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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

哭孟浩然

Weeping for Meng Haoran

王维

Wang Wei

悼亡Mourning the Dead 怀友Lamenting a Friend

故人不可见，汉水日东流。
借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州。

An old friend, and I can never see him more;
The Han river flows east, every single day.
I ask about the old men of Xiangyang —
The rivers and hills stand empty over Caizhou.

Listen

Meaning

Wang Wei learns that Meng Haoran is dead and answers the loss with four lines. He does not describe the death at all; he sets the friend beside the river that will not stop flowing and then asks, as travellers do, who is left in the old city — and the answer is only landscape. The whole poem is the recognition that after someone dies, the world simply goes on, and that continuation is itself the grief.

故人不可见，汉水日东流。借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The first couplet is a paradox stated plainly: the friend cannot be seen, and the river can. Placed side by side the two say that death has stopped one movement and not the other, and that this is the actual experience of loss. The second couplet is the ordinary gesture of a traveller asking in a strange city, and the answer is refused — the rivers and hills are empty over Caizhou, that is, they are exactly as they were before, and Meng is not in them.[Structure] The four lines close with a period that is not a period: the last couplet ends on a question whose answer the landscape supplies negatively.[Imagery] Wang Wei's signature is the demotion of the self. There is no 'I weep' anywhere. The poet is presented as a man asking directions, and the grief is left in the word 'empty', which describes a place rather than a heart.

【白话串讲】王维写《哭孟浩然》：“故人不可见，汉水日东流”——“借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州”——孟浩然去世，他痛哭——故人不可见，只有汉水东流。【意象与手法】此诗写悼亡，以友情写悼亡，是王维的名篇。前二句写故人：「故人不可见，汉水日东流」写故人不可见、汉水日东流——写尽故人的长逝；后二句写悼念：「借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州」写借问襄阳老、江山空蔡州——写尽江山的空寂。全诗以友情写悼亡，写尽故人的长逝与江山的空寂，是王维的代表作。【情感与主旨】此诗写悼亡，以友情写悼亡，是王维的名篇。此诗为悼念孟浩然而作。孟浩然（689—740），襄阳人，盛唐山水田园诗人，与王维并称「王孟」。开元二十八年（740），孟浩然病卒于襄阳；王维闻讯，作此诗以悼。此诗写故人：故人不可见，汉水日东流——写故人不可见、汉水日东流，写尽故人的长逝；借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州——写借问襄阳老、江山空蔡州，写尽江山的空寂。全诗以友情写悼亡——那「故人不可见」写尽故人的长逝，「江山空蔡州」写尽江山的空寂，写尽故人的长逝与江山的空寂，是理解王维孟浩然友情的重要篇章。【名句点睛】常考「故人不可见，汉水日东流」写故人的长逝；「借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州」写江山的空寂；以及全诗以友情写悼亡、以景写哀的手法。

Background

Meng Haoran (689–740) was the elder and the friend of Li Bai, and a close friend of Wang Wei (c. 701–761); the three moved in the same circles at Chang'an and in the mountains north of the capital. Meng spent his life refusing office and living at Xiangyang, on the Han river, and died returning from a visit to the capital. Wang Wei had already retired to his estate at Mount Qingyuan and was painting and keeping silence when the news came. His late poetry turns increasingly toward emptiness, and this quatrain belongs to that final manner.

此诗写悼亡，以友情写悼亡，是王维的名篇。王维（约701—761），字摩诘，号摩诘居士，河东蒲州（今山西运城）人，盛唐诗人，官至尚书右丞，世称「王右丞」，有「诗佛」之称，与孟浩然并称「王孟」。此诗为悼念孟浩然而作。孟浩然（689—740），襄阳人，盛唐山水田园诗人，与王维并称「王孟」。开元二十八年（740），孟浩然病卒于襄阳；王维闻讯，作此诗以悼。此诗写故人：「故人不可见，汉水日东流」写故人不可见、汉水日东流——写尽故人的长逝（故人不可见，汉水日东流）；「借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州」写借问襄阳老、江山空蔡州——写尽江山的空寂（借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州）。全诗以友情写悼亡，写尽故人的长逝与江山的空寂，是理解王维孟浩然友情的重要篇章。孟浩然（689—740），襄州襄阳人，唐代著名山水田园诗人，一生未仕，漫游山水，与王维、李白等交厚。开元二十八年（740），王昌龄游襄阳访孟浩然，孟浩然病疽背，食鲜疾发而卒，年五十二。王维与孟浩然交谊深厚，孟浩然画像曾留王维处；王维闻孟浩然卒，作此诗悼之。

Art

The poem's whole art is subtraction. It is short, contains no emotion word, no death, no consolation, and yet is read as one of the great mournings of the Tang. Wang Wei uses the natural image as a counter-term to the human one: the Han river, which was there while Meng was alive and flows on now, witnesses the change without marking it. The final couplet uses the most ordinary device in Chinese travel poetry — asking an passer-by about a place — and makes the emptiness of the answer carry everything. Nothing is dwelt on; the grief is left as air in a landscape.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以直抒写悼亡。「故人不可见」以直抒写悼亡——那「不可见」写尽故人的不可见，以直抒写尽悼亡的沉痛。其二，以写景写长逝。「汉水日东流」以写景写长逝——那「日东流」写尽汉水的东流，以写景写尽故人的长逝。其三，以发问写追念。「借问襄阳老」以发问写追念——那「借问」写尽对襄阳的询问，以发问写尽对故人的追念。其四，以写空写哀悼。「江山空蔡州」以写空写哀悼——那「空蔡州」写尽江山的空寂，以写空写尽悼亡的哀悼。此外，此诗前二句写故人的长逝，后二句写江山的空寂，由逝及空，正是悼亡诗「即景伤逝」的写法。四重手法，使此诗以友情写悼亡，写尽故人的长逝与江山的空寂，是王维的代表作。此诗还善于以「日东流」的时间意象写永远的逝去——那「汉水日东流」写汉水日复一日东流，正是以恒久的流水反衬故人之一去不返，以景之恒写情之痛。又善以「空蔡州」的「空」字收束全篇——江山依旧而故人已空，一个「空」字写尽人去景空的怅惘，也使全诗于二十字中见无限哀思。

Allusions

The geography is real and charged. The Han river flows past Xiangyang, Meng's own city, and 'east every day' gives the endless motion that contrasts with the single stopped life. Caizhou lay south of Xiangyang along the same route and was where Meng was living when he died, so the last word names his last place on earth. Meng's standing as the poet who refused office makes the plain 'old men of Xiangyang' the right people to ask about: they knew him as he was.

此诗的用语深植于悼亡与友情传统。「故人」令人想到「故人」写老友的意象——也令人想到「故人入我梦，明我长相忆」（杜甫）的意象；「汉水」令人想到「汉水」写汉水的意象——汉水流经襄阳，也令人想到「汉水东流」的意象；「襄阳老」令人想到「襄阳老」写襄阳人的意象——孟浩然为襄阳人，也令人想到「襄阳耆旧」的意象；「蔡州」令人想到「蔡州」写蔡州的意象——蔡州在襄阳附近，也令人想到「江山空蔡州」的意象。全诗化用故人、汉水、襄阳老、蔡州的意象，以友情写悼亡，正是王维「空灵」而善写哀、承悼亡传统写友情之本领。「襄阳老」令人想到「襄阳耆旧」的典故——襄阳为孟浩然故里，李白《赠孟浩然》「红颜弃轩冕，白首卧松云」亦以襄阳写孟浩然；「蔡州」令人想到襄阳附近的蔡州古地，也令人想到「楚地」的意象。王维以「借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州」写人去地空，正见其对孟浩然故里的追念。又「空蔡州」令人想到李白《黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵》「孤帆远影碧空尽，唯见长江天际流」的空阔意象，一送一哭，正见孟浩然与诸诗人的交谊。

Commentary

Wang Wei's reputation rests on the quietist of his poems, and this quatrain is regularly cited as the clearest case of his principle that poetry should show rather than declare. Commentators have long noted the coldness at the centre of the piece — there is no consolation offered, and the landscape answer to the question about the dead is precisely the one a mourner dreads. Later anthologies grouped it with the weeping poems of Li Bai and Li Shangyin as a demonstration that a four-line quatrain can bear the weight of an elegy.

此诗历来被推为王维悼亡诗的名篇，也是写王孟友情的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以友情写悼亡，凄婉空灵」；近人更指出「江山空蔡州」写江山的空寂，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故人的长逝与江山的空寂——那故人，那不可见，那汉水，那日东流，那襄阳老，那江山，那空蔡州，都写尽了王维笔下的哭孟浩然；那「江山空蔡州」更以写空写尽悼亡的哀悼。此诗与王维《送孟六归襄阳》（「醉歌田舍酒」）等孟浩然诗不同，一写「借问襄阳老」的悼亡（哭孟浩然），一写送别（送孟六）；又与杜甫《梦李白》「故人入我梦」的悼念传统一脉相承，可见中国诗写友情的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解王维孟浩然友情的窗口，也是中国诗写悼亡的经典——那东流的汉水，穿越千年，仍在诉说着故人的长逝。又此诗「故人不可见，汉水日东流」与李白《哭晁卿衡》「日本晁卿辞帝都」的悼亡异曲同工，一写汉水东流，一写明月孤悬，皆以景写哀、以水写逝，可见唐人悼友诗以景结情的传统。

Prosody

Form Five-character quatrain诗·五言绝句

Rhyme Rhymes on the You category — 'flow' and 'state' — level tone throughout, one unbroken rhyme.五绝，押「流」「州」韵（下平十一尤），一韵到底，音节空灵

Tone pattern Level tone, unhurried and even, the calm sound matching the poet's restraint.此诗为五言绝句，押平声韵，一韵到底，音节空灵，正合悼亡的空灵。

Reading note Four lines of five characters, the shortest of the standard forms. The first two couplets each form a complete antithesis, so the whole poem closes almost immediately after the turning point at line three.此诗为五言绝句，四句——「故人不可见，汉水日东流。借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州」，押「尤」韵（流、州），一韵到底，音节空灵。全诗以友情写悼亡：前二句写故人的长逝（故人不可见、汉水日东流），后二句写江山的空寂（借问襄阳老、江山空蔡州）。四句短章，前写长逝，后写空寂，以「江山空蔡州」写尽江山的空寂，正见王维「空灵」的本色。诵读此诗，宜以空灵的语调读「故人不可见」的沉痛，以虚静的语调读「江山空蔡州」的空寂，结句要读得空灵而有余韵，方能传达出王维的凄婉空灵。王维绝句以「空灵」著称，此诗正是其悼亡绝句的典范。

Line by line

故人不可见，汉水日东流

An old friend, and I can never see him more; the Han river flows east, every single day.

故人不可见，汉水日东流。

My old friend is no more to be seen; the Han River flows east all day.

此二句是全诗写悼亡的核心，以故人不可见写故人，以汉水日东流写汉水，写尽故人的长逝，是千古名句。「故人不可见」写故人不可见——那「故人」写故人，「不可见」写不可见，写尽故人的不可见；「汉水日东流」写汉水日东流——那「汉水」写汉水，「日东流」写日东流，写尽汉水的东流。这句的深意在于：它以「故人不可见」的故人与「汉水日东流」的汉水，写尽故人的长逝——故人不可见，那「故人不可见」写尽故人的不可见——故人不可再见，正是生离死别的写照，那「不可见」写尽悼亡的沉痛；汉水日东流，那「汉水日东流」写尽汉水的东流——汉水日东流，正是逝者如斯的写照，那「日东流」写尽故人的长逝；那「故人不可见」写尽故人的不可见，那「汉水日东流」写尽汉水的东流，一写故人，一写汉水，写尽故人的长逝——故人不见而汉水长流，正是以景写哀的写照；此二句以故人、汉水写尽故人的长逝，也为后文的空寂作铺垫，也让此二句成为全诗写悼亡的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「孟浩然去世了」，则失其沉痛；唯以「故人不可见」写故人、「汉水日东流」写汉水，写尽故人的长逝，也让此二句成为全诗写悼亡的核心。

The river. My old friend is no more to be seen; the Han River flows east all day. The unseen friend against the east-flowing river is Wang Wei's elegy. To have said the friend was gone and the river flowed on would be a contrast; the old-friend-no-more-seen against the Han-River-flowing-east-all-day is the contrast.

借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州

I ask the old men of Xiangyang — the rivers and hills stand empty over Caizhou.

借问襄阳老，江山空蔡州。

I ask the elders of Xiangyang: rivers and hills, and Caizhou is empty.

此二句是全诗写空寂的核心，以借问襄阳老写襄阳，以江山空蔡州写江山，写尽江山的空寂，是千古名句。「借问襄阳老」写借问襄阳老——那「借问」写借问，「襄阳老」写襄阳老，写尽对襄阳的询问；「江山空蔡州」写江山空蔡州——那「江山」写江山，「空蔡州」写空蔡州，写尽江山的空寂。这句的深意在于：它以「借问襄阳老」的襄阳与「江山空蔡州」的江山，写尽江山的空寂——借问襄阳老，那「借问襄阳老」写尽对襄阳的询问——借问襄阳老辈，正是对故人的追念，那「借问」写尽对孟浩然的忆念；江山空蔡州，那「江山空蔡州」写尽江山的空寂——江山空对蔡州，正是人去景空的写照，那「空蔡州」写尽江山的空寂；那「借问襄阳老」写尽对襄阳的询问，那「江山空蔡州」写尽江山的空寂，一写询问，一写空寂，写尽江山的空寂——借问襄阳而江山空对，正是人亡景空的写照；此二句以襄阳、江山写尽江山的空寂，也让此二句成为全诗写空寂的核心与千古名句。若换作直说「襄阳从此没有他了」，则失其空灵；唯以「借问襄阳老」写襄阳、「江山空蔡州」写江山，写尽江山的空寂，也让此二句成为全诗写空寂的核心。

The emptiness. I ask the elders of Xiangyang: rivers and hills, and Caizhou is empty. The asking of the elders and the empty Caizhou are Meng Haoran's death at home. To have said the old friend's home town was empty would be a statement; the asking-the-elders-of-Xiangyang against the rivers-and-hills-Caizhou-empty is the statement.

Study

Word focus

空 Empty, and here applied to landscape rather than to a room. It means the scene still holds everything except the person it belonged to. 「江山空蔡州」之「空」字是写空寂的关键词，一个「空」字写尽江山的空寂。空者，空寂、徒然也。王维以「江山空蔡州」写空寂，这个「空」字至少有双重意味：其一，写景之空——那「江山空蔡州」写江山空蔡州，那「空」字写尽江山的空寂——江山空对蔡州，正是人去景空的写照，那「空」字写尽江山的空寂；其二，写情之空——那「空」字更是写情——空，正见悼亡的徒然，那「空」字写尽对故人的哀悼。以「空」字写空寂，正是王维写悼亡的枢纽——若换作「对」「望」等字，则或失其与「江山」「蔡州」的配合，或失其写空的意味；唯「空」字，以江山空蔡州写尽江山的空寂与悼亡的徒然，与「故人不可见」的不可见相合，写尽江山的空寂，也让「江山空蔡州」成为全诗写空寂的名句。

日 Day by day, continuously. It gives the river an endlessness that mocks the finite life of the friend. 「汉水日东流」之「日」字是写长逝的关键词，一个「日」字写尽汉水的东流。日者，日日、每天也。王维以「汉水日东流」写长逝，这个「日」字至少有双重意味：其一，写流之恒——那「汉水日东流」写汉水日东流，那「日」字写尽汉水的东流——日复一日东流，正是逝者如斯的写照，那「日」字写尽故人的长逝；其二，写逝之永——那「日」字更是写永——日，正见时光的永恒，那「日」字写尽悼亡的沉痛。以「日」字写长逝，正是王维写悼亡的枢纽——若换作「自」「常」等字，则或失其与「汉水」「东流」的配合，或失其写日的意味；唯「日」字，以汉水日东流写尽汉水的东流与时光的永恒，与「故人不可见」的不可见相合，写尽故人的长逝，也让「汉水日东流」成为全诗写长逝的名句。