宋 Song · 文 Prose
伤仲永·版本二
The Injury of Zhongyong (The Second Version: The Conclusion)
仲永之通悟，受之天也。
其受之天也，贤于材人远矣。
卒之为众人，则其受于人者不至也。
彼其受之天也，如此其贤也，不受之人，且为众人。
Meaning
The concluding passage of Wang Anshi's famous essay 'The Injury of Zhongyong.' Zhongyong's understanding and enlightenment were received from Heaven — his native genius came from the natural endowment. His receiving them from Heaven made him far more gifted than the ordinary talented. But in the end he became a common man — because what he received from man was not carried through: the education and the cultivation that should have built on the natural gift were not completed. And the conclusion drives the point home: he received from Heaven such excellence as this, yet without the receiving from man, he became a common man after all. The passage is the essay's thesis — the natural genius that perishes without the cultivation, the warning against the neglect of learning.
仲永的通达聪慧，是得自于天赋的。他得自天赋的资质，比一般有才能的人要高出很多。最终他成为普通人，那是因为他后天所受的教育没有达到应有的程度。像他那样得自天赋的资质，如此聪慧，没有受到后天的教育，尚且成为普通人。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Zhongyong's understanding and enlightenment were received from Heaven. His receiving them from Heaven made him far more gifted than the ordinary talented. But in the end he became a common man — because what he received from man was not carried through. He received from Heaven such excellence as this, yet, without the receiving from man, he became a common man after all. [Structure and Thought] The passage states the thesis in four movements: the native gift from Heaven, its superiority over the ordinary talent, its loss — the common man in the end — and the cause — the incomplete receiving from man; the conclusion repeats the two receivings and the fall. [Key Technique] The essay's art is the reiterated contrast: the 'receiving from Heaven' and the 'receiving from man' are set against each other through the passage, and the close repeats the contrast to drive home the thesis — the natural gift without the cultivation. [Emotional Tone] Plain, pointed, and urgent: the prose of the reformer, stating the thesis with the clarity of the argument and the urgency of the warning.
【白话串讲】 王安石写《伤仲永》的议论：“仲永之通悟，受之天也”——仲永的天赋是上天给的。“其受之天也，贤于材人远矣”——他比一般人聪明得多。“卒之为众人，则其受于人者不至也”——最终成了普通人，是因为没有接受后天的教育——“今夫不受之天，固众人；又不受之人，得为众人而已邪”——他叹天赋也要靠学习。 【意象与手法】本段是典型的「先扬后抑」论证：先极力称扬仲永天资之异（「贤于材人远矣」），再以「卒之为众人」陡然跌转，形成强烈反差，从而凸显「受于人」即后天学习的关键作用。「受之天」「受于人」对举，概念清晰，逻辑严密。 【情感与主旨】作者借仲永之伤，申明「后天教育决定成败」的道理，警戒世人不可恃才自傲、废学不修，体现王安石重教育、重实践的务实思想。 【名句点睛】「彼其受之天也，如此其贤也，不受之人，且为众人」以退为进，用仲永的极端天赋反证学习的必要性，笔力千钧。
Background
Wang Anshi (1021–1086) was the great reformer of the Northern Song, the prime minister whose 'New Policies' divided the age, and a master of the terse, argumentative prose. 'The Injury of Zhongyong' is one of his most famous essays: the prodigy Fang Zhongyong of Jinxi, who could compose poems at five, was paraded for his gift and never educated, and by twelve or thirteen his compositions had declined; by twenty, he was a common man. The essay's conclusion — this passage — states the thesis: the genius received from Heaven perishes without the cultivation received from man. The essay is the classic statement of the necessity of learning.
王安石（1021—1086），字介甫，号半山，北宋抚州临川人，著名政治家、文学家，「唐宋八大家」之一。他少负才名，庆历二年（1042）进士及第，此后历官州县，目睹民间疾苦，主张变法图强；嘉祐年间上万言书，熙宁二年（1069）拜相推行新法。《伤仲永》作于其青年时期（约庆历年间），记叙同乡神童方仲永「五岁作诗」而最终「泯然众人」的故事，借此阐发「后天教育重于天赋」的道理。仲永之父「日扳仲永环谒于邑人，不使学」，把儿子当作牟利工具，遂使天资尽废，王安石目睹其事，深为痛惜，故题为「伤」——伤其天资之废，亦伤其父之愚、时俗之陋。本文作于王安石青年时期，已可见他重实践、重教育的思想萌芽，与后来推行新法时大兴学校、改革科举的主张一脉相承。本版本节选的是全文结尾的议论部分，是全篇叙事之后的点睛之笔，逻辑严密、笔力遒劲，集中体现了王安石散文「析理精严」的风格。故本篇议论虽短，实为观察王安石思想与文风之重要窗口，其价值不容小觑。
Art
The passage's art is the art of the reiterated contrast. The two receivings — from Heaven and from man — are set against each other in the first movement: the native gift, and its superiority over the ordinary talent. The second movement states the fall and the cause: the common man in the end, because the receiving from man was not carried through. And the close repeats the whole in the plainest form: he received from Heaven such excellence, yet without the receiving from man, he became a common man after all. The prose's power is the clarity of the argument — the contrast stated, repeated, and driven home, with the plainest words and the utmost force.
从文体看，《伤仲永》是「传」体（人物小传）与「论」体结合的记叙文，先叙事后议论，卒章显志。本段为议论部分，其艺术特色可括为「概念对举、正反相形、层层递进」三点。其一，概念对举：「受之天」（天赋）与「受于人」（后天学习）两个概念贯穿全段，一先天一后天、一虚一实，构成全段立论的骨架；其二，正反相形：「贤于材人远矣」极写天资之优，与「卒之为众人」的结局形成强烈反差，先扬后抑，使「受于人者不至」的结论水到渠成；其三，层层递进：由「仲永之通悟，受之天也」的肯定，到「卒之为众人」的转折，再到「彼其受之天也……且为众人」的感叹，三句一步一进，逻辑由判断而因果而推论，环环相扣。语言上，「也」「矣」等语气词贯穿，判断句、感叹句交错，语势由平缓转沉痛；「受之天」「受之人」的「受」字重复出现，点出「得之于何」的根本之问，炼字精当。全段仅数十字而论证完备，是宋代议论文「以少总多」的典范。
Allusions
The passage carries no learned allusion; its art is the plain argument. 'Received from Heaven' (shou zhi tian) is the native gift — the endowment of the natural talent; 'received from man' (shou zhi ren) is the cultivation — the education and the practice that build on the gift; 'the ordinary talented' (cairen) are the men of the common talent; and 'a common man' (zhongren) is the man of the common rank — the final state of the neglected genius.
本段虽无显性用典，其思想却深植于中国「性习之辨」与「劝学」传统。其一，承《论语》「性相近也，习相远也」的命题——孔子论人性本相近，因习染不同而相远，「受之天」「受于人」之分正是「性与习」之辨的文言表达；其二，合《孟子》「人皆可以为尧舜」与「求则得之」之说——孟子认为人性本善、学则可以成德，王安石以「受于人者不至」解释仲永之废，正是孟子重「学」思想的延续；其三，接荀子《劝学》「学不可以已」「锲而不舍，金石可镂」的积学之义——天资虽高，不学则废，正是「学不可以已」的反证；其四，与后世「神童」母题相关——中国文学史上「伤仲永」式的天才夭折故事（如《世说新语》中的早慧者）屡见不鲜，王安石以此为例，把「教育决定论」的思想落实为可感的个案。全段以「天」与「人」对举，实则是中国思想史上「先天与后天」「性与习」「才与学」永恒之辨的缩影，言简而意赅。然其精神所系，正在中国「学以成才」的千年传统，读之自见文章与思想的深层呼应。
Commentary
This passage is the conclusion of one of Wang Anshi's most famous essays, quoted in every school for its thesis — the genius that perishes without the cultivation. The reiterated contrast of the receiving from Heaven and the receiving from man is the model of the terse, argumentative prose. Critics praise the passage's clarity and force: the plainest words, the repeated argument, and the warning against the neglect of learning.
《伤仲永》是中国文学史上最著名的「天才之伤」，本段议论则以其逻辑之严整、笔力之遒劲，成为千年来劝学文的典范。「伤仲永」三字已成为一个文化符号——「仲永式悲剧」泛指天资聪颖而荒于后学者，其影响早已超出文学进入日常话语。从思想史看，本段「受之天」与「受于人」的辨析，把「天赋与教育」的关系讲得辩证而透辟，与《为学》（彭端淑）「为之，则难者亦易矣」、荀子《劝学》「锲而不舍」的劝学主题互为表里，共同构成中国「重学」传统的核心文本。从文学史看，本文「先叙事、后议论」的结构与「卒章显志」的章法，为后世「传论」体散文（如韩愈《马说》）提供了范式；其语言之精悍、论断之斩截，正是王安石散文「文如其人」的写照。在传播史上，本文长期入选中学语文教材，几代学生由此记住「不使学」三字的警示，其教育意义与文学价值历久弥新，堪称以短章写大道理的千古名篇。其警世之力，至今未减，一代代读者皆于仲永之殇中自警自励。
Prosody
Line by line
仲永之通悟，受之天也。
Zhongyong's understanding and enlightenment were received from Heaven.
仲永那通达聪慧的资质，是得之于天赋的。
Zhongyong's clear intelligence and quick wit were a gift from Heaven.
首句以判断句立论，为全段定下「天资」的基点。「仲永之通悟」以「之」字取消句子独立性，把「仲永聪慧」这一事实化为论述的对象；「受之天也」以「受」字点明其来源——得自于天。此句的深意在于：作者先痛快承认仲永天资之异，绝不否认天赋的存在，这一「让步」正是后文转折的力量所在——天资再高也救不了不学之人，那么「学」的重要性便不证自明。「受之天」三字与后文「受于人」对举，一先天一后天，概念的对照自首句已悄然布下，为全段的论证定下清晰的逻辑坐标。
The opening in the judgment sentence raising the argument, setting the whole passage's natural-gift base. Zhongyong's clear intelligence and quick wit uses the possessive particle to cancel the sentence's independence, turning the Zhongyong-clever fact into the argument's object; a gift-from-Heaven uses the receive word for its source — derived from Heaven. This line's deep meaning: the author first fully conceding Zhongyong's gift's strangeness, not denying the gift's existence, this concession precisely the below's turn's force — the gift however high and yet unable to save the not-learning man, hence the learning's importance self-evident. The received-from-Heaven three characters set against the below's received-from-man, one innate one acquired, the concept's contrast from the opening quietly laid, setting the whole passage's argument's clear logic coordinates.
其受之天也，贤于材人远矣。
His receiving them from Heaven made him far more gifted than the ordinary talented.
他得自天赋的资质，比一般有才能的人要高出很多。
His heaven-given endowment far exceeded that of ordinary talented men.
此句进一步拔高仲永的天资，「贤于材人远矣」以「远矣」二字极言其超出常人之多——「材人」指有才能的普通人，仲永之资不仅胜于庸众，且远超「材人」。铺垫越足，反差越大：如此天才竟「卒之为众人」，可见后天教育缺失之害。修辞上，「贤于材人远矣」以比较句加程度副词「远」、语气词「矣」，语气笃定而带惋惜，为下句的转折蓄足声势。这句「扬」得越高，下句「抑」得越重，先扬后抑的论证张力由此拉开，也让人痛惜之余更觉「不使学」之愚。
This line further raising Zhongyong's gift, the far-exceeded-the-talented-man using the far-exceeded two words for the exceeding-the-ordinary's number — the talented man means the ordinary capable person, Zhongyong's endowment not only better than the vulgar crowd, and yet far beyond the talented man. The groundwork the fuller, the contrast the greater: such a genius and yet the finally-becoming-the-ordinary-man, seeing the acquired education's missing harm. In rhetoric, the far-exceeded-the-talented-man using the comparative sentence plus the degree adverb far and the modal particle, the tone certain and yet regretful, storing the force for the below's turn. This line's the raising the higher, the below's the suppressing the heavier, the raising-first-and-then-suppressing argument tension hence opened, and making the pity the clearer of the no-letting-him-study's folly.
卒之为众人，则其受于人者不至也。
But in the end he became a common man — because what he received from man was not carried through.
最终他成为普通人，那是因为他后天所受的教育没有达到应有的程度。
In the end he became an ordinary man, because the nurture he received from others was not enough.
此句是全段的转折与结论所在，以「卒之」二字陡然收束前文的铺扬，揭示悲剧结局。「卒之为众人」五字字字沉重——「卒」写其终局之必然，「众人」与前文「贤于材人远矣」形成刺目对照，天才沦为常人，反差惊心动魄。继以「则其受于人者不至也」归因：「受于人者」指后天所受的教育，与「受之天」对举；「不至」言其未达应有的程度，措辞含蓄而判断斩截——不是天资不足，而是教育缺失。「也」字作结，语气沉痛而无可辩驳，为下句的感叹张本。
This line is the whole passage's turn and conclusion, using the finally two words' sudden gathering of the above's laying-out, revealing the tragedy's end. The finally-becoming-the-ordinary-person five characters, every character weighty — the finally naming the end's inevitability, the ordinary person and the above's far-exceeded-the-talented-man forming the piercing contrast, the genius turned ordinary, the contrast soul-stirring. Following with the his-received-from-others' incompleteness's attribution: the received-from-others naming the acquired education, set against the received-from-Heaven; the incompleteness naming the not-reaching-the-proper-degree, the wording restrained and the judgment decisive — not the gift's insufficiency, but the education's absence. The particle as the close, the tone grief-stricken and irrefutable, storing the ground for the below's exclamation.
彼其受之天也，如此其贤也，不受之人，且为众人。
He received from Heaven such excellence as this, yet, without the receiving from man, he became a common man after all.
像他那样得自天赋的资质，如此聪慧，没有受到后天的教育，尚且成为普通人。
He whose heaven-given endowment was so fine, yet without the nurture of others, became just another man.
末句是全段的总结之叹，以退为进，笔力千钧。「彼其受之天也，如此其贤也」回环前文的铺扬——天赋如此之高；「不受之人，且为众人」陡转作结——尚且沦为常人。「且」字是点睛之笔，意为「尚且」，暗含推论：连仲永这样天赋绝伦的人都因不学而废，何况资质寻常者？由此，后天的「学」被推到决定成败的绝对高度。句式上，四个「之」「也」「其」虚词回环往复，语气由称扬而慨叹，沉痛之中见斩截，是全文「伤」意的最高潮，亦是以天才反证劝学的最强论证。
The last line is the whole passage's summarizing sigh, in the retreat-and-advance, the brush power like a thousand jun. The he whose heaven-given-endowment-so-fine echoing the above's laying-out — the gift so high; yet-without-the-nurture-becoming-just-anordinary-man the sudden-turn close — even turning to the ordinary. The one word even the telling stroke, meaning the even, secretly carrying the inference: even Zhongyong, such a heaven-ranked gift, and yet the not-learning's waste, how much more the ordinary endowment? Hence the acquired learning pushed to the deciding-success-or-failure absolute height. In syntax, the four possessives, particles, and his looping round, the tone from praise to sigh, the grief-stricken within the decisiveness, the whole text's grief feeling's climax, and the genius-used-for-argument's strongest proof.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Han Yu's 'On the Horse' — 'there are no horses under heaven; the horses are there, but the grooms are not' — is the Tang essay of the unrecognized talent; Wang Anshi's 'Injury of Zhongyong' is the Song counterpart — the genius that is not educated, the recognized gift that perishes.
韩愈《马说》以「世有伯乐，然后有千里马」立论，痛惜千里马「祗辱于奴隶人之手」的悲剧，讽刺当政者不识人才；《伤仲永》以「受之天」「受于人」立论，痛惜神童「卒之为众人」的悲剧，警戒世人不可废学。两篇同以「才之毁」为主题，一伤「有才而不遇」（马被埋没），一伤「有才而自废」（人不使学）；同为借物喻理（马、神童），同以精悍短章写深刻命题。差别在于：韩文重「外部环境」（无人识才），王文重「自身修为」（不学则废）；韩文激愤，王文沉痛。合观可见「才」之毁灭的两重根源，亦是唐宋议论文「以小见大」的典范。
为学 On Learning 彭端淑 · 同为主张「后天努力决定成败」的劝学名篇 Both are the essays of the power of the effort — the monk of the poor monastery who reached the South Sea, the gifted Zhongyong who became a common man.Peng Duanshu's 'On Learning' — 'the things of the world, difficult or easy' — argues the power of the effort through the monk who reached the South Sea with the single bowl; Wang Anshi's essay argues the same power from the other side — the gifted Zhongyong who became a common man for want of the effort.
彭端淑《为学》以「为之，则难者亦易矣；不为，则易者亦难矣」立论，主张事在人为、学在人为；《伤仲永》以天才「卒之为众人」的反证立论，强调「受于人者不至」则天赋尽废。两篇精神完全相通：一从正面立论（为之则易），一从反面立论（不为则废），共同指向「后天学习决定成败」这一朴素真理。差别在写法：《为学》以设问对举出之，句式复沓、语气恳切；《伤仲永》以先扬后抑出之，反差强烈、语势沉痛。一为劝勉之辞，一为警世之叹，合观可见「劝学」母题在不同文体中的两面。
孙权劝学·版本二 Sun Quan Urging Learning (The Second Version) 司马光 · 同为劝学故事，一正一反之镜鉴 Both are the texts of the transformation by learning — Lü Meng's studies that astonished the governor, Zhongyong's neglect that reduced the genius to the common man.Sima Guang's 'Sun Quan Urging Learning' tells how Lü Meng studied at Sun Quan's urging and astonished the governor Lü Su — 'the learned man is to be looked at with new eyes'; Wang Anshi's essay is the negative counterpart — the genius who never studied and became a common man.
《孙权劝学》记孙权劝吕蒙读书，吕蒙「蒙乃始就学」，终至「非复吴下阿蒙」，是「学而后进」的正面典型；《伤仲永》记神童仲永「不使学」而「泯然众人」，是「不学而废」的反面典型。两篇一正一反、互为镜鉴，恰好构成「劝学」主题的完整图景：吕蒙以学成材，仲永以废成悲。差别在于：《孙权劝学》记言为主，通过孙权「孤岂欲卿治经为博士邪」的诙谐劝勉与鲁肃「卿今者才略，非复吴下阿蒙」的惊叹，侧面写出学习之效；《伤仲永》则以议论收束，正面申明「受于人」之理。一含蓄一显豁，皆是劝学传统中的经典文本。