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清 Qing · 文 Prose

黄生借书说·版本

On Huang Sheng's Borrowing of Books (Version)

袁枚

Yuan Mei

名篇Masterpiece 说体Essay Form 劝学Exhortation to Study

黄生允修借书。
随园主人授以书，而告之曰：书非借不能读也。
子不闻藏书者乎？

Huang Sheng Yunxiu borrowed books. The Master of the Suiyuan Garden gave him the books and said to him: 'Books are read only when borrowed. Have you not heard of the owners of book collections?'

Listen

Meaning

Yuan Mei's exhortation to study written for the poor scholar Huang Yunxiu, using the matter of borrowing a book to expound the principle 'books are read only when borrowed.' The passage opens with the record of the event—'Huang Sheng Yunxiu borrowed books. The Master of the Suiyuan Garden gave him the books and said to him'—five characters for each matter, like everyday talk; then the principle is set up on the event—'books are read only when borrowed,' the double negative, decisive as the stroke of a hammer, the eye of the whole essay; then the question leads the thought—'have you not heard of the owners of book collections?' pressing Huang Sheng to reflect with the rhetorical question, raised but not discharged. The rest of the essay (beyond this excerpt) contrasts the emperor's books, the books of the rich, and the seven categories and four repositories with the borrower's books, then the author's own experience of borrowing books to read in his youth, and closes in the exhortation that 'knowing fortune and misfortune, his reading will surely be devoted.'

书生黄允修前来借书。随园主人把书借给他，并且告诉他说：书不是借来的就不会认真读。你没有听说过那些藏书的人（不读书）的事吗？

Appreciation

This is a short essay of the 'on' (shuo) form, its structure exact and advancing layer on layer. The opening records the event—'Huang Sheng Yunxiu borrowed books. The Master of the Suiyuan Garden gave him the books and said to him'—five characters for each matter, like everyday talk; then the principle is set up on the event—'books are read only when borrowed,' the double negative, decisive, the eye of the whole essay; then the question leads the thought—'have you not heard of the owners of book collections?' pressing Huang Sheng to reflect with the rhetorical question, raised but not discharged. In method: first, the contrast of argument—the owners of collections read little while the borrowers read much, the two set against each other; second, the proof by experience—the author's own bitter experience of borrowing books in his youth, the lesson of the event; third, the aphorism—'books are read only when borrowed,' the double negative, the whole truth of the essay gathered in the seven characters.

【白话串讲】袁枚写《黄生借书说》：“书非借不能读也”——借来的书才读得下去。“天子读书者有几”、“富贵人读书者有几”——书都放在家里，人反而不读了。“往借，不与，归而形诸梦”——借不到书，做梦都想——他说读书要趁借。【意象与手法】「说」体立论精警，开篇即推出「书非借不能读也」的中心论点；全文对比（借书者与藏书者）与现身说法相结合，层层递进。【情感与主旨】借赠书劝学，寄望后生珍惜光阴、专心向学，亦自伤少时无书之苦，情辞恳切。【名句点睛】「书非借不能读也」以双重否定斩钉截铁，成为流传最广的读书名言。

Background

Yuan Mei (1716–1798), courtesy name Zicai, hao Jianzhai, in his old age the Master of the Suiyuan Garden and Cangshan Hermit, a native of Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang), passed the jinshi in the fourth year of Qianlong and served as magistrate of Lishui, Jiangning, and other counties; at forty he gave up office and built the Suiyuan Garden on Little Cangshan in Nanjing, teaching poetry and prose to his old age, the leader of the 'school of native sensibility' (xingling) of the mid-Qing, paired with Zhao Yi and Jiang Shiquan as the 'three great masters of Qianlong.' 'On Huang Sheng's Borrowing of Books' is his exhortation to study written for the poor scholar Huang Yunxiu, using the matter of borrowing a book to expound the principle 'books are read only when borrowed.' There are three layers of the background: first, in the age of the examinations, the poor scholars had no books to read, and borrowing was the common way, the collectors many and the readers few, a common phenomenon of the time; second, Yuan Mei himself was poor in his youth and had the experience of borrowing books to read and being refused, so that this essay is at once autobiography and exhortation; third, the school of native sensibility advocated 'expressing the native sensibility alone, not bound by the fixed forms,' and this essay, speaking a great principle through the household matter without ornament, is the practice of his literary theory.

袁枚（1716—1798），字子才，号简斋，晚号随园主人、仓山居士，钱塘（今浙江杭州）人，乾隆四年进士，曾任溧水、江宁等县令，年四十即辞官，筑随园于南京小仓山，以诗文授徒终老，为清中叶诗坛「性灵派」主将，与赵翼、蒋士铨并称「乾隆三大家」，著有《小仓山房文集》《随园诗话》等。《黄生借书说》是袁枚写给贫寒书生黄允修的劝学文章，借借书一事阐发「书非借不能读」之理。背景有三层：其一，科举时代读书求仕，而贫寒之士无书可读，借书是常见途径，藏书家多而读书人少，是当时普遍现象；其二，袁枚少时家贫，亦有借书苦读、求借不得的经历，故此文兼有自叙与励人之意；其三，袁枚性灵派主张「独抒性灵，不拘格套」，此文以家常事说大道理、不假雕饰，正是其文论主张的实践。黄生允修当为随园后学，袁枚以长辈口吻授书相勉，情辞恳切。黄生允修其人史载不详，当为随园后学或乡里寒士；袁枚以名士之尊而屈身借书训诲，正见其奖掖后进、乐育人才之风，亦为随园广纳门生、以文会友盛况之缩影。

Art

The art is the exact structure, advancing layer on layer: the opening records the event, the principle set up on the event, the question leading the thought, and the rest (beyond the excerpt) contrasts the collectors with the borrowers, proves by the author's own experience, and closes in the exhortation. In method: the contrast of argument—the collectors read little while the borrowers read much; the proof by experience—the author's own bitter experience of borrowing in his youth; the aphorism—'books are read only when borrowed,' the double negative gathering the whole truth in seven characters. In language, the essay is plain and fluent, the sentences short and decisive, the particles 'er' and 'ye' regulating the movement, the style of the school of native sensibility: the great principle through the household matter, without ornament.

此文为「说」体短论，结构精严、层层递进。起笔记事——「黄生允修借书。随园主人授以书，而告之曰」，五字一事，如话家常；即事立论——「书非借不能读也」，双重否定，斩钉截铁，是全篇文眼；设问引思——「子不闻藏书者乎」，以反问逼黄生自省，引而不发。以下（节选之外）再以天子藏书、富贵家藏书、七略四库、汗牛塞屋与借书者对比，复以袁枚少时借书苦读的亲身经历现身说法，最后归结到「知幸与不幸，则其读书也必专」的勉励，章法谨严。手法上：其一，对比论证——藏书者多而不读，借书者少而勤读，两相对照，「书非借不能读」之理自明；其二，现身说法——以「余幼好书，家贫难致」的自述增强说服力；其三，设问反问——「子不闻藏书者乎」以问引论，亲切而有波澜；其四，比喻——汗牛塞屋、如弃草芥，形象生动。语言平易晓畅，文言而近口语，是性灵文风的典型。又此文虽为议论，却以记事起、以设问转、以现身说法收，议论与叙事、抒情交融，说理而不枯涩，正见袁枚「文贵真、忌空言」的性灵主张，亦为清代说体文清新一路的代表。

Allusions

Though short, the essay's allusions are natural, all melted into the flow. 'The seven categories and the four repositories' refers to the imperial collections: the 'seven categories' the cataloguing work of Liu Xin of the Western Han dividing the books into seven; the 'four repositories' the Tang Xuanzong's court collection in the four divisions of classics, history, masters, and collections—both the richness of the emperor's books. 'Filling the building and sweating the oxen' transforms Liu Zongyuan's epitaph: 'as for his books, at rest they fill the beams of the house, abroad they sweat the oxen and the horses,' the books so many that moving them sweats the oxen and the horses. 'The silverfish and the grey threads' writes the bookworms eating the books and the cobwebs gathering dust, the pity of collecting without reading. These allusions, brought into the essay in the following passage, prepare the ground for the contrast of the collectors with the borrowers.

此文虽短而用典自然，皆化入行文之中。「七略四库」指皇家藏书：「七略」为西汉刘歆总群书而作的目录学著作，分辑略、六艺略等七略；「四库」指唐玄宗时宫廷分经、史、子、集四库藏书，皆喻天子藏书之富。「汗牛塞屋」化用柳宗元《陆文通先生墓表》「其为书，处则充栋宇，出则汗牛马」，以「搬运书籍累得牛马出汗」极言藏书之多。「素蟫灰丝」写蠹鱼蛀书、蛛网蒙尘，喻藏书而不读之可叹。「庋藏」为搁置收藏之词，写藏书者束之高阁。「惴惴焉摩玩之不已」写借书者惟恐逾期、反复摩挲赏玩之态，与藏书者之漠然形成对照。「知幸与不幸」之论，暗合《庄子》「知其幸与不幸」的思辨句式，把借书之事提升到人生际遇的感慨。整段以「书」为焦点，上承荀子《劝学》、韩愈《师说》的劝学传统，而以「借」字立新意，故能于劝学老题中翻出新境。又「汗牛塞屋」「素蟫灰丝」等语，以牛马出汗、蠹虫蛀书写藏书之富而不读之叹，意象鲜明、揶揄入骨，与「如弃草芥」式的比喻同属以形象说理的古文传统，足见袁枚用典之活，化书卷为家常。

Commentary

'On Huang Sheng's Borrowing of Books' is a double masterpiece of the Qing familiar essay and the exhortation to study, its circulation wide from the Qing to the present, and 'books are read only when borrowed' has become a common phrase of the language, revealing the universal psychology of human nature—what is easily obtained is not cherished, what is hard to come by is doubly valued—the truth not only of reading but of all learning and enterprise, hence its power beyond the age. In literature, the essay embodies the 'true feeling' of the school of native sensibility: speaking a great principle through the household matter, plain and vivid, without ornament, the model of the Qing essay of the familiar style.

《黄生借书说》为清代小品文与劝学文的双料名篇，自清至今流传极广，「书非借不能读」已成为汉语常用语，揭示「得之易则失之惜，得之难则倍珍」的普遍人性心理——人对易于获得之物往往不加珍惜，对来之不易之物则加倍爱重，此理不独读书，推及一切学问、事业皆然，故具有超越时代的启发意义。文学上，此文体现性灵派「真性情」的主张：以家常事说大道理，不假雕饰、不堆典故，而理趣盎然，论者谓袁枚文「如五谷之养人，非山珍海错」，正是这种平实之美的注脚；与韩愈《师说》的雄辩、荀子《劝学》的博喻相比，此文以平易亲切见长，是清代说体文「以浅语传真」的代表。此文入选多种语文教材，「书非借不能读也」的命题至今仍在图书馆学、教育学中被反复讨论，其教育价值历久弥新。就接受史言，此文自问世即脍炙人口，「书非借不能读也」之论触及「得之易则失之惜」的普遍人性，为古今读书人引为座右铭；就教育史言，其说与近世图书馆「借阅促读」的理念暗合，至今仍被教育工作者反复征引，可见一篇短文跨越两百年而不衰的生命力。

Prosody

Form Qing classical argumentative essay ('on' form)清代文言议论文（「说」体）

Rhyme Unrhymed; the movement is regulated by the short sentences and the particles (er, ye, hu). The aphorism 'books are read only when borrowed' strikes with the heavy pause of the 'ye,' like the blow of a hammer; the rhetorical question 'have you not heard of the owners of book collections' rises with the 'hu,' like a question awaiting an answer不押韵，以短句顿挫与虚词（而、也、乎）调节语势。警句「书非借不能读也」以「也」字重顿，如锤定音；反问句「子不闻藏书者乎」以「乎」字上扬，如问待答。

Tone pattern The opening records the event in short sentences like everyday talk, the aphorism strikes, the question rises—the whole from the plain to the decisive to the awaiting, the principle of the essay carried by the movement of the particles以散句为主，起笔平实、立论警策、设问引思，语气由娓娓而陡峻而亲切，三转三折；节奏随论证推进，先缓（记事）、中急（立论）、后扬（设问），读来一气呵成。

Reading note The movement of the essay is regulated by the short sentences and the particles, the decisive 'ye' of the aphorism and the rising 'hu' of the question carrying the argument.此文虽为议论文，声韵之美却毫不逊色，其节奏全在句式的长短与虚词的调度。起笔「黄生允修借书」五字一顿，平实如闲谈，为后文蓄势；「随园主人授以书，而告之曰」以长句缓行，如长者徐徐开口；「书非借不能读也」七字陡出，句式短促而语气斩截，「也」字重顿，如鼓声骤起，是全文声情的最高点；「子不闻藏书者乎」以「乎」字上扬收束，余音袅袅，引人深思。全篇短句为主、长句间之，散句为体、偶句自见，与韩愈《师说》的雄辩气势相比，此文以清浅平易见长，正合袁枚性灵派「真」与「活」的主张；以声调论，先缓后急、由平入峻，与「即事立论」的章法相应，声情与辞情一体，是清代说体文的声律范本。

Line by line

黄生允修借书。

Huang Sheng Yunxiu borrowed books. (The opening records the event, five characters for one matter, like everyday talk, the whole essay growing from this plain beginning.)

书生黄允修前来借书。五个字交代人物与事件，是全篇立论的由头。

The scholar Huang Yunxiu comes to borrow books. These five characters name the person and the occasion, the ground on which the essay's argument is raised.

五字起笔如话家常，点出人物（黄生允修）、事件（借书），无一句枝蔓，是「说」体「即事立论」的典范开头。「黄生允修」以「生」尊称年轻读书人，称名而不称字，是长辈对晚辈的口吻，亲切中有期许；「借书」二字平平道来，却正是全篇机枢——全篇三层关系（借书、藏书、读书）皆从这一个「借」字生发：因「借」而知书之不易得，因不易得而知读之可贵，因读之可贵而悟「非借不能读」之理。以「借书」之小事引出「读书」之大道，以小见大，正是性灵派文风「从寻常处见理趣」的体现；同时，五字起笔平实低调，为后文警句「书非借不能读也」的陡出蓄势，先抑后扬，一出手便见章法。

The five-character opening is as plain as household speech, naming the person (the young scholar Huang Yunxiu) and the event (borrowing books), not a word of branching — the model opening of the shuo, reasoning from the occasion. Huang sheng, Yunxiu uses sheng as the honorific for a young student, calling his given name rather than his courtesy name, the tone of an elder toward a junior, kindness within expectation. The two words borrow books are spoken plainly, yet they are precisely the pivot of the piece: the three relations of the whole (borrowing, hoarding, reading) all grow from this one word borrowing — through borrowing one learns the book's scarcity, through scarcity the value of reading, through the value of reading the principle that a book not borrowed cannot be read. From the small affair of borrowing books rises the great principle of reading, seeing the great in the small, the very manner of the xingling style, finding thought in the ordinary. At the same time, the flat, low five-character opening stores force for the sudden emergence of the aphorism a book not borrowed cannot be read, first pressed then lifted; the craft is visible at the first stroke.

随园主人授以书，而告之曰：书非借不能读也。

The Master of the Suiyuan Garden gave him the books and said to him: 'Books are read only when borrowed.' (The principle set up on the event: the double negative, decisive as the stroke of a hammer, the eye of the whole essay.)

随园主人把书借给他，并告诉他说：书不是借来的就不会认真读。

The Master of Sui Garden lends him the books and tells him: a book that is not borrowed will never be read in earnest.

此句为全篇核心，「书非借不能读也」一语定鼎。「随园主人」是袁枚自称，点明赠书者身份，随园为南京名园，主人之名与园并传，亲切而有名士风度；「授以书」即「以书授之」，状语后置，写慷慨借书之实——不只口头教诲，先有借书之实，后有大义之教，言教与身教并施；「而告之曰」以「告」引出训诲，语气郑重，如长者执手相嘱；核心句「书非借不能读也」以双重否定（非……不能）斩钉截铁，是全篇文眼——其妙在悖论式的洞察：藏书者因书为己有、随时可读，反而不读；借书者因书非己物、期限紧迫，反而苦读，一针见血，道破人性中「易得者不珍」的通病；「也」字断语，不容置疑；此句立纲，后文天子藏书、富贵家藏书、七略四库、汗牛塞屋等铺陈皆为此一纲服务，一纲既举，万目皆张。

The line is the core of the essay, and the words a book that is not borrowed will never be read in earnest settle the structure. The Master of Sui Garden is Yuan Mei's self-designation, naming the lender; Sui Garden is the famous Nanjing estate, and the master's name travels with the garden, friendly and in the manner of a famous scholar. Lends him the books means giving the books to him, the object preposed, writing the generosity of the lending — not merely oral instruction, but first the fact of lending, then the great teaching; precept and example together. And tells him uses the word tell to introduce the admonition, the tone earnest, like an elder holding the hand and charging. The core sentence a book not borrowed cannot be read is a double negative, decisive, the eye of the whole piece: its beauty lies in the paradoxical insight — the hoarder, since the books are his own and readable at any time, does not read; the borrower, since the book is not his and the term is pressing, reads it desperately, hitting the mark at once, exposing the common failing of human nature that what comes easy is not prized. The final particle is a verdict, beyond dispute. The line sets the framework, and all the later expansions — the emperor's library, the rich man's collection, the Seven Summaries, the sweating oxen — serve this one framework; once the framework is raised, all the threads run straight.

子不闻藏书者乎？

Have you not heard of the owners of book collections? (The question leads the thought: pressing Huang Sheng to reflect with the rhetorical question, raised but not discharged, preparing the contrast of the collectors with the borrowers that follows.)

你难道没有听说过那些藏书很多的人反而不好好读书的事吗？这里以反问引发黄生的思考，也为下文的对比论证作引。

Have you never heard how those who hoard great collections of books so rarely read them? Here the rhetorical question stirs Huang's thought and prepares the contrastive argument to come.

此句以反问设问，是立论与论证之间的转折枢纽。「子不闻……乎」是先秦诸子与唐宋古文常用的诱导句式（如《孟子》「王尝闻庄子之乎」式），以问引思，亲切而有力；「子」为第二人称尊称，拉近与黄生的距离，训诲而不训斥，正是长辈勉励后生的口吻；「藏书者」点出论证对象——下文的论证正是围绕「藏书者」展开：天子藏书、富贵家藏书、祖父积子孙弃，皆「藏书者」之列，此问一问，如投石入水，荡开层层论证；「乎」字上扬，语气悬而未决，引而不发，让黄生（也让读者）自问自答——藏书者果真读书吗？答案已在反问中隐现，故下文不需直答，只以事实铺陈即可；此句以七字完成由「记事」向「说理」的过渡，章法灵动，是全文气脉流转的关键一句。

The line uses a rhetorical question, the turning hinge between the thesis and the proof. Have you not heard...? is the leading question common in the pre-Qin philosophers and Tang-Song prose (as in the Mencius style), drawing thought by asking, intimate and forceful. You is the honorific second person, closing the distance with Huang, admonishing without scolding, precisely the elder's tone of encouragement to youth. Those who hoard books names the object of the proof — the argument that follows turns on the hoarders: the emperor's hoard, the rich man's hoard, the grandfather's accumulation and the grandson's abandonment, all within the class of hoarders; this one question, like a stone thrown into water, ripples out the layers of argument. The final particle rises, the tone suspended, released without being fired, letting Huang (and the reader) ask and answer himself — do hoarders really read? The answer already glimmers within the question, so the following needs no direct reply, only the marshaling of facts. The line completes the passage from narrative to reasoning in seven characters, the craft lively, the key turn in the flow of the essay's breath.

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Word focus

授以书 Gave him the books. The word of the event: the Master of the Suiyuan Garden gives the books, the plain act from which the whole principle of 'books are read only when borrowed' grows. 「随园主人授以书」之「授以书」为古汉语状语后置句式，即「以书授之」，把宾语「书」提前、「以书」置于动词后，句式凝练典雅。「授」字尤堪玩味：不是「借」（借出待还），而是「授」（授给、交付），一字之间见出袁枚的态度——虽是借书，却郑重如授业；「授」本为传授、给予，与「受」相对，儒家传统「传道授业解惑」皆用「授」，此处以「授」写借书，暗含以书传道、以书育人之意。同时，「授以书」而「告之曰」，先授后告，身教在先、言教在后，正是长者育人的次第；句式上，状语后置使「书」紧贴「授」字，语势沉稳，与后文警句「书非借不能读也」的斩截形成一缓一急的节奏对照。

书非借不能读也 Books are read only when borrowed. The eye of the whole essay: the double negative, decisive, the truth of the borrowing and the reading gathered in the seven characters, the aphorism that has passed into the common speech. 「书非借不能读也」是全篇文眼，其力量全在双重否定的句式与悖论式的洞察。就句式言，非（借）不能（读），两重否定等于肯定「唯借能读」，语气斩钉截铁，不容置疑；就义理言，此语颠覆常理而合于人情：藏书者书为己有，以为来日方长，反终年不读；借书者书非己物，惟恐还期已至，乃昼夜苦读——「非借不能读」不是绝对的判断，而是对人性「易得者不珍」的深刻透视。此句之妙，在以警句总摄全篇：后文天子、富贵家藏书不读，与借书者「惴惴焉摩玩之不已」的对照，皆为此一句作注；「也」字收束，如锤定音。此语一出即成名言，流传二百余年而不衰，盖因其道破了读书（乃至一切学问）的第一心理法则：珍惜，始于不易得。

子不闻……乎 Have you not heard... ? The rhetorical question that leads the thought: pressing Huang Sheng to reflect, raised but not discharged, the transition to the contrast of the collectors with the borrowers. 「子不闻藏书者乎」之「子不闻……乎」是古汉语典型反问句式，其功能有三：其一，以问代答，把道理引向对方——不直说「藏书者多不读书」，而问「你没听说过吗」，让黄生自悟，训诲之意含蓄而有力；其二，以问设关，引出下文——此问一出，读者的好奇心被唤起，下文天子、富贵家、七略四库的铺陈便顺理成章，起承转合全系此一问；其三，以问传情——「子」字尊称，拉近距离，「乎」字上扬，语气温和而不失庄重，正是长辈对晚辈循循善诱的口吻。在章法上，此问句处于「记事」与「说理」的过渡带，如桥梁之墩、乐段之转，使全文气脉流动而不板滞；袁枚于关键处设一问，笔力之巧，于此可见。