元 Yuan · 诗 Poem
登泰山
Climbing Mount Tai
岱宗苍苍云万重，天门诘屈青芙蓉。
日观峰头海色动，仙人石上玉芙蓉。
长风吹我度齐鲁，举手可扪天上星。
安得长绳系白日，泰山无老与此同。
The Heavenly Gate twists upward like a blue lotus.
On the peak of Sun-Watching the color of the sea begins to stir,
On the Immortal's Rock rises a lotus of jade.
The long wind carries me across the lands of Qi and Lu,
I lift my hand and can touch the stars of heaven.
Where shall I find a rope long enough to tie down the sun,
So that Mount Tai and I may grow old together, and never grow old at all.
Meaning
The poem records a climb up Mount Tai, moving from the cloud-covered base to the summit where the sea brightens at dawn and the stars seem within reach. It ends with the wish to rope the sun in place so that the mountain's permanence might be shared by the climber.
泰山苍苍，云层万重；天门曲折，如青色芙蓉。 日观峰头海色涌动，仙人石上如玉芙蓉。 长风把我吹度过齐鲁，举手可以摸到天上的星。 怎得长绳系住白日，使泰山与我同此不老。
Appreciation
The poem climbs in space as it goes, and each couplet stands higher than the last: clouds, then the twisting gate, then the sea seen from the summit, then the stars, then the sun itself. Yang Weizhen colors this ascent with two lotuses, one blue and one of jade, which give the rock forms a strange refinement they would not have on their own. The verb in the sixth line, reaching out to touch the stars, is deliberate excess, and the poem is better for it. What saves the ending from mere fantasy is the reason behind the wish: the mountain will outlast him, and he knows it. Grandeur and mortality arrive in the same breath.
【白话串讲】 “岱宗苍苍云万重，天门诘屈青芙蓉”——杨维桢登泰山：苍苍云万重。“日观峰头海色动”——“长风吹我度齐鲁，举手可扪天上星”——他举手能摸到星星。“安得长绳系白日”——他想用长绳拴住太阳。 【意象与手法】 以云、天门、海色、星辰层层抬高空间，想象奇肆（扪星、系日）。杨维桢诗号'铁崖体'，此篇奇崛豪放，得李贺之险而济以壮阔。 【情感与主旨】 写泰山的雄奇与登临的豪兴，末以系日同老之想，寄寓对壮景长存、人生须臾的浩叹。 【名句点睛】 举手可扪天上星——以夸张写峰高，奇肆中见豪情，最见铁崖本色。
Background
Yang Weizhen was the dominant poetic figure of the late Yuan and the founder of the so-called Iron Cliff manner, known for strangeness and force. This poem on Mount Tai belongs to his wandering years in the Qi and Lu region, and it shows the exuberance that made his style famous and controversial in equal measure.
《登泰山》为元代杨维桢所作，是写登泰山之景、怀古之慨的诗。杨维桢（1296—1370），字廉夫，号铁崖、铁笛道人，诸暨人，元代诗人。此诗：岱宗苍苍云万重，天门诘屈青芙蓉。日观峰头海色动，仙人石上玉芙蓉。长风吹我度齐鲁，举手可扪天上星。安得长绳系白日，泰山无老与此同。全诗写登泰山之景、怀古之慨，是杨维桢诗的名篇。
Art
The imagination is deliberately extravagant, and the poem's structure is a ladder from earth to sky, from the mountain mass to the stars and the sun. Coloring is done with two matched figures, a blue lotus for the twisting gate and a jade lotus for the immortal's rock, so that danger and beauty occupy the same images. The diction reaches for the odd and the steep rather than the smooth, which is exactly the Iron Cliff signature. The result is grandeur produced by strangeness rather than by weight.
《登泰山》艺术上以泰山之景的描摹与怀古之慨的雄奇见长。全诗八句，层层写来：前四句写泰山之景——“岱宗苍苍云万重，天门诘屈青芙蓉”写岱宗苍苍、天门青芙蓉，“日观峰头海色动，仙人石上玉芙蓉”写日观峰海色、仙人石玉芙蓉；后四句写怀古之慨——“长风吹我度齐鲁，举手可扪天上星”写长风度齐鲁、举手扪星，“安得长绳系白日，泰山无老与此同”写安得长绳系白日、泰山无老。全诗以泰山之景写怀古之慨，正是杨维桢诗雄奇的笔法。
Allusions
Daizong is an old name for Mount Tai. The Heavenly Gate is the South Heavenly Gate on the mountain's ascent, and the Peak of Sun-Watching is the traditional place for viewing sunrise there. Touching the stars is a conventional exaggeration for extreme height. The wish for a long rope to tie the sun comes from Fu Xuan's line asking where one might find a rope long enough to bind the sun in place, a classic figure for wanting to stop time.
《登泰山》用典在“岱宗”“天门”“日观峰”“长绳系日”。“岱宗”写泰山（《尚书》岱宗）；“天门”写泰山南天门；“日观峰”写泰山日观峰（观日出处）；“长绳系日”用傅玄“长绳系日”意写留日。全诗以这些典故写登泰山之景、怀古之慨，用典自然而雄奇自见，正是杨维桢诗的笔法。
Commentary
Yang Weizhen's strength lies in strangeness, and this poem comes close to Li Bai's exuberance on the same mountain while pushing further toward the outlandish. Readers who prefer restraint have always found him excessive; readers who want energy have always found him bracing. Either way it stands out as one of the boldest pieces in Yuan verse.
《登泰山》是杨维桢诗的名篇，也是元诗中写登泰山景物的代表作。此诗写登泰山之景、怀古之慨，向为论者称道。论者多赏其泰山之景的描摹与怀古之慨的雄奇——“岱宗苍苍云万重，天门诘屈青芙蓉”写岱宗苍苍、天门青芙蓉，雄奇之极；“日观峰头海色动，仙人石上玉芙蓉”写日观海色、仙人玉芙蓉，更见其奇；“长风吹我度齐鲁，举手可扪天上星”写长风度齐鲁、举手扪星，尤见其雄；“安得长绳系白日，泰山无老与此同”用长绳系日之典写留日，尤见其慨。杨维桢为元末诗坛领袖，其诗以雄奇著称，此诗正是其代表——以泰山之景写怀古之慨，正是其诗风。
Prosody
Line by line
岱宗苍苍云万重，天门诘屈青芙蓉。日观峰头海色动，仙人石上玉芙蓉。
The Dai Zong massif, vast, ten thousand layers of cloud; the Heavenly Gate, twisted, like a green lotus. At Sun-Watching Peak the sea-color stirs; on the Immortal Stone, a jade lotus.
岱宗苍苍云万重，天门诘屈青芙蓉。日观峰头海色动，仙人石上玉芙蓉。
The Dai Zong massif, vast, in ten thousand layers of cloud; the Heavenly Gate twists like a green lotus. At the Sun-Watching Peak the sea-color moves; on the Immortal Stone, a jade lotus.
前四句写泰山之景，是全诗写登泰山之景的起点。“岱宗苍苍云万重，天门诘屈青芙蓉”用岱宗天门之典写岱宗苍苍、天门青芙蓉——“岱宗苍苍云万重”用岱宗之称写泰山苍苍、云层万重，“天门诘屈青芙蓉”写天门诘屈、如青芙蓉——岱宗苍苍，天门青芙蓉；“日观峰头海色动，仙人石上玉芙蓉”用日观峰仙人石之典写日观海色、仙人玉芙蓉——“日观峰头海色动”用日观峰之典写峰头海色涌动，“仙人石上玉芙蓉”写仙人石上、如玉芙蓉——日观海色，仙人玉芙蓉。四句写泰山之景：岱宗苍苍云万重，天门诘屈青芙蓉。日观峰头海色动，仙人石上玉芙蓉。以“岱宗苍苍云万重”写泰山苍苍、云层万重，以“天门诘屈青芙蓉”写天门曲折如青芙蓉，以“日观峰头海色动”写日观峰头海色涌动，以“仙人石上玉芙蓉”写仙人石上如玉芙蓉，正是杨维桢诗写登泰山之景的起点——岱宗云重，天门芙蓉。
The first four lines paint Mount Tai, the starting point of the poem's ascent. 'The Dai Zong massif, vast, in ten thousand layers of cloud' uses the ancient title Dai Zong for the sacred mountain, its greatness drowned in cloud; 'the Heavenly Gate, twisted, like a green lotus' writes the tortuous gate like a blue lotus. 'At the Sun-Watching Peak the sea-color stirs' - the peak where sunrise is watched over the eastern sea; 'on the Immortal Stone, a jade lotus' - the stone shaped like a jade lotus. Four lines: the sacred mountain in cloud layers, the gate like a lotus, the sea-color moving at the peak, the immortal stone in jade bloom - the point from which Yang Weizhen's poem begins its ascent of Mount Tai.
长风吹我度齐鲁，举手可扪天上星。
The long wind carries him across Qi and Lu, and a raised hand can touch the stars; the exaggeration measures the height more vividly than any number could.
长风吹我度齐鲁，举手可扪天上星。
The long wind bears me across the lands of Qi and Lu; lifting my hand, I could pluck the stars of heaven.
此二句写长风度齐鲁、举手扪星，是全诗写登高之概的深化。“长风吹我度齐鲁”写长风度齐鲁——“长风吹我度齐鲁”写长风吹我飞度齐鲁大地——长风吹我度齐鲁；“举手可扪天上星”写举手扪星——“举手可扪天上星”写举起手来可以摸到天上之星——举手可扪天上星。二句写长风度齐鲁、举手扪星：长风吹我度齐鲁，举手可扪天上星。以“长风吹我度齐鲁”写长风吹我、飞度齐鲁，以“举手可扪天上星”写举手扪星、身在绝顶，正是杨维桢诗写登高之概的深化——长风齐鲁，举手扪星。
These two lines deepen the grandeur of the height: the long wind bearing me across Qi and Lu, the hand reaching the stars. 'The long wind bears me across the lands of Qi and Lu' writes the wind carrying the poet over the old kingdoms; 'lifting my hand, I could pluck the stars of heaven' the hand raised to touch the stars, the man standing at the summit. Long wind and ancient lands, raised hand and heavenly stars - the deepened grandeur of the climb.
安得长绳系白日，泰山无老与此同。
He asks for a rope long enough to bind the sun, so that he might share the mountain's freedom from age; the poem ends by turning height into a wish against time.
安得长绳系白日，泰山无老与此同。
Could I but take a long rope to tie down the white sun, that Mount Tai might never age, even as it is?
末用长绳系日之典写留日，是全诗写怀古之慨的归结。“安得长绳系白日”用长绳系日之典写安得长绳系白日——“安得长绳系白日”用傅玄长绳系日之意写怎得长绳系住白日——安得长绳系白日；“泰山无老与此同”写泰山无老与此同——“泰山无老与此同”写泰山无老、与天地同寿——泰山无老与此同。二句写安得长绳系白日、泰山无老与此同：安得长绳系白日，泰山无老与此同。以“安得长绳系白日”用长绳系日之典写欲系白日、永驻光明，以“泰山无老与此同”写泰山无老、与天地同寿之慨，正是杨维桢诗写怀古之慨的归结——系日无计，泰山无老。
The closing uses the allusion of a long rope to bind the sun, resolving the poem's meditation on time. 'Could I but take a long rope to tie down the white sun' draws on Fu Xuan's conceit - a long rope to tether the daylight, to hold the bright sun; 'that Mount Tai might never age, even as it is' the wish that the mountain outlast all, sharing the age of heaven and earth. The allusion to the rope means the desire to bind the sun and keep the light; the mountain's agelessness means grief at time's passing - no rope to hold the sun, the mountain alone unaging.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Du Fu's green of Qi and Lu stretching on without end is deep and steady; Yang Weizhen's touching of stars and roping of the sun is wild and headlong. Both count among the great poems on this mountain.
杜甫《望岳》“会当凌绝顶，一览众山小”写望岳壮志，与本首同为写泰山之诗。差异在情境：杨维桢登泰山写登临怀古；杜甫望岳写望岳言志。一写“登”之慨，一写“望”之志。两者并读，可见写泰山之诗的两种情境。
登泰山记 Mount Tai 姚鼐 · 同为写登泰山之作，一为诗一为记，一雄奇一清峻 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
姚鼐《登泰山记》写冬日登泰山观日之游，与本首同为写登泰山之作。差异在体裁：杨维桢登泰山为诗；姚鼐登泰山记为文。一写“慨”之雄，一写“游”之实。两者并读，可见写登泰山的两种体裁。
望岳 Gazing on Mount Tai 杜甫 · 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.
此处关联杜甫《望岳》，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。