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魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem

归园田居·其四

Returning to the Fields and Gardens · Fourth

陶渊明

Tao Yuanming

田园Pastoral 感慨Reflection

久去山泽游，浪莽林野娱。
试携子侄辈，披榛步荒墟。
徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居。
井灶有遗处，桑竹残朽株。
借问采薪者，此人皆焉如？
薪者向我言，死没无复余。
一世异朝市，此语真不虚。
人生似幻化，终当归空无。

Long I roamed the hills and marshes, wild and free in woods and waste.
I took my nephews along, broke through brambles to tread the ruined village.
Wandering among the mounds, I lingered by homes of men long gone.
Wells and hearths remained in traces; mulberries and bamboos were rotten stumps.
I asked a woodcutter: 'Where have all these people gone?'
The woodcutter said to me: 'Dead and vanished, none remain.'
'One lifetime alters court and market'—these words are no lie.
Human life is like an illusion; in the end it returns to emptiness.

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Meaning

Tao Yuanming wanders with his nephews to an abandoned village, finds only ruins and learns from a woodcutter that its former dwellers are all dead. The poem moves from scene to reflection, concluding that human life is illusory and ultimately returns to nothingness—a quiet philosophical insight born of facing ruin.

久去山泽游，浪莽林野娱。试携子侄辈，披榛步荒墟。徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居。井灶有遗处，桑竹残朽株。借问采薪者，此人皆焉如？薪者向我言，死没无复余。一世异朝市，此语真不虚。人生似幻化，终当归空无。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The poem records an excursion to a deserted village. The first eight lines depict the ruin: roaming hills and marshes, breaking through brambles, lingering among mounds, finding wells, hearths, rotten mulberries and bamboos. The next eight turn to reflection: asking the woodcutter, hearing of the dwellers' death, realizing that one lifetime changes court and market, and that life is illusion returning to emptiness. [Structure] The poem follows the 'object-to-truth' (即事见理) method of philosophical poetry: the first half is concrete observation, the second half abstract insight, the real scene giving rise to awakening. [Imagery] 'Wells and hearths,' 'mulberries and bamboos,' 'mounds' and 'rotten stumps' accumulate the traces of a vanished life; the问答 between poet and woodcutter lends the past a voice of testimony. The closing 'life is like an illusion' lifts the whole from locality to universality, embodying Tao's plain, natural philosophical style.

【白话串讲】陶渊明写《归园田居·其四》：“久去山泽游，浪莽林野娱”——“徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居”——“井灶有遗处，桑竹残朽株”——“借问采薪者，此人皆焉如”——“一世异朝市，此语真不虚”——他游荒墟，叹世事变迁。【意象与手法】此诗写荒墟，以感慨写荒墟，是陶渊明的名篇。前八句写荒墟：「久去山泽游，浪莽林野娱。试携子侄辈，披榛步荒墟。徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居。井灶有遗处，桑竹残朽株」写久去山泽游、披榛步荒墟、徘徊丘垄间、井灶有遗处——写尽荒墟的旧居；后八句写感慨：「借问采薪者，此人皆焉如？薪者向我言，死没无复余。一世异朝市，此语真不虚。人生似幻化，终当归空无」写借问采薪者、薪者向我言、一世异朝市、人生似幻化——写尽人生的感慨。全诗以感慨写荒墟，写尽荒墟的旧居与人生的感慨，是陶渊明的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写荒墟，以感慨写荒墟，是陶渊明的名篇。此诗为陶渊明《归园田居》组诗之四，写游荒墟而生人生幻化之慨。陶渊明归隐后，与子侄游于山野，见一处荒废的村落旧居，问采薪者而知昔人已死没，遂悟人生幻化、终归空无。此诗写荒墟：久去山泽游，浪莽林野娱——写久去山泽游、浪莽林野娱，写尽山泽的游娱；试携子侄辈，披榛步荒墟——写试携子侄辈、披榛步荒墟，写尽荒墟的探访；徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居——写徘徊丘垄间、依依昔人居，写尽昔人的旧居；井灶有遗处，桑竹残朽株——写井灶有遗处、桑竹残朽株，写尽旧居的遗迹；借问采薪者，此人皆焉如——写借问采薪者、此人皆焉如，写尽对昔人的询问；薪者向我言，死没无复余——写薪者向我言、死没无复余，写尽昔人的死没；一世异朝市，此语真不虚——写一世异朝市、此语真不虚，写尽世事的变迁；人生似幻化，终当归空无——写人生似幻化、终当归空无，写尽人生的感慨。全诗以感慨写荒墟——那「井灶有遗处」写尽荒墟的旧居，「终当归空无」写尽人生的感慨，写尽荒墟的旧居与人生的感慨，是理解陶渊明人生哲学的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居」写荒墟的旧居；「人生似幻化，终当归空无」写人生的感慨；以及全诗以感慨写荒墟、以荒墟悟人生的手法。

Background

Tao Yuanming (c. 365–427), also named Qian, courtesy name Yuanliang, styled himself Master of the Five Willows, was a native of Xunyang Chaisang (today's Jiujiang, Jiangxi), a poet of the Eastern Jin, honored as 'the patriarch of reclusive poets.' This is the fourth of his 'Returning to the Fields and Gardens' sequence. After retiring, he wandered the hills with his nephews, came upon an abandoned village, asked a woodcutter and learned its former dwellers were all dead, and thus awakened to life's illusory nature and ultimate emptiness. The poem opens with roaming hills and marshes and wild freedom in woods; brings nephews to tread the ruined village; lingers among mounds by homes of the past; notes wells, hearths, rotten mulberries and bamboos; asks the woodcutter where the people went; hears they are dead and gone; realizes one lifetime alters court and market; and concludes life is illusion returning to emptiness. It is a crucial text for understanding Tao Yuanming's philosophy of life.

此诗写荒墟，以感慨写荒墟，是陶渊明的名篇。陶渊明（约365—427），一名潜，字元亮，号五柳先生，浔阳柴桑（今江西九江）人，东晋诗人，被誉为「隐逸诗人之宗」。此诗为陶渊明《归园田居》组诗之四，写游荒墟而生人生幻化之慨。陶渊明归隐后，与子侄游于山野，见一处荒废的村落旧居，问采薪者而知昔人已死没，遂悟人生幻化、终归空无。此诗写荒墟：「久去山泽游，浪莽林野娱」写久去山泽游、浪莽林野娱——写尽山泽的游娱（久去山泽游，浪莽林野娱）；「试携子侄辈，披榛步荒墟」写试携子侄辈、披榛步荒墟——写尽荒墟的探访（试携子侄辈，披榛步荒墟）；「徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居」写徘徊丘垄间、依依昔人居——写尽昔人的旧居（徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居）；「井灶有遗处，桑竹残朽株」写井灶有遗处、桑竹残朽株——写尽旧居的遗迹（井灶有遗处，桑竹残朽株）；「人生似幻化，终当归空无」写人生似幻化、终当归空无——写尽人生的感慨（人生似幻化，终当归空无）。全诗以感慨写荒墟，写尽荒墟的旧居与人生的感慨，是理解陶渊明人生哲学的重要篇章。

Art

The artistry can be read in four aspects. First, plain description (白描) of the excursion: 'Long I roamed the hills and marshes, wild and free in woods' uses plain sketching to capture the ease before the ruin. Second, detail to write the old dwelling: 'Wells and hearths remained in traces; mulberries and bamboos were rotten stumps' uses concrete detail—the lingering wells and rotten trees—to convey the desolation of time. Third, question-and-answer to write change: 'I asked a woodcutter... where have they gone?' advances the narrative through dialogue, giving the变迁 of the world a living voice. Fourth, discursive reflection for feeling: 'Human life is like an illusion; in the end it returns to emptiness' closes with philosophical statement. The first eight lines depict the dwelling, the last eight the reflection—from concrete to awakened, the classic 'object-to-truth' method. The poem also excels at dynamic description: 'broke through brambles to tread the ruined village'—the verbs 'break' and 'tread' unfold the scene of exploration with the nephews; and the问答 'where have they gone' / 'said to me' pushes the narrative, making the ruin's past spoken by the woodcutter, adding authenticity.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以白描写游娱。「久去山泽游，浪莽林野娱」以白描写游娱——那「浪莽」「林野娱」写尽山泽的游娱，以白描写尽荒墟前的游兴。其二，以细节写旧居。「井灶有遗处，桑竹残朽株」以细节写旧居——那「井灶遗处」「桑竹朽株」写尽旧居的遗迹，以细节写尽荒墟的沧桑。其三，以问答写变迁。「借问采薪者，此人皆焉如」以问答写变迁——那「借问」「皆焉如」写尽对昔人的询问，以问答写尽世事的变迁。其四，以议论写感慨。「人生似幻化，终当归空无」以议论写感慨——那「似幻化」「归空无」写尽人生的幻化，以议论写尽人生的感慨。此外，此诗前八句写荒墟的旧居，后八句写人生的感慨，由实及悟，正是哲理诗「即事见理」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以感慨写荒墟，写尽荒墟的旧居与人生的感慨，是陶渊明的代表作。此诗还善于以「披榛步荒墟」的动感写探访——那「披榛」写拨开榛莽，「步荒墟」写步入废墟，一个「披」字一个「步」字，写尽子侄同游的动态，也使荒墟之景渐次展开。又善以「皆焉如」「向我言」的问答推进叙事——前有问而后有答，正是以问答写变迁、以对话出感慨的深致，使荒墟的往事由采薪者口中道出，更增真实感。

Allusions

The poem's diction is rooted in the tradition of ruins and reflection. 'Ruined village' (荒墟) evokes imagery of ruins, and 'Wu Palace flowers buried the hidden path' (Li Bai); 'mounds' (丘垄) evokes graves, and 'ancient tombs plowed into fields' (Nineteen Old Poems); 'wells and hearths' evokes old dwellings; 'mulberries and bamboos' evokes farmsteads; 'woodcutter' evokes the woodman; 'illusion' (幻化) evokes the metamorphosis of things in the Liezi and 'life is like a dream' (Su Shi); 'emptiness' (空无) evokes 'all things are born of being, and being of non-being' (Laozi) and the Buddhist 'all dharmas are empty in appearance.' 'Human life is like an illusion' recalls the Zhuangzi's 'all things transform' and the Liezi's 'gather to take form, disperse to become qi'; 'in the end returns to emptiness' recalls Laozi's 'being born of non-being' and Buddhist emptiness. Tao writes life through 'illusion' and 'emptiness,' revealing the confluence of Daoist, metaphysical and Buddhist thought in him, and the influence of Wei-Jin 'valuing non-being' (贵无) metaphysics.

此诗的用语深植于荒墟与感慨的传统。「荒墟」令人想到「荒墟」写废墟的意象——也令人想到「吴宫花草埋幽径」（李白）的意象；「丘垄」令人想到「丘垄」写坟墓的意象——也令人想到「古墓犁为田」（《古诗十九首》）的意象；「井灶」令人想到「井灶」写旧居的意象——也令人想到「井灶有遗处」的意象；「桑竹」令人想到「桑竹」写农家的意象——也令人想到「桑竹残朽株」的意象；「采薪者」令人想到「采薪者」写樵夫的意象——也令人想到「樵夫」的意象；「幻化」令人想到「幻化」写幻化的意象——《列子》「万物之化」的意象，也令人想到「人生如梦」（苏轼）的意象；「空无」令人想到「空无」写空无的意象——也令人想到「终当归空无」的意象。全诗化用荒墟、丘垄、井灶、桑竹、幻化的意象，以感慨写荒墟，正是陶渊明「平淡自然」而善悟人生、承感慨传统写幻化的本领。「人生似幻化」令人想到《庄子》「万物皆化」的哲思，也令人想到《列子》「聚则成形，散则为气」的化生之说；「终当归空无」令人想到《老子》「天下万物生于有，有生于无」的思想，也令人想到佛家「诸法空相」的义理。陶渊明以「幻化」「空无」写人生，正见其思想中道、玄、佛的交融，也可见魏晋玄学「贵无」的影响。

Commentary

This poem has long been praised as a masterpiece of Tao Yuanming's philosophical poetry and a representative of the 'Returning to the Fields' sequence. Critics through the ages rated it highly: a Qing reader noted it 'writes ruins through reflection, revealing deep feeling beneath plainness'; modern scholars point to 'Human life is like an illusion; in the end it returns to emptiness' as its famous line. Its special value in poetic history lies in using sixteen five-character lines to exhaust both the old dwelling and life's reflection—the hills, the woods, the nephews, the ruin, the mounds, the past homes, the wells, the mulberries, the woodcutter, the death, the court and market, the illusion, the emptiness, all rendered in Tao's hand. It pairs with 'Returning to the Fields · First' ('I was long in the cage, now return to nature') as two famous pieces of the sequence—one of returning to fields, one of awakening to the Way. It also inherits the life-reflection tradition of the Nineteen Old Poems ('human life is sudden as a lodging'). For today's readers it is a window into Tao's philosophy and a classic of Chinese ruin-poetry: those rotten mulberries, across a thousand years, still speak of life's illusion.

此诗历来被推为陶渊明哲理诗的名篇，也是《归园田居》组诗的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以感慨写荒墟，平淡中见深慨」；近人更指出「人生似幻化，终当归空无」写人生的感慨，是此诗的名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以十六句的五言古诗写尽荒墟的旧居与人生的感慨——那山泽，那林野，那子侄，那荒墟，那丘垄，那昔人居，那井灶，那桑竹，那采薪者，那死没，那朝市，那幻化，那空无，都写尽了陶渊明笔下的荒墟；那「人生似幻化，终当归空无」更以议论写尽人生的感慨。此诗与陶渊明《归园田居·其一》（「开荒南野际」）同为归园田居名篇，一写「久在樊笼里，复得返自然」的归田（其一），一写「人生似幻化，终当归空无」的悟道（其四）；又与《古诗十九首》「人生忽如寄」的人生感慨一脉相承，可见中国诗写人生幻化的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解陶渊明哲学的窗口，也是中国诗写荒墟的经典——那残朽的桑竹，穿越千年，仍在诉说着人生的幻化。

Prosody

Form Poetry · Five-character ancient-style verse诗·五言古诗

Rhyme Ancient-style poem; even lines rhyme (娱, 墟, 居, 株, 如, 余, 虚, 无, in the 'yu' rhyme of the upper-level tone), with an antique, pale music.古体诗，偶句押韵（娱、墟、居、株、如、余、虚、无，上平六鱼），音节古淡

Tone pattern A five-character ancient-style poem in the level tone, with antique, pale music fitting the plain reflection.此诗为五言古诗，押平声韵，音节古淡，正合感慨的古淡。

Reading note This is a five-character ancient-style poem of sixteen lines—'Long I roamed the hills and marshes... in the end it returns to emptiness'—with even lines rhyming in the 'yu' category (娱, 墟, 居, 株, 如, 余, 虚, 无), antique and pale. The first eight lines depict the old dwelling, the last eight life's reflection, closing with 'Human life is like an illusion; in the end it returns to emptiness,' exactly Tao's plain, natural manner. Read the dwelling lines in a pale tone, the closing reflection in a deep, lingering one, so the plainness carries its deep feeling.此诗为五言古诗，十六句——「久去山泽游，浪莽林野娱。试携子侄辈，披榛步荒墟。徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居。井灶有遗处，桑竹残朽株。借问采薪者，此人皆焉如？薪者向我言，死没无复余。一世异朝市，此语真不虚。人生似幻化，终当归空无」，偶句押「鱼」韵（娱、墟、居、株、如、余、虚、无），音节古淡。全诗以感慨写荒墟：前八句写荒墟的旧居（久去山泽游、井灶有遗处），后八句写人生的感慨（借问采薪者、人生似幻化）。十六句长篇，前写旧居，后写感慨，以「人生似幻化，终当归空无」写尽人生的感慨，正见陶渊明「平淡自然」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以古淡的语调读「披榛步荒墟」的旧居，以深沉的低回语调读「人生似幻化」的感慨，结句要读得古淡而有余韵，方能传达出陶渊明的平淡中见深慨。陶渊明古诗以「平淡自然」著称，此诗正是其哲理古诗的典范。

Line by line

人生似幻化，终当归空无

Human life is like an illusion; in the end it returns to emptiness.

人生似幻化，终当归空无。

Human life is like a phantom transformation; in the end it all returns to emptiness.

此二句是全诗写感慨的核心，以人生似幻化写幻化，以终当归空无写空无，写尽人生的感慨，是千古名句。「人生似幻化」写人生似幻化——那「人生」写人生，「似幻化」写似幻化，写尽人生的幻化；「终当归空无」写终当归空无——那「终当」写终当，「归空无」写归空无，写尽人生的空无。这句的深意在于：它以「人生似幻化」的幻化与「终当归空无」的空无，写尽人生的感慨——人生似幻化，那「人生似幻化」写尽人生的幻化——人生如幻，正是对生命无常的感悟，那「似幻化」写尽人生的幻化；终当归空无，那「终当归空无」写尽人生的空无——终当归于空无，正是对生命归宿的洞见，那「归空无」写尽人生的空无；那「人生似幻化」写尽人生的幻化，那「终当归空无」写尽人生的空无，一写幻化，一写空无，写尽人生的感慨——人生如幻而终归空无，正是对生命的彻悟；此二句以幻化、空无写尽人生的感慨，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「人生无常」，则失其哲思；唯以「人生似幻化」写幻化、「终当归空无」写空无，写尽人生的感慨，也让此二句成为全诗写感慨的核心。

Tao Yuanming walks through a ruined village. Human life is like a phantom transformation; in the end it all returns to emptiness. The two lines are a Buddhist-inflected verdict on the abandoned hamlet: every household he finds empty will end this way. The word phantom-transformation carries the whole poem's Buddhist undertone in a Confucian poet. To have said life is fleeting would be a proverb; the phantom transformation and the return to emptiness are the fleetingness.

徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居

Wandering among the mounds, I lingered by homes of men long gone.

徘徊丘垄间，依依昔人居。

I wander among the mounds and burial hillocks; fondly I linger where my old neighbors lived.

此二句是全诗写旧居的核心，以徘徊丘垄间写徘徊，以依依昔人居写昔人，写尽荒墟的旧居，是千古名句。「徘徊丘垄间」写徘徊丘垄间——那「徘徊」写徘徊，「丘垄间」写丘垄间，写尽丘垄的徘徊；「依依昔人居」写依依昔人居——那「依依」写依依，「昔人居」写昔人居，写尽昔人的旧居。这句的深意在于：它以「徘徊丘垄间」的丘垄与「依依昔人居」的昔人，写尽荒墟的旧居——徘徊丘垄间，那「徘徊丘垄间」写尽丘垄的徘徊——徘徊在丘垄之间，正是凭吊的写照，那「徘徊」写尽对昔人的凭吊；依依昔人居，那「依依昔人居」写尽昔人的旧居——依依昔人之居，正是旧居在目的写照，那「依依」写尽对昔人的怀想；那「徘徊丘垄间」写尽丘垄的徘徊，那「依依昔人居」写尽昔人的旧居，一写徘徊，一写旧居，写尽荒墟的旧居——徘徊丘垄而依依旧居，正是荒墟凭吊的写照；此二句以丘垄、旧居写尽荒墟的旧居，也为后文的感慨作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写旧居的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「以前的房子荒废了」，则失其深情；唯以「徘徊丘垄间」写徘徊、「依依昔人居」写昔人，写尽荒墟的旧居，也让此二句成为全诗写旧居的核心。

The wandering is elegy. I wander among the mounds and burial hillocks—the graves have grown up around the houses; fondly I linger where my old neighbors once lived. The word fondly is the grief: the houses are gone, the neighbors are in the mounds, and he still lingers at the empty site. The physical wandering among graves and ruins is the memory. To have said the village was abandoned and I grieved would be a statement; the lingering among the mounds at the old foundations is the grief.

Study

Word focus

依依 'Yiyi' (依依) in 'lingered by homes of men long gone' (依依昔人居) is a word of attachment, voicing deep fondness for the past in two characters. 'Yiyi' means to cling, to be reluctant to leave. Tao uses it at least doubly: first, as feeling—'lingered by homes of men long gone' writes attachment to those who lived there, a portrait of longing for the former dwellers; second, as scene—'yiyi' also suggests the dim, faint survival of the old dwelling, writing the ruin's vicissitude. As the hinge of the ruin-poem, 'yiyi' matches the 'wandering among the mounds' and makes the line a famous depiction of the old home; other words like 'lianlian' or 'juanjuan' would lose this fit. 「依依昔人居」之「依依」是写怀想的量词，一个「依依」写尽对昔人的依恋。依依者，依恋、留恋也。陶渊明以「依依昔人居」写怀想，这个「依依」至少有双重意味：其一，写情之恋——那「依依昔人居」写依依昔人居，那「依依」写尽对昔人的依恋——依依昔人之居，正是依恋的写照，那「依依」写尽对昔人的怀想；其二，写景之依——那「依依」更是写景——依依，正见旧居的依稀，那「依依」写尽荒墟的沧桑。以「依依」写怀想，正是陶渊明写荒墟的枢纽——若换作「恋恋」「眷眷」等词，则或失其与「昔人居」「徘徊」的配合，或失其写依依的意味；唯「依依」二字，以依依昔人居写尽对昔人的依恋与旧居的依稀，与「徘徊丘垄间」的徘徊相合，写尽荒墟的旧居，也让「依依昔人居」成为全诗写旧居的名句。

终 The word 'zhong' (终, 'in the end') in 'in the end it returns to emptiness' (终当归空无) is the keyword of reflection, writing life's destination in one character. 'Zhong' means ultimately, finally. Tao uses it at least doubly: first, as certainty of return—'in the end it returns to emptiness' affirms the necessity of life's destination, an insight into where life ends; second, as confirmed principle—'zhong' also shows the definiteness of awakening. As the hinge of his writing on life, 'zhong' pairs with 'like an illusion' to exhaust both the transience and the void, making the line a famous statement of reflection; replacing it with 'bi' or 'ding' would lose this resonance. 「终当归空无」之「终」字是写感慨的关键词，一个「终」字写尽人生的归宿。终者，终究、最终也。陶渊明以「终当归空无」写感慨，这个「终」字至少有双重意味：其一，写归之定——那「终当归空无」写终当归空无，那「终」字写尽归宿的必然——终当归于空无，正是对生命归宿的洞见，那「终」字写尽人生的幻化；其二，写理之确——那「终」字更是写确——终当，正见彻悟的确定，那「终」字写尽陶渊明的哲思。以「终」字写感慨，正是陶渊明写人生的枢纽——若换作「必」「定」等字，则或失其与「当归空无」「人生似幻化」的配合，或失其写终的意味；唯「终」字，以终当归空无写尽归宿的必然与彻悟的确定，与「人生似幻化」的幻化相合，写尽人生的感慨，也让「终当归空无」成为全诗写感慨的名句。