The Eight Formations
八陣圖
Bā zhèn tú
A riverside formation associated with Zhuge Liang becomes a meditation on achievement and failure. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation.
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Read the original and its translation together. Open a line’s word meanings for a closer look.
About the text and pronunciation
The simplified view changes character forms, not the edition. Notes and sources retain the cited text.
The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.
Word by word, in the order of the line. A gloss is a crib. It is not the translation.
Word meanings — Line 1
- 功 gōng achievement
- 蓋 gài surpass
- 三分國 sān fēn guó realm divided in three
Word meanings — Line 2
- 名 míng fame
- 成 chéng established
- 八陣圖 bā zhèn tú Eight Formations
Word meanings — Line 3
- 江流 jiāng liú river flows
- 石 shí stones
- 不轉 bù zhuǎn do not shift
Word meanings — Line 4
- 遺恨 yí hèn lasting regret
- 失 shī error or failure
- 吞吳 tūn wú engulf Wu
English translation by PoemWell.
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Original
功蓋三分國，
名成八陣圖。
江流石不轉，
遺恨失吞吳。
Translation
His achievement towers over the realm divided in three;
the Eight Formations made his name.
The river flows, but the stones do not turn;
regret remains over the error of trying to swallow Wu.
Try it from memory
After reading, recall the underlined word or phrase in each line. Say its meaning before opening the answer. These prompts use the text edition printed above.
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Line 1 · What does the marked word mean?
功蓋三分國，
Pronunciation hint
sān fēn guó
Reveal meaning and translation
三分國 — realm divided in three
His achievement towers over the realm divided in three;
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Line 3 · What does the marked word mean?
江流石不轉，
Pronunciation hint
jiāng liú
Reveal meaning and translation
江流 — river flows
The river flows, but the stones do not turn;
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Line 4 · What does the marked word mean?
遺恨失吞吳。
Pronunciation hint
yí hèn
Reveal meaning and translation
遺恨 — lasting regret
regret remains over the error of trying to swallow Wu.
One more question: what changes?
Compare the opening and closing lines. What changes in the scene, the speaker’s attention, or the feeling? Choose a Chinese word as evidence, then compare your reading with the notes. More than one answer may be reasonable.
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Line-by-line notes
Lines 1–2: two scales of achievement
功 and 名 give the reader two ways to remember Zhuge Liang. 三分國 is the realm divided among three kingdoms. 八陣圖 names the formations associated with him. The English supplies “his” from that association in the title. The first line measures the achievement against a whole realm, while the next gives fame a particular form.
Lines 3–4: a lasting trace and a lasting regret
江流 keeps the river moving as 石不轉 holds the stones in place. That contrast allows a material site to carry memory. 失吞吳 is compressed. The translation reads 失 as the strategic error of trying to defeat Wu, associated with Liu Bei’s campaign. The alternative of a failed conquest is possible in the compressed wording. Either way, 遺恨 brings something unresolved into the record of accomplishment.
Form and tone
Four five-character lines reduce a large historical judgment to a small visible remnant. 圖 and 吳 rhyme. The immovable stones interrupt the movement of 江流, while 遺恨 makes the past persist in another form.
See the quatrain guide for the form. Pinyin gives modern Mandarin pronunciation; no unverified historical tone grid is supplied.
Historical context
Du Fu’s act is retrospective: he views or invokes a site linked to a much earlier political world. The poem honors extraordinary ability while allowing an unresolved failure to occupy the ending. Those two judgments need not cancel one another.
Continue with Du Fu or the time and memory shelf.
Sources
Chinese text compared with 八陣圖, public transcription on Wikisource. Punctuation is editorial; the English translation and reading notes are original to PoemWell.
English translation, gloss, and notes by PoemWell. The translation is original to this site.
The Chinese source is shown in traditional characters by default, with a simplified view available. Pinyin is modern standard Mandarin, a reading aid, not Tang or Song pronunciation.
Updated .
Cite this reading
Du Fu. “The Eight Formations” (八陣圖). PoemWell. English translation by PoemWell. Updated .
https://poemwell.org/poems/the-eight-formations
Credit the poet for the Chinese original and PoemWell for this translation and commentary. Use the permanent page link above; source editions are listed separately.