戴叔伦的一生行迹（732-789）
戴叔伦（约732-789），字幼公（一作次公），润州金坛（今江苏常州金坛区）人，中唐诗人、名臣。师事萧颖士，大历年间入湖南转运使幕，后任东阳县令、抚州刺史、容管经略使，治绩卓著，晚年上表请度为道士，北归途中卒。其诗清丽深婉，多存乐府写实之作。
润州金坛（732） · 金坛少年
唐玄宗开元二十年（732年），戴叔伦出生于润州金坛（今江苏常州金坛区）一个世以隐德著称的士人家庭。他自幼聪慧，博闻强记，后拜入文坛领袖萧颖士门下，博览经史，为萧门弟子中的翘楚。
鄱阳（756） · 避乱江南
唐肃宗至德元载（756年），安史叛军攻陷洛阳，战火蔓延中原，二十五岁的戴叔伦随族人避乱南下，客居鄱阳湖畔（今江西鄱阳）。乱离之中他亲眼目睹流民失所、田园荒芜，立下日后为官必以苍生为念的信念。
潭州（769） · 湖南幕僚
唐代宗大历四年（769年）前后，戴叔伦入湖南观察使幕府，主管盐铁转运事务，驻节潭州（今湖南长沙）。他在湖南多年，深得幕主信任，秋日于客舍偶遇江南故人，惊喜之下写下五律名篇《江乡故人偶集客舍》。
汨罗（773） · 湖南幕僚
唐代宗大历八年（773年）前后，戴叔伦因公务往来于湘水流域，途经汨罗江畔的三闾大夫庙。暮色秋风中，他凭吊沉江殉国的屈原，沅湘之水悠悠不尽，诗人的千古幽怨与萧萧枫林融为一体。
东阳（780） · 东阳治绩
唐德宗建中元年（780年），戴叔伦出任婺州东阳县令（今浙江金华东阳）。他在任上兴修水利、劝课农桑，深入乡间体察民情，政绩卓著。春日乘舟兰溪，他写下清丽如画的《兰溪棹歌》，至今仍是兰溪的城市名片。
抚州（785） · 刺史晚岁
唐德宗贞元元年（785年），戴叔伦因曹王李皋举荐，授抚州刺史（今江西抚州），封谯县开国男。抚州大旱，乡民争水起讼，他亲自勘察水系，订立按田分时的均水之法，一郡称便，政绩为江西之最，德宗下诏褒奖。
容州（788） · 刺史晚岁
唐德宗贞元四年（788年），戴叔伦升任容州刺史、兼御史中丞，充容管经略使，治容州（今广西容县）。岭南地处边陲，少数民族杂居，他以恩威并施之策绥抚诸峒，"绥徕蛮落，威名流闻"，境内肃然，德宗尝赋中和节诗遣使宠赐。
北归途中（789） · 刺史晚岁
唐德宗贞元五年（789年），年近六旬的戴叔伦上表自请度为道士，获准后交卸容州政务启程北归。行至清远峡（今广东清远），旧疾发作，六月间卒于归途舟中，享年约五十八岁，最终没能再看一眼金坛的山水。
The Life Journey of Dai Shulun, Poet and Governor
Dai Shulun (c. 732-789), of Jintan in Runzhou, disciple of Xiao Ying-shi, was the great poet-administrator of the Dali era. From Hunan salt-transport clerk to Prefect of Fuzhou and Military Commissioner of Rongzhou, he governed as he wrote — plainly, for the people. 'The cold bridge at Su Creek,' 'Night at Stone Post on New Year's Eve' survive.
Timeline of the Journey
- 732 · 金坛 — Born to a family of hidden virtue in Jintan; precocious and vast in memory, he became the star pupil of the literary master Xiao Yingshi.
- 756 · 鄱阳 — Fleeing the An Lushan chaos to Lake Poyang at twenty-five, he saw refugees and ruined fields — vowing that office must mean the people.
- 769 · 潭州 — Entered the Hunan commissioner's staff in Tanzhou (Changsha) managing salt and iron transport for years, trusted with the ledgers of a province.
- 773 · 汨罗 — Passing Qu Yuan's temple on the Miluo, he wrote the perfect small elegy — autumn wind, maple woods, a grief two thousand years old.
- 780 · 东阳 — As magistrate of Dongyang he built weirs and urged farming; boating the Lan Stream in spring he wrote the 'Oar Song' that still names the river.
- 785 · 抚州 — Raised to Prefect of Fuzhou: in drought he surveyed the waterways himself and set a fair rotation of irrigation — 'the best governance in Jiangxi.'
- 788 · 容州 — As Military Commissioner of Rongzhou in the far south he held the tribal valleys by grace and firmness alike; his name for order crossed the passes.
- 789 · 北归途中 — Resigning to become a Daoist, he died in his boat at Qingyuan Gorge, fifty-eight, still a day's journey short of home waters.
'At year's end in the traveler's lodge at Stone Post, a lamp alone, one man — the road home three thousand li.' A lifetime spent governing for others, and only the one night-song left to speak of his own homesickness.
