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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

望洞庭

Gazing at Dongting Lake

刘禹锡

Liu Yuxi

山水Landscape 写景Scenery

湖光秋月两相和，潭面无风镜未磨。
遥望洞庭山水翠，白银盘里一青螺。

The lake's light and autumn moon blend in harmony;
The windless pool's surface is like an unpolished mirror.
Gazing afar, Dongting's mountains and waters are green;
Like a green spiral shell in a silver plate.

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Meaning

The poem depicts the serene beauty of Dongting Lake on an autumn night: the moon and lake blend harmoniously, the calm surface is like an unpolished mirror, and the distant mountains appear as a green spiral shell on a silver plate.

洞庭湖的波光与秋夜的明月交相辉映、融为一体，湖面风平浪静，犹如一面尚未打磨的铜镜。遥望洞庭，山水一片青翠，就好像白银盘里托着一只青色田螺。

Appreciation

The poem opens with the harmonious blend of lake light and autumn moon. The windless surface is compared to an unpolished bronze mirror, conveying a hazy beauty. The last two lines turn to a distant view: the green mountains and water are likened to a green snail in a silver plate, an ingenious metaphor that reduces the vast lake to a miniature ornament. The poem expresses the poet's admiration for the clear, ethereal beauty of Dongting Lake on an autumn night, reflecting a serene and detached state of mind. The final couplet is particularly celebrated for its vivid and original imagery.

【白话串讲】 “遥望洞庭山水翠，白银盘里一青螺”——刘禹锡把洞庭湖比作白银盘，把君山比作盘中的青螺。秋天的月色下，他写出了一个童话般的洞庭。【意象与手法】全诗由近及远、由实入喻：首句以『和』字写光月交融，定下宁静基调；次句以『未磨』之镜写湖面朦胧；三句『遥望』拓开空间，着一『翠』字写君山青翠；末句以『白银盘里一青螺』的奇喻收束，化大为小、化远为近，色彩明丽而意境清幽，比喻链条精巧而不堆砌。【情感与主旨】此诗作于长庆四年（824）秋，刘禹锡由夔州（今重庆奉节）刺史转任和州（今安徽和县）途中，经洞庭湖所作。时诗人屡遭贬谪后渐入晚年，心境趋于澄明，秋夜泊舟望月，以清丽之笔写洞庭，寄托历经风波之后对清静明澈之境的向往。【名句点睛】『白银盘里一青螺』以寻常物象写湖山之奇，是千古传诵的奇喻名句，与『湖光秋月两相和』同为此诗鉴赏与默写的重点。

Background

Written in the autumn of 824, when Liu Yuxi was traveling from his post in Kuizhou (present-day Fengjie, Chongqing) to his new assignment in Hezhou (present-day Hexian, Anhui), passing by Dongting Lake. Having experienced repeated exiles, the poet, now approaching old age, had a tranquil mind. Moored on the lake on an autumn night, he composed this poem with clear and beautiful language, showing a different side from his folk-style 'Bamboo Branch Songs' or the profound 'Reply to Bai Juyi'.

此诗作于唐穆宗长庆四年（824）秋。其时刘禹锡因卷入永贞革新失败，自宪宗元和以来屡遭贬谪，先后远放朗州（今湖南常德）、连州（今广东连州）、夔州（今重庆奉节），辗转江湖二十余年。本年他奉调离开夔州刺史任，转赴和州（今安徽和县），舟行江上，途经洞庭湖。洞庭古称云梦泽，烟波浩渺，为楚地名胜，历代诗人多有题咏，孟浩然、杜甫皆有名篇传世。刘禹锡一生倔强，屡挫不折，晚年心境更趋于澄明澹定；秋夜泊舟，湖光月色澄澈宁静，正与其历经风波之后归于平静的心境相合，遂以清丽之笔写下此诗。此篇与其《竹枝词》之民歌风味、《酬乐天扬州初逢席上见赠》之沉雄苍劲皆不同，另见诗人对自然美的敏感与洗练之功。全诗以空灵比喻写月夜洞庭，寄托着诗人历经磨难后对清静明澈之境的向往，亦可见中唐诗人于贬谪生涯中寻找心灵安顿的普遍心态。

Art

The poem progresses from near to far, from the real to the metaphorical. The first line depicts the harmony of light and moon, the second the stillness of the water (unpolished mirror), the third expands the view with 'gazing afar', and the fourth concludes with a metaphor. The diction and colors are exquisite: the character '和' (harmony) sets the tone; the colors 'emerald', 'silver', and 'green' complement each other. The 'unpolished mirror' metaphor conveys haziness, while the 'green snail' metaphor conveys delicacy, forming a chain of ingenious yet natural imagery.

全诗章法由近及远、由实入喻，四句各有分工而又浑成一体。首句『湖光秋月两相和』总写光与月的融合，一个『和』字定下全篇宁静和谐的基调，湖光映月、月色涵湖，二者交相辉映而不分彼此。次句『潭面无风镜未磨』由光入面，写无风的湖面平展如镜；妙在不说『明镜』而说『未磨』，因月夜湖色迷蒙，恰似铜镜尚未打磨时那层朦胧的光泽，比明镜之喻更贴合夜色，故历来评家推为善状月湖之句。三句『遥望洞庭山水翠』以『遥望』二字拓开空间，由近处水面推向远处君山，着一『翠』字写尽山水青翠之色。末句『白银盘里一青螺』以奇喻收束，把澄澈湖面比作白银盘，把翠色君山比作盘中青螺，化大为小、化远为近，色彩明丽而意境清幽。四句层层递进，光、面、山、色次第展开，比喻精巧而不堆砌，设色鲜丽而气韵清远，是唐人绝句中以小景写大湖的典范之作。全篇二十八字，无一生僻之字，而光色交融、虚实相生，恰是刘禹锡晚年诗返璞归真、以浅语写深境的造诣所在，向为论者所称道。

Allusions

'Green snail' originally referred to a woman's coiled hair or a green snail-shaped hairpin. In Six Dynasties yuefu poetry, snails were often used to metaphorically refer to mountains. Here, 'a green spiral shell in a silver plate' is a metaphor for Junshan Island in Dongting Lake, transforming the grand into the miniature and the distant into the near. This follows Tao Yuanming's concise style but adds ingenious artistry. The 'unpolished mirror' subtly alludes to Wen Tingyun's line 'the pool surface without wind, the mirror has a heart' but innovates upon it.

『青螺』一词本指女子螺髻或青色螺形发饰，六朝乐府民歌多以螺喻青山，此处以『白银盘里一青螺』喻洞庭湖中君山，既承以螺喻山的传统，又翻出新境：盘与螺俱为日常小物，却将八百里洞庭收束于方寸之间，以小写大，玲珑可爱。君山又名洞庭山、湘山，传说为湘君湘夫人游息之所，斑竹泪痕、柳毅传书等故事皆与洞庭相关，诗人虽未明用，而『山水翠』的朦胧意象已暗含这片水域的神话色彩。『镜未磨』之喻亦有所本：古人以铜为镜，新铸之镜须经磨拭方能鉴物，未磨则光面浑蒙；此喻暗用铜镜制作之理，以未磨之镜写月光下水气氤氲的湖面，贴切而新颖，后世温庭筠『潭面无风镜有心』之类，皆从这一比喻脉络中化出。全诗用喻虽多，却皆从眼前实景生出，浑然无迹，正是刘禹锡炼意之工。此诗以喻写景而不落言筌，化铜镜、银盘、青螺诸般物象于一体，熔铸传统而自出机杼，正是中唐诗人融会古今、以俗为雅的高明处。

Commentary

Ming dynasty critic Hu Yinglin commented in 'The Sea of Poetry': 'The line "a green spiral shell in a silver plate" is ingeniously beautiful and natural; only one well-versed in lakes and mountains could write it.' Qing dynasty critic Guan Shiming in 'Reading Snow Mountain Pavilion Tang Poetry Anthology' said: 'Liu Yuxi's "Gazing at Dongting Lake" has bright colors and a clear, far-reaching tone, matching Du Fu's "Climbing Yueyang Tower" in its own unique way.'

此诗历代评价甚高。明人胡应麟《诗薮》评末句『白银盘里一青螺』为『巧丽天然，非老于湖山者不能道』，极赏其以寻常物象写湖山之奇的功力。清人管世铭《读雪山房唐诗钞》则谓刘禹锡《望洞庭》『设色鲜丽而气韵清远，与老杜《登岳阳楼》各擅其胜』：杜甫以『吴楚东南坼，乾坤日夜浮』写洞庭气象之雄阔，刘禹锡以青螺银盘写洞庭月夜之清丽，一雄一秀，各极其致，可见同一题材在不同诗人笔下的风格差异。此外，李白亦有游洞庭之作，以仙逸之笔写湖月；刘诗则于清丽中见静穆，更近于晚年的澄明心境。此诗篇幅虽短，却兼备画面之美与比喻之巧，向为后世写洞庭的名篇，与《望洞庭湖赠张丞相》《登岳阳楼》并称咏洞庭名作，可见其在文学史上的地位。今人读此诗，犹能于二十八字中想见月夜洞庭的明净澄澈与诗人历经风波后的静穆心境，其意境之美、比喻之工，历千年而不减，足为咏洞庭诸作中清丽一格的代表。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme 和 (hé), 磨 (mó), 螺 (luó) - level tone in the fifth rhyme group和、磨、螺押韵，属平水韵下平五歌部，首句入韵。

Tone pattern Level-tone starting with first line rhyming, last two lines in parallel (遥望洞庭山水翠 vs 白银盘里一青螺)平起首句入韵式：首句『平平仄仄仄平平』，二句『仄仄平平仄仄平』，三句『仄仄平平平仄仄』不入韵，四句『平平仄仄仄平平』；后两句对仗工整。

Reading note Uses ingenious metaphors to depict the moonlit Dongting Lake; a masterful landscape poem by Liu Yuxi.此诗为七言绝句，四句二十八字，属平起首句入韵的格式。韵脚『和、磨、螺』属平水韵下平五歌部，『歌』韵字音圆转悠长，正与月夜湖山宁静悠远的意境相合，诵读时声情舒展，一唱三叹。平仄上，首句『湖光秋月两相和』为平平仄仄仄平平，属平起平收；第二句『潭面无风镜未磨』为仄仄平平仄仄平，与首句相对；第三句『遥望洞庭山水翠』为仄仄平平平仄仄，以仄收而不入韵；第四句『白银盘里一青螺』为平平仄仄仄平平，与第三句相粘相对，平仄合律。尤为可注意的是三四句对仗：『遥望洞庭山水翠』对『白银盘里一青螺』，动词对动词、名词对名词、色彩对色彩，工整而不板滞，是绝句中少见而成功的对句。全诗音律明快，节奏从容，与内容的清丽静谧相得益彰，堪称内容与形式完美结合的典范。

Line by line

湖光秋月两相和

The lake's light and autumn moon blend in harmony. The character '和' conveys peaceful harmony, setting the tone for the moonlit lake.

湖光与秋月交相融合、辉映成趣。

The lake's glow and the autumn moon blend in perfect harmony.

首句为全诗定调，『和』字是诗眼。秋夜月色澄澈，湖面波光粼粼，光与月互相映照、彼此交融，呈现出和谐静谧的整体氛围。『两相和』三字将湖光与秋月并置，不说谁映照谁，而以一个『和』字写出二者浑然一体的状态，正见诗人对夜色整体美感的把握。此句为全诗之纲：后文写湖面之静、君山之翠，皆在这一片和谐澄明的月光底色中展开。若以白昼湖景入诗，则光色繁杂，难得此宁静；诗人独取秋月之夜，正是要借月色滤去万物的杂色，只留下光、面、山三者纯粹的关系。一个『和』字，既写自然之景，亦暗含诗人历经贬谪后心平气和的心境，物我交融，妙在不言。

The opening line sets the poem's tone; harmony is the eye of the poem. On an autumn night the moonlight is limpid, the lake rippling, glow and moon reflecting and melting into each other, presenting a harmonious, quiet whole. The lake's glow and the autumn moon blend places glow and moon side by side, not saying which mirrors which, but using one word harmony to write their seamless unity - showing the poet's grasp of the beauty of night as a whole. This line is the poem's纲: what follows - the lake's stillness, Jun Mountain's green - unfolds against this ground of harmonious, limpid moonlight. Had he written the lake by day, the colors would clash and this calm be lost; choosing the autumn moon night is to filter out all hues and leave the pure relation among light, water, and hill. One word harmony writes the natural scene and secretly the poet's peace of mind after exile - thing and self fused, the art unspoken.

潭面无风镜未磨

The windless pool is like an unpolished mirror. This metaphor depicts the calm yet hazy surface, novel and fitting.

无风的湖面平静如镜，却像一面尚未打磨的铜镜，光面朦胧。

The water's face, windless, is like a bronze mirror still unwhetted.

此句专写湖面之静与月色之朦胧。风平浪静，故湖面平展如镜；但诗人不说『明镜』，而说『未磨』，这正是运思精妙处。新铸铜镜未经磨拭，光面浑蒙不清，以此喻月夜下的湖面，既写其平整如镜之形，又写其水气迷蒙之色，比明镜之喻更贴合夜色与月光的氛围。『无风』二字为全句之眼：正因为无风，湖面才得以平展如镜，也才得以映出朦胧的月色。此句紧承首句，由光月之和转入水面之静，视觉由天上转入湖中，为第三句的『遥望』作了铺垫。后人评此句贴切新颖，正因其以铜镜制作之理入诗，把静态的湖面写出工艺般的精细质感，体现了刘禹锡善从日常物象提炼诗意的功力。

This line writes the lake's stillness and the moonlight's haze. Windless, the water lies flat as a mirror; yet the poet does not say a bright mirror but unwhetted - the subtlety of his thought. A newly cast bronze mirror, unpolished, has a dim, cloudy surface; used to image the moonlit lake, it writes both the mirror-flat form and the watery haze of color, fitting the night and the moonlight better than a bright mirror. Windless is the eye of the line: precisely because no wind stirs, the water lies mirror-flat and holds the hazy moon. Following the harmony of glow and moon, the line turns from their blend to the water's stillness, the gaze moving from sky to lake, preparing the looking afar of the third line. Later critics praised the image as apt and new: it draws the craft of bronze-casting into poetry, giving the static water a refined, craftsman's texture - showing Liu Yuxi's power to distill poetry from common things.

遥望洞庭山水翠

Gazing afar, Dongting's mountains and waters are green. The 'mountains and waters' refer to Junshan Island, showing a verdant distant view.

遥望洞庭，远山近水一片青翠。

Looking afar, Dongting's waters and hills are one stretch of green.

此句以『遥望』二字转开视界，由近处湖面推向远处山水，章法上起承转合之『转』即在此。『洞庭山水』实指洞庭湖中的君山：远望之际，山色湖光融为一体，一片青翠苍润，『翠』字既写君山林木之青，又写湖水映山之碧，上下同色，浑然一体。着一『遥』字，则距离感油然而生，正因远望，湖山才显出整体气象，也正因远望，才引出下句以小写大的奇喻。此句在诗中承上启下：上承无风之潭面，由近及远；下启白银盘之喻，为青螺的比喻提供着落。山水之翠与月光之白相映，色彩一冷一清，更见月夜湖山的明净。全诗至此由水面升华为远望的湖山全景，画面由局部走向完整，章法流转自然。

This line opens the vista through looking afar, moving from the nearby water to the distant hills - the turn in the poem's structure. Dongting's waters and hills means Jun Mountain in the lake: from afar, hill-color and lake-glow fuse, one stretch of green; green writes both the mountain's trees and the lake reflecting the hill, above and below of one hue, seamless. The word far creates the sense of distance: only from afar do lake and hill show their whole aspect; only from afar does the strange small-image-of-greatness metaphor below follow. The line carries above and below: continuing the windless water, moving from near to far; opening the white-silver-plate metaphor below, landing the green spiral shell. The mountain's green answers the moon's white - cold hues, limpid tone, the moonlit lake and hill all the more clear. The poem rises here from the water's face to the wide distant panorama, the picture moving from part to whole, the structure flowing naturally.

白银盘里一青螺

Like a green spiral shell in a silver plate. A striking metaphor that reduces the vast lake and mountain to a delicate ornament, vivid and picturesque.

仿佛白银盘里托着一只青色田螺。

Like a single green spiral shell set in a plate of white silver.

末句是全诗最精彩的比喻句。诗人将澄澈的湖面比作白银盘，将青翠的君山比作盘中青螺，化大为小、化远为近，把八百里洞庭收束于一盘一螺之间，构思奇巧而意境清新。『白银』写月光下湖面银光闪闪的质感，『青』写君山翠色，盘与螺、银与青，色彩对比鲜明，画面如工笔画般精致。这一比喻的高妙处在于：它不是以华美物象求奇，而是以寻常生活之物写湖山之景，却恰到好处地传达出月夜洞庭的玲珑秀美。以小喻大而不显局促，以静写静而饶有趣味，正是刘禹锡比喻艺术的代表作。末句与首句遥相呼应：首句以『和』写光月交融，末句以盘螺写湖山相映，全诗由此首尾圆合，浑然一体，令人回味不尽。

The closing line is the poem's finest metaphor. The poet compares the limpid lake to a white silver plate and the green Jun Mountain to a green spiral shell upon it - turning the great small, the near turning the far, confining eight hundred li of Dongting within a plate and a shell: the conception strange, the mood fresh. White silver writes the moonlit lake's silvery sheen; green the mountain's hue; plate and shell, silver and green - the color contrast vivid, the picture as fine as gongbi painting. The metaphor's excellence lies here: it seeks wonder not through splendid objects but through common things, yet just renders the exquisite beauty of moonlit Dongting. The small image of the great without constriction, the stillness set against stillness yet alive - the representative work of Liu Yuxi's metaphor art. The closing echoes the opening: the first writes glow and moon fused through harmony; the last writes lake and hill set off through plate and shell; the poem is round and seamless, inexhaustible.

Study

Word focus

和 harmony, blending 『湖光秋月两相和』之『和』，是统摄全诗的字眼。『和』本义为应和、协调，此处写湖光与秋月互相映照、彼此融合的关系，一字定下全篇宁静和谐的基调。此字之妙，在于不主一侧：既不说湖光因月而明，也不说月色因水而清，而写二者『两相和』的平等交融，正见月夜洞庭浑然一体的整体美。同时『和』字亦暗通诗人心境：刘禹锡历尽贬谪风波，此际心境趋于澄明平和，湖光月色之『和』，实即诗人内心之『和』的投射。若易以『映』『照』诸字，则只写光月关系而乏和谐之韵；『和』字下得空灵浑融，遂为全诗之纲，后文湖面之静、君山之翠，皆由此一字生出。

镜未磨 unpolished mirror (metaphor for hazy lake surface) 『潭面无风镜未磨』之『镜未磨』，是全诗最有新意的比喻。古人以铜为镜，新镜须经磨拭方能鉴物，未磨之镜光面浑蒙。诗人以此喻月夜无风的湖面：既取其平整如镜之形，又取其朦胧迷蒙之色，比直说『明镜』更贴合月光下水气氤氲的实际感受。此喻之高妙，在化实为虚：若写湖面之平，一句『潭面无风』已足；加『镜未磨』三字，则使静的湖面有了铜镜般温润的质感，且暗示月色朦胧、夜色迷离。这一比喻亦见诗人对生活物象的敏感，以制镜之理入诗，语浅而意新，向为评家所称道，温庭筠『潭面无风镜有心』之类皆从此出，正见其影响之深远。

翠 emerald green 『遥望洞庭山水翠』之『翠』，是诗中直接写色的关键字，使全诗画面顿时鲜润。『翠』本指青绿色，此处兼写君山林木之青与湖水映山之碧：远望之际，山色湖光上下同翠，浑然一体。此字与『白银』相映，一青一白，一冷一清，色彩明丽而不艳俗，正合秋夜月色的清冷基调。同时『翠』字写出距离感——唯其远望，山水的青翠才得以凝成一片整体色块；也唯其『翠』，下句『青螺』之喻才有着落：正因为山水是青的，才能比作青螺。此字看似寻常，实为全诗设色的关键，与首句之『和』、次句之『静』共同构成月光下湖山清幽明净的整体意境，一字见功力。

白银盘、青螺 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 『白银盘里一青螺』，以白银盘喻湖、以青螺喻山，是全诗比喻艺术的集中体现。『白银盘』取月光下湖面银亮明净的质感，『青螺』取君山青翠玲珑的形态，一银一青，色彩对比鲜明；一盘一螺，大小相衬得体。此喻之妙有三：其一，化大为小，将八百里洞庭收束于方寸之间，以小景写大湖，玲珑而不局促；其二，化远为近，遥望的君山被拉到眼前，亲切可玩；其三，以生活常见之物写湖山之景，语不惊人而意境清新，正见刘禹锡善从日常物象中提炼诗意的功力。这一比喻与首句『和』字呼应，全诗由光月之和到湖山之映，首尾圆合，构成一幅完整的月夜洞庭图。

望洞庭