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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

秋思

Autumn Thought

张籍

Zhang Ji

思乡homesickness 秋autumn 羁旅Theme

洛阳城里见秋风，欲作家书意万重。
复恐匆匆说不尽，行人临发又开封。

In Luoyang city the autumn wind is seen;
I would write a letter home, my thoughts a thousand-fold between.
Again I fear in haste I have not said enough;
As the bearer sets off, I break the seal once more, in proof.

Listen

Meaning

In Luoyang city the autumn wind rises again; wishing to write a letter home, a thousand tangled thoughts weigh on his heart. Fearing that in his haste he has not said enough, as the bearer is about to depart he breaks the seal open once more to add a few lines.

洛阳城里又起了秋风，想写一封家书，心头千头万绪、意绪万重。又怕匆匆写就言犹未尽，等到捎信的行人即将出发，又拆开信封补上几句。

Appreciation

The first two lines narrate and probe the mind at once: 'the autumn wind is seen' stirs the thought of home, and 'my thoughts a thousand-fold' writes how many and tangled those thoughts are. The last two focus on a single instant—fearing he has not said enough, he breaks the seal again just as the bearer leaves. The act stands in for the outpouring; in a mere foot of space the poem finds a swell of feeling. Every line is household plain, described as plainly as speech, yet deep feeling shows of itself, the very finest of the 'plain description' manner shared by Wang Jian and Zhang Ji.

【白话串讲】 “洛阳城里见秋风，欲作家书意万重”——张籍写秋思：写信写了万重意思，又怕说不完，送信人要走时，又拆开信封再看一遍。游子的一封家书，写得这么仔细。【意象与手法】全诗不写景、不议论，纯以叙事与心理白描见长。首句「洛阳城里见秋风」，以「见」字写无形之秋风，点出客中惊秋的敏感；次句「欲作家书意万重」，写提笔时千头万绪；三句「复恐匆匆说不尽」，写写完后的担心，心理层层深入；末句「行人临发又开封」，以拆信这一个细节动作收束，把说不尽、写不完的牵挂凝于一瞬，言有尽而意无穷。全诗以家书为线索，以「又开封」为高潮，于极琐细处见极深沉之情，是白描传神的典范。【情感与主旨】此诗写游子客居洛阳、秋风起而思念家乡之情。诗人不写思乡之苦、不写家乡之景，只写寄家书时的一个小动作——临发又开封，便把对亲人的千般牵挂、万种叮咛写得入木三分。秋风见乡思，家书见亲情，以小见大，语淡情浓，是中唐羁旅思乡诗中的名篇，也体现了张籍乐府诗平易近人而深情自见的风格。【名句点睛】高频考点：「行人临发又开封」的细节描写及其表达效果（以小见大、以动作写心理）；「见秋风」的「见」字之妙（化无形为有形，暗用张翰莼鲈之思）；「意万重」与「说不尽」的心理层次；白描手法。

Background

Zhang Ji (c. 766–830) was a mid-Tang poet, a disciple of Han Yu, famed for his yuefu. This poem was written while he lodged as a guest in Luoyang; as the autumn wind rose he thought of his native place, and through the sending of a home letter he wrote his traveler's longing.

张籍（约766—约830），字文昌，和州乌江（今安徽和县）人，中唐诗人。贞元十五年进士，历任太常寺太祝、水部员外郎、国子司业等职，世称张司业。张籍为韩愈门人，与王建齐名，并称张王，以乐府诗著称，白居易《读张籍古乐府》称其尤工乐府诗，举代少其伦。此诗约作于张籍客居洛阳期间。洛阳为唐代东都，士人游宦、应试多居于此；张籍早年家贫，屡试不第，漂泊异乡，多有羁旅怀乡之作。古人通信极难，远行之人托人捎信，是家常之事；秋风起而乡思生，亦是游子常态。此诗正是从寄家书这一日常琐事切入，写尽游子对家乡亲人的牵挂。中唐以后，士人游宦之风更盛，羁旅思乡成为诗歌的重要主题，此诗以小见大，于琐细处见深情，正是中唐诗人以平常语写真性情的代表。张籍乐府多写民生疾苦，而此诗独写一己乡思，以小见大，语淡情浓，可见其笔力不拘一格；此诗与《节妇吟》等并传，向为选家所重，是了解中唐七绝与乐府诗关系的重要篇章。

Art

The first two lines narrate and lay bare the mind: 'the autumn wind is seen' touches the feeling, and 'my thoughts a thousand-fold' writes the abundance of thought. The last two focus on the instant of 'breaking the seal again'—fearing he has not said enough, he reopens it just before departure, using the action to stand for the confession, finding a swell within a small frame. Every line is household plain, described like speech, yet deep feeling shows of itself, the very wonder of the 'yuefu plain-description' manner of Wang Jian and Zhang Ji.

全诗四句，不写景、不议论，纯以叙事与心理白描见长。首句「洛阳城里见秋风」，点明时地，一个「见」字写出客中惊秋的敏感：秋风本无形，诗人以见字写之，化无形为有形，仿佛看见秋气扑面而来，乡思随之而起，暗用张翰见秋风起而思莼鲈之典。次句「欲作家书意万重」，写提笔时的千头万绪：「欲」字见其心动，「意万重」极言思念之纷繁深厚，不知从何说起。三句「复恐匆匆说不尽」，写写完之后的担心：「复恐」二字把心理又推进一层，从写前的万重思绪转到写后的言不尽意。末句「行人临发又开封」，以「又开封」一个细节动作收束：捎信人即将出发，诗人却又拆开信封，想再添上几句。这一个动作，把说不尽、写不完的牵挂凝于一瞬，比千言万语更有力。全诗以家书为线索，层层递进，于极琐细处见极深沉之情，言有尽而意无穷，是白描传神的典范。此诗之妙，尤在把抽象之思化为可见之动：意万重是虚写心理，又开封是实写动作，一虚一实，由思及行，游子之痴情便由此落到实处；如此写法，较直抒胸臆更见含蓄，较铺陈景物更见亲切，是中唐诗人写情的一大发明。

Allusions

The 'autumn wind' alludes to the 'Song of the Autumn Wind' ('the autumn wind rises, white clouds fly') and to Zhang Han, who 'for the autumn wind thought of the water-shield and perch of Wu'—a longing for home that has long been the trigger of the traveler's feeling. The detail of 'breaking the seal' was a common Tang experience in sending letters, here point-made into the divine.

「见秋风」暗用西晋张翰之典。《世说新语·识鉴》载：张翰在洛阳为官，见秋风起，因思吴中菰菜羹、鲈鱼脍，曰人生贵得适意尔，何能羁宦数千里以要名爵，遂命驾便归。后世以莼鲈之思为思乡的代称。张籍亦姓张，亦客居洛阳，见秋风而思乡，暗合此典，而了无痕迹，只见秋风而乡思自生，用典之妙在于化入无迹。「家书」承古代鱼雁传书的传统：《古诗十九首》有「客从远方来，遗我一书札」之句，杜甫「烽火连三月，家书抵万金」尤写战乱中家书之重；张籍此诗写家书，正是这一传统的延续。「行人」指捎信之人，古时驿传不便，托人捎信是远行之常。「又开封」之细节则纯为白描，无典而自见情真。全诗用典极隐，以常语写真事，正合张籍乐府平易近人而深情自见之风，也可见中唐诗人将典故化入日常生活描写的功力。全诗四句皆家常语，而暗用张翰之典、暗承鱼雁之传统，皆化于无形，正合古人用典如盐入水之论；读者不察其典，而乡思自生，此正是用典的最高境界。

Commentary

The Qing critic Pan Deyu, in his Yangyi Studio Remarks on Poetry, called it 'the utmost realm of the seven-character quatrain; even the High-Tang masters rarely reached it.' Moderns say the poem 'with a single detail writes out the traveler's ten thousand heart-threads.'

此诗为中唐七绝名篇，历代评家激赏。清人潘德舆《养一斋诗话》称：七绝之绝境，盛唐诸公到此者亦罕，张籍《秋思》其一也，将其置于盛唐诸公之上；又引前人说此诗眼前景、口头语，而味之不尽。近人俞陛云《诗境浅说续编》评此诗以琐屑之事写缠绵之情，妙在不著一字议论。张籍与王建并称张王乐府，向以白描见长，此诗正是其七绝中的代表作：不靠奇字丽句，不靠惊人议论，只凭一个「又开封」的动作，便写尽游子心绪，可谓举重若轻。此诗对后世影响深远：现代诗人余光中《乡愁》写邮票、船票、家书之喻，与之一脉相通；在当代语文教育中，「行人临发又开封」成为细节描写、以小见大、白描传神等手法的经典范例，屡入教材与试题，至今仍是唐诗鉴赏的名篇。清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》亦选录此诗，评其情真语朴；今之论者或以细节传神、以小见大、白描入微三端称之，皆切中肯綮。此诗虽仅二十八字，而写尽天下游子之心，故能历久弥新。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, upper-level two dong group (wind, fold, seal)风、重、封，押平声韵：风属上平一东，重、封属上平二冬，东冬邻韵通押

Tone pattern Level-onset, first-line-enters-rhyme form; level-close首句入韵，平起平收（首字仄声，一三五不论），通篇以平声韵流丽相协，间以入声字顿挫

Reading note A plain-described quatrain; pale words, thick feeling.本诗为七言绝句，首句入韵。首句「洛阳城里见秋风」作仄平平仄仄平平，属平起平收式而首字拗作仄声，因一三五不论，不视为失律；次句「欲作家书意万重」作仄仄平平仄仄平，与首句平仄相对相粘；三四句「复恐匆匆说不尽，行人临发又开封」，亦大体合律。韵脚「风、重、封」三字：「风」属上平一东，「重」（chóng，重叠之意）「封」属上平二冬，东冬为邻韵，唐人近体偶有通押之例，此诗即其一，读来并不拗口。全诗以平声韵流丽相协，而三四句中「不」「发」二字为入声，于平声流转中偶作顿挫，正合游子絮语叮咛、欲言又止的情态。绝句本以含蓄凝练见长，此诗却以琐屑白描取胜，格律上不炫奇句，而以声情之自然贴合情思，是清水出芙蓉式的七绝；与盛唐绝句多写景抒情不同，此诗纯以叙事与心理白描写情，展示了七绝叙事写情的另一种可能，也可见中唐绝句由气象之雄浑转向情味之深细的轨迹。

Line by line

洛阳城里见秋风，欲作家书意万重。

In Luoyang city I see the autumn wind; to write a home letter, thoughts piled on thoughts.

洛阳城里又起了秋风，想写一封家书，心头千头万绪

In the city of Luoyang the autumn wind has risen again; wishing to write a letter home, my heart holds a thousand tangled thoughts.

首句点明时地，是全诗情感的总开关。「洛阳城里见秋风」，秋风本无形无色，诗人却以「见」字写之，仿佛亲眼看见秋气袭来，这正是客中惊秋的敏感：久居异乡的游子，对季节的变迁格外警觉，秋风一起，乡思便随之而至，暗用张翰见秋风起而思莼鲈之典，而浑然不觉其用典。次句「欲作家书意万重」，写乡思落到行动：「欲」字见其心意已动，作家书是游子寄情唯一的方式；「意万重」极言思绪之纷繁，千言万语涌上心头，不知从何写起。两句一触一应，「见秋风」是外因，「意万重」是内情，因果相生，为下文的担心与开封蓄足势头，是全诗情与事的起点。

The first line fixes the time and place, the master switch of the poem's feeling. 'In Luoyang city I see the autumn wind' — the autumn wind has no form or color, yet the poet writes it with 'see', as if he had seen the autumn air arrive, the very sensitivity of the stranger startled by autumn; the long-absent traveler is extra alert to the season's turn, and with the wind's rising, the homesickness comes. It secretly uses the allusion to Zhang Han, who, seeing the autumn wind rise, longed for the water shield and perch of home, yet the allusion is worn without showing. The next line, 'to write a home letter, thoughts piled on thoughts', the homesickness landing on action: 'wishing' shows the heart already moved, the home letter the traveler's only way of sending feeling; 'thoughts piled on thoughts' the tangled thoughts to the utmost, a thousand words surging, not knowing where to begin. Two lines, one touch one response, 'see the autumn wind' the outer cause, 'thoughts piled' the inner feeling, cause and effect giving birth, storing the fullest momentum for the worry and the reopening below, the start of the poem's feeling and event.

复恐匆匆说不尽，

Fearing that in haste I have not said it all,

又怕匆匆写就、话没说完

Yet fearing that, written in haste, the words are not all spoken,

第三句写心理的转折与深入。「复恐」二字，说明担心不止一层：既怕写不完，又怕写不尽，写前是意万重，写后是说不尽，思念之情由涌动转为忧虑。「匆匆」二字写出写信时的情态：驿使将行，时间紧迫，千言万语只能匆匆落笔，越是匆匆，越是担心遗漏，这正是游子寄书时最真实的心情。「恐」字是全句之眼：担心家人收不到自己的心意，担心少写了什么牵挂，这种患得患失，正是深情到了极处的表现。此句在章法上是蓄势：意万重是写前的思，说不尽是写后的虑，两重心理铺垫已足，末句一个「又开封」的动作，便如水到渠成，把全部牵挂倾泻而出，可见诗人布局的匠心。

The third line writes the turn and depth of the psychology. 'Fearing' shows that the worry is not of one layer: fearing not to write enough, fearing not to say enough, before writing thoughts piled on thoughts, after writing fearing not to have said it all, the longing turning from surging to anxiety. 'In haste' writes the state of writing: the messenger about to leave, the time pressing, a thousand words must be set down in haste; the more the haste, the more the worry of having left something out, the truest mood of the traveler sending a letter. The word 'fearing' is the eye of the line: fearing the family will not receive his heart, fearing he has written too little of the things he cares about; this worry and gain, fear of loss, is the deepest love at its extreme. In craft, the line stores momentum: thoughts piled on thoughts the pre-writing thought, 'not said it all' the post-writing anxiety, two layers of psychology ready, and the closing 'open the seal again' falls like water finding its channel, pouring out all the care, showing the poet's design.

行人临发又开封。

the messenger, about to set out, I open the seal again.

捎信的行人即将出发，又拆开信封补上几句

as the traveler is about to leave, I open the letter again to add a few lines.

末句是全诗的点睛之笔，也是千古传诵的细节。「行人临发」，捎信人即将上路，家书已经封好交付；一个「又」字，写诗人却又把信要回来，拆开封口，再添上几句。这一个动作，没有一句心理描写，却把说不尽、写不完的牵挂全部写出：信已写完，意犹未尽；封已封好，心犹不安。「又」字之妙，在于暗示这恐怕不是第一次开封——也许已经拆了又封、封了又拆，游子絮絮叨叨、牵肠挂肚的情态，跃然纸上。以动作写心理，以细节见深情，胜过大段的抒情议论；言有尽而意无穷，信封拆开的瞬间，千言万语都在其中。此句以小见大，正是张籍白描手法的最高成就。

The closing line is the eye of the poem, and the famous detail through the ages. 'The messenger, about to leave' — the bearer about to take the road, the letter sealed and delivered; the one word 'again' writes the poet asking the letter back, breaking the seal, adding a few more lines. This one action, without one word of psychology, writes all the longing that cannot be spoken or written: the letter finished, the heart not yet done; the seal sealed, the heart still uneasy. The beauty of 'again' is that it hints this is perhaps not the first reopening — perhaps sealed and broken, broken and sealed again, the traveler's garrulous, heart-stricken state leaping from the page. Writing psychology through action, deep feeling through detail, surpassing pages of lyric and argument; the words end, the meaning endless, the instant the seal is broken, a thousand words are within it. This line writes the great through the small, the highest achievement of Zhang Ji's plain writing.

Study

Word focus

见 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「见秋风」之「见」，是全诗炼字之精者。秋风无形无色，本不可见，诗人偏以「见」字写之，化无形为有形，仿佛秋气扑面而来、历历在目。这一「见」字，写出了客中惊秋的敏感：久居异乡的游子，对季节的变迁格外警觉，别人不觉的秋风，他看见了；别人不动的乡思，他被触动了。「见」字又暗用张翰见秋风起、思吴中莼鲈而命驾归的典故，张翰亦在洛阳为官，亦因秋风而思乡，张籍此诗正合此典，而化入无痕，只见秋风而乡思自生。若换作「闻」「感」等字，则或失其视觉的鲜明，或失其典故的暗合；唯「见」字既写秋之可见，又写思之即起，一字而情景双关，乡思之来，正在这惊秋的一见之间。

恐 Writes the mind's hesitation and unease, the transition from 'a thousand-fold' to 'not said enough.' 「恐」字写心理的犹疑不安，是全诗由思到虑的转折。「复恐匆匆说不尽」，「恐」字之前，是「意万重」的乡思；「恐」字之后，是「说不尽」的忧虑。这一个「恐」字，写出游子写完家书后的患得患失：怕写得匆匆，怕说得不尽，怕漏了什么牵挂，怕家人看不出自己的心意。这种担心，正是深情到了极处的表现——正因为爱得深、念得切，才唯恐表达不够周全。「恐」字又以「复」字领起，「复恐」即又怕，暗示担心不止一层：先恐匆匆，后恐不尽，层层加码，把游子那颗悬着的心写得纤毫毕现。此字在章法上承上启下：承「意万重」之思，启「又开封」之行，是心理描写由内而外、由情到行的关捩，一字见出诗人刻画心理的功力。

又 Writes the repeated breaking of the seal, bringing the traveler's fussing, loving thoughts to life. 「行人临发又开封」之「又」，是全文最见功力的一字。「又」字写拆封的反复：家书已封，行人将发，诗人却又取回拆开，再添几句。这一个「又」字，暗示这恐怕不是第一次——也许已经拆了又封、封了又拆，每一次开封，都有一句放不下的叮咛；每一次再封，都觉得意犹未尽。游子絮絮叨叨、牵肠挂肚的情态，全在这一字之中。「又」字又以「临发」为背景：行人即将上路，时间紧迫，诗人却还要拆封补写，越是紧迫，越见其情之切、念之深。若换作「重」「复」等字，则只写动作之重复，失其时间的紧迫与心理的焦灼；唯「又」字兼含再次与递进之意，把时间、动作、心理凝于一字，正是平字见奇、以虚字传神的典范，也是全诗以小见大、以细节写深情的关键所在。

秋思