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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

别舍弟宗一

Parting from My Cousin Zongyi

柳宗元

Liu Zongyuan

送别Farewell 迁谪Exile

零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边。
一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年。
桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天。
欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟。

Scattered fallen petals redouble my gloom; by the Yue River we both let parting tears fall.
Alone I left the court six thousand li; ten thousand deaths in the wilds—twelve years exiled.
At Gui Ridge the miasma comes, clouds like ink; on Lake Dongting spring ends, waters vast as sky.
Would you know my longing dreams hereafter? They will ever linger in the misty trees of Jingmen and Ying.

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Meaning

Written when Liu Zongyuan, exiled in Liuzhou, saw off his cousin Zongyi returning north, the poem contrasts the speaker's lonely banishment—six thousand li from court, twelve years in the wilds—with the enduring bond of kinship. Through images of falling petals, ink-dark miasma, and vast spring waters, it voices both the bitterness of exile and the solace of remembrance, ending on dreams that will haunt the misty trees of Jingmen and Ying.

零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边。一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年。桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天。欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟。

Appreciation

Liu Zongyuan's 'Parting from My Cousin Zongyi' is a regulated octet that turns a family farewell into a meditation on exile. The first couplet opens in autumn imagery—scattered petals redoubling his gloom as the two cousins weep by the Yue River—establishing a tone of quiet desolation. The second couplet delivers the poem's spine: 'alone I left the court six thousand li; ten thousand deaths in the wilds—twelve years.' [Structure] The numerical exaggeration (六千里, 万死, 十二年) quantifies banishment with stark precision, and the shift from 'alone' to 'ten thousand deaths' maps isolation onto mortal peril. [Imagery] The third couplet widens the scene—Gui Ridge's ink-like miasma, Dongting's end-of-spring waters 'vast as sky'—nature mirroring the speaker's boundless sorrow. [Emotion] The closing couplet transmutes parting into perpetual longing: his dreams will 'ever linger in the misty trees of Jingmen and Ying.' Liu's plain, restrained diction (简淡) keeps the grief undemonstrative yet profound, making this one of the finest Tang poems on brotherly separation under exile.

【白话串讲】柳宗元写《别舍弟宗一》：“零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边”——“一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年”——“桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天”——“欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟”——他送别堂弟，写自己贬谪的苦。【意象与手法】此诗写送别，以迁谪写送别，是柳宗元的名篇。前二联写别泪：「零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边。一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年」写零落残红倍黯然、双垂别泪越江边——写尽一身去国的六千里；后二联写相思：「桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天。欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟」写桂岭瘴来云似墨、洞庭春尽水如天——写尽长在荆门郢的树烟。全诗以迁谪写送别，写尽一身去国的六千里与长在荆门郢的树烟，是柳宗元的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写送别，以迁谪写送别，是柳宗元的名篇。此诗为柳宗元在柳州送其弟柳宗一赴江陵之作，写其迁谪之感与手足之情。柳宗元贬柳州，其弟宗一北归，此诗写其相别。此诗写零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边；一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年；桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天；欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟。此诗写别泪：零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边——写零落残红倍黯然、双垂别泪越江边，写尽双垂别泪的越江边；一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年——写一身去国六千里、万死投荒十二年，写尽万死投荒的十二年；桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天——写桂岭瘴来云似墨、洞庭春尽水如天，写尽洞庭春尽的水如天；欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟——写欲知此后相思梦、长在荆门郢树烟，写尽长在荆门郢的树烟。全诗以迁谪写送别——那「一身去国六千里」写尽一身去国的六千里，「长在荆门郢树烟」写尽长在荆门郢的树烟，写尽一身去国的六千里与长在荆门郢的树烟，是理解柳宗元送别诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年」写万死投荒的十二年；「欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟」写长在荆门郢的树烟；以及全诗以迁谪写送别、以数字写迁谪的手法。

Background

Liu Zongyuan (773–819), courtesy name Zihou, was a leading prose master and philosopher of the mid-Tang, counted among the 'Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song' and paired with Han Yu as 'Han-Liu.' A reformer banished after the failed Wang Shuwen clique, he spent his later years in distant Liuzhou. This poem was written there as he saw off his cousin Liu Zongyi (宗一), who was returning north to Jiangling. It records both the ache of banishment and the warmth of kinship amid isolation. Liu died in Liuzhou in 819, never fully pardoned—a fate that lends the poem's 'twelve years in the wilds' its weight of lived experience.

此诗写送别，以迁谪写送别，是柳宗元的名篇。柳宗元（773—819），字子厚，河东（今山西永济）人，世称「柳河东」，因官终柳州刺史，又称「柳柳州」，唐代文学家、哲学家、散文家和思想家，「唐宋八大家」之一，与韩愈并称「韩柳」。此诗为柳宗元在柳州送其弟柳宗一赴江陵之作，写其迁谪之感与手足之情。柳宗元贬柳州，其弟宗一北归，此诗写其相别。此诗写零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边；一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年；桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天；欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟。此诗写别泪：「零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边」写零落残红倍黯然、双垂别泪越江边——写尽双垂别泪的越江边（零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边）；「一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年」写一身去国六千里、万死投荒十二年——写尽万死投荒的十二年（一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年）；「桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天」写桂岭瘴来云似墨、洞庭春尽水如天——写尽洞庭春尽的水如天（桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天）；「欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟」写欲知此后相思梦、长在荆门郢树烟——写尽长在荆门郢的树烟（欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟）。全诗以迁谪写送别，写尽一身去国的六千里与长在荆门郢的树烟，是理解柳宗元送别诗的重要篇章。

Art

The poem's craft rests on four moves. First, scenery sets mood: 'scattered fallen petals' and 'double parting tears' fuse outer decay with inner sorrow. Second, hyperbole measures exile—'six thousand li,' 'ten thousand deaths,' 'twelve years' turn abstract banishment into countable suffering, the numerals themselves becoming the poem's burden. Third, metaphor paints the frontier: the miasma 'clouds like ink' and Dongting's 'waters vast as sky' externalize a spirit compressed and overwhelmed. Fourth, imagination closes the gap of distance: future 'longing dreams' dwelling in Jingmen's misty trees convert separation into eternal presence. The regulated form—strict tonal parallelism in the middle couplets—frames private feeling within public discipline, while the sustained level-tone rhyme carries the lament forward with dignified sorrow.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写黯然。「零落残红倍黯然」以写景写黯然——那「双垂别泪越江边」写尽双垂别泪的越江边，以写景写尽双垂别泪的越江边。其二，以数字写迁谪。「一身去国六千里」以数字写迁谪——那「万死投荒十二年」写尽万死投荒的十二年，以数字写尽万死投荒的十二年。其三，以比喻写瘴云。「桂岭瘴来云似墨」以比喻写瘴云——那「洞庭春尽水如天」写尽洞庭春尽的水如天，以比喻写尽洞庭春尽的水如天。其四，以想象写相思。「欲知此后相思梦」以想象写相思——那「长在荆门郢树烟」写尽长在荆门郢的树烟，以想象写尽长在荆门郢的树烟。此外，此诗前写一身去国的六千里，后写长在荆门郢的树烟，由别及思，正是送别诗「以别写思」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以迁谪写送别，写尽一身去国的六千里与长在荆门郢的树烟，是柳宗元的代表作。

Allusions

The poem draws on a deep well of parting and exile motifs. 'Fallen petals' (残红) evokes the fading blossom as a figure for lost youth and fortune. 'Gloom' (黯然) echoes Jiang Yan's 'nothing saddens like parting' (黯然销魂者，唯别而已矣). 'Left the court' (去国) and 'cast into the wilds' (投荒) belong to the long literature of official banishment, later echoed by Huang Tingjian ('banished to the wilds, hair speckled'). 'Six thousand li' and 'twelve years' particularize that tradition with Liu's own geography and time. 'Gui Ridge' and its 'miasma' name the disease-ridden south; 'Dongting,' 'Jingmen,' and 'Ying' anchor the poem in real Yangtze landmarks of departure and memory. Together they situate Liu's personal grief within the classical grammar of exile.

此诗的用语深植于送别与迁谪传统。「残红」令人想到「残红」写残花的意象——也令人想到「零落残红」的意象；「黯然」令人想到「黯然」写黯然的意象——也令人想到「黯然销魂者，唯别而已矣」（江淹）的意象；「别泪」令人想到「别泪」写别泪的意象——也令人想到「执手相看泪眼」（柳永）的意象；「去国」令人想到「去国」写离京的意象——也令人想到「去国怀乡」的意象；「六千里」令人想到「六千里」写里程的意象——也令人想到「去国六千里」的意象；「万死」令人想到「万死」写万死的意象——也令人想到「九死一生」的意象；「投荒」令人想到「投荒」写流放的意象——也令人想到「投荒万死鬓毛斑」（黄庭坚）的意象；「十二年」令人想到「十二年」写年份的意象——也令人想到「一纪投荒」的意象；「桂岭」令人想到「桂岭」写桂岭的意象——也令人想到「桂岭瘴来」的意象；「瘴」令人想到「瘴」写瘴气的意象——也令人想到「瘴疠之乡」的意象；「云似墨」令人想到「云似墨」写墨云的意象——也令人想到「黑云压城城欲摧」（李贺）的意象；「洞庭」令人想到「洞庭」写洞庭的意象——也令人想到「洞庭波兮木叶下」（屈原）的意象；「水如天」令人想到「水如天」写水天的意象——也令人想到「春来江水绿如蓝」（白居易）的意象；「相思梦」令人想到「相思梦」写梦的意象——也令人想到「夜阑犹剪灯花弄」的意象；「荆门」令人想到「荆门」写荆门的意象——也令人想到「山随平野尽，江入大荒流」（李白）的意象；「郢树」令人想到「郢树」写郢树的意象——也令人想到「郢树苍苍」的意象。全诗化用残红、黯然、别泪、去国、六千里、万死、投荒、十二年、桂岭、瘴、云似墨、洞庭、水如天、相思梦、荆门、郢树的意象，以迁谪写送别，正是柳宗元「简淡」而善炼字、承送别传统写迁谪之本领。

Commentary

Qing critics prized this poem for voicing exile 'with deep sincerity and desolate pathos' (沉挚悲凉), and the couplet 'six thousand li from court… twelve years in the wilds' is repeatedly cited as its peak. Its literary-historical importance is twofold: as a Tang regulated verse on brotherly parting, and as a companion to Liu's 'Climbing the Liuzhou City Tower,' which opens 'the high tower meets the great wilderness.' One poem looks outward to friends, the other inward to a cousin; together they reveal the two faces of Liu's exiled sensibility. For today's readers it remains a key to understanding both his parting poetry and the broader Tang tradition of writing banishment—where the 'misty trees of Jingmen' still carry a thousand-year-old ache.

此诗历来被推为柳宗元送别诗的名篇，也是唐诗写手足别离的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以迁谪写送别，沉挚悲凉」；近人更指出「一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年」写万死投荒的十二年，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以律诗写尽一身去国的六千里与长在荆门郢的树烟——那零落，那残红，那倍黯然，那双垂，那别泪，那越江边，那一身，那去国，那六千里，那万死，那投荒，那十二年，那桂岭，那瘴来，那云似墨，那洞庭，那春尽，那水如天，那欲知，那此后，那相思梦，那长在，那荆门，那郢树烟，都写尽了柳宗元笔下的别舍弟宗一；那「长在荆门郢树烟」更以想象写尽长在荆门郢的树烟。此诗与柳宗元《登柳州城楼寄漳汀封连四州》「城上高楼接大荒」同为迁谪名篇，一写「海天愁思正茫茫」的登柳州城楼，一写「一身去国六千里」的别舍弟宗一；一写寄友，一写别弟。两诗对读，可见柳宗元迁谪诗的两面。对于今日读者，此诗是理解柳宗元送别诗的窗口，也是唐诗写手足别离的经典——那长在荆门郢的树烟，穿越千年，仍在诉说着万死投荒的十二年。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated verse (七言律诗)七言律诗

Rhyme Rhymes on 然, 边, 年, 天, 烟 (level 'xian' rhyme), sustained throughout.七律押「然」「边」「年」「天」「烟」（平声先韵），一韵到底

Tone pattern A seven-character lüshi with level-tone rhyme carried through, its measured music matching the dignified sorrow of parting under exile.此诗为七言律诗，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节沉挚，正合送别的沉挚。

Reading note The poem is a seven-character regulated verse of eight lines—fallen petals… parting tears… six thousand li… twelve years… Gui Ridge miasma… Dongting waters… longing dreams… misty trees of Jingmen. It rhymes on the level 'xian' rhyme (然, 边, 年, 天, 烟) throughout. The first half voices parting tears and exile; the second half turns to longing dreams. Read the exile couplet with weight and the closing with lingering sorrow.此诗为七言律诗——「零落残红倍黯然，双垂别泪越江边。一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年。桂岭瘴来云似墨，洞庭春尽水如天。欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟」，押平韵（然、边、年、天、烟），一韵到底，音节沉挚。全诗以迁谪写送别：前写一身去国的六千里（零落残红倍黯然、万死投荒十二年），后写长在荆门郢的树烟（桂岭瘴来云似墨、欲知此后相思梦）。律诗八句，前写别泪，后写相思，以「长在荆门郢树烟」写尽长在荆门郢的树烟，正见柳宗元「简淡」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以沉挚的语调读「万死投荒十二年」的迁谪，以深婉的语调读「长在荆门郢树烟」的相思，结句要读得沉挚而有余韵，方能传达出柳宗元的沉挚悲凉。柳宗元律诗以「简淡」著称，此诗正是其送别诗的典范。

Line by line

一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年

Alone I left the capital six thousand li; ten thousand deaths in the barbarous wilds—twelve years of exile.

一身去国六千里，万死投荒十二年。

One body, six thousand li from the capital; ten thousand deaths, twelve years exiled in the wilds.

此二句是全诗写迁谪的核心，以一身去国六千里写六千里，以万死投荒十二年写十二年，写尽万死投荒的十二年，是千古名句。「一身去国六千里」写一身去国六千里——那「一身去国」写一身去国，「六千里」写六千里，写尽一身去国的六千里；「万死投荒十二年」写万死投荒十二年——那「万死投荒」写万死投荒，「十二年」写十二年，写尽万死投荒的十二年。这句的深意在于：它以「一身去国六千里」的六千里与「万死投荒十二年」的十二年，写尽万死投荒的十二年——一身去国六千里，那「一身去国六千里」写尽一身去国的六千里——一身去国六千里，正是只身去国的写照，那「六千里」写尽万死投荒的十二年；万死投荒十二年，那「万死投荒十二年」写尽万死投荒的十二年——万死投荒十二年，正是九死流放的写照，那「十二年」写尽万死投荒的十二年；那「一身去国六千里」写尽一身去国的六千里，那「万死投荒十二年」写尽万死投荒的十二年，一写六千里，一写十二年，写尽万死投荒的十二年——只身去国而九死流放，正是迁谪的写照；此二句以六千里、十二年写尽万死投荒的十二年，也为下文的桂岭作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写迁谪的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「只身离京六千里，九死流放十二年」，则失其沉挚；唯以「一身去国六千里」写六千里、「万死投荒十二年」写十二年，写尽万死投荒的十二年，也让此二句成为全诗写迁谪的核心。

Liu Zongyuan compresses his whole exile into two measurements. "Six thousand li" is the distance from Chang'an to the southern marches; "twelve years" is how long the exile has lasted. The two numbers frame a life: alone, at six thousand li, through ten thousand near-deaths, for twelve years. "Ten thousand deaths" is hyperbole of endurance—he has died a thousand times in the malarial south—and the arithmetic of the couplet, one against six thousand, ten thousand against twelve, shows how small a man is against his fate. This is the register against which his brother's departure now cuts. To have said he had been exiled far away for a long time would lose the numerical hammer; the figures are the suffering.

欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟

Would you know my yearning dreams from now on? Ever they dwell among the misty trees of Jingmen and Ying.

欲知此后相思梦，长在荆门郢树烟。

If you would know where my longing dreams will go hereafter—always to the mist over the trees at Jingmen and Ying.

此二句是全诗写相思的核心，以欲知此后相思梦写相思梦，以长在荆门郢树烟写郢树烟，写尽长在荆门郢的树烟，是千古名句。「欲知此后相思梦」写欲知此后相思梦——那「欲知此后」写欲知此后，「相思梦」写相思梦，写尽欲知此后的相思梦；「长在荆门郢树烟」写长在荆门郢树烟——那「长在荆门」写长在荆门，「郢树烟」写郢树烟，写尽长在荆门郢的树烟。这句的深意在于：它以「欲知此后相思梦」的相思梦与「长在荆门郢树烟」的郢树烟，写尽长在荆门郢的树烟——欲知此后相思梦，那「欲知此后相思梦」写尽欲知此后的相思梦——欲知此后相思梦，正是相思成梦的写照，那「相思梦」写尽长在荆门郢的树烟；长在荆门郢树烟，那「长在荆门郢树烟」写尽长在荆门郢的树烟——长在荆门郢树烟，正是梦萦荆郢的写照，那「郢树烟」写尽长在荆门郢的树烟；那「欲知此后相思梦」写尽欲知此后的相思梦，那「长在荆门郢树烟」写尽长在荆门郢的树烟，一写相思梦，一写郢树烟，写尽长在荆门郢的树烟——相思成梦而梦萦荆郢，正是相思的写照；此二句以相思梦、郢树烟写尽长在荆门郢的树烟，也让此二句成为全诗写相思的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「想知道以后的相思梦，常萦绕在荆门郢树的烟霭中」，则失其含蓄；唯以「欲知此后相思梦」写相思梦、「长在荆门郢树烟」写郢树烟，写尽长在荆门郢的树烟，也让此二句成为全诗写相思的核心。

Parting from his own brother, Liu Zongyuan sends the grief into dream. "If you would know" makes a promise: whenever I dream of you, the dream will be at Jingmen and among the misted trees of the old Chu capital Ying, the route north the brother will travel. The mist is crucial: it is not a clear reunion but a half-seen landscape, dreamlike, unreachable. By locating his dreams on the road home, he turns the brother's journey into the shape of his own homesickness. The image is famous for its restraint—no weeping, just mist over trees. A direct "I will dream of you often" would be plain; the misted Chu trees are the dream.

Study

Word focus

黯黯 (àn): 'dim, gloomy, dejected.' In 'scattered fallen petals redouble my gloom,' the word fuses the fading of the flowers with the speaker's darkened spirit, setting the elegiac tone of the whole parting poem. 「零落残红倍黯然」之「黯」字是写送别关键词，一个「黯」字写尽零落残红的倍黯然。黯者，黯淡、黯然也。柳宗元以「零落残红倍黯然」写送别，这个「黯」字至少有双重意味：其一，写色之黯——那「零落残红倍黯然」写零落残红倍黯然，那「黯」字写尽零落残红的倍黯然——黯然，正是黯然神伤的写照，那「黯」字写尽零落残红的倍黯然；其二，写情之伤——那「黯」字更是写伤——黯，正见别离销魂的意味，那「黯」字写尽柳宗元的哀伤。以「黯」字写送别，正是柳宗元写迁谪的枢纽——若换作「惨」「伤」等字，则或失其与「零落残红倍黯然」「双垂别泪越江边」的配合，或失其写黯的意味；唯「黯」字，以零落残红倍黯然写尽残红之黯淡与别离之销魂，与「双垂别泪越江边」的别泪相合，写尽零落残红的倍黯然，也让「零落残红倍黯然」成为全诗写送别的名句。

投投 (tóu): 'to cast, to throw (into).' In 'ten thousand deaths cast into the wilds twelve years,' the word conveys abandonment—being flung into a remote, hostile land—and crystallizes the bitterness of banishment. 「万死投荒十二年」之「投」字是写迁谪关键词，一个「投」字写尽万死投荒的十二年。投者，投掷、投放也。柳宗元以「万死投荒十二年」写迁谪，这个「投」字至少有双重意味：其一，写荒之投——那「万死投荒十二年」写万死投荒十二年，那「投」字写尽万死投荒的十二年——投荒，正是抛掷边荒的写照，那「投」字写尽万死投荒的十二年；其二，写身之弃——那「投」字更是写弃——投，正见弃置流放之悲，那「投」字写尽柳宗元的感慨。以「投」字写迁谪，正是柳宗元写送别的枢纽——若换作「流」「逐」等字，则或失其与「万死投荒十二年」「一身去国六千里」的配合，或失其写投的意味；唯「投」字，以万死投荒十二年写尽流放之弃置与岁月之漫长，与「一身去国六千里」的六千里相合，写尽万死投荒的十二年，也让「万死投荒十二年」成为全诗写迁谪的名句。