唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
凉州馆中与诸判官夜集
A Night Gathering with the Assistant Magistrates at the Liangzhou Inn
弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州。
凉州七里十万家，胡人半解弹琵琶。
琵琶一曲肠堪断，风萧萧兮夜漫漫。
河西幕中多故人，故人别来三五春。
花门楼前见秋草，岂能贫贱相看老。
一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒。
And the moon over the wall lights up Liangzhou.
Liangzhou, seven li wide with ten thousand families,
Half its people of the steppe can play the pipa.
Play the pipa once and the bowels turn to sorrow,
The wind soughs and the night is long.
In the west river camp there are many old friends,
Old friends, and three or five springs since we parted.
Before the Flowergate pavilion I see autumn grass —
How could we, poor and low, watch each other grow old?
A life — how many times can one laugh outright?
A cup of wine, and meeting, we must get drunk and fall.
Meaning
Cen Shen is stationed at Liangzhou, on the frontier, and one evening he and his fellow officials gather in the town after moonrise. He first gives the scene: a crooked moon over the wall, a city of ten thousand households where half the population can play the pipa, and the music that cuts the heart in two under a long, windy night. Then the gathering itself: old friends from the western camp, five springs since they last met, already seeing autumn grass where the Flowergate pavilion stands, and so concluding that if they go on in poverty they will simply grow old without seeing each other — therefore, one laugh, one cup, and they must drink themselves over.
弯弯的月儿挂上城头，城头的月儿照着凉州。凉州方圆七里十万人家，胡人一半会弹琵琶。琵琶一曲令人肠断，风萧萧兮夜色漫漫。河西幕府中多是故人，故人分别已有三五春。花门楼前看见秋草，岂能贫贱相对着老去。一生大笑能有几回，斗酒相逢须要醉倒。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The poem has two halves and they are joined by nothing but the hour. The first gives the town: a moon over the wall, a Great City of ten thousand houses, half-barbaric music, a long cold night. The second gives the men in it, and the two are held together by the word Liangzhou, which means both the place and the exile.[Structure] The first six lines are scene; the last six are company. The formal device the formal device is a chain-link — 'moon over the wall' links to 'over the wall lights up Liangzhou', 'Liangzhou' links again, 'old friends' occurs twice in consecutive lines, so the sound runs on and the boundary between scene and people is blurred.[Imagery] 'A curved moon hangs' is the poem's opening exquisite image; 'the wind soughs and the night is long' is the most deliberately plain line in the poem. Then 'how many times can one laugh outright?' converts the whole preceding melancholy into an argument for drunkenness. The poem ends by falling down, which is exactly what it proposes.
【白话串讲】 岑参写《凉州馆中与诸判官夜集》：“弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州”——“凉州七里十万家，胡人半解弹琵琶”——“琵琶一曲肠堪断，风萧萧兮夜漫漫”——“一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒”——他在凉州与友人们夜饮。 【意象与手法】 此诗写凉州夜集，以边塞夜景写故人相会的豪情，是岑参边塞诗的名篇。前六句写凉州夜景：「弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州」以顶针写月出城头照凉州，「凉州七里十万家，胡人半解弹琵琶」写凉州的繁华与胡人弹琵琶，「琵琶一曲肠堪断，风萧萧兮夜漫漫」写琵琶与长夜；后六句写故人夜集：「河西幕中多故人，故人别来三五春」写幕中故人久别，「花门楼前见秋草，岂能贫贱相看老」写见秋草而感光阴，「一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒」写斗酒相逢的豪情。全诗以边塞夜景写故人相会的豪情，正是岑参「语奇体峻」诗风的本领。 【情感与主旨】 此诗作于岑参在河西幕府任职期间，写凉州（今甘肃武威）馆中与诸判官夜集的情景。岑参两度出塞，曾在安西北庭、河西等地任职，此诗写其在凉州与同僚判官夜集。凉州是当时的边塞重镇：弯弯的月儿挂上城头，城头的月儿照着凉州；凉州七里十万家，繁华富庶，胡人一半会弹琵琶；琵琶一曲令人肠断，风萧萧兮夜色漫漫；河西幕府中多是故人，故人分别已有三五春；花门楼前看见秋草，岂能贫贱相对着老去；一生大笑能有几回，斗酒相逢须要醉倒。诗人以「弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州」的顶针写月出照城，「凉州七里十万家，胡人半解弹琵琶」写凉州的繁华与胡风，「琵琶一曲肠堪断，风萧萧兮夜漫漫」写琵琶与长夜的苍凉，「河西幕中多故人，故人别来三五春」写故人久别重逢，「花门楼前见秋草，岂能贫贱相看老」写见秋草而感光阴流逝、不甘贫贱老去，「一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒」写斗酒相逢的豪情。全诗以边塞夜景写故人相会的豪情，正是岑参边塞诗豪迈本色与本领。 【名句点睛】 常考「弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州」的顶针手法；「凉州七里十万家，胡人半解弹琵琶」写凉州的繁华与胡风；「一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒」写故人相会的豪情；「岂能贫贱相看老」写不甘贫贱的壮志；以及全诗以边塞夜景写故人豪情的手法。
Background
Cen Shen (c. 715–770) spent much of his adult life in the north-west, first in the staff of the governor of Liangzhou and later on campaign against the Turks and the Tibetans. His frontier poems are the most famous of the High Tang and are noted for exactly this mixture of a gorgeous surface and a drunken, anxious heart. Liangzhou (modern Wuwei in Gansu) was a great commercial <city on the Silk Road, cosmopolitan and half non-Han; the 'seven li and ten thousand families' is a boast at once of size and of mixing. 'Judicial officers' here are the assistant officials of the military governorate.
此诗作于岑参在河西幕府任职期间，写凉州（今甘肃武威）馆中与诸判官夜集的情景。岑参（约715—770），江陵（今湖北荆州）人，盛唐著名边塞诗人，与高适并称「高岑」。岑参两度出塞，曾在安西、北庭、河西等地幕府任职，对边塞风光与军旅生活有深切的体验。此诗写其在凉州与同僚判官夜集：凉州是当时的河西重镇，繁华富庶，胡汉杂处。诗写夜集情景：「弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州」写月出城头，顶针相接，写尽凉州夜色的明丽；「凉州七里十万家，胡人半解弹琵琶」写凉州的繁华与胡人善琵琶的胡风；「琵琶一曲肠堪断，风萧萧兮夜漫漫」写琵琶声与漫长夜色的苍凉；「河西幕中多故人，故人别来三五春」写幕中故人久别重逢；「花门楼前见秋草，岂能贫贱相看老」写见秋草而感光阴流逝，不甘贫贱老去；「一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒」写斗酒相逢的豪情。全诗以边塞夜景写故人相会的豪情——那凉州的月，那胡人的琵琶，那漫漫的长夜，那久别的故人，那秋草，那大笑，那斗酒，都写尽了边塞夜集的景致与豪情，是理解岑参边塞诗豪迈本色与盛唐边塞生活的重要篇章。
Art
Cen Shen's style is described as strange and steep (qi and jun) — strange and steep — and this poem shows both. The strangeness is in the opening image of a moon hanging on a wall like jewellery, and in the bored, western sound of the pipa; the steepness is in the jump from a windy night to a toast. The chain-link device keeps a twelve-line poem breathing like one long sentence. Most notable is the tone: nothing is sorrowful for more than a line, and the poem refuses to end on reflection, choosing instead the most physical possible conclusion — getting drunk and falling over.
此诗的艺术特色可从四个方面解析。其一，以顶针写月色。起句「弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州」以顶针手法——上句末「城头」接下句首「城头」，以「弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州」的顶针写月出照城，音节流转，写尽凉州夜色的明丽。其二，以铺陈写繁华。「凉州七里十万家，胡人半解弹琵琶」以铺陈写凉州的繁华——那「七里十万家」写凉州的规模，「胡人半解弹琵琶」写胡人善琵琶的胡风，写尽边塞重镇的繁华与胡汉杂处。其三，以故人写夜集。「河西幕中多故人，故人别来三五春」写幕中故人久别——那「多故人」写故人之多，「别来三五春」写分别已有多年，写尽夜集故人重逢的因缘；「花门楼前见秋草，岂能贫贱相看老」写见秋草而感光阴，写尽不甘贫贱的壮志。其四，以豪语收束。「一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒」以豪语写斗酒相逢的豪情——那「一生大笑能几回」写人生大笑难得，「斗酒相逢须醉倒」写相逢须醉，写尽故人夜集的豪情，以豪语收束，余韵豪迈。四重手法，使此诗以边塞夜景写故人豪情，正是岑参「语奇体峻」诗风的本领。
Allusions
The horizon of the piece is the frontier world rather than any single citation. The pipa is the instrument brought from the steppe and associated in the Chinese imagination with both nomad grief and the banished; 'the wind soughs' echoes the Li Mo song-cycle line 'the wind soughs, the water deep and cold', the classical sound of parting. 'Three or five springs' is the plain way of saying three or four years. The Flowergate pavilion is the city gate where officials saw people off, so 'before the Flowergate pavilion I see autumn grass' means that the place of departure is overgrown — a whole passage of years in one image.
此诗的用语深植于边塞与故人相会的传统。「弯弯月出挂城头」令人想到「弯弯的月儿」写月出城头的边塞夜景，也令人想到「月出皎兮」的《诗经》月意象，更令人想到「城头月出」的边塞月意象；「凉州」令人想到「凉州词」的边塞曲调传统，也令人想到「葡萄美酒夜光杯，欲饮琵琶马上催」（王翰《凉州词》）的凉州意象；「胡人半解弹琵琶」令人想到「胡」写边地民族的传统，也令人想到「琵琶」作为胡乐的意象——「胡琴琵琶与羌笛」（岑参《白雪歌送武判官归京》），写尽边塞的胡风；「琵琶一曲肠堪断」令人想到「琵琶起舞换新声」的边塞琵琶传统，也令人想到「肠断」写极度的哀愁；「风萧萧兮夜漫漫」令人想到「风萧萧兮易水寒，壮士一去兮不复还」（荆轲《易水歌》）的「风萧萧兮」传统，也令人想到「长夜漫漫」的夜意象；「河西幕中多故人」令人想到「幕府」作为军府幕僚的意象，也令人想到「故人」的知交传统；「花门楼」令人想到凉州的「花门楼」酒楼之名，也令人想到「楼」作为宴饮之地的意象；「岂能贫贱相看老」令人想到「贫贱不能移」（《孟子》）的志气，也令人想到「老骥伏枥，志在千里」的不甘老去；「一生大笑能几回」令人想到「人生得意须尽欢，莫使金樽空对月」（李白《将进酒》）的尽欢传统，也令人想到「大笑」的豪放意象；「斗酒相逢须醉倒」令人想到「斗酒诗百篇」的酒意象，也令人想到「相逢」的故人相会传统。全诗化用凉州、琵琶、易水、故人、斗酒的传统意象，以边塞夜景写故人豪情，正是岑参「语奇体峻」诗风的本领。
Commentary
This has been one of the favourite of Cen Shen's frontier poems, and the last couplet in particular is endlessly quoted for its combination of boldness and sadness. Readers have long admired that the poem seems to be about a place and turns out to be about the impossibility of staying young in it. The contrast with Cen Shen's own famous Snow Song — 'as if a night of spring wind had come, and pear-blossom opened on a thousand trees' — is constantly drawn: there the frontier is wonder, here it is a gathering of tired officials.
此诗历来被推为岑参边塞诗的名篇，也是盛唐边塞夜集诗的代表。历代论者对此诗评价极高：清人评此诗「以边塞夜景写故人豪情，豪迈奇逸」；近人更指出「一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒」写尽故人夜集的豪情，是千古名句。在诗歌史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以十二句的长歌写尽凉州夜集的景致与豪情——那弯弯的月，那七里十万家的凉州，那弹琵琶的胡人，那肠堪断的琵琶曲，那漫漫的长夜，那久别的故人，那秋草，那大笑，那斗酒，都写尽了边塞夜集的豪迈与苍凉；那「一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒」更写尽故人相会、及时行乐的豪情。此诗与岑参的《白雪歌送武判官归京》（「忽如一夜春风来，千树万树梨花开」）同为边塞长歌名篇，一写夜集豪情，一写送别奇景；又与王翰《凉州词》同为写凉州的名篇，可见盛唐边塞诗写凉州的传统。对于今日读者，此诗是理解岑参边塞诗豪迈本色与盛唐边塞生活的窗口，也是中国诗写边塞夜集的经典——那斗酒相逢的大笑，穿越千年，仍在诉说着边塞故人的豪情。
Prosody
Line by line
弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州
A curved moon hangs over the city wall, and the moon over the wall lights up Liangzhou.
弯弯的月儿挂上城头，城头的月儿照着凉州。
The crescent moon rises and hangs over the city wall; the moon over the wall lights up Liangzhou.
此联是全诗的开篇，以顶针写月色，写尽凉州夜色的明丽。「弯弯月出挂城头」写弯弯的月儿挂上城头——那「弯弯」写月如弯钩，「挂城头」写月挂城头，写尽月出城头的景象；「城头月出照凉州」写城头的月儿照着凉州——那「城头月出」承接上句的「城头」，以顶针相接，「照凉州」写月光照着凉州，写尽月色下的边城。这句的深意在于：它以顶针的手法写月出照城，写尽凉州夜色的明丽与壮阔——弯弯的月儿挂上城头，城头的月儿照着凉州，那「弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州」以「城头」的顶针衔接，音节流转，如月光的流动；月光照着凉州，那「照凉州」写尽月色下的边塞重镇，明丽而壮阔；顶针的手法写尽月色的连绵，也写尽凉州的边塞风光，为下文写凉州繁华与夜集作铺垫。若换作直说「月亮出来了」，则失其流转；唯以「弯弯月出挂城头，城头月出照凉州」的顶针写月出照城，写尽凉州夜色的明丽，也让此联成为全诗顶针的妙笔。
The moon. The crescent moon rises and hangs over the city wall; the moon over the wall lights up Liangzhou. The top-thread repetition (the wall) and the rising moon over the frontier town are the opening. To have described the moon over the city would be scenery; the crescent-moon-rising-hanging-over-the-city-wall against the moon-over-the-wall-lighting-Liangzhou is the scenery.
凉州七里十万家，胡人半解弹琵琶
Liangzhou, seven li wide with a hundred thousand households, half its people of the steppe can play the pipa.
凉州方圆七里十万人家，胡人一半会弹琵琶。
Liangzhou, seven li around, holds a hundred thousand households; half of the Hu people can play the pipa.
此联写凉州的繁华与胡风，以铺陈写边塞重镇。「凉州七里十万家」写凉州方圆七里十万人家——那「七里」写凉州的规模，「十万家」写人口众多，以铺陈写尽凉州的繁华；「胡人半解弹琵琶」写胡人一半会弹琵琶——那「胡人」写边地的民族，「半解弹琵琶」写一半会弹琵琶，写尽胡汉杂处的胡风。这句的深意在于：它以「七里十万家」与「半解弹琵琶」的铺陈，写尽凉州的繁华与胡风——凉州方圆七里，十万人家，正是边塞重镇的繁华富庶；胡人一半会弹琵琶，正是胡汉杂处的边塞风情；那「十万家」写尽凉州的人口众多、市井繁华，那「半解弹琵琶」写尽边塞的胡乐之风——琵琶本是胡人的乐器，胡人半解弹琵琶，正是凉州作为边塞重镇胡汉交融的写照；繁华的边城与胡风交融，为下文夜集弹琵琶、故人相逢作了铺垫。若换作直说「凉州很繁华」，则失其铺陈；唯以「七里十万家」写繁华、「胡人半解弹琵琶」写胡风，铺陈写尽边塞重镇的景致，也让此联成为全诗写凉州的关键。
The town. Liangzhou, seven li around, holds a hundred thousand households; half of the Hu people can play the pipa. The ten thousand households and the pipa-playing Hu people are the frontier town's wealth and music. To have described the populous border town would be a description; the Liangzhou-seven-li-around-a-hundred-thousand-households against the half-of-the-Hu-people-playing-the-pipa is the description.
一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒
A life — how many times can one laugh outright? A cup of wine, and meeting, we must get drunk and fall.
一生大笑能有几回，斗酒相逢须要醉倒。
In a lifetime, how many hearty laughs are there? When we meet over a wine measure, we must drink to our fall.
此联是全诗的高潮，以豪语写故人夜集的豪情，是千古名句。「一生大笑能几回」写一生大笑能有几回——那「一生大笑」写一生中开怀大笑，「能几回」写能有几回，写尽人生大笑的难得；「斗酒相逢须醉倒」写斗酒相逢须要醉倒——那「斗酒相逢」写故人相逢斗酒，「须醉倒」写须要醉倒，写尽相逢须醉的豪情。这句的深意在于：它以「一生大笑能几回」的感慨与「斗酒相逢须醉倒」的豪语，写尽故人夜集的豪情——人生一世，开怀大笑能有几回？那「能几回」写尽大笑的难得与人生的短暂；故人相逢，斗酒痛饮，须要醉倒，那「斗酒相逢」写尽故人相会的豪兴，「须醉倒」写尽尽兴的豪情；正因大笑难得，才更须斗酒醉倒，那「一生大笑能几回」写尽对人生短暂的感慨，那「斗酒相逢须醉倒」写尽及时行乐、尽情尽兴的豪情，以豪语写尽边塞故人夜集的豪迈与苍凉。若换作直说「我们喝个痛快」，则失其豪迈；唯以「一生大笑能几回」写感慨、「斗酒相逢须醉倒」写豪情，以豪语写尽故人夜集的豪情，也让此联成为全诗的高潮与千古名句。
The laughter. In a lifetime, how many hearty laughs are there? When we meet over a wine measure, we must drink to our fall. The how-many-laughs and the must-drink-to-our-fall are the frontier bonhomie. To have called for drinking at the reunion would be a toast; the in-a-lifetime-how-many-hearty-laughs against the meeting-over-a-wine-measure-must-drink-to-our-fall is the toast.
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'As if a night of spring wind had come, and pear-blossom opened on a thousand trees' — the snow is a miracle of white. Here the moon over Liangzhou is a curve of gold and the music is a bowels twist. The two poems show Cen Shen's double frontier: the world outside the window, strange and beautiful, and the world inside the room, exhausted and drinking.
岑参《白雪歌送武判官归京》「忽如一夜春风来，千树万树梨花开」「纷纷暮雪下辕门，风掣红旗冻不翻」写边塞奇雪与送别，是岑参边塞诗的名篇。此诗《凉州馆中与诸判官夜集》则「一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒」写凉州夜集的豪情。同为岑参边塞长歌，一写「千树万树梨花开」的奇雪（白雪歌），一写「凉州七里十万家」的繁华（凉州馆夜集）；一以「瀚海阑干百丈冰」写奇寒，一以「胡人半解弹琵琶」写胡风。两诗对读，可见岑参边塞诗写景奇绝与写情豪迈的双重本色。
凉州词 Liangzhou Song 王翰 · 同写凉州与酒，一悲壮一豪情 Both are poems about Liangzhou and wine; one is the garrison's tragedy, this one the officials' night.'Grape wine in a night-luminous cup, and as we drink the pipa urges us on horseback; do not laugh if we lie drunk on the sand — how many who went to war ever came back?' Wang Han's song is the soldier's and it ends in death. Cen Shen's is the official's and it ends in a laugh and a fall. The two sit at the two ends of the same frontier table.
王翰《凉州词》「葡萄美酒夜光杯，欲饮琵琶马上催」「醉卧沙场君莫笑，古来征战几人回」写凉州的军中美酒与悲壮，是盛唐边塞诗的名篇。此诗《凉州馆中与诸判官夜集》则「一生大笑能几回，斗酒相逢须醉倒」写凉州夜集的豪情。同为写凉州与酒，一写「葡萄美酒夜光杯」的军中美酒（凉州词），一写「斗酒相逢须醉倒」的故人斗酒（凉州馆夜集）；一以「醉卧沙场君莫笑」写悲壮，一以「一生大笑能几回」写豪情。两诗对读，可见盛唐边塞诗写凉州酒宴的两种情调。