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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

赠辰长老

To Elder Chen

张方平

Zhang Fangping

禅理Chan teaching 任运spontaneous naturalness

燕坐非持律，游方不学禅。
长空任飞鸟，古涧自寒泉。
见月何须指，追风不待鞭。
平生一破衲，随处伴闲眠。

Sitting in calm is not about keeping the vows,
Wandering the land, he learns not from meditation.
The vast sky lets the birds fly free,
The ancient brook runs cold of its own.
Seeing the moon, why need a pointing finger?
Chasing the wind, no whip is required.
All his life a single tattered robe,
Anywhere he goes, it keeps him company in idle sleep.

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Meaning

The poem presents Elder Chen, a Chan monk who transcends outward religious forms and dwells in spontaneous, unclinging freedom. Through scenes of sky, brook, moon, and wind, it figures a mind released from all bondage, ending in the ease of a tattered robe and idle sleep. It conveys the Southern School Chan ideal that awakening needs no expedient and follows nature itself.

燕坐并非拘于持律，游方亦不执于学禅。长空任飞鸟自在，古涧自寒泉长流。见月何须借指，追风不待扬鞭。平生唯有一领破衲，随处相伴闲眠。

Appreciation

The opening couplet subverts the stereotype of the pious monk, declaring that true practice lies beyond precepts and meditation — a bold, anti-cliche stroke. The middle couplets pair natural scene with Chan allusion (the finger-moon koan), fusing realm and reason without falling into abstraction. Precise yet diffuse in antithesis, the poem is a fine model of Song 'Chan-into-poetry.'

【白话串讲】张方平赠辰长老：“燕坐非持律，游方不学禅”。“见月何须指，追风不待鞭”——“平生一破衲，随处伴闲眠”——他写一位无拘无束的和尚。【意象与手法】此诗五言律诗，四联，纯写禅者境界。起联「燕坐非持律，游方不学禅」劈空落笔，翻世俗对僧人之刻板：坐禅非必守律、行脚非必学禅，破「持律」「学禅」之执。颔联「长空任飞鸟，古涧自寒泉」以景写自在，飞鸟任空、寒泉自流，喻心无系缚。颈联「见月何须指，追风不待鞭」用禅典与喻，言悟道不假方便、自然合道。尾联「平生一破衲，随处伴闲眠」以破衲闲眠收，写随缘自足。章法由破执、写景、用典到写人，层层见「不执著」三字。【情感与主旨】此诗赠禅僧辰长老，赏其「非持律」「不学禅」的任运自在，折射北宋儒释交融、士大夫喜以禅理入诗的风气，亦见方平豁达不执的胸次。主旨不在颂戒定慧，而在赞其随缘无住。【名句点睛】「见月何须指」用《楞严》指月公案，以禅理为诗料而不堕理障，赖「长空任飞鸟，古涧自寒泉」的景句调剂，理境相生；尾联「破衲闲眠」暗含「随所住处恒安乐」的禅悦，是全诗最闲适的一笔。

Background

Zhang Fangping's 'To Elder Chen' is presented to a Chan monk named Chen. 'Elder' was an honorific in the Chan gate. The poem's phrases — 'sitting in calm,' 'keeping the vows,' 'wandering the land,' 'learning meditation,' 'seeing the moon, why need a finger' — are all Chan terms, showing Elder Chen's free and easy conduct, unstuck to appearances. In the Northern Song, Chan flourished greatly and many literati befriended Chan monks; Fangping in his later years styled himself the Layman of Complete Joy and had his own insight into Chan delight. This poem was likely a gift to a monk, writing Elder Chen's spontaneous freedom of 'not keeping the vows' and 'not learning meditation,' reflecting the Northern Song blending of Confucianism and Buddhism and the literati's taste for putting Chan reason into poetry, and also showing Fangping's open and unstuck mind. Rather than the usual praise of a monk's precepts, concentration, and wisdom, he cherishes his 'tattered robe and idle sleep' of going-with-circumstances, exactly showing his open-mindedness and a small reflection of the Song three-teachings-harmony climate. The Northern Song Chan flourished; Fangping's cherishing of spontaneous non-clinging accords with the Southern School's tenet of 'no-abiding mind gives rise to thought,' also showing the three-teachings-harmony wind; read this poem within the cultural context of Confucian ministers' intercourse with Chan monks and poetry infused with Chan reason.

张方平《赠辰长老》赠一位名辰的禅僧。长老为禅门尊称。诗中「燕坐」「持律」「游方」「学禅」「见月何须指」皆禅宗语，可知辰长老行履洒脱，不滞名相。北宋禅宗大盛，士大夫多与禅僧游，方平晚年号乐全居士，于禅悦亦有会心。此诗当是其赠僧之作，写辰长老「非持律」「不学禅」的任运自在，折射北宋儒释交融、士大夫喜以禅理入诗的风气。方平不以颂僧之戒定慧为常套，而赏其「破衲闲眠」之随缘，正见其豁达，亦宋人三教调和之风的小影。北宋禅宗大盛，士大夫多与禅僧游，方平晚年号乐全居士，于禅悦亦有会心。此诗赠辰长老，写其「非持律」「不学禅」的任运，正合南宗「无住生心」之旨，亦见宋人三教调和之风。方平不以颂戒定慧为常套，而赏其随缘，折射儒释交融、以无执为高之时代趣味，读此诗当置于北宋儒臣与禅僧往还、以禅理入诗的文化语境中。北宋禅宗大盛、儒释交融，方平赏其随缘无执，正合南宗无住生心之旨，亦见三教调和之风；读此诗当置于儒臣与禅僧往还、以禅理入诗之语境。北宋禅风大盛、儒释交融，方平赏其随缘，正合南宗之旨，亦三教调和之一证，读此诗可觇儒臣与禅僧往还之趣。

Art

This is a five-character regulated poem of four couplets, purely depicting the Chan worthy's realm. The opening couplet, 'Sitting in calm is not about keeping the vows; wandering the land, he learns not from meditation,' drops from the sky, overturning the worldly stereotype of monks: sitting need not observe precepts, wandering need not study Chan, breaking the clinging to 'keeping vows' and 'learning meditation.' The second couplet, 'The vast sky lets the birds fly free; the ancient brook runs cold of its own,' writes freedom through scene — birds free in the sky, spring cold of its own, figuring a mind unbound. The third couplet, 'Seeing the moon, why need a pointing finger? Chasing the wind, no whip required,' uses a Chan allusion and a metaphor to say awakening needs no expedient, naturally accordant with the Way. The closing couplet, 'All his life a single tattered robe, anywhere he goes, it keeps him company in idle sleep,' ends with the tattered robe and idle sleep, writing self-sufficing with circumstances. The structure moves from breaking clinging, to scene, to allusion, to the man, layer by layer revealing the three words 'no clinging' — a typical Song Chan poem 'writing reason through realm.' The opening overturns the stereotype, the second writes freedom through scene, the third writes awakening's no-expedient through allusion, the closing writes self-sufficing through the man; throughout antithesis is precise yet the spirit is leisurely and diffuse, finding ease within the parallel — a fine model of a cabinet elder writing Chan.

此诗五言律诗，四联，纯写禅者境界。起联「燕坐非持律，游方不学禅」劈空落笔，翻世俗对僧人之刻板：坐禅非必守律、行脚非必学禅，破「持律」「学禅」之执。颔联「长空任飞鸟，古涧自寒泉」以景写自在，飞鸟任空、寒泉自流，喻心无系缚。颈联「见月何须指，追风不待鞭」用禅典与喻，言悟道不假方便、自然合道。尾联「平生一破衲，随处伴闲眠」以破衲闲眠收，写随缘自足。章法由破执、写景、用典到写人，层层见「不执著」三字，是宋人禅诗「以境写理」的典型。起联翻世俗对僧人之刻板，颔联以景写自在，颈联以禅典写悟之不假方便，尾联以破衲闲眠写随缘自足，由破执、写景、用典到写人，层层见「不执著」三字。其章法不重叙事而重写境，以境显理，是宋人禅诗「以境写理」的典型。通篇对仗精切而气韵萧散，于骈丽中见闲适，足为台阁老臣写禅之范。起联翻刻板、颔联写景、颈联用典、尾联写人，层层见不执著；通篇对仗精切而气韵萧散，于骈丽中见闲适，足为台阁老臣写禅之范。起联翻刻板、景写自在、典写悟、人写随缘，层层见不执著，对仗精切而萧散，足为台阁写禅之范，亦宋人禅诗以境写理之典型。

Allusions

The allusions mostly touch the Chan gate. First, 'sitting in calm' (yanzuo): yan meaning 'at ease,' the Chan term for seated meditation. Second, 'keeping the vows' (chilü): observing the precepts, stressed by the Lesser Vehicle; 'learning meditation' (xuechan): practicing dhyana. Fangping with 'not' and 'learns not' double-breaks them, showing Elder Chen transcends the gradations. Third, 'seeing the moon, why need a pointing finger' uses the Śūraṅgama Sūtra's 'finger-pointing-at-the-moon' case: a man points at the moon to show another, who should look at the moon by means of the finger; if he takes the finger as the moon's body, he loses both the moon and the finger; later 'finger-moon' figures the expedient of words — once the moon is seen, discard the finger; Fangping says seeing the moon needs no clinging to the finger, meaning awakening does not stick to verbal traces. Fourth, 'chasing the wind, no whip required' figures following one's nature without force, like a steed chasing the wind needing no whip. Fifth, 'tattered robe' (pona): a worn monk's robe, image of the monk's austerity. All these center on the one tenet 'spontaneous, non-clinging.' The finger and whip, two concrete things, write the abstract awakening, turning the profound into the tangible — showing the Song Chan poem's skill of using koans without falling into reason-obstruction.

用典多涉禅门。其一，「燕坐」：燕通宴，安坐，禅家坐禅之称。其二，「持律」：守戒律，小乘所重；「学禅」：习禅定。方平以「非」「不」二字双破，示辰长老超出阶次。其三，「见月何须指」：用《楞严经》「如人以指指月示人，彼人因指当应看月；若复观指以为月体，此人岂唯亡失月轮，亦亡其指」，后以「指月」喻言辞方便，悟月则舍指；方平言见月不必执指，谓悟道不滞言筌。其四，「追风不待鞭」：喻顺应本性、不假勉强，如骏马追风无须鞭策。其五，「破衲」：破旧袈裟，僧家清苦之象。诸典皆围绕「任运无执」一旨。「燕坐」为禅家坐禅之称，「持律」「学禅」为阶次，方平以「非」「不」双破，示超出名相。「见月何须指」用《楞严》指月公案，以指喻言筌、以月喻真如，谓悟后当舍方便；「追风不待鞭」以骏马喻顺性。诸典皆围绕「任运无执」，且「指」「鞭」二实物写抽象之悟，化玄为切，可觇宋人禅诗以公案入诗而不堕理障之巧。燕坐非持律、见月何须指皆禅门典，以指喻言筌以月喻真如，追风不待鞭以骏马喻顺性，诸典围绕任运无执，化玄为切不堕理障。燕坐非持律、见月何须指、追风不待鞭皆禅门典，化玄为切不堕理障，诸典围绕任运无执，可觇宋人以公案入诗之巧与无执为高之趣。

Commentary

This poem is a pure jewel among Zhang Fangping's Chan-delight works. Different from his 'To Guo Chengsi' which writes a Daoist's cultivation, this piece writes a Chan monk's spontaneity, yet the spirit equally returns to 'non-clinging.' The opening 'Sitting in calm is not about keeping the vows; wandering the land, he learns not from meditation' most shows the hand and eye: ordinary poems to monks must praise precepts and concentration, but Fangping alone overturns the case, saying a true monk is not stuck to appearances, exactly accordant with the Southern School's 'no-abiding mind gives rise to thought.' Su Shi's 'Matching Tao Yuanming' often has this untrammeled ease, but Fangping's poem is even more plain. Qing critics speak of Song poetry 'putting Chan into poetry'; this piece is exactly that: the third couplet 'seeing the moon, why need a finger' uses the Śūraṅgama finger-moon case, making Chan reason into poetic material without falling into reason-obstruction, upheld by the scene-line 'vast sky lets birds fly, ancient brook cold spring.' The closing 'tattered robe, idle sleep' subtly contains the Chan joy of 'wherever you dwell, ever at ease,' the most leisurely stroke of the whole. Reading this poem, one may glimpse the Northern Song Confucian ministers' intercourse with Chan monks and the climate of esteeming non-clinging. This poem is a pure jewel of Fangping's Chan delight; the opening's overturning shows the most hand and eye, saying a true monk is not stuck to appearances, exactly according with the Southern School's tenet. Su Shi's 'Matching Tao' has much such ease, but Fangping is plainer. Qing critics say Song poetry puts Chan into poetry; this piece uses the Śūraṅgama case as material without falling into obstruction, upheld by the scene-line; the tattered robe idle sleep subtly holds the Chan joy of ever-at-ease, utmost leisure, reading which one glimpses Fangping's Complete-Joy mind and Chan-delight climate.

此诗是张方平禅悦之作的清品。与《赠郭诚思》写道士修真不同，此篇写禅僧任运，而精神同归「不执著」。起联「燕坐非持律，游方不学禅」最见手眼：寻常赠僧必颂戒定，方平独翻此案，谓真僧不滞名相，恰合南宗「无住生心」之旨。苏轼《和陶渊明》每有此脱洒，方平此诗则更质。清人论宋诗「以禅入诗」，此篇即是：颈联「见月何须指」用《楞严》指月公案，以禅理为诗料而不堕理障，赖「长空任飞鸟，古涧自寒泉」的景句调剂，理境相生。尾联「破衲闲眠」暗含「随所住处恒安乐」的禅悦，是全诗最闲适的一笔。读此诗，可觇北宋儒臣与禅僧交游、以无执为高的风气。此诗是方平禅悦之作的清品，起联翻案最见手眼，谓真僧不滞名相，恰合南宗之旨。苏轼《和陶》多此脱洒，方平则更质。清人论宋诗以禅入诗，此篇以《楞严》公案为诗料而不堕理障，赖「长空任飞鸟，古涧自寒泉」景句调剂，理境相生。尾联「破衲闲眠」暗含随所住处恒安乐之禅悦，闲适之极，读之可觇北宋儒臣与禅僧交游、以无执为高的风气与方平之乐全胸次。清人论宋诗以禅入诗，此篇以楞严公案为诗料而不堕理障，赖长空飞鸟古涧寒泉景句调剂；破衲闲眠暗含随所住处恒安乐之禅悦，闲适之极。以楞严公案为诗料而不堕理障，赖景句调剂；破衲闲眠暗含恒安乐之禅悦，闲适之极，读之可觇方平乐全胸次与禅悦之风。

Prosody

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

Rhyme Rhymes with the level-tone xian (先) category (chan 禅, quan 泉, bian 鞭, mian 眠), one rhyme to the end.平声先韵（禅、泉、鞭、眠），一韵到底。

Tone pattern As a five-character regulated poem, the middle two couplets are antithetical: 'vast sky lets birds fly — ancient brook cold spring' and 'seeing moon — chasing wind,' with matched level and oblique tones.五言律诗，中二联对仗：『长空任飞鸟，古涧自寒泉』『见月何须指，追风不待鞭』，平仄相俪。

Reading note This is a five-character regulated poem rhyming with the level-tone xian (先) category. The xian rhyme belongs to the shan division, fourth opening grade; its sound is clear and distant, fit for writing the leisurely-distant, empty-clear tone, exactly matching the Chan realm of 'vast sky birds,' 'ancient brook cold spring,' and 'idle sleep.' Fangping closes the four couplets with the four rhymes 'Chan — spring — whip — sleep,' from 'Chan' (breaking clinging) to 'sleep' (resting), the rhyme feet subtly following the vein from awakening to repose. The middle two parallel couplets are clean: the second couplet 'vast sky — ancient brook,' 'birds — cold spring' is pure scene yet naturally antithetical, figuring the unbound mind; the third couplet 'seeing moon — chasing wind,' 'finger — whip' uses allusion and metaphor, with precise reasoned antithesis. Regulated verse fears a flat middle; this piece shifts scene through 'sky — brook,' 'moon — wind,' upheld by the clear distance of the xian rhyme, read with a diffuse, world-departing quality. The closing 'tattered robe idle sleep' loosens into a prose-like line amid the parallels, utmost ease. This piece reveals the Song Chan poem's face of writing emptiness through rhyme and reason through scene.此诗五言律诗，押平声先韵。先韵属山摄开口四等，音清而远，宜写闲远、清空之调，与「长空飞鸟」「古涧寒泉」「闲眠」的禅境恰相称。方平以「禅」「泉」「鞭」「眠」四韵收四联，由「禅」（破执）到「眠」（安歇），韵脚暗合由悟到歇的脉络。中二联骈对精洁：颔联「长空—古涧」「飞鸟—寒泉」纯写景而对仗天然，喻心无系缚；颈联「见月—追风」「指—鞭」用典兼喻，理对工切。律诗忌中幅平板，此篇以「空—涧」「月—风」的开阖换境，赖先韵的清远托住，读来有萧散出尘之致。尾联「破衲闲眠」以散句收，于骈中放散，闲适之极。此篇可觇宋人禅诗以韵写空、以景写理的面目。

Line by line

燕坐非持律，游方不学禅。

Sitting in calm is not about keeping the vows, and wandering the land he learns not from meditation.

燕坐并非拘于持律，游方亦不执于学禅。

Sitting at ease, he is not bound by the Vinaya; wandering the roads, he does not study Zen.

此起联劈空破题，是全诗精神所聚。「燕坐」即坐禅，「持律」守戒，「游方」行脚，「学禅」习定；方平以「非」「不」二字双翻世俗对僧人的刻板期待，谓辰长老坐则不拘于律、行则不执于禅。这正合南宗禅「不立阶次、无住生心」之旨——真修不在名相。五言十字而能翻案立论，起手极有胆识。宋人赠僧诗多落颂戒套语，方平此联独赏其「超出」，见其读禅之深，亦见其本人「乐全」不执的胸次，为后文「破衲闲眠」的随缘伏下脉理。

The opening strikes the theme empty of the sky, the gathering of the poem's spirit. Sitting at ease means sitting in meditation; bound by the Vinaya means keeping the precepts; wandering the roads means the wandering monk; study Zen means practicing concentration. Fangping uses the two words not and no to double-reverse the worldly, rigid expectation of monks, saying that the elder Chen sits without being bound by the precepts and walks without clinging to Zen. This exactly matches the Southern Zen tenet of no fixed stages and the mind arising without abiding - true practice is not in names and forms. Ten characters, reversing and establishing a thesis, the opening most bold. Song monk-poems usually fall into the formula of praising the precepts; this couplet alone prizes his transcendence, showing both his deep reading of Zen and his own whole, unclinging breast, planting the current for the later tattered robe and idle sleep.

见月何须指，追风不待鞭。

Seeing the moon, why need a pointing finger? Chasing the wind, no whip is required.

见月何须借指，追风不待扬鞭。

Having seen the moon, why need the finger? Chasing the wind, he waits not for the whip.

此颈联以禅典与喻写「悟之不假方便」。上句「见月何须指」用《楞严经》指月公案：人以指指月，因指见月即可，若执指为月则迷；方平言既见月，何须更执其指，喻悟道后当舍言筌、不滞方便。下句「追风不待鞭」以骏马追风不须鞭策，喻顺本性而行自然合道。二句一典一喻，一破言语之执、一立自然之趣，对仗工而理畅。宋人禅诗好用公案入诗，此联以「指」「鞭」二实物写抽象之悟，化玄为切，是「以禅理为诗料而不堕理障」的好例。

This neck couplet uses Zen allusion and metaphor to write that awakening needs no expedient means. The first, having seen the moon, why need the finger, uses the sutra's finger-and-moon case: a man points at the moon with his finger, and sees the moon through the finger; if he takes the finger for the moon, he is deluded. Fangping says once the moon is seen, why still cling to the finger, meta-phor that after awakening one should let go of words and not linger on expedients. The second, chasing the wind, he waits not for the whip, uses the thoroughbred chasing the wind without need of the whip, metaphor that following one's nature naturally meets the Way. The two lines, one allusion one metaphor, one breaking the clinging to words, one establishing the delight of nature, the parallel wrought and the reason clear. Song Zen poems loved to bring cases into verse; this couplet uses the two concrete things finger and whip to write abstract awakening, turning the mysterious into the concrete, a fine example of using Zen principle as poetic material without falling into the hindrance of reason.

平生一破衲，随处伴闲眠。

All his life a single tattered robe, anywhere he goes it keeps him company in idle sleep.

平生唯有一领破衲，随处相伴闲眠。

All his life, one tattered robe; wherever he is, it keeps him company in quiet sleep.

此尾联以破衲闲眠收束，写辰长老随缘自足之境。「破衲」破旧袈裟，僧家清苦象；「随处伴闲眠」化用「随所住处恒安乐」的禅悦，言一衲在身、无处不可安眠。二句把前面「非持律」「不学禅」「何须指」「不待鞭」的层层破执，落到最平实的行住上——不须奇特殊胜，破衲闲眠即是解脱。以景/事收理，是宋禅诗常用的「即事而真」法。全诗由破执到写人，至此一衲闲眠，闲适之极，正见方平赠僧不落颂扬套语、独赏随缘的豁达。

The closing gathers the poem in the tattered robe and idle sleep, writing the elder Chen's state of suiting the course and being self-sufficient. Tattered robe means the worn kasaya, the image of the monk's austere lot; wherever he is, it keeps him company in quiet sleep transforms the Zen delight of being at peace wherever one dwells, saying with one robe on the body, there is nowhere he cannot sleep. The two lines bring the earlier layer by layer breaking of clinging - not bound by the precepts, not studying Zen, why need the finger, waits not for the whip - down to the plainest going and staying: no need for the rare and special, the tattered robe and idle sleep are release. Closing reason in event, the Song Zen poem's common way of the event itself being the truth. The whole poem, from breaking clinging to writing the man, ends here in the one robe and idle sleep, the leisure extreme, exactly showing that Fangping's monk-poem does not fall into the praise formula but alone prizes the open ease of suiting the course.

Study

Word focus

燕坐 Sitting in calm (yanzuo) — the Chan term for seated meditation; the word 'calm' already hints at the leisurely ease that the closing 'idle sleep' echoes. 「燕坐非持律」之「燕坐」，燕通宴，安坐也，禅家指坐禅。方平以此二字起篇，先立僧人本色，随即以「非持律」翻去，章法欲扬先抑。此词之妙在「燕」字之安：坐禅本肃，而「燕坐」含从容安适，已暗伏后文「闲眠」之闲，与「破衲」呼应。宋人写禅喜用「燕坐」「宴坐」，苏轼诗中屡见，方平此用稳贴，且以「非」字破之，使熟语生新，是炼字得间的一例。其重在不落颂戒常套，起手即翻案，章法乃活。

破衲 A tattered robe (pona) — the worn monk's garment; its 'tattered' quality externalizes the Chan ideal of 'originally not a thing,' signaling Elder Chen's return to plain simplicity beyond rites. 「平生一破衲」之「破衲」，破旧之袈裟，僧人清苦自守之象。方平以此二字写辰长老一生行藏，与起联「非持律」「不学禅」呼应：既不拘律禅，唯以此一破衲随身，见其超出繁文、归乎质素。此词之重在一「破」字——不尚鲜整，唯取弊旧，恰是禅家「本来无一物」的外化。与尾「闲眠」相配，由物及境，写出随缘自足。二字平实却摄尽全诗「不执」之旨，是宋禅诗以淡语写深理的典型炼字。