宋 Song · 文 Prose
孙权劝学·版本二
Sun Quan Urges Study · Version Two
蒙曰：士别三日，即更刮目相待，大兄何见事之晚乎！
肃遂拜蒙母，结友而别。
Meaning
After Lü Meng had applied himself to study, Lu Su visited and marveled at his new learning. Lü Meng proudly replied that a scholar changed by three days apart deserved a fresh look, teasing Lu Su for his slowness. Lu Su, convinced, honored Meng's mother and became his friend—proof of study's transforming power.
吕蒙说：读书人分别了几天，就应该重新擦亮眼睛来看待他，大哥您怎么明白事情这么晚呢！鲁肃于是拜见吕蒙的母亲，与吕蒙结为朋友，然后告别而去。
Appreciation
This excerpt closes the tale with dialogue and action. Lü Meng's speech moves from principle to proud banter; Lu Su's 'bowed to the mother, pledged friendship, and left' shows his complete conversion in three crisp acts. The famous line 'fresh eyes after three days' compresses the whole lesson of study's power into a proverb.
【白话串讲】 司马光写《孙权劝学》：吕蒙读书后，鲁肃见到他大惊：“卿今者才略，非复吴下阿蒙”——已经不是原来的吴下阿蒙了。吕蒙说：“士别三日，即更刮目相待，大兄何见事之晚乎”——“刮目相待”就出自这里。 【意象与手法】 史传文学“以言写人”与“以事证理”的双重功力。“蒙曰”一段三句三层——“士别三日”先立常理，以“三日”言时间之短；“即更刮目相待”再申主张，以“刮目”言待人之新；“大兄何见事之晚乎”终以反问调侃，把吕蒙学成之后的自信、机敏与幽默写得如在目前；叙事“肃遂拜蒙母，结友而别”十字之内，写鲁肃由惊叹到敬重再到结好的完整转变。 【情感与主旨】 “孙权劝学”故事的价值早已超越一段三国史事，成为中华劝学文化的精神符号，也反映三国时代武将“文武并重”的风气转变。 【名句点睛】 常考“士别三日，即更刮目相待”写人三日不见当刮目相看，是千古名句；“大兄何见事之晚乎”以反问写吕蒙的自信幽默。
Background
This excerpt comes from the latter half of the 'Sun Quan Urges Study' episode in Volume 66 of the Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance), compiled by Sima Guang (1019–1086) of the Northern Song, a chronological history from 403 BCE to 959 CE, 294 chapters, nineteen years in the making, ranked with the Shiji and Hanshu. Sima Guang, styled Junshi, known as Mr. Shushui, posthumously Wen Zheng, compiled it to 'mirror the rise and fall of former ages and examine the gains and losses of the present,' hence his narratives often carry admonition—'Sun Quan Urges Study' is one such case. The story records the Three Kingdoms: Sun Quan urges his general Lü Meng to read; Lü Meng, pleading busy military duties, is persuaded by 'I do not ask you to master the classics, only to browse and learn the past,' begins to study, and later Lu Su, visiting Xunyang, is astonished at his talent and strategy. This excerpt takes Lü Meng's reply to Lu Su: the former (in version one) is Lu Su's awe, the latter (here) Lü Meng's confidence and Lu Su's capitulation. 'Fresh eyes after three days' became a proverbial line, and 'fresh eyes' and 'the Lü Meng of Wu' hardened into idioms—the tale's exhortatory meaning far exceeding the bare history.
本篇节选出自《资治通鉴》卷六十六《汉纪》所载「孙权劝学」故事的后半段。《资治通鉴》为北宋司马光（1019—1086）主编的编年体通史，上起周威烈王二十三年（前403），下迄后周世宗显德六年（959），凡二百九十四卷，历时十九年而成，是中国史学史上与《史记》《汉书》鼎足而三的巨著。司马光，字君实，陕州夏县人，北宋名臣、史学家，世称涑水先生，谥文正。他编纂《资治通鉴》的宗旨是「鉴前世之兴衰，考当今之得失」，故叙事之余每寓劝戒之意，「孙权劝学」正是这一宗旨的体现。故事所记为三国时期事：孙权（182—252）劝吴国大将吕蒙读书，吕蒙以军务繁忙推辞，孙权以「孤岂欲卿治经为博士邪？但当涉猎，见往事耳」晓之以理，吕蒙始学，后鲁肃过寻阳与蒙论议，大惊曰「卿今者才略，非复吴下阿蒙」，吕蒙答以「士别三日，即更刮目相待」云云。本篇节选取其中吕蒙回应鲁肃的一段：前者写鲁肃的惊叹（在版本一的文本中），后者（本篇）写吕蒙的自信与鲁肃的折服。「士别三日，即更刮目相待」自此成为千古名句，「刮目相待」「吴下阿蒙」亦凝固为成语，故事的劝学意义远超史实本身。
Art
The art of this excerpt lies in the biographer's twin skills of 'character through speech' and 'proving principle by event.' First, the precision of speech: Lü Meng's three clauses rise in three steps—'parts for three days' states the common truth (short time); 'fresh eyes' asserts the new way of regard; 'elder brother, how late you see' closes with a teasing反问, intimate yet measured, bringing his confidence, wit and humor alive. Second, the economy of narration: 'Lu Su thereupon bowed to Meng's mother, pledged friendship, and left' compresses a full transformation—honoring the parent, respecting the man, completing the rite—more forceful than any description. Third, proving principle by event: the whole theme is 'the benefit of study,' yet the author writes not one word of argument, letting Lü Meng's 'fresh eyes' and Lu Su's 'friendship' speak—the difference between learning and not is shown in Lu Su's changed attitude, a model of 'judgment lodged in narration.' Fourth, structurally it bridges: taking up Lu Su's awe above, answering with Lü Meng's words, closing with friendship, a seamless whole though a fragment.
本篇节选的艺术成就，在于史传文学「以言写人」与「以事证理」的双重功力。其一，记言之精：全段由吕蒙之言与叙事的收束组成，「蒙曰」一段三句三层——「士别三日」先立常理，以「三日」言时间之短；「即更刮目相待」再申主张，以「刮目」言待人之新；「大兄何见事之晚乎」终以反问调侃，「大兄」之称亲切，「何……之晚乎」的语气得意而不失分寸，把吕蒙学成之后的自信、机敏与幽默写得如在目前。其二，叙事之省：「肃遂拜蒙母，结友而别」十字之内，写鲁肃由惊叹到敬重再到结好的完整转变——「拜蒙母」是尊其亲，「结友」是重其人，「而别」是尽礼数，三个动作层层递进，比任何形容都更有力。其三，以事证理：全篇主旨是「劝学之益」，但作者不下一字议论，只让吕蒙的「刮目相待」与鲁肃的「结友而别」两个事实说话——学与不学之别，尽在鲁肃前后态度的变化中显现，是史传「寓论断于叙事」的典范。其四，结构上承上启下：节选承接上文鲁肃「卿今者才略，非复吴下阿蒙」的惊叹，以吕蒙之言作回应，复以结友收束，起承转合浑然一体，虽是片断，却自成完整的叙事单元，可见《资治通鉴》剪裁史料、经营章法之精。
Allusions
The phrasing and allusions here are rooted in the Chinese traditions of exhortation-to-study and the ethics of friendship. First, the source of 'fresh eyes after three days': the idea that learning renews a person began in pre-Qin times—Xunzi's 'learning must not cease,' Confucius' 'learn and review,' all saying learning changes one's stature; Lü Meng's 'fresh eyes' turns that philosophy into lived experience. Second, the making of 'the Lü Meng of Wu': originally Lu Su's old impression, it became a byword for 'shallow scholar,' while 'fresh eyes' and 'three days apart' also froze into idioms—one tale spawning three idioms, a measure of its cultural reach. Third, the ethics of friendship: 'bowed to the mother, pledged friendship' shows not just fact but the Chinese way of befriending by virtue and respect, echoing the Analects' 'befriend the straight, the trustworthy, the well-informed.' Fourth, the mirror-value: Sima Guang recorded this to show rulers that urging study makes capable commanders—paired with 'Lament for Zhongyong,' the positive and negative poles of Chinese exhortation literature.
本篇的辞令与典故，深植于中国传统文化的劝学谱系与交友伦理。其一，「士别三日，即更刮目相待」的思想源头：学习使人日新月异之论，先秦已开其端——荀子《劝学》「学不可以已」「青，取之于蓝而青于蓝」，孔子「学而时习之」「温故而知新」，皆言学习能改变人的气质与境界；吕蒙「刮目相待」正是「士别三日」当「刮目相待」的经验之谈，把先秦劝学哲理化为具体可感的生活经验。其二，「吴下阿蒙」的典故生成：「阿蒙」本指吕蒙（吕蒙字子明，「阿」为吴语亲昵之称），「吴下阿蒙」原为鲁肃对吕蒙的旧日印象，经此故事后反成「学识浅陋者」的代称，而「刮目相待」「士别三日」亦凝固为成语，一个故事衍化出三个成语，可见其文化辐射力之强。其三，交友伦理的呈现：「肃遂拜蒙母，结友而别」写的不仅是史实，更是中国传统的交友之道——以德相交、以敬相待，《论语》「友直、友谅、友多闻」、《礼记》「择交而友」，鲁肃与吕蒙由同僚而结友，正是「见贤思齐」的士人风范。其四，劝学传统的史鉴价值：司马光编《资治通鉴》意在「资治」，录此故事正是要向为政者昭示「劝学」之益——君主劝学可使将才成器，此篇与《伤仲永》一正一反，共同构成中国劝学文学的经典两极。
Commentary
The value of the 'Sun Quan Urges Study' tale long surpassed a Three Kingdoms anecdote to become a spiritual symbol of Chinese learning culture. Historically, though the Zizhi Tongjian's Lü Meng-reading detail carries legend, it reflects a real shift in the Wu state toward 'civil and martial combined'—generals like Lü Meng beginning to 'browse and learn the past,' the inception of the Sun Wu 'civil governance.' Literarily, this excerpt is a gem of biographical speech: two lines of dialogue animate two men—Lü Meng's confident humor, Lu Su's willingness to admit error—rivaling the persuaders of the Zhanguo Ce, its 'character through speech' directly influencing later fiction and drama. Educationally, it is the model exhortation: Sun Quan's urging, Lü Meng's studying, Lu Su's proof form a complete 'urge–study–effect' chain, more persuasive than any sermon, hence endlessly anthologized alongside Xunzi's 'Encouraging Learning' and Han Yu's 'On Teachers.' Culturally, 'three days apart' and 'fresh eyes' have entered the very fabric of Chinese, still shaping how people value learning and respect change after a thousand years.
「孙权劝学」故事的价值，早已超越一段三国史事，成为中华劝学文化的精神符号。从史学看，《资治通鉴》所记吕蒙读书事虽细节有传闻成分，却真实反映了三国时代武将「文武并重」的风气转变——汉末大乱中，武将如关羽、张飞者以勇力著称，至吕蒙辈始知「但当涉猎，见往事耳」，孙吴政权武将的文化化由此发端，故史家多以此为孙吴「文治」的缩影。从文学看，本篇是史传记言文学的精品：两句对话写活两个人——吕蒙的自信幽默、鲁肃的知错能改，人物形象之生动，足与《战国策》策士之辞媲美，其「以言写人」的笔法直接影响后世小说戏曲的人物语言艺术。从教育看，此故事是「劝学」主题的经典范本：孙权之劝（当涉猎）、吕蒙之学（始就学）、鲁肃之证（刮目相待），构成「劝—学—效」的完整链条，比任何说教都更有说服力，故历代教材皆录此篇，与荀子《劝学》、韩愈《师说》并列为劝学三绝。从文化看，「士别三日」「刮目相待」已融入汉语肌理，成为日常表达中激励学习、尊重变化的常用语，一则千余年前的史事至今仍在塑造中国人的学习观念，其生命力之长久，正是优秀文化经典的典型特征。
Prosody
Line by line
蒙曰：士别三日，即更刮目相待，大兄何见事之晚乎！
Lü Meng said: 'When a scholar parts for three days, one should greet him with fresh eyes; elder brother, how is it you see things so late!' / Note: Three clauses in three steps—state the principle (short time), assert the claim (fresh eyes), close with teasing banter (late you see). The contrast of 'three days' (short) and 'fresh eyes' (great change) makes the power of learning unforgettable.
吕蒙说：读书人分别了几天，就应该重新擦亮眼睛来看待他，大哥您怎么明白事情这么晚呢！
Lü Meng said: after three days apart, a scholar must be looked at with new eyes; why have you, elder brother, seen this so late!
此句是吕蒙的「宣言」，也是全篇的点睛之笔，三句三层，由理入情、由庄转谐。「士别三日」先立常理——「士」指读书人、有志者，「三日」言分别时间之短，以极短的时间为后文「刮目相待」的极大变化蓄势；「即更刮目相待」再申主张——「即更」言立刻重新，「刮目」言擦亮眼睛，一「刮」字写出脱胎换骨的决心，吕蒙以自己三日之学的巨变现身说法，理直气壮；「大兄何见事之晚乎」终以反问收束——「大兄」是吕蒙对鲁肃的尊称，亲切之中透着得意，「何……之晚乎」的反问带着善意的调侃，把「你醒悟得太晚啦」说得既俏皮又不失敬意。三句连读，先讲理、后表态、再调侃，吕蒙学成之后的自信、机敏与幽默跃然纸上；而「士别三日」与「刮目相待」对举，时间之短与变化之大形成强烈反差，学习改变人生的道理，就这样被一句平常话说得深入人心，故能千古传诵。
This line is Lü Meng's declaration, and the whole piece's telling stroke, three lines three layers, from the reason to the feeling and from the solemn to the playful. The three-days-parted first establishing the common principle — the shi meaning the scholar and the aspiring person, the three-days meaning the parting's shortness, using the extremely short time for the below's look-anew huge change's force-storing; the must-look-anew-then restating the proposition — the at-once-anew meaning the immediate renewal, the scrape-eyes meaning the eye-polishing, the one word gua writing the rebirth resolve, Lü Meng using his own three-days-study huge transformation as proof, righteous-and-forceful; the why-have-you-elder-brother-seen-this-so-late closing on the rhetorical question — the elder brother Lü Meng's respectful address to Lu Su, the friendly and yet carrying the triumph, the why...so-late question carrying the good-natured teasing, turning the your-awakening-too-late into the at-once playful-and-yet-courteous. Three lines read together, first the reason, then the stance, then the teasing, Lü Meng's post-study confidence, quickness, and humor leaping on the paper; and the three-days-parted and look-anew's parallel, the time's shortness and the change's greatness forming the strong contrast, the study-changes-life principle, thus turned into an ordinary saying that sinks into the heart, hence the through-the-ages fame.
肃遂拜蒙母，结友而别。
Thereupon Lu Su bowed to Meng's mother, pledged friendship, and took leave. / Note: In ten characters the full conversion is shown: 'bowed to the mother' honors the parent (and the man), 'pledged friendship' marks the relation's leap, 'and left' closes lightly—proving the effect of study by deed alone, judgment lodged in narration.
鲁肃于是拜见吕蒙的母亲，与吕蒙结为朋友，然后告别而去。
Lu Su then paid respects to Lü Meng's mother, became his sworn friend, and took his leave.
此句是全篇的收束，十字之内写尽鲁肃态度的彻底转变，是「以事证理」的典范。「肃遂拜蒙母」——「遂」字写鲁肃闻吕蒙之言后立刻行动的决断，不再有丝毫犹豫；「拜蒙母」是隆重的礼节，鲁肃身为东吴重臣，竟屈尊拜见吕蒙之母，这是对吕蒙其人的最高尊重——士人相交，尊其亲即重其人，一个「拜」字，写尽鲁肃由「非复吴下阿蒙」的惊叹到真心折服的全过程；「结友而别」——「结友」写关系的质变，鲁肃与吕蒙由上下级的同僚关系升华为平等相待的朋友关系，这是对吕蒙「刮目相待」之言的行动回应，也是「士别三日」之论的最有力见证。两个动作，一拜一结，层层递进，比任何形容都更有力；而「而别」二字轻轻收束，如鼓声骤停，余韵悠长。此句不着一字议论，却把「劝学之效」写得铁证如山：学习不仅改变了一个人的学识，更改变了他人的眼光与人与人的关系——这正是《资治通鉴》「寓论断于叙事」笔法的精妙所在。
This line is the whole piece's close, ten characters exhausting Lu Su's attitude's complete transformation, the by-deed-proves-reason model. The Lu-Su-then-paid-respects-to-Lü-Meng's-mother — the sui word writing Lu Su's hearing Lü Meng's words and at once acting decision, no trace of hesitation; the paid-respects-to-the-mother the solemn etiquette, Lu Su the Eastern Wu's high minister, and yet condescending to visit Lü Meng's mother, this the highest respect for Lü Meng the person — the scholar's friendship, honoring the parent i.e. honoring the person, the one word bai exhausting Lu Su's from the no-longer-the-same-Lü-Meng's amazement to the genuine conviction's whole process; the became-his-sworn-friend-and-took-his-leave — the sworn-friend writing the relationship's qualitative change, Lu Su and Lü Meng from the superior-subordinate colleague relationship sublimating into the equal-standing friend relationship, this the Lü Meng's look-anew words' action response, and the three-days-parted thesis's strongest witness. Two actions, one bai and one sworn, layer on layer's advance, more forceful than any description; and the took-his-leave two words lightly closing, like the drum's sudden stop, the aftertaste long. This line not landing one commentary, and yet writing the exhortation's-effect's iron proof: study not only changed one person's learning, and yet changed others' sight and person-to-person relationships — precisely the Zizhi Tongjian's commentary-in-narrative's exquisite place.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
'Sun Quan Urges Study' and 'Lament for Zhongyong' are the positive-negative twin gems of Chinese exhortation literature. Zhongyong, heaven-gifted, is ruined by 'not letting him study'; Lü Meng, a rough warrior, is transformed by study into a man Lu Su calls 'no longer the Lü Meng of Wu.' One opens with gift and closes in mediocrity, the other opens rustic and closes refined—gift is not to be relied on, learning is the root. Wang titles with 'lament,' Sima with 'urge'—grief and exhortation, same destination, jointly grounding the Chinese value of 'learn to become a person.'
《孙权劝学·版本二》与《伤仲永》是中国劝学文学的「正反双璧」，一写学而成材，一写不学而废。《伤仲永》记神童方仲永五岁能诗，其父「不使学」，日扳仲永环谒于邑人，终至「泯然众人矣」，王安石叹「受之天也，贤于材人远矣；卒之为众人，则其受于人者不至也」；《孙权劝学》则记吕蒙本为武将，经孙权劝学、涉猎群书，终至鲁肃叹为「非复吴下阿蒙」。两篇对读，恰成镜像：仲永「受之天」而废于不学，吕蒙「受之人」而成于力学；一个以天赋开篇却以平庸收场，一个以粗鲁闻名却以博雅折人——天赋不可恃，学习方为本，正是两篇共同的主题。王安石以「伤」题篇寄慨叹，司马光以「劝」立言寓劝戒，一悲一正，殊途同归，共同夯实了中国文化「学以成人」的价值根基。
为学 On Learning 彭端淑 · 同为劝学名篇，一以史事示范，一以说理立论 Both exhortation masterpieces: one demonstrates by history, one argues by reason.'Sun Quan Urges Study' and 'On Learning' are both exhortation pieces but differ in method: one shows by historical fact, the other persuades by argument. 'On Learning' opens 'Is there hard or easy under heaven? Do it and the hard becomes easy' and proves it with the two monks of Shu; 'Sun Quan Urges Study' records the full historical event of Sun Quan urging, Lü Meng studying, Lu Su witnessing. One stresses 'resolve,' the other 'transformation'—a Qing essayist's reasoning versus a Song historian's record, both returning to the theme of exhortation, showing the long stream of Chinese learning literature.
《孙权劝学·版本二》与《为学》同为劝学名篇，而写法迥异：一个以史实示人，一个以说理服人。《为学》开篇即立论「天下事有难易乎？为之，则难者亦易矣；不为，则易者亦难矣」，以蜀鄙二僧「一瓶一钵」游南海的故事作证，阐明「立志与力行」之道；《孙权劝学》则记孙权劝学、吕蒙力学、鲁肃见证的完整史事，以「士别三日，即更刮目相待」的现身说法昭示学习之效。两篇相较：《为学》重「立志」，二僧之富者未行而贫者已至，是「为之」的宣言；《孙权劝学》重「转变」，吕蒙由「吴下阿蒙」而「刮目相待」，是「学之」的见证。一为清代士子的说理文，一为宋代史家的记事文，同归于「劝学」主题，可见中国文人劝学传统的源远流长——自荀子《劝学》而下，经韩愈《师说》、司马光之史笔，至彭端淑之论说，劝学之音千年不绝。
师说·版本二 On Teachers · Version Two 韩愈 · 同为唐宋劝学名篇，一论从师之要，一证力学之效 Both Tang-Song exhortation masterpieces: one on the need of a teacher, one on the effect of study.'Sun Quan Urges Study' and 'On Teachers' both belong to the Tang-Song exhortation tradition, one Han Yu's essay, one Sima Guang's biography, completing the argument from two sides. 'On Teachers' argues 'the way of the teacher has long been lost' and 'where the Way is, there is the teacher,' stressing the teacher; 'Sun Quan Urges Study' writes the urging, the studying, the witness, stressing the effect. Read together: first a teacher (Han Yu), then the study (Sima Guang)—Lu Meng's 'browse to learn the past' is the self-attained stage after 'learning from a teacher.' One theory, one proof, together the complete form of Chinese exhortation discourse.
《孙权劝学·版本二》与《师说》同属唐宋劝学名篇，一为韩愈的古文论说，一为司马光的史传记事，恰好从两个侧面完成「劝学」的论证。《师说》立论于「师道之不传也久矣」，主张「无贵无贱，无长无少，道之所存，师之所存也」，重「从师」——学之途径；《孙权劝学》则写孙权之劝、吕蒙之学、鲁肃之证，重「力学」——学之效果。两篇并读，可见劝学之道的完整链条：先须有师（韩愈论之），后须力学（司马光证之），而吕蒙「涉猎见往事」正是「学于师」之后的「自得」境界；《师说》以「人非生而知之者，孰能无惑」立论，《孙权劝学》以「士别三日」证变，一虚一实、一论一证，共同构成中国文人「劝学」话语的完备形态。而两篇的接受史亦相映成趣：《师说》为唐宋八大家古文之典范，《孙权劝学》为史传文学之精品，皆入选历代教材，至今仍是国人学习观的精神底色。