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汉 Han · 乐府 Yuefu ballad

西门行

Song of the West Gate

汉乐府

Han Yuefu

宴饮/祝颂feasting / celebration 隐逸/忧愤reclusion / indignation

出西门，步念之。
今日不作乐，当待何时？
夫为乐，为乐当及时。
何能坐愁怫郁，当复待来兹？
饮醇酒，炙肥牛。
请呼心所欢，可用解愁忧。
人生不满百，常怀千岁忧。
昼短夜长，何不秉烛游？
自非仙人王子乔，计会寿命难与期。

Out the west gate I walk, turning it over in mind;
If not merry today, when shall we wait?
To make merry, make merry in time;
why sit in gloom and fret, awaiting another year?
Drink the fine wine, roast the fat ox;
call the friends your heart delights, to dissolve your care.
Life is not a hundred years, yet we fret a thousand autumns;
day is short and night long—why not wander by candlelight?
Unless you are the immortal Prince Qiao, no reckoning can fix your span.

Listen

Meaning

I walk out the west gate, turning things over as I go. If we do not make merry today, when shall we wait? Since we mean to enjoy ourselves, we should seize the present. How can we sit in gloom and worry, expecting some later time? Pour the good wine, roast the fat ox, and summon those your heart holds dear, to dispel your sorrow. Life does not reach a hundred years, yet we carry a thousand autumns of worry. The day is short and the night long—why not roam by candlelight? Unless you are an immortal like Prince Qiao, no one can reckon or fix the length of his life.

走出西门，边走边思量。今天若不及时行乐，还要等到什么时候？既然要享乐，就该趁着当下。怎么能枯坐着满腹愁闷，还指望将来？斟上美酒，烤好肥牛，再把心头所喜之人请来，正好消解忧愁。人生不过百年，却常怀千岁之忧。白昼短而夜长，何不举烛夜游？若非如仙人王子乔那样长生，谁也算不准自己的寿命期限。

Appreciation

Song of the West Gate is gathered in the 'Miscellaneous Songs' section of the 'Yuefu Anthology' and is a folk lyric of the Han, not the work of one place or time. With the social unrest and the awakening of a sense of mortality at the end of the Han, people often used banquet songs to ease their fears. The 'west gate' was the western gate of Luoyang, a spot where men of letters strolled and saw friends off; the yuefu took its tune and made it a typical piece on the brevity of life and the need to enjoy the moment, influencing the later theme of 'roaming by candlelight.' The poem is mainly five-character with mixed longer lines, its tone urgent and restless; 'If not merry today, when shall we wait' strikes the heart with a rhetorical question, while 'Drink the fine wine, roast the fat ox' sketches the feast plainly. It is often examined for its lines 'Life is not a hundred years' and 'day is short and night long—why not wander by candlelight,' read against the Nineteen Old Poems.

【白话串讲】 “出西门，步念之。今日不作乐，当待何时”——走出西门，心想：今天不享乐，等什么时候？“人生不满百，常怀千岁忧”——人生不到一百岁，却常怀千年的忧。“昼短夜长，何不秉烛”——白天短黑夜长，为什么不举着蜡烛玩？【意象与手法】全诗以五言为主而间用杂言，语气促迫跳荡。'今日不作乐，当待何时'以反诘直击人心；'饮醇酒，炙肥牛'白描宴乐【情感与主旨】《西门行》收于《乐府诗集·杂曲歌辞》，为汉代民间歌辞，非一时一地之作【名句点睛】中考常取其'人生不满百，常怀千岁忧''昼短夜长，何不秉烛游'考查对生命意识与及时行乐主题的理解

Background

《西门行》为汉乐府古辞，是写及时行乐的诗。全诗：出西门，步念之；今日不作乐，当待何时？夫为乐，为乐当及时；何能坐愁怫郁，当复待来兹？饮醇酒，炙肥牛；请呼心所欢，可用解愁忧。人生不满百，常怀千岁忧；昼短而夜长，何不秉烛游？全诗写人生短暂、及时行乐，是汉乐府中写行乐主题的名篇。

Art

The poem is mainly five-character with mixed longer lines, its tone urgent and restless. 'If not merry today, when shall we wait' strikes the heart with a rhetorical question; 'Drink the fine wine, roast the fat ox' sketches the feast in plain description; 'Life is not a hundred years' borrows from the Old Poems yet feels heavier. In structure it moves from the urge to enjoy to a sigh over the shortness of life, then closes with the immortal Prince Qiao. The words are homely yet the feeling deep; refrain and apostrophe are both used, giving it the candid breath of a folk ballad.

《西门行》艺术上以反问的口气与行乐的铺陈见长。全诗结构分明：前段写及时行乐——“出西门，步念之”写出门而思，“今日不作乐，当待何时”写不作乐待何时，“夫为乐，为乐当及时”写为乐及时，“何能坐愁怫郁，当复待来兹”写何能坐愁；后段写行乐之方——“饮醇酒，炙肥牛”写饮醇炙肥，“请呼心所欢，可用解愁忧”写呼欢解忧，“人生不满百，常怀千岁忧”写人生短暂，“昼短而夜长，何不秉烛游”写秉烛夜游。全诗以反问写及时行乐，以铺陈写行乐之方，正是汉乐府写行乐主题的笔法。

Allusions

The last line, 'Unless you are the immortal Prince Qiao, no reckoning can fix your span,' uses the tale of Prince Qiao. Prince Qiao was the son of King Ling of Zhou, who loved to play the sheng like a phoenix's cry and later rode a crane away to immortal life from Mount Goushi; he is a famous Daoist immortal. The poet uses him to say that long life cannot be expected and one's span cannot be known, so one must enjoy the present. This allusion answers the carpe-diem theme by setting it against the fact of mortal limits, blending abandon with melancholy.

《西门行》用典在“人生不满百，常怀千岁忧”“秉烛游”。“人生不满百，常怀千岁忧”写人生不满百而忧千岁，感慨人生短暂；“秉烛游”写出《古诗十九首》“昼短苦夜长，何不秉烛游”，写夜游行乐；“怫郁”写愁闷不乐。全诗以这些意象写及时行乐，用典自然而感慨深沉，正是汉乐府写行乐主题的笔法。

Commentary

The 'Yuefu Anthology' preserves its tune via the 'Record of Ancient and Modern Music'; the Nineteen Old Poems' 'Life lacks a hundred years' clearly drew on it. The Ming critic Hu Yinglin said Han yuefu is 'plain yet not vulgar, shallow yet able to go deep,' and this poem is just such a case. The modern scholar Yu Guanwei calls it 'frank and vivid, writing the common wish to treasure time,' an important specimen for studying Han mortality and folk lyric.

《西门行》是汉乐府中的名篇，也是中国诗歌中写及时行乐、感慨人生短暂的代表作。此诗写及时行乐，向为论者称道。论者多赏其反问的口气——“今日不作乐，当待何时”写不作乐待何时，正是行乐之情的急切；“昼短而夜长，何不秉烛游”写秉烛夜游，更见其放达。此诗以反问写行乐、以感慨写人生，正是汉乐府写行乐主题的代表作，为后世“秉烛夜游”之典所本。

Prosody

Form Han Yuefu · Miscellaneous Songs杂言乐府（汉乐府）

Rhyme Free rhyme, mixed-line forms《西门行》为汉乐府杂言诗，押韵。此诗用韵：之、时（之部）、时、兹（之部）、牛、忧（之部）、忧、游（之部），音节流转。

Tone pattern Not traceable (folk song, set to music)汉乐府杂言诗以音节自由、情致质朴见长。此诗以反问写及时行乐，音节流转而放达。全诗以杂言贯底，声调与行乐主题的内容相合，是汉乐府中写行乐的一路。

Reading note Mainly five-character with three- and seven-character lines mixed; urgent tone, true to folk-ballad nature《西门行》为汉乐府古辞，是写及时行乐的诗。此诗以“今日不作乐，当待何时”写行乐之急切，以“为乐当及时”写行乐之理，以“饮醇酒，炙肥牛”铺陈行乐之方，以“何不秉烛游”写秉烛夜游。以反问写行乐、以感慨写人生，为后世“秉烛夜游”之典所本，正是汉乐府写行乐主题的代表作。

Line by line

出西门，步念之。今日不作乐，当待何时？

I go out the west gate and, walking, think on this: if we make merry not today, when shall we?

走出西门，边走边想。今天不作乐，要等到什么时候？

I go out the west gate and, as I walk, think: if we make merry not today, when shall we?

首四句写出门而思及时行乐，是全诗行乐之情的起点。“出西门，步念之”写出门而思——“出西门”写出城门，“步念之”写边走边想——走出西门，边走边想；“今日不作乐，当待何时”写不作乐待何时——“今日不作乐”写今天不作乐，“当待何时”写要等到什么时候——今天不作乐，待何时。四句写出门而思：出西门、步念之；今日不作乐，当待何时。以“出西门，步念之”写其出门起念，以“今日不作乐，当待何时”的反问写行乐之情的急切，正是汉乐府以反问写行乐的笔法——今日不作乐，更待何时。

The opening question. I go out the west gate and, walking, think: if we make merry not today, when shall we? The walk out of the city is where the argument starts. The when-shall-we question is the carpe diem's first form. To have said let's have fun today would be an invitation; the walked-out-the-west-gate and the if-not-today-when question are the invitation.

夫为乐，为乐当及时。何能坐愁怫郁，当复待来兹？

As for joy, joy must be taken in time. How can one sit gloomy and sullen, waiting again for the coming year?

说到作乐，作乐应当及时。怎么能坐着发愁闷，又要等到来年？

As for joy, joy must be taken in its time. How can one sit brooding and gloomy, waiting again for next year?

此数句写为乐当及时，是全诗行乐之情的深化。“夫为乐，为乐当及时”写为乐及时——“夫为乐”写说到作乐，“为乐当及时”写作乐应当及时——为乐应当及时；“何能坐愁怫郁，当复待来兹”写何能坐愁——“何能坐愁怫郁”写怎么能坐着发愁闷，“当复待来兹”写又要等到来年——怎么能坐愁，等来年。四句写为乐当及时：为乐当及时，何能坐愁怫郁、待来兹。以“为乐当及时”直写行乐之理，以“何能坐愁怫郁”的反问写不坐愁之决，正是汉乐府以反问写行乐之情的深化——及时行乐，不待来兹。

The insistence. As for joy, joy must be taken in its time; how can one sit brooding, waiting again for next year? The again-and-again of waiting is the target: tomorrow never comes. To have said do not wait would be advice; the joy-must-be-taken-in-time and the how-sit-gloomy-waiting-for-next-year question are the advice.

饮醇酒，炙肥牛。请呼心所欢，可用解愁忧。

Drink the strong wine, roast the fat ox. Call for those you love; that is the way to dissolve your sorrows.

饮醇美的酒，烤肥壮的牛。请来心中所欢之人，可以用来解除愁忧。

Drink the rich wine, roast the fat ox. Call for those your heart loves; that is how to dispel sorrow.

此数句写行乐之方，是全诗行乐之情的铺陈。“饮醇酒，炙肥牛”写饮醇炙肥——“饮醇酒”写饮醇美的酒，“炙肥牛”写烤肥壮的牛——饮醇酒、炙肥牛；“请呼心所欢，可用解愁忧”写呼欢解忧——“请呼心所欢”写请来心中所欢，“可用解愁忧”写可以用来解愁——呼心所欢，解我愁忧。四句写行乐之方：饮醇酒、炙肥牛，呼心所欢、解我愁忧。以“饮醇酒，炙肥牛”写饮食之乐，以“请呼心所欢，可用解愁忧”写欢会解忧，正是汉乐府铺陈行乐之方的笔法——醇酒肥牛，呼欢解忧。

The program. Drink the rich wine, roast the fat ox; call for those your heart loves, that is how to dispel sorrow. The concrete pleasures (wine, beef, loved ones) are the poem's recipe. To have said eat, drink, and be merry would be a recipe; the strong wine, the roasted fat ox, and the called-for beloveds to dissolve sorrow are the recipe.

人生不满百，常怀千岁忧。昼短而夜长，何不秉烛游？

Life lasts less than a hundred years, yet we nurse a thousand years of care. The day is short and the night long—why not roam with a candle?

人生不满百岁，常怀千年之忧。白昼短而黑夜长，为什么不秉烛夜游？

Life lasts less than a hundred years, yet we harbor a thousand years of grief. The day is short, the night long—why not roam with a candle?

末四句写人生短暂、秉烛夜游，是全诗行乐之理的归结。“人生不满百，常怀千岁忧”写人生短暂——“人生不满百”写人生不满百岁，“常怀千岁忧”写常怀千年之忧——人生短暂，而忧患无穷；“昼短而夜长，何不秉烛游”写秉烛夜游——“昼短而夜长”写白昼短而黑夜长，“何不秉烛游”写为什么不秉烛夜游——昼短夜长，何不秉烛夜游。四句写人生短暂、秉烛夜游：人生不满百，常怀千岁忧；昼短夜长，何不秉烛游。以“人生不满百”写人生短暂，以“何不秉烛游”写及时行乐之极，正是汉乐府写行乐之理的归结——人生苦短，秉烛夜游。

The borrowed lines. Life lasts less than a hundred years, yet we harbor a thousand years of grief; the day is short, the night long—why not roam with a candle? The poem repeats the Nineteen Old Poems' famous argument, and the candle image is the closing. To have said life is short so wander by candlelight would be a saying; the under-a-hundred years with the thousand-year grief, and the why-not-roam-with-a-candle question, are the saying.

Study

Word focus

当待何时 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “今日不作乐，当待何时”之“当待何时”，写要等到什么时候，是全诗反问口气的关键词。“当待”写要等到，“何时”写什么时候——今天不作乐，要等到什么时候。这一词以反问写行乐之急切：不是从容之问，而是急切之问；不是可待之事，而是不可待之乐。以“当待何时”写行乐，正是汉乐府以反问写情的笔法——今日不作，更待何时。

及时 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “为乐当及时”之“及时”，写作乐当在当下，是全诗写行乐之理的关键词。“及时”写把握时机——为乐应当及时。这一词写作乐之时：不是任意之时，而是及时；不是可缓之行，而是当下之乐。以“及时”写行乐，正是汉乐府写行乐之理的笔法——及时行乐，不待来兹。

怫郁 A variant for 'depressed, gloomy'; 'sit in gloom and fret' depicts the posture of brooding, writing the depth of worry. “何能坐愁怫郁”之“怫郁”，写愁闷不乐，是全诗写不坐愁的关键词。“怫郁”写愁闷郁结——怎么能坐着发愁闷。这一词写愁之态：不是浅淡之愁，而是怫郁；不是可解之忧，而是郁结之闷。以“怫郁”写坐愁，正是汉乐府以写愁衬行乐的笔法——坐愁怫郁，不如及时行乐。

秉烛游 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. “何不秉烛游”之“秉烛游”，写出《古诗十九首》“昼短苦夜长，何不秉烛游”，写秉烛夜游，是全诗行乐之理的归结词。“秉烛”写手持烛火，“游”写游赏——何不秉烛夜游。这一词写行乐之极：不是白日之游，而是秉烛夜游；不是寻常行乐，而是昼夜不舍。以“秉烛游”写及时行乐之极，正是汉乐府写行乐之理的归结——昼短夜长，秉烛而游。

西门行