唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
南陵别儿童入京
Farewell to My Children at Nanling, Setting Out for the Capital
白酒新熟山中归,黄鸡啄黍秋正肥。
呼童烹鸡酌白酒,儿女嬉笑牵人衣。
高歌取醉欲自慰,起舞落日争光辉。
游说万乘苦不早,著鞭跨马涉远道。
会稽愚妇轻买臣,余亦辞家西入秦。
仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人。
the yellow chickens peck the millet, autumn is their season.
I call the boy to kill the chicken and pour the white wine;
my children laugh and tug at my robe.
I sing aloud and drink deep, heartening myself;
I dance as the setting sun vies with me for radiance.
Too late — I should have persuaded the ruler of ten thousand chariots;
now I raise my whip and gallop the long road.
The foolish wife of Kuaiji despised the poor Zhu Maichen;
I too leave my home and journey west to Qin.
Laughing to the heavens I stride out the door —
am I the kind of man to end among the weeds?
Meaning
Written in the autumn of 742, when Emperor Xuanzong's summons finally reached Li Bai, the poem opens in the warm chaos of a family feast — new wine, a fat chicken, children tugging at his robe — and then turns to political ambition and to an unshakable confidence that a man of his genius was never meant to live and die in obscurity. The closing lines are one of the most famous declarations of self-belief in Chinese literature.
白酒刚刚酿熟,我从山中归来,黄鸡啄食着黍米,秋日正是肥壮之时。呼唤童仆烹鸡酌酒,儿女们嬉笑着牵住我的衣裳。我放声高歌,借酒自慰,起舞的身影与落日争辉。游说君王的机会来得太晚,我要扬鞭策马,踏上远行之路。会稽的愚妇轻视贫贱的朱买臣,我也要辞别家乡西入长安。仰天大笑走出门去,我辈岂是久居草野之人!
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Written when an imperial summons finally reached Li Bai, the poem opens in the warmth of a family feast — new wine, a fat chicken, children tugging at his robe — and closes with the most famous exit line in Tang poetry: 'Laughing to the heavens I stride out the door — am I the kind of man to end among the weeds?'
[Structure] The twelve lines divide in two: the first six are domestic and warm, the last six public and soaring. The turn comes at 'Too late — I should have persuaded the ruler of ten thousand chariots,' where the feast is left behind and the poet mounts for Chang'an. This climb from the household to the empire gives the poem its irresistible momentum.
[Imagery] Every image is saturated with appetite and light: ripe white wine, pecking chickens, a dancing figure vying with the setting sun for radiance. The word 'vie' is the hinge of the whole poem — Li Bai competes with the sun itself. The final rhetorical question, thunderous and self-assured, fixes the moment when genius finally believes the world is coming to meet it — a belief history would soon test.
【白话串讲】 李白写《南陵别儿童入京》:“白酒新熟山中归,黄鸡啄黍秋正肥”——“呼童烹鸡酌白酒,儿女嬉笑牵人衣”——他接到唐玄宗的诏书,“游说万乘苦不早,著鞭跨马涉远道”——“仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人”——他自信满满入京。 【意象与手法】 此诗是李白奉诏入京时所作,写辞别家乡、应诏入京的豪情,是李白最著名的言志诗之一。前六句写家中的宴饮:「白酒新熟山中归,黄鸡啄黍秋正肥」写秋日归家的喜悦,白酒新熟、黄鸡肥壮,一派农家丰收的欢乐;「呼童烹鸡酌白酒,儿女嬉笑牵人衣」写合家团聚的天伦之乐,儿女牵衣嬉笑,亲切动人;「高歌取醉欲自慰,起舞落日争光辉」写诗人高歌起舞的意气,借酒抒怀、与落日争辉,豪情毕现。后四句写入京的壮志:「游说万乘苦不早,著鞭跨马涉远道」写其急于入朝、施展抱负;「会稽愚妇轻买臣,余亦辞家西入秦」用朱买臣典故,自比遭际、决然入京;「仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人」以仰天大笑与反问收束,把踌躇满志的豪情推向顶峰。全诗由家中欢乐到远行壮志,由天伦之情到青云之志,层层推进,意气风发,是李白言志诗中最淋漓痛快的一首。 【情感与主旨】 此诗作于唐玄宗天宝元年(742),李白奉诏入京之际。此前李白虽才华横溢、名满天下,却一直未能入仕,漫游各地,隐居山林(此诗即写其从南陵山中归家、应诏入京)。天宝元年,经玉真公主、贺知章等人推荐,唐玄宗下诏征李白入京,李白喜出望外,辞别家人,奔赴长安。此诗即写其辞家入京时的情景与心志:前六句写家中秋日团聚的欢乐,后四句写应诏入京的豪情。诗中「仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人」是千百年来最著名的自抒怀抱之句,充分展现了李白「天生我材必有用」的自信与「一飞冲天」的抱负。值得注意的是,李白此次入京,本抱着「游说万乘」「济苍生安社稷」的宏图,然而入京后只被任为翰林供奉,不久便遭谗言被赐金放还,理想终成泡影。此诗中的豪情与后来《行路难》的感慨,恰成李白仕途的两段注脚,读来更令人感慨。诗中既有应诏入京的喜悦与壮志,也有对自身遭际的自信与不甘,更有一个天才诗人对时代的拥抱与期待,是理解李白入仕心态最重要的作品。 【名句点睛】 常考“仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人”写奉诏入京的狂喜与自信,是全诗最豪迈的一笔;“游说万乘苦不早,著鞭跨马涉远道”写急于施展抱负的急切。
Background
Li Bai (701–762), the 'Immortal of Poetry' of the High Tang, spent his twenties and thirties wandering the empire and presenting poems to officials in hope of office. In 742, through the recommendation of Princess Yuzhen and the Daoist Wu Yun, Emperor Xuanzong issued an edict summoning him to court. Li Bai was then living in the hills near Nanling in Anhui. Overjoyed, he hurried home, said goodbye to his children, and set out west for Chang'an. The poem records that moment of supreme exaltation. Ironically, the emperor employed him only as a Hanlin attendant — a court poet — and within three years, slandered and dismissed with a gift of gold, Li Bai watched his dream of advising a sage ruler dissolve. The blazing confidence of this poem, set against the failure that followed, is what gives it its poignant afterglow.
此诗作于唐玄宗天宝元年(742)秋,李白奉诏入京、辞别家人之际,是李白一生中最重要的转折点之一。李白自幼怀有「济苍生,安社稷」的政治抱负,二十四岁「仗剑去国,辞亲远游」,此后十余年间漫游各地,干谒求仕,却始终未能入仕。天宝元年,唐玄宗因玉真公主、吴筠等人的推荐,下诏征李白入京。李白此时正隐居在安徽南陵一带山中,得到诏书后喜出望外,回到家中辞别儿女,奔赴长安。此诗即写其从山中归来、辞家入京的情景。诗中「白酒新熟山中归」写其从山中归家,「黄鸡啄黍秋正肥」写秋日丰收的农家景象,「儿女嬉笑牵人衣」写天伦之乐,而「游说万乘苦不早」「余亦辞家西入秦」则写其应诏入京的急切与雄心。末二句「仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人」更是传诵千古的名句,充分展现了李白应诏入京时的踌躇满志。然而历史是残酷的:李白入京后,唐玄宗只将他当作御用文人,任为翰林供奉,并未委以重任;不久后,李白因遭谗言而「赐金放还」,其「济苍生安社稷」的理想彻底破灭。此后李白写下了《行路难》《将进酒》等感慨之作,其诗歌也由早年的豪放转向更深沉的苍凉。此诗正是其理想最炽热时的写照,读此诗再看其后的际遇,更令人感慨万千。
Art
The poem's craft lies in its emotional escalator. The first six lines build a scene of domestic abundance — the verbs are homely and quick (call, kill, pour, laugh, tug) — while the last six switch to public vocabulary (ten thousand chariots, whip, saddle, Qin), lifting the register from the kitchen to the throne. The transition is managed without a seam: the same energy that sings and dances at home becomes the energy that rides west to the capital. The Zhu Maichen allusion folds the poet's years of neglect into a folk tale of late recognition, while the closing rhetorical question converts a farewell into a manifesto. Most striking is the diction of motion — 'raise the whip,' 'stride out the door,' 'laugh to the heavens' — which lets the reader feel the poet's restlessness as physical speed.
此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一,由家到国的情感推进。全诗十二句,前六句写家(山中归家、烹鸡酌酒、儿女牵衣、高歌起舞),后六句写国(游说万乘、辞家入秦、仰天大笑),由家庭的温馨写到出仕的雄心,由天伦之乐写到青云之志,情感层层推进,境界步步升扬,正是「小家」与「大家」、「个人」与「时代」的统一。其二,对比与用典的交织。诗中「会稽愚妇轻买臣,余亦辞家西入秦」用汉代朱买臣典故:朱买臣贫贱时,其妻嫌其贫而离异,后朱买臣为汉武帝所赏识、官至会稽太守;李白以此自比,既写自己「不为人识」的过去,也写自己「终得重用」的信心。「愚妇」与「我辈」、「轻买臣」与「入秦」的对照,写出了李白的自信与对世俗的蔑视。其三,动作与声情的传神。「呼童烹鸡酌白酒」「儿女嬉笑牵人衣」写家中之乐,动作鲜活、声情并茂;「高歌取醉欲自慰,起舞落日争光辉」写诗人意气,高歌、起舞、与落日争辉,一个「争」字写出诗人豪气干云的姿态;「仰天大笑出门去」更以「大笑」的动作写尽踌躇满志。其四,以反问收束的力度。「我辈岂是蓬蒿人」以反问作结,不是陈述,而是反问,气吞山河——「岂是」二字,把李白的自信与自负推向顶峰,也让全诗的豪情有了一个铿锵的落点。四重手法层层推进,使此诗成为李白言志诗中最淋漓、最痛快的一首。
Allusions
Two allusions carry the poem's ambition. 'The foolish wife of Kuaiji despised the poor Zhu Maichen' retells the story of the Han worthy Zhu Maichen: while splitting firewood and carrying it to market, he recited his books, and his wife, ashamed of his poverty, left him. Later Emperor Wu of Han made him governor of Kuaiji; his ex-wife, reduced to begging, killed herself in shame. By casting himself as Zhu Maichen and those who overlooked him as the 'foolish wife,' Li Bai claims both past neglect and future vindication. 'Raise my whip' echoes the Jin biography of Liu Kun: 'Girdled for battle, I fear Zu Ti will spur his horse before me' — an image of racing toward destiny. 'Persuading the ruler of ten thousand chariots' recalls the Warring States persuaders such as Su Qin and Zhang Yi, who rode from court to court offering strategies to kings; Li Bai saw himself as their heir, carrying the plan to aid the people and save the age.
此诗的典故集中在「会稽愚妇轻买臣,余亦辞家西入秦」二句,用汉代朱买臣的故事。朱买臣是西汉会稽(今浙江绍兴)人,家贫好读书,以砍柴为生,常一边担柴一边读书。其妻嫌其贫贱,屡次羞辱他,最终离异改嫁。后来朱买臣得到汉武帝赏识,官至会稽太守,衣锦还乡时,其前妻与后夫已沦为乞丐,朱买臣虽给以衣食,其前妻不久便羞愧自尽。这个典故在唐代广为流传,后世遂以「会稽愚妇」喻不能识人于贫贱之中的世俗之人,以「买臣」喻怀才不遇、终得重用的人才。李白用此典,至少有双重意味:其一,以「愚妇」喻世俗之人——李白年轻时四处干谒求仕,却常遭冷遇,那些轻视他的人,正如「会稽愚妇」一般「轻买臣」;其二,以「买臣」自比——朱买臣贫贱而后贵显,李白相信自己也是如此,此次应诏入京,正是「买臣遇主」的时机。此外,「著鞭跨马」暗用《晋书·刘琨传》「吾枕戈待旦,志枭逆虏,常恐祖生先吾著鞭」的典故,祖逖、刘琨以「著鞭」喻奋起争先,李白以「著鞭跨马」写自己急赴前程、不甘人后。「游说万乘」则暗合战国纵横家游说君王的传统(如苏秦、张仪以纵横之术游说各国君主),李白以「游说万乘」自期,正是其「济苍生安社稷」抱负的体现。全诗用典精当,化「买臣」「著鞭」诸典于言志之中,正是李白「以典写志、气吞古今」的本领。
Commentary
Critics have long placed this poem at the summit of Li Bai's ambition poems. Ming critics praised it as 'startling words, peerless verve'; Shen Deqian of the Qing dynasty, in his Tangshi Biecai, singled out the closing couplet as 'supremely bold.' The poem's historical value is that it preserves the precise psychology of Li Bai at the summit of his hope — the laugh, the swagger, the certainty that heaven had use for his talent. Set against the later 'Hard Is the Road' ('The road to Kunwu is hard indeed... I shall one day ride the wind and cleave the waves'), it forms a two-part record of an ideal's arc: from exultant summons to embittered release. Modern readers return to the final couplet not only as a portrait of Li Bai but as the purest expression in Chinese literature of the self-belief of talent — a laugh that, more than a millennium later, still rings.
此诗历来被推为李白言志诗的代表作,也是其豪放诗风的典范。历代论者对「仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人」二句赞赏备至:明人评此诗「快语惊人,风神绝世」,清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评「结句豪甚」,皆指出此诗以「大笑」与「反问」写出李白踌躇满志的豪情,是「言志诗」中最痛快淋漓的一首。在文学史上,此诗的独特价值在于:它是李白应诏入京这一人生关键时刻的直接记录,保存了李白最意气风发时的真实心态——那「仰天大笑」的自信、「我辈岂是蓬蒿人」的自负,是盛唐气象在个人身上的完美体现。后世评价李白「谪仙人」「天才豪放」,此诗正是最直接的证据。然而,此诗也因其理想与现实的反差而更具悲剧色彩:李白满怀豪情入京,却只做了三年的翰林供奉便被放还,那「游说万乘」的宏图终成泡影。读此诗再看其《行路难》「大道如青天,我独不得出」,正可见李白理想从炽热到破灭的全过程。对于今日读者,此诗是理解李白其人、盛唐气象与「言志诗」传统的钥匙,也是感受中国文学中「天才自信」的最纯粹表达——那一声仰天大笑,穿越千年,仍在回荡。
Prosody
Line by line
仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人。
Laughing to the heavens I stride out the door — am I the kind of man to end among the weeds?
仰天大笑走出门去,我辈岂是久居草野之人!
I laugh up at the sky and stride out of the door; are we, after all, men of the lowly grass?
这两句是全诗的点睛之笔,也是李白一生最著名的自抒怀抱之句,把踌躇满志的豪情推向顶峰。「仰天大笑出门去」写动作——诗人仰天大笑,大步出门,一个「大笑」写尽得意与畅快,「仰天」二字更见其意气凌云,仿佛天地都在为他让路;「我辈岂是蓬蒿人」写心志——「蓬蒿人」指久居草野、平庸无闻的人,「岂是」的反问,不是疑问而是宣告:我李白岂是甘居草野之人!这一问,气吞山河,把李白的自信与自负、不甘与豪情,全部倾泻而出。两句一写「笑」、一写「问」,动作与心志相合,把「应诏入京、终于得志」的狂喜写得淋漓尽致。值得注意的是,这两句之所以千古传诵,在于它不仅是李白个人的宣言,更是所有怀才而待、终得机遇者的共同心声——那一声大笑,是天才终于被时代接纳的欢呼;那一句反问,是「天生我材必有用」信念的最强音。读此二句,仿佛看见李白在秋日的阳光下昂首出门,意气风发,奔向那改变他一生的长安。
These two lines are the eye of the poem, and Li Bai's most famous self-declaration, pushing the elation of fulfilled ambition to its peak. 'I laugh up at the sky and stride out of the door' the action — the poet laughs up at the sky and strides through the gate, the 'laugh' writing to the full the delight and release, the 'up at the sky' showing the spirit towering as if heaven and earth were making way for him. 'Are we, after all, men of the lowly grass?' the will — 'men of the lowly grass' those long among the weeds, obscure and common; the counter-question 'are we?' is not a question but a declaration: am I, Li Bai, the man to stay content among the weeds? The question's momentum swallows mountains and rivers, pouring out his confidence and pride, his refusal and his elan. One line the laugh, one line the question, action and will together, writing to the full the rapture of 'summoned to the capital, ambition at last fulfilled'. Notable: these lines live through the ages not only as Li Bai's declaration, but as the common voice of all whose gifts waited and at last found their chance — that laugh is the cheer of genius at last received by its age; that counter-question is the strongest note of 'heaven bred me with gifts, they must be used'. Reading the two lines, one seems to see Li Bai, head high, striding out into the autumn sunlight, toward the Chang'an that would change his life.
高歌取醉欲自慰,起舞落日争光辉。
I sing aloud and drink deep to hearten myself; dancing, my shadow vies with the setting sun for radiance.
我放声高歌,借酒自慰,起舞的身影与落日争辉。
I sing aloud and drink to comfort myself; I rise and dance, contending with the setting sun for light.
这两句写诗人应诏入京前的意气,是全诗承上启下的枢纽,豪情与光影交织。「高歌取醉欲自慰」写饮酒高歌——诗人放声高歌,借酒以自慰,「自慰」二字颇堪玩味:一方面写其借酒抒怀的畅快,另一方面也暗示其此前怀才不遇的压抑——如今诏书已至,终于可以一吐胸中块垒,故以歌酒自慰;「起舞落日争光辉」写起舞争辉——诗人翩翩起舞,仿佛要与落日的余晖争辉,「争光辉」三字极妙:不是与落日同辉,而是「争」光辉,写出诗人意气之盛,仿佛他一身的光彩足以与落日相抗。这两句承接上文家中之乐,引出下文的入京之志:高歌、起舞,正是胸中豪情的外化;与落日争辉,正是「天生我材必有用」的形象表达。一个「争」字,把李白「不甘人后、意气凌云」的个性写得淋漓尽致,也为末二句「仰天大笑出门去」的狂喜作了充分的情感蓄势。
These two lines write the poet's spirit before the summons, the pivot of the poem, elan woven with light. 'I sing aloud and drink to comfort myself' the drinking and song — the poet sings at the top of his voice, drinking to console himself; the word 'comfort' is worth savoring: on one hand the release of pouring out through wine and song, on the other the hint of the long repression of talent before — now the edict has come, and at last the long pent-up heart can pour itself out, hence song and wine for comfort. 'I rise and dance, contending with the setting sun for light' the dance and its rivalry — the poet dances as if to contend with the afterglow, the words 'contending for light' exquisite: not sharing the sunset's light, but 'contending' for it, writing the height of his spirit as if his own radiance could match the setting sun. The two lines carry the domestic joy above and lead to the will to go to the capital below: song and dance, the outward form of the heart's elan; contending with the sunset, the image of 'heaven bred me with gifts'. The one word 'contending' writes Li Bai's refusal to lag, his spirit towering, and stores the fullest emotional momentum for the final 'I laugh up at the sky and stride out of the door'.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
《行路难》「长风破浪会有时,直挂云帆济沧海」是李白入京受挫后之作,虽有「欲渡黄河冰塞川」的感慨,却仍以「长风破浪」的豪情作结,是「失意中的自信」。《南陵别儿童入京》则「仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人」,是李白应诏入京时的得意之作,是「得志时的狂喜」。一在入京前,一在入京后;一写踌躇满志,一写失意自勉。两诗对读,恰成李白仕途的完整记录:从「大笑出门」的狂喜,到「冰塞川」的困顿,再到「长风破浪」的自勉,可见李白理想与现实碰撞的全过程,也可见其「无论得失,豪情不改」的可贵。
将进酒 Bring In the Wine (Jiangjinjiu) 李白 · 同为豪放言志,一写饮酒一写入仕 Both bold self-expressions — one through wine, one through the summons to officeJiangjinjiu, whose 'Heaven gave me talent and it must be used' is the most famous declaration of confidence in Tang poetry, pours its energy into wine; this poem pours the same energy into a career. One is the philosophy of the drinking cup, the other the ambition of the saddle — two faces of the same 'heaven-given talent' faith.
《将进酒》「天生我材必有用,千金散尽还复来」以饮酒写豪情,是李白「借酒抒怀」的巅峰之作,其「天生我材必有用」的自信与此诗一脉相承。《南陵别儿童入京》则「仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人」,以入仕写豪情,是李白「应诏入京」的狂喜之作。同为李白的豪放言志诗,一在酒中见豪情,一在仕途见壮志;一写「人生得意须尽欢」的放达,一写「游说万乘」的雄心。两诗对读,可见李白豪放精神的两种表达——酒与仕,都是他「天生我材必有用」信念的载体,也都写尽了李白那「飞扬跋扈」的个性。
登科后 After Passing the Examination (Dengkehou) 孟郊 · 同写中第入仕之喜,一狂放一得意 Both celebrate the joy of entering service — one wild and unrestrained, one quietly delightedMeng Jiao's 'In the spring breeze my horse gallops light; in one day I see all the flowers of Chang'an' is the classic expression of examination success — contained, delighted. Li Bai's 'laughing out the door' is the joy of an imperial summons — unrestrained, arrogant. Together they show two classic registers of the Chinese scholar's 'moment of triumph.'
孟郊《登科后》「春风得意马蹄疾,一日看尽长安花」写其进士及第后的狂喜,春风得意、马蹄轻疾,是「中第」之喜的经典表达。李白《南陵别儿童入京》则「仰天大笑出门去,我辈岂是蓬蒿人」,写其应诏入京的豪情,大笑出门、目无余子,是「征召」之喜的豪放表达。同为入仕之喜,孟郊写「看尽长安花」的得意,李白写「大笑出门去」的狂放;一含蓄一奔放,一内敛一外露。两诗对读,可见中国文人「得意」的两种表达,也可见孟郊与李白一「苦吟」一「天才」的个性差异。