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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

别元九后咏所怀

Reflections After Parting from Yuan the Ninth

白居易

Bai Juyi

怀友Missing a Friend 送别Farewell

零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风。
悠悠早秋意，生此幽闲中。
况与故人别，中怀正无悰。
勿云不相送，心到青门东。
相知岂在多，但问同不同。
同心一人去，坐觉长安空。

Drizzle on the wutong leaves, scattered and fallen; wind through the hibiscus, desolate and bare.
The lingering mood of early autumn is born in this quiet leisure.
And now I part from an old friend; my breast is without joy.
Do not say I did not see you off—my heart has reached the east of the Green Gate.
To know each other, need it be many? Only ask whether we are of one mind.
One of like heart has gone; sitting, I feel Chang'an grown empty.

Listen

Meaning

Bai Juyi wrote this after seeing off his closest friend Yuan Zhen (Yuan the Ninth). Early-autumn drizzle on wutong leaves and wind through hibiscus open a mood of quiet desolation; parting from an old friend leaves his breast joyless. He insists he did see Yuan off in heart if not in body, and concludes that true knowing needs no multitude—only like-mindedness—so that when the one kindred friend goes, Chang'an itself feels empty.

零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风。悠悠早秋意，生此幽闲中。况与故人别，中怀正无悰。勿云不相送，心到青门东。相知岂在多，但问同不同。同心一人去，坐觉长安空。

Appreciation

Bai Juyi's 'Reflections After Parting from Yuan the Ninth' is a five-character ancient-style poem that turns a farewell into a meditation on friendship's weight. The first four lines paint early autumn: 'drizzle on the scattered wutong leaves; wind through the desolate hibiscus,' and 'the lingering mood of early autumn born in this quiet leisure'—landscape priming the heart for loss. [Structure] The middle couplets move to the occasion: parting from an old friend leaves the breast without joy; yet 'do not say I did not see you off—my heart has reached the east of the Green Gate,' a playful denial that turns absence into presence. [Climax] The final couplets deliver the poem's thesis: 'to know each other, need it be many? only ask whether we are of one mind,' and 'one of like heart has gone; sitting, I feel Chang'an grown empty.' [Significance] The last line is the poem's jewel: the vast capital becomes void the instant the kindred friend departs. Bai's plain, intimate manner (平易) here carries genuine feeling, making a small ancient-style lyric into a profound testament to friendship.

【白话串讲】白居易写《别元九后咏所怀》：“零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风”——“况与故人别，中怀正无悰”——“勿云不相送，心到青门东”——“相知岂在多，但问同不同”——“同心一人去，坐觉长安空”——他送别元稹——“同心一人去，坐觉长安空”。【意象与手法】此诗写送别，以怀友写送别，是白居易的名篇。前四句写秋意：「零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风。悠悠早秋意，生此幽闲中」写零落桐叶雨、萧条槿花风、悠悠早秋意——写尽早秋的萧瑟；后六句写怀友：「况与故人别，中怀正无悰。勿云不相送，心到青门东。相知岂在多，但问同不同。同心一人去，坐觉长安空」写况与故人别、同心一人去、坐觉长安空——写尽送别的怀友。全诗以怀友写送别，写尽早秋的萧瑟与送别的怀友，是白居易的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写送别，以怀友写送别，是白居易的名篇。此诗写白居易送别友人元稹（元九）后咏怀。元和年间，白居易与元稹为挚友，同倡新乐府运动；元稹调任，白氏送别，秋日独坐，怀友而作。此诗写秋意：零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风——写零落桐叶雨、萧条槿花风，写尽早秋的萧瑟；悠悠早秋意，生此幽闲中——写悠悠早秋意、生此幽闲中，写尽早秋的秋意；况与故人别，中怀正无悰——写况与故人别、中怀正无悰，写尽送别的愁绪；勿云不相送，心到青门东——写勿云不相送、心到青门东，写尽送别的心意；相知岂在多，但问同不同——写相知岂在多、但问同不同，写尽相知的情谊；同心一人去，坐觉长安空——写同心一人去、坐觉长安空，写尽送别的怅惘。全诗以怀友写送别——那「萧条槿花风」写尽早秋的萧瑟，「坐觉长安空」写尽送别的怀友，写尽早秋的萧瑟与送别的怀友，是理解白居易友情诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风」写早秋的萧瑟；「同心一人去，坐觉长安空」写送别的怀友；以及全诗以怀友写送别、以景写情的手法。

Background

Bai Juyi (772–846), courtesy name Letian, was a major mid-Tang poet who with Yuan Zhen founded the New Yuefu movement and the 'Yuan-Bai' partnership. Yuan Zhen (字微之, ranked ninth, hence 'Yuan the Ninth') was Bai's closest friend; the two exchanged nearly a thousand poems. In 810 Yuan was demoted to a post at Jiangling, and Bai saw him off—this poem, titled 'Reflections After Parting from Yuan the Ninth,' deliberately looks not at the moment of parting but at the solitude afterward. It thus belongs to the 'after-parting' subgenre, where the ache of absence, not the ceremony of leave-taking, is the subject. The bond it records is among the most celebrated friendships in Chinese poetry.

此诗写送别，以怀友写送别，是白居易的名篇。白居易（772—846），字乐天，号香山居士，下邽（今陕西渭南）人，唐代诗人，与元稹并称「元白」，同倡新乐府运动。此诗写白居易送别友人元稹（元九）后咏怀。元和年间，白居易与元稹为挚友，同倡新乐府运动；元稹调任，白氏送别，秋日独坐，怀友而作。此诗写秋意：「零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风」写零落桐叶雨、萧条槿花风——写尽早秋的萧瑟（零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风）；「悠悠早秋意，生此幽闲中」写悠悠早秋意、生此幽闲中——写尽早秋的秋意（悠悠早秋意，生此幽闲中）；「同心一人去，坐觉长安空」写同心一人去、坐觉长安空——写尽送别的怅惘（同心一人去，坐觉长安空）。全诗以怀友写送别，写尽早秋的萧瑟与送别的怀友，是理解白居易友情诗的重要篇章。此诗写于白居易与元稹别后。元稹字微之，行九，故称元九，与白居易为生死之交，二人唱和诗近千首，世称「元白」。元和五年（810）元稹贬江陵府士曹参军，白氏送之；此后二人聚少离多。此诗以「别元九后咏所怀」为题，明言是别后咏怀——不写送别之时的离觞，而写别后独坐的怅惘，正是怀友诗写「别后」的深一层。

Art

Four moves shape the poem. First, scenery initiates mood: 'drizzle on scattered wutong leaves' and 'wind through desolate hibiscus' use outward autumn decay to foreshadow inner loss, the classic 'borrow scene for feeling' (借景抒情). Second, direct statement: 'my breast is without joy' names the grief plainly, in Bai's characteristic unadorned voice. Third, colloquial intimacy: 'do not say I did not see you off—my heart has reached the east of the Green Gate' speaks in everyday speech, the seeming contradiction deepening affection. Fourth, ironic contrast closes: 'Chang'an grown empty' inverts the city's vastness—its emptiness measures the friend's worth. The poem also admits reasoned argument ('need it be many? only ask same or not'), letting gentle philosophy sit beside feeling. The five-character ancient form, with its even-line rhyme on the 'dong' rhyme, keeps the music calm and sincere.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以景起写秋意。「零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风」以景起写秋意——那「零落」「萧条」写尽叶落花残，以景起写尽早秋的萧瑟。其二，以直抒写愁绪。「中怀正无悰」以直抒写愁绪——那「无悰」写尽心绪的落寞，以直抒写尽送别的愁绪。其三，以口语写情谊。「勿云不相送，心到青门东」以口语写情谊——那「勿云」「心到」写尽口语的亲切，以口语写尽送别的心意。其四，以反衬写怅惘。「坐觉长安空」以反衬写怅惘——那「长安空」写尽人去城空，以反衬写尽送别的怅惘。此外，此诗前四句写早秋的萧瑟，后六句写送别的怀友，由景及情，正是怀友诗「借景抒情」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以怀友写送别，写尽早秋的萧瑟与送别的怀友，是白居易的代表作。此诗还善于以「勿云不相送」的反话写深意——明明送别，却说不要说我不相送，我的心已随你到青门东，以反话写深情，正是「语似疏淡，情实深挚」的写法。又善以议论入诗，那「相知岂在多，但问同不同」以议论写相知之道，正见白诗议论的平易亲切，使全诗于抒情中见理趣。

Allusions

The poem rests on a lattice of friendship and parting motifs. 'Wutong leaves' (桐叶) signal autumn's approach—'one leaf falls and we know the year's end'—while 'hibiscus' (槿花), opening at dawn and falling by dusk, figures transient beauty. 'Green Gate' (青门), the eastern gate of Chang'an where Shao Ping grew melons, marks the conventional eastward point of departure and a hint of reclusion. 'Of one mind' (同心) reaches back to the Book of Changes—'two of one mind cut metal'—and to the Nineteen Old Poems' 'of one heart yet living apart,' the ideal of kindred spirits. 'Chang'an' as the great capital stands for the public world that suddenly empties. By gathering these references, Bai writes a friendship poem squarely within the classical tradition while keeping his signature plainness.

此诗的用语深植于送别与怀友的传统。「桐叶」令人想到「桐叶」写秋叶的意象——《淮南子》「一叶落而知岁之将暮」，也令人想到「金井梧桐秋叶黄」（王昌龄）的意象；「槿花」令人想到「槿花」写木槿的意象——木槿朝开暮落，也令人想到「槿花朝开暮还坠」的意象；「青门」令人想到「青门」写长安城门的意象——青门为长安东门，也令人想到「青门种瓜」（邵平）的典故；「同心」令人想到「同心」写知己的意象——《诗经》「死生契阔，与子成说」的同心，也令人想到「同心而离居」（《涉江采芙蓉》）的意象；「长安空」令人想到「长安」写京城的意象——也令人想到「长安如梦里」的意象。全诗化用桐叶、槿花、青门、同心的意象，以怀友写送别，正是白居易「平易近人」而善写友情、承送别传统写怀友的本领。「青门」为长安城东出南头第一门，汉人邵平曾在此种瓜，故青门又有隐逸之意；白诗以「心到青门东」写心随友去，正见青门为送别东行之处的意思。又「同心」出自《周易·系辞》「二人同心，其利断金」，白居易以「同心」写与元稹的相知，正是用典籍之交的典故，正见二人情谊之深。

Commentary

From the Qing onward the poem has been treasured as a model of Bai Juyi's friendship verse, praised for 'writing parting through friendship, sincere and moving' (以怀友写送别，真挚动人); the line 'one of like heart has gone; sitting, I feel Chang'an grown empty' is repeatedly cited as its peak. Its literary-historical value lies in its 'after-parting' perspective—not the banquet but the empty aftermath—and in pairing with Bai's famous 'Grass on the Ancient Plain,' one at the moment of parting, one after. It also stands in the long line of Tang friendship poems descended from Wang Wei's 'A Song at Yangguan.' For modern readers it remains a touchstone for understanding Bai's emotional lyrics and the centrality of the Yuan-Bai bond.

此诗历来被推为白居易友情诗的名篇，也是唐人写送别怀友的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以怀友写送别，真挚动人」；近人更指出「同心一人去，坐觉长安空」写送别的怀友，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以十二句的五言古诗写尽早秋的萧瑟与送别的怀友——那零落的桐叶，那萧条的槿花，那早秋意，那幽闲，那故人，那无悰，那青门东，那同心，那长安空，都写尽了白居易笔下的别后；那「坐觉长安空」更以反衬写尽送别的怅惘。此诗与白居易《赋得古原草送别》（「离离原上草」）同为送别名篇，一写「又送王孙去」的古原（古原草送别），一写「坐觉长安空」的别后（别元九后咏所怀）；又与王维《送元二使安西》「西出阳关无故人」的送别传统一脉相承，可见唐人送别诗的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解白居易友情诗的窗口，也是中国诗写送别的经典——那坐觉长安空的怅惘，穿越千年，仍在诉说着别后的怀友。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient-style poem (五言古诗)诗·五言古诗

Rhyme Ancient-style verse; even lines rhyme on 风, 中, 悰, 东, 同, 空 (upper-level 'dong' rhyme), calm and sincere.古体诗，偶句押韵（风、中、悰、东、同、空，上平一东），音节平缓真挚

Tone pattern A five-character gushi with level-tone rhyme on its even lines; its even, sincere music suits the quiet reflection on friendship.此诗为五言古诗，押平声韵，音节平缓真挚，正合怀友的平缓。

Reading note The poem is a five-character ancient-style verse of twelve lines—wutong drizzle… early-autumn mood… parting from an old friend… heart reached the Green Gate… need it be many… Chang'an grown empty. Even lines rhyme on the 'dong' rhyme (风, 中, 悰, 东, 同, 空) throughout. The first four lines paint early autumn, the middle four the parting grief, the last four the philosophy of friendship. Read the opening with calm restraint and the close with low, lingering feeling.此诗为五言古诗，十二句——「零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风。悠悠早秋意，生此幽闲中。况与故人别，中怀正无悰。勿云不相送，心到青门东。相知岂在多，但问同不同。同心一人去，坐觉长安空」，偶句押「东」韵（风、中、悰、东、同、空），音节平缓真挚。全诗以怀友写送别：前四句写早秋的萧瑟（零落桐叶雨、悠悠早秋意），中四句写送别的愁绪（况与故人别、勿云不相送），后四句写相知的情谊（相知岂在多、坐觉长安空）。古体短章，前写秋意，后写怀友，以「坐觉长安空」写尽送别的怅惘，正见白居易「平易近人」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以平缓的语调读「零落桐叶雨」的秋意，以真挚的语调读「同心一人去」的怀友，结句要读得低回而有余韵，方能传达出白居易的真挚动人。白居易古诗以「平易自然」著称，此诗正是其怀友古诗的典范。

Line by line

同心一人去，坐觉长安空

One of like heart has gone; sitting, I feel Chang'an grown empty.

同心一人去，坐觉长安空。

Like-minded, and that one person is gone; sitting here, I feel Chang'an itself has turned empty.

此二句是全诗写怅惘的核心，以同心一人去写同心，以坐觉长安空写长安，写尽送别的怅惘，是千古名句。「同心一人去」写同心一人去——那「同心」写同心，「一人去」写一人去，写尽同心的离去；「坐觉长安空」写坐觉长安空——那「坐觉」写坐觉，「长安空」写长安空，写尽长安的空寂。这句的深意在于：它以「同心一人去」的同心与「坐觉长安空」的长安，写尽送别的怅惘——同心一人去，那「同心一人去」写尽同心的离去——同心的人，一人离去，正是知己分离的写照，那「同心」写尽相知的情谊；坐觉长安空，那「坐觉长安空」写尽长安的空寂——长安本大，人走之后坐觉其空，正是人去城空的写照，那「空」写尽送别的怅惘；那「同心一人去」写尽同心的离去，那「坐觉长安空」写尽长安的空寂，一写人，一写城，写尽送别的怅惘——同心者去而长安顿空，正见知己之重；此二句以同心、长安写尽送别的怅惘，也让此二句成为全诗写怅惘的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「你走了我很孤单」，则失其含蓄；唯以「同心一人去」写同心、「坐觉长安空」写长安，写尽送别的怅惘，也让此二句成为全诗写怅惘的核心。

Bai Juyi parts from Yuan Zhen, his closest friend, and measures the city by the friend's absence. "That one person" is all the city holds for him—one like-minded man; when he leaves, Chang'an, the huge capital of a million people, feels empty as he sits. The exaggeration is precise: the city has not shrunk, but the speaker's inner map of it has, and "empty" is how loneliness converts a metropolis into a void. The line is famous for the equation it strikes between one absent friend and an empty world. To have said he felt lonely since Yuan Zhen left would be prose; the emptied capital is the loneliness made visible.

零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风

Drizzle on the scattered wutong leaves; wind through the desolate hibiscus blossoms.

零落桐叶雨，萧条槿花风。

Dropping paulownia leaves in the rain; sparse rose-of-Sharon blossoms in the wind.

此二句是全诗写秋意的核心，以零落桐叶雨写桐叶，以萧条槿花风写槿花，写尽早秋的萧瑟，是千古名句。「零落桐叶雨」写零落桐叶雨——那「零落桐叶」写零落桐叶，「雨」写雨，写尽桐叶的零落；「萧条槿花风」写萧条槿花风——那「萧条槿花」写萧条槿花，「风」写风，写尽槿花的萧条。这句的深意在于：它以「零落桐叶雨」的桐叶与「萧条槿花风」的槿花，写尽早秋的萧瑟——零落桐叶雨，那「零落桐叶雨」写尽桐叶的零落——雨打桐叶，叶落纷纷，正是早秋的写照，那「零落」写尽桐叶的凋零；萧条槿花风，那「萧条槿花风」写尽槿花的萧条——风吹槿花，花残枝疏，正是早秋的写照，那「萧条」写尽槿花的凋残；那「零落桐叶雨」写尽桐叶的零落，那「萧条槿花风」写尽槿花的萧条，一写雨，一写风，写尽早秋的萧瑟——雨打桐叶、风吹槿花，正是早秋的萧瑟；此二句以桐叶、槿花写尽早秋的萧瑟，也为后文的怀友作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写秋意的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「秋天来了很萧瑟」，则失其画面；唯以「零落桐叶雨」写桐叶、「萧条槿花风」写槿花，写尽早秋的萧瑟，也让此二句成为全诗写秋意的核心。

Bai Juyi frames his loneliness in early autumn. Paulownia leaves are falling through the rain, and the rose-of-Sharon, whose flowers open and die within a single day, shakes in a thin wind. The two images are chosen for transience: the leaf that drops, the flower that lasts a day, mirror the friend who has just left. "Dropping" and "sparse" are not decorative; they are the first chill of autumn in a city the speaker no longer has a companion to walk through. The season prefigures the mourning for the friend that unfolds below. To have said it was autumn and bleak would lose the two short-lived images; each flower and leaf is a small elegy.

Study

Word focus

零落零落 (língluò): 'scattered, fallen, withered.' In 'drizzle on the scattered wutong leaves,' the word paints the early-autumn decay of the foliage and, by extension, the speaker's own sense of dispersion at parting. 「零落桐叶雨」之「零落」是写秋意的关键词，一个「零落」写尽桐叶的凋零。零落者，凋零、散落也。白居易以「零落桐叶雨」写秋意，这个「零落」至少有双重意味：其一，写叶之落——那「零落桐叶雨」写零落桐叶雨，那「零落」写尽桐叶的凋零——零落桐叶，正是秋叶纷落的写照，那「零落」写尽早秋的萧瑟；其二，写人之别——那「零落」更是写别——零落，正见离别的零落，那「零落」写尽送别的怅惘。以「零落」写秋意，正是白居易写送别的枢纽——若换作「凋落」「飘落」等词，则或失其与「桐叶」「雨」的配合，或失其写零落的意味；唯「零落」二字，以零落桐叶雨写尽桐叶的凋零与离别的零落，与「萧条槿花风」的萧条相合，写尽早秋的萧瑟，也让「零落桐叶雨」成为全诗写秋意的名句。

空 空 (kōng): 'empty, void.' In 'sitting, I feel Chang'an grown empty,' the word turns the vast capital into a void the moment the kindred friend departs, embodying the ache of absence. 「坐觉长安空」之「空」字是写怅惘的关键词，一个「空」字写尽长安的空寂。空者，空寂、空无也。白居易以「坐觉长安空」写怅惘，这个「空」字至少有双重意味：其一，写城之空——那「坐觉长安空」写坐觉长安空，那「空」字写尽长安的空寂——长安本大，人去后坐觉其空，正是人去城空的写照，那「空」字写尽长安的空寂；其二，写心之空——那「空」字更是写心——空，正见心绪的空落，那「空」字写尽送别的怅惘。以「空」字写怅惘，正是白居易写怀友的枢纽——若换作「寂」「静」等字，则或失其与「长安」「坐觉」的配合，或失其写空的意味；唯「空」字，以坐觉长安空写尽长安的空寂与心绪的空落，与「同心一人去」的同心相合，写尽送别的怅惘，也让「坐觉长安空」成为全诗写怅惘的名句。