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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

赠赵先生

To Master Zhao

张方平

Zhang Fangping

隐逸reclusion 达观detachment 赠友friendship

此老得天乐，自称云水人。
佯狂不妨道，太息漫劳神。
沈醉少醒日，与游多逸民。
常忧忽不见，无处访清尘。

This old man has found heaven's own joy,
And calls himself a wanderer of cloud and stream.
His feigned madness does not hinder the Way,
His sighs but weary the spirit in vain.
He spends more days drunk than sober,
And those he roams with are mostly recluses.
I often fear he'll vanish all at once,
Nowhere can I seek his pure dust.

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Meaning

The poem portrays an old hermit, Master Zhao, who lives in spontaneous freedom, feigning madness yet never hindering the Way. It records his drunken, unconventional life among recluses and expresses the poet's deep admiration for such a transcendent spirit. The closing reveals the poet's quiet fear that this rare friend may vanish beyond all tracing.

此位老者得享天所赋的至乐，自号为云水闲人。他佯狂而不妨碍体道，只是偶尔太息空自劳神。沉醉的日子多于清醒之时，与他交游的多是避世的逸民。常忧心他忽然隐去难再相见，到时无处去寻访他的清尘。

Appreciation

Zhang Fangping depicts character through plain sketch rather than ornate allusion, establishing Master Zhao's spirit in the opening then revealing his truth through contradiction. The structure moves from praise of the man to the poet's own regret, with the final turn from delight to worry lending unusual sincerity. Light in diction yet substantial in feeling, it belongs to the Song line of 'plain yet true' recluse-poetry.

【白话串讲】张方平赠赵先生：“此老得天乐，自称云水人”。“佯狂不妨道，太息漫劳神”——“沈醉少醒日，与游多逸民”——“常忧忽不见，无处访清尘”——他写一位云水高人。【意象与手法】此诗赠隐逸高人，章法以「赞—解—叹」为序。起联「得天乐」「云水人」立其人格；次联「佯狂」「太息」写其狂中之真；三联「沈醉」「逸民」状其放达交游；结联「常忧」「无处访清尘」转为惜别之惧。通篇白描而不加雕饰，以「云水」「清尘」等道家语写其人，平淡中见钦仰。【情感与主旨】主旨在于赞赏赵先生得道忘机的达观，以及诗人对其超然世外又恐难再见的复杂心理。诗中既肯定「佯狂不妨道」的狂者胸次，又于结处流露对高人易逝、清尘难觅的怅惘，是赠隐逸诗中恳切而不谀的一类。【名句点睛】「佯狂不妨道，太息漫劳神」一联最见识人，以狂写真、以叹写痴，寥寥十字便勾出一位混迹尘俗而心游物外的畸人形象。

Background

Zhang Fangping's 'To Master Zhao' is addressed to a certain Master Zhao whose identity is now hard to ascertain, yet from such phrases as 'wanderer of cloud and stream,' 'recluses,' and 'pure dust' we know he was a lofty hermit who mingled in the dusty world and played the madman. In the mid-Northern Song, among the exchanges of officials and scholars there were many Daoist adepts and retired recluses — some skilled in the Daoist arts, some unconstrained and eccentric, like Chen Tuan and Zhong Fang, renowned far and wide, while ordinary hidden gentlemen were also often praised by men of letters. Fangping was famed as an upright minister, of firm character yet fond of the uncommon, and he always commended such men who had attained the Way and forgotten worldly cares. This poem was likely written during his friendship with Master Zhao, recording his words and deeds while also expressing his own admiration. The lines 'he spends more days drunk than sober, and those he roams with are mostly recluses' show the two men's feasting and wandering; 'I often fear he'll vanish' reveals Fangping's deep cherishing of such easily-lost figures. To understand this poem one must place it within the Song taste for reclusion and esteem for hermits, so as to feel that complex friendship of both delight and regret. Among Fangping's collected works there are many poems to recluses; this one especially shows his aim of not deifying but depicting the real man — in the feigned madness and sighs we see a living eccentric, in the nowhere-to-seek pure dust we see the depth of friendship, a plain and sincere manner distinctive among the period's recluse-poems.

张方平此《赠赵先生》，所赠之赵先生其人虽已难详考，然从诗中「云水人」「逸民」「清尘」等语，可知乃一位混迹尘俗、佯狂玩世的隐逸高士。北宋中期，士大夫交游中多有方外异人、退隐逸民，或精于道术，或任诞不羁，如陈抟、种放之流声名籍甚，而寻常隐君子亦往往为文人所称。方平以直臣名世，性刚而好奇，于此类得道忘机之人每加推许。此诗当作于其与赵先生交游之际，既录其言行，亦写己之钦慕。诗中「沈醉少醒日，与游多逸民」，可见二人宴游放达之状；「常忧忽不见」，则见方平对此等人物易逝难留的深切珍惜。读懂此诗，须置之于宋人尚隐、重逸民风气之中，方能体会那份既欣慕又怅惘的复杂交情。方平集中赠隐逸之作颇多，此篇尤见其不神化而写真之旨，于佯狂太息中见畸人活态，于清尘无处中见交情之笃，在当时赠隐诗中别具一种平实恳切的风调。方平之交游如此，可见北宋士大夫于隐逸非徒慕其高，更重其人之真，此一篇短章所以能脱套语而自成一格。

Art

This is a five-character regulated verse of four couplets and eight lines, yet it paints an eccentric in a short compass, with a spacious and orderly structure. The opening couplet, 'This old man has found heaven's joy, and calls himself a wanderer of cloud and stream,' strikes directly at the theme, first establishing his character — the utmost joy of nature, styling himself as cloud and water, already showing his transcendence. The second couplet, 'His feigned madness does not hinder the Way; his sighs but weary the spirit in vain,' uses a contradictory brush to write the truth within his madness: feigned madness seems to violate the Way, yet 'does not hinder' it; sighing weary the spirit, yet 'in vain' — between the two negatives we see his natural spontaneity, clinging to nothing. The third couplet, 'more days drunk than sober, with recluses for companions,' describes his uninhibited fellowship in plain sketch. The closing couplet, 'I often fear he'll suddenly disappear, nowhere to seek his pure dust,' abruptly turns to the fear of parting, returning from praising the man to the poet's own regret. Throughout, no ornate diction or allusion is used; the man is painted in plain language, light yet flavorful — a practice of the Song line 'making poetry from prose, making the vulgar elegant.' The whole begins by establishing his character, the middle depicts his conduct, the end writes my regret — from man to self, though short, the feeling is complete. Its plainness hides inner turns; seeming ordinary yet most singular, the craft shows in the plain.

此诗五言律格，四联八句，却以短章写畸人，章法疏朗有致。起联「此老得天乐，自称云水人」破题直捷，先立其人格基调——得自然之至乐，以云水自况，已见脱俗；次联「佯狂不妨道，太息漫劳神」以矛盾笔法写其狂中之真：佯狂本违道，却「不妨道」，太息本劳神，却「漫劳神」，两「不」「漫」之间，见其任性自然、不滞于物；三联「沈醉少醒日，与游多逸民」以白描状其放达交游，醉多醒少，友皆逸民，是隐者行藏；结联「常忧忽不见，无处访清尘」陡转惜别之惧，由赞人回到己之怅惘。通篇不用典丽辞藻，纯以本色语写人，淡而有味，是宋诗中「以文为诗、以俗为雅」一路的实践。通篇以白描写人，无一典丽字，却自见风骨，所谓不雕而工者近是；起联立其品，中联状其行，结联写我之惜，由人及我，章法虽短而情致完足，是宋诗以拙为巧之一例。又其以「常忧不见」收束中联，于白描中暗藏起伏，看似平易而内有波折，此正宋人所谓「看似寻常最奇崛」之笔，淡处见工。

Allusions

Though the poem uses few recondite allusions, its vocabulary draws on the Daoist and reclusive traditions. 'Wanderer of cloud and stream' originally referred to those beyond the world whose traces are as unfixed as cloud and water; Tang and Song writings often used 'cloud and water' to figure the drifting body of the recluse, as in Guanxiu's 'soaked in cloud and water'; Fangping uses this self-title to hint at Master Zhao's identity as a hermit. 'Recluse' comes from the Analects ('The recluses: Bo Yi, Shu Qi...'), denoting those of lofty conduct who withdrew from the world; Fangping uses it of his companions, showing his circle were all worthy men. 'Pure dust' derives from the Chu Ci and later the image of 'pure dust and muddy water,' referring to the traces of the lofty; here it means Master Zhao's pure and transcendent footsteps. 'Feigned madness' inherits the tradition of madmen like Jie Yu and Ruan Ji. These terms are none of them obscure, yet together they weave a web of reclusive-cultural meaning, giving a concrete old man a typified spiritual portrait. The poem's cloud-water, recluses, and pure dust all follow the recluse lore since the Analects and Chu Ci; once wielded, they become Master Zhao's spiritual biography — showing that allusion works not by obscurity but by fitting the man and conveying his spirit.

诗中虽少用僻典，而语汇多承道家与隐逸传统。「云水人」本指行踪无定、如云如水之方外客，唐宋诗文中多以「云水」喻隐逸漂泊之身，如贯休「云水浸泡身」，方平用此自号，暗点赵先生之隐士身份。「逸民」出《论语·微子》「逸民：伯夷、叔齐、虞仲、夷逸、朱张、柳下惠、少连」，谓节行超逸、避世隐居之人，方平以之状其交游，见其圈子皆高士。「清尘」语本《楚辞》「彰厥有常，清尘」及后世「清尘浊水」之喻，指高洁者之踪迹，此处谓赵先生清逸之迹。「佯狂」则承接舆、阮籍之狂者传统。诸语皆非生僻，却共同织成一张隐逸文化的意义之网，使一位具体老者获得典型化的精神肖像。诗中云水、逸民、清尘诸语，皆沿《论语》《楚辞》以来隐逸故实，并非方平自造，而一经驱遣，便成赵先生之精神小传，可见用典不在僻，在能切其身、传其神。且诗中逸民清尘之喻，渊源有自，皆沿前贤隐逸故实而来，方平点化入篇，遂成赵先生精神之写照，用典之妙在切而不在奇。

Commentary

Though short, this poem reveals much of Fangping's distinctive way of knowing men and friendship. Song poems to recluses either deify them extravagantly (like Su Shi's 'To Daoist Wu') or affect loftiness, falling into cliche. Fangping's is different: he writes Master Zhao 'feigned madness does not hinder the Way; his sighs but weary the spirit in vain' — neither wholly beautifying nor deliberately deifying, but depicting a real, tangible madman who sighs and wearies yet never hinders his Way. This brush of 'not deifying yet the more revealing the true' is precisely the strength of Fangping's fluent style. The Qing anthology Song Poetry Selection says of Fangping 'he does not carve,' and this poem's plain sketch shows the craft most. Its closing 'I often fear he'll vanish, nowhere to seek his pure dust' writes an extraordinary regret in ordinary worry — compared to the Tang depths of 'tomorrow mountains and rivers part us, the world's affairs twofold vague,' it is another kind of Song sincerity. This piece may be taken as a representative of the Northern Song 'plain yet true' line of recluse-poems, of value for studying Song friendship poetry. Song recluse-poems easily fall into immortalism or cliche; Fangping alone writes his sighing and worrying, making him the more dear and reverend — this de-romanticizing, truth-preserving method opens a new realm for depicting eccentrics, and should not be read as ordinary occasional verse.

此诗虽短，却颇可见方平识人论交的独到。宋人赠隐逸诗，或极意神化，如苏轼《赠武道士》；或故作清高，落于套路。方平此作不然，他写赵先生「佯狂不妨道，太息漫劳神」，既不全盘美化，也不刻意神异，而是写出一个真实可感的狂者——会太息、会劳神，却终不妨其道。这种「不神化而愈见其真」的笔法，正是方平疏畅诗风的好处。清人《宋诗钞》评方平「不事雕琢」，此诗白描处最见功夫。其结「常忧忽不见，无处访清尘」，以平常之忧写非常之惜，比之唐人「明日隔山岳，世事两茫茫」的深沉，另是一种宋人特有的恳切。此篇可视为北宋赠隐逸诗中「平实见真」一路的代表，于研究宋人交游诗颇有价值。宋人赠隐逸诗易落仙气或套语，方平独写其太息劳神、常忧不见，转觉可亲可敬，此种去浪漫而存真实的写法，正开后世写畸人高士之新境，不当以常赠答目之。要之此诗写人写己，两得其真，于宋人赠隐之作中颇为难得，不当与寻常应酬套语同日而语。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated poem (lüshi)五言律诗

Rhyme Rhymes throughout with the level-tone zhen (真) category; the rhyming characters are 人, 神, 民, 尘 — one rhyme to the end, clear and ringing.通押平声真韵，入韵字为人、神、民、尘，一韵到底，四联短制，真谆辙清越。

Tone pattern As a five-character regulated poem it follows the tonal pattern; the middle two couplets ('feigned madness... sighs...' and 'drunk... recluses...') are neatly antithetical with matched level and oblique tones.五言律诗依律调平仄，中二联「佯狂不妨道，太息漫劳神」「沈醉少醒日，与游多逸民」对仗工整，平仄相侔。

Reading note Though only four couplets, the poem has its own sonic design. The zhen rhyme belongs to the zhen division, third opening grade; its vowel is fine and moist, its timbre clear and far-carrying, most fit for writing reclusive, pure, distant feeling and the thought of parting regret. Fangping encloses the whole in the zhen rhyme: opening 'person,'承接 'spirit,' turning 'recluses,' closing 'dust' — four rhymes in succession, even in breath, read like clear spring water washing over stones, exactly matching the realm of the cloud-and-water worthy he depicts. The middle two couplets are antithetical: 'feigned madness' against 'sigh' as a mental-state pair, 'drunk' against 'roam with' as a conduct pair — steady yet not stiff. Short regulated verse most fears cramped breath; this poem is upheld by the clear moisture of the zhen rhyme, the ease of 'found heaven's joy' at head and the regret of 'seek pure dust' at tail answering each other in sound and feeling. Song occasional poems value flavor; this one has a narrow rhyme yet long meaning — the clarity of zhen is the outward form of its character, worthwhile for appreciating the light, lasting quality of Song five-character lüshi. The zhen rhyme is clear and far, like white-stone spring water, in resonance with the cloud-and-water worthy's realm; four rhymes circle round, a short piece with lingering flavor, most fit for writing friendship and parting beyond the dusty world.此诗虽仅四联，音韵却自有章法。真韵属臻摄开口三等，元音细润、音色清越，最宜写隐逸清远之情与惜别怅惘之思。方平以真韵笼全篇，起句「人」、承句「神」、转句「民」、合句「尘」，四韵相承，声气匀净，读来如清泉漱石，恰与其所写云水高人之境相称。中二联对仗，「佯狂」对「太息」以心态对，「沈醉」对「与游」以行藏对，工稳而不板。律诗短章最忌气促，此诗以真韵的清润托住，首尾「得天乐」之从容与「访清尘」之怅惘，声情相应。宋人小诗重味，此篇韵窄而意长，真韵之清正是其体格的外显，于体会宋调五律之淡永颇有可取。真韵清越，声如白石清泉，与云水高人之境相发，四韵回环，短章而有余味，最宜写不属尘嚣之交情别绪。

Line by line

此老得天乐，自称云水人。

This old man has found heaven's own joy, and calls himself a wanderer of cloud and stream.

此位老者得享天所赋的至乐，自号为云水闲人。

This old man has the joy of heaven; he calls himself a man of clouds and waters.

起联是全诗立人之处，以两笔勾出赵先生的精神肖像。上句「此老得天乐」之「天乐」出《庄子》，谓任天而动、与物皆春之乐，方平用以说赵先生得自然之至乐，已暗点其道家身份；下句「自称云水人」以自号收束，云水无定、随缘自在，恰是其人生态度的注脚。一联之中，「得天乐」言其内，「云水人」言其外，内外相发，一个脱略形骸的隐者便立住了。更可味者，称「此老」而不称「先生」，是交游间亲狎之辞，见方平与之并非泛泛。后文写其佯狂、沈醉、清尘，皆自此「天乐」「云水」二语生发，是短章稳健的起手。

The opening couplet stands up the man, sketching Mr. Zhao's spiritual portrait in two strokes. The first line's joy of heaven comes from Zhuangzi, meaning the joy of moving with heaven and springing with all things; Fangping uses it to say Mr. Zhao has the utmost joy of nature, secretly pointing out his Taoist identity. The second closes on his self-name, a man of clouds and waters: clouds and waters have no fixed form, following chance and at ease, exactly the footnote to his attitude to life. Within one couplet, the joy of heaven speaks the inner, the man of clouds and waters speaks the outer, inner and outer issuing each other, and a recluse free of bodily form stands up. What is more to taste is calling him this old man, not mister - the intimate speech of friendship, showing Fangping was no mere acquaintance. The later writing of his feigned madness, deep drunkenness and pure dust all grow from these two words joy of heaven and clouds and waters, a steady opening for a short piece.

佯狂不妨道，太息漫劳神。

His feigned madness does not hinder the Way; his sighs but weary the spirit in vain.

他佯狂而不妨碍体道，只是偶尔太息空自劳神。

Feigning madness does not hinder the Way; a sigh now and then idly spends his spirit.

此联是全诗识人最深处，以矛盾笔法写狂者之真。上句「佯狂不妨道」，佯狂本似违道，方平却说「不妨」，盖狂乃其表、道乃其里，狂放之态无损于体道之实；下句「太息漫劳神」，太息本自劳神，却着一「漫」字，谓任情而叹、不以为意，反见其天真。两句中「不妨」「漫」皆轻笔带过，却把一位混迹尘俗而心游物外的畸人写活。常人赠隐士多作神仙语，方平独写其「太息劳神」，正是不神化而见其真。此联上承「得天乐」之达，下启「沈醉」之放，在全篇中处于由赞人格转入写行藏的关键，位置极要。

This couplet is the poem's deepest knowledge of the man, writing the truth of the wild one through contradiction. The first, feigning madness does not hinder the Way: feigned madness seems to violate the Way, yet Fangping says it does not, for madness is his surface and the Way his inner, and the wild bearing does no harm to the reality of abiding in the Way. The second, a sigh now and then idly spends his spirit: sighing originally spends the spirit, yet the word idly means he sighs as feeling takes him and makes nothing of it, which on the contrary shows his naturalness. The words does not hinder and idly both pass lightly over, yet they bring to life an eccentric who mingles in the dusty world while his heart roams beyond things. Ordinary men presenting to recluses write fairy talk; Fangping alone writes his sighing and spending spirit, precisely not deifying him yet showing his truth. This couplet follows the opening's joy of heaven and opens the later deep drunkenness, standing in the key position between praising character and writing conduct, most important.

常忧忽不见，无处访清尘。

I often fear he will suddenly disappear, and nowhere can I seek his pure dust.

常忧心他忽然隐去难再相见，到时无处去寻访他的清尘。

I often fear he will suddenly vanish, and nowhere can I seek his pure traces.

结联陡转，由赞人回到己之怅惘，是全诗情感落点。上句「常忧忽不见」写方平常恐赵先生忽焉隐去、无从再见，一个「常」字见其珍重之久；下句「无处访清尘」以「清尘」代指高士踪迹，言一旦隐遁便无处寻访。二句将前面所有的钦慕、写真，统统收束为一缕惜别之惧，章法由放转收。尤妙在「常忧」与起联「得天乐」的从容恰成反差：赵先生越是自在，诗人越是怕失，这种「以乐衬忧」的笔法，使交情显得格外恳切。方平以直臣立身，此处却写得如此缠绵，正见其对真隐者的由衷推许。

The closing couplet turns abruptly, from praising the man back to one's own wistfulness, the poem's emotional landing. The first, I often fear he will suddenly vanish, writes Fangping's constant dread that Mr. Zhao will go into hiding and be seen no more; the word often shows how long he has cherished him. The second, nowhere can I seek his pure traces, uses pure traces for the marks of the lofty man, meaning once he withdraws there is nowhere to seek him. The two lines gather all the preceding admiration and portraiture into a single dread of parting, the structure turning from expansion to close. The beauty lies in that the constant fear and the opening's joy of heaven form a contrast: the more at ease Mr. Zhao is, the more the poet fears losing him, and this way of setting sorrow against joy makes the friendship seem the more earnest. Fangping stood as a straight official, yet here he writes so tenderly, showing his sincere esteem for a true recluse.

Study

Word focus

云水人 A self-title of Master Zhao meaning 'wanderer of cloud and stream,' figuring the unfixed, free, and unstuck life of a recluse who clings to no name or possession. 「自称云水人」之「云水人」，是赵先生的自号，亦全诗定调之语。云水者，行踪无定、随缘任运之谓，唐宋诗词多以云水喻方外漂泊之身，如「云水早年怀故里」。方平用此三字作结起联，不写姓名官爵，只以「云水人」三字，便将一位隐逸高士的精神气象和盘托出——不滞于物、不系于名。此词之妙，在以虚象写真人：云水本无形，用以自况，恰见其脱略形骸。与后世「江湖客」「烟霞侣」等同调语相比，「云水」更见清空自在。一词而定全篇隐逸之调，后文佯狂、沈醉、清尘诸写，皆自此「云水」二字流出，是短章炼意最省净处。

佯狂 Feigned madness — a tradition of eccentrics like Jie Yu and Ruan Ji; here it reveals a 'mad outside, true inside' character, where wildness does not damage the inner Way. 「佯狂不妨道」之「佯狂」，承接舆、阮籍一脉的狂者传统，亦全诗写人的关键笔。佯狂者，假作狂放也，古人多以之避世全身，如接舆歌而过孔子、阮籍穷途之哭。方平写赵先生佯狂，却说「不妨道」，意谓其狂乃外形、其道乃内实，狂放之态无损于体道之真。此二字之重，在揭示一种「外狂内真」的人格：世俗见其狂，知音见其道。常人赠隐士每作神仙语，方平独标「佯狂」，正是不神化而见其实。一词而勾出畸人本色，与下句「太息漫劳神」相俪，狂者形象顿活。宋人重理，此「佯狂」之辨，亦含几分「形狂神不狂」的理趣。

清尘 Pure dust — the traces of a lofty person; here it stands for Master Zhao's elusive, transcendent footsteps after he vanishes. 「无处访清尘」之「清尘」，指高洁者之踪迹，亦全诗情感收束的意象。清尘本谓清轻之尘，后引申为尊者或高士的行迹，如「清尘浊水」喻相隔之远。方平以此代指赵先生隐遁后的踪影，言其一旦飘然而去，便如清尘难捉、无处寻访。此词之妙，在以虚渺之尘状不可捉摸之隐，较之直说「无处寻其人」更富诗意与怅惘。与起联「云水人」呼应：云水写其自在之态，清尘写其隐去之渺，一显一隐，恰成对照。一词而收束全篇惜别之情、安顿隐逸之思，是结句最得体之法，淡而有不尽之意。