唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
秋日登吴公台上寺远眺寺即陈将吴明彻战场
On an Autumn Day, from the Temple atop Wugong Terrace, Gazing into the Distance (The Temple Was the Battlefield of the Chen General Wu Mingche)
古台摇落后秋日望乡心野寺人来少云峰水隔深夕阳依旧垒寒磬满空林惆怅南朝事长江独至今
After the ancient terrace has shed its leaves,On an autumn day my heart turns toward home.
Few visitors come to the moorland temple;
Cloud-capped peaks are severed deep by streams.
The setting sun still lights the old ramparts;
Cold temple chimes fill the empty wood.
I brood on the affairs of the Southern Dynasties—
The Long River alone flows on to today.
Meaning
Climbing the ruined Wugong Terrace in autumn, the poet's gaze moves from homesickness to historical meditation: the deserted temple, distant clouded peaks, old ramparts in sunset light and cold chimes in an empty forest frame his brooding over the vanished Southern Dynasties, and only the Yangtze - indifferent and eternal - flows on.
古台摇落之后，秋日之中，望乡之心。野寺人来稀少，云峰水隔深深。夕阳依旧照着旧垒，寒磬充满空林。惆怅南朝旧事，长江独自流到如今。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Now that the ancient terrace has shed its leaves, on this autumn day my heart longs for home. Few come to the moorland temple; cloud-capped peaks are cut off by deep streams. The setting sun still shines on the old ramparts; cold chimes fill the empty wood. I brood sadly on the Southern Dynasties - the Long River alone flows on to this day. [Structure] A five-character regulated verse in four couplets: longing (couplet 1), the near and far view (couplet 2), the pivotal scene of ramparts and chimes (couplet 3), and the historical summation (couplet 4). The movement is from feeling to seeing to thinking. [Imagery] The poem builds desolation out of scarcity: few visitors, severed peaks, empty woods. Its two most famous images - the sunset 'still' lighting the old ramparts, and the 'cold' chime filling the empty forest - fuse sight and sound, and the word 'still' quietly sets the unchanging landscape against the vanished dynasty.
【白话串讲】 刘长卿写《秋日登吴公台上寺远眺》：“古台摇落后，秋日望乡心”——“野寺人来少，云峰水隔深”——“夕阳依旧垒，寒磬满空林”——“惆怅南朝事，长江独至今”——他登吴公台——长江独至今。 【意象与手法】 首联“古台摇落后，秋日望乡心”写古台摇落、秋日望乡；颔联“野寺人来少，云峰水隔深”写野寺人稀、云峰水隔；颈联“夕阳依旧垒，寒磬满空林”写夕阳旧垒、寒磬空林；尾联“惆怅南朝事，长江独至今”写惆怅南朝、长江至今。苍凉深沉。 【情感与主旨】 刘长卿写秋日登台远眺的怀古望乡，以“惆怅南朝事，长江独至今”写物是人非之慨，是刘长卿登临怀古的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“夕阳依旧垒，寒磬满空林”写夕阳旧垒；“惆怅南朝事，长江独至今”写物是人非。
Background
Liu Changqing (c. 726-c. 786), courtesy name Wenfang, was from Hejian and called himself the 'Five-Character Great Wall'. Twice demoted from court, he spent much of his official life in the provinces, and his poetry is steeped in the sorrow of exile and wandering. Wugong Terrace stood at Yangzhou: built by the Chen general Wu Mingche (513-580) for archery and hunting, it became the battlefield where Sui forces crushed the Chen - hence the poem's subtitle. Climbing the battlefield terrace in autumn, the twice-banished poet turned a private homesickness into a meditation on dynastic ruin.
此诗为盛唐诗人刘长卿的《秋日登吴公台上寺远眺》之作，是登临怀古的名篇。吴公台在扬州，相传为南朝陈将吴明彻所筑，用于射猎，又为隋军破陈时的战场，故题下注明「寺即陈将吴明彻战场」。刘长卿（约726—约786），字文房，河间人，自称「五言长城」，一生仕途坎坷，两遭贬谪，其诗多写贬谪之感、羁旅之情与山水之趣。此诗写秋日登台远眺，由望乡而怀古：「古台摇落后」，写古台摇落之后——吴公台历经南朝、隋、唐数百年，如今摇落荒芜，「摇落」写台之荒芜，也暗含秋之萧瑟；「秋日望乡心」，写秋日之中，望乡之心——秋日登台，望乡之情油然而生；「野寺人来少」，写野寺人来稀少——吴公台上寺，如今荒凉，人来稀少；「云峰水隔深」，写云峰水隔深深——远望云峰，为水所隔，深深难近；「夕阳依旧垒」，写夕阳依旧照着旧垒——那陈将吴明彻的旧垒，还在于夕阳之中；「寒磬满空林」，写寒磬充满空林——寺中寒磬之声，充满空林，正是荒寺的凄清；「惆怅南朝事」，写惆怅南朝旧事——那南朝陈的兴亡，正是怀古的对象；「长江独至今」，写长江独自流到如今——南朝已亡，而长江独流至今。全诗以秋日登台写怀古望乡，苍凉而深沉，是刘长卿登临怀古「苍凉感慨」的代表作。
Art
The poem's art is 'writing meditation through scene' (yi jing xie huai). Its five-character regulated form gives exact antithesis to the middle couplets: 'few visitors' answers 'deep-severed streams', one near and one far; 'setting sun' answers 'cold chimes', one seen and one heard. The technique of scarcity - few men, severed peaks, empty woods - builds a landscape of absence in which the past can be felt. The word 'still' (yijiu) in 'the setting sun still lights the old ramparts' is the poem's hinge: the sun and the ramparts remain, the dynasty and its soldiers are gone, and that single adverb carries the whole pathos of 'things remain, men are gone'. The close, 'the Long River alone flows on to today', turns the river into an eternal witness, and the word 'alone' (du) - the poem's last, quietest word - leaves the historical lament suspended in flowing water.
此诗艺术上以「以景写怀」与「苍凉厚重」为特色，在秋日登台的远眺中写尽怀古望乡的深衷。首联「古台摇落后，秋日望乡心」，以「古台摇落」写台之荒芜、秋之萧瑟，以「秋日望乡心」写望乡之情——「摇落」写台之荒芜，「望乡心」写望乡之情，起笔即见苍凉；颔联「野寺人来少，云峰水隔深」，以「人来少」写野寺之荒凉，以「水隔深」写云峰之深远——「人来少」「水隔深」，一写近景之荒、一写远景之深，正是登台远眺的所见；颈联「夕阳依旧垒，寒磬满空林」，以「夕阳依旧垒」写旧垒之夕阳，以「寒磬满空林」写空林之寒磬——「依旧垒」写陈将之旧垒犹在，「寒磬满空林」写荒寺之磬声满林，一景一声，正是怀古的苍凉；尾联「惆怅南朝事，长江独至今」，以「惆怅南朝事」写南朝兴亡之慨，以「长江独至今」写长江独流至今——那南朝已亡，而长江独流，正是「浪淘尽千古风流人物」的怀古。全诗由望乡入怀古，经野寺云峰、夕阳寒磬的远眺，而归于「惆怅南朝」的感慨，层层递进，正是登临诗「登临寄慨」的极致。
Allusions
'Yaoluo' (shedding leaves) alludes to Song Yu's 'Nine Arguments': 'Alas for the breath of autumn! Somber and bleak: the plants shed their leaves and change to withered' - the fountainhead of Chinese autumn elegy, so 'the ancient terrace has shed its leaves' fuses the ruin of a terrace with autumn's universal decay. Wugong Terrace and Wu Mingche belong to the Chen dynasty's last years: Wu Mingche was Chen's most successful general, yet his northern campaigns ended in disaster and Sui conquered Chen in 589; the terrace where he once hunted became a battlefield, and the temple on it later became a Buddhist monastery. 'Southern Dynasties' (Nan chao) - Song, Qi, Liang and Chen, four short-lived dynasties with their capital at Jiankang - had become bywords for vanished glory. The closing river echoes the river-eternity motif of Chinese historical poetry, the water that flows east, washing away all the heroic figures of the ages.
此诗用典于关键处见深意。「吴公台」，写陈将吴明彻所筑之台——吴明彻为南朝陈将，曾筑台射猎，后隋军破陈，此为战场，题注「寺即陈将吴明彻战场」，正是怀古的对象。「古台摇落」，暗用「摇落」之典——宋玉《九辩》「悲哉秋之为气也，萧瑟兮草木摇落而变衰」，后以「摇落」写秋之萧瑟、物之凋零，「古台摇落」写古台之荒芜，正是秋之萧瑟与台之荒芜的相映。「野寺人来少」，写荒寺人稀——吴公台上寺，为南朝旧寺，如今荒凉。「夕阳依旧垒」，写夕阳照着旧垒——「旧垒」写陈将吴明彻的旧战场，「依旧垒」写旧垒犹在，正是怀古的凭吊。「寒磬满空林」，写寒磬充满空林——磬为佛寺法器，「寒磬」写磬声之寒，「满空林」写磬声充满空林，正是荒寺的凄清。「惆怅南朝事」，写惆怅南朝旧事——南朝宋齐梁陈，历数朝而兴亡，吴公台正是南朝兴亡的见证。「长江独至今」，写长江独流至今——暗用「大江东去」的意象，长江独流，正是兴亡的对照。这些意象，或写吴公台、或写摇落、或写旧垒、或写寒磬、或写南朝、或写长江，皆围绕怀古望乡这一核心，织成一张苍凉的情网，正是刘长卿诗「苍凉感慨」的特点。
Commentary
This is Liu Changqing's most celebrated climbing-and-gazing poem, and 'the setting sun still lights the old ramparts; cold chimes fill the empty wood' has long been quoted as a perfect fusion of sight and sound in Tang regulated verse. Commentators compare it with Cui Hao's 'Yellow Crane Tower' as the two faces of the climbing-and-homesickness theme - Cui Hao ends in pure homesickness ('where is my home village at sunset?'), Liu Changqing ends in dynastic lament. Compared with Du Fu's 'Climbing the Heights' ('endless leaves rustle down'), Liu's autumn is quieter, colder, emptier; compared with Wei Zhuang's 'Taicheng', Liu's Southern Dynasties are older and more desolate. The poem secured Liu's reputation as the 'Five-Character Great Wall' - spare, deep, and hushed.
读此诗，最值得注意的是「夕阳依旧垒，寒磬满空林」所写出的「物是人非」。那吴公台，本是陈将吴明彻的战场，如今却成了野寺；那旧垒，还在于夕阳之中，仿佛诉说着南朝的兴亡；那寒磬，声满空林，是佛寺的梵音，也是荒寺的凄清。而诗人登台远眺，秋日望乡，那古台摇落、野寺人稀、云峰水隔、夕阳旧垒、寒磬空林——是登台所见之景，也是怀古所感之情。到了尾联，「惆怅南朝事，长江独至今」——那南朝陈，曾在此筑台、在此征战、在此兴亡，如今都已成「南朝事」，唯有长江，独自流到如今。这一「独至今」，是全诗的关键：南朝已亡，旧垒犹在，而长江独流——正是「物是人非」的苍凉。那「惆怅」，是怀古的惆怅：吴明彻的战场，隋军的战鼓，南朝的兴亡，都已成了「南朝事」；也是望乡的惆怅：秋日登台，望乡之心，正如那长江，流不尽。刘长卿两遭贬谪，一生飘零，那秋日登台的望乡之心，那凭吊南朝的惆怅之情，正是他身世的写照——那「长江独至今」的「独」，正是「孤舟蓑笠翁」的孤，也是诗人飘零的独。全诗以秋日登台写怀古望乡，苍凉而深沉，正是刘长卿「五言长城」含蓄深沉的风格。
Prosody
Line by line
古台摇落后
After the ancient terrace has shed its leaves.
古台摇落之后。
After the ancient platform has withered and fallen,
这一句是此诗的起笔，写古台摇落的荒芜，是此诗苍凉基调的开端。「古台」，写吴公台——那陈将吴明彻所筑之台，历经南朝、隋、唐数百年，如今荒芜；「摇落」，用「摇落」之典——宋玉《九辩》「萧瑟兮草木摇落而变衰」，后以「摇落」写秋之萧瑟、物之凋零，「摇落后」写古台之荒芜。以「古台摇落」写台之荒芜，比直写「古台荒芜」更见秋意与典故——那古台，在秋日之中摇落荒芜，正是秋之萧瑟与台之荒芜的相映；「摇落」二字，写尽古台的荒芜与秋日的萧瑟。这一起笔，以古台摇落写秋之荒芜，为全诗定下苍凉的基调，也是「秋日望乡心」的铺垫。
This line is the poem's opening, writing the ancient platform's withered desolation, the start of the desolate keynote. 'The ancient platform' — the Wu Gong Platform, the platform built by the Chen general Wu Mingche, through the Southern Dynasties, Sui, and Tang, hundreds of years, now desolate; 'withered and fallen' uses the withering-falling allusion — Song Yu's 'bleak, the grasses and trees shaking and falling into decline', later 'withered and fallen' writing the autumn's bleakness, things' falling, 'after the withering and fallen' the ancient platform's desolation. Writing the platform's desolation through 'the ancient platform has withered and fallen', the autumn feeling and the allusion the more than a plain 'ancient platform desolate' — the ancient platform, in the autumn, withered and desolate, precisely the autumn's bleakness and the platform's desolation set off; the words 'withered and fallen' write to the full the platform's desolation and the autumn's bleakness. This opening, through the ancient platform's withering writing the autumn's desolation, tunes the whole's desolate keynote, and the groundwork for the later 'autumn's homesick heart'.
夕阳依旧垒
The setting sun still lights the old ramparts.
夕阳依旧照着旧垒。
the setting sun shines on the old rampart as of old.
这一句写夕阳照着陈将旧垒，是此诗怀古凭吊的关键。「夕阳」，写夕阳——那秋日的夕阳，正照着古台；「旧垒」，写陈将吴明彻的旧垒——那旧垒，是南朝的战场，是吴明彻筑台射猎、隋军破陈之处；「依旧垒」，写依旧照着旧垒——那夕阳，依旧照着旧垒，仿佛诉说着南朝的兴亡。以「夕阳依旧垒」写怀古，比直写「怀古」更见苍凉与深沉——那旧垒犹在，而南朝已亡，夕阳依旧照着旧垒，正是「物是人非」的对照；「依旧垒」三字，写旧垒之犹在，正是凭吊的对象。这一句，是此诗怀古凭吊的关键，与「寒磬满空林」相对，一景一声，正是登台远眺的怀古，也是「惆怅南朝事」的铺垫。
This line writes the setting sun shining on the Chen general's old rampart, the key of the poem's historic lament. 'The setting sun' — the autumn setting sun, now shining on the ancient platform; 'the old rampart' — Chen general Wu Mingche's old rampart, the old rampart the Southern Dynasties' battlefield, the place where Wu Mingche built the platform for the hunt and the Sui army broke Chen; 'shines on the old rampart as of old' — the setting sun still shining on the old rampart, as if telling the rise and fall of the Southern Dynasties. Writing the historic lament through 'the setting sun shines on the old rampart as of old', the desolation and depth the more than a plain 'historic lament' — the old rampart still there, and the Southern Dynasties gone, the setting sun still shining on the old rampart, precisely the contrast of 'things unchanged, men changed'; the words 'the old rampart as of old' the rampart's stillness, precisely the object of the lament. This line is the key of the poem's historic lament, set against 'the cold bell fills the empty wood', one scene one sound, precisely the climbing the height and the far gaze's historic lament, and the groundwork for the later 'melancholy at the Southern Dynasties' affairs'.
长江独至今
The Long River alone flows on to today.
长江独自流到如今。
The Long River alone flows on to today.
这一句是全诗的结穴，写长江独流至今，是此诗怀古感慨的最高点。「长江」，写长江——那流经吴公台畔的长江，古来如此；「独至今」，写独自流到如今——那长江，独自流到如今，正是兴亡的对照。以「长江独至今」写怀古，比直写「兴亡」更见苍凉与深沉——南朝已亡，旧垒犹在，而长江独流至今，正是「浪淘尽千古风流人物」的苍凉；「独至今」三字，写长江之独流，正是「物是人非」的对照——那南朝兴亡，都已成往事，唯有长江，独自流到如今。这一结句，苍凉深沉，是此诗怀古感慨的最高点，也是「惆怅南朝事」的必然结局——南朝已亡，唯有长江独流至今。
This line is the poem's knot, writing the Long River alone flowing to today, the highest point of the poem's historic sigh. 'The Long River' — the Long River flowing by the Wu Gong Platform, as of old; 'alone flows on to today' — the Long River, alone flowing to today, precisely the contrast of rise and fall. Writing the historic lament through 'the Long River alone flows on to today', the desolation and depth the more than a plain 'rise and fall' — the Southern Dynasties gone, the old rampart still there, and the Long River alone flowing to today, precisely the desolation of 'the waves washing away the heroes of a thousand ages'; the words 'alone flows on to today' the Long River's alone flowing, precisely the contrast of 'things unchanged, men changed' — the Southern Dynasties' rise and fall, all become the past, only the Long River, alone flowing to today. This closing line, desolate and deep, the highest point of the poem's historic sigh, and the inevitable end of 'melancholy at the Southern Dynasties' affairs' — the Southern Dynasties gone, only the Long River alone flowing to today.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Cui Hao's tower poem turns the climb into pure homesickness dissolved in misty river views; Liu Changqing's terrace poem channels the same autumn gaze into dynastic history. Read together, they show the climbing-and-gazing theme's two poles: Cui Hao's is a dream of departure, Liu's a meditation on ruins.
崔颢《黄鹤楼》「晴川历历汉阳树，芳草萋萋鹦鹉洲。日暮乡关何处是，烟波江上使人愁」，写登黄鹤楼的乡愁，是登临诗的名篇；刘长卿此诗「古台摇落后，秋日望乡心」「惆怅南朝事，长江独至今」，同样登临而望乡怀古。一写「日暮乡关何处是」的乡愁，一写「惆怅南朝事」的怀古；崔颢以烟波写乡愁，刘长卿以旧垒长江写怀古。并读两作，可见登临望乡这一母题在盛唐的两种深衷，也可见「望乡」与「怀古」在登临诗中的交织。
登高 Climbing the Heights 杜甫 · 同为秋日登高之作，一写无边落木的萧瑟一写古台摇落的荒芜，登高悲秋互为映照 Both are autumn ascent poems of desolation - one writes 'endless forests shed their leaves rustling down', the other 'the ancient terrace has shed its leaves'; both turn autumn height into lament.Du Fu's 'Climbing the Heights' is the summit of the autumn-ascent tradition - 'a bitter wind high in the sky, monkeys wailing; islets clear, sand white, birds wheeling' - vast and dense. Liu Changqing's poem is the same autumn made quiet: few visitors, severed streams, cold chimes. Du Fu's sorrow is 'for ten thousand li of autumn I am always a traveler'; Liu's is 'the Long River alone flows on to today' - one torrential, one hushed.
杜甫《登高》「风急天高猿啸哀，渚清沙白鸟飞回。无边落木萧萧下，不尽长江滚滚来」，写秋日登高的萧瑟悲凉，是登高诗的巅峰；刘长卿此诗「古台摇落后，秋日望乡心」「夕阳依旧垒，寒磬满空林」，同样写秋日登高的苍凉。一写「无边落木萧萧下」的萧瑟，一写「古台摇落后」的荒芜；杜甫是「万里悲秋常作客」的沉郁，刘长卿是「惆怅南朝事」的苍凉。并读两作，可见秋日登高这一母题在盛唐的两种境界，也可见「落木」与「摇落」在两位诗人笔下的异曲同工。
台城 Taicheng 韦庄 · 同为凭吊南朝之作，一写六朝如梦的烟雨一写惆怅南朝事的旧垒，南朝怀古互为映照 Both lament the Southern Dynasties - one writes 'most heartless are the Taicheng willows, still veiling ten li of embankment in mist', the other 'I brood on the affairs of the Southern Dynasties'; both mourn vanished power.Wei Zhuang's quatrain mourns the Six Dynasties ('the Six Dynasties like a dream, birds cry in vain') through the willows' heartless renewal; Liu Changqing mourns the Southern Dynasties through the river's indifferent flow. Where Wei Zhuang indicts nature's 'heartlessness', Liu Changqing rests in the river's solitude - two ways of standing among ruins.
韦庄《台城》「江雨霏霏江草齐，六朝如梦鸟空啼。无情最是台城柳，依旧烟笼十里堤」，写凭吊六朝兴亡的感慨，是南朝怀古的名篇；刘长卿此诗「惆怅南朝事，长江独至今」，同样凭吊南朝。一写「六朝如梦鸟空啼」的如梦，一写「惆怅南朝事」的惆怅；韦庄以台城柳写「依旧烟笼十里堤」的无情，刘长卿以长江写「独至今」的苍凉。并读两作，可见南朝怀古这一母题在唐诗中的传承，也可见六朝兴亡在两位诗人笔下的共同感慨。