南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 文 Prose
与朱元思书
Letter to Zhu Yuansi
风烟俱净，天山共色。
从流飘荡，任意东西。
自富阳至桐庐一百许里，奇山异水，天下独绝。
水皆缥碧，千丈见底。
游鱼细石，直视无碍。
急湍甚箭，猛浪若奔。
夹岸高山，皆生寒树，负势竞上，互相轩邈，争高直指，千百成峰。
泉水激石，泠泠作响；
好鸟相鸣，嘤嘤成韵。
蝉则千转不穷，猿则百叫无绝。
鸢飞戾天者，望峰息心；
经纶世务者，窥谷忘反。
横柯上蔽，在昼犹昏；
疏条交映，有时见日。
I drift with the current, wandering east or west at will. From Fuyang to Tonglu, a hundred-odd miles, the strange hills and rare waters are unmatched under heaven.
The water is all pale-green, clear to the bottom a thousand fathoms down. Roaming fish and fine pebbles, seen straight through without hindrance. Swift rapids outrun an arrow; wild waves are like a galloping horse.
Along both banks high mountains rise, all clothed in cold, dark trees, that lean on their own force and strive upward, each outreaching the other in height and distance, thrusting straight at the sky, by hundreds forming peaks. Spring water strikes the rocks, tinkling; fair birds answer one another, humming in tune. Cicadas turn a thousand times without cease; apes cry a hundred cries without end.
He who would soar like a kite to heaven, seeing these peaks, stills his heart; he who busies himself with the world's affairs, peering into this valley, forgets to turn back. Crossing branches shut out the sky above, so at noon it is still as dusk; sparse twigs intersect, and now and then the sun shows through.
Meaning
Mist and smoke are wholly gone, and sky and hills are of one colour. I drift with the current, wandering east or west at will. From Fuyang to Tonglu, a hundred-odd miles, the strange hills and rare waters are unmatched under heaven. The water is all pale-green, clear to the bottom a thousand fathoms down; roaming fish and fine pebbles are seen straight through without hindrance; swift rapids outrun an arrow, wild waves are like a galloping horse. Along both banks high mountains rise, all clothed in cold, dark trees, leaning on their own force and striving upward, outreaching one another in height and distance, thrusting straight at the sky, by hundreds forming peaks. Spring water strikes the rocks, tinkling; fair birds answer one another, humming in tune; cicadas turn a thousand times without cease; apes cry a hundred cries without end. He who would soar like a kite to heaven, seeing these peaks, stills his heart; he who busies himself with the world's affairs, peering into this valley, forgets to turn back. Crossing branches shut out the sky above, so at noon it is still as dusk; sparse twigs intersect, and now and then the sun shows through.
风与烟雾都已消散干净，天空和山峦呈现出同一种颜色。作者乘着小船，顺着江流飘荡，任凭它向东或向西，一副自在随性之态。从富阳到桐庐这一百来里水路，奇山异水，天下独一无二。江水都是青白色，即使千丈深也清澈见底；游动的鱼儿、细小的石子，一眼直望下去毫无阻碍。湍急的水流比箭还快，汹涌的浪涛像奔马一样。两岸的高山，都长着寒气森森的树木，它们凭借地势竞相向上，互相比高比远，争着笔直指向天空，千百座山峰就这样形成。泉水冲激山石，发出泠泠的响声；好鸟相互和鸣，唱出嘤嘤的韵调。蝉鸣千转不停，猿啼百叫不绝。那些像鸢鸟高飞直上青天、一心追名逐利的人，望见这巍峨的山峰便平息了竞进之心；那些经营世间政务的人，窥见这幽深的山谷便流连忘返。横斜的树枝在上方遮蔽，白天也如同黄昏；稀疏的枝条交相掩映，偶尔才能透见日光。
Appreciation
The art of this piece lies first in its 'general-then-particular' structure and its advance through 'form, sound, principle'. The opening 'Mist and smoke are wholly gone; sky and hills share one colour' sets the tone in a pale, distant brush, and 'the strange hills and rare waters are unmatched under heaven' raises the whole. For the water it writes its clarity in 'pale-green' and 'clear to the bottom', and its speed in 'outruns an arrow' and 'like a galloping horse', stillness and motion breeding; for the hills it writes 'lean on their own force and strive upward, each outreaching the other' giving the hills a competing, living force by personification, and 'tinkling', 'humming', 'a thousand turns', 'a hundred cries' set sound against stillness. It closes with 'seeing these peaks, stills his heart' and 'peering into this valley, forgets to turn back', moving from scene to principle, parallel mixed with loose, few words, rich meaning - truly the crown of Six Dynasties landscape prose.
【白话串讲】 “风烟俱净，天山共色。从流飘荡，任意东西”——吴均写给朋友的信：天空和山一个颜色，随水漂流。“自富阳至桐庐一百许里，奇山异水，天下独绝”——富春江这段，天下第一。“鸢飞戾天者，望峰息心”——再大的野心，看了这山也会平静。 【意象与手法】 本文最见功力处在于总—分结构的严密与形、声、理三层境界的递进。起笔以「风烟俱净，天山共色」八字画出秋日江天的澄明空旷，随即以「奇山异水，天下独绝」八字总领全篇，如纲举目张；中间分写：先以「缥碧」「见底」写水之清，「甚箭」「若奔」写水之急，清与急、静与动相生相映；再以「负势竞上，互相轩邈」拟人写山，赋静山以争竞的生命力，复以「泠泠」「嘤嘤」「千转」「百叫」的声景衬出空谷幽静；末以「望峰息心」「窥谷忘反」由景入理，揭示山水对人心的净化力量。全文骈散间用，辞约意丰，开后世山水游记之先声。 【情感与主旨】 吴均出身寒微而好学有俊才，仕途并不得意，此信表面写富春江山水，实则寄寓厌弃尘俗、向往林泉的隐逸情怀，也是对友人热心仕途的婉转劝诫。文中对「鸢飞戾天者」「经纶世务者」的揶揄，正见作者以山水为药、疗治名利之心的自觉，折射出南朝士人在政治动荡中寄情山水的普遍心态。山水之美在此文中不仅是观赏对象，更是安顿灵魂的归所，这是六朝山水文学最动人的精神内核。 【名句点睛】 「鸢飞戾天者，望峰息心；经纶世务者，窥谷忘反」二句是全篇眼目，化用《诗经》「鸢飞戾天」之语而翻出新意，把自然山水提升为涤荡尘心、安顿生命的道德力量，遂成中国文学中厌弃功名、归向自然的经典表述，历来为选家与读者所重。
Background
Wu Jun rose from a humble house, loved learning and had bright talent, rising to the post of court attendant; his writing was clean and bracing with an ancient air, then called the 'Wu Jun style'. This letter was written to his friend Zhu Yuansi (or Song Yuansi); the original is lost, and what survives is only its landscape passage. Southern-Dynasty men of letters loved travel in the hills and waters; Tao Hongjing, Wu Jun and others wrote nature in spare, clean strokes, inheriting Xie Lingyun's observation in landscape poetry and opening the way for Liu Zongyuan's travel essays. The Fuchun River region was a famous Jiangdong scene; Wu Jun captured its spirit in barely a hundred words, both a gentle counsel to his friend against polishing his official career and an airing of his own longing for seclusion, reflecting the Liang-era scholars' common habit of lodging feeling in landscape amid political unease.
吴均（469—520），字叔庠，吴兴故鄣（今浙江安吉一带）人，南朝梁文学家。他出身寒庶，好学有俊才，梁武帝天监初年被召为主簿，后官至奉朝请，因私撰《齐春秋》触忤武帝而遭免职，后来又奉诏撰《通史》，书未成而卒。其诗文清拔有古气，时人称之为「吴均体」。此文是吴均写给友人朱元思（一作宋元思）的一封书信，今传之本并非全信，仅存其中描写富春江景色的一个片段，实际可独立成篇，视为一篇山水小品。信写于作者游历富春江之时，富阳至桐庐一段即今浙江富春江中游，两岸奇峰夹峙，江水澄碧，历来为文人胜游之地。南朝士人好山水之游，陶弘景《答谢中书书》、吴均此文皆借尺牍写山水，既承谢灵运山水诗精细观察的传统，又开柳宗元《永州八记》游记文学之先声。就创作心态而言，梁代政局动荡，士人仕途多蹇，吴均以短短百余字尽摄富春山水之神，既有对友人热心仕途的婉转劝诫，亦抒发自身慕隐之怀，折射出六朝文人在政治隐忧中寄情山水、以自然为精神归宿的普遍心理，故此文虽短，却浓缩了一个时代的士人心态。
Art
The art of this piece lies first in its 'general-then-particular' structure and its advance through 'form, sound, principle'. The opening 'Mist and smoke are wholly gone; sky and hills share one colour' sets the tone in a pale, distant brush, and 'the strange hills and rare waters are unmatched under heaven' raises the whole; for the water it writes its clarity in 'pale-green' and 'clear to the bottom', and its speed in 'outruns an arrow' and 'like a galloping horse', stillness and motion breeding; for the hills it gives the hills a competing, living force by personification, and 'tinkling', 'humming', 'a thousand turns', 'a hundred cries' set sound against stillness. It closes with 'seeing these peaks, stills his heart' and 'peering into this valley, forgets to turn back', moving from scene to principle, parallel mixed with loose, few words, rich meaning - the crown of Six Dynasties landscape prose.
本文的艺术成就，首在严谨的总—分结构与形、声、理三层的递进安排。起笔「风烟俱净，天山共色」以淡远之笔定下全篇澄明空阔的基调，随后「从流飘荡，任意东西」写舟行之自在，自然引出「奇山异水，天下独绝」的总领之句，如纲举目张；中间分写水与山两大块：写水先以「缥碧」「千丈见底」状其清澈，再以「游鱼细石，直视无碍」以实景证之，复以「急湍甚箭，猛浪若奔」写其奔涌，清与急、静与动相生相映；写山则「负势竞上，互相轩邈，争高直指，千百成峰」，以拟人手法赋静山以竞逐的生命力，「负」「竞」「争」三字层层加码，笔势如群山争出。继之以声写静：泉水「泠泠」、好鸟「嘤嘤」、蝉「千转」、猿「百叫」，四层声响织成空谷交响，声响愈繁，愈显山林幽寂。末尾「鸢飞戾天者，望峰息心；经纶世务者，窥谷忘反」，由景入情、由情入理，把自然山水升华为涤荡尘心的道德力量；「横柯上蔽」「疏条交映」的收束又回到光与影的实写，余味袅袅。全文骈散间用，四字句居多，音韵浏亮而气脉贯通，辞约意丰，堪称六朝山水文的冠冕。
Allusions
The phrase 'soar like a kite to heaven' comes from the 'Book of Songs', 'the kite soars to heaven, the fish leaps in the deep', originally praising King Wen's teaching; here it means those who chase fame and rise high. 'Stills his heart' means to quench worldly thought, quietly answering the Buddhist and Daoist 'stilling the heart'. 'Busies himself with the world's affairs' comes from the 'Book of Changes', 'the gentleman orders and plans', meaning to govern the world. 'Outreaching in height and distance' transforms the lofty-distance sense of the 'Chu Ci'. Wu Jun fuses the 'Book of Songs' allusion with the real landscape, so that natural beauty gains a moral-cleansing meaning, and 'seeing these peaks, stills his heart' becomes the classic expression of loathing office and longing for the woods and springs.
文中用典不多而皆贴切自然。「鸢飞戾天」出自《诗经·大雅·旱麓》「鸢飞戾天，鱼跃于渊」，本以鸢鸟高飞、鱼跃深渊形容文王政教之盛、万物各得其所，吴均借其字面，转指像鸢鸟高飞直上青天那样追逐高位、热衷名利之人，与原典旨趣相反，正是「借典翻新」的妙用。「息心」谓灭却尘念、平息躁竞之心，暗合佛道二家「息心」之说，与「窥谷忘反」的「反」字相呼应，反用《论语》「欲罢不能」之意而归于山谷之诱。「经纶世务」语本《周易·屯卦》「云雷屯，君子以经纶」，本指筹划治理天下大事，此处转指奔走仕途、钻营政务之徒。「轩邈」二字本为高远之意，此处形容词用如动词，写群山互比高远，是词类活用的典型。至于「寒树」「泠泠」「嘤嘤」「千转」「百叫」等语，则本于汉魏六朝写景传统，叠字拟声，声情并茂。吴均将这些经籍典故化入山水实景，使自然之美获得道德净化之义，「望峰息心」遂成为厌弃官场、向往林泉的经典表达，千载之下犹有余响。
Commentary
Song critics called Wu Jun's writing 'clean and bracing with an ancient air', and this piece is especially its representative. The Ming writer Zhang Pu said 'Wu Shuxiang's writing is like a clear water lotus'. Modern scholars say that in a few hundred words it holds the force of a thousand li; parallel prose here has shed its ornateness and opened the way for Tang-Song travel essays. The couplet 'he who would soar like a kite to heaven, seeing these peaks, stills his heart' is especially quoted by later men of letters as a manifesto of retirement, in one line with Tao Qian's 'Homeward I Go' and Wang Wei's landscape poems - enough to show its cross-age influence.
此篇虽为书信残段，却在文学史上地位极高，是六朝山水小品中最负盛名的篇章之一。宋人评吴均文「清拔有古气」，此篇尤为其代表作；明人张溥《汉魏六朝百三家集》辑吴均诗文，评其文如「清水芙蓉」，正指其清新脱俗、不染尘埃。近世论者更谓此文寥寥百余字而具千里之势：骈文至此已脱六朝浮靡之习，疏朗明快，开唐宋古文与游记文学之先声，柳宗元《小石潭记》写潭水「皆若空游无所依」、欧阳修《醉翁亭记》写山水声色之乐，皆可于此文见其端倪。「鸢飞戾天者，望峰息心；经纶世务者，窥谷忘反」一联，尤为后世文人引为归隐宣言，与陶渊明《归去来兮辞》「归去来兮，田园将芜胡不归」的精神一脉相承，又与王维山水诗中「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」的禅意遥相呼应，可见其影响之深远。今人读此文，一则赏其写景之精、声韵之美，一则感其超然物外、澄怀观道的人生姿态。因文字短小精悍而意境宏阔，此文长期入选中学语文教材，是学习六朝骈文与山水文学的门径之作，其艺术生命历千五百年而不衰。
Prosody
Line by line
风烟俱净，天山共色。
Mist and smoke are wholly gone; sky and hills share one colour.
风与烟雾都已消散干净，天空和山峦呈现出同一种颜色。
Wind and mist have all cleared; sky and mountains share one color.
开篇八字写江上秋晨的总体气象，是全篇定调之笔。「净」字写风烟敛尽、天地澄澈，「共色」写远山与长天连成一色、界限不分，正是极目远眺时山色与天光相接的视觉真实。句法上四字对四字，简洁到无可再简，却把秋日江天的空旷、明净、静穆一齐画出，为下文「奇山异水」的展开提供了澄明的背景。更妙的是这一笔纯用白描，不着色彩词而色彩自现，不写心情而自在安闲的心情已寓其中——风烟俱净，亦是心尘俱净；天山共色，亦是物我同色。短短八字，既是写景，又暗含作者涤除尘虑、与自然冥合的审美心境，可谓以少总多、言近旨远的典范。
The clearing. Wind and mist have all cleared; sky and mountains share one color. The wind-mist-cleared and the sky-mountains-one-color are the opening. To have cleared would be a clearing; the wind-and-mist-have-all-cleared-sky-and-mountains-share-one-color is the clearing.
水皆缥碧，千丈见底。游鱼细石，直视无碍。急湍甚箭，猛浪若奔。
The water is all a pale blue, a thousand fathoms clear to the bottom; swimming fish and tiny stones are seen direct, without hindrance. Swift torrents outrace arrows; fierce waves charge like galloping horses.
江水都是青白色，即使千丈深也清澈见底；游鱼和细石一眼看下去毫无阻碍；湍急的水流比箭还快，汹涌的浪涛如奔马一般。
The waters are all a pale azure, clear to a thousand fathoms; swimming fish and fine stones are seen straight down, unobstructed. Swift currents outrace arrows; the fierce waves rush like galloping horses.
这一段专写水，四层笔墨从静到动、从清到急，写尽富春江水的两种性格。「缥碧」以青白色为江水设色，清雅如画；「千丈见底」用夸张极言其深而清，「游鱼细石，直视无碍」再以水中实景坐实之——鱼与石历历可见，正见江水澄澈透明，这是水的静态美。「急湍甚箭，猛浪若奔」则笔锋一转写其动态，「甚箭」「若奔」两个比喻以箭之疾、马之奔状水流之急，化视觉为动势，与郦道元《三峡》「虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」同一机杼。清与急相映，静与动相生，水的灵秀与雄壮并存，为下文「奇山异水，天下独绝」的「异」字提供了最有力的实证。
The water. The water is all a pale blue, a thousand fathoms clear to the bottom; swimming fish and tiny stones are seen direct, without hindrance. Swift torrents outrace arrows; fierce waves charge like galloping horses. The pale-blue-thousand-fathoms-clear and the fish-stones-unobstructed and the torrents-outrace-arrows-waves-charge-horses are the water. To have been pale blue would be a being; the the-water-is-all-a-pale-blue-a-thousand-fathoms-clear-to-the-bottom-swimming-fish-and-tiny-stones-are-seen-direct-without-hindrance-swift-torrents-outrace-arrows-fierce-waves-charge-like-galloping-horses is the being.
负势竞上，互相轩邈，争高直指，千百成峰。
Leaning on their force they strive upward, each outreaching the other in height and distance, thrusting straight at the sky, by hundreds forming peaks.
群山凭借地势竞相向上，互相比高比远，争着笔直地指向天空，千百座山峰就这样形成。
The mountains vie upward on their own momentum, each striving higher and farther, pointing straight to the heights, rising in a hundred thousand peaks.
此句写山，是全篇最富动感的奇笔。山本是静止之物，吴均却以「负」「竞」「争」三个动词赋之以蓬勃的生命意志：「负势」写山凭借自身之势，「竞上」写竞相向上，「轩邈」本指高远，此处活用为动词，写群山互相比高比远，「争高直指」更以拟人笔法写山峰如群雄争先、直刺苍穹，「千百成峰」以数量与结果收束，如山峦层层涌出。短短十六字，把静山写成活的、有性格的争竞者，化静为动、化实为虚，笔势与山势同其雄健。这种写法开后世以动写山传统之先，也与作者身在舟中、仰观群峰的动态视角相合，是南朝山水文中难得的气象开阔之笔。
The peaks. The mountains vie upward on their own momentum, each striving higher and farther, pointing straight to the heights, rising in a hundred thousand peaks. The vie-upward-momentum and the strive-higher-farther and the point-straight-heights are the energy. To have vied upward would be a vying; the the-mountains-vie-upward-on-their-own-momentum-each-striving-higher-and-farther-pointing-straight-to-the-heights-rising-in-a-hundred-thousand-peaks is the vying.
鸢飞戾天者，望峰息心；经纶世务者，窥谷忘反。
He who would soar like a kite to heaven, seeing these peaks, stills his heart; he who busies himself with the world's affairs, peering into this valley, forgets to turn back.
那些像鸢鸟高飞直上青天、追名逐利的人，望见这山峰便平息了竞进之心；那些经营世间政务的人，窥见这幽谷便流连忘返。
He who soars to the highest, seeing these peaks, calms his ambition; he who manages worldly affairs, glimpsing these valleys, forgets to return.
此为全篇眼目，由写景陡转议论，把山水之美提升为涤荡人心的力量。前句化用《诗经》「鸢飞戾天」，以高飞之鸢喻热衷名利、一心向上爬之人，说他们「望峰息心」——面对巍峨肃穆的山峰，膨胀的欲望与竞逐之心忽然平息；后句以「经纶世务者」对举，说钻营政务之人「窥谷忘反」，被幽谷之趣迷住而流连忘返。两句句式工整、意义层进：山以雄壮镇服躁心，谷以幽深引人忘归，一刚一柔，正合山水的两面性格。「息心」与「忘反」皆是心灵的转向，吴均借此含蓄地表明自己的价值取向——与其在名利场中奔走，不如在山水间安顿生命。此联遂成中国文学中厌弃功名、归向自然的经典表述。
The rest. He who soars to the highest, seeing these peaks, calms his ambition; he who manages worldly affairs, glimpsing these valleys, forgets to return. The soars-to-highest-sees-peaks-calms-ambition and the manages-affairs-glimpses-valleys-forgets-return are the close. To have calmed his ambition would be a calming; the he-who-soars-to-the-highest-seeing-these-peaks-calms-his-ambition-he-who-manages-worldly-affairs-glimpsing-these-valleys-forgets-to-return is the calming.
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Related Reading
Both from Wu Jun, one a poem and one a prose piece, both writing the clear scene of mountain dwelling - see his 'Wu Jun style'.
吴均另有《山中杂诗》「山际见来烟，竹中窥落日。鸟向檐上飞，云从窗里出」，与《与朱元思书》同为写山居清景之作，堪称「吴均体」的一诗一文双璧。二者同以简洁明净的笔触写自然：诗以「烟」「落日」「鸟」「云」四组意象白描山居，文以「水」「山」「声」「光」四层铺写江行所见，皆不用典而韵致清远。差异在体裁与视角：诗是静态的居处眺望，画面凝练如画；文是动态的舟行观览，铺陈展开如卷。合观可见吴均写景艺术的一贯追求——以少总多、以清为美，也可见南朝山水文学在诗歌与散文两个领域的并进之势。
归园田居 Returning to Live in the Country 陶渊明 · 同写厌弃尘俗、归向自然，田园之祖与山水之秀 SameBoth write loathing the worldly dust and longing for nature; Wu Jun's landscape, Yuanming'sFields - kindred spirit.
陶渊明《归园田居》「久在樊笼里，复得返自然」与吴均此文「望峰息心」「窥谷忘反」，精神血脉一脉相承，都是对官场束缚的厌弃与对自然怀抱的回归。差异在审美对象与表达方式：陶诗写的是躬耕陇亩的田园生活，语言朴素质直，如话家常，「方宅十余亩，草屋八九间」句句是日常实景，情感内敛而醇厚；吴文写的是乘舟观览的山水胜境，语言清丽工巧，四字骈偶、声色并陈，情感外显而超逸。陶渊明的回归是彻底的归隐——亲自耕田、乐在其中；吴均的向往更多是精神上的栖居——以山水涤荡尘心而未必真隐。一田一山，一朴一丽，恰见晋宋之际隐逸文学的两种典型形态，而「返自然」的旨归则完全相同。
三峡 The Three Gorges (San Xia) 郦道元 · 同写江流湍急、山势峻伟，六朝山水文双璧 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
郦道元《水经注·三峡》「春冬之时，则素湍绿潭，回清倒影」「虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」与吴均此文同写长江水系之奇：一写三峡，一写富春江，皆以简洁笔墨传山水之神。最可对读处在于水势的写法：郦道元以「乘奔御风，不以疾也」夸张水急，吴均以「急湍甚箭，猛浪若奔」比喻浪猛，一用衬笔、一用直喻，异曲同工。差异在文体与志趣：郦文是地理学著作中的写景段落，客观实录中见壮美，笔致雍容；吴文是书信中的抒情片段，主观寄托中见清秀，情韵悠长。两篇同出六朝而为山水文的典范，前者以雄奇胜，后者以清丽胜，对读正可见六朝人对山水之美的两种审美取向。