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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

咏怀古迹·其三

Mourning the Ancient Relics: The Third

杜甫

Du Fu

咏史History 怀古History 愁思sorrow

群山万壑赴荆门，生长明妃尚有村。
一去紫台连朔漠，独留青冢向黄昏。
画图省识春风面，环佩空归月夜魂。
千载琵琶作胡语，分明怨恨曲中论。

The ten thousand ravines and the valleys go to the Jingmen,
Growing and living, the bright consort, still has the village.
Once gone, the purple terrace, joined to the northern desert,
Alone left, the green tomb, facing the yellow dusk.
The painting of the pictures, the mistaken knowing of the spring wind face,
The jade rings, the empty returning, the moon night soul.
A thousand years, the pipa, making the barbarian speech,
Clearly and distinctly, the resentful songs, in the tune, discussed.

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Meaning

A poem of the mourning of Wang Zhaojun, written by Du Fu. The ten thousand ravines and the valleys go to the Jingmen — growing and living, the bright consort, still has the village — the going of the ravines to the Jingmen and the village of the consort. Once gone, the purple terrace, joined to the northern desert — alone left, the green tomb, facing the yellow dusk — the gone to the desert and the lone tomb. The painting of the pictures, the mistaken knowing of the spring wind face — the jade rings, the empty returning, the moon night soul — the mistaken painting and the returning soul. A thousand years, the pipa, making the barbarian speech — clearly and distinctly, the resentful songs, in the tune, discussed — the close's pipa and the resentful songs. The poem is the mourning of the consort: the far tomb, the mistaken painting, and the close's resentful songs of the pipa.

千山万壑奔腾奔赴荆门，昭君生长的村子还在这里。她一离开汉宫紫台就远嫁到北方大漠，只留下一座青冢孤零零地对着黄昏。汉元帝只凭画工所画的图像模糊地识得她的面容，她的环佩之声只能徒然地在月夜里魂归汉宫。千百年来的琵琶声始终奏着胡地的曲调，分明是把满腔的怨恨在曲调之中诉说。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The ten thousand ravines and the valleys go to the Jingmen, growing and living, the bright consort, still has the village. Once gone, the purple terrace, joined to the northern desert, alone left, the green tomb, facing the yellow dusk. The painting of the pictures, the mistaken knowing of the spring wind face, the jade rings, the empty returning, the moon night soul. A thousand years, the pipa, making the barbarian speech, clearly and distinctly, the resentful songs, in the tune, discussed. [Structure and Thought] The poem moves from the village of the consort and the going of the ravines, through the far desert and the lone tomb, and the mistaken painting with the returning soul, to the close's pipa with the resentful songs. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the gathering of the resentment: the green tomb facing the yellow dusk against the spring wind face of the painting; and the close's pipa making the barbarian speech with the resentful songs — the resentment of the consort gathered in the painting and the close's tune. [Emotional Tone] Resentful, far, and sorrowful: the poem is the mourning of the consort, the lone tomb and the close's resentful songs.

【白话串讲】杜甫咏王昭君：“群山万壑赴荆门，生长明妃尚有村”。“一去紫台连朔漠，独留青冢向黄昏”——“画图省识春风面，环佩空归月夜魂”——“千载琵琶作胡语，分明怨恨曲中论”——他写昭君的怨恨，也在写自己。【意象与手法】全诗以「怨恨」为骨，以「赴」「连」「独留」「空归」等字写尽昭君一生的悲剧命运，时空纵横、意象苍茫；「画图省识」「环佩空归」虚实相生，咏史与自伤交织。【情感与主旨】杜甫借咏昭君抒写自己怀才不遇、漂泊无依之悲。昭君因画工之误不得见君，诗人因小人排挤不得用世，托古咏怀，古今同慨。【名句点睛】常考「画图省识春风面，环佩空归月夜魂」的虚实相生与「千载琵琶作胡语，分明怨恨曲中论」以琵琶传怨的手法，以及「怨恨」二字统摄全篇的立意。

Background

Du Fu (712–770) wrote this 'Mourning the Ancient Relics: The Third' in his exile in Kuizhou, mourning Wang Zhaojun — the consort sent to the desert. The ten thousand ravines going to the Jingmen and the village of the consort, the gone to the purple terrace and the lone green tomb facing the yellow dusk, the mistaken knowing of the painting and the empty returning of the soul, and the close's pipa making the barbarian speech with the resentful songs — the poem gathers the resentment of the consort, the painting and the close's tune. The poem is one of the most famous of the mourning series of the poet.

《咏怀古迹五首》是杜甫晚年流寓夔州（今重庆奉节）时所作的一组咏史诗，其三咏昭君村。大历元年（766）杜甫自云安移居夔州，客居两年，其间登临怀古，凭吊庾信、宋玉、昭君、刘备、诸葛亮等历史人物遗迹，写成五首，合为一组。此诗所咏的昭君村在今湖北秭归香溪，是王昭君的故里。昭君名嫱，汉元帝时被选入宫，因不肯贿赂画工毛延寿而被画丑，后匈奴呼韩邪单于来朝求亲，昭君自请和亲，出塞远嫁，死后葬于塞外，其冢上草色常青，世称青冢。杜甫此诗并非单纯咏史，而是借昭君的身世寄寓自己的身世之感：诗人一生怀抱「致君尧舜上」的壮志，却遭安史之乱、仕途坎坷，流落西南，「漂泊西南天地间」，与昭君远嫁塞外、有家难归的遭遇正相映照。因此诗中「分明怨恨曲中论」的怨恨，既是昭君之怨，也是诗人自伤之怨，咏史与咏怀合一，是杜甫「借古人酒杯浇自己块垒」的典型作品。

Art

The poem's art is the art of the resentment. The village opens: the ten thousand ravines and the valleys go to the Jingmen — the going of the ravines; growing and living, the bright consort, still has the village — the village of the consort. The far tomb follows: once gone, the purple terrace, joined to the northern desert — the gone to the desert; alone left, the green tomb, facing the yellow dusk — the lone tomb of the dusk. The painting: the painting of the pictures, the mistaken knowing of the spring wind face — the mistaken painting; the jade rings, the empty returning, the moon night soul — the empty returning of the soul. And the close gathers the resentment: a thousand years, the pipa, making the barbarian speech — the pipa of the thousand years; clearly and distinctly, the resentful songs, in the tune, discussed — the resentful songs of the close — the mourning of the consort, the lone tomb and the resentful songs, gathered in the close.

此诗艺术上最突出的特点是「以怨恨二字统摄全篇」的构思与「时空纵横」的章法。首联「群山万壑赴荆门，生长明妃尚有村」起笔极雄，「赴」字写群山万壑奔涌之势，气象阔大，明人评此「起句似大禹凿山导河」，以山川之雄壮反衬明妃一女子的悲剧命运，形成强烈反差。「生长明妃尚有村」由远及近，落到昭君故里。颔联「一去紫台连朔漠，独留青冢向黄昏」以十四字写尽昭君一生：「一去」与「独留」对举，写生离与死别；「紫台」与「朔漠」是故国与异域的空间对照；「连」字写去路之远，「向」字写青冢之孤，黄昏二字更添苍凉。颈联「画图省识春风面，环佩空归月夜魂」转入虚实相生：画图写生前被误，环佩写死后魂归，「省识」写元帝之昏聩，「空归」写魂魄之徒然，一实一虚，一写生一写死。尾联「千载琵琶作胡语，分明怨恨曲中论」以琵琶之声收束，将千载怨恨凝于曲中，声情并茂。全诗由地及人、由人及事、由事及怨，层层推进，炼字精严，对仗工稳，是杜甫七律「沉郁顿挫」风格的典范。

Allusions

'The bright consort' (ming fei) is the bright consort — Wang Zhaojun, the consort sent to the desert; 'the purple terrace' (zi tai) is the purple terrace — the palace of the Han; 'the green tomb' (qing zhong) is the green tomb — the tomb of the consort in the desert, the green tomb of the far place; 'the painting of the pictures' (hua tu) is the painting — the painting of the consort, the mistaken painting; 'the jade rings' (huan pei) are the jade rings — the jade ornaments of the consort, the empty returning of the soul; 'the pipa' (pipa) is the pipa — the pipa of the consort, the barbarian speech of the close.

此诗用典精切而意蕴深厚。「群山万壑赴荆门」的荆门即荆门山，在今湖北宜都西北，是楚地门户，杜甫以此写昭君生长之地的形胜，暗含《水经注》所载荆门山的险峻。「生长明妃尚有村」之「明妃」即王昭君，晋人避司马昭讳改称明君，后世称明妃，此处用称暗含一段避讳史。「一去紫台」的「紫台」即紫宫，指汉宫，用江淹《别赋》「紫台稍远，关山无极」之典，写宫人远嫁之悲。「青冢」用昭君冢上草色常青的传说，与塞外白草对照，见出死后之孤。「画图省识春风面」用《西京杂记》所载昭君不肯贿赂画工毛延寿而被画丑的故事，点出悲剧根源在于君王昏聩、小人弄权。「环佩空归月夜魂」暗用《楚辞·招魂》及魂魄归乡的民间信仰，写昭君魂魄月夜归汉。「千载琵琶作胡语」用昭君善琵琶、其曲哀怨的传说，石崇《王明君辞序》载昭君「琵琶弦上作胡笳之音」，杜甫以此为结，把千载琵琶声都听成昭君的怨曲，虚实结合，余韵悠长。全诗熔地理、史事、传说于一炉，而皆归于一「怨」字。

Commentary

This poem is one of the most famous of Du Fu's mourning series, quoted for the resentment of its close. The green tomb facing the yellow dusk, and the resentful songs of the pipa, are among the most admired lines of the mourning poems. Critics praise the poem's resentment: the consort gathered from the lone tomb, to the close's tune of the pipa.

《咏怀古迹·其三》是杜甫咏史诗中的名篇，也是历代咏昭君诗中最负盛名的一首。前人对「群山万壑赴荆门」起句的雄浑推崇备至，清人杨伦《杜诗镜铨》引明人语评其「起句似大禹凿山导河」，谓其气象之雄足以笼罩全篇；对「一去紫台连朔漠，独留青冢向黄昏」一联，则叹其十四字写尽昭君一生，对仗精工而容量极大，是「以少总多」的典范。此诗的价值在于它突破了单纯咏史的格局，将昭君之怨与诗人之怨打成一片：昭君因画工之误终身不得见君，杜甫因奸佞当道一生不得用世；昭君远嫁塞外、有家难归，杜甫漂泊西南、故园难回。借他人之酒杯，浇自己之块垒，咏史而兼自伤，是此诗高出一般咏史诗处。在文学史上，此诗与王安石《明妃曲》并称咏昭君双璧，而一以沉郁顿挫胜，一以翻案立论胜，各极其妙，历来入选唐诗选本，是学习杜甫七律艺术与咏史传统的必读之作。

Prosody

Form A regulated seven-character poem of the mourning七言律诗

Rhyme The poem rhymes on the level-tone men, cun, hun, hun and lun of the group — the even, level rhyme that carries the far resentment.全诗押上平十三元韵，韵脚为「门、村、昏、魂、论」，一韵到底，平声韵悠长浑厚，与咏史怀古的苍茫情调相合。

Tone pattern The cadence is that of the mourning: the level opening with the village, the turning with the lone tomb and the mistaken painting, and the close's fall with the resentful songs of the tune.七律句式以「二二三」或「四三」节奏为主，如「群山—万壑—赴荆门」，平仄相间，声调抑扬顿挫；「一去紫台连朔漠，独留青冢向黄昏」两句平仄相对，对仗精工，读来沉郁顿挫。

Reading note The poem's sound matches its resentment: the even, level rhymes carry the cadence of the far tomb, and the close — 'qian zai pipa zuo hu yu, fen ming yuan hen qu zhong lun' — falls with the resentful songs, the sound of the tune of the thousand years.《咏怀古迹·其三》是一首七言律诗，格律严整，是杜甫「晚节渐于诗律细」的典范。全诗八句四联，押上平十三元韵，一韵到底，韵脚「门、村、昏、魂、论」皆为平声，音调浑厚悠长，正与咏史怀古的苍茫深沉情调相合。七律要求中二联对仗，此诗颔联「一去紫台连朔漠，独留青冢向黄昏」以「一去」对「独留」、「紫台」对「青冢」、「朔漠」对「黄昏」，数字、色彩、空间皆成对偶，工稳至极；颈联「画图省识春风面，环佩空归月夜魂」以「画图」对「环佩」、「省识」对「空归」、「春风面」对「月夜魂」，虚实相生，对仗中见变化。平仄上，全诗合乎七律仄起式格律，读来声调抑扬顿挫，沉郁中见顿挫之美。杜甫此诗以格律之精严写情感之沉痛，形式与内容高度统一，是学习七律对仗、章法与声律的绝佳范本，其「沉郁顿挫」的风格在此诗中表现得淋漓尽致。

Line by line

群山万壑赴荆门，生长明妃尚有村。

The ten thousand ravines and the valleys go to the Jingmen, growing and living, the bright consort, still has the village.

千山万壑奔腾奔赴荆门，昭君生长的村子至今还在这里。

Ten thousand hills and ravines surge toward Jingmen; the village where the Bright Consort was born still remains.

首联起笔极雄，「赴」字是全句之眼。群山万壑本是静止之景，着一「赴」字，便如大军奔赴，滚滚而来，赋予山川以动态和气势，气象极为阔大。如此雄壮的起笔，是为下句昭君的出场蓄势：一位生长在穷乡僻壤的女子，却以绝代姿容和悲剧命运震动千古，山川之雄与人物之悲形成强烈反差。明人评此句「起句似大禹凿山导河」，正是赏其雄浑。「生长明妃尚有村」由远及近，从雄壮的山川落到具体的村落，「尚」字写岁月流逝而遗迹犹存，暗含沧桑之感。两句一写山川之壮，一写人事之渺，壮景与哀情交织，为全篇定下怀古的基调，也暗示昭君悲剧的不可避免。

The opening couplet rises most grandly; surge is the line's eye. Hills and ravines are originally static scenery; one surge makes them like an army surging, rolling forward, giving mountains and rivers motion and momentum, the air vast. So grand an opening stores momentum for Zhaojun's entry below: a woman born in a remote village, yet shaking a thousand years with peerless beauty and tragic fate; the mountains' grandeur and the person's grief form a sharp contrast. Ming critics said the opening is like Yu the Great chiseling mountains to guide the river - precisely praising its majesty. The village where the Bright Consort was born still remains passes from far to near, from grand mountains to the concrete village; still writes the years gone yet the relic surviving, secretly holding the vicissitude. The two lines one write the mountains' grandeur, one the human smallness; grand scenery and grief interwoven, setting the historical-musing keynote, also hinting the inevitability of Zhaojun's tragedy.

一去紫台连朔漠，独留青冢向黄昏。

Once gone, the purple terrace, joined to the northern desert, alone left, the green tomb, facing the yellow dusk.

她一离开汉宫紫台就远嫁北方大漠，只留下一座青冢孤零零地对着黄昏。

Once she left the Purple Terrace, she joined the northern desert; alone she left the Green Tomb facing the dusk.

此联十四字写尽昭君一生，是咏昭君诗的千古名联。「一去」与「独留」对举，写生离与死别：去，是一去不返的远嫁；留，是孤冢空对黄昏的永寂。「紫台」指汉宫，「朔漠」指匈奴大漠，一为故国繁华，一为异域荒凉，空间对照中见出命运的巨变；「连」字写去路之迢遥，仿佛一离宫门便与朔漠相连，命运的不可逆尽在其中。「青冢」用昭君冢上草青的传说，与黄昏相对，色彩上青青与昏黄相映，更添苍凉。「向黄昏」三字尤妙：青冢对着黄昏，黄昏对着青冢，时间与空间一同沉入暮色，写尽死后千年无人问津的孤独。两句对仗精工而情感沉痛，是杜甫「以少总多」手法的极致体现。

This couplet's fourteen characters exhaust Zhaojun's whole life, the age-famous couplet of Zhaojun poems. Once gone and alone left set against each other, writing living parting and death's farewell: gone is the far marriage of no return; left is the lone mound's eternal silence facing the dusk. Purple Terrace means the Han palace; northern desert means the Xiongnu desert; one the native land's splendor, one the foreign waste; in space's contrast, the fate's upheaval shows. Connect writes the road's distance, as if once leaving the palace gate she joined the northern desert; fate's irreversibility all within. Green Tomb uses the legend of grass staying green on Zhaojun's mound; set against dusk, the green and yellow mirroring, adding bleakness. Facing the dusk is most subtle: the Green Tomb facing the dusk, the dusk facing the Green Tomb; time and space together sink into twilight, exhausting the thousand-year loneliness after death, unvisited. The two lines' parallel refined, the emotion grieving - Du Fu's few-sum-the-many method's extreme.

画图省识春风面，环佩空归月夜魂。

The painting of the pictures, the mistaken knowing of the spring wind face, the jade rings, the empty returning, the moon night soul.

元帝只凭画工所画的图像模糊地认识她的面容，她的环佩之声只能徒然在月夜里魂归汉宫。

From the painting he barely recognized her spring face; her tinkling jade - vainly the moonlit night soul returns.

此联写昭君生前被误、死后魂归，虚实相生，是全诗最见功力处。「画图省识春风面」用昭君不肯贿赂画工而被画丑的典故，「省识」二字写元帝识人之糊涂：仅仅凭一张画图，岂能认识「春风面」的真实姿容？「春风面」写昭君之美，与画图的失真对照，暗讽昏君与权奸误人。「环佩空归月夜魂」转写死后：昭君身死塞外，唯有魂魄于月夜归来，环佩之声空响，故国已不可见，「空归」二字写尽魂魄归来而人已不在的凄凉。「省识」与「空归」对举，一写生前的糊涂，一写死后的徒然；「春风面」与「月夜魂」对举，一写生之荣，一写死之哀。两句虚实相生，将昭君生前死后的悲剧浓缩于十四字中，怨而不怒，深婉沉痛，是杜甫炼字炼意的绝佳范例。

This couplet writes Zhaojun's living being misjudged and posthumous soul-return, void and solid generating, the poem's most skillful place. From the painting he barely recognized her spring face uses the allusion of Zhaojun refusing to bribe the painter and being painted ugly; barely recognized writes the Yuan emperor's muddle in recognizing men: by one painting alone, how could one recognize the spring face's true beauty? Spring face writes Zhaojun's beauty, set against the painting's distortion, secretly satirizing the dull sovereign and treacherous ministers misleading men. Her tinkling jade - vainly the moonlit night soul returns turns to after death: Zhaojun died beyond the frontier, only the soul returns in moonlight; the jade pendants sound in vain, the native land no longer visible; vainly returns exhausts the soul's return yet the person gone, the desolation. Barely knew set against vainly return: one writes living muddle, one posthumous futility. Spring face set against moonlit night soul: one living glory, one death's grief. The two lines void and solid generating, condensing Zhaojun's tragedy before and after death into fourteen characters; resentful yet not angry, deep and grieving - Du Fu's character-and-meaning refining's superb example.

千载琵琶作胡语，分明怨恨曲中论。

A thousand years, the pipa, making the barbarian speech, clearly and distinctly, the resentful songs, in the tune, discussed.

千百年来的琵琶声始终奏着胡地的曲调，分明是把满腔的怨恨在曲调之中诉说。

A thousand years of pipa playing the barbarian tongue; plainly, her grief is told within the tune.

尾联以琵琶声收束全篇，把千载怨恨凝于曲中，是咏昭君诗最著名的结尾。「千载」二字把时间拉长到千年之后，谓昭君虽死，其怨恨却借琵琶之声流传不息；「作胡语」用昭君善琵琶、作胡笳之音的传说，写其身在胡地、心在汉宫的矛盾。「分明」二字下得斩钉截铁，说这琵琶声里分明就是昭君的怨恨在倾诉，不容置疑；「怨恨」二字直点诗眼，与前文画图之误、青冢之孤、魂归之空一脉贯通，是全诗情感的归结。杜甫写怨而不直说，借琵琶声传出，声情并茂，含蓄深婉；且「琵琶作胡语」既写昭君，又暗合诗人流落西南、异乡漂泊的身世。千载之下，曲中怨恨犹自可闻，余韵不尽，是「以声结情」的典范。

The closing couplet resolves the whole poem in the pipa sound, condensing a millennium of hatred into the tune, the most famous ending of Zhaojun poems. A thousand years stretches time to after a millennium: Zhaojun though dead, her hatred flows unceasing through the pipa. Playing the barbarian tongue uses the legend of Zhaojun skilled at the pipa, playing the barbarian reed-pipe tone, writing her body in the barbarian land, her heart in the Han palace. Plainly is placed decisively: this pipa sound plainly is Zhaojun's resentment pouring forth, beyond doubt. Resentment directly names the poem's eye, running through the painting's error, the Green Tomb's loneliness, the soul's vain return above; it is the poem's emotional resolution. Du Fu writes resentment without saying it directly, transmitting it through the pipa sound, sound and feeling together, reserved and deep. And playing the barbarian tongue writes at once Zhaojun and secretly the poet's own lot drifting in the southwest, a stranger's wanderings. A thousand years on, the resentment in the tune is still audible, the aftertaste unending - the model of closing feeling in sound.

Study

Word focus

赴 'To go' — the ten thousand ravines going to the Jingmen, the going of the mountains. 「群山万壑赴荆门」之「赴」字，是全诗起句的诗眼。「赴」本义为奔赴、前往，多用于人或有生命的对象，此处移用于群山万壑，赋予静止的山川以奔涌的动态和急切的气势，仿佛千山万壑都争先恐后地奔赴荆门而来。这一字之妙有三：其一，以动写静，把静止的群山写得如大军奔涌，气象雄阔，笼罩全篇；其二，以雄衬悲，山川越是奔腾雄壮，越反衬出明妃一介弱女子命运之悲，壮景哀情，反差强烈；其三，暗合地理，荆门山在长江三峡之东，群山确实向此处汇聚，写景暗含真实地貌，又出以想象，虚实相生。清人评此句「起句似大禹凿山导河」，正是赏这个「赴」字的气魄。一字之工，便使全篇境界顿开，是杜甫炼字「语不惊人死不休」精神的体现。

空 'Empty' — the empty returning of the soul, the emptiness of the return. 「环佩空归月夜魂」之「空」字，是全诗情感的关键字。「空」即徒然、白白地，写昭君魂魄月夜归来，环佩之声虽响，故国却已不属于她，归来也是空归，见不到君王，回不到从前。「空」字的妙处在于它写尽了人力无法挽回的绝望：画图之误已成事实，远嫁之悲不可逆转，魂归故里也只是一场徒劳的慰藉。「空归」与「省识」对举，一写生前的糊涂导致悲剧，一写死后的徒然归于虚空，两个虚字写尽昭君命运的两重悲剧。同时，「空」字还暗含杜甫的自伤：诗人漂泊西南，北望中原，欲归故园而不得，与昭君魂归而无益的处境正相映照。一个「空」字，既是昭君之空，也是诗人之空，咏史与自伤在此字中合而为一。

分明 'Clearly and distinctly' — the resentful songs clear and distinct, the clarity of the resentment. 「分明怨恨曲中论」之「分明」二字，是尾联的点睛之笔，也是全诗情感的归结。「分明」即清清楚楚、明明白白，写琵琶声中所含的怨恨清晰可辨，不容置疑。这一词的妙处在于它把「怨恨」这一抽象情感落实为可闻之声：昭君千载的怨恨不是隐晦的、模糊的，而是透过琵琶的胡语之声「分明」传出，声声可辨，字字可闻。「分明」二字语气斩截，见出诗人对昭君命运的深切理解与同情，也见出怨恨之深之烈，非如此不能曲尽其哀。同时，「分明」又暗含反讽：元帝「省识」春画面而识人不明，而千载之后，琵琶曲中的怨恨却「分明」可辨——昏君的糊涂与历史的清醒恰成对照。二字看似平淡，实含无限深意，是杜甫用虚字传神的范例。