POEM
凉州词Liáng Zhōu CíA Song of Liangzhou
- Dynasty
- Tang
- Author
- 王之涣 Wáng Zhīhuàn (Wang Zhihuan)
- Genre
- 七言绝句
- Lines
- 4
- Era
- c. 8th century
THE POEM — LINE BY LINE
Tap a line for word-by-word gloss.
#1黄河远上白云间Huáng hé yuǎn shàng bái yún jiānThe Yellow River rises far away into the white clouds;word by word
#2一片孤城万仞山Yī piàn gū chéng wàn rèn shāna single lonely fort among mountains ten thousand yards high.word by word
一yīone片piàna stretch of (一片: one small patch of)孤gūlonely; single城chéngcity; fort万wànten thousand; countless仞rènan ancient measure of height山shānmountain#3羌笛何须怨杨柳Qiāng dí hé xū yuàn yáng liǔWhy should a Qiang flute complain of the willow trees,word by word
羌qiāngQiang (a northwest ethnic group)笛díflute何héwhy; what须xūneed; must怨yuàncomplain of; blame杨yángpoplar (杨柳: willows)柳liǔwillow#4春风不度玉门关Chūn fēng bù dù yù mén guānblaming them for not budding — for spring wind never passes Yumen Pass.word by word
春chūnspring风fēngwind不bùnot度dùcross; pass through玉yùjade (玉门关: Yumen Pass)门méngate (玉门关: Yumen Pass)关guānpass; frontier gate
POEM IN PLAIN ENGLISH
A plain-English guide, not a literary translationThe Yellow River rises far away into the white clouds; a single lonely fort stands among mountains ten thousand yards high. Why should a Qiang flute complain of the willow trees, as if they were slow to bud? — the spring wind never passes Yumen Pass at all. The poem is a frontier song: behind the willow question lies the real complaint of a soldier who knows that warmth, like the spring wind, will never reach this far. This is a plain-English guide, not a literary translation.
BACKGROUND & IMAGERY
Liangzhou was a Tang frontier region in the northwest, and 凉州词 was a popular song title of the frontier garrisons. Wang Zhihuan (688-742) sets the scene with dizzying scale — a river going up into the clouds, a single fort under a wall of mountains — then answers a flute's sad song with the coldest possible line: beyond Yumen Pass, even spring refuses to come. The poem also puns on the old farewell song 折杨柳 ('Breaking a Willow Branch'), which is what the flute is 'really' playing.
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
Sources
- 《全唐诗》（中华书局点校本）通行文本；部编版语文教材同文
- 本站飞花令语料 feihualing.db（poem 396996） — 文本以通行本为准，库本仅行级参考（库本与通行本一致）
- Original English paraphrase & gloss — 本站原创学习释义，非文学译本（plain-English guide, not a literary translation）
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