魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem
咏荆轲
On Jing Ke (Yong Jing Ke)
燕丹善养士，志在报强嬴。
招集百夫良，岁暮得荆卿。
君子死知己，提剑出燕京。
素骥鸣广陌，慷慨送我行。
雄发指危冠，猛气冲长缨。
饮饯易水上，四座列群英。
渐离击悲筑，宋意唱高声。
萧萧哀风逝，淡淡寒波生。
商音更流涕，羽奏壮士惊。
公知去不归，且有后世名。
登车何时顾，飞盖入秦庭。
凌厉越万里，逶迤过千城。
图穷事自至，豪主正怔营。
惜哉剑术疏，奇功遂不成。
其人虽已没，千载有馀情。
He gathered a hundred good men; by year's end won Jing Qing.
A gentleman dies for his bosom friend; he takes the sword and leaves Yan's capital.
The white steed neighs on the broad road; we see him off with stirring grief.
His angry hair lifts the high crown; his fierce spirit shakes the long tassel.
We feast and farewell on the Yi River; heroes in rows take their seats.
Gao Jianli strikes the mournful zhu; Song Yi sings the high song.
The bleak wind passes sighing; the cold waves gently rise.
The shang mode makes us weep; the yu tune startles the brave.
You know you go not to return, yet leave a name for ages.
When did he look back, mounting the carriage? The flying canopy enters Qin's court.
Swift he crosses ten thousand li; winding, he passes a thousand walls.
The map unrolled, the deed came; the mighty lord stood aghast.
Pity his sword craft was shallow; the marvelous feat fell short.
The man is gone, yet through a thousand years his feeling remains.
Meaning
Also titled On Jing Ke, in Tao Yuanming's collected works vol. 4, a 'singing of history.' Tao lived at the Jin-Song transition, his political ideal dashed, often voiced by old deeds. Though Jing Ke failed, his 'gentleman dies for his bosom friend' most fit the poet's breast. 'You know you go not to return, yet leave a name' clearly lends the ancient's cup to his own block. Ming's Xu Xueyi says 'Tao's poem like On Jing Ke is truly Han manner'—this piece in Tao's works stands apart with a hardened vigor.
燕太子丹善于蓄养门客，志在报复强大的秦国。年终岁末招集天下壮士，终于得到荆轲这样的英才。君子为报答知己甘愿赴死，荆轲手提宝剑离开燕京。白马在旷野上长声嘶鸣，众人慷慨激昂地为我送行。怒发直竖顶起高高的帽子，豪气直冲冠上的缨绳。在易水之上设宴饯别，座中列坐各路英雄。高渐离击筑奏出悲音，宋意放声高唱壮歌。萧萧寒风哀然而逝，淡淡寒波骤然生起。商调之音令人流涕，羽声激越使壮士心惊。明知道此去不复返，却要留下英名传于后世。登上车去何曾回顾，飞车直入秦廷。凌厉之气越过万里，曲折的路途经过千座城。地图展开事机立现，秦王大惊失色手足无措。可叹荆轲剑术终究疏浅，奇功竟未能成就。其人虽已殒没，千载之下仍留余情。
Appreciation
Structurally the Yi-River farewell is the hinge: before, nurturing retainers and winning Jing; after, entering Qin and the failed deed—head and tail echo, waves rise. Description uses synesthesia: 'angry hair lifts the crown' writes spirit by form; 'Gao Jianli strikes the zhu' writes boldness by sound; 'bleak wind passes, cold waves rise' writes grief by scene. The close 'through a thousand years his feeling remains' suddenly gathers after narration—endless, with the Spring-Autumn brush's subtlety.
【白话串讲】 “君子死知己，提剑出燕京”——陶渊明写荆轲：为了知己去死，提着剑走出燕京。“雄发指危冠，猛气冲长缨”——他写荆轲的豪气，也写自己的不平。 【意象与手法】 结构上以易水饯别为枢纽，前写养士得人、提剑出京，后写入秦行刺、奇功不成，首尾呼应而波澜层生。描写善用视听通感：雄发指危冠、猛气冲长缨以形写神，渐离击悲筑、宋意唱高声以声写壮，萧萧哀风逝、淡淡寒波生以景写哀。结句千载有馀情于叙事之后陡然收束，余味不尽，深得史家春秋笔法之妙。 【情感与主旨】 《咏荆轲》收入《陶渊明集》卷四，属咏史类。渊明身处晋宋易代，政治理想破灭，常以古事抒怀。荆轲刺秦虽败，其君子死知己的壮烈最契诗人胸中块垒，诗中借古人酒杯浇自家块垒，明人许学夷谓陶诗如《咏荆轲》的是汉人气象，足见此篇在陶集中别具刚健一格。 【名句点睛】 命题多取形象与手法：一、赏析雄发指危冠、猛气冲长缨的动作神态描写，体会以形传神之妙；二、分析萧萧哀风逝、淡淡寒波生的景物烘托与声色兼备；三、把握君子死知己、千载有馀情所寄寓的慷慨悲壮与知音之叹。
Background
Also titled On Jing Ke, in Tao's works vol. 4, a 'singing of history.' Tao at the Jin-Song turn, his ideal dashed, often voiced by old deeds. Jing Ke's failed but 'gentleman dies for his friend' most fit his breast. 'You know you go not to return, yet leave a name' lends the ancient's cup to his own block. Xu Xueyi says it is 'truly Han manner'—a hardened vigor apart in Tao's works.
陶渊明（约365—427）生活在晋宋易代之际，刘裕篡晋，政治理想破灭，他弃官归隐，以躬耕自守。然而归隐并不意味着心如止水，他胸中始终郁积着一股不平之气，咏史便是他借古抒怀的重要方式。《咏荆轲》收入《陶渊明集》卷四，属咏史类。荆轲刺秦的故事见《史记·刺客列传》：燕太子丹礼遇荆轲，荆轲为报知遇，携督亢地图与樊於期之首入秦，图穷匕见，行刺失败，壮烈而死。陶渊明选择这一题材，正因荆轲君子死知己的壮烈最契自己胸中块垒：渊明一生重节义，其与刘裕政权的决裂、归隐田园的坚守，与荆轲为知己赴死的决绝在精神上一脉相通。诗中「公知去不归，且有后世名」两句，显为借古人酒杯浇自家块垒，抒写对节义与声名的看重。明人许学夷谓陶诗如《咏荆轲》的是汉人气象，鲁迅更称陶潜并非整天整夜的飘飘然，此诗正是陶渊明金刚怒目的一面，在平淡冲和的陶集中别具刚健一格。渊明晚年归隐柴桑，躬耕自给而贫病相仍，其坚贞自守与荆轲之决绝同有宁折不弯的气骨，故咏荆轲实亦自咏怀抱。
Art
Structurally the Yi-River farewell is the hinge; before nurturing retainers, after the failed deed—echo and waves. Synesthesia: 'angry hair lifts the crown' by form, 'Gao Jianli strikes the zhu' by sound, 'bleak wind, cold waves' by scene. The close 'through a thousand years his feeling remains' gathers after narration—endless, Spring-Autumn subtlety.
此诗艺术上以章法严整、声色兼备见长。结构上以易水饯别为枢纽：前八句写燕丹养士、招集百夫良、岁暮得荆卿，层层铺垫荆轲的出场；君子死知己、提剑出燕京点明赴义的决心；素骥鸣广陌、慷慨送我行写送行场面；雄发指危冠、猛气冲长缨以肖像特写写其英气；饮饯易水、渐离击筑、宋意高唱写饯别的悲壮。后六句写登车入秦、图穷匕见、惜哉剑术疏、奇功遂不成，收于其人虽已没、千载有馀情的深沉感慨，首尾呼应而波澜层生。描写善用视听通感：雄发指危冠、猛气冲长缨以形写神，把怒发冲冠的静态化为直指、直冲的动态；渐离击悲筑、宋意唱高声以声写壮，筑声与歌声交织成饯别的背景音乐；萧萧哀风逝、淡淡寒波生以景写哀，风声水色与离情融为一体。结句千载有馀情于叙事之后陡然收束于抒情，余味不尽，深得史家春秋笔法之妙，是叙事与抒情结合的典范。全诗二十句，四句一层，如鼓点渐密，至登车入秦处急转直下，惜哉一声又陡然转哀，节奏与情节相生，读之令人扼腕。
Allusions
Much from the Shi Ji Assassins biography: 'Gao Jianli strikes the zhu, Song Yi sings' uses Gao Jianli seeing off with the zhu and Song Yi's song; 'feast on the Yi River' uses Prince Dan's farewell at Yi; 'the map unrolled, the deed came' uses presenting the Dukang map, the map spent, the dagger shown. 'Shang mode,' 'yu tune' are ancient pentatonic; here secretly the Jing Ke song 'the wind sighs cold on the Yi'—writing the brave farewell by musical mode, allusion and feeling one.
此诗多用《史记·刺客列传》本事，几乎句句有出处，却能融化无痕。渐离击悲筑、宋意唱高声用高渐离击筑送别、宋意和歌之事：荆轲赴秦前，太子丹及宾客白衣冠送于易水，高渐离击筑，荆轲和而歌，宋意亦为壮士和歌，诗中以悲筑、高声再现这一场面。饮饯易水上用太子丹祖道易水之典，四座列群英写饯别者之众。图穷事自至用献督亢地图、图穷匕见事，豪主正怔营写秦王仓皇失措之态，与《史记》所载秦王惊起、绝袖拔剑的情节相合。商音、羽奏本属古代五声音阶，此处暗用荆轲歌「风萧萧兮易水寒」之悲调：荆轲初为变徵之声，士皆垂泪涕泣，复为羽声慷慨，士皆瞋目，诗以商音、羽奏写乐声之悲壮，以乐律写壮别，典故与抒情融为一片。全诗用典不堆砌、不隔膜，以叙事带典，典事皆化为诗中场景，足见陶渊明熔铸史事的高超功力。素骥鸣广陌写白马嘶鸣于旷野，以白色渲染饯别之肃穆，暗合《史记》宾客皆白衣冠以送之的细节，色彩意象亦自史笔脱出，写景之中寓典无痕。
Commentary
Song's Zhu Xi: 'Tao's poems all say plain, but I see him bold; the boldness comes unawares. What shows his true face is the On Jing Ke.' Qing's Shen Deqian: 'heroic spirit bursts, feeling in the words.' Lu Xun says Tao 'is not floating all day'—this poem shows his angry-eyed side, a model for later historical poems.
《咏荆轲》在陶诗研究中具有特殊地位，因为它打破了陶渊明平淡冲和的惯常印象。朱熹评陶渊明诗云：「陶渊明诗，人皆说是平淡，据某看他自豪放，但豪放得来不觉耳。其露出本相者，是《咏荆轲》一篇」，一语道破此诗在陶集中的地位。清人沈德潜《古诗源》谓此诗「英气勃发，情见乎词」，从风格上肯定其刚健之美。鲁迅在《魏晋风度及文章与药及酒之关系》中更说陶潜并非整天整夜的飘飘然，指出他也有金刚怒目的一面，此诗正是明证。从咏史诗史看，陶渊明之前，左思《咏史》以寒士之愤咏史，班固《咏史》以叙事为宗，陶渊明则把咏史与抒怀、叙事与议论熔于一炉，为后世咏史诗提供了范式，唐代陈子昂、李白咏荆轲、咏侠客之作皆承其绪。此诗的价值还在于：它以失败英雄为题，把剑术疏而奇功不成的遗憾写得慷慨悲凉，与一般咏史的成功叙事不同，更见诗人对节义精神的看重。此诗与《读山海经》「精卫衔微木，将以填沧海」之咏并观，可见渊明豪放情怀并非一时兴起，而是贯穿其后期创作的一贯底色。
Prosody
Line by line
君子死知己，提剑出燕京
A gentleman dies for his bosom friend; he takes the sword and leaves Yan's capital.
君子为报答知己甘愿赴死，荆轲手提宝剑离开燕京。
A gentleman dies for one who knows him; Jing Ke took up his sword and left the capital of Yan.
此句破空而来，提纲挈领，是全诗的主脑。君子死知己五字以议论起笔，直接点出荆轲赴义的精神内核：士为知己者死，知遇之恩重于生命，这是先秦游侠的信条，也是全诗立论的基础。提剑出燕京以动作写决心，一个提字见出从容不迫，出字见出义无反顾，仿佛荆轲不是走向死亡，而是走向使命。两句一议一行，先立其志，后写其行，把抽象的节义化为具体的行动。值得注意的是，诗人不写燕丹如何礼遇荆轲，而直接写死知己的结果，正是以最经济的笔墨写最核心的精神。此句与结句千载有馀情遥相呼应：因为死知己的节义，千载之下仍令人动容，全诗的悲壮基调由此奠定。
The line opens with the force of a sudden revelation and is the poem's very center. 'A gentleman dies for one who knows him' states, in argument, the spiritual core of Jing Ke's mission—the ancient knight's creed that the grace of being known outweighs life itself. 'Taking up his sword he left the Yan capital' states it in action: the verb 'took up' shows composure, the verb 'left' shows irrevocable resolve, as though he were walking toward a calling rather than toward death. Argument followed by action turns abstract loyalty into concrete deed. Notably, the poet does not describe how the Crown Prince of Yan treated Jing Ke but jumps straight to the consequence, the most economical way to write the essential spirit. It echoes the closing line 'a thousand years on, the feeling remains,' and sets the poem's tragic, heroic keynote.
雄发指危冠，猛气冲长缨
His angry hair lifts the high crown; his fierce spirit shakes the long tassel.
怒发直竖顶起高高的帽子，豪气直冲冠上的缨绳。
His bristling hair stood straight up and pushed his tall hat askew; his fierce spirit surged and drove the hat cords flying.
此句以夸张的肖像特写传神，是刻画荆轲英气最有力的笔墨。雄发指危冠写怒发直竖，竟把高高的帽子顶了起来，指字作直立、撑起解，极写愤怒之盛；猛气冲长缨写豪气上冲，竟把冠上的缨绳冲得飞动，冲字写出气概之猛烈。两句以发、冠、缨三个细节写人，不写其面容而英气逼人，正是以形传神的典范，与《史记》「怒发上冲冠」的描写异曲同工而更具夸张色彩。这种写法承汉乐府与建安诗歌的刚健传统，一洗玄言诗疲弱之风，是陶诗中罕见的壮语。发指、气冲的极度夸张，使荆轲的形象如雕塑般矗立，为下文易水饯别的悲壮场面蓄足气势，也见出陶渊明笔力之雄健。
The line gives an exaggerated portrait that renders Jing Ke's heroism most powerfully. 'Bristling hair pushing up the tall hat' uses 'push' in the sense of standing erect, raising it to the utmost height of his rage; 'fierce spirit surging the long hat cords' uses 'surge' to write the violence of his mettle. Through three details—hair, hat, cords—the poet gives the man's heroic air without describing his face, the model of conveying spirit through form, akin to the Records of the Grand Historian's 'hair bristling and pushing off the hat,' yet more exaggerated. Descended from the vigorous tradition of Han Yuefu and Jian'an verse, it sweeps away the feebleness of metaphysical poetry, a rare bold utterance in Tao's work. The hyperbole fixes Jing Ke like a statue and builds the momentum for the tragic farewell at the River Yi.
萧萧哀风逝，淡淡寒波生
The bleak wind passes sighing; the cold waves gently rise.
萧萧寒风哀然而逝，淡淡寒波骤然生起。
Soughing, the mournful wind passed away; faint and cold, the waves rose on the river.
此句以凄清景物烘托悲壮离情，是写景与抒情的结合点。萧萧写风声，叠字摹声，如闻秋风呜咽；哀字点出风声的情感色彩，风本无情，因离人听之而生哀；淡淡写水色，叠字绘色，寒字点出易水之冷，波生写水面泛起波纹，仿佛离情也随波涌动。两句对仗工整，风声水色、哀寒相映，把饯别时的悲壮气氛渲染得淋漓尽致。此句化用荆轲歌「风萧萧兮易水寒，壮士一去兮不复还」之意而不著痕迹，以眼前实景写千古悲情，声色兼备。景中寓哀，哀中见壮，是典型的以景写情手法。与下文商音更流涕、羽奏壮士惊相接，风声、水声、筑声、歌声交织成饯别的交响，荆轲形象至此已臻于完美，为登车入秦的壮举蓄足声势。
The line uses bleak scenery to set off the tragic farewell, where description and emotion meet. 'Soughing' is a reduplicative sound of the wind, as though one heard the autumn wind sobbing, and 'mournful' gives the wind its feeling—wind itself is indifferent, yet mourns through the ears of the parting man. 'Faint' gives the color of the water, 'cold' the chill of the Yi River, and 'waves rose' renders the surface rippling as if the parting feeling swelled with it. The parallel couplet, wind and water, mournfulness and chill, renders the atmosphere to the full. It adapts, without a seam, the song 'the wind soughs, the Yi runs cold; the strong man gone, he will not return,' writing an age-old grief through the scene before his eyes, with sound and color both. It joins the later lines on the shang mode and the yu pitch, weaving wind, water, lute, and song into a symphony of farewell.
其人虽已没，千载有馀情
The man is gone, yet through a thousand years his feeling remains.
荆轲虽已殒没，千载之下仍留余情。
That man, though long gone, leaves a feeling that endures across a thousand years.
结句于叙事之后陡然收束于抒情，是全诗的点睛之笔。其人虽已没写荆轲之死，一个没字平淡而沉重；千载有馀情写其精神之不朽，馀情二字既有后人对荆轲的追念，也有诗人自己的感慨：惜其剑术疏而奇功不成，叹其死知己而节义长存。两句以时间的悠远对照人物的渺远，把叙事的收束化为抒情的延展，余韵悠长。值得注意的是，诗人不说功业长存而说情长存，正是以情统摄全篇：荆轲刺秦的成败已不重要，重要的是那种为知己赴死的精神，千载之下犹能感动人心，也正契合诗人借古抒怀的用心。此句与开篇君子死知己呼应，全诗由议论起、以抒情结，首尾环合，是咏史诗叙事与抒情完美结合的范例。
The closing line, after the narrative, turns suddenly to lyric and is the poem's luminous point. 'That man, though long gone' states Jing Ke's death with a plain yet weighty 'gone.' 'Leaves a feeling that endures across a thousand years' states the immortality of his spirit—the 'feeling' holds both later generations' reverence and the poet's own regret, sorrow that his swordsmanship was unskilled and the great deed failed, admiration that he died for one who knew him and that his loyalty endures. Measured against the distance of time, the narrative closing opens into lyric resonance. Notably, the poet says not that the deed endures but that the feeling endures, ruling the whole poem by feeling: the success or failure of the assassination matters less than the spirit of dying for a friend, which after a thousand years still moves the heart. It answers the opening line, the poem beginning in argument and closing in lyric, a model of narrative and lyric fused in historical verse.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
左思《咏史》咏荆轲等壮士以抒寒士之愤，与陶诗同借古人抒怀抱，可比较二者咏史笔法之异
左思《咏史》与陶渊明《咏荆轲》皆借古人抒怀抱，而一为寒士之愤，一为隐士之慨。左思咏荆轲、咏冯唐，抒写世族门阀制度下寒士怀才不遇的愤懑，笔锋直指现实；陶渊明咏荆轲，则在晋宋易代之际抒写对节义精神的向往，寄托深藏心底的不平之气。二诗同为咏史，左思以议论取胜，多直言讽世，陶渊明以叙事见长，多借事抒情。从艺术看，左思咏史开后世议论之风，陶渊明咏史则融叙事、抒情、议论于一炉，各为咏史诗一体之祖。合读二诗，可见咏史诗自西晋至东晋的演进，也可比较寒士文学与隐逸文学的不同气质。
侠客行 侠客行 李白 · 同咏侠客豪情，魏晋之慨与盛唐之壮 同（豪情/任侠主题）李诗“十步杀一人”亦咏荆轲一类侠客，与陶诗慷慨悲歌相映，可比较盛唐与魏晋咏侠之气格
李白《侠客行》与陶渊明《咏荆轲》皆咏荆轲一类侠客，而时代气格迥异。李白「十步杀一人，千里不留行」写侠客之快意恩仇，「事了拂衣去，深藏身与名」写其功成身退，笔调豪放飘逸，充满盛唐人的自信与浪漫；陶渊明写荆轲则重在死知己的悲壮，易水饯别、寒风寒波，笔调沉郁刚健，带着乱世文人的深沉感慨。二诗一壮一悲、一放一敛，恰可见盛唐与魏晋咏侠的不同气象。李白诗以夸张写侠客之能，陶诗以叙事写侠客之志，一者令人神往，一者令人动容。合读二诗，从荆轲这一共同题材，可以比较两个时代的精神风貌与诗歌风格。
题乌江亭 题乌江亭 杜牧 · 同咏失败英雄，翻案咏史与借古抒怀 同（咏史怀古/成败之慨）杜诗借项羽叹“卷土重来”，与陶诗惜荆轲“剑术疏”同属翻案咏史，可比较史识与寄托
杜牧《题乌江亭》与陶渊明《咏荆轲》皆咏失败英雄，而史识与寄托不同。杜牧咏项羽兵败乌江，提出「胜败兵家事不期，包羞忍耻是男儿」，主张卷土重来未可知，是典型的翻案咏史，以理性的史识重评历史；陶渊明咏荆轲则不以成败论英雄，惜哉剑术疏、奇功遂不成只是淡淡的惋惜，重心在君子死知己的精神本身，千载有馀情正见其以情统史的态度。一以议论翻案、重在评史，一以抒情咏叹、重在见志，代表了咏史诗的两种基本路数。合读二诗，可见唐宋咏史诗在史识与寄托之间的不同取向，也可比较杜牧的理性与陶渊明的深情。