唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
蜀相
The Minister of Shu
丞相祠堂何处寻，锦官城外柏森森。
映阶碧草自春色，隔叶黄鹂空好音。
三顾频烦天下计，两朝开济老臣心。
出师未捷身先死，长使英雄泪满襟。
Outside the Brocade City, where cypresses stand thick and dark.
Green grass by the steps keeps its spring color in vain,
Behind the leaves an oriole sings fine notes for nothing.
Three visits, urgently repeated, drew out the plan for the empire,
Two reigns founded and sustained reveal an old minister's heart.
He led the army out and died before the victory came,
And ever since has made heroes wet their robes with tears.
Meaning
Du Fu visits the shrine of Zhuge Liang outside Chengdu and finds it beautiful and deserted. He recalls the statesman's loyalty across two reigns and his death on campaign, and ends by making that unfinished cause the grief of every later man of ambition.
丞相的祠堂该去何处寻访？ 就在锦官城外、柏树森森的地方。 碧草映阶，枉自是一片春色， 黄鹂隔叶，空有那婉转好音。 当年三顾茅庐，定下天下大计， 两朝开基济世，尽显老臣赤心。 出师北伐未获成功便身先死去， 永远让后世英雄泪湿衣襟。
Appreciation
The poem opens as a search and closes as a lament, which is why its movement feels inevitable. The two middle words of the second couplet do the crucial work: the grass keeps its color 'in vain' and the oriole sings 'for nothing', so that beauty becomes evidence of neglect. The third couplet turns from scene to history and states Zhuge Liang's achievement in the compressed idiom of official record, three visits and two reigns, without a wasted syllable. Then the last couplet widens the frame from one man to all heroes, and Du Fu's own thwarted ambition enters the poem without ever being mentioned. The result is the deep, checked sorrow for which his verse is famous.
【白话串讲】 “丞相祠堂何处寻，锦官城外柏森森”——杜甫拜武侯祠：映阶碧草自春色。“三顾频烦天下计，两朝开济老臣心”——诸葛亮为刘备三顾茅庐，为蜀汉两朝尽忠。“出师未捷身先死，长使英雄泪满襟”——这句，成了千古英雄的叹息。 【意象与手法】 前两联写祠堂之景，“自”“空”二字以无情之景衬有情之慨；后两联写诸葛之功业与遗恨，由景入论，气脉浑厚。结句“长使英雄泪满襟”以群像收束，余悲不尽。 【情感与主旨】 杜甫流寓成都时拜谒武侯祠而作。借赞颂诸葛亮“两朝开济”的功业与“出师未捷”的遗憾，寄托自己匡时济世之志与壮志难酬之悲，是杜甫“沉郁顿挫”风格的代表作。 【名句点睛】 “出师未捷身先死，长使英雄泪满襟”——将个人遗恨升华为千古英雄共同的悲慨，沉痛苍凉，催人泪下。
Background
The poem was written in 760, the first year of the Shangyuan era under Emperor Suzong, when Du Fu had newly arrived in Chengdu and visited the shrine of Zhuge Liang. The An Lushan rebellion was not yet suppressed and the poet was adrift in the southwest, so his tribute at the shrine carries his own pain at having no way to serve the state.
杜甫《蜀相》约作于唐肃宗上元元年（公元七六〇年），时诗人流寓成都，初拜武侯祠。安史之乱未平，国步艰危，杜甫怀抱匡时济世之志却屡遭挫折，困居草堂。诸葛亮是杜甫毕生崇敬的楷模：其「鞠躬尽瘁」的忠荩、「两朝开济」的功业，恰是杜甫「致君尧舜」理想的投射。拜谒丞相祠堂，面对森森古柏，诗人不由将自身「许身稷契」却报国无门的处境与武侯「出师未捷」的遗恨叠合，遂成此千古名篇。此诗既是对诸葛亮的赞颂，更是杜甫自我身世的悲慨。唐代咏史怀古诗在盛中唐极盛，杜甫此作以沉郁顿挫之笔，将个人遭际融入历史洪流，开后世凭吊武侯、感怀时运之先声，亦奠定其「诗史」与「沉郁」风格的重要坐标。此诗当作于唐肃宗上元元年（公元七六〇年）杜甫初到成都、定居草堂不久。时安史之乱未平，藩镇割据，杜甫流离半生，壮志难酬，却于成都谒武侯祠，借古人以抒今情。诸葛亮鞠躬尽瘁的形象，恰是杜甫心中理想宰辅的化身，也映照出自己匡时济世而无人赏识的悲凉。
Art
The first half describes a place and the second discusses history, each generating the other. In the second couplet the words 'in vain' and 'for nothing' use cheerful scenery to express desolation, and the loneliness is doubled. The closing couplet leaps from one man's achievement to the shared grief of all heroes, so that the horizon suddenly opens; the construction expands and contracts with great freedom.
《蜀相》艺术上最显著的特征是由景入论、以景衬情、结以群像。首联「丞相祠堂何处寻，锦官城外柏森森」以设问起笔，着一「寻」字见瞻仰之诚，「柏森森」以肃穆之景烘托丞相英风。颔联「映阶碧草自春色，隔叶黄鹂空好音」尤妙，「自」「空」二字以无情之景反衬凭吊者之有情，碧草黄鹂年年如故，而英雄已逝、功业成空，景愈妍而情愈哀。颈联「三顾频烦天下计，两朝开济老臣心」转入议论，概括武侯一生功业，对仗精严、气脉浑厚。尾联「出师未捷身先死，长使英雄泪满襟」将个人遗恨升华为千古英雄共同之悲，以群像收束，余悲不尽。全诗景、事、情、论层层推进，由祠堂之景到武侯之事，再到天下英雄之泪，格局由小而大、由实而虚，沉郁苍凉，是律诗中怀古名篇的典范。全诗章法以寻字领起，由祠堂外之森森古柏，转入阶前春色、叶底好音，再以自、空二字点醒无情之景；后四句直抒对孔明功业与遗恨的景仰，由景及论，气脉浑厚。结句长使英雄泪满襟以群体共鸣收束，余悲不尽，尽显杜诗沉郁顿挫之极致。
Allusions
The Minister of Shu is Zhuge Liang, prime minister of Shu Han. The Brocade City is another name for Chengdu. The 'three visits' recall Liu Bei calling three times at Zhuge Liang's thatched hut. The 'two reigns' are those of Liu Bei and his son Liu Shan. To 'found and sustain' means to establish the state and rescue it in crisis. 'Leading out the army' refers to Zhuge Liang's northern campaigns and to the memorial he submitted before setting out.
《蜀相》大量化用三国典故与武侯生平。诸葛亮辅佐刘备、刘禅两朝，「三顾频烦」用刘备三顾茅庐、隆中定计之典，「两朝开济」指其佐先主创业、辅后主守成，「出师未捷」则指建兴十二年（公元二三四年）武侯伐魏，病卒五丈原，北伐未成。诗中「老臣心」暗合诸葛亮《出师表》「鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已」之誓。杜甫以史笔为诗，将这些熟典凝于十四字中，既见武侯忠荩，亦寄自身「许身一何愚，窃比稷与契」的执念。尾联「英雄泪满襟」更将武侯一人之悲扩为古往今来所有怀抱理想而赍志以殁者之共情，暗用《蜀书》所载蜀人巷哭祭亮之史实。此诗用典不着痕迹、以情驭典，使历史陈迹化为当下悲慨，正是杜甫「以诗为史」手法的集中体现，亦使武侯祠堂从此成为文人抒写家国身世之典型空间。诗中三顾用刘备三顾茅庐之典，两朝指诸葛亮辅佐先主刘备、后主刘禅父子两代，出师指其北伐中原、临表涕零的出师表。锦官城即成都别称，因蜀汉设锦官于此得名；柏森森既写祠前实景，亦暗喻丞相令德之肃穆长存，用典浑成无迹。
Commentary
Wang Anshi of the Song sighed that the poem ends in nothing but tears soaking a robe, thinking its grief excessive; in truth this is exactly where Du Fu's verse shows its honesty, writing his convictions in blood and tears.
《蜀相》是杜甫沉郁顿挫风格的代表作，其动人处在于将仰慕、惋惜与自伤熔于一炉。诗人拜谒武侯祠，表面赞颂诸葛亮「两朝开济」的功业，实则处处照见自身：武侯有「天下计」可展、有明主可辅，而杜甫空怀稷契之志却漂泊无依；武侯「出师未捷」已足令英雄泪下，杜甫之壮志未伸更何如。颔联「自春色」「空好音」的冷隽，道尽物是人非的苍凉；尾联的「长使英雄泪满襟」则把个体遗恨升华为普遍的历史悲慨。此诗之所以千古传诵，正因它超越了具体的凭吊，触及了人类共通的命题——理想与结局的错位、才华与际遇的悖反。在安史乱离、唐室飘摇的背景下，杜甫借武侯之酒杯，浇自己之块垒，亦为那个衰乱时代献上一曲深沉的挽歌。读此诗，当于景语中味其情，于史事中见其心。蜀相历来被誉为咏史怀古诗的典范，与杜甫咏怀古迹、八阵图同为其丞相题材的杰构。元代方回称其沉郁顿挫，清代仇兆鳌详注其章法。此诗之妙，在将个人身世之悲融入对历史英雄的追慕，使一首谒祠之作获得跨越时代的情感共鸣，千载之下读之犹令人扼腕。
Prosody
Line by line
映阶碧草自春色，
Green grass beside the steps keeps its spring color of its own accord, and that single word shows how indifferent nature is.
碧草映阶，枉自是一片春色，
The green grass gleams by the steps, a springtime of itself,
「映阶碧草自春色」以极妍丽之景写极寂寞之情。「自」字是全句诗眼：碧草映阶、春色无边，这一切却「自」然而然、对凭吊者毫无回应，仿佛天地无情、不恤英雄之逝。杜甫于此以乐景写哀，春色愈浓，人事愈空，反差之间哀感顿生。此句与下句「隔叶黄鹂空好音」为工对，「自」与「空」呼应，将祠堂的荒寂与武侯功业的成空叠合。联系诗人身世，这「自春色」的碧草，亦如那个不管人间兴废、依旧运行的天地节律，映衬着漂泊诗人无力回天的孤危。一句之中，景、情、理交融，不着一哀字而哀意弥漫，正是杜诗含蓄沉郁的典型笔法，也为后文「出师未捷」的浩叹铺垫了无声的背景。
'The green grass gleams by the steps, a springtime of itself' writes the loneliest feeling through the most beautiful scene. The word 'of itself' is the line's eye: the green grass by the steps, the spring boundless, and all this of itself, with no response to the mourner, as if heaven and earth were heartless, unmoved by the hero's passing. Du Fu here writes grief through a joyous scene — the richer the spring, the emptier human affairs, and the grief rises between the contrast. This line pairs with the next, 'the oriole within the leaves sings in vain', 'of itself' and 'in vain' answering, layering the shrine's desolation and the Marquis of Wu's achievement turned to nothing. Linked to the poet's own lot, this 'springtime of itself' grass is also like the heavenly order that, careless of human rise and fall, still runs on, setting off the drifting poet's powerlessness to turn the day. One line, scene, feeling, and reason fused, not one word 'grief' and the grief diffused, precisely the typical brush of Du Fu's restrained, deep verse, and the soundless groundwork for the later long sigh of 'before victory came'.
出师未捷身先死，
He marched out and died before victory, and the poem turns abruptly to grief that has lasted for ages.
出师北伐未获成功便身先死去，
He marched out, yet before victory came, he died,
「出师未捷身先死」是千古传诵的警句，七字写尽英雄末路的悲怆。诸葛亮六出祁山、志在恢复汉室，终因积劳病卒五丈原，北伐之功止于一「未捷」。杜甫于此以极凝练之笔，将武侯一生鞠躬尽瘁却赍志以殁的悲剧一语道尽。「未捷」与「身先死」之间，是理想与寿命的残酷错位，最令千古同悲。对杜甫而言，此句更是借古人酒杯浇自己块垒：他空有「致君尧舜」之志，却困顿西南、报国无门，武侯之「未捷」恰是他自身际遇的预演与镜像。这一句的沉痛，不在铺陈而在节制——不写如何悲、只写事实之残酷，反而更具震撼力。它承上启下，自然引出「长使英雄泪满襟」的群体共鸣，使个人遗恨化为永恒的历史叹息。
'He marched out, yet before victory came, he died' is an aphorism known through the ages, seven words writing to the full the tragedy of the hero's end. Zhuge Liang marched out through the Qi Mountains six times, his will to restore the Han, and at last died of accumulated toil at Wuzhang Plain, the northern expedition's achievement halted at one 'not yet victorious'. Du Fu here, in the most concise brush, states in one phrase the tragedy of the Marquis of Wu's lifelong devotion and death with his will unfulfilled. Between 'not yet victorious' and 'he died' lies the cruel mismatch of the ideal and the lifespan, the grief of all ages. For Du Fu, this line is the more the borrowing of the ancients' cup to pour out his own grief: he holds empty the will 'to make the prince like Yao and Shun', yet is stuck in the southwest, no door to serve the state, and the Marquis's 'not yet victorious' is precisely the foreshadow and the mirror of his own lot. The grief of this line lies not in elaboration but in restraint — writing not how grievous, but only the cruelty of the fact, and the force the greater. It carries the above and opens the below, naturally bringing on the collective resonance of 'forever making heroes' tears wet their lapels', turning the personal regret into the eternal historical sigh.
长使英雄泪满襟。
The sorrow of one man is extended to all heroes who came after, and the pain has no end.
永远让后世英雄泪湿衣襟。
forever making heroes' tears wet their lapels.
「长使英雄泪满襟」以群体收束全篇，将武侯一人之悲扩为古往今来所有英雄的共同悲慨。「英雄」二字极重，它意味着真正共鸣者非寻常看客，而是那些同样怀抱理想、却遭际坎坷的志士。杜甫于此跳出个人凭吊的格局，把「出师未捷」的遗恨升华为一种跨越时空的普遍命运——凡有热血、有抱负而终不遇其时者，读此皆不免泪下。「长使」二字尤其沉痛，表明这种悲慨不是一时的，而是历史长河中永恒的回响。联系安史乱中唐室倾危、志士无门的时代背景，此句既是伤武侯、亦是伤时事、更是伤己。它以开阔的胸襟与深沉的悲悯收束，余音绕梁，使《蜀相》超越了一首普通的怀古诗，成为中华民族集体记忆中理想主义悲剧的精神符号。
'Forever making heroes' tears wet their lapels' closes the whole in the collective, expanding the Marquis of Wu's single grief into the common grief of all heroes through the ages. The words 'heroes' carry great weight: it means the true responders are not the ordinary sightseers, but those who likewise hold the ideal, yet meet the thwarted lot. Du Fu here leaps out of the scope of personal mourning, raising the regret of 'before victory came' into a universal fate across time — whoever has the hot blood and the ambition, yet never meets his time, reading this cannot but shed tears. The words 'forever making' are the more grievous, showing this grief is not of a moment, but the eternal echo in the long river of history. Linked to the age of the An Lushan rebellion, the Tang court imperiled, the men of talent no door, this line grieves at once the Marquis, the times, and himself. It closes in the open breast and the deep compassion, the aftertaste lingering, making the Temple of Shu Prime Minister more than an ordinary historic-ruin poem, the spiritual symbol of idealist tragedy in the Chinese collective memory.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
The shorter poem ends on the lasting regret of the failure to swallow Wu, while this one ends on tears soaking a robe; both write the same lost cause, one with terse compression and one with full release.
杜甫另有五绝《八阵图》「功盖三分国，名成八阵图。江流石不转，遗恨失吞吴」，与《蜀相》同咏诸葛亮而各有侧重。《蜀相》写拜谒祠堂、由景入论，侧重赞颂其「两朝开济」之功与「出师未捷」之恨；《八阵图》则就夔州江边八阵石遗迹落笔，以「石不转」写其志之坚，以「失吞吴」写其策之憾。二者皆将武侯遗恨化为永恒悲慨，且都落脚于「遗恨」二字。不同处在于，《蜀相》格局宏阔、以群像收束，《八阵图》则短小精警、以江流石转的自然永恒反衬人事遗恨。对读可见杜甫咏武侯的一贯深情，以及其七律与五绝不同体式中抒情方式的变化，共同构成杜甫诸葛亮书写的双璧。
咏怀古迹·其五 Thoughts on Ancient Sites, No. 5 杜甫 · 同咏武侯，组诗与单篇互补 Both are by Du Fu and both celebrate Zhuge Liang.This poem gives the scene at the shrine and the regret it stirs, while the other gives the temple's image and the judgment that the Han mandate had already passed; one begins from landscape and one prevails by argument, and both are deeply sorrowful.
杜甫《咏怀古迹》其五「诸葛大名垂宇宙，宗臣遗像肃清高。三分割据纡筹策，万古云霄一羽毛。伯仲之间见伊吕，指挥若定失萧曹。运移汉祚终难复，志决身歼军务劳」亦专咏诸葛亮，与《蜀相》可互为参看。其五以「大名垂宇宙」的崇高笔调颂武侯可比伊尹、吕尚，而结以「运移汉祚终难复」的宿命之叹；《蜀相》则更重凭吊情境与个人共鸣。二者皆肯定武侯功业、皆悲其「身歼」未竟，但《咏怀古迹》其五偏于历史定评，《蜀相》偏于当下感怀。并列对读，可完整见出杜甫对诸葛亮「崇敬—惋惜—自况」的复杂情感层次，以及其怀古诗如何将史识、景语与身世之感熔铸一体。