云而立，飞鸟也不能飞越。

The palisades rise rank on rank, touching the clouds; even flying birds cannot cross them.

这两句写潼关防御工事的高峻，是潼关吏向诗人介绍关防的核心，以夸张写险要。「连云列战格」写战格之高——那防御的战格（木栅工事）一排排耸立，仿佛直连云霄，一个「连云」写其高可及云，一个「列」写其排列之密，把潼关防线的森严写得如在目前；「飞鸟不能逾」写防线之固——连飞鸟都不能飞越，极言其高峻险要，令人想到李白「黄鹤之飞尚不得过」的笔法。两句一写「连云」之高、一写「飞鸟」之阻，从正面与侧面双重渲染潼关防线的坚固。这两句是潼关吏自信之辞，也是杜甫对城防加固的欣慰之情的反映——经历了相州之败，朝廷重新经营潼关，那连云的战格、不可逾越的防线，让杜甫看到了一丝希望。然而，越是写潼关的坚固，越让人想起当年哥舒翰兵败的惨痛——城防再固，若守将轻敌冒进，仍会一败涂地。这两句的深意，正在于为末句「慎勿学哥舒」作铺垫：防线固然重要，用人更为关键。

These two lines write the height of Tongguan's defenses, the core of the garrison officer's briefing, rendered through hyperbole. The palisades rise rank on rank, touching the clouds: the defensive wooden barriers stand row upon row, as if reaching the clouds - touching the clouds writes their height; rank on rank their density, the grimness of the line made present. Even flying birds cannot cross them writes its impregnability - birds of all things cannot overfly it, pushing the height and peril to the extreme, recalling Li Bai's the yellow crane cannot pass. One line writes the height of touching clouds, the other the barrier of birds that cannot pass: double rendering, front and side, of the defenses' strength. The officer's confidence, and Du Fu's relief at the renewed fortifications after the Xiangzhou defeat - these touching-cloud barriers, this line no bird can cross, offer a thread of hope. Yet the stronger the fortress, the more it recalls the catastrophe at Ganshu: however strong the walls, if the defending general underrates the foe and sallies forth, all is lost. The line's depth lies in preparing the closing do not follow Gai Shu: the defense matters, but the man more.

哀哉桃林战，百万化为鱼。

Alas, the battle at Taolin — a million men turned into fish!

可悲啊，当年的桃林之战，百万大军化为鱼鳖。

Alas, the battle at Taolin - a million troops were turned to fish.

这两句是全诗情感最沉痛的一笔，以历史的惨剧写现实的警醒，笔锋陡转。「哀哉桃林战」以「哀哉」二字发端，一声长叹，把全诗从潼关吏自信的介绍拉回历史的惨痛——桃林之战（天宝十五载哥舒翰兵败），是安史之乱中最惨烈的败仗之一；「百万化为鱼」写其惨状——二十万大军（诗言百万，为夸张之辞）在桃林中伏，多坠入黄河溺死，「化为鱼」三字，写尽将士葬身鱼腹的惨剧，令人触目惊心。这两句的妙处在于「以史警世」：前文潼关吏还在自信地介绍关防的坚固（连云战格、飞鸟难逾、万古一夫），杜甫却以桃林之战的惨痛教训当头棒喝——城防再固，守将若轻出迎战，仍会重蹈「百万化为鱼」的覆辙。这正是杜甫此诗的核心：他不是简单地写潼关的坚固，而是借历史提醒朝廷与守将，守关之要不在险而在人、不在战而在守。两句以「哀哉」的叹息与「化为鱼」的惨烈，把全诗的忧患意识推向高潮，也为末句「慎勿学哥舒」的叮嘱作了最有力的铺垫。

These two lines are the poem's bitterest stroke, turning from history's catastrophe to the present warning, the brush abruptly swung. Alas, the battle at Taolin opens with a sigh - one long lament pulling the poem from the officer's confident briefing back to the historical disaster: the Taolin defeat (Tianbao 15, Gai Shu's rout) was among the bloodiest of the An Lushan rebellion. A million troops were turned to fish writes the carnage: two hundred thousand (a million is hyperbole) ambushed in the Taolin woods, most drowning in the Yellow River; turned to fish exhausts the soldiers swallowed by the river, shocking to the eyes. The line's art is warning the age through history: the officer was just confidently describing the fortress (palisades touching clouds, birds unable to pass), when Du Fu deals the blow of Taolin - however strong the walls, a general who sallies lightly will repeat a million turned to fish. This is the poem's core: Du Fu does not simply write Tongguan's strength; through history he reminds court and commander that the key to holding the pass lies not in peril but in men, not in fighting but in defense. Alas and turned to fish push the poem's vigilance to its height, and prepare the most powerful ground for the closing do not follow Gai Shu.

Study

Word focus

草草 toil-worn, weary — a reduplicative from the Book of Songs meaning exhausting labor, describing the soldiers' hardship as they rebuild the walls; it carries the poet's sympathy as much as a picture. 「草草」二字是写士卒辛劳的点睛之笔，一个叠字写尽筑城之苦。草草，此处不作「草率」解，而是「劳苦、辛苦」之意（《诗经·小雅·巷伯》「劳人草草」即写劳苦）。杜甫以「士卒何草草」写筑城的士卒，一个「草草」，至少有双重意味：其一，写劳苦之甚——士卒们在潼关道上日夜筑城，何等辛苦，「草草」二字写尽其劳苦奔波、不得休息的处境；其二，写辛劳之态——「草草」叠字，音节急促，仿佛那士卒们忙碌奔走的身影都在眼前，也暗示战乱中民力的疲敝。而「何草草」的「何」字，更带着杜甫的一声叹息：士卒何等的劳苦啊！这一问，既是写实，也是同情。若换作「辛苦」「劳苦」等词，则或失其古意，或失其叠字的音韵；唯「草草」二字，承《诗经》而来，以最凝练的叠字写尽战乱中士卒的辛劳，正是杜甫「以古诗语写时事」的本领，也是「三吏」中以一字写尽民生疾苦的典范。

慎 take heed, be careful — the weightiest word of the closing charge; 'never take Gexu as your model' is a warning held together by this single character of caution. 「慎」字是结尾叮嘱的关键字，一个「慎」字写尽杜甫对国事的深沉忧虑，力重千钧。慎者，谨慎、慎重也。杜甫以「请嘱防关将，慎勿学哥舒」叮嘱守将，一个「慎」字，至少有双重意味：其一，写叮嘱之切——「慎勿」即「千万不要」，是带着哀求般的叮嘱，杜甫深知哥舒翰兵败的教训（被迫出关迎战、全军覆没），故以「慎勿」二字再三叮嘱，切切之心，溢于言表；其二，写教训之深——「学哥舒」的「哥舒」，是唐代名将哥舒翰，他守潼关时本欲坚守，却因朝廷逼迫而轻出迎战，终致二十万大军覆灭、潼关失守、长安沦陷。杜甫以「慎勿学哥舒」叮嘱守将，正是要他们吸取这一血的教训——守关之要，不在勇而在慎，不在战而在守。一个「慎」字，把杜甫对国事的忧心、对历史的反思、对守将的期望，全部浓缩其中。若换作「勿」「莫」等字，则或失其谨慎的深意，或失其叮嘱的分量；唯「慎」字，既是叮嘱，也是警醒，正是杜甫「以史为鉴、忧深虑远」的体现。

潼关吏