唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
桃源行
Ballad of the Peach Blossom Spring
渔舟逐水爱山春，两岸桃花夹古津。
坐看红树不知远，行尽青溪忽值人。
山口潜行始隈隩，山开旷望旋平陆。
遥看一处攒云树，近入千家散花竹。
樵客初传汉姓名，居人未改秦衣服。
居人共住武陵源，还从物外起田园。
月明松下房栊静，日出云中鸡犬喧。
惊闻俗客争来集，竞引还家问都邑。
平明闾巷扫花开，薄暮渔樵乘水入。
初因避地去人间，及至成仙遂不还。
峡里谁知有人事，世中遥望空云山。
不疑灵境难闻见，尘心未尽思乡县。
出洞无论隔山水，辞家终拟长游衍。
自谓经过旧不迷，安知峰壑今来变。
当时只记入山深，青溪几度到云林。
春来遍是桃花水，不辨仙源何处寻。
On both banks peach blossom crowds the ancient ford.
He sits watching the red trees and does not know how far he has come;
The green creek runs out, and suddenly there are people.
At the mouth of the hill he slips through the winding narrows;
Then the hills open, the view widens, and level ground appears.
Far off he sees one place where cloud and trees are gathered;
Coming near, a thousand homes lie scattered among flowers and bamboo.
The woodcutter guest first tells them names from the Han;
The dwellers have not yet changed the dress of Qin.
Together they live here in the vale of Wuling;
Beyond the world of things they have raised their fields and gardens.
Under the pines in bright moonlight the houses are still;
When the sun rises among the clouds, cocks and dogs are loud.
Startled to hear of a guest from the world, they crowd to gather round;
Each draws him home to ask about the capital and its towns.
At daybreak the lanes are swept of blossom and the gates are opened;
At dusk the fishers and woodcutters come back along the water.
At first they fled the world to escape the troubles of their age;
And having become immortals they never returned.
Who in the gorge would guess that human affairs go on?
From the world one looks far off and sees only cloud and hills.
He does not doubt that a holy place is hard to find again,
Yet his worldly heart is not spent, and he thinks of his own district.
Leaving the cave, he cares nothing for the hills and streams between;
He means to take leave of his household and roam here for good.
He believed the way he had once travelled could not be lost;
How could he know that peaks and valleys would now have changed?
All he remembers is that he went deep into the hills,
And how often the green creek brought him to the wooded cloud.
When spring comes, everywhere the waters are full of peach blossom;
He cannot tell where the fairy source is to be sought.
Meaning
A fishing boat follows the water while the fisherman delights in spring among the hills, and peach blossom on both banks encloses an ancient ford. He sits gazing at the red trees and does not notice how far he has gone; the green creek comes to an end and suddenly there are people. He slips quietly through the winding mouth of the hills, and then the hills open and level ground appears before him. From far off he sees one place where clouds and trees are gathered, and coming closer he finds a thousand households scattered among flowers and bamboo. The visitor from outside first speaks names of the Han dynasty, while the dwellers still wear the dress of Qin. They live together in the vale of Wuling and have made their fields and gardens beyond the world of men. Under the pines the houses are quiet in moonlight, and when the sun rises through the clouds the cocks and dogs are noisy. Startled by a guest from the world, they gather round and each takes him home to ask about the capital and its towns. At dawn the lanes are swept of fallen blossom and the gates are opened; at dusk fishers and woodcutters come home along the water. They first came here to escape the disorders of their age, and having become immortals they never went back. Who in the gorge would know that human affairs continue, and who in the world looking this way would see anything but cloud and hills? The fisherman does not doubt that such a holy place is hard to find, yet his worldly heart is not exhausted and he thinks of his own district. Once out of the cave he thinks nothing of the mountains and rivers between and intends to leave his household and wander here for good. He believed that the road he had travelled could not be lost; how could he know that the peaks and valleys had changed? All he remembers is that he went deep among the hills and that the green creek carried him again and again to the wooded cloud. When spring comes the waters everywhere are full of peach blossom, and he cannot tell where the fairy source is to be found.
渔舟顺水贪看山中春色，两岸桃花夹着古老的渡口。坐看红树不觉路远，行尽青溪忽然遇见人家。从山口悄然进入幽深曲折处，山势开朗远望忽见平陆。遥看一处云树攒聚，近入千家花竹缤纷。樵客初次说起汉代姓名，居人仍未改秦时衣冠。人们共住武陵源，另从尘世之外开辟田园。月明松下房舍静，日出云中鸡犬喧。惊闻凡客争相聚集，争引回家探问都邑。清晨街巷扫花开门，傍晚渔樵乘水而归。当初为避乱离开人间，到成仙便不再回还。峡谷里谁知有人事，世间遥望空见云山。不信灵境难以闻见，尘心未尽仍思乡县。出洞无论隔山隔水，辞家终拟长游衍。自谓经过旧路不迷，怎知峰壑今已变。当时只记入山深，青溪几度到云林。春来遍是桃花水，难辨仙源何处寻。
Appreciation
The great excellence of this poem is that it contains a painting. The fisherman's course provides the thread, and the scene changes as he moves: entering the hills, peach blossom crowds the old ford on both banks; reaching the village, a thousand homes lie scattered among flowers and bamboo; in their settled life, the houses are still under the pines in moonlight and the cocks and dogs are loud when the sun comes up through the clouds. The song form allows an easy narrative flow, moving from deep enclosure to open ground and from bustle back to quiet, and the closing lines, with the waters full of peach blossom and no way to find the fairy source, fuse scene, action, feeling and reflection at once.
【白话串讲】 王维把桃花源写成诗：“渔舟逐水爱山春，两岸桃花夹古津”。“樵客初传汉姓名，居人未改秦衣服”——打柴人报出汉代的姓名，里面的人还穿着秦朝的衣服。“春来遍是桃花水，不辨仙源何处寻”——桃花源，再也没人找到。 【意象与手法】 本诗最著之长为‘诗中有画’。诗人以渔舟行踪为线索，移步换景 【情感与主旨】 《桃源行》是王维据东晋陶渊明《桃花源记》敷演而成的七言歌行，约作于开元前期（王维青年至中年） 【名句点睛】 中高考常取‘月明松下房栊静，日出云中鸡犬喧’及全诗‘诗中有画’特点设题。考点一
Background
'Ballad of the Peach Blossom Spring' is a seven-character song that Wang Wei developed out of Tao Yuanming's prose 'Record of the Peach Blossom Spring' of the Eastern Jin, written in the earlier part of the Kaiyuan era, between his youth and his middle years. At that time Wang Wei too was under the influence of Daoism and of Chan Buddhism and longed for a quiet, withdrawn life. The Peach Blossom Spring was a popular subject in the High Tang, and Wang Wei, Li Bai and Liu Yuxi all wrote upon it. Wang Wei abandoned prose for verse and turned Tao's narrative into poetic scene, aiming above all to recreate the beauty of that world in pictures and lodging in it the longing of the educated class for a pure realm outside a disordered age; it is a characteristic application of his principle that a poem should contain a painting.
《桃源行》为唐代王维所作，是咏桃花源的长篇歌行。王维（701—761），字摩诘，蒲州人，唐代诗人。此诗：渔舟逐水爱山春，两岸桃花夹古津。坐看红树不知远，行尽青溪忽值人。山口潜行始隈隩，山开旷望旋平陆。遥看一处攒云树，近入千家散花竹。……月明松下房栊静，日出云中鸡犬喧。……春来遍是桃花水，不辨仙源何处寻。全诗写渔人偶入桃花源，是王维诗的名篇。
Art
The chief art of the poem is the painting within it. The fisherman's route is the thread and the scene shifts as he moves: on entering the hills, peach blossom on both banks presses in upon the ancient ford; on reaching the village, a thousand homes lie scattered among flowers and bamboo; in the settled life of the place, the houses are silent under the pines in bright moonlight while the cocks and dogs are loud when the sun rises through the clouds, and the pictures unroll as clearly as a scroll. The seven-character song form carries the narrative easily, the transitions natural, moving from deep enclosure into open level land and from noise back into quiet, and closing with waters everywhere full of peach blossom and no way to tell where the fairy source lies. Scene, event, feeling and reflection are fused, Chan quiet and painterly vision together, and the poem adds a poetic airiness that Tao's prose does not have.
《桃源行》艺术上以叙事的婉转与景色的清丽见长。全诗写渔人入桃源：首写逐水入山——“渔舟逐水爱山春，两岸桃花夹古津”写逐水桃花，“坐看红树不知远，行尽青溪忽值人”写行尽青溪；中写桃源之景——“山口潜行始隈隩，山开旷望旋平陆”写山口山开，“遥看一处攒云树，近入千家散花竹”写云树花竹；末写仙源难寻——“春来遍是桃花水，不辨仙源何处寻”写仙源难寻。全诗以叙事写景写桃源，正是王维诗清丽的笔法。
Allusions
The whole story comes from Tao Yuanming's 'Record of the Peach Blossom Spring' with its accompanying poem: the vale of Wuling, the dress of Qin and the flight from the troubles of the age all belong to his tale of a fisherman who strayed into a valley whose people had fled the disorders of Qin. The cloud-covered hills and the holy place draw on the language of the immortals and continue the tradition of Six Dynasties poems on roaming with the transcendents. Wang Wei turns a record into a poem; the allusions are not obscure and the point is the remaking of the scene. The piece may be read beside Tao Yuanming's original and beside Wang Wei's 'In Reply to Vice-Magistrate Zhang', where the same attachment to the Peach Blossom Spring appears in his statement that in later years he loved only quiet.
《桃源行》用典少而意象自明。“桃花源”用陶渊明《桃花源记》之典；“武陵”写武陵人（《桃花源记》渔人）；“仙源”写桃源仙境。全诗咏陶渊明桃花源之事，不用深典而清丽自见，正是王维诗以桃花源为题材的笔法。
Commentary
Su Shi said of Wang Wei that in his poems there are paintings and in his paintings poems, and this piece is the clearest instance. Hu Yinglin of the Ming called the poem firm in bone and rich in both feeling and resonance. Wang Shizhen of the Qing ranked it among the finest Tang poems in the seven-character ancient style. Modern critics usually read it beside Tao Yuanming's record, saying that Tao's prose is solid and Wang's poem airy, each perfect in its kind, and that the wistfulness of the closing inability to find the fairy source shows especially the faint Chan feeling in the High Tang imagination of the Peach Blossom Spring.
《桃源行》是王维诗的名篇，也是中国诗歌中咏桃花源的代表作。此诗咏陶渊明《桃花源记》之事，向为论者称道。论者多赏其叙事的婉转与景色的清丽——“渔舟逐水爱山春，两岸桃花夹古津”写逐水桃花，清丽之极；“春来遍是桃花水，不辨仙源何处寻”写仙源难寻，更见余韵。王维为唐代山水田园诗人，其诗以清丽空灵著称，此诗正是其代表——以歌行写桃源，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
渔舟逐水爱山春，两岸桃花夹古津。坐看红树不知远，行尽青溪忽值人。
The fishing boat follows the water, enchanted by spring in the hills; peach blossoms crowd both banks of the ancient ford. Sitting watching the red trees, he knows not how far he has come; when the green stream runs out, suddenly he meets a man.
渔舟逐水而爱山中春色，两岸桃花夹着古渡。坐着看红树不知路远，行尽青溪忽然遇见人。
The fishing boat drifts downstream, drawn by spring among the hills; peach blossoms line both banks of the old crossing. Sitting and gazing at the red trees, he forgets how far he has come; when the green stream ends, he suddenly meets people.
前四句写渔人入山，是全诗叙事的起点。“渔舟逐水爱山春，两岸桃花夹古津”写逐水桃花——“渔舟逐水爱山春”写渔舟逐水、爱山中春色，“两岸桃花夹古津”写两岸桃花夹着古渡——逐水爱春，桃花夹津；“坐看红树不知远，行尽青溪忽值人”写行尽青溪——“坐看红树不知远”写坐着看红树不知路远，“行尽青溪忽值人”写行尽青溪忽然遇见人——看树不知远，青溪忽值人。四句写渔人入山：渔舟逐水爱山春、两岸桃花夹古津，坐看红树不知远、行尽青溪忽值人。以“渔舟逐水爱山春，两岸桃花夹古津”写桃源之景，以“坐看红树不知远，行尽青溪忽值人”写渔人入桃源之始，正是王维诗写渔人入桃源的起点——桃花夹津，青溪忽值。
The first four lines narrate the fisherman's entering the hills, the starting point of the poem's story. Following the water, enchanted by spring among the hills, and peach blossoms crowding both banks of the ancient ford: the boat drifts on, bewitched by spring, blossoms lining the crossing. Sitting watching the red trees, he knows not how far he has come, and when the green stream runs out he suddenly meets a man: gazing at blossom, he loses the distance; the clear stream ends, and people appear. Four lines write the fisherman's entry: the boat following water and spring, blossoms at the ford, sitting entranced, the sudden meeting. Wang Wei uses the first two to paint the scenery of Peach Blossom Spring, the last two to mark the beginning of the fisherman's entry - blossoms at the ford, the green stream, a sudden meeting - the true starting point of Wang Wei's verse on the Peach Blossom fisherman.
山口潜行始隈隩，山开旷望旋平陆。遥看一处攒云树，近入千家散花竹。
Stealing through the mountain pass, at first the way winds in deep defiles; then the hill opens, and wide prospect falls on level ground. Far off he sees a grove of trees clustered among clouds; near at hand, a thousand households scattered in flowers and bamboos.
山口潜行始入曲折之处，山势开阔远望顿见平陆。遥看一处云树攒聚，近入千家花竹散布。
Through the mountain mouth he slips at first into winding recesses; then the hillside opens and he gazes out at level plains. Far off, cloud-wreathed trees cluster at one spot; drawing near, a thousand homes are scattered among flowers and bamboos.
中四句写桃源之景，是全诗写桃源的核心。“山口潜行始隈隩，山开旷望旋平陆”写山口山开——“山口潜行始隈隩”写山口潜行始入曲折之处，“山开旷望旋平陆”写山势开阔远望顿见平陆——山口潜行，山开平陆；“遥看一处攒云树，近入千家散花竹”写云树花竹——“遥看一处攒云树”写遥看一处云树攒聚，“近入千家散花竹”写近入千家花竹散布——云树攒聚，花竹散布。四句写桃源之景：山口潜行始隈隩、山开旷望旋平陆，遥看一处攒云树、近入千家散花竹。以“山口潜行始隈隩，山开旷望旋平陆”写初入桃源之豁然，以“遥看一处攒云树，近入千家散花竹”写桃源云树花竹之景，正是王维诗写桃源景色的核心——山开平陆，云树花竹。
The middle four lines paint the scenery of Peach Blossom Spring, the core of the poem. Stealing through the mountain pass, at first into winding recesses; then the hill opens, wide prospect on level ground: through the pass the way winds, then opens to plain. Far off, cloud-wreathed trees cluster at one spot; near at hand, a thousand homes scattered in flowers and bamboos: trees gathered among clouds, flowers and bamboos spread abroad. Four lines paint the spring: the winding pass, the opening plain, the clustered trees, the scattered households. The couplet through the pass and opening plain writes the sudden relief of entering; the couplet cloud trees and flower bamboos paints the spring's groves and dwellings - the core of Wang Wei's scenery: hills opening to level land, trees among clouds, flowers and bamboos.
春来遍是桃花水，不辨仙源何处寻。
When spring comes, all around is the peach-blossom water; nowhere can one tell where to seek the fairy source.
春来遍地都是桃花流水，辨不清仙源在哪里寻找。
When spring returns, the water everywhere is strewn with peach blossoms; nowhere can one distinguish where the fairy source is to be found.
末二句写仙源难寻，是全诗桃源余韵的归结。“春来遍是桃花水”写桃花水——“春来遍是桃花水”写春来遍地都是桃花流水；“不辨仙源何处寻”写仙源难寻——“不辨仙源”写辨不清仙源，“何处寻”写到哪里寻找——不辨仙源，何处寻。二句写仙源难寻：春来遍是桃花水，不辨仙源何处寻。以“春来遍是桃花水”写桃花流水、美景依然，以“不辨仙源何处寻”写仙源难寻、余韵悠长，正是王维诗写桃源余韵的归结——桃花依旧，仙源难寻。
The last two lines write the fairy source hard to find, the resolution of the poem's lingering tone. When spring comes, all around is the peach-blossom water: spring returns, the water everywhere strewn with blossoms. Nowhere can one tell where to seek the fairy source: the source unrecognizable, nowhere to seek. Two lines write the unfindable source: spring's peach water, the source beyond telling. The first paints the peach-blossom water, beauty unchanged; the second the source beyond finding, savor long-drawn - Wang Wei's closing note on Peach Blossom Spring: blossoms as of old, the fairy source beyond reach.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
此处关联陶渊明《归园田居·其一》，与本首在主题、体裁或作者上相关联，可对比阅读以见其同异。
桃花源诗 Poem on the Peach Blossom Spring 陶渊明 · 同为咏桃花源之作，一为唐诗咏其景一为陶诗叙其事，皆以桃源为宗 Same (same subject and same source story)Both write of the flight from Qin into the Peach Blossom Spring; Tao's poem is solid and Wang's airy, and they repay reading together.
陶渊明《桃花源诗》写桃花源之事，与本首同为咏桃花源之作。差异在时代与笔法：桃源行为唐诗，写景清丽；桃花源诗为陶诗，叙理古朴。一写“景”之丽，一写“理”之朴。两者并读，可见桃花源题材由晋到唐的发展。
桃花源记 The Peach Blossom Spring 陶渊明 · 与本首相关联的同类或同作者作品，供对比阅读 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
此处关联陶渊明《桃花源记》，与本首在主题、体裁或作者上相关联，可对比阅读以见其同异。