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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

读混元经

Reading the Hunyuan Scripture

张方平

Zhang Fangping

道家Daoism 读经scripture reading

五行生成本一气，晓此体用知命枢。
还元当复定金鏁，过宿宁更怀蘧庐。
无质生质是丹地，有象非象真坛图。
此途得道亦连袂，迟晚须乘八景舆。

The Five Phases arise, all from a single primal breath;
Know this substance and function, and you know the pivot of life.
To return to the source, lock fast the golden clasp again;
Having lodged a night, why cling to the wayside hut?
From formless to formed is the ground of the elixir;
Having image yet not image is the true altar chart.
Along this path, attaining the Way, we join hands;
Though late, we must ride the Eight-Visions carriage.

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Meaning

Reading the Hunyuan Scripture, the poet expounds the Daoist teaching that all things arise from a single primal breath and that the pivot of life lies in understanding substance and function. He describes the cultivator's return to source, shedding the worldly inn, and the alchemical paradox of being born from non-being. The poem closes with the assurance of ascending the Eight-Visions carriage, revealing the poet's earnest longing for the Way.

五行生成本出自同一气，悟得此中体用便知性命之枢机。返归本元当再定那金锁，经过一宿岂更怀恋逆旅蘧庐。从无形之质生出有形之质才是丹台真地，有象而实非象方是坛场真图。此途得道亦当携手同登，迟晚须乘那八景之舆升天。

Appreciation

Written as a versified commentary on the scripture, the poem moves orderly from principle to cultivation, then to alchemical realm and ascension. Its middle couplets oppose being and non-being, substance and function, embodying the Song 'reason-language poetry' without turning dry or pedantic. Rooted in Daoist terminology yet every line a poetic realm, it shows Fangping's scholarly depth beneath his fluent surface.

【白话串讲】张方平读《混元经》：“五行生成本一气，晓此体用知命枢”。“无质生质是丹地，有象非象真坛图”——他谈道家的炼丹。【意象与手法】此诗读《混元经》而谈道家修持，章法以「理—修—境—升」为序。起联揭「一气」「体用」「命枢」之总纲；次联「还元」「金鏁」「蘧庐」写返本去执之修；三联「无质生质」「有象非象」写丹道之境，辩证精微；结联「连袂」「八景舆」写升仙之期。通篇以道家术语入诗，理路清晰，见宋人「以理语为诗」之一格。【情感与主旨】主旨在于阐发《混元经》性命双修、返本归元的要旨，既示修持之阶，亦流露诗人对得道升仙的向慕。诗中辩证语多，显见方平深于道学，将读经之悟化为诗语，是其慕道心迹的流露。【名句点睛】「无质生质是丹地，有象非象真坛图」一联最见理趣，以有无相生之辩写丹道，是宋诗以理胜的典型之笔。

Background

Zhang Fangping's 'Reading the Hunyuan Scripture' — the Hunyuan Scripture he read was presumably a Daoist classic expounding on human nature and life and the undifferentiated primal qi (hunyuan originally means the beginning before heaven and earth divided, the chaos of primal energy; Daoism honors Laozi as the Emperor of Highest Virtue of Hunyuan, and related scriptures are many). Fangping was a famous Northern Song minister yet deep in Daoist arts; his collected works contain many pieces reading Daoist scriptures and praising cultivation (such as 'Reading the Shu Shu' on ruler's art, 'Reading the Hunyuan Scripture' on the study of nature and life), showing his learning blended Confucianism and Daoism. This poem was likely written when he retired to reading and studied profound principle. In the mid-Northern Song, the literati's taste for Daoism was strong — from Zhenzong's reverence for Dao to the Renzong era's harmonizing of the three teachings, scholars practiced quiet nurturance or discussed nature and life, and Fangping was one of them. The poem's 'Five Phases one qi,' 'substance-function pivot of life,' 'lock the golden clasp,' 'Eight-Visions carriage' are all Daoist inner-alchemy and ascension terms. To understand this poem one must place it in the Song scholarly background of 'three teachings united, esteeming nature and life,' to appreciate his good intention of expounding the Way through poetry. Beyond his Confucian work Fangping also loved Daoist words; his reading-the-scripture poem is not mere abstruse talk but wants to manifest the Way through verse, so its diction and realm all root in 'hunyuan one qi' — among Song poems expounding the Way, it forms its own pure style.

张方平此《读混元经》，所读《混元经》当为道教论述性命、混元一气之经典（混元本指天地未分、元气浑沌之始，道教尊老子为混元上德皇帝，相关经籍伙矣）。方平北宋名臣而深于道术，其集中多读道经、咏炼养之作（如《读素书》究帝王术、《读混元经》究性命学），可见其学术兼融儒道。此诗当作于其退居读书、精研玄理之际。北宋中期，士大夫中尚道之风甚盛，从真宗崇道到仁宗朝的调和儒释道，文人或习静养、或谈性命，方平亦其一。诗中「五行本一气」「体用知命枢」「还元定金鏁」「八景舆」等，皆道教内丹与升仙术语。读懂此诗，须置之于宋人「三教合一、重性命」的学术背景中，方能体会其以诗说道的良苦用心。方平于儒业之外兼好道家言，其读《混元经》之作，不只逞玄谈，更欲以诗显道，故炼字造境皆以「混元一气」为根柢，于宋人诗说道之风中，自成一格之清。北宋儒学之外，道家言浸染士林，方平读经写诗皆带此气息，此篇可视为其学术趣尚在韵语中之自然流露。

Art

This is a seven-character regulated verse of four couplets and eight lines, with reading the scripture and awakening to the Way as its thread; the structure moves from general principle to cultivation, from realm to ascension, layer by layer clear. 'The Five Phases arise, all from a single primal breath; know this substance and function, and you know the pivot of life' opens with the general principle — hunyuan one qi as substance, the Five Phases' generation and the pivot of life as function, one phrase covering the scripture's gist. 'To return to the source, lock fast the golden clasp again; having lodged a night, why cling to the wayside hut' writes cultivation — return to source like re-locking the golden clasp, lodging a night not clinging to the wayside hut, writing the shedding of clinging and return to root. 'From formless to formed is the ground of the elixir; having image yet not image is the true altar chart' writes the alchemical realm, with the dialectic of being and non-being exquisite. 'Along this path, attaining the Way, we join hands; though late, we must ride the Eight-Visions carriage' writes the time of ascension — joining hands to ascend, riding the carriage up. Throughout, Daoist terms enter the verse without turning sour or pedantic; the reasoning is clear, the antithesis steady — a style of Song 'making poetry from reason-language,' also revealing the hidden profundity of Fangping's fluent style. The poem moves from principle to cultivation, from alchemical realm to ascension, orderly; the middle two couplets oppose being/non-being and substance/function, full of reasoned interest yet not falling into dry Zen — a rare case of Song reason-language poetry that does not spoil through pedantry, fully showing the scholarly-poet's groundwork. Opposing 'being/non-being' and 'substance/function,' the reasoned interest is abundant yet not desolate; scene and reason generate each other, fully showing the scholarly-poet's groundwork and the wrist-strength of reason-language poetry that does not rot.

此诗七言律格，四联八句，以读经悟道为线，章法由总纲而修持、由境象而升仙，层递分明。「五行生成本一气，晓此体用知命枢」起联揭总纲，混元一气为体、五行生成与性命枢机为用，一言以蔽经旨；「还元当复定金鏁，过宿宁更怀蘧庐」次联写修持，还元如复定金锁，过宿不恋蘧庐逆旅，写去执归本；「无质生质是丹地，有象非象真坛图」三联写丹境，以有无相生辩证写内丹之妙，理趣精微；「此途得道亦连袂，迟晚须乘八景舆」结联写升仙之期，连袂同登、乘舆而上。通篇以道家术语入诗而不堕酸腐，理路清晰、对仗工稳，是宋人「以理语为诗」之一格，亦见方平疏畅诗风中潜藏的玄理深度。全诗由总纲而修持、由丹境而升仙，次第井然；中二联以有无、体用相对，理趣盎然而不堕枯禅，是宋诗以理语为诗而能不伤于腐的难得之例，足见其学人之诗的底色。诗中以「有无」「体用」相对，理趣盎然而不堕枯寂，写景与说理相生，足见其学人之诗的底色与以理语为诗而不腐的腕力。

Allusions

The poem's terms all come from Daoist doctrine and lore. 'Hunyuan' originally means the beginning before primordial energy divided, the moment of Laozi's 'there is a thing confusedly formed'; Daoism uses it to honor the Way. 'The Five Phases arise, all from a single primal breath' is rooted in the Daodejing's 'the Way begets one, one begets two, two begets three, three begets all things' and the Han scholars' Five Phases theory, saying all transformations share one breath. 'Substance and function' (tiyong) is a category shared by Song Confucians and Daoists — substance the still root, function the flowing trace. 'Golden clasp' (jinsuo) figures locking the true source so it does not scatter, an inner-alchemy term. 'Wayside hut' (qulu) comes from the Zhuangzi ('benevolence and righteousness are the former kings' wayside hut, to lodge one night and not dwell long'); Fangping borrows it for the worldly inn, which the cultivator must not long cling to. 'From formless to formed' and 'having image yet not image' root in the Laozi ('nameless, the beginning of heaven and earth; named, the mother of all things' and 'the great image has no form'), writing the alchemy's generation of being from non-being. 'Eight-Visions carriage' uses the Daoist immortal's riding the Eight-Visions carriage to ascend (as in the Huangting Jing's Eight Visions spirits). These phrases weave a web of Daoist cultivation meaning. Hunyuan, substance-function, golden clasp, wayside hut, Eight-Visions carriage are all common Daoist terms; Fangping fuses them into regulated verse, every character with a source yet every line a poetic realm — beyond what mere scripture-copiers achieve, also showing the literati's ease at talking the profound under the three-teachings-harmony trend.

诗中术语皆出道教义理与故实。「混元」本指元气未分之始，《老子》「有物混成」之际，道教以之尊道；「五行生成本一气」本《道德经》「道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物」及汉儒五行说，谓万化同出一气。「体用」为宋儒道共用之范畴，体为寂然之本、用为流行之迹。「金鏁」喻锁住真元、不放驰散，内丹家言。「蘧庐」出《庄子·天运》「仁义，先王之蘧庐也，止可以一宿而不可久处」，方平借谓世俗逆旅，修真者不可久恋。「无质生质」「有象非象」本《老子》「无名天地之始，有名万物之母」「大象无形」，写丹道有无相生。「八景舆」用道教神仙乘八景舆升天之说（如《黄庭经》八景神）。诸语织成一张道教修持的意义之网。混元、体用、金鏁、蘧庐、八景舆，皆道教义理与仙典之常语，方平熔铸入律，字字有来历而句句成诗境，非徒抄道书者可及，亦可见三教合一思潮下士人谈玄之娴熟。综上用典，混元体用金鏁蘧庐之属，皆道教常语，方平熔铸入律而字字成境，可见三教合一思潮下士人谈玄之娴熟与诗笔之自如。

Commentary

This poem expounds the Way through verse and is quite representative among the Song attempts at 'reason-language poetry.' Tang poets believing in Dao mostly wrote romantic excursions to immortals, like Li Bai 'from afar I see the immortal in colored clouds'; Fangping's poem purely enters reason-language, writing hunyuan one qi, substance-function pivot of life, being-and-non-being generation — almost a versified commentary on the Daodejing. This 'making learning into poetry' orientation exactly fits the Northern Song mid-period Confucian revival and three-teachings-harmony context of literati 'carrying the Way through writing.' The Qing Song Poetry Selection says Fangping 'does not carve,' yet this poem's carving is in reason not in diction — the profound side beneath his fluent surface. Its couplet 'from formless to formed is the ground of the elixir; having image yet not image is the true altar chart,' writing alchemy through the being/non-being dialectic, compares with Shao Yong's 'Observing Things' expounding the Changes through number — both belong to the Song 'reason-prevailing' poetic practice. This piece may be taken as an example of Northern Song Daoist-learning poetry, of value for studying the Song poetry's reason-expounding tendency and the three-teachings-harmony trend. The world often faults Song poetry for discoursing on reason, yet this piece's reason emerges from scene and scene deepens through reason, a seamless whole — the correct method of 'reason-language poetry,' not to be dismissed wholesale as mere lecture-notes like Shao Yong. Thus Fangping expounding the profound does not rot, reason and scene generate each other, enough to be the correct method of Song reason-language poetry.

此诗以诗说道，在宋人「以理语为诗」的尝试中颇具代表性。唐人信道多写游仙浪漫，如李白「遥见仙人彩云里」；方平此诗则纯以义理入诗，写混元一气、体用命枢、有无相生，近乎一篇诗体《道德经》注。这种「以学为诗」的取向，正合北宋中期儒学复兴、三教调和背景下文人「以文载道」的趣味。清人《宋诗钞》称方平「不事雕琢」，然此诗雕琢在理不在辞，是其疏畅表面下的玄深一面。其「无质生质是丹地，有象非象真坛图」一联，以有无之辩写丹道，比之邵雍《观物》以数说易，同属宋人「以理胜」的诗学实践。此篇可视为北宋道学诗的一例，于研究宋诗说理化倾向与三教合一思潮颇有价值。世多以宋诗说理为病，然方平此篇理从景出、景以理深，浑然一体，正解「以理语为诗」之正法；较之邵雍以数说易，方平此作更饶诗味，未可一概讥为语录。由是观之，方平说玄能不堕腐，理景相生，足为宋诗以理语为诗之正法，未可一概讥为语录。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated poem (lüshi)七言律诗

Rhyme Rhymes throughout with the level-tone yu (虞) category; the rhyming characters are 枢, 庐, 图, 舆 — one rhyme to the end, clear and slow.通押平声虞韵，入韵字为枢、庐、图、舆，一韵到底，四联宏制，虞模辙清徐。

Tone pattern As a seven-character regulated poem it follows the tonal pattern; the middle two couplets ('return to source... wayside hut' and 'formless... altar chart') are neatly antithetical with matched level and oblique tones.七言律诗依律调平仄，中二联「还元当复定金鏁，过宿宁更怀蘧庐」「无质生质是丹地，有象非象真坛图」对仗工整，平仄相侔。

Reading note This is a seven-character regulated verse whose sound is clear-slow and whose reasoning is dense. The yu rhyme belongs to the yu division, third closing grade; its vowel is round and moist, its timbre clear and slow, most fit for writing the warm breath of reading scripture and awakening, and the distant profundity of mysterious principle. Fangping encloses the whole in the yu rhyme: opening 'pivot,'承接 'hut,' turning 'chart,' closing 'carriage' — four rhymes in succession, even in breath, read like a feathered adept talking the profound, exactly matching his Song manner of esteeming reason-language and inner alchemy. The middle two couplets are antithetical: 'return to source' against 'lodged a night' as a cultivation pair, 'formless' against 'image' as a being/non-being pair — steady and full of reasoned interest. Seven-character lüshi most fears emptiness and slipperiness; this poem is upheld by the clear-slow yu rhyme, keeping the reason-discoursing brush from turning dry and crude. Song poets liked to expound the Way through poetry; this poem's sound and reasoning are as two faces of one thing — the clarity of yu is the outward form of its character, worthwhile for appreciating the reason-expounding tendency of Song seven-character lüshi. The yu rhyme is clear and slow, like a feathered adept talking the profound, in resonance with the inner-alchemy ascension realm; four rhymes flow through yet the meaning is not hurried — among seven-character lüshi, writing reason and the profound, only with this rhyme can it be settled and not float.此诗七言律格，音韵清徐而理路绵密。虞韵属遇摄合口三等，元音圆润、音色清徐，最宜写读经悟道的温润之气与玄理的悠远。方平以虞韵笼全篇，起「枢」、承「庐」、转「图」、合「舆」，四韵相承，声气匀净，读来如羽客谈玄，恰与其尚理语、重内丹的宋调相称。中二联对仗，「还元」对「过宿」以修持对，「无质」对「有象」以有无对，工稳而理趣横生。七律最忌空滑，此诗以虞韵的清徐托住玄理，使说理之笔不流于枯率。宋人喜以诗说道，此诗音韵与理脉相表里，虞韵之清正是其体格外显，于体会宋调七律说理化倾向颇有可取。虞韵清徐，声如羽客谈玄，与内丹升仙之境相发，四韵流贯而意不迫，七律中说理写玄，得此韵者乃能安顿而不浮。

Line by line

五行生成本一气，晓此体用知命枢。

The Five Phases arise, all from a single primal breath; know this substance and function, and you know the pivot of life.

五行生成本出自同一气，悟得此中体用便知性命之枢机。

The five phases are born originally from the one breath; understand this body and function, and you know the pivot of fate.

起联揭总纲，是全诗立论之根。上句「五行生成本一气」本《老子》道生万物与汉儒五行说，谓金木水火土万化同出一气，破混元之题；下句「晓此体用知命枢」以「体用」范畴收束，言悟得此一气之体与其流行之用，便知性命之枢机。两句由宇宙论落到心性论，由外而内，理路清晰。此联之妙，在以一经之旨缩为一联，先立「一」而后能言「分」，为后文还元、丹地诸写张本。更可味者，「知命枢」之「枢」字吃紧，性命之枢即在一气，一语而定全篇修持的归宿。宋诗尚理，此联以理语起手而不觉枯，正见方平以学为诗的底子。

The opening reveals the general outline, the root of the poem's thesis. The first, the five phases are born originally from the one breath, comes from Laozi's Way gives birth to all things and the Han Confucian five-phase theory, saying that metal, wood, water, fire and earth and all transformations issue from one breath, breaking the title of the primal chaos. The second, understand this body and function, and you know the pivot of fate, closes with the category of body and function, saying that understanding this one breath's body and its flowing function, one knows the pivot of life and fate. The two lines move from cosmology to the theory of mind and nature, from without to within, the rational course clear. The couplet's beauty lies in contracting a whole scripture's purport into one couplet, first establishing the one before being able to speak of division, laying the ground for the later writing of return to the root and the elixir ground. What is more to taste is the word pivot in you know the pivot of fate: the pivot of life and fate lies in the one breath, one word fixing the归宿 of the whole poem's practice. Song poetry prizes reason; this couplet opens in words of reason yet is not dry, exactly showing Fangping's ground of making learning his poem.

无质生质是丹地，有象非象真坛图。

From formless to formed is the ground of the elixir; having image yet not image is the true altar chart.

从无形之质生出有形之质才是丹台真地，有象而实非象方是坛场真图。

From the formless giving form is the true ground of the elixir; having image yet not image is the true plan of the altar.

此联写丹境，是全诗理趣最深处。上句「无质生质是丹地」本《老子》「无名天地之始，有名万物之母」，谓从无形之质生出有形之质，方是内丹真地；下句「有象非象真坛图」翻《老子》「大象无形」，谓有象而实非象，方是坛场真图。两句以有无相生之辩写丹道，辩证精微。此联之重，在把抽象的道教修持化为可诵的诗联，不堕玄谈。「是」「真」二字斩截，示人以判别之准。更可味者，上句言「生」、下句言「非」，一生一非，正合「反者道之动」的玄理。中二联处于由「修」转入「升」的枢纽，以理胜而非以景胜，是宋诗以理语为诗的典型之笔。

This couplet writes the elixir realm, the poem's deepest place of rational delight. The first, from the formless giving form is the true ground of the elixir, comes from Laozi's the nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth, the named is the mother of all things, saying that from the formless giving form is the true ground of inner alchemy. The second, having image yet not image is the true plan of the altar, reverses Laozi's the great image has no form, saying that having image yet really not image is the true plan of the altar. The two lines write the Way of the elixir through the dialectic of existence and non-existence giving birth, the dialectic subtle. The couplet's weight lies in turning the abstract Taoist practice into a recitable poetic couplet, not falling into玄 talk. The words is and true are decisive, showing the standard of discernment. What is more to taste is that the first line speaks of gives birth, the second of is not, one birth one not, exactly suiting the玄 reason of the reversal being the movement of the Way. The middle two couplets stand at the hinge from practice to ascent, winning through reason rather than scenery, the typical Song way of making reason the poem.

此途得道亦连袂，迟晚须乘八景舆。

Along this path, attaining the Way, we join hands; though late, we must ride the Eight-Visions carriage.

此途得道亦当携手同登，迟晚须乘那八景之舆升天。

Who wins the Way on this road shall go hand in hand; late or soon, he must ride the chariot of eight sights.

结联写升仙，是全诗归宿之处。上句「此途得道亦连袂」写循此道而得道者当携手同登，见修持非独善而有共成之意；下句「迟晚须乘八景舆」以道教神仙乘八景舆升天之典，言纵使迟晚亦必乘舆而上。二句将前面所有理气、丹境的玄思，收束为升仙的笃定期许，章法由虚转实、由理转象。尤妙在「迟晚」二字，不讳修持之难与岁月之淹，反显诚笃；「须乘」之「须」字吃紧，示必然之信。方平借读经抒慕道之忱，此处最见其向道之切。全篇以理起、以象结，八景舆之绚烂，正照混元一气之朴，章法圆融。

The closing writes the ascent to immortality, the poem's final归宿. The first, who wins the Way on this road shall go hand in hand, writes that those who follow this Way and win it shall ascend hand in hand, showing that practice is not for oneself alone but has the meaning of common completion. The second, late or soon, he must ride the chariot of eight sights, uses the Taoist allusion to the immortal riding the eight-sight chariot to ascend, saying that though late or soon he must ride the chariot upward. The two lines gather all the preceding玄 thoughts of breath and reason and elixir realm into the firm promise of ascent to immortality, the structure turning from void to solid, from reason to image. The beauty lies in the words late or soon, not shunning the difficulty of practice and the drowning of the years, on the contrary showing sincerity; the word must in he must ride is decisive, showing the certainty of faith. Fangping here expresses his longing for the Way through reading the sutra, most showing his earnestness for the Way. The whole poem opens in reason and closes in image; the splendor of the eight-sight chariot exactly shines back the plainness of the primal-chaos one breath, the structure round.

Study

Word focus

一气 The single primal breath (yiqi) — the undifferentiated primordial qi from which all things arise; it is the poem's central concept, rooting the whole in hunyuan oneness. 「五行生成本一气」之「一气」，是写混元本体的诗眼，亦全诗总纲所系。一气本《老子》「道生一」与《易传》元气说，谓天地未分、浑沌纯一之元，万化皆由此出。方平以此括《混元经》旨，先立「一」而后能言五行之「分」，是「执一御万」的玄理结构。此字之重，在以最简之词包最丰之义：混元之混，正在此一气之未分；修持之要，正在返此一气之本。与后文「还元」「无质生质」一脉——还元即还此一气，丹地即此一气之化生。宋诗尚理，此「一气」亦含几分濂洛「理一分殊」的前奏。一词而定全篇宇宙论基调，是起手最省净处。

蘧庐 The wayside hut (qulu) — from the Zhuangzi, a temporary inn; here it figures the mortal body as a lodgings the cultivator must not cling to, illustrating 'borrow the false to cultivate the true.' 「过宿宁更怀蘧庐」之「蘧庐」，是用典之眼，亦写修持去执的关键。《庄子·天运》谓「仁义，先王之蘧庐也，止可以一宿而不可久处」，蘧庐本指逆旅、临时之舍。方平借谓世俗尘身如逆旅，修真者过宿一程便当舍去，岂可久怀？此词之妙，以「逆旅」喻身、以「不怀」喻超脱，把道教「借假修真」的义理化为一意象。与起联「一气」之本、三联「丹地」之真对照：蘧庐是假、丹地是真，去假归真正是还元之要。更可味者，「宁更怀」三字是反问决辞，示去执之断。一词而收束修持之阶，亦见方平融庄入道的手眼。

八景舆 The Eight-Visions carriage (bajing yu) — the Daoist immortal's chariot; here it concretizes the assured fruition of ascending the Way through cultivation. 「迟晚须乘八景舆」之「八景舆」，是用典之眼，亦全诗升仙归宿的绚烂意象。八景舆本道教神仙所乘之舆，《黄庭经》等谓仙真乘八景之舆游于上清。方平以此写循道得仙之果，将前面所有理气丹境的玄思，收束为一乘舆上升的具象。此词之重，在以仙界之绚照混元之朴：起手「一气」至朴，结处「八景舆」至丽，朴丽相映，正合「从无名到有名」的修持全程。更可味者，「须乘」之「须」字示必然之信，不似游仙诗之虚幻，而似实修之期。一词而立全诗升仙之的，是结句最得体之法，亦宋诗以仙典写理之例。