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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

赠赵抱一

Presented to Zhao Baoyi

张方平

Zhang Fangping

山水Landscape 田园Pastoral 时序Seasonal Cycles 咏物Objects of Nature

石门路已绝尘寰，紫柏高深不可攀。
野色苍茫连远水，暮云惨澹裹寒山。
琴碁有徇皆为役，松竹无情且共闲。
卉醴一杯时自酿，陶然亦可发朱颜。

Stone Gate road has already cut off the dusty world;
Purple cypresses, lofty and deep, cannot be climbed.
Wild colors, vast and dim, stretch to distant waters;
Evening clouds, bleak and somber, wrap the cold hills.
Lute and chess, if pursued, become but servitude;
Pine and bamboo, though feelingless, may share our leisure.
A cup of flower nectar, brewed now and then by myself,
Drunkenly content, can even flush my aged face.

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Meaning

Zhang Fangping presents this poem to Zhao Baoyi, a Daoist hermit whose name derives from the Laozi phrase 'embracing the One.' The poem portrays his remote, inaccessible mountain dwelling, his rejection of worldly pursuits, and the quiet self-sufficiency of brewing his own wine and finding joy in nature. It is both a tribute to the recluse and a reflection of the poet's own late-life admiration for the Daoist ideal.

石门的山路早已隔断了尘世，紫柏森森高深得叫人攀不上去。野色苍茫连着远水，暮云惨澹裹住寒山。琴棋只要存了追逐心便都成了劳役，松竹虽说无情却正可相伴清闲。自酿一杯花醴，陶然微醉，也足以让衰颜泛起红润。

Appreciation

The poem moves from place to mind to joy: the first couplet establishes the recluse's separation from the world; the second paints the bleak landscape; the third turns inward with the paradox that even refined arts become burdens when pursued, while emotionless pines and bamboos are the best companions; the final couplet captures the simple pleasure of home-brewed flower wine, which brings a rosy glow to the drinker's face. The central couplet is the most striking: 'Lute and chess, if pursued, become servitude; pine and bamboo, though emotionless, may share leisure'—a typical Song-dynasty inversion that turns conventional aesthetic judgments upside down.

【白话串讲】张方平赠赵抱一：“石门路已绝尘寰，紫柏高深不可攀”。“琴碁有徇皆为役，松竹无情且共闲”——“卉醴一杯时自酿，陶然亦可发朱颜”——他写山中隐士。【意象与手法】全诗以石门、紫柏、野色、远水、暮云、寒山写外境之幽寒，以琴棋、松竹写内心之取舍，以卉醴、朱颜写形骸之自适，内外相生。手法上多用反衬与翻案：琴棋本雅事，却说有徇皆役；松竹本无情，却说且共闲。一正一反之间，把「有为则累、无情乃适」的道家意思写活，是宋人翻案诗的常法。【情感与主旨】题作赠赵抱一，抱一之名出《老子》「圣人抱一为天下式」，可知赵为道家隐者。诗之主旨即在写此「抱一」之人：外绝尘寰、内忘徇求，以松竹为侣，以自酿为乐。表面闲适，深处却有一层对世俗奔竞的否弃——琴棋尚且成役，何况功名。是赠隐，也是自况，张方平晚年好道，诗中气象与其晚境相合。【名句点睛】「琴碁有徇皆为役，松竹无情且共闲」以雅事与无情物对举，翻尽常格，是全诗最有思想重量的一联；「卉醴一杯时自酿，陶然亦可发朱颜」于枯淡中洇出暖意，一杯花醴便足以悦衰年，写尽隐者自足之乐，收束最润。

Background

Zhang Fangping (1007–1091), courtesy name Andao, served three emperors and rose to the post of Assistant Administrator (Canzhi Zhengshi). A collection titled Lequan ji survives. The poem is addressed to Zhao Baoyi, whose name comes from Laozi's 'The sage embraces the One as the model for the world,' marking him as a Daoist recluse. The 'Stone Gate' and 'Purple Cypress' refer to his hermitage site. Purple Cypress Mountain in present-day Liuba County, Shaanxi, was associated with Zhang Liang's retirement and became a famous retreat. Zhang Fangping, who had served in Shaanxi, probably met this hermit there. Zhao Baoyi himself is otherwise unknown, but the poem's language shows him to be a true recluse who avoided fame. The poem also reveals Zhang Fangping's own late-life turn toward Daoism.

张方平（一〇〇七至一〇九一），字安道，宋州宋城人，历仕仁宗、英宗、神宗三朝，官至参知政事，谥文定，有《乐全集》四十卷。此首赠赵抱一，抱一之名本于《老子》「圣人抱一为天下式」，可知赵为道家隐者。诗中石门、紫柏，当指其隐居之地。紫柏山在今陕西汉中留坝县，相传为汉留侯张良功成身退、辟谷隐居之处，自唐以来即为隐逸名胜；石门则在褒斜栈道褒河之上，乃秦岭入蜀要冲，亦多隐栖之迹。张方平曾帅益州、知邠州，足迹入陕，与此地隐者相值，固其宜也。赵抱一其人虽史阙，然由诗中绝尘寰、不可攀、松竹共闲诸语，可断为一位避世修真、不求人知的高士。北宋前期，隐逸之风犹盛，朝廷每以「隐逸」科、赐号笼络山林之士；而真隐者多避声名。方平一生论事刚方，晚乃嗜道，与苏轼论佛老书简可证。此诗写赵抱一，亦未尝不是写自己暮年向往的一种活法——外绝尘鞅、内抱冲虚。读懂此诗，须把它放进诗人出处进退的大脉络里看。

Art

The poem's structure proceeds from the external world to the inner mind: first the place (isolated, inaccessible), then the scene (bleak, cold), then the mind (the paradox of attachment versus non-attachment), and finally the joy of simple self-sufficiency. The most ingenious device is the inverted judgment in the third couplet. Lute and chess, normally the epitome of refined leisure, are declared to be servitude when performed with attachment; pine and bamboo, usually considered emotionless, are declared fit companions for leisure. This reversal embodies the Daoist idea that 'action leads to burden; non-action is ease.' The closing line, with its restrained 'can even' (亦可), avoids extravagance and keeps the poem within the bounds of quiet contentment.

此诗章法，由外而内、由境而心。首联写地：石门路绝、紫柏不可攀，先立隐居之「隔」；颔联写境：野色远水、暮云寒山，以苍寒之色染其地；颈联写心：琴棋有徇皆役、松竹无情共闲，由境转入取舍；尾联写乐：卉醴自酿、陶然朱颜，以暖收冷。四联如一幅山水人物长卷，由远山近水徐徐推到亭中独酌之人。最见巧处在颈联的翻案。琴棋本是士大夫雅尚，人人以之为乐、为身份，诗人却说有徇皆役——只要心里存了追逐（徇）的念头，雅事立成劳役；松竹本是无情草木，却说且共闲，无情之物反成了最妥当的伴侣。一正一反，把「有为则累、无心乃适」的理，化成一对极醒目的对照。这种以常语作翻案的笔法，是宋诗长处，与王荆公「细数落花因坐久，缓寻芳草得迟归」同一机杼。尾联亦妙在「亦」字。陶然亦可发朱颜，不夸大、不矜夸，只是「亦可」——一杯淡酒，不过让衰颜略红而已。这种克制，使全诗的闲适不流入享乐，与首联的绝尘寰气脉一贯。

Allusions

Baoyi ('Embracing the One') comes from Laozi, chapter 22: 'The sage embraces the One as the model for the world.' Chenhuan ('dusty world') is a common Buddhist/Daoist term for the mundane realm. 'Zibai' (purple cypress) alludes to Purple Cypress Mountain, where Zhang Liang practiced fasting and retreat, thus associating Zhao with the legendary recluse. 'Lute and chess' represent the elegant arts; here they are inversed. Pine and bamboo are traditional emblems of constancy and noble character; here their emotionlessness is praised from a Daoist perspective (as in Zhuangzi's discussion of feelings). 'Hui li' (flower nectar) is a sweet wine brewed from flower petals. 'Taoran' recalls Tao Yuanming's carefree enjoyment, also used by Bai Juyi in 'one drink, one tavern joy.' Zhu Yan ('vermilion face') is a youthful complexion, here ironically applied to an aged face flushed by wine.

抱一：出《老子》第二十二章「圣人抱一为天下式」，一谓道之浑全。赵抱一之名即取此，诗虽未直引，而全篇写其守拙忘机、外物不徇，正是对「抱一」的图示。尘寰：寰谓寰宇、人世，尘寰即红尘人间。石门路已绝尘寰，写其居与世隔绝，暗用《桃花源记》「乃不知有汉」之境。紫柏：指紫柏山，汉中名山，张良辟谷处。诗中紫柏高深不可攀，既状其地之幽，亦以留侯之隐为衬托，暗示赵抱一乃张良一类人物。琴棋：琴与棋，文人四艺之二，象征雅趣。诗中却说有徇皆役，翻雅为累，是反用。松竹：松竹经冬不凋，自来为坚贞高洁之象（陶渊明、王子猷辈多以松竹竹为侣）。诗中松竹无情且共闲，以草木之无情反衬人世之有累，取意于庄子「无情」之说。卉醴：卉谓草花，醴谓甜酒；卉醴盖指以花蕊自酿之甜酒，可想见隐者自给之乐。陶然：陶谓怡悦，然为貌；陶然本于陶渊明之冲淡，唐人白居易「一醉一陶然」用之成词。朱颜：少年红润之面色，此借指衰年因微醺而暂复血色，含自适之意。

Commentary

Zhang Fangping wrote many poems on reclusion and Daoism; this one best captures his late-life mood. The Siku editors praised his poetic style as 'smooth and lucid'—indeed, this poem avoids mystical rhetoric and describes ordinary things: stone gates, cypresses, lute, chess, pines, bamboo, wine. Yet a man who embraces the One emerges vividly. If we compare the poem with Tao Yuanming and Wang Wei, we see the difference between Tang and Song reclusion poetry: Tao's return to nature is a visceral joy, Wang's mountain life is Zen-like emptiness, while Zhang's poem is a rational observation—the insight that attachment itself turns pleasure into burden. The poet represents the recluses he admires as being awake to the dangers of desire. The closing line, with its image of an old man flushing red from a cup of self-brewed wine, adds a warm human touch to an otherwise austere conception.

张方平集中赠隐逸、说道教之作不少，此首最见其晚年心境。四库馆臣评方平诗文「疏畅明切」，移评此诗亦妥：写隐者不故作仙气，只平平写石门、紫柏、琴棋、松竹、花醴，而一个抱一守拙的人已立纸上。将它与陶、王并观，可见宋人隐逸诗与六朝唐人的差别。陶渊明写田园，是「久在樊笼里，复得返自然」的回归之乐；王维写山中，是「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」的禅悦之空；方平此诗则落在「琴棋有徇皆役，松竹无情共闲」的理辨——把隐逸写成一种对「徇」的警觉。唐人得意于隐，宋人得意于「看破隐中之累」。同样写闲，唐人是境地之闲，宋人是心法之闲。尤可注意尾联。一般赠隐诗易写得枯寂，此诗却以卉醴、朱颜收束，于冲淡中见一点人间暖意，不堕清苦。这正是方平诗「不尚虚尖」之处：他不肯把隐者写成槁木死灰，而写成一个还会因一杯自酿而陶然泛红的人。看似平淡，实则最见体贴。苏轼《乐全先生文集叙》称方平晚年「言性命之理，达于死生」，读此诗松竹共闲、陶然朱颜数语，正可想见其晚岁气象。一首赠隐小诗，亦是读方平晚年的一扇窗。

Prosody

Form Seven-Character Regulated Verse (七言律诗)七言律诗

Rhyme Level tone in the 'shan' rhyme group (上平十五删): huan, pan, shan, xian, yan—rhymes on every line in first stanza, then alternate, maintaining a single rhyme throughout.押平声删韵，首句入韵：寰、攀、山、闲、颜皆属上平十五删，一韵到底，无出韵。删韵元音开口、收音稍展，音色清峻，与隐地之高寒、心境之闲远相称。

Tone pattern Level-tone opening pattern (平起首句入韵式). The middle two couplets are antithetical: 'Wild colors...' vs 'Evening clouds...' and 'Lute and chess...' vs 'Pine and bamboo...'. The tonal pattern is regular for a seven-character regulated verse.七言律诗，中二联对仗。颔联野色苍茫连远水对暮云惨澹裹寒山，以野色对暮云、苍茫对惨澹、远水对寒山，色与声、动与静相称；颈联琴碁有徇皆为役对松竹无情且共闲，以琴碁对松竹、有徇对无情、为役对共闲，理趣对举，最为警策。首联石门路已绝尘寰对紫柏高深不可攀，亦近对仗。平仄依平起首句入韵式，各句大体合律。

Reading note The rhymes in the shan group have an open, slightly austere sound, fitting the cold mountain scenes. The rhythm is typically 4-3, with the final couplet breaking into 2-3-2 to suit the slower, self-contented tone of drinking wine. This poem exemplifies the Song style of using argument in couplets, especially the third couplet, which reads like two aphorisms.此诗声律清稳，可作七律闲适一体之例。删韵本带一种疏朗峻洁的音响，与紫柏、寒山、松竹一类清物相得益彰；吟到闲、颜二韵收束，声渐舒徐，恰如尾联那杯花醴的温润，由首联的峭绝慢慢化开。中二联对仗，颔联写境、颈联写理，一外一内，最见经营。尤其颈联琴碁有徇皆为役对松竹无情且共闲，字面对偶而意实翻案——上句五字一断（有徇），下句五字一断（无情），读来如两句格言并置，是宋人「以文为诗、以对为论」的典型。这种对仗不尚秾丽，宁取其「说话」，正是宋律与唐律气质之别。节奏上七言之顿在四三：石门路已—绝尘寰，琴碁有徇—皆为役，前四字叙事或立象，后三字下断语。唯尾联卉醴一杯时自酿破为二三二（卉醴—一杯—时自酿），句法微变，与「一杯」之小、自酿之缓相合，读来真有把盏徐斟之态。通篇声、律、意俱淡而能远，是宋人七律中写隐逸得体的一首。

Line by line

石门路已绝尘寰，紫柏高深不可攀。

The Stone Gate road has already cut off the dusty world—the hermitage is completely separated from mundane affairs.

石门隔世，紫柏难攀。

The Stone Gate road has cut off the human world; the purple cypresses rise deep and high, beyond all climbing.

这是起手一联，先把赵抱一的隐居地写成一个「不可至」的世界。上句石门路已绝尘寰，一个绝字斩断内外，石门本是可通的关口，此处却说路已绝，意味着不是山闭门，是人绝迹——他主动把与红尘的连线拔去。下句紫柏高深不可攀，紫柏既状其地之幽，又暗指张良辟谷的紫柏山，把赵抱一的身份悄悄抬高到「留侯之俦」；不可攀三字，既是写山高路险，也是写其人品之高、世俗攀援不得。两句一绝一不可，把隐与显的界限写得铁硬。后面所有琴棋、松竹、花醴的闲适，都由这「绝」字生出——正因为路绝，方得闲；正因为不可攀，方成真隐。起手即立骨，是七律稳当的写法。

The opening couplet first writes Zhao Baoyi's hermitage as a world unreachable. The first, the Stone Gate road has cut off the human world: the word cut severs inside from outside. The Stone Gate is originally a passable gorge, yet here the road is cut, meaning not that the mountains shut the door but that man has cut the traces - he has of his own will pulled out the connecting line with the dusty world. The second, the purple cypresses rise deep and high, beyond all climbing: the purple cypresses at once write the place's seclusion and secretly point to the Purple Cypress Mountain where Zhang Liang abstained from grain, quietly raising Zhao to the company of the Marquis of Liu. The three words beyond all climbing at once write the high mountains and dangerous road and the loftiness of his character, which the world cannot scale. The two lines, one cut one beyond, write the boundary between hidden and manifest as hard as iron. All the later ease of lute and chess, pine and bamboo, flower-wine grows from this word cut: precisely because the road is cut, there is leisure; precisely because beyond climbing, there is true hiding. Standing up the bone from the opening, a steady way of the seven-character regulated verse.

琴碁有徇皆为役，松竹无情且共闲。

Purple cypresses, lofty and deep, are unclimbable—the retreat is inaccessible to worldly seekers.

琴棋徇则役，松竹共闲。

If you cleave to lute and chess, both become a bondage; pine and bamboo, though feelingless, share your leisure.

这是全诗的理脉，也是宋诗翻案法的范本。琴棋是士大夫最引为风雅的物事，人人以抚琴对弈为逸、为乐，诗人却泼一头冷水：有徇皆役。徇是追逐、系恋，只要心里存了「要雅」「要胜」「要人知」的念头，雅事立刻变成劳役——你不是在玩琴棋，是琴棋在役使你。下句松竹无情且共闲，反转得更狠：松竹是无情草木，不会应和、不会奉承，正因如此，它反倒是最安稳的伴侣，一个且字，写尽人与物的两不相扰、各得清闲。这一联的锋利，在把世人颠倒的价值再颠倒回来：以为累的（草木）最可亲，以为乐的（琴棋）最易累。它不只是写隐者生活，更是一则关于「何为自由」的短论。一个「徇」字是全联眼目，破得准，立得稳。

This couplet is the poem's rational current and a model of the Song reversal. Lute and chess are the things scholar-officials most call elegant, all taking playing the lute and matching go as leisure and joy, yet the poet pours a basin of cold water: if you cleave, all is bondage. Cleave means pursuing and clinging; once the heart holds thoughts of being elegant, of winning, of being known, the elegant pursuit at once becomes a drudgery - you are not playing lute and chess, lute and chess are enslaving you. The second line reverses even more harshly: pine and bamboo are feelingless plants, neither answering nor flattering, and precisely for that reason they are the steadiest companions; the word and writes the two, man and thing, not disturbing each other, each at leisure. The couplet's edge lies in turning the world's inverted values back: what is thought a burden (plants) is most lovable, what is thought a joy (lute and chess) most easily wearies. It is not only writing a recluse's life, but a short essay on what freedom is. The word cleave is the eye of the couplet, broken accurately and established steadily.

卉醴一杯时自酿，陶然亦可发朱颜。

Wild vistas, vast and dim, stretch to distant waters—a desolate, far-reaching scene.

自酿花醴，陶然红颜。

A cup of flower-wine he brews himself, now and then; gently warmed, it can yet flush his red cheeks.

尾联是全诗的暖笔，也是把前面的冷境收拢成人的体温。上句卉醴一杯时自酿，写隐者不假外求，连杯中物也是自己以花蕊酿成；一个时字，写出了这种自给生活的常态与从容。下句陶然亦可发朱颜，陶然是微醺的怡悦，亦可二字极克制——不是烂醉，不是容光焕发，只是衰颜略略泛红。这一笔之所以好，在于它不让闲适滑向享乐或仙道：一个真隐者，仍是一具会老、会因一杯淡酒而微微脸红的肉身。前面石门绝尘、松竹共闲都偏冷，到此忽然洇出一点暖，全诗便活了。更妙在它以「朱颜」收束——朱颜本属少年，此处用来写老人微醺，是反差，也是慰藉：隐逸未能返老，却足以慰老。一首赠隐诗，结得有人情味，最见方平体贴处。

The closing is the poem's warm stroke, gathering the earlier cold realm into the warmth of a human body. The first, a cup of flower-wine he brews himself, now and then, writes that the recluse needs nothing from outside, even the cup's content brewed by himself from flower petals; the word now and then writes the norm and ease of this self-sufficient life. The second, gently warmed, it can yet flush his red cheeks: gently warmed is the pleasure of a little drunkenness, and the two words can yet are most restrained - not dead drunk, not radiant, only the aged face faintly flushed. The stroke is good because it does not let ease slide into indulgence or immortal way: a true recluse is still a body that ages, that flushes faintly from a cup of light wine. The earlier Stone Gate cut off, pine and bamboo sharing leisure are all cold; here a little warmth suddenly spreads, and the poem lives. The beauty is that it closes on red cheeks - red cheeks belong to youth, yet here used of an old man's faint drunkenness, a contrast and a comfort: seclusion cannot make him young again, yet is enough to comfort age. A poem presenting to a recluse, closing with human warmth, most shows Fangping's thoughtfulness.

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Word focus

徇 to pursue, to seek after; attachment 琴碁有徇皆为役，全联的生命在一个徇字。徇本义是依从、追逐（如徇利、徇名），此处用在琴棋之上，极新鲜：雅事本无可非，非在「有徇」——只要心里生出追逐、系恋、要个结果的念头，琴棋便从娱情之物变成役使之具。这个字所以警策，在于它点出「累」的根源不在物，而在心。世人只知逐外物而疲，不知疲在「徇」之一念；诗人轻轻安一个徇字，把对外物的批评收回到对内心的审查，正是道家「不见可欲，使心不乱」的注脚。若换作「好」「耽」「溺」，意思皆近而着力点不同：好偏嗜爱，耽偏沉溺，溺偏陷落，都不如徇字那般准确写出「心随物转、主动去追」的动态——正是这「追」的姿态，让雅成了役。一字之间，理脉全清。

闲 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 松竹无情且共闲，最耐味的是一个闲字。闲在此不是闲暇之「空」，而是「不为物役、各得其所」的自在——松竹无情，故不招你、不累你，你与之相对，两不相扰，这便是闲。这个字与上一句「役」正成反义：琴棋因徇而成役，松竹因无情而得闲，一役一闲，全在「有心」与「无心」之别。闲字之妙，又在它把一种消极（草木无情）翻成一种积极（可以共闲）——不是松竹主动陪伴你，是你放下徇求后，恰能与这无情之物安然共处。若作「伴」，便坐实了拟人，少了那份「两不相干而恰相安」的玄味；作「静」，又偏死。唯闲字，既写出松竹之态，也写出人心之态，物我两面俱到。一首诗里，「役」与「闲」两个关键字对举，几乎把全篇主旨压缩在这一联中。