唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
题宣州开元寺水阁
Written on the Waterside Pavilion of Kaiyuan Temple, Xuanzhou
六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同。
鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中。
深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风。
惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东。
the sky is pale, the clouds at leisure — now as of old.
Birds go and birds come within the mountain's colors;
men sing and men weep within the sound of the water.
Deep autumn: rain veils a thousand households like a curtain;
setting sun on tower and terrace — one flute borne on the wind.
Vexed in vain, I cannot meet Fan Li;
through ragged misty trees, the Five Lakes lie east.
Meaning
Standing on the temple's waterside pavilion, Du Mu surveys Xuanzhou: the glory of the Six Dynasties has dissolved into grass, yet sky and clouds, birds and water, singing and weeping flow on unchanged. From autumn rain to sunset flute he lingers in the eternal present, and finally sighs for Fan Li, the minister who retired to the Five Lakes — a freedom the poet cannot reach.
六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同。鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中。深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风。惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] The cultural glory of the Six Dynasties has sunk into grass that reaches the sky; the pale sky and idle clouds are the same today as then. Birds fly in and out of the mountain colors; men sing and weep within the endless sound of water. Deep autumn rain hangs like a curtain over a thousand households; the setting sun gilds the towers, and a single flute rides the wind. Melancholy: the poet has no way to meet Fan Li — only ragged misty trees toward the eastern Five Lakes. [Imagery] The poem is a gallery of time's indifference: grass swallows dynasties, while sky, clouds, birds, and water outlast every song and weep. The third couplet is Du Mu at his finest — 'a thousand households' rain,' 'one flute in the wind' — vast weather reduced to a single human sound. [Structure] Four couplets, four distances: dynastic ruin (the past), the unchanging sky (eternity), human joy and grief within the water's sound (life), and finally the poet's own thwarted wish — to sail away with Fan Li. History, nature, life, and longing are framed by one view from a pavilion.
【白话串讲】 杜牧写《题宣州开元寺水阁》：“六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同”——“鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中”——“深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风”——“惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东”——他题开元寺水阁——人歌人哭水声中。 【意象与手法】 “六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同”写六朝文物草连空；“鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中”写鸟去鸟来、人歌人哭；“深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风”写深秋帘幕千家雨；结以“惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东”写惆怅无因见范蠡。深沉悠远。 【情感与主旨】 杜牧写宣州开元寺水阁的怀古写景之作，写六朝文物、人歌人哭与范蠡的怅惘，是杜牧诗中的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中”写人世变迁；“惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东”写怀古怅惘。
Background
Du Mu (803–c. 852), courtesy name Muzhi, of the capital's Du clan, is one of the 'Little Li-Du' masters of late Tang verse. Gifted and ambitious, he was repeatedly exiled to provincial posts — Huangzhou, Chizhou, Muzhou, Xuanzhou — by court factionalism. This poem was written on the waterside pavilion of Kaiyuan Temple in Xuanzhou (present-day Xuancheng, Anhui), where he served around 836–838. Xuanzhou belonged to the old lands of the Six Dynasties' splendor; gazing from the pavilion, Du Mu folds dynastic history, natural eternity, and his own frustrated career into a single meditation, closing on Fan Li — the minister who quit power for a fishing boat on the Five Lakes, the career Du Mu never found.
《题宣州开元寺水阁》为唐代诗人杜牧所作诗。杜牧（803—约852），字牧之，京兆万年（今陕西西安）人，唐代诗人，「小李杜」之一。此诗写怀古写景，为题宣州开元寺水阁之作。诗中「六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同」写六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同；「鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中」写鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中；「深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风」写深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风；「惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东」写惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东。杜牧此诗以怀古写景、参差烟树五湖东写其怀古之情，深沉悠远，是杜牧诗中的名篇。此篇《题宣州开元寺水阁》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《题宣州开元寺水阁》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。
Art
The poem's craft is the orchestration of scale and silence. The first couplet sets the vanishing of empire: 'the relics of the Six Dynasties merge with grass into the sky' — culture composted into landscape. The second grants eternity its indifference: pale sky, idle clouds, 'now as of old.' The third couplet is the celebrated center: birds in the mountain colors, men singing and weeping in the water's sound — life's whole pageant framed as something seen and overheard from a tower, at once intimate and detached. 'A thousand households' rain' against 'one flute in the wind' measures civilization's mass against a single human sound. The close turns the gaze inward: Fan Li, who left power for the lakes, becomes the object of a longing the poet knows is 'in vain.' The poem moves from dynastic ruin to natural permanence to personal regret, each couplet wider and quieter than the last.
此诗艺术上以「深沉悠远、以景写情」见长。全诗共八句，由六朝文物草连空而鸟去鸟来山色里而深秋帘幕千家雨。起「六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同」写六朝文物草连空：六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同；「鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中」写鸟去鸟来山色里：鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中；「深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风」写深秋帘幕千家雨：深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风；结「惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东」写惆怅无因见范蠡：惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东。全诗以景写情，由六朝文物草连空而参差烟树五湖东，深沉悠远，是杜牧诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。
Allusions
The 'Six Dynasties' (222–589) — Wu, Eastern Jin, and the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen — ruled from Jiankang (Nanjing), near Xuanzhou; their 'relics' are the overgrown traces of that splendor, continuing the classical meditation on ruins such as Bao Zhao's 'Rhapsody on the Ruined City.' The birds and human voices of the second couplet belong to the old temple-landscape tradition in which nature frames the pageant of human life, crystallized here into two perfectly balanced lines. The closing allusion is to Fan Li, minister of Yue: after helping King Goujian destroy Wu, he retired with the beauty Xi Shi onto the Five Lakes (Lake Tai) in a fishing boat — the archetype of the official who leaves power for freedom. 'Ragged misty trees toward the Five Lakes' points east toward Taihu, where Fan Li vanished; the poet's longing is thus for a retirement history reserves for heroes, and denies to him.
诗中「六朝文物草连空天淡云闲今古同」「鸟去鸟来山色里人歌人哭水声中」「深秋帘幕千家雨落日楼台一笛风」「惆怅无因见范蠡参差烟树五湖东」等语，皆含典故故实。「六朝文物草连空天淡云闲今古同」写六朝文物草连空天淡云闲今古同；「鸟去鸟来山色里人歌人哭水声中」写鸟去鸟来山色里人歌人哭水声中；「深秋帘幕千家雨落日楼台一笛风」写深秋帘幕千家雨落日楼台一笛风；「惆怅无因见范蠡参差烟树五湖东」用范蠡之典（范蠡为越国大夫泛舟五湖），写惆怅无因见范蠡参差烟树五湖东。诗人以范蠡、五湖等典入诗，不着痕迹，而把怀古写景之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。
Commentary
This poem is regarded as Du Mu's masterpiece of historical meditation and one of the late Tang's finest seven-character regulated verses. Critics single out 'birds go and come within the mountain colors; men sing and weep within the sound of the water' as the poem's axis — life observed from the pavilion, seen and heard at one remove, as eternal as nature and as fleeting as song. The couplet 'deep autumn: rain veils a thousand households; setting sun: one flute in the wind' is praised as the perfect union of vastness and intimacy. Modern readers have noted the deeper melancholy: Du Mu, exiled in Xuanzhou far from the court, cannot be Fan Li — his longing for the lakes is the longing of a man with no boat. The poem's greatness is its balance: dynastic ruin, natural eternity, and private regret held within one view, none allowed to drown the others.
这首《题宣州开元寺水阁》，是杜牧写怀古写景之作，写六朝文物草连空、鸟去鸟来山色里、深秋帘幕千家雨、惆怅无因见范蠡之情，深沉悠远。起「六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同」——六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同。写六朝文物草连空：六朝文物草连空、天淡云闲今古同——草连空、今古同；「鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中」——鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中。写鸟去鸟来山色里：鸟去鸟来山色里、人歌人哭水声中——山色里、水声中；「深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风」——深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风。写深秋帘幕千家雨：深秋帘幕千家雨、落日楼台一笛风——千家雨、一笛风；结「惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东」——惆怅无因见范蠡（用范蠡之典），参差烟树五湖东。写惆怅无因见范蠡：惆怅无因见范蠡、参差烟树五湖东——见范蠡、五湖东。这「惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东」，是全诗之结：以参差烟树五湖东写其怀古。全诗深沉悠远，以景写情，正是杜牧诗中的名篇。
Prosody
Line by line
六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同。
The relics of the Six Dynasties merge with grass into the sky; the sky is pale, the clouds at leisure — now as of old.
六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同。
The Six Dynasties' relics are gone; grass runs into the sky; the pale sky and leisurely clouds are the same today as of old.
首句写六朝文物草连空，起笔即见其古。「六朝文物草连空」写六朝文物草连空，「六朝文物」写六朝文物、「草连空」写草连空；「天淡云闲今古同」写天淡云闲今古同，「天淡云闲」写天淡云闲、「今古同」写今古同。两句一写六朝文物草连空、一写天淡云闲今古同，以六朝文物草连空写草连空、以天淡云闲今古同写今古同，写尽六朝文物草连空、天淡云闲今古同之情。以古起兴，深沉而悠远，是「以古起兴」的妙笔。
The opening line writes the Six Dynasties' relics, the ancient scene from the first stroke. The Six Dynasties' relics are gone; grass runs into the sky: the artifacts of the Six Dynasties buried in grass stretching to the void. The pale sky and leisurely clouds are the same today as of old: sky pale, clouds idle, the same now and then. One line writes relics swallowed by grass, the other the unchanged sky and clouds - raising imagery through antiquity, deep and remote. The Six Dynasties vanished into grass, yet sky and clouds continue as before; the contrast of human mutability against nature's permanence is struck at once, and the keynote今古同 of all ages being one is set.
鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中。
Birds go and birds come within the mountain's colors; men sing and men weep within the sound of the water.
鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中。
Birds go and birds come within the mountain colors; men sing and men weep within the sound of waters.
此二句写鸟去鸟来山色里，是全诗写山色之态的关键。「鸟去鸟来山色里」写鸟去鸟来山色里，「鸟去鸟来」写鸟去鸟来、「山色里」写山色里；「人歌人哭水声中」写人歌人哭水声中，「人歌人哭」写人歌人哭、「水声中」写水声中。两句一写鸟去鸟来山色里、一写人歌人哭水声中，以鸟去鸟来山色里写山色里、以人歌人哭水声中写水声中，写尽鸟去鸟来山色里、人歌人哭水声中之情。以鸟写景，深沉而悠远，是「以鸟写景」的点睛之笔。
These two lines write birds going and coming in the mountain colors, the key to the poem's treatment of the landscape. Birds go and birds come within the mountain colors: the birds' comings and goings within the hills. Men sing and men weep within the sound of waters: human song and lament within the waters' sound. One line writes bird and hill, the other human voice and water - writing scenery through the bird, deep and remote, the consummate stroke. The birds are indifferent, coming and going across ages; human joy and sorrow pass like the water's sound - nature's cycle against human drama, the couplet fusing both in one wide view.
深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风。
Deep autumn: rain veils a thousand households like a curtain; setting sun on tower and terrace — one flute borne on the wind.
深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风。
In late autumn, rain over a thousand households behind curtained eaves; in the setting sun, a flute's note on the wind from the tower.
此二句写深秋帘幕千家雨，是全诗写深秋之态的关键。「深秋帘幕千家雨」写深秋帘幕千家雨，「深秋帘幕」写深秋帘幕、「千家雨」写千家雨；「落日楼台一笛风」写落日楼台一笛风，「落日楼台」写落日楼台、「一笛风」写一笛风。两句一写深秋帘幕千家雨、一写落日楼台一笛风，以深秋帘幕千家雨写千家雨、以落日楼台一笛风写一笛风，写尽深秋帘幕千家雨、落日楼台一笛风之情。以秋写景，深沉而悠远，是「以秋写景」的点睛之笔。
These two lines write late autumn, rain over a thousand households, the key to the season's mood. In late autumn, rain over a thousand households behind curtained eaves: late autumn, curtains, thousand homes in rain. In the setting sun, a flute's note on the wind from the tower: setting sun, towers, one flute on the wind. One line writes the thousand homes in autumn rain, the other the flute in the sunset breeze - writing scenery through autumn, deep and remote, the consummate stroke. The dense rain on a thousand households and the single flute drifting on the sunset wind: one vast and homely, one lone and far, the autumn melancholy of the water pavilion rendered in two pictures.
惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东。
Vexed in vain, I cannot meet Fan Li; through ragged misty trees, the Five Lakes lie east.
惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东。
Melancholy, with no way to see Fan Li; east of the Five Lakes, misty trees stand in disarray.
结句写惆怅无因见范蠡，是全诗立意的落点。「惆怅无因见范蠡」用范蠡之典写惆怅无因见范蠡，「惆怅无因」写惆怅无因、「见范蠡」写见范蠡；「参差烟树五湖东」写参差烟树五湖东，「参差烟树」写参差烟树、「五湖东」写五湖东。两句一写惆怅无因见范蠡、一写参差烟树五湖东，以惆怅无因见范蠡写见范蠡、以参差烟树五湖东写五湖东，写尽惆怅无因见范蠡、参差烟树五湖东之情。以树写情，深沉而悠远，是全诗最动人处，也是「以树写情」的点睛之笔。
The closing line writes melancholy with no way to see Fan Li, the poem's point. Melancholy, with no way to see Fan Li uses the Fan Li allusion: the statesman who, after helping Yue destroy Wu, sailed away on the Five Lakes to live as a free man - Du Mu longs for him and cannot reach him. East of the Five Lakes, misty trees stand in disarray: disordered misty trees east of the lakes. One line writes the yearning for Fan Li, the other the misty trees of the Five Lakes - writing feeling through the trees, deep and remote, the poem's most moving point, the consummate stroke. The poet does not merely mourn the Six Dynasties' ruins; he envies Fan Li's escape from office into the lakes, and the closing misty trees east of the Five Lakes hold both the dream and its distance.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Su Shi's 'the moon has its dark and clear phases' accepts change with cosmic serenity; Du Mu's pale sky and idle clouds, 'now as of old,' accept it with dynastic melancholy. The same eternity that consoles Su Shi only sharpens Du Mu's sense of loss.
苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写怀古感怀、深沉旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；杜牧《题宣州开元寺水阁》则以「六朝文物草连空，天淡云闲今古同」「惆怅无因见范蠡，参差烟树五湖东」写草连空今古同、见范蠡五湖东。两诗同写怀古感怀、深沉旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写六朝文物草连空天淡云闲今古同、以今古写兴亡；一为苏轼之超然、一为杜牧之深沉，并读正可见诗写「怀古感怀」的两种笔法，皆于怀古之中见深沉。
八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Basheng Ganzhou (Facing the Dusk Rain over the River) 柳永 · 同写登高怀古、深沉凝望，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写深秋帘幕千家雨落日楼台一笛风，皆于登高之中见怀古 Both climb and gaze over an autumn river: Liu Yong's lyric homesickness, Du Mu's historical meditation.Liu Yong's 'facing the pattering dusk rain spilling over the sky of the river, washing a stretch of clear autumn' pours personal sorrow into the scene; Du Mu's 'deep autumn: rain veils a thousand households' absorbs dynastic history into the same weather. Two autumns from towers — one man missing home, one civilization missing its past.
柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写登高怀古、深沉凝望，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；杜牧《题宣州开元寺水阁》则以「深秋帘幕千家雨，落日楼台一笛风」「鸟去鸟来山色里，人歌人哭水声中」写千家雨一笛风、山色里水声中。两诗同写登高怀古、深沉凝望：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写深秋帘幕千家雨落日楼台一笛风、以秋雨写怀古；一为柳永之清丽、一为杜牧之深沉，并读正可见诗写「登高怀古」的两种笔法，皆于登高之中见怀古。