No. 97 · Tang poem · five-character quatrain第 97 首 · 唐诗 · 五言绝句

bā八zhèn阵tú图

dù杜fǔ甫Du Fu · Tang唐

The Eight-Formation Diagram

gōng功gài盖sān三fēn分guó国

míng名gāo高bā八zhèn阵tú图

jiāng江liú流shí石bù不zhuǎn转

yí遗hèn恨shī失tūn吞wú吴

Underlined words have notes: tap one. The Pinyin button below shows or hides all pinyin. 一 and 不 are marked with the tone you actually say.字下有虚线的，点开有注释。下方的“拼音”按钮可以显示或隐藏全部拼音。“一”“不”标的是实际读出来的变调。

Line by line逐句翻译

功盖三分国When the land was split into three, Zhuge Liang's deeds stood above all others.在天下三分的时候，诸葛亮的功劳最大。
名高八阵图His Eight Formations made his name known everywhere.他创造的八阵图，更让他名扬天下。
江流石不转The river rushes past day and night, yet the stones of the formation never move.江水日夜冲刷，阵里的石头却始终不动。
遗恨失吞吴The regret that remains is the mistake of trying to swallow up Wu.千年的遗憾，是刘备做错了事，非要去吞并吴国。

Words字词注释

功盖gōng gài: gōng gài: his deeds were greater than anyone else's. Gài means to cover over, to outdo.功盖：功劳超过别人，比谁都大。盖，盖过、超过。
三分国sān fēn guó: sān fēn guó: the land split into three states, the Three Kingdoms: Wei, Shu and Wu.三分国：天下分成三个国家，就是三国时的魏、蜀、吴。
名高míng gāo: míng gāo: his fame was great.名高：名声很大。
八阵图bā zhèn tú: bā zhèn tú: the Eight Formations, a way of arranging troops in battle designed by Zhuge Liang. Legend says he laid it out with piles of stones by the river.八阵图：诸葛亮设计的一种排兵布阵的方法，把军队排成八种阵形。传说他在江边用石头堆出了这个阵的样子。
江流石不转jiāng liú shí bù zhuǎn: jiāng liú shí bù zhuǎn: the river keeps flowing past, but the stones do not move.江流石不转：江水不停地冲刷，石头却一动不动。
遗恨yí hèn: yí hèn: a regret left behind, one that was never put to rest.遗恨：留下来的遗憾，到死也没放下的心事。
失吞吴shī tūn wú: shī tūn wú: shī means a mistake; tūn wú means trying to swallow up the state of Wu. It is usually read as: Liu Bei made a mistake when he attacked Wu.失吞吴：失，失误、做错了；吞吴，去吞并吴国。一般理解为：刘备出兵攻打吴国是个错误。

Background创作背景

This poem is usually dated to 766, when Du Fu had just arrived in Kuizhou. Kuizhou is today's Fengjie in Chongqing, on the Yangtze River. Legend says piles of stones on a sandbank by the river were Zhuge Liang's Eight Formations. Every summer the river rose and covered them, and when the water went down, the stones were still in place. Seeing them, Du Fu thought about Zhuge Liang's life and wrote this poem.

这首诗一般认为是唐代宗大历元年（766年）杜甫刚到夔州时写的。夔州就是今天重庆的奉节，在长江边上。传说江边的沙滩上有诸葛亮留下的八阵图石堆，每年夏天江水上涨把它淹没，水退后石堆还在原地。杜甫看到这些石头，想起了诸葛亮的一生，写下了这首诗。

The poet作者

Du Fu (712–770) was a great Tang poet, often called the Sage of Poetry. All his life he admired Zhuge Liang and wrote several poems about him, such as "The Prime Minister of Shu". In his later years he drifted around Sichuan. When he saw places linked to Zhuge Liang, he often grieved that the hero's dream never came true, and thought of his own hard life too.

杜甫（712—770），唐代大诗人，被人称为“诗圣”。他一生很佩服诸葛亮，写过不少怀念诸葛亮的诗，比如《蜀相》。晚年他漂泊在四川一带，看到和诸葛亮有关的古迹，常常感慨英雄的志向没有实现，也想到自己的遭遇。

The mood意境

The first two lines are like a report card for Zhuge Liang. When the land split into three, his deeds came first. The Eight Formations made him the most famous. The third line shows what Du Fu sees: for hundreds of years the river has rushed past, and the stones still do not move. The stones seem like Zhuge Liang's steady heart, and also like a worry he could never let go. The last line names the regret. Zhuge Liang wanted to join with Wu against Wei. But Liu Bei went to war against Wu and was badly beaten, so the dream of uniting the land could never come true. Another reading says the line means the regret of failing to conquer Wu. In just twenty characters there is praise, a scene, and a deep sigh.

前两句像在给诸葛亮打分：天下三分，他功劳第一；八阵图，让他名声最响。第三句写眼前的景：滚滚江水冲了几百年，石头还是不动。这些石头好像就是诸葛亮那颗坚定的心，也像他放不下的心事。最后一句说出遗憾：诸葛亮主张联合吴国一起对付魏国，刘备却出兵打吴国，结果大败，统一天下的梦想再也实现不了。一说“失吞吴”是指没能吞并吴国。短短二十个字，有赞美，有景物，也有深深的叹息。