清 Qing · 诗 Poem
崆峒
Kongtong Mountain
斗星高被众峰吞，莽荡山河剑气昏。
隔断尘寰云似海，划开天路岭为门。
松拿霄汉来龙斗，石负苔衣挟兽奔。
四望桃花红满谷，不应仍问武陵源。
The dusty world is cut off, clouds like a sea; a heavenly road is split open, the ridge its gate.
Pines clutch the vault of heaven, dragons seeming to fight; rocks bear mossy robes, beasts seeming to charge.
Looking around, peach blossoms redden the whole valley — no need still to ask after the Wuling spring.
Meaning
The high Dipper star seems swallowed by the crowding peaks; across the vast and rolling land and rivers the sword-spirit is dimmed. Layers of cloud-sea cut off the mortal world; mountain ridges stand like gates that split open a road to heaven. Ancient pines reach into the vault of heaven as if dragons fought there; strange rocks wear mossy coats as if beasts were charging. Gazing in all directions, peach blossoms blaze red through the whole valley — there is no need to go asking after the Wuling peach-blossom spring.
高悬的斗星仿佛被群峰吞没，苍茫辽阔的山河间剑气昏沉。重重云海隔断了尘世，山峰如门划开了通天之路。古松伸向霄汉，似有群龙相斗；怪石披着苔衣，如猛兽奔突。四下望去桃花红艳开满山谷，倒不必再去寻问那武陵桃源了。
Appreciation
Tan Sitong's 'Kongtong Mountain' is a regulated poem that celebrates the strange grandeur of the mountain while quietly revealing the poet's own ambition to take in rivers and mountains. The whole is charged with a single word, 'strange'. The opening couplet, 'The Dipper star, high, is swallowed by the crowding peaks; the wild and boundless land and rivers dim with sword-spirit', writes the mountain's height by having the stars swallowed and writes a sombre, martial air in the land through 'sword-spirit'. The middle couplets turn the clouds and ridges into hinges of heaven and earth; the neck couplet makes still pines and rocks leap into motion like fighting dragons and charging beasts. The closing couplet suddenly turns gentle — 'peach blossoms redden the whole valley' — yet overturns the expectation of a tranquil retreat with 'no need still to ask after the Wuling spring', joining hardness and softness. A reader meets a landscape that is at once sublime and intimate, and behind it the resolve of a man who would not hide from the world.
【白话串讲】 “斗星高被众峰吞，莽荡山河剑气昏”——谭嗣同写崆峒山：北斗星被群峰吞没。“四望桃花红满谷，不应仍问武陵源”——满谷桃花红艳，何必再找桃花源？戊戌六君子之一的谭嗣同，写出了一身剑气。 【意象与手法】 全诗以「奇」字贯注。首联「斗星高被众峰吞，莽荡山河剑气昏」，以星被峰吞写山高，以「剑气昏」写山河莽荡中的肃杀奇气；颔联「隔断尘寰云似海，划开天路岭为门」，「隔断」「划开」力度惊人，将云岭化为天地关枢。颈联「松拿霄汉来龙斗，石负苔衣挟兽奔」，「拿」「挟」二字使静物飞动，如龙斗兽奔。尾联忽转妩媚，「桃花红满谷」而以「不应仍问武陵源」翻案，刚柔相济 【情感与主旨】 谭嗣同（1865—1898），字复生，号壮飞，湖南浏阳人，清末维新派烈士，「戊戌六君子」之一。其少负奇气，十余岁即从父宦游，足迹半天下，所至辄为诗。此诗当为其北上途经崆峒时作，写山势之雄奇与个人吞吐山河之概，隐隐见其后来「我自横刀向天笑」的任侠肝胆与不甘遁隐的用世之志 【名句点睛】 本诗为近代山水诗鉴赏篇目。考点：一、动词锤炼（「吞」「划」「拿」「挟」）的雄健效果；二、「不应仍问武陵源」翻陶渊明《桃花源记》之典，见不甘隐逸之用世志；三、「松拿霄汉来龙斗，石负苔衣挟兽奔」拟人夸张、静物飞动的手法
Background
Tan Sitong (1865-1898), courtesy Fusheng, style Zhuangfei, from Liuyang in Hunan, was a martyr of the late-Qing reform movement and one of the 'Six Gentlemen of the Wuxu Reform'. As a youth he bore a strange boldness, and from his teens travelled with his father on official postings, covering half the empire, and wrote poems wherever he went. Kongtong Mountain lies in Pingliang, Gansu, a renowned Taoist sacred peak. This poem was likely written when he passed Kongtong on a northward journey; it depicts the mountain's majestic strangeness and a personal spirit that would take in rivers and mountains, faintly showing the chivalrous backbone that later became 'I draw my sword and laugh toward heaven', and a will to serve the world rather than withdraw.
谭嗣同（1865—1898），字复生，号壮飞，湖南浏阳人，清末维新派政治家、诗人，「戊戌六君子」之一。其少负奇气，十余岁即从父宦游，足迹遍及大江南北，所至辄为诗，多雄奇豪宕之作。崆峒山在甘肃平凉西，为道教名山，相传黄帝曾问道于广成子于此，山势雄奇险峻。此诗当为其北上途中途经崆峒时作，写山势之雄奇与个人吞吐山河之概。时值清末，国势日衰，列强环伺，谭嗣同怀济世之志而报国无门，其诗多写壮游山水以寄怀抱。此诗写崆峒之奇，隐隐见其后来「我自横刀向天笑，去留肝胆两昆仑」的任侠肝胆与不甘遁隐的用世之志：崆峒本为道教仙山，诗人却以「不应仍问武陵源」否定避世，正是其积极用世、投身变革的心态写照，是理解谭嗣同「冲决网罗」的精神与其诗歌「恢诡雄奇」风格的重要作品。此诗为近代山水诗中的奇作，其「以奇气写奇山」的风格，直接影响了后来梁启超、秋瑾等人的革命诗风。
Art
The whole poem is charged with a single character, 'strange'. The opening couplet, 'The Dipper star, high, is swallowed by the crowding peaks; the wild and boundless land and rivers dim with sword-spirit', writes the mountain's height by the stars being swallowed and writes a sombre martial air through 'sword-spirit'; the second couplet, 'The dusty world is cut off, clouds like a sea; a heavenly road is split open, the ridge its gate', with 'cut off' and 'split open' has astonishing force, turning clouds and ridges into hinges of heaven and earth. The neck couplet, 'Pines clutch the vault of heaven, dragons seeming to fight; rocks bear mossy robes, beasts seeming to charge', with 'clutch' and 'bear' gives life and motion to still things, like dragons fighting and beasts charging. The closing couplet suddenly turns tender, and 'no need still to ask after the Wuling spring' overturns the expectation, joining hard and soft.
全诗以「奇」字贯注，动词锤炼雄健，意象瑰玮，刚柔相济。首联「斗星高被众峰吞，莽荡山河剑气昏」以「吞」写山高夺天：高悬的斗星竟被群峰吞没，极言崆峒之高峻；「莽荡山河剑气昏」以「剑气」写山河之奇气，苍茫辽阔之间剑气昏沉，正是谭嗣同任侠之气的外化。颔联「隔断尘寰云似海，划开天路岭为门」以「隔断」「划开」写云岭之雄奇：云海隔断尘世，山岭划开天路，力度惊人，将云岭化为天地关枢。颈联「松拿霄汉来龙斗，石负苔衣挟兽奔」以「拿」「挟」写松石之飞动：古松伸向霄汉如群龙相斗，怪石披苔如猛兽奔突，拟人夸张，静物飞动。尾联「四望桃花红满谷，不应仍问武陵源」忽转妩媚：桃花满谷而否定桃源，刚柔相济，翻案见志。全诗由远及近、由天及地、由景及志，奇崛雄健，是近代山水诗的代表作。尤可注意者，尾联由奇险忽转入妩媚，以桃花满谷收束龙斗兽奔，刚柔相济，正见谭诗「沉郁之至，出以恢诡」的本色。
Allusions
The 'Wuling spring' uses Tao Yuanming's 'Record of the Peach Blossom Spring', originally a place of seclusion from the world. The poet writes peach blossoms in full bloom in Kongtong's valley yet does not turn to reclusive thoughts; instead he says 'no need still to ask after the Wuling spring', overturning the retreat tradition and implying a will to act rather than hide. 'Sword-spirit' draws on the tale of the sword-spirit of Fengcheng and the constellation of stars, using sword-spirit to write the mountain's strange air, with Tan's chivalrous grain. 'Dipper star' is the Big Dipper, quietly fitting Kongtong's Taoist star lore.
此诗用典不多而皆见其志。「武陵源」用陶渊明《桃花源记》典：武陵渔人偶入桃花源，见避秦之人，世外乐土，后遂以桃花源、武陵源代指避世隐居之地——诗人写崆峒谷中桃花烂漫，却不作隐逸之想，反云「不应仍问武陵源」，是对桃源避世传统的翻案：崆峒虽美，不必寻桃源而隐，正是其不甘遁世、欲有所作为之志的写照，与《桃花源记》的避世旨趣正相对立。「剑气」化用丰城剑气之典：晋代张华见斗牛之间常有紫气，雷焕谓为宝剑之精，上彻于天，果于丰城掘得龙泉、太阿二剑——「剑气昏」以剑气写山河之奇气、亦写诗人胸中之奇气，暗含其任侠用世之志，具谭氏「壮飞」底色。「斗星」即北斗，崆峒为道教名山，北斗为道教星斗之象，暗合崆峒道教仙山之背景。用典皆化入意象而浑然无迹，正见近代诗人「以新意境入旧风格」的创作追求。其用典之新，正在于以旧典写新志，为传统意象注入近代精神。
Commentary
Tan Sitong's style is 'most melancholy, yet issues in the bizarre'; Liang Qichao in his Yinbingshi Poetry Talks calls his poetry 'opening a new realm while holding ancient sounds'. This 'Kongtong' has long been valued by anthologists; critics say lines like 'Pines clutch the vault of heaven' and 'rocks bear beasts charging' could only come from one who had seen strange mountains and harboured a strange spirit. Modern scholar Qian Zhonglian's Modern Poetry Selection also ranks it as the crown of Tan's landscape works.
谭嗣同诗风「沉郁之至，出以恢诡」，梁启超《饮冰室诗话》称其诗「独辟新界而渊含古声」，正点出其熔新思想于旧体诗的追求。此《崆峒》向为选家所重，论者谓「松拿霄汉」「石挟兽奔」数语，非尝历奇山、胸有奇气者不能道——奇景须奇人写，谭嗣同足迹半天下、胸怀济世志，故能写崆峒之奇如此。近人钱仲联《近代诗钞》亦推此诗为谭诗山水诸作之冠。此诗在文学史上的意义有三：其一，以雄奇之笔写山水，为近代山水诗提供了「以奇气写奇山」的范式；其二，「不应仍问武陵源」的翻案，将传统隐逸母题翻为用世之志，见近代士人于国难当头之际的担当；其三，诗中山河剑气、龙斗兽奔的意象，正是谭嗣同「冲决网罗」精神的外化——其人之奇、其诗之奇、其山（崆峒）之奇三者合一，是理解谭嗣同人格与诗风、理解近代志士精神的重要文本。其人不朽，其诗亦不朽，正是「文如其人」的最好注脚。
Prosody
Line by line
斗星高被众峰吞
The Dipper star, high, is swallowed by the crowding peaks
高悬的斗星仿佛被群峰吞没
The high stars of the Dipper seem swallowed up by the multitude of peaks.
首句写山之高，以「吞」字奇崛有力，是全诗写崆峒之奇的第一笔。「斗星高」写星之高：北斗高悬天穹，本是至高至远之物；「被众峰吞」写峰之高：如此高悬的斗星，竟被群峰吞没——「吞」字以拟人写群峰：群峰如巨口，将天上的北斗一口吞下，极言崆峒山势之高峻，高到与天相接、遮蔽星斗。此句的妙处在于以星写山：不直接写山多高，而写星被吞——星之高衬托峰之高，峰之雄夺星之明，山势之崔巍、气象之雄奇，尽在一个「吞」字之中。「吞」字尤见谭嗣同炼字之雄健：若说「掩」「蔽」，则失之弱；「吞」字写群峰之吞噬，如巨兽张口，力大无穷，正是其「冲决网罗」的奇气在写景中的体现，起笔即以奇崛之笔夺人眼目。
The opening writes the mountain's height through the strange, forceful word swallow, the first stroke of the poem's writing of the Kongtong's wonder. The high stars of the Dipper writes the height of the stars: the Dipper hung high in the vault, the loftiest, farthest thing. Seemed swallowed up by the multitude of peaks writes the height of the peaks: the Dipper, hung so high, is swallowed by the crowd of peaks; the word swallow personifies the peaks: the peaks like a great mouth, swallowing the heavenly Dipper in one gulp, saying to the utmost the Kongtong's height, touching the sky, veiling the stars. The beauty of the line lies in writing the mountain through the stars: not saying how high the mountain is, but writing the stars swallowed — the stars' height sets off the peaks' height, the peaks' grandeur seizes the stars' brightness; the towering ridge and the wonderful atmosphere are all within the single word swallow. The word swallow shows most the strength of Tan Sitong's diction: say screen or veil, and it falls weak; swallow writes the peaks' devouring, like a great beast opening its jaws, the force enormous, precisely the showing of his spirit of bursting the net in scene-writing; the opening arrests the eye with its strangeness.
划开天路岭为门
A heavenly road is split open, the ridge its gate
山峰如门划开了通天之路
The ridges, as if cleft apart, stand open like a gate to the road of heaven.
此句写岭之奇，以「划开」力度惊人，将云岭化为天地关枢。「隔断尘寰云似海」先写云海之隔：重重云海，如大海般隔断了尘世——崆峒高入云端，与尘世隔绝，仙山之象毕现；「划开天路岭为门」再写山岭之门：山岭如门，划开了通天之路——「划开」二字力重千钧，如利剑划开天幕，将静止的山岭写得有了动作、有了力量；「天路」写其高，通天之路，「为门」写其形，山岭如天门洞开。此句的妙处在于以动写静、以力写形：「划开」是剑之动作，正暗合前句「剑气昏」的任侠之气——剑气划开天路，山岭为门，天地为之开阖，正是谭嗣同吞吐山河之概的写照。云海为隔，山岭为门，一隔一开，崆峒之雄奇与诗人胸襟之开阔，尽在此联之中。
The line writes the wonder of the ridges through the startling force of cleft apart, turning the cloud-ridge into the hinge of heaven and earth. Barred off from the dusty world, clouds like a sea first writes the cloud-sea's separation: range on range of cloud, like a great sea cutting off the mortal world — the Kongtong high into the clouds, severed from the dust, the immortal mountain's aspect fully shown. The ridges, as if cleft apart, stand open like a gate to the road of heaven then writes the ridge-gate: the ridges like a gate, cleaving open the road to heaven; the words cleft apart carry the weight of a thousand jun, like a sword splitting the canopy, giving the motionless ridges action and force; the road of heaven writes their height, the way to the sky; as a gate their form, the ridges standing like the heavenly gate thrown open. The beauty of the line lies in writing stillness through motion, form through force: cleft apart is the motion of a sword, secretly answering the swordsman's air of the previous line's sword light — the sword's qi splits the road to heaven, the ridges stand as the gate, and heaven and earth open and close at his touch; precisely the portrait of Tan Sitong's spirit swallowing the rivers and hills. The cloud-sea as barrier, the ridges as gate; one barrier, one opening, the wonder of the Kongtong and the breadth of the poet's breast are all in the couplet.
松拿霄汉来龙斗，石负苔衣挟兽奔
Pines clutch the vault of heaven, dragons seeming to fight; rocks bear mossy robes, beasts seeming to charge
古松伸向霄汉，似有群龙相斗；怪石披着苔衣，如猛兽奔突
The ancient pines claw at the galaxy as if dragons in combat; the strange rocks, cloaked in moss, dash forward like running beasts.
此联写松石之奇，拟人夸张，静物飞动，是谭诗豪气的集中体现。「松拿霄汉来龙斗」写松：古松伸向霄汉（拿为抓取、伸向之意），如群龙相斗——松枝盘曲伸天，如龙爪攫拿；松涛涌动，如龙斗翻腾，将静态的古松写得飞动激烈；「石负苔衣挟兽奔」写石：怪石披着苔衣，如猛兽挟势奔突——「负」写石负苔衣，如兽负皮毛；「挟」写其挟风奔突之势，将静止的怪石写得奔腾咆哮。一松一石，一龙一兽，皆以拟人夸张写其飞动之态：「拿」「挟」二字使静物皆活，如龙斗兽奔，气势骇人。此联的妙处在于以动态写静态、以想象写实景：崆峒松石本为静物，而诗人以龙斗兽奔写之，静者愈奇、实者愈幻，正是「非尝历奇山、胸有奇气者不能道」的笔墨，也是谭嗣同「恢诡雄奇」诗风的典型。
The couplet writes the wonder of pines and rocks, personification and hyperbole, the still objects in motion, the concentrated showing of Tan's heroic air. The ancient pines claw at the galaxy as if dragons in combat writes the pines: the old pines reaching for the galaxy (claw means to seize, to stretch toward), like dragons in combat — the twisted boughs reaching heaven like dragon claws seizing; the pine-torrent surging like fighting dragons, writing the static old pines as flying and fierce. The strange rocks, cloaked in moss, dash forward like running beasts writes the rocks: the fantastic rocks in their moss cloaks, dashing like beasts in full charge; the word cloaked writes the rocks bearing moss like beasts bearing fur; the word bearing-on writes their rush upon the wind, writing the motionless rocks as running and roaring. One pine, one rock; one dragon, one beast: all written in personification and hyperbole as flying and moving; the words claw and bearing-on make the still objects live, like dragons fighting and beasts running, the momentum appalling. The beauty of the couplet lies in writing the static through the dynamic, the real through imagination: the pines and rocks of the Kongtong are still things, yet the poet writes them as dragons and beasts, the static the stranger, the real the more visionary; precisely the brush of one who has truly known strange mountains and bears a strange spirit in his breast, and the model of Tan Sitong's grand, uncanny style.
不应仍问武陵源
No need still to ask after the Wuling spring
倒不必再去寻问那武陵桃源了
No need now to go asking after the Peach Blossom Spring.
结句翻案见志，是全诗立意所在。「四望桃花红满谷」先写崆峒之桃花：四下望去，桃花红艳，开满山谷——崆峒谷中，桃花烂漫，如武陵桃源之景；「不应仍问武陵源」再以翻案否定桃源：既然崆峒已是人间胜境，倒不必再去寻问那武陵桃源了——「武陵源」用陶渊明《桃花源记》之典，本指避世隐居之地，「不应仍问」以否定出之：不必寻桃源而隐，不必避世而居。此句的妙处在于以翻案写志：桃花源本是避世之乐土，而诗人身处清末国难之际，志在济世而非避世——崆峒虽美，不过是壮游之所；山河虽危，正是用世之时——故以「不应仍问」否定桃源，正是其不甘遁隐、欲有所作为之志的写照。以桃花满谷之美景，写不甘避世之壮志，刚柔相济，翻案见志，是全诗由写景到言志的点睛之笔，也暗含「此间乐，不思桃源」的豪气。
The close overturns the allusion to show resolve, where the poem's meaning lies. Looking four ways, peach blossoms red fill the valley first writes the Kongtong's peach blossoms: on every side, the peach blossoms red and bright, filling the valleys — in the Kongtong's dales the blossoms run riot, like the scene of the Peach Blossom Spring. No need now to go asking after the Peach Blossom Spring then overturns and denies the spring: since the Kongtong is already a paradise on earth, there is no need to seek the Peach Blossom Spring. The Peach Blossom Spring uses the allusion to Tao Yuanming's Record of the Peach Blossom Spring, properly the refuge from the world; no need now to seek it speaks in negation: no need to seek the spring and hide, no need to shun the world and dwell apart. The beauty of the line lies in writing resolve through the reversal: the Peach Blossom Spring is properly the joyous refuge from the world, yet the poet, in the national calamity of the late Qing, is resolved to serve the age, not to shun it — the Kongtong, however fair, is but the place of a grand tour; the rivers and hills, however imperiled, are the hour for action. Hence the negation of the spring through no need now to seek is precisely the portrait of his will that will not flee into hiding, but would act. Writing the lofty scene of the blossom-filled valley through the resolve that will not shun the world, strength and softness in balance, the reversal revealing the will, the crowning stroke of the poem's passage from scene to resolve, and secretly carrying the bold air of here is joy enough, I think not of the Peach Blossom Spring.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both from Tan Sitong's grand journeys: one writes a mountain, one a terrace, both showing heroic ambition to serve the world.
《秋登越王台》以「秋风匹马驻南关」「山河云影照边关」写登台远望之景，「独向苍茫立」写独立苍茫之姿，寄忧时之思与用世之志，苍茫雄浑；此诗以「斗星高被众峰吞」「松拿霄汉来龙斗」写崆峒之奇，寄吞吐山河之概，奇崛雄健。两诗同出谭嗣同壮游之手，同写登临之景、同寄用世之志，而一写登台（人文古迹）、一写登山（自然奇峰），一苍茫、一奇崛。合观二诗，可见谭嗣同山水纪游诗「以奇气写景、以壮志寄怀」的一贯风格，也可体会其「壮飞」之号在诗歌中的体现。
山行 Walking in the Mountains 袁枚 · 同写清人游山，一豪宕一闲适 Same (landscape topic; Qing travel poetry)Both write Qing poets' pleasure of mountain excursions; Tan is heroic and unrestrained, Yuan is leisurely — their styles invite contrast.
袁枚《山行》以「青山不识我姓字，我亦不识青山名」「飞来白鸟似相识，对我对山三两声」写游山之趣，拟人诙谐、闲适自得，正是性灵派「以趣写景」的风格；此诗以「斗星高被众峰吞」「松拿霄汉来龙斗」写崆峒之奇，雄奇豪宕、奇崛飞动，正是维新志士「以气写景」的风格。两诗同写清人游山，而袁枚闲适谐趣、谭嗣同豪宕奇崛，一写山我相忘之趣、一写吞吐山河之志，正是清代诗坛两种诗风（性灵与激昂）的对照。比较二诗，可见清诗写山水的多样面目，也可体会乾嘉文人与清末志士不同的心境与诗格。