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

xī西sài塞shān山huái怀gǔ古

liú刘yǔ禹xī锡Liu Yuxi · Tang唐

Thinking of the Past at Xisai Mountain

wáng王jùn濬lóu楼chuán船xià下yì益zhōu州

jīn金líng陵wáng王qì气àn黯rán然shōu收

qiān千xún寻tiě铁suǒ锁chén沉jiāng江dǐ底

yí一piàn片xiáng降fān幡chū出shí石tóu头

rén人shì世jǐ几huí回shāng伤wǎng往shì事

shān山xíng形yī依jiù旧zhěn枕hán寒liú流

jīn今féng逢sì四hǎi海wéi为jiā家rì日

gù故lěi垒xiāo萧xiāo萧lú芦dí荻qiū秋

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 text opens with "Xi Jin lou chuan" (the Western Jin warships) instead of "Wang Jun lou chuan", ends line six with "jiang liu" (river flow) instead of "han liu" (cold flow), and uses older ways of writing chen (sink) and fan (banner). Here we follow the common text.

资料库本第一句作“西晋楼船下益州”，第五句末作“枕江流”，又写作“沈”“旛”。通行本作“王濬楼船下益州”“枕寒流”，用“沉”“幡”。“沈”是“沉”的古写，“旛”是“幡”的另一种写法。

Line by line逐句翻译

王濬楼船下益州Wang Jun's towering warships sailed down the river from Yizhou,王濬的大战船从益州顺江而下，
金陵王气黯然收and the royal fortune of Jinling faded away at once.金陵城里帝王的气运一下子暗淡消失了。
千寻铁锁沉江底The endless iron chains were burned and sank to the bottom of the river,长长的铁链被烧断，沉到了江底，
一片降幡出石头and a flag of surrender came out of Stone City.一面投降的旗子从石头城里举了出来。
人世几回伤往事How many times have people grieved over the rise and fall of the past,人世间多少次为过去的兴亡伤心，
山形依旧枕寒流while the mountain looks just as it always has, resting on the cold river.山的样子却还是老样子，枕着寒冷的江水。
今逢四海为家日Now we live in a time when the whole land is one family,如今正赶上天下统一、四海一家的时候，
故垒萧萧芦荻秋and the old forts are only reeds and rushes rustling in the autumn wind.旧日的营垒在秋风里只剩一片萧瑟的芦荻。

Words字词注释

王濬wáng jùn: Wang Jun: a general of the Western Jin. In 280 he led a fleet down the Yangtze from Sichuan and conquered the state of Wu.王濬：西晋的大将。公元280年，他带领水军从四川顺长江而下，灭了东吴。
楼船lóu chuán: lou chuan: huge warships with several decks built up like towers.楼船：船上盖着好几层楼的大战船。
下益州xià yì zhōu: xia Yizhou: set off downriver from Yizhou, the area around today's Chengdu in Sichuan.下益州：从益州出发顺江而下。益州，今天四川成都一带。
金陵jīn líng: Jinling: today's Nanjing, then the capital of Wu.金陵：今天的江苏南京，当时是东吴的都城。
王气wáng qì: wang qi: people once believed a place that produced emperors had a special royal air. Here it means the fortune of the state of Wu.王气：古人相信能出帝王的地方有一种特别的“气”。这里指东吴的国运。
黯然收àn rán shōu: an ran shou: faded and vanished.黯然收：暗淡下去，消失了。
千寻qiān xún: qian xun: very, very long. A xun was an old unit of length, about eight chi (roughly two metres).千寻：形容非常长。寻是古代长度单位，一寻大约八尺。
铁锁tiě suǒ: tie suo: huge iron chains that Wu stretched across the river to stop enemy ships. Wang Jun burned through them with giant torches.铁锁：东吴在长江上拉起的大铁链，想拦住敌人的船。王濬用大火把把铁链烧断了。
降幡xiáng fān: xiang fan: a flag raised to surrender.降幡：投降时举起的旗子。
石头shí tóu: Shitou: Stone City, in Jinling. Here it stands for the capital of Wu.石头：石头城，在金陵，这里指东吴的都城。
伤往事shāng wǎng shì: shang wang shi: grieve over the past. Several later dynasties also made Jinling their capital, and one by one they fell too.伤往事：为过去的事情伤心。金陵后来又有好几个朝代在这里建都，又一个个灭亡了。
枕寒流zhěn hán liú: zhen han liu: the mountain rests on the cold river like a head on a pillow.枕寒流：山像枕头一样靠在寒冷的江水上。
四海为家sì hǎi wéi jiā: si hai wei jia: all the land within the four seas has become one family, that is, the country is united.四海为家：天下统一，成了一家。
故垒gù lěi: gu lei: old forts and army camps.故垒：旧时的军营、堡垒。
萧萧xiāo xiāo: xiao xiao: lonely and bleak; also the sound of wind in plants.萧萧：冷清，也指风吹草木的声音。
芦荻lú dí: lu di: reeds and rushes that grow by the water.芦荻：长在水边的芦苇和荻草。

How to read it读音

濬jùn: This character in the name Wang Jun is read jùn, the same as another character for "dredge".濬是人名用字，读 jùn，同“浚”。不读 ruì。
降xiáng: Here it means "surrender", so it is read xiáng, not jiàng.这里是“投降”的意思，读 xiáng，不读 jiàng。
头tóu: Here Shitou is the name of a city, so in the poem the second syllable keeps its full tone, tóu.“石头”这里是城名，诗里一般读 shí tóu，不读轻声。

Background创作背景

This poem was written in 824. That year Liu Yuxi was moved from Kuizhou to Hezhou to serve as governor, and he sailed east down the Yangtze, passing Xisai Mountain. The mountain is near today's Huangshi in Hubei. It is steep and was an important place in old wars. After the Three Kingdoms, the state of Wu built defences on the river here to protect the south, but in the end it was still conquered by the Western Jin. Coming to this place, Liu Yuxi remembered that history and wrote this poem.

这首诗写于唐穆宗长庆四年（824年）。那一年刘禹锡从夔州调到和州做刺史，坐船沿长江东下，经过西塞山。西塞山在今天的湖北黄石附近，山势险要，是古代的军事要地。三国以后，东吴曾在长江上设防，想守住江南，可是最后还是被西晋灭掉。刘禹锡来到这里，想起这段历史，写下了这首诗。

The poet作者

Liu Yuxi (772–842) was a Tang poet and a close friend of Bai Juyi; people spoke of the two together. As a young man he joined a political reform. When it failed, he was sent away to far-off posts for more than twenty years. He is famous for poems about old places, using the rise and fall of past states to remind people of history's lessons.

刘禹锡（772—842），唐代诗人，和白居易很要好，人称“刘白”。他年轻时参加政治改革，失败后被贬到远方二十多年。他写怀古诗很有名，常常借古代的兴亡，提醒人们历史的教训。

The mood意境

The first four lines tell a fast story. The ships set out, and Jinling's fortune is gone. The chains sink, and the surrender flag goes up. Wu trusted the wide river and its iron chains, yet it fell in no time. The last four lines come back to the present. Dynasties have come and gone one after another, but Xisai Mountain has not changed at all. It still rests quietly on the cold river. At the end the poet says the land is now united, and the old forts are just reeds in the autumn wind. On the surface this praises peace. Underneath it is a warning: steep mountains and rivers cannot keep a country safe, so remember why states rise and fall.

前四句像在讲一个快节奏的故事：大船出发，金陵的气运就没了；铁链沉江，降旗就举起来了。东吴靠长江天险和铁链防守，结果一下子就败了。后四句从历史回到眼前。人间的朝代换了一个又一个，西塞山却一点没变，静静地枕着冷冷的江水。最后诗人说，现在天下统一了，旧营垒只剩下秋风中的芦荻。这句话表面上是在说太平，其实也在提醒：靠地势险要守不住国家，兴亡的道理要记住。