All poems

清 Qing · 诗 Poem

论诗·李杜

On Poetry · Li and Du

赵翼

Zhao Yi

感怀reflection 咏史history-chant

论诗·李杜李杜诗篇万口传，至今已觉不新鲜。
江山代有才人出，各领风骚数百年。

The poems of Li and Du are on ten thousand lips passed;
To this day they feel no longer fresh.
Each age the rivers and hills send forth men of talent;
Each leads the wind-and-sao for several hundred years.

Listen

Meaning

The poems of Li Bai and Du Fu are recited on ten thousand lips, yet by now they feel not so fresh. Each age the rivers and hills bring forth men of talent; each leads the literary fashion for several hundred years.

李白、杜甫的诗篇被成千上万的人传诵，可是到了今天已经觉得不那么新鲜了。江山代代都有才华之士涌现，他们各自统领文坛风骚数百年。

Appreciation

The first two lines use 'ten thousand lips pass' to picture Li and Du's greatness, then with 'not fresh' turn the case, sharp yet measured; the last two 'each age the rivers and hills send forth men of talent; each leads the wind-and-sao for several hundred years' lift the whole, closing with vast time and space, righteous and confident. The whole writes poetry as argument, yet for its apt metaphor and crisp phrasing it has poetic flavour, opening the first voice of modern literary evolution, a distinct, refreshing tone beyond the Song men's 'reason into poetry'.

【白话串讲】 “李杜诗篇万口传，至今已觉不新鲜”——赵翼说：李白杜甫的诗传唱万口，到今天也让人觉得不够新鲜了。“江山代有才人出，各领风骚数百年”——每个时代都有自己的诗人。【意象与手法】前两句以「万口传」极言李杜声名之盛，随即以「不新鲜」三字陡然翻案，语带锋棱而不失分寸；后两句「江山代有才人出，各领风骚数百年」以宏阔的时空视角挺起全篇，将前文的翻案落定于文学进化的必然。通首以议论为诗，却因「江山」「风骚」取喻宏大意象、句式爽健有力而具诗味，在宋人「以理入诗」之外别开痛快淋漓一格。【情感与主旨】赵翼（1727—1814），字云崧，号瓯北，清代史学家、诗人，与袁枚、蒋士铨并称「乾隆三大家」，主性灵而重创新。其《论诗》组诗约作于乾隆中叶，此首专论李杜，针对当时诗坛尊古崇唐、模拟成风之弊，提出文学代变、后来居上的主张，与其《廿二史札记》的历史进化观一脉相承，是清代诗学批判复古的重要文献。【名句点睛】常考要点：一、理解「不新鲜」并非贬低李杜，而是强调文学与时俱进；二、赏析「江山代有才人出，各领风骚数百年」的哲理与气魄；三、「风骚」一词的典故内涵；四、此诗「以议论为诗」而不失诗味的艺术特色。

Background

Zhao Yi (1727-1814), historian and poet, with Yuan Mei and Jiang Shiquan called the 'Three Masters of Qianlong', prizing spirit-nature and innovation. His 'On Poetry' five poems were written around the mid-Qianlong; this is the second, arguing specifically on Li Bai and Du Fu, against the time's evil of honouring the ancient and mimicking Tang, putting forth the view of literary change and later outdoing earlier, with evolutionary insight, also in line with his historian's view of 'ancient-modern transition'—an important document of Qing poetic critique of revivalism.

赵翼（1727—1814），字云崧，号瓯北，江苏阳湖（今常州）人，乾隆二十六年（1761）进士，官至贵西兵备道，后辞官归里，专事著述，所著《廿二史札记》《陔余丛考》皆史学名著。其诗与袁枚、蒋士铨并称「乾隆三大家」，论诗主「性灵」，重独创而反模拟。赵翼《论诗》共五首，约作于乾隆中叶，此为其二，专就李白、杜甫立论。当时诗坛尊唐抑宋、标榜汉魏盛唐的复古风气极盛，神韵、格调、肌理诸说并起，诗人们或摹唐调，或宗宋诗，鲜有敢言「李杜已觉不新鲜」者。赵翼以其史家特有的「古今嬗变」眼光，指出文学随时代而变、一代有一代之诗，李杜虽为高峰，然后之才人自当别开生面，不必亦步亦趋。此论与其《廿二史札记》中论历代制度沿革的进化史观一脉相承，亦与袁枚「诗文随世运，无日不趋新」的性灵主张桴鼓相应，是清代中期诗学解放思潮的重要文献。赵翼晚年自编《瓯北集》，论诗之作多入其中，此诗作为组诗之一，历来与杜甫《戏为六绝句》、元好问《论诗三十首》并观，是论诗绝句传统在清代的重要一环。

Art

此诗艺术之妙，在以议论为诗而气盛理足、痛快淋漓。前两句先扬后抑：「李杜诗篇万口传」以「万口传」三字极写李杜之盛，千家万户口诵其诗，声名如日中天；「至今已觉不新鲜」陡然翻转，「不新鲜」三字下语极险，若出之他人，几近谤古，然赵翼自有其理据，故语带锋棱而不失分寸，造成全诗最大的张力。后两句「江山代有才人出，各领风骚数百年」则如奇峰突起，以「江山」拓开空间，以「代有」展开时间，将前文的翻案纳入文学发展的宏阔视野，李杜当年亦曾领一代风骚，然江山不改、才人辈出，每一代自有其领袖，此乃文学之常道。两句以议论作结，却因「江山」「风骚」取喻宏大、对仗相称、语气斩截而具撼人之力，读来如闻金石声。全诗二十八字，起承转合一丝不乱，转在「不新鲜」之翻案，合在「各领风骚」之立论，是「以议论为诗」而能保持诗味的成功范例，开近代文学进化论之先声。

Allusions

'Wind-and-sao' originally means the 'Airs' of the Book of Songs and the 'Li Sao' of the Chu Ci, later meaning the literary tradition and the mainstream; here 'lead the wind-and-sao' means to lead the literary world and open an age's fashion. The poet uses 'wind-and-sao' for the right of literary creation, saying each age has its talents ruling for centuries, turning the classic into common speech, apt and natural, and exactly setting off his 'each age has its talents' intent, also showing his historian's power of pointing and wielding allusions.

「风骚」二字是此诗用典的枢纽。「风」指《诗经》中的《国风》，「骚」指屈原《离骚》，「风骚」连称，本泛指《诗经》《楚辞》所开创的文学传统，后世遂以之代指诗文之事与文坛主流。沈约《宋书·谢灵运传论》称「源其飚流所始，莫不同祖风骚」，刘勰《文心雕龙》亦以「风骚」并举，可见此称由来已久。赵翼此处「领风骚」，意即领袖文坛、主盟一代风气，把「风骚」这一典雅厚重的文化符号化用为「开一代文风」的平实表达，化雅典为常语，贴切自然，正与其「代有才人」之旨相合。「李杜」并称亦有来历：中唐韩愈《调张籍》「李杜文章在，光焰万丈长」早已确立李杜并尊的地位，元稹《唐故工部员外郎杜君墓系铭》则扬杜抑李，赵翼此处「李杜诗篇万口传」兼尊二人，正是取韩愈以来的通行说法。此外，「江山代有才人出」之「江山」，兼指国家与大地，暗含「江山依旧而人事代谢」的沧桑感，与「代有」相映，使议论带上历史纵深。全诗用典仅「风骚」一处而举重若轻，其余皆以白话出之，正见赵翼驱遣典故、以史家笔法入诗的功力。

Commentary

This poem once out was on every lip, with the line 'each leads the wind-and-sao' becoming a famous saying. Qian Zhongshu said it 'uses the historian's eye to judge poetry, breaking the Tang-vs-Song sectarian stand'; moderns praise it as the first voice of literary evolution, showing its courage to turn the case and its new argument, influencing later the literary idea of 'renew daily'. Shows its poetic courage to break sects and raise a new voice.

此诗一出即脍炙人口，「江山代有才人出，各领风骚数百年」更成千古名言，被无数人引为座右铭。其价值在两方面：一是诗学上的翻案精神，在尊唐复古之声盈耳的乾隆诗坛，敢于说「李杜诗篇至今已觉不新鲜」，需要过人的胆识与史家的眼光；二是文学观念上的进化论色彩，「代有才人」「各领风骚」点出文学随时代而新、后来者不必让于前贤的道理，实开近代文学进化观念之先声，与后来黄遵宪「我手写吾口」、梁启超「诗界革命」的主张声气相通。钱锺书尝谓赵翼「以史家眼论诗，破宗唐宗宋之局」，正是就此类论诗之作立言。今人论清代诗学，每将赵翼此诗与袁枚「不学古人，法无一可」并提，以为性灵派反对模拟、力主创新的宣言；而其以议论为诗而能保持诗味，亦为「以理入诗」提供了又一成功范例。王国维《宋元戏曲考》「凡一代有一代之文学」之论，与赵翼「江山代有才人出」实为同调，可见这一文学进化观念如何由清中叶一路贯通至近代，成为国人文学史观的基本底色；而此诗之广为传诵，又反过来固化了这一观念的大众认知，其影响力早已超出诗坛，成为民族自信与创新精神的文化符号。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, lower-level one xian group (pass, fresh, years)平水韵·下平一先（传、鲜、年），首句入韵

Tone pattern First line enters rhyme, level-onset first-line-enters-rhyme平起首句入韵式，前两句一平一仄相间，后两句声调昂扬，如金石掷地

Reading note Writes as argument; last two lines become a famous saying.此诗为七言绝句，押平水韵下平一先韵，传、鲜、年三字同韵，韵脚悠长开阔，正合议论诗理直气壮之声情。格律属平起首句入韵式：「李杜诗篇万口传」平声起句入韵，「至今已觉不新鲜」承韵，「江山代有才人出」转仄，「各领风骚数百年」复归平声收束。全诗平仄大体谐婉，唯「至今已觉不新鲜」句「觉」字入声短促，与「不新鲜」的翻案语气相凑，顿挫有致；「各领风骚数百年」以平声「年」字收，余音悠长，正合名句收束全篇之势。绝句本以含蓄蕴藉见长，此诗却以议论为诗、以气驭声，二十八字一气呵成，如快刀斫阵，不事雕琢而声情并茂，是清人绝句中「以议论胜」的典型，亦可见赵翼以史笔入诗、以气行文的独特风神。

Line by line

李杜诗篇万口传，至今已觉不新鲜

The poems of Li and Du are on ten thousand lips passed; to this day they feel no longer fresh.

李白、杜甫的诗篇被千万人传诵，可是到了今天已经觉得不那么新鲜了。

The poems of Li Bai and Du Fu are recited by ten thousand mouths, yet today they already feel no longer fresh.

此联是全诗的翻案之笔，先扬后抑，张力十足。「李杜诗篇万口传」起句极言李杜声名之盛：千家万户，人人传诵，其影响之广、地位之隆，无待赘言。紧接着「至今已觉不新鲜」陡然一转，以「不新鲜」三字对李杜作出惊人之评，须知在尊唐复古的乾隆诗坛，此语无异于向主流挑战。然细味其意，赵翼并非贬抑李杜，而是说李杜之诗既已万口传诵数百年，其风格手法早为后人熟稔仿效，若今日诗人仍止步于摹拟李杜，则诗道不进。故「不新鲜」三字，实为下文「代有才人」立论蓄势，翻案而不失分寸，惊世而自有理据，是绝句起笔最险、最妙的一格。

The couplet is the reversal of the poem, first lifted then pressed, the tension extreme. The poems of Li Bai and Du Fu are on ten thousand lips opens by writing the renown of Li and Du to the utmost: ten thousand homes, every household reciting, the breadth of their influence and the height of their standing beyond words. Then yet to this day they no longer feel fresh turns abruptly, passing the startling verdict of no longer fresh on Li and Du; one must know that, in the Qianlong poetry world revering Tang and reviving antiquity, this was no less than a challenge to the mainstream. Yet tasted closely, Zhao Yi does not belittle Li and Du, but says that their verse, recited on ten thousand lips for centuries, its style and method long familiar and imitated, and if the poets of today still stop at imitating Li and Du, the way of poetry will not advance. Hence the three words no longer fresh in fact store force for the thesis of each age brings forth its men of genius that follows: reversal without loss of measure, startling yet grounded in reason, the most dangerous and exquisite opening of a quatrain.

江山代有才人出，各领风骚数百年

Each age the rivers and hills send forth men of talent; each leads the wind-and-sao for several hundred years.

江山代代都有才华之士涌现，他们各自统领文坛风骚数百年。

Every age brings forth its men of genius, each leading the world of poetry for several hundred years.

此联是全诗立论所在，也是千古传诵的名句。「江山代有才人出」以「江山」拓开空间、「代有」展开时间，指出每一时代都有杰出人才涌现，江山不改，才人不绝，文学的创造之源永不枯竭；「各领风骚数百年」承上点明：每一代的才人各自主盟文坛、开一代风气，数百年后自有新的领袖取而代之，李杜当年如此，今日之才人亦然。两句以宏阔的时空视角，把文学史描述为一代一代接续创新的过程，破除了「今不如古」的迷信，树立了「后来居上」的信念。句势相称，语气斩截，理足气盛，读来如闻金石之声，故能超越一时一地，成为激励后人勇于创新的不朽格言。

The couplet is the thesis of the poem, and an aphorism read through the ages. Every age brings forth its own men of genius: rivers and hills opening space, every age unfolding time, pointing out that each age brings forth outstanding talent, the land unchanged, the gifted unending, the spring of literary creation never failing. Each leads the fashion for several hundred years follows on and makes the point: each age's gifted men each preside over the poetry world, opening the fashion of their generation; after several hundred years new leaders take their place — so it was with Li and Du then, and so it is with the gifted of today. Two lines, in a vast view of time and space, describe literary history as a process of renewed creation generation after generation, breaking the superstition that the present cannot match the past, and establishing the faith that later comers surpass. The momentum matched, the tone decisive, reason sufficient and spirit high, reading like the sound of metal and stone; hence it outlives its hour, becoming the imperishable maxim that spurs later men to dare create.

各领风骚数百年

Each leads the fashion of poetry for several hundred years.

各自统领文坛风骚数百年。

Each leads the fashion of poetry for several hundred years.

单拈此句，更见「风骚」二字之重。风骚本指《诗经·国风》与《楚辞·离骚》，是华夏文学的两大源头，此处以「领风骚」代指领袖文坛、开一代风气，举重若轻，化雅典为常语。「数百年」三字尤见史家气度：一代才人引领风骚，其影响不是三年五载，而是绵延数百年，李白杜甫领唐诗风骚，恰如其分；然而数百年后，风骚自当易主，这正是「江山代有才人出」的必然。「领」字亦炼得有力，不是「占」风骚之浅露，不是「有」风骚之平淡，而是主动的、有担当的「领」，写出才人主盟文坛的气魄。七字之内，历史纵深与主体气魄兼而有之，是清诗中以少总多的名句。

Taken alone, the line shows still more the weight of the two words feng-sao. Feng-sao properly means the Airs of States of the Book of Songs and the Li Sao of the Songs of Chu, the two great sources of Chinese literature; here leading the feng-sao stands for presiding over the poetry world and opening a generation's fashion, a weight borne lightly, the classical turned to common speech. The three words several hundred years show the historian's breadth: the gifted of a generation lead the fashion, and their influence is not three or five years, but lasts several hundred years; Li Bai and Du Fu led the Tang poetry's fashion, fittingly; yet after several hundred years the fashion must change hands, precisely the necessity of every age brings forth its men of genius. The word lead is wrought with force: not the shallow occupying of the fashion, not the flat having of the fashion, but the active, responsible leading, writing the spirit of the gifted man who presides over the poetry world. Within seven characters, the depth of history and the spirit of the subject are both present, the famous line of Qing poetry that sums the many in the few.

Study

Word focus

不新鲜 Ironical case-turning: not to belittle Li and Du, but to say later men should not stick to the ancient. 「至今已觉不新鲜」之「不新鲜」，是此诗最见胆识的用词。新鲜者，新奇鲜活之谓也，多用于日常口语，赵翼以之评李杜诗篇，可谓惊世骇俗，李杜诗岂有不新鲜之理？然细味其意，「不新鲜」并非贬低李杜的艺术成就，而是说其诗既经万口传诵数百年，风格、手法、意境皆已为世人所熟知，今日诗人若再摹拟仿效，便了无新意。以口语入诗，正见赵翼论诗主「性灵」、倡「真我」的一贯主张，亦使议论带上市井的直率与痛快。且「不新鲜」三字与「万口传」形成强烈反差，传之愈久，愈觉熟悉，熟悉到极致便是「不新鲜」，语似俚俗而理至精警，是翻案诗中最见功力的炼词。

代有 Each age has—stresses the inexhaustible source of creation, that new voices must arise. 「江山代有才人出」之「代有」，是此诗立论的逻辑支点。代者，世代也；代有，即每一个时代都有。二字点出人才产生的普遍性、连续性，不是偶尔一现，而是代代相承、层出不穷，文学的创造之源永不枯竭。与「江山」配合，更见深意：江山不改而人事代谢，唯其如此，才人才能一茬一茬地涌现，各领数百年风骚。「代有」二字以极简之笔写出极宏的时空观，暗含赵翼史学中「古今嬗变」的进化史观，正如历代典章制度因时而变，文学亦然。若易为「常有」「皆有」，便失「代」字所含的世代更迭之意，诗之史识全在「代有」二字上。

领 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「各领风骚数百年」之「领」，是全句的点睛之字。领者，引领、统率也，此处以「领风骚」写才人主盟文坛、开一代风气，气魄宏大。「领」字之妙有三：一是主动，才人不是被动地「有」风骚，而是主动地「领」风骚，写出创造主体的担当与自信；二是统摄，领有统率之义，暗示才人不仅自己创作，更引领一代审美风尚，使同代人景从；三是有界，领者有其范围，各领数百年，既写出影响之久，亦暗示风骚终将易主，为「代有才人」的循环立论张本。若用「占」「主」等字，则或嫌浅露，或嫌板滞；唯「领」字气度雍容、意味隽永，与「数百年」的时间纵深相配，遂成千古名句。赵翼炼字，于平易处见功力，此其一例。