唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
剑门
Sword Gate
惟天有设险，剑门天下壮。
连山抱西南，石角皆北向。
两崖崇墉倚，刻画城郭状。
一夫怒临关，百万未可傍。
珠玉走中原，岷峨气凄怆。
三皇五帝前，鸡犬各相放。
后王尚柔远，职贡道已丧。
至今英雄人，高视见霸王。
并吞与割据，极力不相让。
吾将罪真宰，意欲铲叠嶂。
恐此复偶然，临风默惆怅。
Sword Gate is the strongest on earth.
Linked mountains embrace the southwest,
All stone peaks slant toward the north.
Two cliffs lean like towering walls,
Carved into the shape of a city.
One man, enraged, guards the pass—
A million men cannot approach.
Pearls and jade flow to the Central Plains,
Min and Emei mourn with somber air.
Before the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors,
Dogs and fowl each roamed free.
Later kings still cherished the distant,
But the way of tribute was lost.
Even to this day, heroes
Look down and see king-hegemons.
Annexing or dividing the land,
They strain with all their might, yielding not.
I would accuse the Creator—
I wish to level the layered peaks.
Yet fearing this may happen again,
I face the wind and silently grieve.
Meaning
Du Fu describes the formidable Sword Gate pass and reflects on how such natural barriers have historically enabled warlords to carve up the empire. He laments the suffering of Sichuan's people and expresses a desperate wish to erase the mountain barrier itself, even as he fears that the cycle of rebellion and division will recur, leaving him to grieve helplessly before the wind.
上天独设此等险要，剑门堪称天下雄壮。 连绵山势环抱西南，石峰棱角皆向北昂。 两崖如高墙相互倚立，仿佛刻画出的城郭模样。 一人怒临关口，百万之众也难逼近。 蜀地珠玉尽输中原，岷峨为此气色凄怆。 三皇五帝之时，鸡犬各安其所。 后世君王虽行怀柔，纳贡之道却已沦丧。 至今那些英雄人物，高视阔步妄图称霸称王。 或并吞或割据，竭力争斗互不相让。 我真想责问造化之主，恨不得铲平这重重叠嶂。 只怕割据之祸再度偶然重演，临风默然惆怅。
Appreciation
This five-character ancient verse was written in the last days of the second year of Qianyuan (759) as Du Fu passed Sword Gate on his way into Sichuan. With the An Lushan Rebellion still raging and regional warlords rising, the poet turns from landscape to political commentary. The first eight lines depict the pass's overwhelming natural strength—Heaven alone has set such peril, mountains embrace the southwest, cliffs stand like city walls, and one furious man could block a million. The middle section shifts to social criticism: Sichuan's wealth flows to the court while the people suffer; since ancient times, rulers' appeasement policies have lost their true purpose, and ambitious men have used topography to dominate. The final lines shock with a cosmic fantasy: Du Fu wishes to condemn the Creator and level the mountains, only to fall silent in the wind, knowing that violent division may still return. The poem blends scene, narration, argument, and emotion with the restrained yet forceful style typical of Du Fu's later years, making it a model of the political-verse tradition in Tang poetry.
【白话串讲】 “惟天有设险，剑门天下壮”——杜甫写剑门：天生险要，天下第一壮。“两崖崇墉倚，刻画城郭状”——“一夫怒临关，百万未可傍”——一夫当关，万夫莫开。“珠玉走中原，岷峨气凄怆”——他写蜀地的民力被搜刮。杜甫写景，也在忧国。 【意象与手法】 前八句写剑门之险，“一夫怒临关、百万未可傍”化用《蜀道难》之意；中数句转入议论，“珠玉走中原”写蜀地财富被搜刮；末以“吾将罪真宰、意欲铲叠嶂”的奇想表达铲平险阻之愿。以散文之气行骈偶之调，写景、叙事、议论、抒情交融，沉郁顿挫。 【情感与主旨】 杜甫入蜀途经剑门关所作，面对天险由景生议，抒发对国事的深沉忧虑，针砭藩镇之患，既见忧国之心，亦为唐代即景议政五古的典范。 【名句点睛】 常考“一夫怒临关，百万未可傍”以一夫当关写剑门之险；“珠玉走中原，岷峨气凄怆”以珠玉入朝写民力被搜刮。
Background
In late 759, Du Fu, fleeing warfare and hardship, left Tonggu and traveled toward Chengdu. Passing Sword Gate, he was struck by the sheer danger of the pass. At this time, the An Lushan Rebellion was still raging, and the Tang court was losing control over regional commanders. The pass—a natural fortress easily defended by rebels—triggered Du Fu's deep anxiety about the potential for future separatist warlords. His own bitter experiences of displacement, together with his constant concern for the nation, led him to transform a landscape description into a political meditation. This poem is part of a series of travel poems written during his journey into Sichuan, a period that marks the full maturity of his characteristic 'somber and forceful' style.
《剑门》是杜甫于乾元二年年底由同谷入蜀途经剑门关时所作的五言古诗。时安史之乱未平，藩镇割据隐现，诗人面对天险，由景生议，抒发对国事的深沉忧虑。杜甫此行，自秦州、同谷一路艰危，挈家入蜀，本为避乱，而剑门之险，反而触发其对割据之祸的忧思，足见诗人身经流离而心系社稷。诗中珠玉走中原写蜀地财富被搜刮输入朝廷，岷峨气凄怆暗寓民怨；三皇五帝前至极力不相让追述自古割据之祸，针砭藩镇之患。末以吾将罪真宰、意欲铲叠嶂的奇想，表达铲平险阻、消弭割据的愿望，临风默惆怅收束忧思。值得注意的是，此诗作于入蜀之初，已是杜甫沉郁顿挫风格成熟期的作品，却不以写景为务，而借景议政，在唐代即景议政五古中堪称典范，亦与其《同谷七歌》等同为入蜀纪行中的重要篇章，向来为论杜者所重，读之可想见诗人杖策临风、念乱忧生之慨。要之，读懂此诗，须将其放回具体的历史语境与诗人的身世脉络之中，方能体会字句之下的深沉寄托与时代投影。要之，读懂此诗，须将其放回具体的历史语境与诗人的身世脉络之中，方能体会字句之下的深沉寄托与时代投影。故论此诗，不可孤立视之，当与诗人一生的出处行藏相印证，其寄托乃愈见分明。由此观之，此篇虽若小品，实乃时代心理与个人遭际交汇的产物，值得细加玩味。要之，读懂此诗，须将其放回具体的历史语境与诗人的身世脉络之中，方能体会字句之下的深沉寄托与时代投影。故论此诗，不可孤立视之，当与诗人一生的出处行藏相印证，其寄托乃愈见分明。
Art
The poem is a masterpiece of structural control. It moves from the mountain's physical grandeur to the suffering of Shu, then to ancient history, then to the present threat of warlords, before climaxing in an imagined assault on Heaven itself and sinking into a wordless sigh. The verse employs a vivid opening judgment ('Only Heaven sets forth such peril'), powerful visual imagery of cliffs and stone corners, and the famous allusion to Li Bai's 'Shu Dao Nan' in the line 'One man enraged guards the pass—a million men cannot approach,' but Du Fu heightens the rhetorical force by turning a descriptive phrase into a political argument. The sentences often have a loose, prose-like rhythm that yet respects balanced parallel phrasing, anticipating the sonorous cadence of his regulated verse. Critics such as Pu Qilong (Qing dynasty) praised Du Fu for weaving geography with emotion; this poem is precisely such an example—mountains become the vehicle of a national elegy, and the sudden turn to 'I would accuse the Creator' reveals a desperate moral imagination rarely equaled in Chinese poetry.
艺术上，写景、叙事、议论、抒情交融，沉郁顿挫，语语关情。前八句写剑门之险：惟天有设险总括，连山抱西南写山势，两崖崇墉倚写关隘，一夫怒临关、百万未可傍化用《蜀道难》之意，极言地形之雄。中数句转入议论，珠玉走中原写蜀地财富被搜刮，岷峨气凄怆暗寓民怨；三皇五帝前至极力不相让追述自古割据之祸，针砭藩镇。末以吾将罪真宰、意欲铲叠嶂的奇想，把忧思推向高潮，临风默惆怅收束于无声之叹。结构上，由景及议、由古及今、由奇想归于沉默，大开大合而血脉不断。句式以散文之气行骈偶之调，于工整中见顿挫，已开杜律沉郁之先声。清人浦起龙评杜诗以地为经、以情为纬，此篇正其入蜀纪行以山川写忧国之范例，读之可想见诗人杖策临风、念乱忧生之慨，亦见老杜一生系念社稷之深，议论而不失诗味，沉着而不伤板滞，在即景议政诗中别树一帜。综而论之，此诗技法浑成，情景相生，于平淡中见匠心，足为后世取法。其章法之密、用笔之妙，正在不露痕迹处见真章，非熟于诗法者不能到。
Allusions
The poem draws on several classical sources. The phrase 'she xian' (setting forth peril) comes from the Zhou Yi (Book of Changes), where princes set up fortifications to protect their states; Du Fu applies this human concept to Heaven, implying that Heaven itself has planted the cause of future disasters. 'Yifu dang guan, wanfu mo kai' (one man at the pass, ten thousand cannot open) is adapted from Li Bai's 'Shu Dao Nan,' changed from 'ten thousand' to 'a million' to magnify the threat. 'Zhu yu zou Zhongyuan' (pearls and jade flow to the Central Plains) alludes to the Mencius and contemporary military extraction of local wealth, suggesting that Sichuan's resources are drained to the capital. 'Jiquan ge xiangfang' (dogs and fowl each roamed free) evokes the ideal ancient world of the 'Jirang Ge' where people lived undisturbed. 'Rouyuan' is a term from the Shang Shu referring to the virtuous governance of distant peoples. Finally, 'zai' (Creator) is a term from the Zhuangzi, indicating the natural force that shapes all things. Du Fu uses these allusions flexibly, sometimes turning them upside down, to argue that natural barriers breed separation; his scholarly synthesis of classics and history serves a deeply contemporary political anxiety.
此诗用典与化用，皆围绕险隘与割据。一夫怒临关，百万未可傍显化用李白《蜀道难》一夫当关，万夫莫开，而变万夫为百万，语气更沉；珠玉走中原暗用《孟子》谓民劳而珠玉出之意，亦近杜甫《诸将》所叹贡赋之重，写蜀地膏血输京。三皇五帝前，鸡犬各相放用《庄子》含哺而熙、鼓腹而游及《击壤歌》鸡犬相闻之典，写上古无争之朴；后王尚柔远用《尚书》柔远能迩之典，谓后世虽行怀柔而职贡之道已丧。霸王用《孟子》霸王之辨，指并吞割据之雄。吾将罪真宰用《庄子》真宰概念，谓造化主设险贻祸；铲叠嶂则类愚公移山、李白欲刬却君山之意，写诗人憾天之奇想。这些典故经杜翁熔裁，或正用、或反用，皆服务于一个主旨——险生乱、乱由人，是杜诗以学问为诗、以古事证今忧的典型，亦见其沉郁中自具纵横之气，于古训中写出切近的时政之忧。综上，诗中典故与意象经诗人融裁，皆服务于题旨，足见其学养与手腕。用典之妙，在化用无痕，使古事与今情浑然一体，各有其命脉所系。
Commentary
Poetic critics have long valued this piece as a prime example of Du Fu's ability to express national concerns through mountain scenery. Pu Qilong in the Duxin Jie comments that Du Fu uses geography as the warp and emotion as the weft, drawing from the danger of Sword Gate the whole history of separatist uprisings. Qiu Zhao'ao's Dushi Xiangzhu cites Zhu Heling, who believed the poem truly warns against regional warlords; 'pearls and jade flow to the Central Plains' implicitly criticizes exorbitant tribute, and 'accusing the Creator' is a wild conceit expressing profound anger. Hu Yinglin in the Shisou praised Du Fu's five-character ancient verses for their severe majesty and sinewy strength, and this poem is a clear example. Modern scholars often group this poem with works such as 'Qige from Tonggu' and 'Chengdu Fu,' seeing in Du Fu's Sichuan travel poems a union of desolation and vastness. The line 'I face the wind and silently grieve' is often singled out: the word 'silently' is more wrenching than loud weeping, for it captures the powerlessness of a poet who understands the world's ills but could not remedy them. This poem, by turning a travel scene into political meditation, inspired later poets who wrote verses of social criticism, especially in the Middle Tang yuefu tradition.
此诗历来为论杜者所重，视为入蜀纪行以山川写忧国之范例。清人浦起龙《读杜心解》评此诗，谓以地为经、以情为纬，由剑门之险牵出千古割据之祸，沉郁顿挫，得风人之旨。仇兆鳌《杜诗详注》亦引朱鹤龄说，以为此诗实忧藩镇，珠玉走中原暗讽贡赋之虐，吾将罪真宰则托怪以写愤。明人胡应麟《诗薮》论杜五古，推其气象森严、骨力遒上，此篇正其代表。近人论杜甫，每以此诗与《同谷七歌》《成都府》并观，以为入蜀诸作皆沉郁中见苍茫，而《剑门》尤以后半议论胜，于写景诗中别开议政一体。更有论者指出，临风默惆怅五字，是无声之泪，比痛哭更沉——一个默字，写尽诗人忧国而无力的孤独。一首五古，能由天险说到天下，由写景说到议政，在唐代即景议政诗中堪称典范，其影响直至中唐新乐府之讽谕精神，足见老杜关切之广、寄托之深，亦为后世论杜者奉为即景写忧的标本。要之，此诗在文学史上影响深远，向来为论者所重，具有不可替代的地位。故后世品题此诗，多许其得体要，以为足窥作者之性情与时代之风会。
Prosody
Line by line
惟天有设险，剑门天下壮。
Only Heaven has set forth this peril; Sword Gate is the most imposing place under heaven. The poet opens with a judgment, presenting the pass as a heaven-made challenge and establishing its supreme importance from the outset.
上天独设此等险要，剑门堪称天下雄壮。
Heaven alone has set this rampart; Jianmen is the grandest under heaven.
起笔即立全篇之骨。惟天有设险是判断，言剑门之险非人力所为，乃造化所设；剑门天下壮是赞叹，以天下壮三字定其地位。这一联的好处，在一虚一实：天设是虚写其来由，天下壮是实写其气势，二者相生，先声夺人。更可玩者，诗人不写险之状而先写险之由，等于把剑门从一处地形，升格为一种天道般的隐喻——既为天设，则乱亦由天启，为后文罪真宰埋下伏笔。十个字，景未至而势已来，是杜诗以议论领起、以骨架撑篇的典型手段，亦见其出手便关天下的大事眼光，不似寻常游记之琐细，落笔便有社稷之重。
The opening sets the poem's very bones. 'Heaven alone has set this rampart' is a judgment: Jianmen's peril is not made by man but by creation; 'Jianmen is the grandest under heaven' is admiration, fixing its rank with 'grandest under heaven'. The beauty is the one virtual, one real: 'heaven-set' writes its origin in the abstract, 'grandest' writes its momentum in fact, the two feeding each other, striking first. More telling, he writes not the look of the peril but its cause, raising Jianmen from a terrain to a heaven-like metaphor: since heaven set it, disorder too is opened by heaven — planting the foreshadowing of 'I would accuse the great artificer'. Ten words: the scene has not arrived, the momentum already has, Du Fu's typical method of opening with argument and framing the whole in a skeleton.
吾将罪真宰，意欲铲叠嶂。
I would accuse the Creator and wish to level the layered peaks. The poet turns to Heaven itself, blaming the natural design that allows such separatism; his fantasy is to cut the mountains down to eliminate the source of division.
我真想责问造化之主，恨不得铲平这重重叠嶂。
I would accuse the great artificer; I long to raze these piled ridges.
这是全诗的奇峰，也是忧思的顶点。真宰本出《庄子》，指造化之主；诗人说要责问它，为何设此天险贻祸人间，甚至恨不得一铲平叠嶂。这一想极痴、极怒、极沉：痴在欲与天争，怒在怪天设险，沉在明知不可而仍要说。杜甫此类奇想，与李白欲刬却君山同一机杼，而杜更带忧患之重。妙在诗人不直说忧藩镇，而说恨山川，把政治之忧，化为对自然的诘问，含蓄而有力。这一联，把前面所有的写景议论，最后凝成一声对天的怒叹，是沉郁顿挫的极致，亦见老杜以痴语写沉忧的本领，读之令人想见其临风扼腕之状，而天下割据之祸已隐隐在抱。
This is the poem's crag, the apex of its anxiety. 'The great artificer' comes from Zhuangzi, the lord of creation; the poet says he would accuse it, asking why heaven set this rampart to bring disaster on men, even longing to raze the piled ridges. The thought is foolish, angry, and deep: foolish in wanting to contend with heaven, angry in blaming heaven for the peril, deep in knowing it cannot be done and still saying it. Du Fu's such wild fancies share a mechanism with Li Bai's wishing to level Jun Mountain, but Du carries the heavier weight of sorrow. The art: he does not speak directly of fearing the warlords, but says he hates the mountains, turning political grief into a question of nature, restrained and forceful. This couplet condenses all the scenery and argument above into one angry sigh at heaven, the extreme of the 'gloomy and resonant', and shows the old master's gift for writing deep grief through a wild word.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Bao Zhao's poem uses an old soldier's voice to lament unnoticed merit, while Du Fu uses the landscape of Sword Gate to meditate on warlord separatism. Both express grief and indignation, but Bao Zhao focuses on individual destiny and grievance, while Du Fu expands to national politics and cosmic questions. They are connected across dynasties in the tradition of writing about social ills and one's inner feelings.
鲍照《代东武吟》以老卒自况写有功见弃之悲，苍凉沉郁；杜甫《剑门》则由天险生议写藩镇割据之忧，沉郁顿挫。二者皆关切社稷下层、皆以沉郁为骨，而取径不同：鲍诗借个体命运之悲写寒士之慨，杜诗借天下形胜之险写国家之忧；一拟乐府以叙事，一五古以议政。并读可见自南朝至盛唐，诗人以诗写下层、以诗议天下的传统一脉相承，而杜甫以更宏阔的视野、更浑成的骨力，把这一传统推向新的高度，鲍照实为其先导之一，二人隔代而同调。
蜀道难（一夫当关） The Hard Road to Shu 李白 · 同写剑门蜀道之险，一议论一铺张 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
李白《蜀道难》一夫当关，万夫莫开，极写蜀道之险以惊读者；杜甫此诗一夫怒临关，百万未可傍，显化用其语，而变万夫为百万、变铺张为议论。李诗以险为美、以奇取胜，意在惊心动魄；杜诗以险为忧、以议见志，意在针砭割据。同写一处天险，一浪漫一沉郁，一纵肆一谨严。并读可见李杜同题而异趣：太白写险以骋才，子美写险以忧国，亦见盛唐两大诗人面对同一山川、两种胸襟的对照，最足玩味，而杜之化用太白，正见其转豪放为沉郁的本领。