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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

北青萝

Beiqingluo

李商隐

Li Shangyin

访僧visiting a monk 禅理Chan philosophy 隐逸reclusion

残阳西入崦，茅屋访孤僧。
落叶人何在，寒云路几层。
独敲初夜磬，闲倚一枝藤。
世界微尘里，吾宁爱与憎。

The last sunlight goes down behind Mount Yan,
I seek out the lone monk in his thatched hut.
Fallen leaves everywhere, and where is the man?
Cold clouds, and how many layers of mountain road?
Alone he strikes the chime at the first of the night,
At leisure he leans on a single vine staff.
If the whole world is only a mote of dust,
Why should I hold on to loving and hating?

Listen

Meaning

The poet climbs at dusk to a hermit monk's hut, through fallen leaves and layers of cold cloud, and finds him striking a chime alone in the early dark. Looking at the world from that height, he lets go of the attachments of like and dislike.

夕阳西沉，没入崦嵫山后，我到茅屋中寻访那位孤僧。落叶满地，人究竟在何处？寒云缭绕，山路更隔着几重。夜色初临，独自敲响磬声，闲来倚着一枝藤杖。纵然世界不过微尘之中，我又何必执着于爱憎。

Appreciation

The poem is built as a journey, and the difficulty of the climb is inseparable from its meaning: leaves cover the ground, cloud closes the path, and the man being sought cannot be located. The two verbs of the third couplet, striking and leaning, define the monk entirely, one sound and one posture, and both are unhurried. Then the last couplet lifts the whole poem out of the mountain and into the cosmos, and the shift is made so lightly that it feels like an observation rather than a doctrine. Coming from a poet who spent his career caught between factions, the closing question is not abstract at all; it is the sound of a man setting down a weight he has carried for years.

【白话串讲】 “残阳西入崦，茅屋访孤僧”——李商隐在残阳里拜访山中的孤僧。“独敲初夜磬，闲倚一枝藤”——“世界微尘里，吾宁爱与憎”——世界如微尘，我何必执着爱与憎。晚年的李商隐，有了禅意。【意象与手法】首联“残阳”“茅屋”点出寻访的幽寂；颔联“落叶”“寒云”以景写人之难寻，禅意渐浓；颈联“独敲”“闲倚”写僧人之静；尾联由实入虚，以“微尘”之喻直抵禅理。【情感与主旨】这是一首访僧悟理之作。诗人于暮色中寻僧不遇（或遇而谈），由眼前景悟及“世界微尘”的虚幻，生出泯灭爱憎、超然物外之念，折射出李商隐历经党争宦海后的疲惫与求解。【名句点睛】 “世界微尘里，吾宁爱与憎”——由景入理，将尘世爱憎置于宇宙尺度下轻轻放下，透出彻悟后的淡然。

Background

Beiqingluo is the name of a mountain temple site, said by some to lie in the Zhongnan range near Chang'an. Li Shangyin's whole career was entangled in the factional struggle between the Niu and Li parties, and he was repeatedly pushed aside. This poem describes a visit to a solitary monk and a moment of insight at nightfall, and it breathes a wish to rise above the likes and dislikes of the world.

李商隐的《北青萝》约作于其壮年漫游或辗转幕府期间，是一首寻访隐僧、由景入理的访道之作。北青萝，一般认为是指北方某处长满青萝的山地幽境，诗人于暮色苍茫中前往茅屋访一位孤僧，寻而未遇或遇而谈，皆在诗中化作清寂的禅意。李商隐一生深陷牛李党争的夹缝，仕途蹭蹬，抱负难伸，又历经妻子早逝之痛，内心常怀出世之想。中晚唐士人访僧问道蔚为风气，许多诗人借山水禅院排遣宦海疲惫，白居易、王维、刘禹锡皆然。此诗正体现了李商隐在尘网劳碌之余，对清净解脱的向往。诗中虽未明言党争，但残阳、寒云、微尘等意象，分明折射出诗人对世路艰危的体认与对爱憎执着的反思，是一首将行旅、访僧与人生彻悟融为一体的佳作。此诗约作于李商隐壮年游幕或辗转求职期间，是一首寻访隐僧、由景入理的访道之作。北青萝泛指北方长满青萝的幽境，诗人于日暮寻僧，所求或在清净之解脱。中晚唐士人访僧问道成风，李商隐身处牛李党争夹缝，内心常怀出世之想，此诗正其疲惫宦途中寻求片刻安宁的写照。诗中残阳、孤僧、微尘诸象，皆可视为诗人自我精神的投射，于尘网劳碌中暂得清凉，是其心灵史的一页侧影。

Art

The poem passes from scene to principle without any visible seam. The first six lines make a picture of a search for a monk in a mountain temple, describing nothing but landscape while a meditative calm accumulates of itself. The closing couplet suddenly rises to a philosophical plane, and the image of the mote of dust lifts an enormous idea with an entirely light touch, leaving a resonance that carries far.

《北青萝》的艺术妙处在以极省的笔墨写极深的禅境，由实入虚，层层递进。首联点题，残阳沉山、茅屋孤僧，已铺出幽寂的底色；颔联以落叶满地、寒云几层写寻访之难，景中藏问，禅意渐浓；颈联独敲初夜磬、闲倚一枝藤，以僧人之静写心境之空，动静相生。全诗最胜处在尾联由眼前景陡然跃入宇宙之思：世界微尘里，吾宁爱与憎。这一转将前面所有的景物都收束为烘托，使全篇获得哲理的高度。在用字上，残、孤、寒、独、闲诸字贯穿，营造出清冷而从容的基调；对仗工稳而不板滞，五律的矩矱之中自有流转之气，是李商隐少有的淡远清空之作，与其秾丽深婉的《无题》形成鲜明对照。首联残阳茅屋点出幽寂，颔联落叶寒云写寻访之难，颈联独敲闲倚写僧人之静，尾联世界微尘直抵禅理。全诗由实入虚，层层递进，用字以残孤寒独闲贯穿，营造清冷从容的基调。五律矩矱之中自有流转之气，是李商隐少有的淡远清空之作，与其秾丽无题形成对照。五律至此，已由初盛唐的浑厚转为中晚唐的幽细，李商隐以清空之笔写禅悦，正见其诗境之广。

Allusions

Mount Yan, or Yanzi, is the mountain into which the sun sets in old mythology, and stands for the west at sundown. The mote of dust is Buddhist language for the smallness and unreality of the world, as in the Lotus Sutra's image of world systems as numerous as motes of dust. Love and hatred are named in Buddhist teaching as the roots of affliction.

诗中「崦」字用典，指崦嵫山，语出《山海经》与《离骚》，相传为日落之处，屈原《离骚》有「吾令羲和弭节兮，望崦嵫而勿迫」之句，李商隐以残阳西入崦暗示日暮途穷、光景无多的迟暮之感，暗与屈子求索不遇的悲怀遥接。「世界微尘」则化用佛家典故，《法华经》及维摩诘所说皆有「芥子纳须弥」「世界如微尘」之喻，谓大千世界在佛法观照下不过一粒微尘，荣枯爱憎皆属虚妄。诗人借此典将人间执念轻轻放下，透出彻悟后的淡然。此外，孤僧、磬、藤杖皆为佛门典型物象，藤杖亦暗合魏晋以来隐逸文人策杖山林的传统。全诗用典不着痕迹，融佛理于写景叙事之中，体现了李商隐学养之厚与运典之巧。崦指崦嵫，传说中日落之山，语出山海经与离骚望崦嵫而勿迫，暗喻迟暮穷途；世界微尘化用佛典，谓大千世界在智慧观照下不过微尘，荣枯爱憎皆属虚妄。孤僧、磬、藤杖皆佛门典型物象，藤杖亦承魏晋隐逸策杖山林之传统，用典不着痕迹。佛理入诗而能不堕理障，全赖景语烘托，使微尘之喻自然浮现，是李商隐运典化境的又一例证。

Commentary

The lines about striking the chime alone in the early night and leaning at leisure on a vine staff work in the same manner as Chang Jian's famous couplet in which every sound is stilled and only the temple bell remains, both using sound to convey stillness.

《北青萝》在李商隐诗集中并不以秾丽著称，却以清空淡远独树一帜，历来为论者所重。清人蘅塘退士选《唐诗三百首》虽未录此篇，但后世注家多许其有王维、韦应物之逸韵。诗中由寻僧而悟理的脉络，代表了中晚唐士人「以禅入诗」的普遍趣味，也折射出李商隐精神世界的另一面：他既能写「春蚕到死丝方尽」的痴情深婉，也能在此诗中作「吾宁爱与憎」的旷达解脱。尾联十字，将尘世爱憎置于宇宙尺度下轻轻放下，既是佛理的点化，也是诗人在党争倾轧、身世飘零中的自我宽慰。读此诗，可见李商隐并非一味伤婉，其胸中亦有超然之境，只是这超然往往建立在深悲之后，更觉沉厚有味，值得反复涵咏。北青萝在李商隐集中以清空淡远独树一帜，历来为论者所重。诗中由寻僧而悟理的脉络，代表中晚唐士人以禅入诗的普遍趣味，也折射其精神世界的另一面：既能写春蚕到死之痴情，亦能作吾宁爱与憎之旷达。尾联十字将尘世爱憎置于宇宙尺度下轻轻放下，是深悲之后的超然。后世每以无题代表李商隐，然此等清空之作亦不可轻忽，它展现了诗人精神世界中超越哀婉的旷达一面，值得细读。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse五言律诗

Rhyme The rhyme words are seng, ceng, teng, and zeng, belonging to the tenth lower level rhyme group zheng.下平十蒸韵（僧、层、藤、憎押韵）

Tone pattern Level-tone opening, with the middle two couplets in parallel, matching fallen leaves against cold clouds.仄起首句不入韵式，平仄合律，中间两联对仗工整

Reading note The poem moves from landscape into meditation. In the middle couplets fallen leaves answer cold clouds and striking the chime answers leaning at leisure, so that doctrine is displayed through scene, and the close, weighing the mote of dust against love and hatred, is clear and transcendent.《北青萝》是一首标准的五言律诗，全篇八句四十字，格律严整。首句「残阳西入崦」为仄起，崦字属下平十四盐，不与下文押韵，故为首句不入韵的仄起式；自第二句「茅屋访孤僧」起，僧、层、藤、憎皆属下平十蒸韵，一韵到底，韵脚清圆，与诗境的从容淡远相得益彰。中间两联「落叶人何在，寒云路几层」「独敲初夜磬，闲倚一枝藤」工于对仗：落叶对寒云，人何在對路几层；独敲对闲倚，初夜磬对一枝藤，不仅对属精切，且以名词、动词、数量词错落组合，于工整中见流动。全诗平仄遵循律诗惯例，粘对无误，读来朗朗上口。李商隐七言律诗最为擅场，此五律虽少作，却矩矱森然而气韵清空，可见其律法之熟与才力之广，淡远一格亦能从容驾驭。

Line by line

残阳西入崦，

The last of the sun sinks behind the western mountain. The hour of the visit is fixed at once, and the dusk sets a quiet, secluded key before anything else happens.

夕阳西沉，没入崦嵫山后，

The setting sun sinks west into the Yan hills,

「残阳西入崦」五字，既点明寻访的时间在日暮，又暗藏多重意蕴。崦即崦嵫，传说中日落之山，自《离骚》以来便是迟暮、穷途的象征。一个残字写尽光景将尽，一个入字写出无可挽回的沉落，与诗人当时困顿幕府、进退维谷的处境若合符契。此句看似平淡写景，实则以天象喻世运、以日暮喻人生，为全篇定下清寂而略带苍凉的基调。它不似李商隐多数作品的秾丽，却以简净见力，仿佛一幅淡墨山水，在落日余晖中徐徐展开寻僧的旅程，引导读者由外在的暮色走入内在的空境。

The five characters of the setting sun sinks west into the Yan hills at once point to the time of the visit at dusk, and hide several layers of meaning. Yan means Mount Yanzi, the fabled mountain where the sun sets, since the Li Sao the symbol of declining years and the road's end. The word setting writes to the full the light's nearing its end, and the word sinks writes the irreversible descent, matching the poet's plight in the military office, between advance and retreat. This line seems plain scenery, yet really uses the sky to meta-phor the age and the dusk to meta-phor life, fixing the clear still and slightly desolate key of the whole. It is not like the richness of most of Li Shangyin's work, yet wins through its spare force, like a faint-ink landscape slowly unfolding the journey to seek the monk in the afterglow, leading the reader from the outer dusk into the inner empty realm.

落叶人何在，

Fallen leaves lie everywhere, and where is the man? A question is used to describe emptiness, and the difficulty of finding the monk produces the meditative mood by itself.

落叶满地，人究竟在何处？

With leaves falling, where is the man?

「落叶人何在」以问句写寻访不遇的怅惘，景中藏情，禅意自生。满地落叶既是实写秋深山中之景，也隐喻繁华落尽、人事难寻的空幻。人何在之问，表面是寻僧不得的疑惑，深层却是对归宿、对解脱之所的探询。李商隐于此将寻僧的过程化为一场精神的追问：所求者究竟在何处？是在茅屋之中，还是在方寸之间？这种由外求转向内省的结构，使诗句超越纪游而具普遍的人生况味。落叶无声，问亦无声，于静默中见深意，正是此诗以少胜多的范例。

With leaves falling, where is the man writes the wistfulness of seeking and not meeting in a question, feeling hidden in scenery, the Zen meaning of itself arising. The leaves falling over the ground is at once the real autumn-mountain scene, and the meta-phor of prosperity fallen and men hard to find. The question where is the man, on the surface the perplexity of not finding the monk, in depth the inquiry after the refuge and the place of release. Li Shangyin here turns the seeking of the monk into a spiritual questioning: where exactly is the one sought? In the thatched hut, or within the inch-square heart? This structure of turning from outer seeking to inner introspection makes the line, beyond the record of travel, carry the universal savor of life. The leaves fall silent, and the question is silent, depth seen in stillness, exactly the model of this poem's few overcoming the many.

世界微尘里，

The whole world lies within a mote of dust. Mount Sumeru is put inside a mustard seed, and the emptiness of the universe is suddenly apparent.

纵然世界不过微尘之中，

The world lies within a mote of dust,

「世界微尘里」是全书由实入虚的关键一转，将前面所有暮色、茅屋、落叶、寒云、磬声、藤杖统统收束为烘托，使全篇跃升至宇宙与佛理的高度。微尘之喻出自佛典，谓无量世界在智慧观照下不过一粒尘埃，荣枯聚散皆属虚妄。诗人以此回望前半篇的寻访与怅惘，顿觉种种执着皆可放下。这五个字以极小的意象承载极广的时空，举重若轻，既是写景之后的哲理收束，也是李商隐在党争尘网中求得片刻解脱的精神写照，读来令人胸襟忽开。

The world lies within a mote of dust is the key turn of the whole from solid to void, gathering all the dusk, the thatched hut, the falling leaves, the cold clouds, the bell sound, and the vine staff into a foil, leaping to the height of the universe and the Buddhist truth. The meta-phor of the mote comes from the Buddhist scriptures, saying that measureless worlds, under the illumination of wisdom, are but a grain of dust, and that glory and decay, gathering and scattering are all illusion. The poet, looking back with this at the seeking and wistfulness of the first half, at once feels all attachments may be laid down. These five characters carry the broadest time and space in the smallest image, bearing the heavy as light, at once the philosophic close after the scenery and the picture of Li Shangyin finding a moment's release in the dust-net of factional strife, reading it makes the breast suddenly open.

Study

Word focus

孤僧 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「孤僧」二字是全诗人物描写的核心，分量极重。孤既写僧人之独处山林、无伴无侣的外在处境，也暗示其超然物外、不惹尘缘的内心境界，与首句残阳、次句茅屋共同构成清寂荒寒的画面。在李商隐的笔下，这位孤僧实为诗人自我精神的投射：一个在党争夹缝中疲惫不堪的士人，何尝不向往这份孤独中的自在？僧因孤而静，诗因僧而清空，孤字贯穿首尾，与后文独敲、闲倚遥相呼应，使全篇气脉相连。以孤僧为题中之人，足见诗人对隐逸解脱的倾慕，也反衬出世路之喧嚣与自我之孤零。

宁 The word ning, why or how could, turns the ending into a rhetorical question and lets the poem close on transcendence rather than statement. 尾句「吾宁爱与憎」中的「宁」字，是反诘语气词，意为何必、岂肯，看似轻巧一问，实含千钧之力。它把前面铺垫的残阳、落叶、寒云、微尘种种意象，统统汇成一声释然的叹息：既然世界不过微尘，我又何必执着于爱憎？宁字以反问收束，比直陈更显决绝与通透，将佛理的点化化为诗人自己的口吻，亲切而有骨力。若换成「无」「忘」等字，便失却这层主动抉择的意味。李商隐善用虚字斡旋神情，此宁字正是一字立骨，使全诗由景语自然过渡到理语，余味悠长。

北青萝