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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

登乐游原

Deng Leyouyuan (Ascending the Leyou Terrace)

杜牧

Du Mu

怀古Meditations on the Past 感慨Lament

长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中。
看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风。

The long sky is vague, and a lone bird disappears;
ten thousand ages melt and sink away within it.
Look at the Han: what was ever their achievement?
Not a tree on the five mausoleums to raise the autumn wind.

Listen

Meaning

Climbing the high terrace south of Chang'an, Du Mu watches a single bird vanish into the pale overhead and feels the whole of history sinking into the same emptiness. He then looks down at the five mausoleums of the Han emperors and asks what all the Han achievement amounts to: not a single tree, nothing but the autumn wind moving over them. The poem is short enough to hold in the mouth, and its subject is the smallness of every dynastic programme when measured against time.

长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中。看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] A bird flies out of sight; everything the ages accomplished sinks after it; the Han tombs hold no sign but wind.
[Structure] The two couplets turn on a hinge. The first moves outward and upward, into a sky big enough to swallow ten thousand years; the second turns a look downwards onto stone and asks its question in plain interrogative. What links them is the verb 'sink' (xiu chen), which is both about the bird and about the dynasties.
[Imagery] 'Not a tree' is the whole poem. A mausoleum without trees is a mausoleum without memory: the Han dead have nothing left but weather.
[Tone] Du Mu never Lectures the reader. The question 'what was ever their achievement?' is asked in exactly the tone of a man who has already answered it, which gives the close its chill.

【白话串讲】杜牧写《登乐游原》：“长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中”——“看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风”——他登乐游原，望汉家陵阙——他说汉家的事业如今何在，只有五陵在秋风里——他写历史的苍凉。【意象与手法】此诗登乐游原而感慨，以咏史写兴亡，是杜牧的名篇。前二句写所见：「长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中」写长空澹澹孤鸟没、万古销沉向此中——写尽登原的所见；后二句写所感：「看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风」写看取汉家何事业、五陵无树起秋风——写尽兴亡的感慨。全诗以咏史写兴亡，写尽汉家事业的销沉与兴亡的感慨，是杜牧的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗登乐游原而感慨，以咏史写兴亡，是杜牧的名篇。乐游原在长安城南，为唐代游赏胜地，地势高敞，可俯瞰长安。此诗写诗人登乐游原，见长空孤鸟、汉家陵阙而生兴亡之慨。此诗写所见：长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中——写长空澹澹孤鸟没、万古销沉向此中，写尽登原的所见；看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风——写看取汉家何事业、五陵无树起秋风，写尽兴亡的感慨。全诗以咏史写兴亡——那「长空澹澹孤鸟没」写尽登原的所见，「五陵无树起秋风」写尽兴亡的感慨，写尽汉家事业的销沉与兴亡的感慨，是理解杜牧咏史诗的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中」写登原的所见；「看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风」写兴亡的感慨；以及全诗以咏史写兴亡、以景写慨的手法。

Background

Du Mu (803–c. 852), courtesy name Mu-zhi, of Wanning in Chang'an, came from a family of generals and held a series of local posts before becoming a court academician. The Leyou Terrace, on a rise in the southern suburb of Chang'an, was laid out on the site of the Qin Yichun park and made a royal garden under the Han; from it one could look north over the five imperial tombs. Du Mu's poems on the decline of the state , of which this is one, are read as the concern of a late Tang man watching his own dynasty fade.

此诗登乐游原而感慨，以咏史写兴亡，是杜牧的名篇。杜牧（803—约852），字牧之，京兆万年（今陕西西安）人，晚唐伟大的诗人，与李商隐并称「小李杜」。乐游原在长安城南，地势高敞，可俯瞰长安，为唐代游赏胜地，李商隐亦有「夕阳无限好，只是近黄昏」咏之。此诗写诗人登乐游原，见长空孤鸟、汉家陵阙而生兴亡之慨。此诗写所见：「长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中」写长空澹澹孤鸟没、万古销沉向此中——写尽登原的所见（长空澹澹，孤鸟没入其中，万古的兴亡皆销沉于此中）；「看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风」写看取汉家何事业、五陵无树起秋风——写尽兴亡的感慨（试看汉家有何事业？五陵（汉帝陵）之上无树，唯有秋风）。全诗以咏史写兴亡，写尽汉家事业的销沉与兴亡的感慨，是理解杜牧咏史诗的重要篇章。还需说明此诗的写作背景：乐游原本为秦代宜春苑故地，汉宣帝时建乐游苑于此，地势高敞，为长安登览胜地。杜牧登临其上，俯瞰汉家五陵（长陵、安陵、阳陵、茂陵、平陵），遥想汉朝当年之盛，而今唯余秋风衰草，遂生「万古销沉」之慨。此诗正是借汉家兴亡写晚唐国势之隐忧，与杜牧「商女不知亡国恨」的咏史之思一脉相通，可见其咏史非徒发思古之幽情，实含忧时之深意。

Art

The poem is an exercise in economy, and four choices carry it. First, the opening image is a scale: one small bird set against 'the long sky', and then against 'ten thousand ages'. Scale is what makes the small thing sad. Second, the verb of the second line — 'melts and sinks' — is shared deliberately with everything that follows, so the bird's vanishing and the dynasties' passing become one event. Third, the question in line three is a rhetorical one, phrased as curiosity; the answer is given by the image that follows rather than by any statement. Fourth, the final image refuses the expected: an elegy on an imperial tomb would mention stone beasts or shrines, and Du Mu offers absence — no tree at all, and that absence is 'raising the autumn wind'.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以写景写所见。「长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中」以写景写所见——那「长空澹澹」「孤鸟没」写尽长空的空阔与孤鸟的没入，以写景写尽登原的所见。其二，以时空写销沉。「万古销沉向此中」以时空写销沉——那「万古销沉」写尽万古的销沉、「向此中」写尽向此中沉没，以时空写尽兴亡的销沉。其三，以设问写感慨。「看取汉家何事业」以设问写感慨——那「何事业」以设问写尽汉家事业的空无，以设问写尽兴亡的感慨。其四，以景收写秋风。「五陵无树起秋风」以景收写秋风——那「五陵无树」「起秋风」写尽五陵无树而秋风起，以景收写尽兴亡的感慨。此外，此诗前二句写长空孤鸟的远眺，后二句写五陵秋风的近景，由远而近、由景而慨，正是咏史诗「即景生情」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以咏史写兴亡，写尽汉家事业的销沉与兴亡的感慨，是杜牧的代表作。

Allusions

The five mausoleums (wuling) are the tombs of the Western Han emperors on the north slope of the Wei river: Gaozu's Changling, Huidi's Anling, Jingdi's Yangling, Wudi's Maoling and Zhaodi's Pingling, all visible from the terrace. The word for these mausoleums as a political unit carries the whole Han empire in five characters, which is why the question 'what was their achievement?' lands like a verdict. 'The long sky' and the 'autumn wind' are the older poetic furniture of elegy — the sky as the place where things end, the wind as the thing that remains after buildings are gone — and Du Mu is working a tradition that runs from the Chu 'Jiu ge' to his own later 'Over the Qing Palace'.

此诗的用语深植于咏史与兴亡的传统。「长空澹澹孤鸟没」令人想到「长空」写长空的意象——「长空澹澹孤鸟没」正是杜牧的名句，也令人想到「孤鸟没」写孤鸟没入天际的意象——「孤鸟没」正见长空的空阔；「万古销沉向此中」令人想到「万古销沉」写万古销沉的意象——「万古销沉向此中」正是杜牧的名句，也令人想到「销沉」写销亡沉没的意象；「看取汉家何事业」令人想到「汉家」写汉朝的典故——「汉家」指汉代，也令人想到「何事业」写何等事业的设问——「看取汉家何事业」正是杜牧的名句；「五陵无树起秋风」令人想到「五陵」写五陵的典故——五陵为汉高祖长陵、惠帝安陵、景帝阳陵、武帝茂陵、昭帝平陵，也令人想到「起秋风」写秋风的意象——「五陵无树起秋风」正是杜牧的名句，也令人想到「秋风起兮白云飞」的秋风。全诗化用长空、孤鸟、五陵的意象与典故，以咏史写兴亡，正是杜牧「俊爽峭健」而善用典、承咏史传统写感慨的本领。

Commentary

This quatrain is among the most quoted of Du Mu's meditations on the past, and Qing anthologists praised it for 'noble and clean' diction with 'no effort of the mind' visible in it. Modern readers have been most struck by its refusal of consolation: unlike Li Shangyin's poem on the same terrace, which ends on the beauty of a declining sun, Du Mu looks at stone and finds nothing. It is also read politically — as the quiet alarm of a poet in a court that was, within a generation, to see its own capital sacked.

此诗历来被推为杜牧咏史诗的名篇，也是唐人写乐游原的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以咏史写兴亡，深婉俊爽」；近人更指出「看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风」写兴亡的感慨，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以四句的绝句写尽汉家事业的销沉与兴亡的感慨——那澹澹的长空，那没入天际的孤鸟，那销沉的万古，那何事业的汉家，那无树的五陵，那起的秋风，都写尽了杜牧登乐游原的兴亡之慨；那「五陵无树起秋风」更以景写尽兴亡的萧条。此诗与杜牧《赤壁》（「东风不与周郎便」）同为咏史名篇，一写「铜雀春深锁二乔」的赤壁（赤壁），一写「五陵无树起秋风」的乐游原（登乐游原）；又与李商隐《登乐游原》（「夕阳无限好」）同咏乐游原，一写「只是近黄昏」的感伤（李商隐），一写「五陵无树起秋风」的兴亡（杜牧）。对于今日读者，此诗是理解杜牧咏史诗的窗口，也是中国诗写兴亡的经典——那无树的五陵，穿越千年，仍在诉说着汉家的销沉。

Prosody

Form Poetry — seven-character quatrain (qi-yan jueju)诗·七言绝句

Rhyme Rhymes on the -ong sound (zhong, feng) in the 東 rhyme of the upper level tones; one rhyme throughout the four lines.七绝，押「中」「风」韵（上平一东），一韵到底，音节峭健

Tone pattern The standard flat tonal figure of a seven-character quatrain, with level rhymes and no unLevel rhyming pair, so that the voice is even, cold and unhurried.此诗为七言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节峭健，正合咏史的峭健。

Reading note Twenty-eight characters. The rhyme both closes the second line and remains unbroken to the end, which is what gives the poem its closed, unarguing shape; the choice of the 東 rhyme, bright and wide, keeps the tone from sinking even though the subject is ruin. Read the first line on one long breath — the vague sky, the vanishing bird — and let the last line fall, not stop.此诗为七言绝句，四句——「长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中。看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风」，押「东」韵（中、风），一韵到底，音节峭健。全诗以咏史写兴亡：前二句写登原的所见（长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中），后二句写兴亡的感慨（看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风）。四句短章，前写所见，后写感慨，以「五陵无树起秋风」写尽兴亡的萧条，正见杜牧咏史诗「俊爽峭健」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以峭健的语调读「长空澹澹孤鸟没」的所见，以感慨的语调读「五陵无树起秋风」的秋风，结句「五陵无树起秋风」要读得苍凉而有余韵，方能传达出杜牧的俊爽峭健。杜牧绝句以「俊爽峭健」著称，此诗正是其咏史绝句的典范。

Line by line

看取汉家何事业，五陵无树起秋风

Look at the Han: what was ever their achievement? Not a tree on the five mausoleums to raise the autumn wind.

试看汉家有何等事业？五陵之上无树，唯有秋风起。

Look what became of the Han house's great enterprise: on the Five Mounds, no trees remain, only the autumn wind rises.

此二句是全诗写感慨的核心，以何事业写设问，以五陵秋风写萧条，写尽兴亡的感慨，是千古名句。「看取汉家何事业」写试看汉家有何等事业——那「看取」写试看，「汉家何事业」写汉家有何等事业，写尽对汉家事业的追问；「五陵无树起秋风」写五陵之上无树唯有秋风起——那「五陵无树」写五陵之上无树，「起秋风」写秋风起，写尽五陵的萧条。这句的深意在于：它以「看取汉家何事业」的设问与「五陵无树起秋风」的秋风，写尽兴亡的感慨——试看汉家有何等事业，那「看取汉家何事业」写尽对汉家事业的追问——汉家当年何等煊赫，如今事业何在？那「何事业」以设问写尽汉家事业的销沉；五陵之上无树唯有秋风起，那「五陵无树起秋风」写尽五陵的萧条——汉家五陵（帝陵），如今无树而唯秋风起，正是陵阙萧条的写照，那「无树起秋风」写尽五陵的荒凉；那「看取汉家何事业」写尽对汉家事业的追问，那「五陵无树起秋风」写尽五陵的萧条，一写追问，一写秋风，写尽兴亡的感慨——汉家事业销沉，唯五陵秋风，正是万古兴亡的写照；此二句以设问、秋风写尽兴亡的感慨，也让此二句成为全诗写感慨的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「汉朝早已衰亡了」，则失其含蓄；唯以「看取汉家何事业」写追问、「五陵无树起秋风」写秋风，写尽兴亡的感慨，也让此二句成为全诗写感慨的核心。

The climb to the High Plain of Leyou ends in a question about empire. Look what became of the Han house's great enterprise—the Han, the greatest dynasty the Tang could remember, and its enterprise, its whole achievement, now reduced to a question. On the Five Mounds, the emperors' tombs, no trees remain, only the autumn wind rises. The bare graves, stripped even of trees, are what glory came to. The rhetorical question is the poem's bitterness: the great enterprise is nowhere, and the wind is everywhere. To have said the Han dynasty had long fallen would be history; the bare mounds and the autumn wind are the fall.

长空澹澹孤鸟没，万古销沉向此中

The long sky is vague, and a lone bird disappears; ten thousand ages melt and sink away within it.

长空澹澹，孤鸟没入天际，万古的兴亡皆销沉于此中。

The vast sky lies pale and empty; a lone bird vanishes into it. Into this, all the ages have sunk away.

此二句是全诗写所见的核心，以长空孤鸟写远景，以万古销沉写兴亡，写尽登原的所见与销沉，是千古名句。「长空澹澹孤鸟没」写长空澹澹孤鸟没入天际——那「长空澹澹」写长空淡远，「孤鸟没」写孤鸟没入天际，写尽长空的空阔；「万古销沉向此中」写万古的兴亡皆销沉于此中——那「万古销沉」写万古销沉，「向此中」写向此中沉没，写尽兴亡的销沉。这句的深意在于：它以「长空澹澹孤鸟没」的远景与「万古销沉向此中」的销沉，写尽登原的所见与销沉——长空澹澹孤鸟没入天际，那「长空澹澹孤鸟没」写尽长空的空阔——长空淡远，孤鸟没入天际，正是登原远眺的空阔，那「孤鸟没」写尽长空的空阔；万古的兴亡皆销沉于此中，那「万古销沉向此中」写尽兴亡的销沉——登乐游原俯瞰，万古兴亡皆销沉于此，那「万古销沉」写尽兴亡的销沉；那「长空澹澹孤鸟没」写尽长空的空阔，那「万古销沉向此中」写尽兴亡的销沉，一写长空，一写销沉，写尽登原的所见与销沉——长空孤鸟的远眺，正引出万古销沉的感慨；此二句以长空、销沉写尽登原的所见与销沉，也让此二句成为全诗写所见的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「登上高台看得很远」，则失其空阔；唯以「长空澹澹孤鸟没」写远景、「万古销沉向此中」写销沉，写尽登原的所见与销沉，也让此二句成为全诗写所见的核心。

The view widens until it swallows history. The vast sky lies pale and empty; a lone bird vanishes into it. The emptiness of the sky is matched by the tiny bird, which disappears as though swallowed. Into this, the next line says, all the ages have sunk away. The vanishing bird is every dynasty, every ambition, every poem—gone into the pale sky. To have said I could see a long way would be sightseeing; the swallowed bird and the sinking ages are the distance.

Study

Word focus

销沉 The 'xiaochen' of 'wan gu xiao chen xiang ci zhong' — 'to melt away and sink'. It joins two motions in one word: things waste away and things go down. Its object here is 'ten thousand ages', so the whole of history is made to seem like something dissolving into the sky seen above. 「万古销沉向此中」之「销沉」是写兴亡的关键词，一个「销沉」写尽万古兴亡的消逝。销沉者，销亡沉没也。杜牧以「万古销沉」写兴亡，这个「销沉」至少有双重意味：其一，写兴亡之逝——那「万古销沉向此中」写万古的兴亡皆销沉于此中，那「销沉」写尽兴亡的消逝——万古兴亡，皆销沉于此，那「销沉」写尽兴亡的消逝；其二，写感慨之深——那「销沉」更是写感慨——万古销沉，正见兴亡的虚无，那「销沉」写尽兴亡的感慨。以「销沉」写兴亡，正是杜牧写感慨的枢纽——若换作「消逝」「销亡」等词，则或失其与「万古」的配合，或失其写销沉的意味；唯「销沉」二字，以万古销沉写尽兴亡的消逝与虚无，与「五陵无树起秋风」的无树秋风相合，写尽兴亡的感慨，也让「万古销沉向此中」成为全诗写销沉的名句。

无树 The 'wushu' of 'wuling wu shu qi qiu feng' — 'not a tree, no trees'. The negative is the image: every other detail of a decayed capital would be stone, railing, road, and Du Mu takes away even the trees, leaving only the wind. 「五陵无树起秋风」之「无树」是写萧条的字眼，一个「无树」写尽五陵的荒凉。无树者，没有树木也。杜牧以「五陵无树」写五陵，这个「无树」至少有双重意味：其一，写陵阙之荒——那「五陵无树起秋风」写五陵之上无树唯有秋风起，那「无树」写尽五陵的荒凉——帝陵无树，正是荒芜，那「无树」写尽五陵的萧条；其二，写兴亡之空——那「无树」更是写兴亡——无树可依，唯秋风起，正见兴亡后的一无所有，那「无树」写尽兴亡的空虚。以「无树」写五陵，正是杜牧写感慨的枢纽——若换作「无木」「空寂」等词，则或失其写无树的意象，或失其与「起秋风」的配合；唯「无树」二字，以五陵无树起秋风写尽五陵的荒凉与兴亡的空虚，与「看取汉家何事业」的何事业相合，写尽兴亡的感慨，也让「五陵无树起秋风」成为全诗写感慨的名句。