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明 Ming · 诗 Poem

寄少谷山人二首

Two Poems Sent to the Mountain Man Shaogu

何景明

He Jingming

山水Landscape 寄赠Sent to a Friend

其一武夷九曲上仙庭，锦叠青天万仞屏。
下望神人钓鳌石，北风吹雾海冥冥。
其二台岳中峰綵雾生，石梁遥挂赤霞城。
仙潭尺素传云鲤，报尔今寻华顶行。

On Wuyi’s Nine Twists one ascends to the celestial court;
Embroidered folds of blue sky—a screen ten thousand fathoms high.
Looking down, the god-man’s boulder where giant turtles were angled—
The north wind blows mist away; sea and sky loom vast and dim.

From Tiantai’s central peak, colored clouds arise;
The Stone Bridge hangs afar over the City of Crimson Clouds.
From the immortal pool, a cloud-carp carries a letter of plain silk—
I report to you: now I set out for Huading summit.

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Meaning

The first quatrain conjures the Wuyi Mountains as a Daoist paradise: the Nine Bend River leads up to the immortal court, towering peaks form an embroidered screen against the blue sky, and a legendary boulder where a god fished for giant turtles can be seen below while the north wind scatters fog over a boundless dark sea. The second moves to Tiantai Mountain, where rainbow mist rises from the central peak and the Stone Bridge hangs toward the rosy City of Red Cloud; the poet then uses the ancient motif of a carp bearing a letter to tell his friend that he is now going to seek the Huading summit.

其一武夷九曲溪直上仙人洞府，锦绣般的青天如万仞屏风叠起。俯望神人垂钓巨鳌的奇石，北风吹散雾气，海天一片幽冥。其二天台山中峰升起彩色的云雾，石梁远远悬架，连着赤霞之城。仙潭里借云中鲤鱼传递书信，告诉你如今我正去寻访华顶之行。

Appreciation

These two seven-character quatrains are a gift poem to Zheng Shanfu, the ‘Shaogu Hermit’ who had retired to the Wuyi and Tiantai mountains. The first poem paints Wuyi in sweeping, luminous strokes—celestial court, myriad-foot screen, angling rock, misty sea—creating a transcendent, slightly eerie landscape. The second poem shifts to Tiantai, filling it with colored clouds and rosy walls, then turns from scene to sentiment with the image of a cloud-carp delivering a letter and the promise to meet at Huading. Together they balance panoramic grandeur and personal longing, displaying He Jingming’s mastery of the High Tang manner within the compact quatrain form.

【白话串讲】何景明寄给“少谷山人”（郑善夫）：“武夷九曲上仙庭，锦叠青天万仞屏”——写武夷山。“下望神人钓鳌石，北风吹雾海冥冥”——“仙潭尺素传云鲤，报尔今寻华顶行”——他写寻仙访友。【意象与手法】以仙笔写真山。其一以九曲溪、万仞屏、钓鳌石、海冥冥构成仙山缥缈图；其二由“中峰綵雾、石梁赤城”到“仙潭尺素传云鲤”落寄书相约。色彩浓丽（锦叠、綵雾、赤霞），想象奇崛（钓鳌、云鲤），取径李杜游仙山水，壮丽而不甜熟。【情感与主旨】寄赠隐居武夷、天台间的友人郑善夫之作。既状友人隐居之地的灵秀，亦见诗人对烟霞之癖的向往。何景明为前七子之首，倡文必秦汉、诗必盛唐，此作正见其复古主张下的唐调，以山海之阔写交期之深。【名句点睛】常考“武夷九曲上仙庭，锦叠青天万仞屏”以仙笔写武夷之秀；“仙潭尺素传云鲤，报尔今寻华顶行”以云鲤传书写寄赠之约。

Background

He Jingming (1483–1521), courtesy name Zhongmo, was a native of Xinyang and a leader of the Former Seven Masters, advocating that prose must model the Qin and Han and poetry the High Tang. Zheng Shanfu (1485–1523), the Shaogu Hermit, was a poet and painter from Fujian who abandoned office to live in retirement among the Wuyi and Tiantai mountains. The two men shared a love of integrity, detachment from worldly glory, and a fondness for Daoist immortal landscapes. These two poems were written to his reclusive friend, imagining the sacred peaks where Zheng lived and expressing the poet’s own longing to escape the dust of the world and join him among the mists and clouds.

何景明（1483—1521），字仲默，号大复山人，信阳人，弘治十五年进士，与李梦阳并称何李，为明前七子领袖，力倡文必秦汉、诗必盛唐，反对台阁体与茶陵派末流。少谷山人郑善夫（1485—1523），字继之，号少谷，闽县（今福州）人，弘治十八年进士，官户部主事，以愤嬖幸用事弃官归隐武夷、天台间，工诗善画，有《少谷集》。何、郑二人气味相投，皆尚节义、鄙荣利，又同好山水仙灵之境，故何景明集中多寄郑之作（如《少谷子行》《得郑继之书》）。此二首即想象友人隐居的武夷九曲与天台华顶，以仙笔写其地之胜，并藉尺素云鲤之典表相约同游之意。时何景明或官或归，而郑已谢病隐居，诗中北风吹雾海冥冥、报尔今寻华顶行，既有对友人清隐的倾慕，亦含己身欲脱尘网、相与烟霞的企想，是复古派诗人交游诗中情境俱胜的一篇。何景明与郑善夫皆前七子骨干，同尚节义、同好山水，故集中寄少谷之作甚多。此二首想象友人隐居的武夷九曲与天台华顶，以仙笔写真山，既状其地之胜，亦见己身脱尘相与之想。明人复古每借唐调写交期，此诗即其温润一例，宜与《少谷子行》并观。

Art

The brilliance of the two poems lies in writing real mountains with a transcendent, immortalizing brush. The first is pure landscape: the Nine Bend River instantly lifts Wuyi into the realm of celestial courts; the embroidered screen of blue sky suggests immense height; the downward glance at the angling rock and the dim, misty sea create a sense of vast mystery. The second poem uses bright colors—colored mist, rosy clouds—to portray Tiantai, then turns from scenery to feeling through the carp letter and the plan to visit Huading. Each quatrain is richly colored and boldly imagined, following Li Bai’s romantic landscape style, yet the final personal note keeps the poems from mere fantasy and reveals the Former Seven Masters’ ability to adapt Tang models to their own sentiment.

二诗之妙，在以游仙之笔写现实之山，于七绝短章中撑起山海之阔。其一纯写武夷：起句武夷九曲上仙庭破空而来，以九曲（九曲溪）接仙庭，立地成仙界；次句锦叠青天万仞屏以屏喻山，青天如锦、万仞如屏，设色壮丽而体势峥嵘。三、四句下望神人钓鳌石，北风吹雾海冥冥，由仰观转俯瞰，钓鳌用《列子》巨鳌之典以状山石之奇，海冥冥则以渺茫之景收束，于壮阔中见幽渺，正合仙山缥缈之致。其二写天台，中峰綵雾、石梁赤城皆实景而施以彩、赤之丽色，仙潭尺素传云鲤陡入寄书之想，报尔今寻华顶行点出相寻，由景及情，章法完整。两诗一武夷一天台，皆着色浓而用笔放，瑰奇不让李杜，而结以情语，便不流于虚夸，显见前七子取法盛唐而能运以己意。其一纯写武夷，以九曲、万仞屏、钓鳌石、海冥冥构成仙山缥缈图；其二写天台，綵雾、石梁、赤城、华顶，由景及情落到尺素相寻。两诗皆设色浓丽而想象奇崛，取径李杜游仙山水。前首写景、后首达情，章法完整，于七绝短章中撑起山海之阔，显见前七子取法盛唐而能运以己意。

Allusions

The poems draw on Daoist lore and local geography. Wuyi’s Nine Bend River was long considered a grotto-heaven, and ‘celestial court’ evokes the language of immortal abodes. The ‘angling turtle rock’ alludes to the Liezi story of the Dragon Earl people who hooked six giant turtles, here suggesting both the rock’s enormous size and the lofty ambition of the hermit friend. Tiantai, the Stone Bridge, and the City of Crimson Clouds all come from Sun Chuo’s famous ‘Rhapsody on Roaming Tiantai Mountain,’ where ‘Crimson Clouds rise to set up the landmark.’ The ‘letter on plain silk’ and ‘cloud-carp’ transform the old yuefu motif of a carp carrying a hidden letter. Each allusion is woven into the actual scenery, making real mountains seem numinous and conveying the poet’s message without pedantry.

诗中多用仙典与山川故实，渊源有自。武夷九曲指福建武夷山九曲溪，宋以来即为洞天福地，辛弃疾曾赋《武夷九曲棹歌》，仙庭本刘向《列仙传》语，谓仙人住所。钓鳌石用《列子·汤问》龙伯国人一钓连六鳌之典，喻抱负奇伟、举止豪迈，此处借以写武夷奇石之巨，亦暗喻少谷山人襟怀。台岳即天台山，孙绰《游天台山赋》所谓台岳所奇挺；赤霞城指赤城山，孙绰赋有赤城霞起而建标之句，与巫山云、潇湘雨并称天下绝景；石梁为天台天生石桥，长不盈尺而飞瀑千寻，自古为奇观。尺素传云鲤化用古乐府客从远方来遗我双鲤鱼、呼儿烹鲤鱼中有尺素书及云中鲤之语，谓鱼传书信；华顶为天台主峰。诸典皆贴武夷、天台实景而用，使真山蒙仙气，寄赠之意藉鱼书以达，用典而不滞于典，最见明人学唐之得。诗中多仙典：武夷九曲、仙庭本洞天语，钓鳌用《列子》巨鳌之典以状山石之奇亦喻襟怀；台岳即天台，赤城、石梁皆孙绰《游天台山赋》故实；尺素传云鲤化古乐府双鲤鱼书信之典。诸典皆贴实景而用，使真山蒙仙气，寄赠之意藉鱼书以达，用典而不滞于典，最见明人学唐之得。

Commentary

The first quatrain opens with the Nine Bend River ascending to the celestial court, establishing Wuyi as a grotto-heaven. The second line compares the blue sky to embroidered silk and the peaks to a towering screen. The third line turns downward to the mythic angling rock, and the fourth closes with a north wind scattering fog over a boundless dim sea, blending splendor with remoteness. The second quatrain begins with colored mists on Tiantai’s central peak and the Stone Bridge hanging toward the City of Crimson Clouds. The third line introduces the carp carrying a letter, and the fourth reveals the poet’s intention to visit Huading. The two poems stand as twin peaks: the first describes place, the second expresses feeling, and together they bind landscape, allusion, and friendship into a seamless whole.

其一起句武夷九曲上仙庭，以九曲溪直上仙庭领起，先立武夷为洞天之境；次句锦叠青天万仞屏，以锦喻天色之丽，以屏喻山势之耸，写仰望所见之壮丽。三句下望神人钓鳌石，视角下转，钓鳌石既状山石之巨，又用巨鳌之典见气象；四句北风吹雾海冥冥，以风雾海冥收束，于奇丽中添渺茫幽远，仙山如真如幻。其二起句台岳中峰綵雾生，换写天台，綵雾状山中云气之绚；次句石梁遥挂赤霞城，石梁、赤城皆天台实境，遥挂二字写桥之悬、城之远，色彩烂然。三句仙潭尺素传云鲤，由景入情，借鱼传书之典点出寄意；四句报尔今寻华顶行，尔指少谷山人，报以相寻华顶，绾合寄赠之旨。二诗前首纯写境，后首由境达情，景情相生，而武夷、天台双峰并峙，既状友人隐居之胜，亦见己之向往，章法绵密。其一起句武夷九曲上仙庭领起洞天之境，次句锦叠青天万仞屏写山势之壮；三、四句下望钓鳌石、北风吹雾海冥冥，由仰转俯，奇丽中见幽渺。其二中峰綵雾、石梁赤城写天台之丽，仙潭尺素传云鲤由景入情，报尔今寻华顶行点出相寻。二诗前首纯境、后首达情，景情相生而双峰并峙。

Prosody

Reading note Each quatrain’s third line ends in a deflected tone and does not rhyme (钓鳌石, 传云鲤), creating a balanced rise and fall within the short form. He Jingming, as a leader of the Former Seven Masters, consciously modeled his verse on High Tang regulated verse; the prosodic smoothness and colorful diction here reflect that program.二首皆七言绝句，押平水韵。其一为仄起首句入韵格：武夷九曲上仙庭（仄平平仄仄平平，庭属下平九青），锦叠青天万仞屏（仄仄平平仄仄平，屏同青韵），下望神人钓鳌石（仄仄平平仄平仄，石为入声陌韵，不与平韵同部，此处为仄收句，合格），北风吹雾海冥冥（仄平平仄仄平平，冥同青韵）。四句两平韵（庭、屏、冥）夹一仄收句，音节开廓而尾以冥冥之平长收束，声情幽渺，与仙山缥缈相发。其二平起首句入韵：台岳中峰綵雾生（平仄平平仄仄平，生属下平八庚），石梁遥挂赤霞城（仄平平仄仄平平，城同庚），仙潭尺素传云鲤（平平仄仄平平仄，鲤仄收），报尔今寻华顶行（仄仄平平平仄平，行同庚）。二诗皆合七绝律度，对仗不及律诗之严而气象近盛唐，前七子主张诗必盛唐，于此二首平仄圆熟、设色壮丽处可见其矩矱。

Line by line

下望神人钓鳌石，北风吹雾海冥冥。

The Nine Bend River of Wuyi leads upward to the celestial court.

Looking down, I see the stone where the god angles for the great turtle; the north wind blows through mist, and the sea is dark.

此二句为一诗之腹心，由仰观转俯瞰，将武夷之奇与仙山之渺一并写出。钓鳌石三字兼写山石之巨与用典之豪：巨鳌本《列子》中负山之大物，移以名石，便使寻常山岩带上传说重量，亦暗喻少谷山人（或诗人自己）钓鳌般的奇伟襟怀。下句北风吹雾海冥冥则以风动雾开、海天幽冥收束，冥冥用《九叹》水波远以冥冥之意，写视野尽处之渺茫。一石一海，一实一虚，奇丽中见深远，仙山因此不惟可望而且可思。此联不设情语而倾慕之意已溢于景外，是盛唐山水仙游一脉在明人手中的回响。

The stone. Looking down, I see the stone where the god angles for the great turtle; the north wind blows through mist, and the sea is dark. The great-turtle-angling stone and the misty dark sea are the Wuyi scene. To have named the stone for the Liezi turtle would be an allusion; the looking-down-I-see-the-stone-where-the-god-angles-for-the-great-turtle against the north-wind-blows-through-mist-and-the-sea-is-dark is the allusion.

仙潭尺素传云鲤，报尔今寻华顶行。

Embroidered layers against the blue sky, a screen ten thousand fathoms tall.

From the fairy pool a cloud-carp bears my letter; to tell you I am now bound for Hua Peak.

此二句为组诗关纽，由写景翻入寄赠正意。尺素传云鲤融化古乐府双鲤鱼传书之典，仙潭云鲤既是天台实景的仙化，又是书信的雅喻，较直说寄书者含蓄多远韵。报尔今寻华顶行中尔呼少谷山人，直而亲；报与寻二字点出诗人欲践约相访华顶（天台主峰）的诚意。前此三句极写天台之丽，至此方知种种仙景皆是为人而设——写山即写人，写人即写交期。二句以鱼书起、以寻行结，景、典、情一气卷舒，使组诗脱去单纯题咏，而成一段烟霞相期的高谊，最见何景明学唐而能情韵不匮处。

The letter. From the fairy pool a cloud-carp bears my letter; to tell you I am now bound for Hua Peak. The double-carp letter and the Hua Peak journey are the message. To have sent the carp-carried letter would be an allusion; the from-the-fairy-pool-a-cloud-carp-bears-my-letter-to-tell-you-I-am-now-bound-for-Hua-Peak is the allusion.

台岳中峰綵雾生，石梁遥挂赤霞城。

Looking down, I see the god-man’s rock where he angled for giant turtles.

From the central peak of Mount Tian rises colored mist; the stone bridge hangs far above the crimson cloud city.

此二句换写天台，与武夷诗成双峰并峙之势。台岳中峰綵雾生以彩雾写山中云气之绚，石梁遥挂赤霞城以天生石桥与赤城霞色写天台之奇丽。綵雾、赤城皆设色浓丽，遥挂二字写桥之悬、城之远，气象烂然。此联既实写天台名胜，又遥承孙绰《游天台山赋》赤城霞起而建标之语典，使真山蒙仙气。由武夷之海冥冥转天台之赤霞城，景物变换而游仙之笔一以贯之，遂见少谷山人隐居之地非一山而两绝，亦见诗人想象之富。结以尺素相寻，则此丽景皆为人而设。

The bridge. From the central peak of Mount Tian rises colored mist; the stone bridge hangs far above the crimson cloud city. The colored mist on the central peak and the hanging stone bridge over the crimson city are the Tiantai scene. To have described the stone bridge would be scenery; the from-the-central-peak-of-Mount-Tian-rises-colored-mist against the stone-bridge-hangs-far-above-the-crimson-cloud-city is the scenery.

Study

Word focus

綵雾 rainbow-colored mist or clouds 綵雾即彩雾，綵同彩，指有色之云气。此词用于台岳中峰綵雾生，写天台山云雾被朝霞染成五彩，既状山中湿润多雾之实，又施以丽色，使中峰如仙阙初启。其妙在以色写气：雾本无色，借綵字而绚烂，与下句赤霞城之赤相映，满纸云霞。在七绝短章中，綵雾一字便定了全首游仙浓丽的调子，且与武夷诗的锦叠青天相为表里，两诗皆以丽色撑起仙境。明人学盛唐，每于设色求壮丽，綵雾正是一例——不堆琐细，而一二字已见金碧之气。

尺素 a letter written on white silk; an ancient term for correspondence 尺素指小幅绢帛，汉魏以来为书信之代称，本自古诗客从远方来、呼儿烹鲤鱼、中有尺素书。诗中仙潭尺素传云鲤以云中鲤鱼衔素书，将寄赠之意托于仙潭鱼信，既切天台水域之实，又遥承古乐府鱼传尺素之典，雅致而情长。尺素二字看似寻常，却是一诗由景转情的关键：此前皆写山，此二字一出，山即成书，景即成意。以尺素代直白说寄信，含蓄不尽，且使书信带仙气，与全篇游仙之笔相称。用典而若不经意，正见何景明炼句之稳。

钓鳌 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 钓鳌用《列子·汤问》龙伯国人一钓连六鳌之典，本写巨人神力。诗中下望神人钓鳌石以之命名武夷奇石，既状山石之巨，又暗喻少谷山人及诗人自己如巨鳌般奇伟的襟怀与抗世之志。此词将神话移入实景，使寻常山岩带上传说重量，是游仙山水诗常用的点铁成金之法。钓鳌在唐宋诗文中每喻抱负奇崛，何景明用之写武夷，正与其前七子尚奇崛、主格调的主张相发，一字而兼写景、用典、写人三用。