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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

送杜少府之任蜀州

Farewell to Deputy Du on His Way to Shuzhou

王勃

Wang Bo

送别Farewell 友情Friendship 旷达Broad-mindedness 律诗Regulated Verse

城阙辅三秦，风烟望五津。
与君离别意，同是宦游人。
海内存知己，天涯若比邻。
无为在歧路，儿女共沾巾。

The capital's palaces are guarded by the three Qins;
Through misty wind I gaze at the five ferries.
I feel the sorrow of parting with you,
For we are both wandering officials.
If there are bosom friends within the four seas,
The remotest ends of the world are like next door.
Do not at the fork of the road, like children,
Shed tears together on your handkerchiefs.

Listen

Meaning

The poet bids farewell to a friend going to Shu. He begins with a grand view of the capital and the distant destination, then shares their common experience of being traveling officials. He famously asserts that true friendship transcends distance, and ends by advising against weeping at parting like children.

长安的宫阙被三秦之地拱卫护卫，遥望蜀中的五津，只见风烟迷蒙一片。与你离别，心意相通，只因你我同是离乡宦游之人。四海之内只要有知心朋友，纵使远在天涯也如近邻一般。不要在分别的岔路口，像小儿女那样泪湿衣巾。

Appreciation

The poem breaks from conventional sadness of farewell poems with its broad-mindedness and optimism. The first couplet creates a vast geographical space; the second expresses shared feelings; the third turns to philosophical reasoning; the last exhorts the friend. It is known for its vigorous spirit and clear structure.

【白话串讲】 “海内存知己，天涯若比邻”——王勃安慰要远行的朋友：只要心里装着彼此，隔着天涯也像邻居。这句诗，把中国式送别从伤感拔高到了豪迈。【意象与手法】首联以「城阙」「三秦」「五津」拓开壮阔的地理空间，起笔气象开张；颔联由景入情，点出「同是宦游人」的身份共鸣；颈联以理驭情，化远为近、翻出新境；尾联以「无为」叮咛收束。全诗对仗精严、起承转合自然，以旷达汰洗离愁。【情感与主旨】此诗为王勃送友人杜少府赴蜀州任所作，借送别写出「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」的旷达襟怀，一扫送别诗哀愁缠绵的旧调，见少年才士的开阔胸襟与初唐诗歌昂扬向上的时代气象。【名句点睛】核心考点为颈联「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」所体现的以理遣情、化远为近的哲理与旷达情怀。

Background

Wang Bo was a leading poet of the early Tang. This poem was written when he saw off his friend, Deputy Magistrate Du, who was going to serve in Shu (modern Sichuan). At that time, officials often traveled far from home. Wang Bo, though young, expressed a magnanimous view of parting, reflecting the early Tang shift from ornate poetry to a more vigorous style.

王勃（约650—约676），字子安，绛州龙门人，为「初唐四杰」之首，年少即以文名，二十六岁渡海省亲溺亡，英年早逝。此诗约作于其供职长安、任沛王府修撰期间，送友人杜少府（少府为唐代对县尉的敬称）赴蜀州（今四川崇州一带）上任。唐代士人入仕常远宦他乡，蜀地崇山峻岭、路遥险远，行旅之难为时人所共知，故送人入蜀历来多作哀苦之辞。王勃虽少年得志，然自恃才高、屡遭排挤，深谙漂泊之味，故此诗送别不作哀泣，反以「天涯若比邻」的旷达开解对方。此诗正写于初唐诗风由齐梁绮靡转向盛唐宏阔的过渡期，其开阔的气象与昂扬的格调，反映出初唐文人追求风骨、力去浮艳的诗学自觉，也预示了盛唐送别诗旷达一脉的先声。全诗为五言律诗，首句不入韵，格律精严，是王勃律诗趋于成熟的标志性作品。此诗与骆宾王《于易水送人》等同为初唐送别名篇，然气象独高：王勃少年即对策高第，授朝散郎，才思敏捷，作文先磨墨数升，酣饮覆被而卧，及寤援笔成篇，不易一字，时人谓之腹稿，故能于送别旧题中写出新境界，把一己离情放在四海知己的阔大格局中加以化解，气象自非寻常离别之作可比。

Art

The poem begins with a grand geographical sweep (capital and distant ferries), moves to personal emotion (shared wandering), then to philosophical reasoning (friendship transcends distance), and ends with an exhortation (do not weep). It features strict parallelism and a clear 'rise, develop, turn, conclude' structure, using broad-mindedness to wash away the sorrow of parting.

全诗章法谨严，起承转合，一气流转。首联「城阙辅三秦，风烟望五津」以壮阔的地理空间起笔：长安宫阙有巍巍三秦拱卫，而友人宦游之地五津，远在风烟迷蒙的蜀中，一实一虚、一近一远，送别之「远」已在不言之中。颔联「与君离别意，同是宦游人」由景入情，不写离愁的具体形态，而以「同是宦游人」一句点破二人共同的漂泊身份，将一己之愁化为同类相怜，情真理足。颈联「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」是全诗灵魂，以理驭情，将空间之远化为心意之近，翻空出奇，境界顿开。尾联「无为在歧路，儿女共沾巾」以劝勉叮咛收束，豪迈中见关切。全诗对仗精严而不板滞：颔联用流水对，上下句意思连贯；颈联工对天成，字字相称；虚实相生，以旷达汰洗离愁，气脉贯通，是初唐五律由绮靡转向宏阔的典范之作。全诗语言洗练明净，不用生僻字而意象壮阔，以「城阙」「风烟」之壮景写别，以「知己」「比邻」之理宽人，虚实相生、情理兼胜；颈联「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」兼有对偶之工、哲理之深、情感之厚，十四字而气象万千，正是初唐诗歌由六朝绮靡转向盛唐宏阔的关键一笔。

Allusions

'Shaofu' was a Tang title for a county deputy magistrate. 'Sanqin' refers to the three Qin kingdoms that once surrounded Chang'an. 'Wujin' are the five ferries on the Min River in Shu, representing the remote destination. 'Huanyou' means traveling for official duties, highlighting the shared experience of being away from home.

题中「少府」为唐代对县尉的敬称，杜少府名不详，当是王勃友人；「之任」即赴任，蜀州泛指蜀地。首联「五津」指岷江上的五大渡口——白华津、万里津、江首津、涉头津、江南津，代指蜀中；「三秦」指长安附近的关中之地，因项羽灭秦后分其地为雍、塞、翟三国，故称「三秦」。「宦游」源出汉代，指离乡游学求官，一语点明二人皆离乡仕宦的身份共鸣，为「同是」二字张本。「歧路」即岔路口，古人于此分手，暗含杨朱临歧路而泣的典故，诗人以「无为」二字反用，劝慰勿效儿女情长。「沾巾」写泪湿衣巾，是古人临别拭泪的惯常姿态。全诗用典皆融化于叙述之中，不露痕迹，而典故所携带的深厚文化记忆，恰为「知己」「比邻」的旷达之语提供了历史纵深，使劝慰之言有了超越一己的普遍力量。此外，「五津」之说自唐代即有成文记载，后世注家亦有以「三秦」泛指关中之论，然皆不离蜀地路遥之意；「宦游」一词更承载着中国士人「学而优则仕」的千年传统——离乡求仕、聚少离多，正是「同是宦游人」一语千钧的深层文化背景，亦使此诗超越了具体的送别对象，成为所有宦游者的共同心声。

Commentary

Ming critic Hu Yinglin praised this poem as the beginning of 'true Tang sound'. Qing critic Shen Deqian noted its boldness: 'Farewell poems without sad words show great energy.' This poem marks the maturity of early Tang regulated verse and influenced later broad-minded farewell poems.

此诗历来评价极高。明人胡应麟《诗薮》推此诗为「唐人正声」之始，谓其「终篇不落衰飒」；清人沈德潜《唐诗别裁》称「赠别不作悲酸语，魄力自大」，皆指其以旷达洗尽愁苦的独特品格。王勃此作洗尽江左余风，以少年胸襟写离情，气象宏阔，遂开盛唐送别诗旷达一脉：高适《别董大》「天下谁人不识君」、王维《送元二使安西》的依依别情，皆可与之并观，可见其影响之深。就诗体而言，此诗对仗工稳、声律谐和，是初唐五律成熟的标志，亦为历代蒙学必诵之作。「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」两句，化用曹植《赠白马王彪》「丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻」而更精警凝练，成为千古传诵的名句，至今仍是表达友情、寄托宽慰的经典语汇，其生命力早已超越诗歌本身。《唐诗三百首》虽未收录此诗，然历代选本多录之，童蒙读本尤以为首选；今人论唐诗，亦每以「天涯若比邻」为友情诗之极致。全诗八句五十六字，把别情、友情、襟怀、哲理熔于一炉，以最少笔墨写出最广境界，正是中国古典诗歌「以少胜多」美学的最佳注脚。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse (oblique beginning, first line not rhymed)五言律诗（仄起首句不入韵）

Rhyme Rhyme on words 'jin', 'ren', 'lin', 'jin' (level-tone zhen rhyme group)押上平十一真韵，韵脚：津、人、邻、巾

Tone pattern First couplet: oblique-flat pattern; middle couplets parallel; third couplet is a flowing parallelism.首联「城阙辅三秦，风烟望五津」平仄为「平仄仄平平，平平仄仄平」，仄起而不入韵；颔联「与君离别意，同是宦游人」用流水对，颈联「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」为工对，中间两联对仗精严。

Reading note The third couplet washes away sorrow with reason, representing the shift from ornate to broad style in early Tang poetry.此诗为典型的五言律诗，仄起首句不入韵，押上平十一真韵，韵脚「津、人、邻、巾」皆为平声，韵调舒展悠长，正与全诗旷达开朗的情感基调相谐。中间两联严格对仗：颔联「与君」对「同是」、「离别意」对「宦游人」，以流水对破板滞；颈联「海内」对「天涯」、「存知己」对「若比邻」，工稳天成。全诗平仄谐和，除首句外皆合律，于初唐律诗渐趋成熟之际，已是声律谨严的典范。颈联「海内存知己，天涯若比邻」洗尽离愁、以理胜情，是初唐律诗由绮靡转向宏阔的枢纽之作，其以旷达写离情的格调，直接开启了盛唐送别诗的风神，故胡应麟推之为「唐人正声」之始。

Line by line

城阙辅三秦，风烟望五津。

The capital's palaces are guarded by the three Qins; through misty wind I gaze at the five ferries. Sets the grand scene of departure.

长安宫阙被三秦之地拱卫，遥望风烟迷蒙的五津。

The city towers are girt by the three Qin lands; through wind and mist I gaze toward the five ferries.

起笔以「城阙」「三秦」「五津」三个地名拓开宏阔空间：长安宫阙巍峨，有八百里秦川拱卫；友人此去的蜀中五津，则隐在迷蒙风烟之外。「辅」字写三秦拱卫长安，拟人而有雄固之势；「望」字将长安与蜀地一线相连，以遥望写出离别之远。一近一远、一实一虚，帝京的壮丽与宦途的渺茫并置，送别而不落纤弱，气象已自不凡，为全诗定下阔大的基调。

The opening, through the three place-names of 'the city towers', 'the three Qin lands', and 'the five ferries', opens the vast space: Chang'an's towers towering, girt by the eight-hundred-li plain of Qin; the friend's destination, the five ferries of Shu, hidden beyond the misty wind. The word 'girt' writes the three Qin's encircling of Chang'an, personified and with a grand strength; the word 'gaze' joins Chang'an and the Shu land in one line, writing the distance of the parting through the far gaze. One near one far, one real one imagined, the imperial city's splendor and the official road's vagueness set side by side, the parting not falling into weakness, the air already uncommon, tuning the poem's broad keynote.

与君离别意，同是宦游人。

I feel the sorrow of parting with you, for we are both wandering officials. Expresses shared identity and empathy.

与你离别的心意相通，只因同是离乡宦游之人。

My feeling at parting with you, we are both wanderers in office.

此联由写景转入抒情，不正面写离愁，而以「同是宦游人」一句点破二人共同的命运：都因仕宦而离乡背井、漂泊天涯。这既是宽慰对方，也是自解自宽，把个人的离愁化为同类相怜的普遍感慨，情真理足。「与君」「同是」用流水对，上下句意思连贯如行云流水，语势从容，于平淡中见深厚，是典型的以理遣情之笔，为下文「海内存知己」的旷达之论先立根基。

This couplet turns from scene to lyric, writing not the grief of parting face to face, but through the one line 'we are both wanderers in office' naming the two men's common lot: both, because of office, parted from home, drifting to the edge of heaven. This is at once the comfort of the other and the self's relief, turning the personal parting grief into the common sigh of those of the same kind, the feeling true and the reason full. 'With you' and 'we are both' in the flowing couplet, the upper and lower lines' meaning flowing like running water, the tone unhurried, the depth in the plainness, the typical brush of 'resolving feeling through reason', laying the groundwork for the later broad argument of 'within the four seas there are those who understand'.

海内存知己，天涯若比邻。

If there are bosom friends within the four seas, the remotest ends of the world are like next door. The famous couplet: friendship conquers distance.

四海之内只要有知心朋友，纵使远在天涯也如近邻。

Within the four seas there are those who understand; though at the world's end, as close as a neighbor.

千古名句，全诗灵魂。前句写知己之广——四海之内皆可有知心之交，把离别的空间由「歧路」放大到「四海」；后句翻进一层——只要两心相知，天涯海角也如近邻。「存」字坚定有力，「若」字以假设把远化为近，以理胜情，将地理距离彻底消解于心灵距离之中。此联化用曹植「丈夫志四海，万里犹比邻」而更凝练精警，境界宏阔、胸襟旷达，尽扫送别诗的哀愁衰飒，是初唐气象的典型写照。

The famous line through the ages, the soul of the poem. The upper line writes the breadth of the understanding friend — within the four seas there may be the bond of hearts, magnifying the parting's space from 'the fork' to 'the four seas'; the lower turns up a layer — if the two hearts know each other, though at the world's end, as close as a neighbor. The word 'are' is firm and forceful, the word 'as' turning the far into the near through hypothesis, reason mastering feeling, dissolving the geographic distance utterly into the distance of the heart. This couplet adapts and condenses Cao Zhi's 'the man's will is within the four seas, ten thousand li as a neighbor', the realm vast, the breast broad, sweeping away the farewell poem's grief and bleakness, the typical portrait of the Early Tang air.

无为在歧路，儿女共沾巾。

Do not at the fork of the road, like children, shed tears together on your handkerchiefs. Exhorts to part bravely.

不要在岔路口像小儿女那样泪湿衣巾。

Do not, at the fork of the road, like sons and daughters, wet your handkerchief with tears.

尾联以劝勉收束全诗。「无为」是恳切的叮咛，「歧路」点出分别之处，「儿女共沾巾」以小儿女之态反衬大丈夫气概——男儿志在四方，岂可效儿女情长、临歧洒泪？前句「海内存知己」的旷达至此落地为具体的嘱托，豪迈之中见出对友人的真挚关切。全诗由壮阔起笔，经深情回旋，终以豪迈收束，一气流注，恰见少年才士的胸襟与初唐诗歌昂扬向上的时代精神。

The closing couplet closes the whole in exhortation. 'Do not' the earnest charge, 'the fork of the road' naming the place of parting, 'like sons and daughters, wet your handkerchief with tears' setting off the man's spirit through the children's state — the man's will is toward the four directions, how could he imitate the children's long feeling, shedding tears at the fork? The broadness of the upper line 'within the four seas there are those who understand' here lands in the concrete charge, the sincere care for the friend within the boldness. The poem opens in grandeur, turns through the deep feeling, closes in boldness, the breath flowing in one, precisely showing the young talent's breast and the Early Tang poetry's spirited, upward age.

Study

Word focus

辅 to guard, to support (as a satellite protects the capital) 「城阙辅三秦」之「辅」字，本义为夹辅、护卫，此处写三秦之地如臂膀般拱卫着长安宫阙，赋予静态的地理以拟人化的雄固之势。「辅」是动词而带庄重感，与「城阙」的巍峨、「三秦」的广袤相配，一起笔便立起帝京气象；同时「辅」暗含山河相依、众星拱月之意，为下文「知己」「比邻」的情义主题暗暗铺色。一字而气象、情味兼备，足见少年王勃炼字之功。

望 to gaze at, to look far into the distance 「风烟望五津」之「望」字，是连接长安与蜀地的枢纽。友人将去之地远在千里之外，诗人无法亲至，唯以目光遥望——「望」字既写出空间距离之远，又暗含心随目往的牵挂；「风烟」二字更以迷蒙之景虚化视线，使五津若有若无，离情之渺茫尽在言外。一个「望」字，将送别的动态、距离的绵长与心意的牵系融为一笔，是全联最见功力的字眼。

若比邻 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 「天涯若比邻」之「若」字是整句的诗眼。天涯与比邻本是极端对立的两个空间概念，诗人以「若」字将二者虚化联接——不是「是比邻」，而是「如比邻」，以假设语气把远与近的界限打破，让心灵之近凌驾于地理之远。一个虚字盘活了整联：既保留了「天涯」之远的现实感，又推出了「比邻」之近的精神境界，以理遣情、化远为近，遂成千古旷达之句，其哲思力度全在这一「若」字。