近现代 近现代 · 诗 Poem
树
Trees
一棵树，一棵树，彼此孤离地兀立着，风与空气，告诉着它们的距离。
但是在泥土的覆盖下，它们的根伸长着，在看不见的深处，它们把根须纠缠在一起。
Each standing alone, isolated from the rest.
The wind and the air
Tell of the distance between them.
But beneath the covering of the soil
Their roots stretch out,
And in the unseen depths
They entwine their root-fibers together.
Meaning
A short, resonant modern poem by the great twentieth-century Chinese poet Ai Qing, written in 1940 at the height of the War of Resistance. On the surface the trees of the open field stand isolated from one another, their distance announced by the wind and the air; but beneath the covering of the soil their roots stretch out and, in the unseen depths, entwine together. The poem turns this botanical fact into a profound symbol of the Chinese nation: outwardly separated and scattered, inwardly bound by deep, invisible bonds of common blood and shared fate.
一棵树，一棵树，彼此孤离地兀立着，风与空气，告诉着它们的距离。但是在泥土的覆盖下，它们的根伸长着，在看不见的深处，它们把根须纠缠在一起。
Appreciation
The poem's achievement lies in a two-level structure that completes a single act of symbolism. The first stanza describes what is seen above ground: the repeated 'one tree, one tree' numbers each tree separately, while 'isolated' and 'standing alone' stress their separation, and the wind and the air—personified—measure their distance: every line writes 'apart.' The second stanza turns abruptly with 'but': beneath the covering of the soil the roots stretch out and, in the unseen depths, entwine. First the seen 'apart,' then the unseen 'together'—from surface to depth, from the apparent to the hidden, ending by revealing the theme. Not a single word names human beings, yet 'isolated,' 'standing alone,' and 'entwine' all point to human affairs; the symbolism is masterful, and the short, uneven lines follow the meaning from sparse to dense.
【白话串讲】 艾青写《树》：“一棵树，一棵树，彼此孤离地兀立着”——“但是在泥土的覆盖下，它们的根伸长着，在看不见的深处，它们把根须纠缠在一起”——他写表面孤立、底下相连。 【意象与手法】 全诗两节，采用「地上—地下」的空间对照结构与「孤离—纠缠」的意象对比，先写表象再揭本质，卒章显志；语言冷峻凝练，拟人与象征并举，含蓄而有张力 【情感与主旨】 此诗作于抗战时期，以「树根纠缠」象征中华民族在苦难中血脉相连、团结一致；表面各自孤立，内里却紧密相连，暗喻同胞之间割不断的联系与民族凝聚的伟力，是对民族团结的深情礼赞 【名句点睛】 「但是在泥土的覆盖下，它们的根伸长着，在看不见的深处，它们把根须纠缠在一起」为全诗题旨所在，是抗战诗歌中以意象写团结的经典；「孤离地兀立着」与「根须纠缠」的对照亦广为称道
Background
Ai Qing (1910–1996), originally Jiang Zhenghan, was the singer of 'land and sun' in modern Chinese poetry, author of 'Dayahe—My Nanny,' 'The North,' and 'Toward the Sun.' 'Trees' was written in the spring of 1940, when the War of Resistance had entered its stalemate and Ai Qing was teaching and writing in Hunan and Chongqing. Vast territories had fallen and people were scattered and displaced, yet the spirit of national unity against the foreign enemy had never been higher. Seeing the isolated trees of the open field, the poet thought of the Chinese people—apparently scattered, actually bound by blood—and wrote this poem on the deep logic of national unity. It was collected in his 1940 volume The Wilderness.
艾青（1910—1996），原名蒋正涵，中国现代诗坛「土地与太阳」的歌手，著有《大堰河——我的保姆》《北方》《向太阳》等诗集。《树》作于1940年春，时值抗日战争进入相持阶段，艾青辗转于湖南、重庆等地，在长沙、桂林、衡山一带任教与写作。1940年前后，国统区与抗日根据地均面临严峻的战争考验，大片国土沦丧，人民流离失所；与此同时，全民族同仇敌忾、共御外侮的团结精神空前高涨。《树》即写于这一历史背景下：诗人看到旷野上彼此孤离的树，联想到表面离散、实则血脉相连的中华民族，遂以「地上孤离、地下纠缠」的意象，写出民族团结的深层逻辑。此诗收于诗集《旷野》（1940），是艾青「土地」意象系列中别开生面的一首——不写土地的苦难与希望，而写土地上「树」的关系，以植物的根系隐喻民族的根脉，体现了他从「抒情」向「象征」深化的诗艺探索。此诗写于民族存亡之秋，以「根」喻「魂」，正是艾青以诗人的敏锐捕捉到民族凝聚力之所在。
Art
The whole poem rests on the contrast of two spaces. The first stanza, all 'apart,' uses the repetition of 'one tree, one tree' to stress number and separateness, 'isolated' and 'standing alone' for the state of estrangement, and the wind and the air measuring distance for a startling personification. The second stanza, all 'together,' turns on 'but,' moving from the dark 'covering' to the secret 'depths,' from the stretching of roots to the tight entwining of root-fibers. The language is stark and unadorned, yet every word is weighted with symbolic meaning; the line about the wind and the air 'telling' the distance is especially striking, giving perception to the intangible. The short, uneven lines, sparse at 'isolated' and dense at 'entwine,' make the sound follow the meaning.
《树》的艺术成就，在于以「两重空间」的结构完成一次深邃的象征表达。全诗两节，构成鲜明的对照：第一节写地上——「一棵树，一棵树，彼此孤离地兀立着，风与空气，告诉着它们的距离」，以重复的「一棵树」写树之多而各立，以「孤离」「兀立」写其疏远之态，以「风与空气」拟人化地丈量距离，处处写「隔」；第二节以「但是」陡转，写地下——「在泥土的覆盖下，它们的根伸长着，在看不见的深处，它们把根须纠缠在一起」，由「覆盖」之暗写「深处」之秘，由「伸长」之动写「纠缠」之紧，处处写「连」。先写所见之「离」，后揭所不见之「连」，由表及里、由显入隐，卒章显志，章法严谨。语言上，全诗无一字写「人」，而「孤离」「兀立」「纠缠」皆暗指人事，象征手法炉火纯青；「风与空气，告诉着它们的距离」一句尤见诗思的奇峭，把无形之物写得有知有觉。句式长短错落，音节在「孤离」处疏、「纠缠」处密，声情与意象相合。两节诗一显一隐、一离一合，如上下两幅画面叠印，象征意味浑然天成，可见艾青对「象征」手法的驾驭已臻化境。
Allusions
The image of roots draws on a deep Chinese tradition. Trees are the symbol of home and life in Chinese literature—Tao Yuanming's 'elms and willows shade the back eaves, peach and plum trees line the hall,' and the 'strange tree in the courtyard, its green leaves blossoming' of the Nineteen Old Poems. 'Roots' in classical poetry often stand for kinship and shared origin: Cao Zhi's 'Seven Steps Poem' laments 'born of the same root, why torment each other so?' and Bai Juyi's wish for 'intertwined branches on the earth.' Ai Qing reverses the sadness of 'same root' into the hope of 'entwining,' extending the root from blood kinship to the great cause of the nation. The image of roots beneath the surface also echoes the Daoist sense that the seen is not the whole truth—that apparent separation may conceal deep connection.
《树》的「树根」意象，深植于中国文化的根系传统。其一，「树」是中国文学中家园与生命的象征，陶渊明「榆柳荫后檐，桃李罗堂前」写田园之树，《古诗十九首》「庭中有奇树，绿叶发华滋」以树寄相思；而「木本水源」「叶落归根」更以树根喻乡土之恋与血脉之亲，艾青以「树根纠缠」写民族团结，正是承此传统而赋以新意。其二，「根」在古典诗文中常喻同根同源之情，曹植《七步诗》「本是同根生，相煎何太急」以「同根」写兄弟（喻同胞）之情，白居易「在地愿为连理枝」以根枝相连写至死不渝；艾青反「相煎」之悲而为「纠缠」之望，把「同根」由血缘伦理扩展为民族大义。其三，「地面孤离、地下相连」的意象，又暗合老子「大直若屈，大巧若拙」式的辩证思维与「无用之用」的哲思——表面的疏离可能是深层的联结，所见未必是真相。其四，就抗战语境言，「树」喻同胞、根喻民族，正呼应「众木成林」的团结观念；艾青以树的根系写出「看不见的深处」的凝聚力，正是对「中华民族多元一体」格局的诗性洞察。
Commentary
'Trees' is a masterpiece of Ai Qing's symbolic poetry whose value has only grown with time. In thought, it transcends its wartime context to pose a universal truth—that the deepest bonds between people, peoples, and groups exist in what cannot be seen. In art, it established Ai Qing's method of 'writing meaning through things and revealing the theme at the end,' and its two-level structure of surface and depth became a model of spatial symbolism in modern poetry. It is often read beside 'I Love This Land': one writes an individual's love of the land, the other a people's connection upon it; together they show the full pattern of Ai Qing's 'poetics of the land.' Critics regard the poem, in fewer than a hundred characters, as the 'small seeing the great' at its extreme in war poetry, and a mark of the maturity of Chinese symbolism.
《树》是艾青象征诗中的精品，其价值历久弥新。思想上，它超越了具体的抗战语境，提炼出「表面孤离、内里相连」的普遍命题：无论民族、群体还是个体，真正的联系往往存在于看不见的深处——这一洞察使其在和平年代依然成立，常被引为民族团结、文化认同的文学注脚，也启发了后世对「共同体」的诗性思考。艺术上，它确立了艾青「以物写意、卒章显志」的象征诗法，与其《我爱这土地》《雪落在中国的土地上》共同构成「土地诗」的完整谱系；「地上—地下」的两重空间结构，更成为现代诗空间叙事与象征对照的典范。文学史上，此诗常与《我爱这土地》并读：一写个体对土地之爱，一写群体在土地上的相连，合观可见艾青「土地诗学」的完整格局。研究者认为，《树》以不足百字的篇幅写出了民族精神的深层结构，是抗战诗歌中「以小见大」的极致，也是中国象征主义诗歌成熟的标志之一。
Prosody
Line by line
一棵树，一棵树，彼此孤离地兀立着，风与空气，告诉着它们的距离。
One tree, one tree, each standing alone, isolated from the rest; the wind and the air tell of the distance between them. (The first stanza writes the seen 'apart': the repeated phrase numbers each tree separately, and the personified wind and air measure their distance, preparing the turn of the second stanza.)
一棵树，一棵树，彼此孤离地兀立着，风与空气，告诉着它们之间的距离。
One tree, one tree, standing alone apart; wind and air tell the distance between them.
这是全诗的第一节，写地面上树的「孤离」之态，为下文的「纠缠」蓄势。「一棵树，一棵树」的重复句式，先写树之「多」，再写树之「各」——每一棵都被单独数出，暗示它们之间没有联系；「彼此孤离地兀立着」中，「孤离」写其疏远，「兀立」写其独立之姿，两词连用，把树的静态写得带有某种执拗与隔绝的意味。「风与空气，告诉着它们的距离」是全节最奇峭的句子：距离本应由目光或尺度丈量，诗人却让「风与空气」来「告诉」——仿佛风穿过树与树之间的空隙，空气在间隙中流动，都在无声地宣告着它们的间隔，将无形的距离写得可感可触。此节以「离」字立骨，句句写隔，然而「兀立」中已暗含独立的坚忍，「距离」中已潜伏「告诉」的玄机，为第二节「但是」的转折埋下伏笔。
The trees. One tree, one tree, standing alone apart; wind and air tell the distance between them. The one-tree-one-tree and the wind-and-air-telling-the-distance are the above-ground. To have stood apart would be a standing; the one-tree-one-tree-standing-alone-apart-wind-and-air-tell-the-distance-between-them is the standing.
但是在泥土的覆盖下，它们的根伸长着，在看不见的深处，它们把根须纠缠在一起。
But beneath the covering of the soil their roots stretch out, and in the unseen depths they entwine their root-fibers together. (The second stanza turns on 'but' to the unseen 'together': beneath the dark covering, the roots stretch and entwine—revealing the deep, invisible bond beneath apparent separation.)
但是在泥土的覆盖下，它们的根伸长着，在看不见的深处，它们把根须纠缠在一起。
But under the cover of the soil, their roots stretch on; in the unseen deep, their rootlets are tangled together.
这是全诗的第二节，以「但是」陡转，揭示「孤离」表象下的真相，是全诗题旨所在。「但是」二字是全诗唯一的转折词，如利刃划开表象，由地上转入地下，由可见转入不可见；「在泥土的覆盖下」写地下的黑暗与隐秘——「覆盖」一词暗示这联结不为所见，唯有深入泥土方能发现；「它们的根伸长着」写根的动态，不是静止的相连，而是主动地、不断向彼此伸展，写出生命力的涌动；「在看不见的深处」再次强调「看不见」，点明这相连发生在目光与表象之下，恰喻民族凝聚力潜藏于历史与民间的深处；「它们把根须纠缠在一起」以「纠缠」作结，写根须的密不可分——「纠缠」比「相连」更紧、比「交织」更亲，如血脉、如命运，剪不断理还乱。此节由「覆盖」而「伸长」而「纠缠」，层层深入，把「表面孤离、内里相连」的象征推向高潮，卒章显志，令人回味。
The roots. But under the cover of the soil, their roots stretch on; in the unseen deep, their rootlets are tangled together. The under-the-soil stretching roots and the tangled rootlets in the unseen deep are the below-ground. To have tangled the rootlets would be a tangling; the but-under-the-cover-of-the-soil-their-roots-stretch-on-in-the-unseen-deep-their-rootlets-are-tangled-together is the tangling.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
'I Love This Land' (1938) imagines the poet as a bird singing the land with a hoarse throat until its feathers rot into the soil—an individual's self-sacrificing love for the motherland. 'Trees' (1940) writes isolated trees whose roots entwine in the unseen depths—a people's blood-connection upon the land. One is a lyric of the self, the other a symbol of the collective; read together they show the full pattern of Ai Qing's 'poetics of the land.'
《我爱这土地》（1938）写诗人愿化作鸟，以嘶哑的喉咙歌唱土地，死后连羽毛也腐烂在土地里，是个体对土地（祖国）的献身之爱；《树》（1940）写旷野上孤离的树在泥土深处根须纠缠，是群体（民族）在土地上的血脉相连。二诗同属艾青「土地诗」，同以「土地」为根基意象，而视角有别：前者以「鸟—土地」的托物结构写「我」与土地的关系，抒情炽烈；后者以「树—根」的对照结构写「树」与「树」的关系，象征冷静。合观可见艾青土地诗学的完整格局：既有「我」对土地的至爱，也有「我们」在土地上的至连，一纵一横，共同构成民族精神的诗性图景。
致橡树 To the Oak 舒婷 · 同为以「树」为象征意象的现代诗，一写相连一倡独立 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
舒婷《致橡树》（1977）以「我如果爱你——绝不像攀援的凌霄花」「我必须是你近旁的一株木棉，作为树的形象和你站在一起」写爱情中人格的独立与平等；《树》以「树根纠缠」写民族（群体）的团结。二诗同以「树」为象征主体，而旨趣迥异：艾青写「树与树在地下相连」，强调群体的凝聚，是集体主义精神的诗化；舒婷写「树与树在地上并立」，强调个体的独立，是个人主体意识的高扬。二者相隔近四十年，正折射出中国新诗从「民族寓言」到「个人抒情」的转型；而「以树喻人」的象征传统一脉相承，可见「树」意象在现代诗中的强大生命力。
一棵开花的树 A Tree in Blossom 席慕蓉 · 同为以「树」写情感的现代诗，一写根之连一写花之盼 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
席慕蓉《一棵开花的树》（1980）写「如何让你遇见我，在我最美丽的时刻，为这我已在佛前求了五百年」，以一棵开花的树写爱情的等待与痴情；《树》以旷野上孤离的树写「看不见的深处」的相连，暗喻民族的团结。二诗同以「树」为主体意象，而情感指向不同：席诗之树向上开花，以绚烂之姿等待爱情，是个人情感的浓烈表达；艾青之树向下扎根，以深藏之根相连彼此，是民族情怀的深沉寄托。一显一隐、一花一根、一情一理，恰见「树」意象在中国现代诗中容纳个人与集体、抒情与象征的双重可能，合观更觉艾青此诗在简洁中所涵容的深广。