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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

淮上喜会梁州故人

A Joyful Reunion on the Huai with an Old Friend from Liangzhou

韦应物

Wei Yingwu

江汉曾为客，相逢每醉还。
浮云一别后，流水十年间。
欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑。
何因不归去，淮上有秋山。

I once sojourned by the Jiang and Han,
And every time we met we ended the day drunk.
Since we parted like floating clouds,
Ten years have flowed away like water.
Our laughter is as warm as ever,
But our sparse temple hair has turned gray.
Why not return home?
Because the Huai has its autumn hills.

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Meaning

Meeting a friend from Liangzhou on the Huai after a decade of separation, Wei Yingwu recalls their old drinking days by the Jiang and Han, measures the years between with the twin images of floating clouds and flowing water, and finds their laughter unchanged though their hair is gray. The poem closes with a question and its gentle answer: he does not go home because the Huai holds autumn hills worth staying for — affection for the friend and for the landscape fused in one unhurried close.

当年在江汉一带客居，我们相逢时常常畅饮而醉。像浮云般一别之后，如流水般一晃已是十年。重逢的欢笑还和从前一样，只是萧疏的两鬓已经斑白。为什么还不归去呢？只因淮上有迷人的秋山。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] I once sojourned by the Jiang and Han, drunk at every meeting; since we parted like floating clouds, ten years have flowed by like water. Our laughter is as warm as ever, but our sparse temples have grayed. Why not go home? Because the Huai has its autumn hills. [Imagery] 'Floating clouds' and 'flowing water' carry the decade between the friends; the 'autumn hills' carry the mood of the close — bright, faintly sad, unhurried. [Structure] The poem reviews the past (couplet one), measures the interval (couplet two), faces the present (couplet three), and answers a closing question with landscape (couplet four): memory, time, recognition, acceptance. [Theme] Friendship outlasts time, but time leaves its mark; the consolation is the shared present — a reunion, a river, a hill in autumn.

【白话串讲】韦应物写《淮上喜会梁州故人》：“江汉曾为客，相逢每醉还”——“浮云一别后，流水十年间”——“欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑”——“何因不归去，淮上有秋山”——他喜会故人——萧疏鬓已斑。【意象与手法】 “江汉曾为客，相逢每醉还”写江汉为客；“浮云一别后，流水十年间”以浮云流水写别后光阴；“欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑”写欢笑如旧、鬓发已斑；结以“何因不归去，淮上有秋山”以秋山写滞留之由。淡泊深情。【情感与主旨】韦应物与故人久别重逢于淮上之作，以“浮云一别后，流水十年间”写别后光阴，以“淮上有秋山”含蓄道出滞留不归之由，是大历诗风中的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“浮云一别后，流水十年间”写别后光阴；“欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑”写重逢之喜与岁月之悲。

Background

Wei Yingwu (c. 737–792) came from an aristocratic Chang'an family; after a wild youth he took to study and rose through a series of provincial governorships — Chuzhou, Jiangzhou, Suzhou — from which he is known as Wei Suzhou. His poetry of fields, gardens, and rivers, written in a style of clear elegance and tranquil distance, earned him a place beside Wang Wei and Meng Haoran. This poem, one of his most anthologized, records a reunion on the Huai with a friend from Liangzhou (modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi) after ten years of the scattering that followed the An Lushan Rebellion. Written in the poet's middle age, it belongs to the Dali-era manner: feeling that is deep but never loud.

《淮上喜会梁州故人》为中唐诗人韦应物所作五言律诗。韦应物（约737—约792），京兆长安人，中唐著名诗人，早年任侠放浪，后折节读书，历任滁州、江州、苏州刺史，世称韦苏州，其诗以写田园山水著称，风格清雅淡远，与王维、孟浩然、柳宗元并称「王孟韦柳」。此诗写与故人久别重逢。题中「淮上」指淮水之畔，「梁州故人」指来自梁州（今陕西汉中一带）的故友。诗人早年曾客居江汉一带，与故人交游，一别十年，如今重逢于淮上。诗中「江汉曾为客，相逢每醉还」追叙当年客居江汉、与故人相逢畅饮之乐；「浮云一别后，流水十年间」写别后十年光阴之流逝；「欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑」写重逢之喜与岁月之悲；「何因不归去，淮上有秋山」写滞留淮上之由。韦应物历经安史之乱，早年放浪、晚年淡泊，此诗于故人重逢的喜悦之中，暗含对岁月流逝、人生飘零的深沉感慨，情致亲切而感慨深沉，是大历诗人写故人重逢的名篇，也是韦应物「清雅淡远」诗风的典型体现。

Art

The poem's fame rests on the couplet 'since we parted like floating clouds, ten years have flowed away like water.' Two metaphors do all the work: clouds scatter (the friends' dispersal), water runs (the years' passage). The poet names no event of the decade, and the omission is the point — the ten years stand empty and immense. The next couplet descends into the physical present: 'our laughter is as warm as ever, but our sparse temple hair has turned gray.' 'As ever' and 'already' pull against each other, and the whole pathos of reunion is in that tension — everything the same, everything changed. The close, 'why not return home? Because the Huai has its autumn hills,' uses the question-and-landscape ending favored by Dali poets: the reason given is deliberately slight (some autumn hills), and the slightness is the depth — what keeps him is not a cause but a mood, the pleasure of an old friend's company among fading scenery.

此诗艺术上以「今昔对照、淡中见深」见长。全诗八句，前六句叙事抒情，后两句以景作结。首联「江汉曾为客，相逢每醉还」追叙当年：客居江汉，与故人相逢每每畅饮而醉，一个「每」字，写尽当年交游之密、情谊之深。颔联「浮云一别后，流水十年间」写别后光阴：像浮云般一别，如流水般已过十年，「浮云」写别后行踪之飘散，「流水」写岁月流逝之无情，两个意象叠加，写尽十年光阴之悠长。颈联「欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑」写重逢之况：重逢的欢笑还如当年一样，只是两鬓已经萧疏斑白，「情如旧」写情谊之不变，「鬓已斑」写岁月之改变，以欢笑如旧对照鬓发已斑，写尽重逢之喜与岁月之悲。尾联「何因不归去，淮上有秋山」以自问自答作结：为什么不归去呢？只因淮上有迷人的秋山。「秋山」以景作结，含蓄道出滞留之由，既见其淡泊自适之怀，亦暗含人生漂泊之慨。全诗由追叙而感慨、由感慨而写景，今昔对照、淡中见深，正是韦应物「清雅淡远」诗风的典范。

Allusions

'Floating clouds' is a classical image of the wanderer: from the Han 'Nineteen Old Poems' ('floating clouds hide the white sun; the wanderer does not return') through Li Bai's 'floating clouds — a wanderer's thoughts,' it stands for drifting and separation. 'Flowing water' for time descends from Confucius by the river ('what passes is just like this, not stopping day or night'). 'Jiang and Han' names the central Yangtze region of the friends' youth. The autumn hills of the close inherit the long association of autumn with fading and reflection. The poem weaves these traditional strands together so smoothly that the allusions are felt rather than noticed — the hallmark of the Dali manner.

诗中「浮云」「流水」皆含典故与意象传统。「浮云」自汉魏以来，多喻人生飘忽、聚散无常，如《古诗十九首》「浮云蔽白日，游子不顾返」、李白「浮云游子意」，皆以浮云写游子之漂泊；韦应物「浮云一别后」，以浮云写故人别后行踪之飘散，正是沿用此意象。「流水」则喻岁月流逝，如《论语·子罕》「子在川上曰：逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜」，后世以流水写光阴之逝；「流水十年间」以流水写十年岁月之流逝，语含怅惘。「欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑」一联，「情如旧」与「鬓已斑」对照，亦是唐人写久别重逢的惯常手法，如李益「问姓惊初见，称名忆旧容」之以惊疑写岁月之隔。韦应物此诗善用这些意象传统，不着痕迹，而把别后之飘散、岁月之流逝写得含蓄蕴藉，是善于熔铸故实以写深情的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

This poem is one of the best-loved reunion poems in Chinese literature, and its closing couplet has been endlessly discussed. Some readers take 'why not return home?' literally — the poet is stationed on the Huai and cannot leave — while others read the answer as poetic play: the autumn hills are the excuse, the friend is the reason. The poem is also frequently compared with Li Yi's 'Meeting My Cousin Again and Parting' and Sikong Shu's 'Spending the Night with Han Shen,' the other great Dali-era poems of reunion; all three write friendship across time, but Wei's is the warmest. The cloud-and-water couplet remains the poem's monument: ten characters in which a decade disappears.

这首《淮上喜会梁州故人》，写尽了故人久别重逢的喜悦与感慨，亲切而深沉。首联「江汉曾为客，相逢每醉还」，追叙当年客居江汉、与故人相逢畅饮之乐，一个「每」字，写尽当年交游之密、情谊之深，也为今日之重逢作了铺垫。颔联「浮云一别后，流水十年间」，是千古名句：像浮云般一别，如流水般已过十年。浮云写别后行踪之飘散，流水写岁月流逝之无情，两个意象，把十年的光阴与漂泊，写得既空灵又沉重。颈联「欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑」，写重逢之况：重逢的欢笑还如当年一样亲切，只是两人的两鬓都已萧疏斑白。「情如旧」写情谊之不变，令人欣慰；「鬓已斑」写岁月之改变，令人怅然。欢笑如旧与鬓发已斑相对照，重逢的喜悦与岁月的悲凉交织一处，正是久别重逢最真切的况味。尾联「何因不归去，淮上有秋山」，以自问自答作结：为什么不归去呢？只因淮上有迷人的秋山。这回答看似淡泊闲适，实则暗含深意——归去何处？故人重逢，相聚淮上，正可相携看秋山，这「不归去」里，既有对故人重逢的珍惜，也有对人生漂泊的无奈。全诗由追叙而感慨、由感慨而写景，淡中见深，正是大历诗人于故人重逢中写尽人生况味的典范，读之令人回味。

Prosody

Form Poem: five-character regulated verse (wulü), eight lines in four couplets五言律诗（近体，平起式）

Rhyme The poem rhymes on huan ('return'), jian ('between'), ban ('gray'), and shan ('hill') — level-tone words of the shan rhyme group (the fifteenth pingshui group). Its broad, open sounds carry the poem's tranquil, spacious mood.全诗押平声韵「还」「间」「斑」「山」，韵脚同属删寒类（还、间、斑、山），一韵到底，韵部宽舒而音调清畅。五律以平韵谐畅为常，此诗「还」「间」「斑」「山」四韵音色明朗，正与故人重逢的亲切情调相称；「山」字收束全篇，与「淮上有秋山」之句相映，韵脚亦含淡泊之意，声情与辞情相凑。

Tone pattern The poem follows the rules of regulated verse: tonal alternation through the eight lines and exact parallelism in the middle couplets ('floating clouds' answering 'flowing water,' 'as ever' answering 'already gray'). Its pace is deliberately slow — recall, measure, recognition, close — and the final couplet's question and answer bring the verse to rest like a conversation trailing off.句式上，首联「江汉曾为客，相逢每醉还」平起，音节舒缓，追叙当年之乐；颔联「浮云一别后，流水十年间」以「浮云」「流水」相对，写别后光阴，音节空灵；颈联「欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑」对仗工整，「如旧」「已斑」相对，写重逢之况，音节顿挫含情；尾联「何因不归去，淮上有秋山」以设问作结，音节转舒，情调由感慨归于淡泊。全诗平仄相间、音节随情起伏，读来如故人重逢、把酒话旧的低语，亲切而深长。

Reading note This is the standard text of one of the Dali era's most-loved reunion poems; a variant version circulates with 'why should I set off north for home?' in the final couplet. The poem is a textbook example of the Dali manner — 'from the simple and ancient, the richest flavor' — in which the deepest feelings are carried by the plainest words. The cloud-and-water couplet demonstrates the regulated couplet's power to compress a decade into two metaphors, and the closing question-and-landscape ending became a model for later poets.此诗为五言律诗，是韦应物写故人重逢的名篇，也是中唐大历诗风「清雅淡远」的典型体现。全诗的艺术特色在于「今昔对照、淡中见深」：首联「江汉曾为客，相逢每醉还」追叙当年客居江汉、相逢畅饮之乐；颔联「浮云一别后，流水十年间」以浮云、流水写别后十年光阴之流逝，是千古名句；颈联「欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑」以「如旧」与「已斑」对照，写重逢之喜与岁月之悲；尾联「何因不归去，淮上有秋山」以设问、以景作结，含蓄道出滞留之由。全诗由追叙而感慨、由感慨而写景，今昔对照，淡中见深。尤为动人者，是「浮云一别后，流水十年间」一联，以浮云流水两个意象，把十年的离别与漂泊写得既空灵又沉重，举重若轻，正是韦应物「发纤秾于简古，寄至味于淡泊」诗风的典范，为历代选家所称赏。

Line by line

江汉曾为客，相逢每醉还。

I once sojourned by the Jiang and Han; every time we met we ended the day drunk.

当年在江汉一带客居，我们相逢时常常畅饮而醉归。

In those days we sojourned by the Yangzi and Han; whenever we met, we returned drunk.

首联追叙当年，为重逢作铺垫。「江汉曾为客」写当年曾客居江汉一带，「曾」字见其往事之遥远，也暗含如今行踪之变迁；「相逢每醉还」写当年与故人相逢，每每畅饮而醉归，「每」字见交游之密、情谊之深，也写出当年的少年意气与欢洽。两句追叙往事，以当年之欢洽为今日之重逢铺垫，今昔对照之下，故人之谊与时光之感便自然浮现。诗人不直写重逢之喜，而先写当年之乐，正是「以昔衬今」的笔法，起笔亲切，为全诗定下了温厚深挚的基调。

The opening couplet recalls old times, preparing the reunion. 'In those days we sojourned by the Yangzi and Han' — the word 'those' shows how distant the past; 'whenever we met, we returned drunk' shows the closeness of old companionship, the high spirits of youth. It writes old joy to set against the present, using the past to foil the present.

浮云一别后，流水十年间。

Since we parted like floating clouds, ten years have flowed away like water.

像浮云般一别之后，如流水般一晃已是十年。

Like a floating cloud, after that parting; like running water, ten years have passed.

颔联写别后光阴，是千古名句。「浮云一别后」写当年一别，别后如浮云般飘散无定，「浮云」见人生聚散之无常、行踪之飘忽；「流水十年间」写别后光阴，如流水般一去不返，一晃已是十年，「流水」见岁月流逝之无情、十年光阴之悠长。两句以「浮云」「流水」两个意象，一写人之漂泊、一写时之流逝，把十年的离别写得既空灵又沉重。诗人不写这十年如何艰难，而以此两个意象轻轻带过，举重若轻，于平淡中见深致，正是「淡中见深」的典范之笔。

This couplet writes the years after parting, a famous pair. 'Like a floating cloud' — after that parting they drifted like clouds, the fickleness of human gathering; 'like running water, ten years have passed' — the years flowed on, gone in a flash. Two images, cloud and water, one the man's wandering, one time's slipping away; ten years of parting rendered weightless and heavy at once.

欢笑情如旧，萧疏鬓已斑。

Our laughter is as warm as ever, but our sparse temple hair has turned gray.

重逢的欢笑还和从前一样，只是萧疏的两鬓已经斑白。

Our laughter and feeling are as of old; only my thinning temples are already gray.

颈联写重逢之况，是全诗情感最复杂处。「欢笑情如旧」写重逢的欢笑还如当年一样，「情如旧」三字，见其情谊并未因十年分别而改变，重逢之喜溢于言表；「萧疏鬓已斑」写萧疏的两鬓已经斑白，「萧疏」写鬓发之稀疏，「斑」写其花白，见岁月在二人身上留下的痕迹。两句一写情之不变、一写鬓之已改，以「如旧」与「已斑」相对照，重逢的喜悦与岁月的悲凉交织一处——情谊虽如旧，而人已老去。这对照写得含蓄而深沉，把久别重逢最真切的况味和盘托出，是五律中「以对照写深情」的典范。

This couplet writes the reunion, the most complex feeling. 'Our laughter and feeling are as of old' — the joy as of old, friendship unchanged through ten years; 'only my thinning temples are already gray' — the thinning, streaked temples, the mark of the years. One line the feeling unchanged, one the temples changed; reunion's joy woven with age's grief, the truest taste of a meeting after long separation.

何因不归去，淮上有秋山。

Why not return home? Because the Huai has its autumn hills.

为什么还不归去呢？只因淮上有迷人的秋山。

Why have I not gone home? By the Huai, there are autumn hills.

尾联以自问自答作结，含蓄道出滞留之由。「何因不归去」以设问写滞留淮上之由，「不归去」见其本可归去而未能归去；「淮上有秋山」以景作答：只因淮上有迷人的秋山。这回答看似淡泊闲适，实则暗含深意——「秋山」既是眼前之景，亦是淡泊自适之怀的象征，诗人以赏秋山为不归之由，既见其对山水之爱、对淡泊之向，也暗含故人重逢、相携赏景之意。两句以景结情，含蓄蕴藉，把滞留之由与人生之慨写得余味悠长，是五律「以景作结」的妙笔。

The closing couplet ends in a self-question and answer, quietly giving the reason for lingering. 'Why have I not gone home?' asks why he has not returned; 'by the Huai, there are autumn hills' answers through scenery. The autumn hills are both the view before him and the symbol of a quiet, self-sufficient heart; through scenery he writes the reason, the aftertaste long.

Study

Word focus

每醉还 'Every time, drunk, returned': 'every time' shows how constant the meetings were — each reunion ended in drunken cheer — so the word quietly measures how much the later separation cost. 「每醉还」写当年相逢每每畅饮而醉归，「每」字是此句关键，见交游之密、情谊之深，也写出当年的少年意气与欢洽。着一「每」字，便把当年一次次相逢畅饮的欢愉定格在记忆中，与今日重逢之喜遥相呼应；「醉还」更见其情到浓处、尽兴而归之状，是追叙当年之乐的点睛之笔。「每醉还」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

浮云 'Floating clouds': the ancient image of the wanderer and of parting; it makes the friends' decade of dispersal feel aimless and vast, like clouds drifting apart with no one's choosing. 「浮云」喻人生聚散之无常、行踪之飘忽，是此诗写别后的关键意象。「浮云一别后」着一「浮云」，把十年别后的漂泊无定写得既空灵又沉重——如浮云般飘散，各奔东西，不知踪迹。浮云之喻，承汉魏以来「浮云游子意」的传统，而用在久别重逢的语境中，更见人生聚散之沧桑，是「淡中见深」的妙笔。「浮云」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

流水 'Flowing water': the image of passing time from Confucius at the river; paired with 'floating clouds' it measures the ten years — one image for the friends' scattering, one for the years' running away. 「流水」喻岁月流逝之无情，与「浮云」相对，写十年光阴之悠长。「流水十年间」着一「流水」，取「逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜」之意，写岁月如流水般一去不返，一晃已是十年。流水与浮云相对，一写时之逝、一写人之散，把十年的离别与漂泊写得含蓄而深沉，两个意象叠加，正见诗人炼意之精、用象之妙。「流水」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

萧疏 'Sparse and thinning': describes graying, thinning hair; the cold sound of the word and the picture of thinning hair make the passage of ten years visible on the friends' bodies, felt against the laughter that is 'as warm as ever.' 「萧疏」写鬓发之稀疏，是此诗写岁月之痕的点睛之词。「萧疏鬓已斑」着一「萧疏」，写两鬓之发稀疏零落，正是岁月流逝、人生渐老的印记；与「欢笑情如旧」之「如旧」相对，愈见岁月之无情。两字音调清冷，写尽重逢时见故人苍老、亦见己身渐老的怅然，是「以一字写尽岁月」的妙笔。「萧疏」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。