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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

南陵道中

On the Road at Nanling

杜牧

Du Mu

羁旅Sojourning 写景Landscape

南陵水面漫悠悠，风紧云轻欲变秋。
正是客心孤回处，谁家红袖凭江楼。

The waters of Nanling drift on, slow and long;
the wind sharpens, the clouds thin — autumn is on the turn.
Just where the traveler's heart sinks loneliest,
whose lady in red sleeves leans on the river tower?

Listen

Meaning

Traveling past Nanling in early autumn, the poet watches the broad river drift lazily by while a keener wind and thinning clouds announce the season's change. It is precisely at this moment — when a wanderer's loneliness turns back on itself — that he glimpses a woman in red sleeves leaning on a river tower, and the bright image only deepens his sense of solitude.

南陵的水面漫悠悠，风紧云轻，将要变秋。正是客心孤回之处，谁家红袖，凭倚着江楼。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] The first couplet paints the river at Nanling: water stretching out 'slow and long,' the wind tightening, the clouds thinning — the world on the verge of autumn. The second couplet turns inward: just as the traveler's heart is at its most desolate, he catches sight of a woman in red sleeves leaning on a river tower.
[Structure] A perfect quatrain of scene turning to feeling: two lines of landscape, two of the heart, the pivot being the word 'just' — the exact coincidence of outer season and inner mood. The poem ends on a question ('whose...?') rather than a statement, leaving the feeling suspended and unclaimed.
[Imagery] The key contrast is color and warmth: the pale, wide, cooling river against the sudden red of the sleeves on the tower. Du Mu, the master of 'writing sorrow through bright scenes,' lets the red sleeves — someone with a tower to lean from, someone to wait for — stand in pointed opposition to the traveler who has nowhere to return to. The unnamed lady becomes the measure of everything the wanderer lacks.

【白话串讲】杜牧写《南陵道中》：“南陵水面漫悠悠，风紧云轻欲变秋”——“正是客心孤回处，谁家红袖凭江楼”——正是他乡愁最重时，看见谁家的女子倚在江楼——他写旅途中。【意象与手法】此诗是杜牧写羁旅思乡的名篇，写南陵道中的秋景与客心的孤回，是杜牧七绝中的名篇。前两句写景：「南陵水面漫悠悠，风紧云轻欲变秋」写南陵水面的悠悠与风紧云轻的秋意。后两句写情：「正是客心孤回处，谁家红袖凭江楼」写客心的孤回与红袖凭楼的对照，是千古名句。全诗以秋景写客愁，以红袖写孤回的对照，含蓄隽永，是杜牧「以景写情」的典范。【情感与主旨】此诗约作于唐文宗开成三年（838）前后，时杜牧由宣州赴京或由京返宣州，途经南陵（今安徽南陵），写下此诗。杜牧一生宦游各地，羁旅乡愁是其诗中常见的主题，此诗即写其南陵道中的秋景与客心。诗中「南陵水面漫悠悠」写南陵水面的悠悠——那水面漫延悠长，写尽秋江的浩渺；「风紧云轻欲变秋」写秋意的来临——风紧云轻，正是秋将到来的征兆，那「欲变秋」写尽季节的变换与客中的敏感；「正是客心孤回处」写客心的孤回——正是客居他乡、心境孤回之时，「孤回」写尽羁旅的孤独与远离故乡的怅惘；「谁家红袖凭江楼」写红袖凭楼的对照——那江楼之上，谁家的红袖女子正凭栏远望？那「红袖凭楼」的明丽，与「客心孤回」的惆怅对照——江楼上的红袖（或是在等待归人，或是在凭栏望景），反衬出客子的孤独。全诗以「红袖凭江楼」作结，那江楼红袖的明丽，正是客心孤回的反衬——别人尚有红袖可望、有人可等，客子却独对秋江，孤回无依，以景写情、含蓄隽永，是杜牧「以景写愁」的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“南陵水面漫悠悠，风紧云轻欲变秋”写秋意初起；“正是客心孤回处，谁家红袖凭江楼”以红袖凭楼反衬客愁之孤，是千古名句。

Background

Du Mu (803–852) was the most celebrated poet of the late Tang, and his official life was a wandering one: secretary in the Yangzhou prefectural staff (833), investigating censor in the capital (835), judicial officer in Xuanzhou (837). Around 838, traveling between Xuanzhou and the capital, he passed through Nanling (modern Nanling county, Anhui) and wrote this quatrain. Homesickness and the loneliness of official travel are recurring themes in his work ('Lodging on a Journey,' 'Early Departure from Shang Mountain'); this poem is the most polished of them, capturing in twenty-eight characters the late-Tang sensibility — refined, wistful, and exquisitely restrained.

此诗约作于唐文宗开成三年（838）前后，是杜牧写羁旅思乡的七绝名篇。杜牧一生宦游：大和七年（833）入扬州幕，大和九年（835）入京为监察御史，开成二年（837）任宣州团练判官，开成三年转官赴京（或往返于宣州、长安之间），途经南陵（今安徽南陵，在宣州与京洛之间），写下此诗。诗中「南陵水面漫悠悠」写南陵的秋江——「漫悠悠」写水面漫延悠长（「漫」写水势之广，「悠悠」写水势之长），那秋江浩渺，正是羁旅的背景；「风紧云轻欲变秋」写秋意的来临——「风紧」写秋风之紧，「云轻」写秋云之薄，「欲变秋」写秋将到来——那风紧云轻的天象，正是秋的预兆，客中人对季节的变换格外敏感，那「欲变秋」写尽客中的清愁；「正是客心孤回处」写客心的孤回——「正是」写此时此地的恰好，「客心孤回」写客居他乡、心境孤回（「孤回」写孤独与远离，令人想到「孤回」的「迥」写远离故乡的遥远），那「正是客心孤回处」写尽羁旅的孤独；「谁家红袖凭江楼」写红袖凭楼的对照——「谁家」写不知是谁家的女子，「红袖」写江楼上凭栏的红袖女子（「红袖」代指女子，令人想到「红袖添香」与「红袖招」的意象），「凭江楼」写其凭栏远望——那江楼上的红袖，或是在等待归人、或是在凭栏望景，那明丽的红袖，正是客心孤回的反衬。全诗以「红袖凭江楼」的明丽作结，写尽客心的孤回——别人尚有红袖可望、有人可等，客子却独对秋江，孤回无依，以景写情、含蓄隽永，是杜牧羁旅诗中的名篇。

Art

The poem's artistry is in its economy of means. First, the couplet structure — scene, then feeling — with a seamless pivot: the phrase 'autumn on the turn' projects the poet's own unsettled state onto the weather. Second, the reduplicative 'slow and long' stretches the water, and with it the traveler's road, into a single drawn-out sound; the sentence literally cannot be hurried. Third, the 'red sleeves' device — using a bright, warm, human detail to reflect a cold, lonely heart, the technique critics call 'writing grief with a happy scene.' Fourth, the closing question: by asking 'whose house?' rather than describing the lady, Du Mu keeps the image unclaimed and mysterious, and smuggles the traveler's own question — 'and where is my home?' — inside it. Four moves, twenty-eight characters, endless aftertaste.

此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，由景入情的构思。全诗前两句写景（南陵水面、风紧云轻），后两句写情（客心孤回、红袖凭楼），由景入情、层层推进——那「漫悠悠」的秋江、「欲变秋」的天象，正是客心孤回的背景；那「红袖凭江楼」的明丽，正是客心孤回的反衬。其二，以「漫悠悠」「欲变秋」写客愁。「南陵水面漫悠悠」以「漫悠悠」写水面的悠长，暗含羁旅的漫长；「风紧云轻欲变秋」以「欲变秋」写秋意的来临，暗含客中对季节的敏感，那「漫悠悠」「欲变秋」写尽客中的清愁。其三，以「红袖」反衬孤回。「谁家红袖凭江楼」以「红袖凭楼」的明丽反衬「客心孤回」的孤独——那江楼上的红袖，或是在等待归人、或是在凭栏望景，那明丽的红袖与孤回的客心对照，正是「以乐景写哀情」的笔法。其四，以问写情的含蓄。「谁家红袖凭江楼」以「谁家」的问句作结——那江楼上的红袖是谁家的女子？她为何凭楼？这一问，既写红袖的明丽，也暗含客子的孤独——别人尚有红袖可望，客子却独对秋江，以问写情、余味无穷。四重手法层层推进，使此诗成为杜牧「以景写情」的羁旅名篇。

Allusions

The poem draws quietly on the whole homesickness tradition. 'Slow and long' echoes the 'youyou' of the Book of Songs ('O vast heavens') and of Cao Pi's 'Dark, dark the heavens' — a word always freighted with distance and longing. 'Autumn on the turn' belongs to the line of autumn-sadness imagery from the Songs of Chu ('Dongting waves, the leaves come down') to Cao Pi's 'The autumn wind is sad, the weather cold.' 'Traveler's heart' is a stock of the exile tradition, from 'the traveler's heart grieves when autumn comes' to Wang Wei's 'Alone, a stranger in a strange land.' The 'red sleeves' and the lady-on-the-tower motif recall Wang Changling's young wife who 'mounts the painted tower in spring dress' and Wen Tingyun's 'leaning alone on the river tower' — the entire tower tradition, here observed from the outside by a male traveler, the one perspective the tradition had not yet used.

此诗的意象与用语深植于羁旅与思乡的传统。「南陵水面漫悠悠」写南陵的秋江——「南陵」是地名（今安徽南陵），「漫悠悠」写水面漫延悠长，令人想到《诗经》「悠悠苍天」的「悠悠」与「所谓伊人，在水一方」的水意象，那「悠悠」的水面，暗含羁旅的漫长与思念的悠远；「风紧云轻欲变秋」写秋意的来临——「风紧」写秋风之紧，「云轻」写秋云之薄，令人想到「秋风萧瑟天气凉」（曹丕《燕歌行》）的秋意与「洞庭波兮木叶下」（《楚辞》）的秋景，那「欲变秋」写尽客中对季节的敏感。「正是客心孤回处」写客心的孤回——「客心」写客居之心（令人想到「客心悲易秋」与「独在异乡为异客」的羁旅传统），「孤回」写孤独与远离（「迥」写遥远），那「孤回」写尽羁旅的孤独与对故乡的遥远之感。「谁家红袖凭江楼」写红袖凭楼——「红袖」代指女子（令人想到「红袖添香夜读书」的意象与「红酥手，黄縢酒」的红袖意象），「凭江楼」写其凭栏远望（令人想到「闺中少妇不知愁，春日凝妆上翠楼」（王昌龄《闺怨》）的凭楼意象与「独倚望江楼」（温庭筠）的倚楼传统），那「谁家」的问句，令人想到「谁家玉笛暗飞声」（李白）的「谁家」用法与「不知谁家子」的怅惘。那江楼红袖的明丽，与客心孤回的惆怅对照，正是「以乐景写哀情」的笔法，令人想到「商女不知亡国恨，隔江犹唱后庭花」（杜牧《泊秦淮》）的对照笔法。全诗化用《诗经》《楚辞》、乐府与闺怨诗的传统，以秋景写客愁、以红袖反衬孤回，正是杜牧「以景写情」的本领。

Commentary

The poem has been prized since the Song dynasty as the finest of Du Mu's travel quatrains. Critics single out 'Just where the traveler's heart sinks loneliest, whose lady in red sleeves leans on the river tower' — its 'happy scene for sorrow' technique considered the purest example of Du Mu's 'handsome and crisp' style. In literary history the poem stands as a late-Tang refinement of the travel lyric: where High Tang travelers wrote broadly (Li Bai's 'The road to Shu is harder than climbing the sky'), the late Tang writes interiorly. For modern readers, the quatrain is an ideal entry into the 'scene carries feeling' tradition — twenty-eight characters in which an anonymous red sleeve can hold a millennium of solitude.

此诗历来被推为杜牧羁旅诗中的名篇，也是「正是客心孤回处，谁家红袖凭江楼」这一名句的出处。历代论者对此诗评价较高：论者多指出此诗以南陵秋江写客心的孤回，以红袖凭楼写反衬，是杜牧「以景写情」的佳作。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以二十八字的小诗，写出了羁旅的孤独与思乡的惆怅——那「漫悠悠」的秋江、「欲变秋」的天象，写尽客中的清愁；那「客心孤回」的直写，写尽羁旅的孤独；而那「谁家红袖凭江楼」的红袖，更是以明丽反衬孤回——别人尚有红袖可望、有人可等，客子却独对秋江，孤回无依，那「谁家」的问句，写尽客子的怅惘与羡慕。这种「以乐景写哀情」的笔法，正是杜牧写景写情的高明处：他不直写「我孤独」，而以江楼红袖的明丽对照写之，让读者在明丽的景色中体会到深处的孤寂。此诗与杜牧的其他羁旅诗（如《旅宿》《商山早行》）一样，都是借景写怀，写其宦游四方的孤独与思乡。对于今日读者，此诗是理解杜牧羁旅生涯与思乡心绪的窗口，也是感受中国诗歌「以景写情」传统的典范——那悠悠的南陵水、孤回的客心、凭江楼的红袖，穿越千年，仍在诉说着一个宦游者「美景良辰无人共」的孤独。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qiyan jueju), level-tone start, first line rhyming七言绝句（平起首句入韵）

Rhyme Rhymes on the level-tone you group: you 'slow and long,' qiu 'autumn,' lou 'tower'; the first line rhymes, giving the poem a sustained, low, lingering sound that matches the travel-weariness of its mood.押下平十一尤韵，韵脚为「悠」「秋」「楼」。首句「悠」字平声入韵，属首句入韵之格。韵脚「悠」「秋」「楼」皆属尤部，韵音悠长低回，正合其羁旅的怅惘风格。

Tone pattern The tonal pattern is essentially that of the standard jueju: 'Nanling waters drift slow and long' (level level oblique oblique oblique level level), 'Wind sharpens, clouds thin, autumn on the turn' (level oblique level level oblique oblique level), 'Just where the traveler's heart sinks loneliest' (oblique oblique oblique level oblique oblique level), 'Whose house, red sleeves lean on the river tower' (level level level oblique level level level). The level-tone rhymes stretch the syllables long and low, like the river itself.南陵水面漫悠悠，平平仄仄仄平平；风紧云轻欲变秋，平仄平平仄仄平；正是客心孤回处，仄仄仄平平仄仄；谁家红袖凭江楼，平平平仄平平平。全诗平仄大体合于七绝格律，音节悠长低回。

Reading note The quatrain divides cleanly: the first couplet is landscape, the second is the heart, the turn sealed by 'just.' For reading: the first couplet should be drawn out — 'slow and long' must itself be slow and long — and the second couplet should drop to a lower, wistful register, the final question left hanging without emphasis, so the red sleeve stays glowing on the tower as the poem closes.此诗是平起首句入韵的七言绝句，押平声尤韵，格律简洁，音节悠长，是杜牧羁旅诗中「以景写情」的名篇。全诗两联结构分明：前两句写景（南陵水面、风紧云轻），后两句写情（客心孤回、红袖凭楼），由景入情、层层推进。声调上，全诗以平声尤韵为韵脚，韵音悠长低回，配合「漫悠悠」的悠长与「客心孤回」的怅惘，全篇音节悠长低回。诵读此诗，宜以悠长的语调读前两句的秋景，以低回的语调读后两句的客愁，尤其「正是客心孤回处，谁家红袖凭江楼」两句，要读得怅惘而含蓄，方能传达出杜牧羁旅的深意。杜牧绝句以「俊爽」著称，此诗正是其羁旅绝句中「以景写情」的经典。

Line by line

南陵水面漫悠悠，风紧云轻欲变秋。

The waters of Nanling drift on, slow and long; the wind sharpens, the clouds thin — autumn is on the turn.

南陵的水面漫悠悠，风紧云轻，将要变秋。

The water at Nanling stretches on and on; the wind freshens, the clouds thin, and autumn is about to come.

这两句是写秋景的名句，以「漫悠悠」写水面的悠长，以「欲变秋」写秋意的来临，景中含情。「南陵水面漫悠悠」写秋江的浩渺——南陵的水面漫延悠长，「漫」写水势之广、「悠悠」写水势之长，那「漫悠悠」的水面，写尽秋江的浩渺，也暗含羁旅的漫长——那悠悠的江水，正如客子漫长的旅途；「风紧云轻欲变秋」写秋意的来临——风紧云轻，正是秋将到来的征兆，「风紧」写秋风之紧、「云轻」写秋云之薄，「欲变秋」写那季节的变换——风紧云轻的天象，正是秋的预兆，而那「欲变秋」写尽客中对季节的敏感——羁旅之人，对秋意格外敏感，那「欲变秋」暗含客中的清愁。这两句的深意在于：它以「漫悠悠」与「欲变秋」写尽羁旅的背景与客愁的源头——那悠悠的江水，是客子漫长的旅途；那将变的秋意，是客中清愁的预兆；水悠悠而人不归，秋欲变而客更愁，正是「正是客心孤回处」的铺垫。以「漫悠悠」写悠长、以「欲变秋」写秋意，正是杜牧「以景写情」的含蓄笔法。

These two lines are a famous autumn scene, the 'on and on' writing the long water, the 'about to come' the approach of autumn, feeling within the scene. 'The water at Nanling stretches on and on' the autumn river's vastness — the water stretching out and on, 'stretches' the breadth, 'on and on' the length, the long water writing the river's vastness and secretly the length of the journey — the slow river, like the traveler's slow road. 'The wind freshens, the clouds thin, and autumn is about to come' the season's approach — the wind rising, the clouds thinning, the very sign of autumn's coming, 'wind freshens' the tightening autumn wind, 'clouds thin' the thin autumn clouds, 'about to come' the turning of the season; and 'about to' writes the traveler's sensitivity to the season — the man abroad is extra sensitive to the coming autumn, and the 'about to' secretly holds the traveler's quiet grief. The depth: the 'on and on' and the 'about to' write the setting of the journey and the source of the traveler's sorrow — the slow water, the long road; the coming autumn, the coming grief; the water flows and the man does not return, the autumn turns and the grief grows, the groundwork for 'just when the traveler's heart turns lone and far'. Writing the long through 'on and on', the autumn through 'about to come', Du Mu's restrained brush of scene for feeling.

正是客心孤回处，谁家红袖凭江楼。

Just where the traveler's heart sinks loneliest, whose lady in red sleeves leans on the river tower?

正是客心孤回之处，谁家红袖，凭倚着江楼。

Just when the traveler's heart turns lone and far, whose red sleeves lean on the riverside tower?

这两句是全诗的点睛之笔，也是千古名句，以「客心孤回」直写羁旅的孤独，以「红袖凭江楼」写反衬的对照，含蓄隽永。「正是客心孤回处」写客心的孤独——正是客居他乡、心境孤回之时，「正是」写此时此地的恰好，「客心孤回」直写羁旅的孤独与远离故乡的怅惘——那「孤回」写尽客子的孤独与遥远之感；「谁家红袖凭江楼」写红袖的对照——那江楼之上，谁家的红袖女子正凭栏远望？「谁家」写不知是谁家的女子，「红袖」代指凭楼的女子，「凭江楼」写其凭栏远望——那江楼上的红袖，或是在等待归人、或是在凭栏望景，那明丽的红袖，正是客心孤回的反衬。这两句的深意在于：它以「红袖凭江楼」的明丽反衬「客心孤回」的孤独——那江楼上的红袖，尚有人在等待、有景可凭；客子却独对秋江，孤回无依；「谁家」的问句，更暗含客子的怅惘——别人的红袖有人可等，我的归人又在何方？以「孤回」直写孤独、以「红袖」反衬对照，正是杜牧「以乐景写哀情」的笔法，也让这两句成为写羁旅孤独的千古名句。

This couplet is the eye of the poem, and a famous line through the ages, the 'lone and far' direct for the traveler's solitude, the 'red sleeves at the tower' the contrasting foil, restrained and lasting. 'Just when the traveler's heart turns lone and far' the heart's solitude — precisely when, far from home, the heart turns lone; 'just when' the exactness of this time and place, 'lone and far' the direct writing of the journey's loneliness and the far from home, 'lone and far' writing to the full the traveler's solitude and distance. 'Whose red sleeves lean on the riverside tower?' the red sleeves' contrast — up on the riverside tower, whose woman in red leans on the rail and gazes? 'Whose' the unknown house, 'red sleeves' the metonymy for the woman at the tower, 'lean on the riverside tower' her leaning and gazing — the woman in red, perhaps waiting for a homecomer, perhaps watching the view; the bright red sleeves, the foil to the traveler's lone and far. The depth: the bright red sleeves leaning on the tower, the foil to the 'lone and far' — the woman in red still has someone to wait for, a scene to lean on; the traveler, alone before the autumn river, has neither; the question 'whose' secretly holds the traveler's wistfulness — others' red sleeves have someone to wait for, and where is my homecomer? Writing the loneliness direct through 'lone and far', setting it off through 'red sleeves', Du Mu's method of 'writing grief through a joyous scene', the reason these two lines became a famous line of the journey's solitude.

Study

Word focus

悠悠 Slow and long (youyou): a reduplicative describing the endless stretch of the river; by echoing the 'youyou' of the Book of Songs and Cao Pi, it layers the length of the water over the length of the road and the depth of longing, so one word paints river, journey, and mood. 「悠悠」二字是写南陵水面的关键字，以叠字写水势的悠长，也暗含羁旅的漫长，景中含情。悠悠，长远、悠远的样子。杜牧以「南陵水面漫悠悠」写秋江，一个「悠悠」，至少有双重意味：其一，写水势之悠长——「悠悠」写水面漫延悠长、一望无际，那「漫悠悠」写尽秋江的浩渺与悠长——水悠悠而远，正是秋江的浩渺；其二，写羁旅之漫长——「悠悠」不仅是写水，也是写情——那悠悠的江水，正如客子漫长的旅途，水悠悠而人不归，正是羁旅的写照，「悠悠」写尽客中的漫长与惆怅。以「悠悠」写水面，叠字的运用使画面有了绵长的韵律，令人想到《诗经》「悠悠苍天」的「悠悠」与「青青子衿，悠悠我心」的「悠悠」（曹操《短歌行》），都是「悠长绵远」的深意。若换作「漫漫」「迢迢」等词，则或失其「悠远」的绵长，或失其暗含羁旅的深意；唯「悠悠」二字，以叠字写尽水面的悠长与羁旅的漫长，也让「南陵水面漫悠悠」成为写秋江羁旅的名句。

谁家 Whose house / which family: an open question that keeps the lady on the tower anonymous and elusive; the question about her house is really a question about the poet's own — asking whose home has a tower to lean from is to confess that his has not. 「谁家」二字是写红袖凭楼的关键字，以「谁家」的问句写客子的怅惘，含蓄隽永。谁家，哪一家、谁家的。杜牧以「谁家红袖凭江楼」写红袖，一个「谁家」，至少有双重意味：其一，写红袖之未知——「谁家」写那江楼上的红袖不知是谁家的女子，「谁家」二字写尽对红袖的陌生与好奇——那凭楼的红袖，是等待归人的思妇，还是凭栏望景的游女？「谁家」的问句，写尽客子对红袖的遥望与猜想；其二，写客子之怅惘——「谁家」的问句，暗含客子的怅惘——那红袖「谁家」尚有凭楼之人，客子的「谁家」却无归处；别人家的红袖有人可等，客子却孤身一人，那「谁家」的问句，写尽客子「家在何方」的怅惘与孤独。以「谁家」写红袖，正是杜牧「以问写情」的本领：那「谁家」的问，既是写红袖的未知，也是写客子的怅惘——问红袖是谁家的，正是叹自己家在何方。若换作「有」「那」等字，则或失其问句的怅惘，或失其「家」的深意；唯「谁家」二字，以问句写尽红袖的未知与客子的怅惘，也让「谁家红袖凭江楼」成为写羁旅孤独的名句。