Tang poem · five-character regulated verse唐诗 · 五言律诗

jīng经zōu邹lǔ鲁jì祭kǒng孔zǐ子ér而tàn叹zhī之

táng唐xuán玄zōng宗Emperor Xuanzong of Tang · Tang唐

Passing through Zou and Lu, I Honor Confucius and Sigh

fū夫zǐ子hé何wéi为zhě者

xī栖xī栖yí一dài代zhōng中

dì地yóu犹zōu鄹shì氏yì邑

zhái宅jí即lǔ鲁wáng王gōng宫

tàn叹fèng凤jiē嗟shēn身pǐ否

shāng伤lín麟yuàn怨dào道qióng穷

jīn今kàn看liǎng两yíng楹diàn奠

dāng当yǔ与mèng梦shí时tóng同

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 names the author as "the Bright Emperor". That is Emperor Xuanzong, Li Longji, whom later people also called Tang Minghuang.

资料库把作者写作“明皇帝”，就是唐玄宗李隆基，后人也叫他“唐明皇”。

Line by line逐句翻译

夫子何为者Master Confucius, what was it all for?孔夫子啊，您这一生是为了什么呢？
栖栖一代中All your life you hurried about, never at rest.一辈子忙忙碌碌，奔走不停。
地犹鄹氏邑This place is still the town of Zou where you were born,这里仍然是您出生的鄹邑，
宅即鲁王宫and your old house later became the palace of the Prince of Lu.您的旧宅后来成了鲁王的宫殿。
叹凤嗟身否You sighed that the phoenix never came, and sighed at your bad luck.您曾感叹凤凰不来，叹自己生不逢时；
伤麟怨道穷You grieved over the captured qilin, and mourned that your way had reached its end.又为麒麟被捉而伤心，怨自己的主张走到了尽头。
今看两楹奠Today I see offerings made to you between the two pillars.今天我看到您在两楹之间受人祭奠，
当与梦时同It must be just as you saw it in your dream.应当和您当年梦中见到的一样吧。

Words字词注释

夫子fū zǐ: fū zǐ: "the Master", a respectful name for Confucius.夫子：对孔子的尊称。
何为者hé wéi zhě: hé wéi zhě: what was it all for?何为者：是为了什么呢？
栖栖xī xī: xī xī: always busy, never settled. Confucius spent his life traveling from state to state, hoping a ruler would use his ideas.栖栖：忙忙碌碌、不得安定的样子。孔子一生奔走各国，想让人采用他的主张。
一代yí dài: yī dài: his whole lifetime, his age.一代：一生，那一个时代。
犹yóu: yóu: still.犹：仍然，还是。
鄹氏邑zōu shì yì: zōu shì yì: the town of Zou. Confucius's father, Shuliang He, was an official there, and Confucius was born there, near today's Qufu in Shandong.鄹氏邑：鄹邑，孔子的父亲叔梁纥做过鄹邑的大夫，孔子就出生在这里，在今天山东曲阜附近。
鲁王宫lǔ wáng gōng: lǔ wáng gōng: the palace of the Prince of Lu. In the Han dynasty, Prince Gong of Lu tore down Confucius's old house to make his palace bigger.鲁王宫：汉代鲁恭王曾拆毁孔子的旧宅，想扩建自己的宫殿。
叹凤tàn fèng: tàn fèng: sighing over the phoenix. Confucius once sighed that the phoenix did not come. People believed a phoenix appeared only in times of peace and good rule, so he was sighing that his hopes would not come true.叹凤：孔子曾感叹“凤鸟不至”。古人认为凤凰出现，说明天下太平。孔子叹凤凰不来，是叹自己的理想无法实现。
嗟身否jiē shēn pǐ: jiē shēn pǐ: sighing at his own bad luck. Jiē means to sigh.嗟身否：叹息自己运气不好、不得志。嗟，叹息。
伤麟shāng lín: shāng lín: grieving over the qilin. Legend says hunters in Lu caught a qilin, a gentle magic beast. Confucius felt it should appear only in good times, so seeing it caught in a time of chaos made him grieve.伤麟：传说鲁国有人打猎捉到一只麒麟。孔子认为麒麟本该在太平时出现，却在乱世被捉，很伤心。
道穷dào qióng: dào qióng: his way had come to a dead end. After seeing the qilin, Confucius said, "My way has come to its end."道穷：自己的主张走到尽头，行不通了。孔子见到麒麟后说“吾道穷矣”。
两楹奠liǎng yíng diàn: liǎng yíng diàn: offerings made between the two pillars. Yíng are the pillars in front of a hall, and diàn is an offering. Before he died, Confucius dreamed he sat between the two pillars receiving offerings.两楹奠：在两根柱子之间受祭。楹，堂前的柱子；奠，祭祀。孔子去世前曾梦见自己坐在两楹之间受祭。
当与梦时同dāng yǔ mèng shí tóng: dāng yǔ mèng shí tóng: it must look just like what he saw in that dream.当与梦时同：应当和孔子梦里见到的情景一样吧。

How to read it读音

为wéi: Hé wéi means "what for" or "doing what", so the character is read wéi.“何为”是“做什么、为了什么”的意思，“为”读 wéi。
栖xī: Xī xī means busy and never at rest. In this word the character is read xī, not qī.“栖栖”是忙碌不安的样子，读 xī xī，不读 qī qī。
栖xī: Same as above: xī xī.同上，“栖栖”读 xī xī。
否pǐ: Here the character means bad luck, so it is read pǐ, not fǒu.“否”在这里是运气不好、不顺利的意思，读 pǐ，就像“否极泰来”的“否”。

Background创作背景

In 725, Emperor Xuanzong went to Mount Tai for a great ceremony in which the emperor reports to Heaven and Earth. On the way back he passed through Lu, the home of Confucius. He had offerings made to Confucius and went to his old house. Zou was the home of Mencius and Lu the home of Confucius, so "Zou and Lu" came to mean the homeland of these two great teachers. Thinking about Confucius's life, Xuanzong wrote this poem.

开元十三年（725年），唐玄宗到泰山举行封禅大典，就是皇帝祭告天地的仪式。回来的路上，他经过孔子的家乡鲁地，派人祭祀孔子，并到了孔子的旧宅。“邹鲁”指孟子的家乡邹和孔子的家乡鲁，后来就代指孔孟的故乡。玄宗想起孔子的一生，写了这首诗。

The poet作者

Emperor Xuanzong, Li Longji (685–762), ruled the Tang longer than any other emperor. In his early years the country was rich and strong, a time called the Kaiyuan golden age. Later he doted on Consort Yang and trusted bad ministers, and the An Lushan Rebellion broke out. He loved music and poetry. This is the only poem by an emperor in Three Hundred Tang Poems.

唐玄宗李隆基（685—762），唐朝在位时间最长的皇帝。他前期把国家治理得很繁荣，叫“开元盛世”；后期宠信杨贵妃、重用奸臣，引发安史之乱。他爱好音乐和诗文。这首诗是《唐诗三百首》里唯一一首皇帝写的诗。

The mood意境

This is an emperor paying respect to a teacher. It opens with a question: Confucius, you spent your life on the move, but what was it for? The question holds both admiration and pity. Of the middle four lines, two describe the place and two describe Confucius's regrets. The phoenix never came, the qilin was caught, and his ideals could not work in his time. The last two lines are striking. While he lived, Confucius was never given a real post. But after his death, the whole land made offerings to him, and even an emperor came to honor him. That is just what he saw in his dream. The poem holds both sorrow and comfort: what a person is truly worth, later people will remember.

这首诗是一个皇帝在向一位老师致敬。开头就问：孔子，您一生奔波，到底为了什么？这一问里有敬佩，也有同情。中间四句，两句写地方，两句写孔子的遗憾：凤凰不来，麒麟被捉，他的理想在那个时代行不通。最后两句很有意思：孔子活着时不被重用，死后却受到天下人祭祀，连皇帝都来拜他。这正好和他梦里的情景一样。诗里既有惋惜，也有一种安慰：一个人真正的价值，后人终会记得。