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宋 Song · 词 Ci lyric

西江月·平山堂

Tune: West River Moon · Pingshan Hall

苏轼

Su Shi

怀人remembering a person 感慨reflection 悼念mourning

三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中。
十年不见老仙翁，壁上龙蛇飞动。
欲吊文章太守，仍歌杨柳春风。
休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦。

Three times I pass beneath Pingshan Hall; half a life within a snap of the fingers.
Ten years without seeing the old immortal—on the wall his dragons and snakes still fly.
I would mourn the Literary Prefect, yet still sing of willows and spring wind.
Say not all things turn to void once the head turns; before the head turns, all is dream.

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Meaning

Passing Pingshan Hall for the third time, the poet feels half a life has slipped by in a finger-snap. Ten years since his late teacher Ouyang Xiu passed, only the old man's calligraphy still flies on the wall. He would mourn the Literary Prefect yet sings his willow-and-spring lyric, then concludes that life is dream even before death.

第三次经过平山堂下，大半生已在弹指声中过去。整十年不见老仙翁（欧阳修），只有墙上他的墨迹，仍是那样气势雄浑，如龙飞蛇动。想要凭吊文章太守（欧阳修），仍唱着当年咏杨柳春风的词章。不要说万事转头皆空，未转头时，人生本就如梦。

Appreciation

This is Su Shi's famous lyric mourning his mentor Ouyang Xiu. The upper stanza writes repeated visits and the flying calligraphy; the lower turns to mourning and a philosophical close. 'Half a life within a snap of the fingers' and 'before the head turns, all is dream' rank among his most quoted lines, blending personal grief with cosmic reflection.

【白话串讲】苏轼写《西江月·平山堂》：“三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中”——“十年不见老仙翁，壁上龙蛇飞动”——他怀念恩师欧阳修。“欲吊文章太守，仍歌杨柳春风”——“休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦”——他说万事转头空。【意象与手法】此词是苏轼经过平山堂、悼念恩师欧阳修的词，以「弹指」「龙蛇」「杨柳」「梦」等意象写怀人感慨，是苏轼悼念师友的词中名篇。上片「三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中」写三过平山堂、半生弹指——「三过」写重访的次数，「弹指」写时光的飞逝，是千古名句；「十年不见老仙翁，壁上龙蛇飞动」写不见欧阳修、唯见壁上墨迹——「老仙翁」指欧阳修，「龙蛇飞动」写其书法的飞动，以墨迹犹在写斯人已逝；下片「欲吊文章太守，仍歌杨柳春风」写凭吊欧阳修——「文章太守」指欧阳修（其为扬州太守时，以文章著称），「杨柳春风」化用欧阳修《朝中措》「手种堂前垂柳，别来几度春风」；「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」写对人生的彻悟——不要说万事转头皆空，未转头时（眼前）皆如梦，是千古名句。全词以「三过」「十年」「弹指」「转头」写时光，以「龙蛇」「杨柳」写怀人，以「空」「梦」写感慨，将悼念师友与感叹人生融为一体。【情感与主旨】此词作于宋神宗元丰二年（1079）四月，时苏轼由徐州调任湖州，途经扬州，第三次经过平山堂，悼念已故的恩师欧阳修。平山堂在扬州，是欧阳修任扬州太守时所建。欧阳修于熙宁五年（1072）去世，至元丰二年已近十年。苏轼曾于嘉祐年间应欧阳修主持的科举考试及第，深受欧阳修赏识，两人有师生之谊。那「三过平山堂下」写重访恩师遗迹，那「半生弹指声中」写时光飞逝、半生已过，那「十年不见老仙翁」写欧阳修去世已近十年，那「壁上龙蛇飞动」写恩师手迹犹在、斯人已逝，那「欲吊文章太守，仍歌杨柳春风」写凭吊恩师、追怀当年，那「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」写人生如梦的感慨。全词以悼念欧阳修写人生的感慨，那「弹指」「转头」「空」「梦」写尽对人生无常的体悟，是苏轼悼念师友与感悟人生的名篇。【名句点睛】常考“三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中”写时光飞逝；“休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦”写人生如梦，是千古名句。

Background

This lyric was written in the fourth month of the second year of Yuanfeng (1079), when Su Shi, transferred from Xuzhou to Huzhou, passed Yangzhou and visited Pingshan Hall for the third time, mourning his late mentor Ouyang Xiu. Pingshan Hall, inside the Daming Temple at Yangzhou, was built by Ouyang Xiu when he was prefect there (1048), named for the view of the southern mountains. Ouyang Xiu, leader of the Northern Song literary world and Su Shi's examiner in 1057, died in 1072—nearly ten years by 1079. Su Shi had seen Ouyang's handwriting there (Ouyang planted willows and wrote 'Tune: Chao Zhong Cuo'); now the man was gone, only the wall-writing and the willows remained. 'Three times I pass' is the third visit; 'half a life' Su Shi was forty-three; 'ten years without the old immortal' nears a decade since Ouyang's death; 'dragons and snakes' his calligraphy; 'Literary Prefect' and 'willows and spring wind' allude to Ouyang's own lyric. The close 'before the head turns, all is dream' voices life's dreamlike nature—a lyric of mourning fused with philosophical insight.

此词作于宋神宗元丰二年（1079）四月，时苏轼由徐州知州调任湖州知州，途经扬州，第三次经过平山堂，悼念已故恩师欧阳修。平山堂在扬州大明寺内，是欧阳修任扬州太守（庆历八年，1048）时所建，因登堂可望江南诸山，故名平山堂。欧阳修是北宋文坛领袖，也是苏轼的恩师——嘉祐二年（1057），苏轼应进士试，欧阳修为主考官，赏识苏轼的文章，两人遂有师生之谊。欧阳修于熙宁五年（1072）去世，至元丰二年已近十年。苏轼在平山堂曾见欧阳修手书（欧公于庆历年间在平山堂植柳，并书《朝中措·送刘仲原甫出守维扬》一词：「手种堂前垂柳，别来几度春风」），如今欧阳修已逝，唯见壁上墨迹与堂前杨柳。词中「三过平山堂下」写第三次经过（苏轼此前曾两次过扬州）；「半生弹指声中」写时光飞逝（苏轼时年四十三岁，半生已过）；「十年不见老仙翁」写欧阳修去世近十年；「壁上龙蛇飞动」写壁上欧阳修手迹的飞动；「欲吊文章太守」以「文章太守」指欧阳修（语出欧公《朝中措》「文章太守，挥毫万字」）；「仍歌杨柳春风」化用欧公「手种堂前垂柳，别来几度春风」；「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」写人生如梦的感慨。此词是苏轼悼念恩师的名篇，也是其人生哲思的体现。

Art

The art of this lyric may be read on four levels. First, contrast of time and space: 'three times' (visits) against 'half a life' (time), 'ten years' against the vanished man—the hall remains, the man is gone. Second, writing the person through objects: 'on the wall his dragons and snakes' writes Ouyang through his calligraphy, the constant object against mortal transience; 'willows and spring wind' alludes to his lyric, mourning through the willow. Third, allusion and transformation: 'Literary Prefect' and 'willows and spring wind' borrow Ouyang's 'Chao Zhong Cuo' seamlessly, Su Shi's very skill of reworking predecessors. Fourth, the philosophical close: 'Say not all things turn to void… before the head turns, all is dream' elevates personal grief into cosmic insight—a timeless line and the emotional climax.

此词的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，时空的对照。上片「三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中」以「三过」（重访的次数）与「半生」（时光的长短）对举，「十年不见老仙翁」以「十年」写时光，全词以时空的对照写人生的流转——堂犹在而人已逝，半生弹指而过。其二，以物写人的笔法。「壁上龙蛇飞动」以壁上墨迹写欧阳修——墨迹犹在、飞动如龙蛇，而斯人已逝，以物的恒常反衬人的无常；「杨柳春风」化用欧公词句，以杨柳写对恩师的追怀。其三，化用与点化。「文章太守」「杨柳春风」皆化用欧阳修《朝中措》，不露痕迹而情思毕现，正是苏轼善于点化前人词句的本领。其四，以理作结的彻悟。「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」以「空」「梦」写对人生的彻悟——不要说万事转头皆空，未转头时（眼前）皆如梦，是千古名句，也是全词情感的高潮与升华。四重手法，使此词以悼念欧阳修写人生的感慨，将师友之情与人生之思融为一体，正是苏轼悼亡怀人词的本领。

Allusions

The language here is rooted in the traditions of mentorship and life-reflection. 'Three times I pass… half a life within a snap of the fingers'—'snap of the fingers' is a Buddhist unit of the briefest time, evoking 'a snap of the fingers, a wave of the hand' and the sigh that time flies. 'Ten years without the old immortal' calls Ouyang 'immortal,' echoing the 'riding a crane to Yangzhou' lore of parting immortals. 'Dragons and snakes' writes calligraphy's vigor, in the tradition of 'brush walks dragons and snakes.' 'I would mourn the Literary Prefect, yet still sing of willows and spring wind' alludes to Ouyang's 'Chao Zhong Cuo' ('I planted the willows before the hall; how many springs since we parted' and 'Literary Prefect, he wields the brush for ten thousand words'). 'Say not all things turn to void… before the head turns, all is dream' reworks Bai Juyi's 'a hundred years pass in hand, all things void once the head turns,' pushing from 'void' to 'dream'—life itself already a dream. The whole borrows Ouyang, Buddhist time, Li Bai and Bai Juyi, mourning the teacher through reflected feeling and reason.

此词的用语深植于师友与人生感悟的传统。「三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中」写时光——那「弹指」是佛教表示时间的极短单位（弹指顷），令人想到「弹指一挥间」的时光飞逝意象，也令人想到「光明似箭，日月如梭」的感叹；「十年不见老仙翁」写欧阳修——那「老仙翁」以仙翁称欧阳修，写其仙逝，令人想到「骑鹤上扬州」的仙话与「仙去」的挽辞传统；「壁上龙蛇飞动」写欧公手迹——那「龙蛇」以龙飞蛇动写书法的飞动，令人想到「笔走龙蛇」的书艺传统与「龙跳天门，虎卧凤阁」的书评意象；「欲吊文章太守，仍歌杨柳春风」写凭吊——那「文章太守」「杨柳春风」皆化用欧阳修《朝中措·送刘仲原甫出守维扬》「手种堂前垂柳，别来几度春风」「文章太守，挥毫万字，一饮千钟」，以欧公的词句写对恩师的追怀，令人想到「手种垂柳」「几度春风」的师恩意象；「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」写人生如梦——那「转头空」令人想到「世间行乐亦如此，古来万事东流水」（李白《梦游天姥吟留别》）的万事皆空，也令人想到「人生如梦，一尊还酹江月」（苏轼《念奴娇·赤壁怀古》）的人生如梦，那「未转头时皆梦」更化用白居易「百年随手过，万事转头空」而翻进一层——不仅身后皆空，眼前（未转头时）亦是梦。全词化用欧阳修《朝中措》、佛家弹指、李白、白居易等意象与传统，以悼师写人生，正是苏轼「以词写情兼写理」的本领。

Commentary

This lyric has long been ranked among Su Shi's finest mourning his mentor Ouyang Xiu and a representative of his 'writing feeling and reason together.' Critics praise it as 'deep in mourning the teacher, yet lodging life's lament.' Its special value lies in mourning Ouyang while reflecting on life: the repeated visits, the decade's absence, the flying calligraphy, the mourning of the Literary Prefect—all Su Shi's deep affection; while 'Say not all things turn to void… before the head turns, all is dream' elevates grief into cosmic insight, a timeless line that goes beyond Bai Juyi's 'void' to 'dream.' Along with 'River City' (life is a dream) and 'Tune: Water Melody' (this has always been hard to complete), it shows Su Shi's philosophical lyricism. For today's readers it is a window onto Su Shi's teacher-bond and life-wisdom, and a classic of Chinese lyrics mourning a mentor.

此词历来被推为苏轼悼念恩师欧阳修的名篇，也是其「以词写情兼写理」的代表作。历代论者对此词评价极高：清人评此词「悼师情深，兼寓人生之慨」；近人更指出「三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中」「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」以弹指、转头写时光飞逝与人生如梦，是苏轼悼亡怀人词中最见哲思的作品。在文学史上，此词的特殊价值在于：它以悼念欧阳修写人生的感慨——那「三过平山堂下」的重访、「十年不见老仙翁」的追念、「壁上龙蛇飞动」的墨迹犹存、「欲吊文章太守」的凭吊，都写尽了苏轼对恩师的深情；而那「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」以「空」「梦」写人生的彻悟，将悼师之情升华为人生之思，是千古名句——那「未转头时皆梦」较白居易「万事转头空」更翻进一层，写出人生如梦的彻悟。此词与苏轼《念奴娇·赤壁怀古》（「人生如梦」）同写人生如梦，一以赤壁之景写，一以平山堂怀师写；又与《水调歌头》（「此事古难全」）同为其人生哲思的体现。对于今日读者，此词是理解苏轼师生之情与人生哲思的窗口，也是中国悼亡词写师友的经典——那堂前的杨柳、壁上的墨迹、弹指的半生，穿越千年，仍在诉说着对恩师的追念与对人生的了悟。

Prosody

Form Lyric (West River Moon, double tune, fifty characters)词（西江月，双调五十字）

Rhyme Both stanzas rhyme in the level-tone 'dong' rhyme (中, 翁, 风, 空, 梦—梦 shifts to oblique as a coupled rhyme), level and oblique alternating, the sound flowing and graceful, suiting the deep, gentle mood of remembrance.全词上下片各押平声东韵（中、翁、风、空、梦——梦字仄声协转），平仄相间，韵音流丽，正合怀人感慨的深婉。

Tone pattern The tune 'West River Moon,' double, fifty characters, each stanza four lines with two level rhymes and one oblique. The upper stanza writes the visits and the absent immortal; the lower writes the mourning and life's dream. Level and oblique interleave, the rhythm flowing and deep, fitting the grief of mourning a teacher.此词为「西江月」词牌，双调五十字，上下片各四句两平韵、一仄韵。全词按内容可分为两片：上片写三过平山堂与不见老仙翁（三过平山堂下、半生弹指声中、十年不见老仙翁、壁上龙蛇飞动）；下片写凭吊欧阳修与人生如梦（欲吊文章太守、仍歌杨柳春风、休言万事转头空、未转头时皆梦）。声调上，全词以「弹指」「龙蛇」「杨柳」「转头」等意象写时光与怀人，平仄韵相间，节奏流丽深婉，正合悼师感慨的深情。

Reading note This is a 'West River Moon' lyric mourning a mentor, contrasting time-and-space to remember, using 'void' and 'dream' for life's insight—Su Shi's skill of 'writing feeling and reason together.' The two stanzas: upper on revisit and absence, lower on mourning and insight. Read the upper with a low, lingering tone of remembrance, the lower with a broad, detached tone of insight—especially 'Say not all things turn to void… before the head turns, all is dream,' which must be read deep yet broad to convey Su Shi's mourning and awakening.此词是「西江月」词牌悼念恩师的名篇，以时空的对照写怀人、以「空」「梦」写人生彻悟，正是苏轼「以词写情兼写理」的本领。全词两片：上片写重访与不见（三过平山堂下、半生弹指声中、十年不见老仙翁、壁上龙蛇飞动），下片写凭吊与彻悟（欲吊文章太守、仍歌杨柳春风、休言万事转头空、未转头时皆梦）。声调上，全词以「弹指」「转头」写时光，以「龙蛇」「杨柳」写怀人，平仄韵相间，节奏流丽，那「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」的收束，正合悼师的深情与人生的彻悟。诵读此词，宜以低回的语调读上片的追念，以旷达的语调读下片的彻悟，尤其「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」两句，要读得深沉而旷达，方能传达出苏轼悼念恩师又了悟人生的深意。

Line by line

三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中。

Three times I pass beneath Pingshan Hall; half a life within a snap of the fingers. / Note: 'Three times' (visits) against 'half a life' (time) voices the lament of a revisiting poet—the hall stands, the man has aged, half a life gone in a finger-snap; a timeless line on time's flight.

第三次经过平山堂下，大半生已在弹指声中过去。

Three times I have passed the Pingshan Hall; half a life has gone in a snap of the fingers.

这句是写时光飞逝的名句，也是千古名句，以「三过」与「半生」对举，写尽重访遗迹时的人生感慨。「三过平山堂下」写第三次经过——那「三过」写重访的次数，平山堂是恩师欧阳修所建，苏轼第三次经过这里，每一次经过都有不同的感慨；「半生弹指声中」写时光飞逝——那「半生」写大半生（苏轼时年四十三岁），那「弹指」以佛教的极短时间写时光的飞快，那「半生弹指声中」写大半生仿佛在弹指之间就过去了，「弹指」二字写尽时光飞逝的迅疾。这句的深意在于：它以「三过」与「半生」的对照，写出了重访与时光的感慨——三次经过平山堂，其间已过了大半生；那「弹指」写时光的飞逝，那「半生」写人生的易老，正写尽了苏轼重访恩师遗迹时对人生流转的深长感慨——堂犹在，人已老，半生弹指而过。以「三过」写重访、以「弹指」写飞逝，正是苏轼「以词写感慨」的本领，也让这句成为写时光飞逝的千古名句。

This line writes the time's-flight famed line, and the through-the-ages famed line, using the three-passings and half-a-life's parallel, exhausting the revisit-to-the-old-site's life-sigh. The three-times-I-have-passed-the-Pingshan-Hall writing the third passing — the three-passings writing the revisit count, the Pingshan Hall the teacher Ouyang Xiu's built, Su Shi's third passing here, each passing's the different sigh; half-a-life-has-gone-in-a-snap-of-the-fingers writing the time's flight — the half-a-life writing the great-half-life (Su Shi then age 43), the snap-of-the-fingers using the Buddhist extreme-short-time for the time's swiftness, the half-a-life's as-if in the finger-snap's past, the snap two words exhausting the time's-flight rapidness. This line's deep meaning: it uses the three-passings and half-a-life's contrast, writing the revisit-and-time's sigh — three times passing the Pingshan Hall, between's already-passed half-a-life; the snap writing the time's flight, the half-a-life writing life's easy-to-old, precisely exhausting Su Shi's revisit-to-the-teacher's-site's life's-turning deep sigh — the hall's still there, the person's already old, half-a-life's the finger-snap's past. Using the three-passings for the revisit and the snap for the flight, precisely Su Shi's ci-writes-sigh craft, and making this line the time's-flight through-the-ages famed line.

休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦。

Say not all things turn to void once the head turns; before the head turns, all is dream. / Note: It first breaks Bai Juyi's 'all things void once the head turns,' then deepens to 'before the head turns, all is dream'—not only after death but even now life is a dream, Su Shi's thorough awakening, the lyric's climactic insight.

不要说万事转头皆空，未转头时，人生本就如梦。

Say not that all is empty when one turns the head; before the turn, life is already a dream.

这句是全词的点题之笔，也是千古名句，以「空」「梦」写人生的彻悟，较前人名句更翻进一层。「休言万事转头空」先破一执——不要说万事转头皆空，那「转头空」写人死之后万事皆空，是白居易「百年随手过，万事转头空」的旧说；「未转头时皆梦」翻进一层——不要说死后万事皆空，未转头时（眼前活着时）人生本就如梦，那「皆梦」写眼前的一切本是大梦一场，那「未转头时皆梦」将「空」推进到「梦」——不仅身后皆空，眼前（未转头时）亦是梦。这句的深意在于：它以「休言」破旧说、以「未转头时皆梦」立新说，写出了更深一层的人生彻悟——白居易说万事转头（死后）皆空，苏轼却说未转头时（活着时）本就如梦；那「皆梦」不是消极的虚无，而是对人生如梦的透彻了悟——正因人生如梦，故不必执着于得失，这正是苏轼「人生如梦」的旷达。而这一彻悟，又是在悼念恩师欧阳修的语境中写出——恩师已逝，壁上墨迹犹存，堂前杨柳依旧，人生如梦，唯有深情与旷达长存。以「休言」破执、以「未转头时皆梦」写彻悟，正是苏轼「以词写理」的本领，也让这句成为写人生如梦的千古名句。

This line is the whole ci's theme-stroke, and the through-the-ages famed line, using the empty-and-dream for the life's awakening, compared to the predecessors' famed line's one-layer further. The say-not-that-all-is-empty-when-one-turns-the-head first breaking one attachment — say not the all's empty after-the-turn, the after-turn-empty writing the death's after the all's empty, the Bai Juyi's hundred-years' hand-passed and all-things'-head-turned-empty old saying; before-the-turn-life-is-already-a-dream's one-layer further — say not the after-death all's empty, the before-the-turn (the present living) life's already like a dream, the all-dream writing the present's all's already a great dream, the before-the-turn-is-already-a-dream's pushing the empty to the dream — not only the after-life's all-empty, and yet the present (before-the-turn)'s also a dream. This line's deep meaning: it uses the say-not's breaking-the-old-saying and the before-the-turn-is-already-a-dream's establishing-the-new-saying, writing the one-layer deeper life's awakening — Bai Juyi's saying the all-things'-head-turned (after-death) all-empty, Su Shi's and yet the before-the-turn (living)'s originally like a dream; the all-dream's not the passive nothingness, and yet the life-like-a-dream's thorough awakening — precisely because of the life-like-a-dream, hence the no-attachment to the gain-and-loss, this precisely Su Shi's life-like-a-dream openness. And this awakening, and yet within the mourning-the-teacher-Ouyang-Xiu's context's written — the teacher's already gone, the wall's ink's still there, the hall-front willows' as-ever, the life-like-a-dream, only the deep feeling and openness's enduring. Using the say-not's breaking-attachment and the before-the-turn-is-already-a-dream's awakening, precisely Su Shi's ci-writes-reason craft, and making this line the life-like-a-dream through-the-ages famed line.

Study

Word focus

弹 'Snap (of the fingers).' A Buddhist unit of the briefest time, here writing how half a life has fled—'snap of the fingers' conveys time's swiftness and life's transience in one stroke, far more vivid than 'turn' or 'instant,' matching 'three times' and 'half a life' in the poet's deep lament at Pingshan Hall. 「弹」字是写时光飞逝的关键字，一个「弹」字写尽半生易逝的迅疾，是「半生弹指声中」的词眼。弹者，弹指也。苏轼以「半生弹指声中」写时光，一个「弹」字，至少有双重意味：其一，写时光之迅疾——那「弹指」是佛教表示极短时间的单位（弹指顷），以「弹指」写大半生的流逝，写尽时光飞逝的迅疾——大半生仿佛在弹指之间就过去了，「弹」字写尽光阴似箭；其二，写人生之倏忽——那「弹指」既是时间之短，也是人生之倏忽，以弹指写半生，写尽人生的易老与短暂，「弹」字写尽对人生流转的感慨。以「弹」字写时光，正是苏轼写人生感慨的关键——若换作「转」「瞬」等字，则或失其佛教的意象，或失其弹指的动感；唯「弹」字，以一字写尽时光飞逝的迅疾与人生易老的感慨，与「三过」「半生」相合，写尽重访平山堂时的深长感慨，也让「三过平山堂下，半生弹指声中」成为写时光飞逝的千古名句。

梦 'Dream.' The keyword of life's awakening in 'before the head turns, all is dream.' It writes life's illusory, impermanent nature, yet not as nihilism but as detached acceptance—since life is a dream, one need not cling to gain or loss. Paired with 'void' (after death void, before death dream), it deepens the insight, making the line a timeless utterance on life's dreamlike truth. 「梦」字是写人生彻悟的关键字，一个「梦」字写尽人生如梦的了悟，是「未转头时皆梦」的词眼。梦者，梦寐、虚幻也。苏轼以「未转头时皆梦」写人生，一个「梦」字，至少有双重意味：其一，写人生之如梦——那「皆梦」写人生本是一场大梦，眼前的一切（未转头时）皆是梦，「梦」字写尽人生的虚幻与无常；其二，写彻悟之旷达——那「梦」字不是消极的虚无，而是对人生如梦的透彻了悟——正因人生如梦，故不必执着于得失荣辱，那「梦」字写尽苏轼「人生如梦」的旷达。以「梦」字写人生，正是苏轼写人生感悟的枢纽——若换作「空」「幻」等字，则或失其与「转头空」的对照，或失其如梦的意象；唯「梦」字，以一字写尽人生的虚幻与旷达，与「空」字相映（身后皆空，眼前皆梦），写出更深一层的人生彻悟，也让「休言万事转头空，未转头时皆梦」成为写人生如梦的千古名句。