清 Qing · 诗 Poem
真州绝句
Zhenzhou Quatrain
江干多是钓人居，柳陌菱塘一带疏。
好是日斜风定后，半江红树卖鲈鱼。
Best is after the slanted sun and settled wind—half the river red trees, selling perch.
Meaning
By the river mostly dwell the fishing folk; willow lanes and water-chestnut ponds spread, sparse. Best is after the slanted sun and settled wind—beneath the half-river red trees, someone sells perch.
江边大多住着以打鱼为生的渔家，长着柳树的道路与长满菱角的池塘稀稀疏疏地分布着。最迷人的要数夕阳西斜、风儿停定的傍晚，那半江红树的岸边，处处有人在叫卖鲜美的鲈鱼。
Appreciation
Wang Shizhen, courtesy Zizhen and style Ruan Ting, nicknamed Fisherman-of-Yuyang, from Xincheng, a Shunzhi jinshi who led the Kangxi poetry world and preached 'spirit-resonance' — a natural, pale-far mood, flavour beyond flavour. The first two lines plainly describe the river village: mostly fishing folk, willow lanes and water-chestnut ponds, sparse and elegant. The last two lift with 'best is' — after the slanted sun and settled wind, beneath half the river red trees someone sells perch. Its white-description and picture layers, the closing line's colour and motion-within-stillness, and the turning role of 'best is' (host to the first lines' guests) embody the spirit-resonance creed; red trees and green river meet, nature and human affair breeding, implicit yet flavourful.
【白话串讲】 “好是日斜风定后，半江红树卖鲈鱼”——王士禛写真州江边：夕阳西下风停后，一半江面映着红树，渔家卖鲈鱼。清代渔村的黄昏，被他写成了画。 【意象与手法】 前两句以「钓人居」「柳陌菱塘」白描江村静态图景，疏淡幽雅；后两句以「好是」振起，于「日斜风定」的静谧中推出「半江红树卖鲈鱼」的热闹结句。红树碧江色彩鲜明，静景与动景、自然与人事相生，含蓄而有味，典型体现神韵诗风。 【情感与主旨】 王士禛字子真，号阮亭、渔洋山人，新城人，顺治进士，康熙时主盟诗坛，倡「神韵说」，主张意境自然淡远、味外有味。康熙元年任扬州推官，过真州（今仪征）作组诗五首，此第四首写江村渔市晚景，最负盛名。 【名句点睛】 常考白描手法与画面层次；「好是」的转折作用；「半江红树卖鲈鱼」的色彩与动静之妙；神韵说「味外有味」在此诗中的体现。
Background
Wang Shizhen, courtesy Zizhen, style Ruan Ting, Fisherman-of-Yuyang, from Xincheng, a Shunzhi jinshi, in Kangxi led the poetry world, advocating 'spirit-resonance', natural pale-far mood, flavour beyond flavour. In the first year of Kangxi, as Yangzhou judge, passing Zhenzhou (today's Yizheng) he wrote a set of five; this fourth writes the river-village fish-market evening, most famous.
王士禛（1634—1711），字子真，一字贻上，号阮亭，又号渔洋山人，新城（今山东桓台）人，清初文坛盟主。他顺治十五年（1658）中进士，康熙元年（1662）任扬州推官，此后仕途顺遂，官至刑部尚书。王士禛论诗主「神韵说」，以「不著一字，尽得风流」为极则，主张诗歌应当意境自然淡远、含蓄蕴藉、味外有味，其诗风清丽空灵，领袖康熙诗坛数十年，影响深远。康熙元年，王士禛赴扬州任推官，途经真州（今江苏仪征），作《真州绝句》组诗五首，此第四首写江村渔市晚景，最负盛名。真州地处长江北岸，为江北滨江重镇，水网密布、渔产丰饶，诗人过此，正是夏秋之际，江畔渔家鳞次栉比，菱塘柳陌疏疏落落，夕阳西下、江风初定时，渔人归舟，临岸叫卖鲈鱼，一派江南水乡的恬静风光。此诗即捕捉这寻常而迷人的一刻，以清丽淡远的笔致写出江村晚景的诗意，正是其「神韵说」主张的实践——不著议论，不事铺张，而韵味自足。
Art
The first two lines white-describe the river village static picture with 'fishing folk' 'willow lanes and chestnut ponds', sparse and elegant; the last two lines lift with 'best is', in the stillness of 'slanted sun and settled wind' push the lively close 'half the river red trees, selling perch'. Red trees and green river bright in colour; still scene and moving scene, nature and human affair breed, implicit yet flavourful—typical spirit-resonance.
此诗四句，前两句写静景，后两句写动景，动静相生，含蓄有味。前两句「江干多是钓人居，柳陌菱塘一带疏」以白描勾勒江村的静态图景：「江干多是钓人居」写江边多是渔家——「多是」二字见渔村之盛，点出这方水土以渔为业的地域特色；「柳陌菱塘一带疏」写柳陌与菱塘疏疏落落地分布——「一带疏」三字写景物的疏朗有致，柳树成行的道路、种满菱角的池塘，疏疏落落，不密不挤，正是江南水乡特有的清疏之美。后两句「好是日斜风定后，半江红树卖鲈鱼」陡然振起：「好是」即「最是」，以转折领起，把读者的目光引向那最美的时刻——夕阳西斜、风儿停定的傍晚；「半江红树卖鲈鱼」推出全诗最精彩的结句：夕阳把江畔的树木染红，半江红树的映照下，渔人临岸叫卖刚捕的鲈鱼。「红树」与「碧江」色彩鲜明，静景（红树）与动景（卖鱼）相生，自然（江树夕阳）与人事（渔人叫卖）交融，含蓄而有味，正是「神韵」二字的最佳注脚——不写渔家的辛苦，不写诗人的欣羡，只以一幅画收束，而意趣全出。
Allusions
The poem uses no obvious allusion, purely writing the scene before the eye, ordinary matters. Only 'perch' quietly inherits Zhang Han's 'water-shield and perch thought' and 'those on the river, only love the perch's beauty', pointing Jiangnan water-delicacy and the fisher's contentment; no argument yet praise shows—exactly the spirit-resonance aim 'not a word, yet all grace won'.
此诗几乎不用典故，纯写眼前景、寻常事，其「用事」体现在对渔乡意象传统的暗中承袭。「鲈鱼」一词暗承两重传统：一是西晋张翰「莼鲈之思」——张翰见秋风起而思吴中菰菜、莼羹、鲈鱼脍，遂弃官归乡，后世以「莼鲈」为思乡归隐的经典意象，王士禛写真州江畔叫卖鲈鱼，无意间唤起这隐逸传统，江村渔市的寻常景象便带上了一层归隐的诗意；二是宋代范仲淹《江上渔者》「江上往来人，但爱鲈鱼美。君看一叶舟，出没风波里」的渔乡传统——鲈鱼之美与渔人之辛并置，王士禛此诗虽不写渔人之辛，但「钓人居」三字暗含以渔为业者的生活，「卖鲈鱼」则是这一生活的日常呈现。「钓人居」之「钓」亦承姜太公渭水垂钓、严子陵富春江垂钓的隐逸意象，渔钓本是隐者的生活方式，江干钓人居，正是隐逸之趣的世俗化图景。全诗以「无典」为法，而古意自在，正合神韵说「不著一字，尽得风流」之旨——典故不在字面，而在意象传统的深处，悄然为诗境增添了一层历史与隐逸的回响。
Commentary
A Qing critic said of this poem 'the fourth line is the host of the whole; the first three gather into interest, as if heaven-made'. Wang Shizhen led early-Qing poetry with spirit-resonance; this quatrain 'natural pale-far, flavour beyond flavour', with his 'Qinhuai Misc Poems' his representative works, much painted in Jiang-Huai.
清人评此诗「第四句乃一篇之主，前三句凑泊成趣，如天造地设」，点出结句「半江红树卖鲈鱼」为全诗点睛之笔——前三句的江村、柳陌、菱塘、日斜风定，层层铺陈，皆为这「卖鲈鱼」的一刻蓄势，主客照应，浑然天成。王士禛以「神韵说」领袖清初诗坛，论者谓其诗「清远兼之」，此绝正是「清远」的典范：写景清丽而不秾艳，造境淡远而不空疏，语尽而意不尽，正是神韵诗「味外有味」的极致。此诗与《秦淮杂诗》《秋柳》等并称王士禛的代表作，江淮之间多为之图写传诵。在清代诗歌史上，王士禛以神韵诗风矫正了明末竟陵派的幽僻与清初诗坛的粗豪，上承司空图《二十四诗品》「含蓄」「冲淡」与严羽「兴趣」之说，下开清代神韵一派宗风，此绝正是其诗学主张的浓缩标本。近人选清诗，此为首选篇目之一，其「半江红树卖鲈鱼」一句更成为写江南水乡的经典画面，被反复引用、化用，足见其艺术生命力。
Prosody
Line by line
江干多是钓人居，柳陌菱塘一带疏
By the river mostly dwell the fishing folk; willow lanes and water-chestnut ponds spread, sparse.
江边大多住着以打鱼为生的渔家，长着柳树的道路与长满菱角的池塘稀稀疏疏地分布着。
Along the river bank live mostly fishing folk; willow paths and caltrop ponds stretch in a sparse line.
前两句以白描勾勒江村的静态图景，是结句「卖鲈鱼」的铺垫。「江干多是钓人居」写江边大多是渔家——「江干」点明位置（长江岸边），「多是」见渔村之盛，「钓人居」写渔家聚居，以「钓」代「渔」，添一分闲雅，仿佛这江边住的不是辛苦的渔民，而是优游的钓者，疏淡的笔调中已透出诗意的美化。「柳陌菱塘一带疏」写柳陌与菱塘疏疏落落——「柳陌」是柳树成行的道路，「菱塘」是种菱的池塘，一陆一水、一绿一翠，正是江南水乡的典型景物；「一带疏」三字最见功力，「一带」写其绵延成片、「疏」写其疏朗有致，不密不挤，正是「疏淡幽雅」的审美理想。两句一写人、一写景，人依水而居、景随水而布，一幅宁静的江村水墨画徐徐展开，为后文的「日斜风定」「卖鲈鱼」铺设了静谧而富生机的底色。
The first two lines draw the static picture of the river village in plain strokes, the preparation for the closing selling perch. Along the river bank live mostly fishing folk writes that the bank mostly holds the fishing households; the river bank marks the place (the Yangtze shore), mostly shows the village's plenty, fishing dwellings the clustered homes; using fish-hook for fishing adds a touch of ease, as if the bank were home not to the hard fisherman but to the leisurely angler, and the spare brush already carries the poetic beautification. Willow paths and caltrop ponds stretch in a sparse line writes the willow ways and caltrop ponds sparse — the willow paths the roads lined with willows, the caltrop ponds the ponds planted with water caltrop, one land, one water, one green, one emerald, precisely the typical scenery of the Jiangnan water country; the three words a sparse line show most the craft — a line writes their stretching out, sparse their spaced grace, neither dense nor crowded, precisely the aesthetic ideal of spare elegance. Two lines, one of people, one of scene: people dwelling by the water, the scene arranged by the water, a quiet ink painting of the river village slowly unrolling, laying the quiet yet living ground for the later sun slants, the wind falls and the selling perch.
好是日斜风定后
Best is after the slanted sun and settled wind—
最迷人的要数夕阳西斜、风儿停定的傍晚。
Loveliest, after the sun slants and the wind falls,
此句是全诗的转折与蓄势，以「好是」二字振起，领起结句，是主客照应中的「转」。「好是」即「最是」，是口语化的判断词，诗人以此一转为笔，仿佛在江村漫步中忽然驻足，向读者指出那最美的时刻——「日斜风定后」：夕阳西斜、江风停定。此句的妙处在于「择时」的精准：「日斜」是黄昏，光线柔和而温暖，万物镀上一层金色；「风定」是风平，江面如镜、波澜不兴——日斜与风定相叠，正是江村一天中最宁静、最富诗意的时刻，也是渔人归舟、市集将启的时刻。前两句写空间（江干、柳陌、菱塘），此句写时间（日斜风定），时空交汇，为结句的「卖鲈鱼」提供了最恰当的场景。「好是」二字的判断，还暗含诗人的欣悦与指点，仿佛在说：要看这江村的美，须在此刻——此句是结句的蓄势，也是诗人审美眼光的显露。
The line is the turning and storing force of the poem, raised by the two words loveliest, leading the closing line, the turning in the correspondence of subject and object. Loveliest means most, the colloquial judgment word, the poet turning at this stroke, as if pausing in his stroll through the river village and pointing out to the reader the fairest hour — after the sun slants and the wind falls: the sun slanting, the river wind still. The beauty lies in the precision of choosing the hour: sun slants is dusk, the light soft and warm, all things gilded; wind falls is the wind calm, the river like a mirror without a ripple — sun slant and wind fall overlay, precisely the river village's quietest, most poetic hour of the day, and the hour of the fishermen's return and the market's opening. The first two lines write space (the bank, the willow paths, the caltrop ponds), this line writes time (sun slants, wind falls), time and space meeting, providing the most fitting scene for the closing selling perch. The judgment of loveliest also secretly carries the poet's delight and pointing, as if to say: to see the beauty of this river village, it must be now — the line stores force for the close and reveals the poet's aesthetic eye.
半江红树卖鲈鱼
Half the river red trees, selling perch.
那半江红树的岸边，处处有人在叫卖鲜美的鲈鱼。
when, by the half-river of red trees, men sell perch.
结句是全诗的点睛之笔，也是清代诗坛最著名的写景名句之一。「半江红树」写夕阳把江畔的树木染成红色，那红树倒映江中，仿佛染红了半边江面——「半江」写红树映江之广，以江面之阔衬树色之红，空间开阔，色彩鲜明；「卖鲈鱼」写渔人临岸叫卖刚捕的鲈鱼——「卖」字写市井的喧闹与生机，与「半江红树」的静美相映成趣。此句的妙处有三：一是色彩之美，「红树」与碧江相映，红绿对比，鲜明而不艳俗；二是动静相生，红树是静景，卖鱼是动景，静中见动，动中有静；三是自然与人事交融，江、树、夕阳是自然，钓人居、卖鲈鱼是人事，二者相融无间，正是「诗中有画」的极致。结句以市声收束，不写渔家之辛、不抒诗人之情，只留一幅「红树卖鱼」的画境，而江村的诗意、渔家的生活、诗人的欣羡，尽在画外，正是神韵说「味外有味」的典范。
The closing line is the pointed eye of the poem, and one of the most famous scenic lines in the Qing poetry world. Half-river of red trees writes the sunset dyeing the bank-side trees red, the red trees reflected in the river as if dyeing half the water red; half-river writes the breadth of the red trees reflected, the width of the water setting off the red of the trees, the space open and the color vivid. Selling perch writes the fisherman by the bank crying the freshly caught perch; the word sell writes the market's bustle and life, set off against the still beauty of the half-river of red trees. The line is threefold: first, the beauty of color — the red trees set against the green river, red and green contrasting, bright yet not gaudy; second, stillness and motion begetting each other — the red trees a still scene, the selling fish a moving one, motion within stillness, stillness within motion; third, nature and human affairs fused — the river, the trees, the sunset are nature, the fishing homes and the selling perch human affairs, fused without seam, precisely the extreme of poetry in painting. The close ends on the market's voice, writing not the fisherman's toil nor the poet's feeling, leaving only a painted scene of red trees and selling fish; the poetry of the river village, the fisherman's life, the poet's delight, all beyond the painting, precisely the model of the shenyun doctrine of flavor beyond flavor.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both paint Jiangnan; Yuyang writes Zhenzhou fish market, Nalan writes Jianye Tiger Hill—both spirit-resonance leisurely.
纳兰性德《梦江南·江南好》「江南好，城阙尚嵯峨。故物陵前惟石马，遗踪陌上有铜驼」与王士禛《真州绝句》同为清人写江南的名篇，而一写江城古迹、一写江村渔市，情调亦有别。纳兰写江南，从「城阙」「陵前石马」「陌上铜驼」的故物遗迹入手，在江南的繁华底色上涂抹一层兴亡的苍凉，「玉树歌残王气终」的历史感扑面而来，笔调沉郁；王士禛写真州，从「钓人居」「柳陌菱塘」「半江红树卖鲈鱼」的日常风物入手，在江村的光影中捕捉诗意的一瞬，「日斜风定」的安宁令人心醉，笔调清远。一写江南之「史」，一写江南之「景」；一沉郁苍凉，一疏淡悠然，恰见清初词坛与诗坛对江南的两种书写，也见「神韵」与「性灵」两种诗学趣味的差异。
江南春 Spring on the River South 杜牧 · 同写江南水乡，一写春景空蒙一写晚景疏淡，异代可比 Same topic (Jiangnan landscape), different eraDu writes Jiangnan spring misty; Wang writes Zhenzhou evening sparse—both pale brush water towns.
杜牧《江南春》「千里莺啼绿映红，水村山郭酒旗风」与王士禛《真州绝句》同写江南水乡，而时代相隔数百年，诗风各具面目。杜牧写江南的春景，「千里莺啼绿映红」以工对写春色的秾丽，「南朝四百八十寺，多少楼台烟雨中」以历史的烟雨收束，把江南的明丽与历史的苍茫熔于一炉，笔调宏阔而有兴亡之慨；王士禛写江南的晚景，「柳陌菱塘一带疏」以白描写风物的疏淡，「半江红树卖鲈鱼」以市声收束，把江村的宁静与生活的诗意凝于一刻，笔调清远而神韵悠然。一写春之盛、一写暮之静；一宏阔、一清疏；唐诗的丰腴与清诗的淡远，在此对照分明，恰见中国诗歌由唐到清审美趣味的演变，也见同一「江南」主题在不同时代诗人笔下的不同神采。