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明 Ming · 诗 Poem

夜宿天池，月下闻雷，次早知山下大雨

A Night at Heaven's Pool: Thunder Heard Under the Moon, and News of a Storm Below at Dawn

王守仁

Wang Shouren

山居mountain dwelling 风雨wind and rain 理趣philosophical insight

昨夜月明峰顶宿，隐隐雷声翻山麓。
晓来却问山下人，风雨三更卷茅屋。

Last night I lodged on the summit under a clear bright moon,
while faint thunder came rolling along the foot of the hills.
At dawn I came down and asked the people below,
and learned the midnight storm had rolled their thatched roofs away.

Listen

Meaning

Sleeping beside the pool on a mountain top under a bright moon, the poet hears only distant thunder in the valley, and discovers the next morning that a violent storm had torn the roofs from the houses at the foot of the mountain. The gap between calm height and ruin below carries a quiet philosophical point.

昨夜我在明月照耀的山顶天池边露宿，只隐隐听见雷声在山脚下翻滚。清晨下来问起山下的人家，才知道三更时分的狂风暴雨已把茅屋掀掉了。

Appreciation

The poem holds only two moments and two altitudes: the peak last night and the valley this morning. The opening couplet sets stillness against motion and high against low, so that the moon overhead and the muttering thunder beneath pull in opposite directions. The turn comes with the question at dawn, which hands the storm over to somebody else's report; the poet never sees the wind and rain, yet the reader feels them completely. That oblique stroke is the whole art of the piece. Behind it lies the thought of a philosopher of mind: settled on high ground, one is untroubled by the gales that wreck the world below.

【白话串讲】王阳明夜宿天池：“昨夜月明峰顶宿，隐隐雷声翻山麓”——月明之夜，隐隐雷声翻过山麓。“晓来却问山下人，风雨三更卷茅屋”——第二天问山下人：昨晚你们那刮大风了吧？一个高山的视角，写尽山上的雷与山下的雨。【意象与手法】全诗只写两个时间点、两个空间层：昨夜的峰顶与今晓的山下。上两句一静一动——月明是静，雷声是动；峰顶是高，山麓是低，在听觉与空间上先造成张力。后两句用“却问”一转，把叙述交给他人之口，以侧面落笔写出暴雨之烈。作者始终不曾亲见风雨，读者却分明看见了风雨，这正是不写之写。【情感与主旨】诗表面写山中气候之变幻莫测，深一层则寄寓着心学家的观照。身在高处则风波不惊，坠于低处则屋宇难全，王阳明写此诗时正因平定宸濠之乱后遭朝中忌者构陷，诗中的“风”“雷”“雨”，未尝不是那一段政治风云的写照。而峰顶那一夜的月明，正是他“此心不动”的自况。【名句点睛】 “隐隐雷声翻山麓”一句最见笔力。一个“翻”字，把本属听觉的雷声写出了滚动、掀腾的体量感，使人如见云气在山脚下翻卷。而结句“风雨三更卷茅屋”与之遥相呼应，由“隐隐”到“卷”，一轻一重，全诗的惊心动魄都落在这一笔上。

Background

Wang Shouren (1472-1529), styled Boan and known to posterity as Yangming, was the great synthesizer of the school of mind in the Ming dynasty. The poem survives in his collected works under a long title recording a night at Heaven's Pool, thunder heard under the moon, and news of heavy rain below the mountain the next morning; it is the first of three pieces and is usually cited by a shortened title. Tradition places its composition during his stay at Heaven's Pool on Mount Lu in Jiangxi, shortly after he had suppressed the rebellion of Prince Ning and was being slandered by rivals at court, so the wind and thunder in it are understood to carry a political charge.

王守仁（一四七二至一五二九），字伯安，号阳明，浙江余姚人，明代心学集大成者，与朱熹、陆九渊并立的思想巨擘。他早年因上疏营救戴铣而触怒权阉刘瑾，贬谪贵州龙场，于困厄中悟道，世称龙场悟道。后平宸濠之乱，立下赫赫事功，却遭朝中忌者构陷排挤，晚年退居讲学。此诗见《王阳明全集》，原题《夜宿天池，月下闻雷，次早知山下大雨》，共三首，此为其一，一般简称《夜宿天池》。旧说为其寓居江西庐山天池时作，时值平定宸濠之乱后遭谗被谤，故诗中风雷有所寄托。全诗借山顶月明与山下风雨的空间对照，既写山中气候之变幻，亦暗喻身居高位则风波不惊、沉沦下位则横遭摧折的世态与心境，是阳明诗中理趣与感慨交融的佳作，亦可见其不以诗人自命而诗自清拔的异禀，王阳明素不以诗人自命，其诗多随事而发、不事雕琢，而此篇以二十八字写尽高处静观与低处动荡之反差，亦暗含其龙场悟道后此心不动之旨。。

Art

The poem turns at its midpoint: the first two lines report what was heard on the summit last night, the last two what was told below this morning. Height against depth, stillness against movement, moonlight against tempest - each pair is placed side by side. The storm itself is never described directly; it arrives as hearsay, and that indirect approach makes it more vivid than any head-on description could.

此诗仅四句，章法却极简净而富张力。前两句写昨夜峰顶所闻：月明峰顶宿是静，隐隐雷声翻山麓是动，静中伏动；后两句写今晓山下所告：晓来却问山下人正面落笔，风雨三更卷茅屋揭出真相。结构上以高与低、静与动、月明与风雨两两对照，并用侧面落笔之法——作者始终不曾亲见风雨，只凭听觉（雷声）与转述（山下人之语），却让读者分明看见了风雨之烈。这种不写之写的手法，使有限的篇幅生出无限的想象空间。却问一转，把叙述的视角从山顶的自我移向山下的他人，由主观感受跳到客观事实，顿挫有力。全诗不加一字议论，纯以时空对照与侧面烘托取胜，于平淡中见奇崛，是短章而具长篇之致的范例，亦见阳明以少胜多、举重若轻的腕力，全诗妙在侧面落笔，风雷之烈全凭转述与听觉传出，作者始终未亲见风雨，而读者已分明见之，是为不写之写之极则，短章而具长篇之致。。

Allusions

Heaven's Pool is a pool of standing water on a high summit. The phrase about rolling away the thatched roofs may be read against Du Fu's song on his cottage unroofed by the autumn wind, where ruined thatch likewise measures the fury of the gale. A Qing dynasty stone stele bearing this poem stands at the Ancient Lotus Pool in Baoding, and its wording of the thunder line differs slightly from the version in the collected works.

天池：指高山顶上积水而成的池沼，庐山、衡山等地皆有天池之名，此处指庐山天池，王阳明曾读书其上。卷茅屋：一语可与杜甫《茅屋为秋风所破歌》卷我屋上三重茅相参，同以茅屋之毁写风势之暴，然杜诗正面铺写自家遭遇之窘，王诗则转述山下人家之灾，一亲历一转闻，取径各异。此诗又有清代保定古莲花池王阳明诗碑传世，碑文隐隐雷声在山麓与集本翻山麓略异，可见流传中文字之小异。翻字用得极活，本属听觉的雷声被写出翻滚掀腾的体量感，似可目见。三更：指夜半时分，古以更计夜，三更约当子时，极言风雨来袭之骤急，亦与首句昨夜月明构成时间上的承接与反差，天池、卷屋之典虽小，而一关名山形胜，一接杜陵遗法，翻字写雷之体量，卷字写风之暴烈，皆以常语出奇，足见阳明点铁成金之腕，翻卷二字皆以常语写奇景，看似平易而体物精微，最见阳明之悟。。

Commentary

The poem offers no argument and simply sets down what happened, yet within its plain telling one feels both the power of nature and the weight of human affairs. This is the true mark of Yangming's verse: thoughtful without ever hardening into a lecture.

此诗虽短，却最见阳明诗中有理趣而不落理障的本色。明清诗评多赏其清空一气，以为得陶渊明、王维闲淡之趣而别具丈夫气。近人论阳明诗，常举此首与《泛海》并观，认为其于山水中寓政局之慨，不以理语伤诗。诗中月明峰顶与风雨山下的对照，既可作自然气候读，亦可作人生境遇读：居高处则风波不惊，处低地则屋宇难全，正与阳明龙场悟道后所倡此心不动、随机而动的心学宗旨相发明。后人推重此诗，正在于它把一段政治风云的感慨，化入二十八个字的即景小诗中，不粘不脱，含蓄而有力，诚明诗中理趣佳作，亦足为即小见大、以景寓理的范本，综观此诗，清空一气而内含风雷，以山居小景寓政局之感，不以理语伤诗，诚明人理趣诗之上乘，亦显王阳明诗中有学、学中有诗之特质，此诗小而大，于山居微景中寓时代风雷，诚明诗理趣之的评，于平淡中见奇崛，足称小诗之佳构。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句（七言古绝）

Rhyme Written in the old, unregulated quatrain manner; the rhyme words su, lu, and wu all belong to the entering-tone wu-wo rhyme group and are held to the end.宿、麓、屋同押入声屋沃韵，一韵到底，古绝一路，声情短促而劲健。

Tone pattern No fixed tonal pattern is recorded for this piece. As an ancient-style quatrain it moves freely, and the clipped entering-tone rhymes give each line a hard, abrupt close.此诗不拘严格平仄，近古绝体格，以气韵贯通为主；上句写山顶之静、下句写山下之动，节奏由缓入急。

Reading note An ancient-style seven-character quatrain: the first line holds the stillness of the summit, the second the commotion below, and a single question exposes how completely the weather differs within one mountain. It is a small poem in which Yangming reasons from what stands before his eyes.此诗形制近七言古绝，四句二十八字，不以律法绳墨，而贵在气韵清畅、转折自然。用韵方面，宿、麓、屋同属入声屋沃部，一韵到底，入声短促急收，恰与风雨骤至、茅屋被卷的紧张节奏相合，读来有戛然而止的惊心之感。句式上，前两句写昨夜峰顶月明、隐隐雷翻，舒缓如叙；后两句写今晓却问、风雨卷屋，陡然加速，由静入动、由缓入急，章法暗合内容之跌宕。王阳明本不以诗人自命，其诗多率意而成，然正因不事雕琢，反得清空一气之妙。要之，此绝以短短四句、二十八字，凭借侧面落笔与不写之写，于平淡叙述中包藏自然之威与人事之感，格调近王维、陶渊明而别具丈夫胸襟，诚明人小诗中之理趣佳作。

Line by line

昨夜月明峰顶宿，隐隐雷声翻山麓。

Last night I slept on the summit under a bright moon, hearing only a faint thunder rolling along the foot of the mountain. The still peak and the stirring valley are set against each other, and the strange scene stands out like a painting.

昨夜我在明月照耀的山顶天池边露宿，只隐隐听见雷声在山脚下翻滚。

Last night I camped on the moonlit peak; faintly, thunder rolled beneath the mountain's foot.

首句写昨夜所宿与所见，月明峰顶宿六字勾勒出一个清朗高迥的夜境：明月当空，诗人露宿于峰顶天池之畔，高处不胜寒而胸怀自廓。第二句隐隐雷声翻山麓以听觉续之，雷声来自山麓，隐隐二字写其遥远低沉、不甚真切，与峰顶的清月形成声色与高下双重对照。翻字最见笔力，把本属听觉的雷声写出翻滚、掀腾的体量感，使人如见云气在山脚下翻卷。山麓与峰顶相去甚远，雷声隐隐可闻而风雨不可见，恰为后文却问山下人埋下伏笔。两句一静一动、一明一暗，于清朗中暗藏风云，已隐隐透出高处静观、低处动荡的寓意。

The moon. Last night I camped on the moonlit peak; faintly, thunder rolled beneath the mountain's foot. The moonlit peak and the faintly rolling thunder are the opening. To have camped on the moonlit peak would be a camping; the last-night-I-camped-on-the-moonlit-peak-faintly-thunder-rolled-beneath-the-mountain's-foot is the camping.

晓来却问山下人，风雨三更卷茅屋。

At dawn I asked the people below and learned that the midnight storm had rolled their thatched roofs away. Moonlight above and tempest beneath: the view from the height yields both delight and a lesson in how differently the world behaves at different levels.

清晨下来问起山下的人家，才知道三更时分的狂风暴雨已把茅屋掀掉了。

In the morning I asked the people below; in the third watch the storm had torn away their thatched huts.

后两句由昨夜转入今晓，由山顶转入山下。晓来却问山下人，一个却字写出转折与意外：昨夜只闻隐隐雷声，今晨下山一问，方知真相。问字把叙述视角从诗人主观的听觉感受，移交给山下人的客观陈述，侧面落笔，不写风雨而风雨自见。风雨三更卷茅屋揭开谜底：半夜三更，狂风暴雨竟把山下的茅屋卷走了。卷字力道千钧，一字写尽风势之暴；茅屋则暗示受难者是山下的寻常百姓。由山顶月明到山下屋毁，同一夜晚、两种境遇的强烈反差，是全诗的惊心动魄处。不写之写，至此完成，读者于平淡叙述中分明看见了一场浩劫。

The huts. In the morning I asked the people below; in the third watch the storm had torn away their thatched huts. The morning asking and the storm-torn huts are the turn. To have torn away the huts would be a tearing; the in-the-morning-I-asked-the-people-below-in-the-third-watch-the-storm-had-torn-away-their-thatched-huts is the tearing.

Study

Word focus

翻 The verb fan, to overturn or roll, converts sound into shape, giving the formless thunder a heaving, tumbling bulk. 隐隐雷声翻山麓之翻字，是全诗炼字之眼。雷声本属听觉，无形无质，诗人却用一翻字，赋予其翻滚、掀腾的动势与体量，仿佛云雷真的在山脚下翻卷涌动，可触可目。这一动词的妙用，打破了感官的界限，是以声写形、以耳代目的通感手法。更深层看，翻字暗含一种自下而上的力量感，与峰顶的静、月明的清形成对抗，预告了后文山下风雨卷茅屋的剧烈。一字之间，既有自然界的雷动之势，又隐隐呼应诗人所处时代政治风云的翻覆。以常语出奇，举重若轻，正是阳明诗不事雕琢而自见筋骨处。

却 The particle que carries the sense of the unexpected and registers the shock of learning what had happened. 晓来却问山下人之却字，是诗中关键的转折虚词，含意外、反差之意。昨夜诗人宿于峰顶，但闻隐隐雷声，以为不过寻常山雨；今晨下山，却字一转，引出与山下人的对话，方知昨夜三更竟有风雨卷茅屋的浩劫。却没有预先告知，却在此刻揭出真相，写出得知实情时的惊愕与落差。这个虚词看似轻巧，实则是全诗结构的关键榫卯：它由主观的静观跳到客观的惨状，把前两句的清朗闲适一举翻转为后两句的惊心。没有却字，前后两段便只是并列；有了却字，便有了顿挫、有了波澜，二十八字由此生出叙事的张力。

卷 The verb juan, to roll up, lands with enormous weight; one word conveys the entire violence of the wind. 风雨三更卷茅屋之卷字，与杜甫卷我屋上三重茅的卷一脉相承，是全诗力度最重的字眼。卷本指收拢、裹挟，用于风掀屋茅，极写风势之暴烈迅猛，仿佛无形的狂风把整座茅屋像卷席一般掀起卷走，比吹、毁等字更具动势与破坏力。三更点明时间之骤急，正当人静夜深，灾变却猝然降临，更显无情。卷字与首句月明峰顶的静好形成触目惊心的反差：同一夜，山顶是明月清辉，山下是狂风暴屋。一字之力，把空间的高下、境遇的冷暖、自然的伟力与人事的脆弱，全数压入读者心头，是短章中极具重量的一笔。