Tang poem · seven-character regulated verse唐诗 · 七言律诗

chóu酬lè乐tiān天yáng扬zhōu州chū初féng逢xí席shàng上jiàn见zèng赠

liú刘yǔ禹xī锡Liu Yuxi · Tang唐

Answering Bai Juyi's Poem Given Me at Our First Meeting in Yangzhou

bā巴shān山chǔ楚shuǐ水qī凄liáng凉dì地

èr二shí十sān三nián年qì弃zhì置shēn身

huái怀jiù旧kōng空yín吟wén闻dí笛fù赋

dào到xiāng乡fān翻sì似làn烂kē柯rén人

chén沉zhōu舟cè侧pàn畔qiān千fān帆guò过

bìng病shù树qián前tóu头wàn万mù木chūn春

jīn今rì日tīng听jūn君gē歌yì一qǔ曲

zàn暂píng凭bēi杯jiǔ酒zhǎng长jīng精shén神

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。

The corpus writes di (flute) and chen (sink) with older forms of the characters. The textbook uses the modern forms.

资料库本“笛”写作“篴”，“沉”写作“沈”，都是古代的写法。课本作“笛”“沉”。

Line by line逐句翻译

巴山楚水凄凉地In the bleak lands of Ba's hills and Chu's rivers,在巴山楚水那些荒凉的地方，
二十三年弃置身I was cast aside for twenty-three years.我被朝廷丢弃了二十三年。
怀旧空吟闻笛赋Missing old friends, I can only recite the flute poem in vain;怀念老朋友，只能白白地吟诵《思旧赋》，
到乡翻似烂柯人coming home, I am like the man whose axe handle rotted: everything has changed.回到家乡，反倒像那个斧柄烂掉的王质，人事都变了。
沉舟侧畔千帆过Beside the sunken boat, a thousand sails go by;沉船的旁边，有千万只帆船驶过，
病树前头万木春in front of the sick tree, ten thousand trees burst into spring.枯病的树前面，万千树木迎来了春天。
今日听君歌一曲Today, hearing the song you sang for me,今天听你为我唱了这首诗，
暂凭杯酒长精神let me lift my spirits with this cup of wine.暂且借这杯酒，振作起精神来。

Words字词注释

巴山楚水bā shān chǔ shuǐ: Ba shan Chu shui: the hills of Ba and rivers of Chu, meaning the lands of today's Sichuan, Chongqing, Hunan and Hubei, where Liu Yuxi served in exile.巴山楚水：指四川、湖南、湖北一带。刘禹锡被贬后，在朗州、夔州等地做官，这些地方古时属于巴国和楚国。
凄凉地qī liáng dì: qi liang di: bleak and lonely places.凄凉地：冷清荒凉的地方。
二十三年èr shí sān nián: er shi san nian: twenty-three years. He was sent away in 805 and came back at the end of 826, about twenty-three years in all.二十三年：从805年被贬，到826年冬天回来，前后大约二十三年。
弃置身qì zhì shēn: qi zhi shen: a man cast aside, left unused by the court.弃置身：被朝廷丢在一边、不被任用的人。
怀旧huái jiù: huai jiu: missing old friends.怀旧：怀念老朋友。
空吟kōng yín: kong yin: reciting in vain.空吟：白白地吟诵，没有用。
闻笛赋wén dí fù: wen di fu: the piece about hearing a flute, Xiang Xiu's poem Remembering Old Friends. After his friend Xi Kang was killed, Xiang Xiu passed his old home, heard a neighbour playing a flute, and wrote it. Here it means many of Liu Yuxi's old friends are dead.闻笛赋：指向秀的《思旧赋》。向秀的好友嵇康被杀，向秀路过嵇康旧居，听到邻居吹笛，写下这篇赋怀念他。这里说刘禹锡的老朋友很多已经去世了。
翻似fān sì: fan si: instead, rather like.翻似：反而像。
烂柯人làn kē rén: lan ke ren: the man whose axe handle rotted. Legend says Wang Zhi of the Jin went to cut wood and watched two boys play chess. Before the game ended, his axe handle had rotted away. Back in his village, everyone he knew was gone. Here it means he has been away so long that everything has changed.烂柯人：传说晋朝王质进山砍柴，看两个童子下棋，一局没下完，斧头柄已经烂了。回到村里，同时代的人都已经死了。这里说自己离开太久，回来后人事全变了。
沉舟chén zhōu: chen zhou: a sunken boat.沉舟：沉没的船。
侧畔cè pàn: ce pan: beside.侧畔：旁边。
病树bìng shù: bing shu: a sick, withered tree. The poet uses the sunken boat and the sick tree for himself.病树：生病枯萎的树。诗人用沉舟、病树比喻自己。
万木春wàn mù chūn: wan mu chun: ten thousand trees greeting the spring, full of life.万木春：成千上万棵树都迎来了春天，长得生机勃勃。
君jūn: jun: you, meaning Bai Juyi, also called Letian.君：指白居易，字乐天。
歌一曲gē yì qǔ: ge yi qu: a song, meaning the poem Bai Juyi gave him at the feast.歌一曲：指白居易在酒席上写给他的诗《醉赠刘二十八使君》。
暂凭zàn píng: zan ping: for now, relying on.暂凭：暂且借着。
长精神zhǎng jīng shén: zhang jing shen: to lift one's spirits.长精神：振作精神。

How to read it读音

头tóu: In qian tou (in front) the second syllable keeps its full tone in the poem: tóu.“前头”在这里读 qián tóu，诗里“头”不读轻声。
曲qǔ: Here it means "a song", so it is read qǔ.这里是“歌曲”的意思，读 qǔ。
长zhǎng: Here it means "to boost, to lift", so it is read zhǎng, not cháng (long).这里是“增长、振作”的意思，读 zhǎng，不读 cháng。

Background创作背景

In 805 Liu Yuxi took part in a political reform that failed, and he was sent away. For years afterwards he served in remote places such as Langzhou, Lianzhou, Kuizhou and Hezhou. In the winter of 826 he was travelling from Hezhou back to Luoyang and met Bai Juyi in Yangzhou. At a feast, Bai Juyi wrote him a poem full of sympathy for his hard fate. Liu Yuxi answered with this poem. The word chou in the title means to reply with a poem.

唐顺宗永贞元年（805年），刘禹锡参加政治改革失败，被贬到外地，以后长期在朗州、连州、夔州、和州等偏远的地方做官。唐敬宗宝历二年（826年）冬天，他从和州回洛阳，在扬州遇到了白居易。酒席上，白居易写了《醉赠刘二十八使君》送他，同情他的遭遇。刘禹锡就写了这首诗来回答。“酬”就是用诗回赠。

The poet作者

Liu Yuxi (772–842) was a Tang poet nicknamed the Hero of Poetry. He spent many years in exile but rarely lost heart, and his poems often show an upbeat, stubborn spirit. He and Bai Juyi were good friends who often traded poems. This poem is in China's current middle school textbooks.

刘禹锡（772—842），唐代诗人，人称“诗豪”。他一生被贬多年，却很少消沉，诗里常有乐观、倔强的精神。他和白居易是好朋友，两人经常写诗唱和。这首诗选入了统编版初中语文课本。

The mood意境

The first four lines are about hardship: twenty-three years in bleak places, old friends dead, and coming home to find everything changed, like a stranger. Then lines five and six suddenly light up. One boat has sunk, but a thousand sails still pass beside it. One tree is sick, but ten thousand trees in front of it greet the spring. Bai Juyi felt sorry for him, but he answers: my own bad luck is nothing; the world keeps moving forward, and new things keep growing. The last two lines say that after hearing your poem and drinking this cup, I will lift my spirits again. The poem moves from sorrow to hope, and the lines about the sunken boat and the sick tree have become famous words of encouragement.

前四句写的是苦：二十三年在荒凉的地方，老朋友死了，回来以后一切都变了，像个陌生人。可第五、六句一下子亮了起来：一只船沉了，旁边还有千帆驶过；一棵树病了，前面还有万木逢春。白居易同情他，他却说：我个人的不幸不算什么，世界还在向前走，新的事物一直在生长。最后两句说，听了你的诗，喝了这杯酒，我要重新振作。全诗从伤感走向乐观，“沉舟侧畔千帆过，病树前头万木春”也成了鼓舞人的名句。