No. 89 · Tang poem · seven-character quatrain第 89 首 · 唐诗 · 七言绝句

wàng望tiān天mén门shān山

lǐ李bái白Li Bai · Tang唐

Gazing at Tianmen Mountain

tiān天mén门zhōng中duàn断chǔ楚jiāng江kāi开

bì碧shuǐ水dōng东liú流zhì至cǐ此huí回

liǎng两àn岸qīng青shān山xiāng相duì对chū出

gū孤fān帆yí一piàn片rì日biān边lái来

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。

In the source text the second line ends "turns back to the north". Today's textbooks say "turns back here".

古籍底本第二句作“碧水东流至北回”，现在课本作“碧水东流至此回”。

Line by line逐句翻译

天门中断楚江开Tianmen Mountain breaks apart in the middle, burst open by the Yangtze.天门山从中间断开，是长江把它冲开的。
碧水东流至此回The green water flows east and turns here.碧绿的江水向东流，到这里转了个弯。
两岸青山相对出The green hills on both banks come into view, face to face,两岸的青山面对面地出现在眼前，
孤帆一片日边来and a lone sail comes from where the sun is.一只小船从太阳那边驶来。

Words字词注释

天门tiān mén: tiān mén: Tianmen Mountain, in today's Dangtu, Anhui. It is two hills facing each other across the Yangtze, Bowang on the east and Liang on the west, like a gate.天门：天门山，在今天安徽当涂，是长江两岸相对的两座山，东边叫博望山，西边叫梁山，像一道门。
中断zhōng duàn: zhōng duàn: broken apart in the middle.中断：从中间断开。
楚江chǔ jiāng: chǔ jiāng: the Chu River, the part of the Yangtze flowing through the old land of Chu.楚江：长江流过古代楚国的这一段，所以叫楚江。
开kāi: kāi: to burst open.开：冲开。
碧水bì shuǐ: bì shuǐ: green-blue water.碧水：碧绿的江水。
至此回zhì cǐ huí: zhì cǐ huí: on reaching this place it turns. Huí means to swirl and change direction.至此回：流到这里转了个弯。回，回旋、转向。
相对出xiāng duì chū: xiāng duì chū: the hills on both banks come into view, face to face.相对出：两岸的山面对面地出现在眼前。
孤帆gū fān: gū fān: a lone sail, a single boat. A sail is the cloth on a boat that catches the wind; here it stands for the boat.孤帆：一只小船。帆，船上挂的布篷，借风行船，这里代指船。
日边来rì biān lái: rì biān lái: coming from the side of the sun, as if from the edge of the sky.日边来：从太阳那边驶来，好像从天边来。

Background创作背景

Tianmen Mountain is in today's Dangtu, Anhui. The Yangtze flows between two hills that stand like an open gate. Most people think Li Bai wrote this poem in 725, after leaving Sichuan and sailing east. He was in his twenties and saw the grand lower Yangtze for the first time. The poem shows Tianmen Mountain as seen from a boat.

天门山在今天安徽当涂，长江从两座山中间流过，两山像一道打开的大门。一般认为，这首诗是725年李白离开四川、坐船东下时写的，当时他二十多岁，第一次看到长江中下游的壮阔景色。诗里写的就是船上望天门山的样子。

The poet作者

Li Bai (701–762) was a great Tang poet, often called the Immortal of Poetry. He grew up in Shu, today's Sichuan. In his twenties he left home and travelled far and wide. His poems are bold and full of wild imagination. He loved to write about mountains, rivers, the moon and wine.

李白（701—762），唐代大诗人，被人称为“诗仙”。他从小在蜀地（今四川）长大，二十多岁离开家乡，到各地游历。他的诗想象大胆，气势豪放，最爱写山水、明月和美酒。

The mood意境

The first line shows the river's power: it is as if the Yangtze has split Tianmen Mountain in two at one stroke. The second shows the mountain's power: the river rushes here and is forced to turn. The third line is the cleverest. The word "come out" makes the hills seem to step forward to greet a guest. Really it is the boat moving, so the hills appear one after another. In the last line a lone boat sails from where the sun is, and the picture becomes wide and bright. The poem has mountains and water, movement and stillness. It shows how grand the Yangtze is, and how excited the young Li Bai felt.

第一句写江水的力量：好像是长江一下子把天门山劈成了两半。第二句写山的力量：江水冲到这里，被山挡得转了弯。第三句最妙，一个“出”字，好像青山自己走出来迎接客人，其实是船在往前走，山才一座座出现在眼前。最后一句，一只小船从太阳那边驶来，画面一下子变得又远又亮。整首诗有山有水，有动有静，写出了长江的壮阔，也写出了年轻李白的兴奋。