宋 Song · 诗 Poem
被命中山以亲老不赴书怀寄集贤曾公参政赵公
Appointed to Zhongshan, I Do Not Go Because My Parents Are Old; I Write of My Feelings and Send to Academician Zeng and Vice Director Zhao
野怀常逐白云飞,疏拙那能合世机。
偶似曹溪一宿觉,已多蘧瑗九年非。
畧呈幻事何须了,惟愿朝恩早放归。
它日莲华峰下去,犹期话道过黄扉。
How could my plain clumsiness fit the schemes of the world?
By chance, like the one-night awakening of Caoxi,
Already many are the nine years of wrong of Qu Yuan... of Qu Boyu.
What need to finish the illusory things of the world?
I only wish the favor of the court to release me early.
One day, going down from the Lotus Flower Peak,
I still hope to talk of the Way before the yellow gate.
Meaning
A poem written when Zhang Fangping, appointed prefect of Zhongshan (present-day Dingzhou, Hebei) on the Song-Liao border, declined the post because his parents were old, and sent to his friends Academician Zeng and Vice Director Zhao in the court. The poem is in four layers: the statement of the feeling—'my wild heart always follows the white clouds flying; how could my plain clumsiness fit the schemes of the world?'—the white clouds for the wild nature, the plain clumsiness for the self, his unfitness for the times; the self-examination—'by chance, like the one-night awakening of Caoxi, already many are the nine years of wrong of Qu Boyu'—the two allusions to his awakening and his amendment; the request to return—'what need to finish the illusory things of the world? I only wish the favor of the court to release me early'; and the hope—'one day, going down from the Lotus Flower Peak, I still hope to talk of the Way before the yellow gate.' Throughout, the poem is not resentful nor excited, writing the refusal of the appointment in a warm and gentle language, the model of the Song poem of the letter on the character and the friendship.
山野之怀常随白云飞去,疏拙之性哪能迎合世间的机巧。偶似曹溪那一宿之悟,已多过蘧瑗九年的改过。略呈些幻事何须了结,只愿朝廷恩典早放我归去。他日去莲华峰下,仍期待与你们话道、走过那黄扉。
Appreciation
The art of the poem is the four-layer structure of 'the statement, the self-examination, the request, and the hope.' The first couplet, 'my wild heart always follows the white clouds flying; how could my plain clumsiness fit the schemes of the world?' writes his unfitness for the times, the white clouds for the wild nature and the plain clumsiness for the self—the statement of the feeling. The second couplet, 'by chance, like the one-night awakening of Caoxi, already many are the nine years of wrong of Qu Boyu,' writes the gain of the self-cultivation (the awakening and the amendment) with the two allusions—the self-examination. The third couplet, 'what need to finish the illusory things of the world? I only wish the favor of the court to release me early,' writes the illusory things set aside and the request for the release urgent—the request to return. The last couplet, 'one day, going down from the Lotus Flower Peak, I still hope to talk of the Way before the yellow gate,' writes the hope of the future visit to the Way and the hope placed in the two friends—the hope. The whole poem is not resentful nor excited, writing the refusal of the appointment in a warm and gentle language, the parallelism apt (Caoxi against Qu Boyu, the Lotus Flower against the yellow gate), the allusions exact—the fitting poem of the Song 'letter form writing the friendship and the integrity.'
【白话串讲】 张方平被任命去中山,因父母年老不去,写信给曾公、赵公:“野怀常逐白云飞,疏拙那能合世机”。“偶似曹溪一宿觉”——“惟愿朝恩早放归”——他请求放归。 【意象与手法】诗以白云、曹溪、莲峰、黄扉为象,融禅理、自省、乞归、交情于一炉。用曹溪、蘧瑗二典写「悟」与「改」,对仗工而意深。 【情感与主旨】因亲老辞命不赴,书中自陈疏拙与向道之志,兼向曾赵二公表达乞归之愿与日后话道之期,情真而不怨。 【名句点睛】偶似曹溪一宿觉,已多蘧瑗九年非以两典写修省,旷达中见自省;惟愿朝恩早放归于不赴之中直陈乞归,温厚得体。
Background
The poem was written when Zhang Fangping, appointed prefect of Zhongshan (the Zhongshan prefecture, present-day Dingzhou, Hebei), declined the post because his parents were old, and wrote of his feelings to Academician Zeng and Vice Director Zhao. Zhongshan, on the Song-Liao border, was an important prefecture of Hebei, the prefect's responsibility heavy; Zhang Fangping's declining for the age of his parents shows his putting filial piety first. Zeng may be Zeng Gongliang (a Northern Song grand councillor, once Academician of the Jixian Hall) and Zhao may be Zhao Bian (posthumously Qingxian, once a vice director), both old friends of Zhang Fangping in the court and both famed for their integrity; the sending of the poem to the two is at once the statement of the feeling and the confession of the heart to the understanding. Zhang Fangping (1007–1091) was famed for his filial piety, the history saying that 'he served his parents with filial devotion,' repeatedly requesting a prefecture for the age of his parents or declining office; this is one such case. The Northern Song was generous to the filial care of the ministers: officials with aged parents were permitted to request a nearby prefecture or to resign to care for them, filial feeling and official duty both valued; Zhang Fangping's refusal here is at once according to the rites and revealing the character.
此诗为张方平被任命为中山(中山府,今河北定州)知府,因父母年老辞不赴任,作书抒怀寄赠集贤曾公、参政赵公二人之作。中山地处宋辽边境,为河北重镇,知府责任非轻,张方平却以亲老辞免,足见其以孝为先的取向。曾公或指曾公亮(北宋宰辅,尝领集贤殿大学士),赵公或指赵抃(谥清献,尝参知政事),皆张方平同朝挚友、且同有清直之名;此寄二公,既是陈情,也是向相知者一剖心曲。张方平(1007—1091)以孝著称,史称其「事亲孝」,屡以亲老乞郡或辞官,此即一例。北宋优待臣僚孝养:官员父母年老,许乞便郡就近侍养,或陈乞解官归养,孝感与官常并重,张方平此辞,既合礼法亦见性情。诗中「曹溪一宿觉」用禅宗六祖慧能弟子玄觉「一宿觉」事,「蘧瑗九年非」用春秋蘧伯玉「年五十而知四十九年非」的改过之典,可见其虽辞官而向道自省不辍。此诗以「书怀」为题,实是一封寄友陈情书,语温而礼尽——不赴之由在亲老,不赴之态在恭顺,不赴之望在早归,三层皆备。了解宋代「乞养」制度与张方平孝亲辞命的生平,方能读懂此诗「不赴」背后的礼与情,也方能体会结尾「犹期话道过黄扉」中那一份「身退而交不疏」的笃厚。
Art
The art is the four-layer structure of 'the statement, the self-examination, the request, and the hope.' The first couplet writes the unfitness for the times with the white clouds and the plain clumsiness; the second writes the gain of the self-cultivation with the two allusions; the third writes the illusory things set aside and the request urgent; the last writes the hope of the future visit to the Way and the hope placed in the friends. The whole poem is not resentful nor excited, the refusal of the appointment written in a warm and gentle language; the parallelism apt (Caoxi against Qu Boyu, the Lotus Flower against the yellow gate), the allusions exact—the fitting poem of the Song letter form.
此诗艺术上以「陈情—自省—乞归—寄望」四层结构写书怀。首联野怀常逐白云飞,疏拙那能合世机,以白云喻野性、以疏拙自处,写己不合时宜,是陈情;颔联偶似曹溪一宿觉,已多蘧瑗九年非,以两典写修省之得(悟与改),是自省;颈联略呈幻事何须了,惟愿朝恩早放归,写幻事可置、乞归方切,是乞归;尾联它日莲华峰下去,犹期话道过黄扉,写他日访道之期、寄望二公,是寄望。全诗不怨不激,以温厚语写辞命,对仗工(曹溪对蘧瑗、莲华对黄扉),用典恰切,是宋人「以书怀体写交情与志节」的得体之作。值得留意的是,此诗虽为律诗,却带着一封「书」的口吻:首联对二公自陈本色,颔联剖白修省,颈联直说心愿,尾联预约后约,层层如话,读来如与故人促膝——这正是「书怀」体与一般投赠诗的不同:它不以颂美为主,而以自道为主,情真而文不浮。结构上,「陈情—自省—乞归—寄望」四层循着「由己及道、由道及愿、由愿及交」的递进:先立疏拙之本色,再以禅儒二典证其向道不惰,然后落到「早放归」的具体乞请,最后以「话道过黄扉」把去就收束于交情,公私之间转换自然,毫无寒乞之态。对仗上,颔联以佛儒对举(曹溪之悟对蘧瑗之改),颈联以幻事对朝恩、尾联以莲华对黄扉,皆以虚实相生见巧,而「曹溪—蘧瑗」「莲华—黄扉」两组典实对,尤见宋人运典之工。其佳处在把一场辞官写得既有礼、又有道、还有情,温厚恳切而不俚,正是学者书怀诗的得体笔墨。
Allusions
The allusions all concern 'the awakening, the amendment, and the return,' uniting the integrity and the friendship. 'The one-night awakening of Caoxi': Caoxi is the place where the Sixth Patriarch Huineng taught (present-day Qujiang, Guangdong); the Tang Chan master Xuanjue (Master Yongjia), calling on the Sixth Patriarch, was awakened at the exchange of the questions, stayed one night and returned, then called 'the one-night awakening'—later a metaphor for the sudden awakening. The poem's 'by chance, like the one-night awakening of Caoxi' writes his chance sudden awakening like Xuanjue's, modestly the gain of his Buddhist self-examination, and shows the Northern Song scholar-official's cultivation with the joy of Chan. 'The nine years of wrong of Qu Boyu': Qu Boyu (Qu Boyu of Wei) was a worthy minister of the Spring and Autumn, said to know at fifty the wrong of his forty-nine years—the poem's 'already many are the nine years of wrong' writes his amendment of the past, the gain of the years. 'The illusory things' (huan shi) is the Buddhist term for the illusory affairs of the world; 'the yellow gate' (Huangfei) is the yellow gate of the palace, the office of the great ministers, here the court and the two friends.
诗中用典皆关「悟」与「改」「归」之旨,而绾合志节与交情。曹溪一宿觉:曹溪为六祖慧能弘法之地(今广东曲江);唐玄觉禅师(永嘉大师)谒六祖,问答之下言下大悟,留宿一夕而返,时号「一宿觉」,后世以喻顿悟。诗中「偶似曹溪一宿觉」写己偶有如玄觉之顿悟,谦称向佛自省之得,亦见北宋士大夫以禅悦助修养之风。蘧瑗九年非:蘧瑗(蘧伯玉)春秋卫之贤大夫,相传年五十而知四十九年之非,又有「行年六十而六十化」之说,诗中「已多蘧瑗九年非」谓己之改过已多过蘧瑗九年之数,谦中含实,写进德之勤。莲华峰:庐山或终南之莲华峰,泛指修道隐居之地,「它日莲华峰下去」写他日访道之约,与首联「野怀白云」呼应,见其本心在野。黄扉:汉代丞相听事阁门涂黄,后因称中书省(宰相理政之处)之门,代指二公执政之位,「犹期话道过黄扉」写虽乞归而仍望与执政二公论道,去就之间礼数宛然。诸典由禅及儒、由己及友、由悟及归,一佛一儒而同归于「自省—归养」,绾合志节与交情,密而皆切己,足见宋人「以才学为诗」而能「以学助情」的本领。
Commentary
This poem of Zhang Fangping should be read with his many memorials in the Complete Collection of the Joy of Music requesting a prefecture to care for his parents: he stood on filial piety, and the refusal of the appointment written warm and gentle in the poem is his consistent manner. Fang Hui's Ying Kui Lv Sui, in the category of the presented poems, valued 'written for a purpose, the feeling and the writing giving birth to each other'; this poem, sent to the two grand ministers with the statement of the feeling and the request to return, fits its selection. Compared with the Tang poems of retirement (Bai Juyi's frank 'the return from office,' Li Bai's proud 'the request granted, return'), the Song poets preferred to write the going and the staying with the allusions and the philosophical interest; this poem's two allusions of Caoxi and Qu Boyu are an example, the Song style of the letter poem on the going and the staying.
张方平此书怀诗,宜与其文集《乐全集》中屡乞郡养亲之奏合观——他以孝立身,辞官不赴而书中温厚,正是一贯。方回《瀛奎律髓》投赠类重「有为而作、情文相生」,此诗寄二执政而陈情乞归,合其选。较之唐人乞退诗(如白居易「辞官归去」之坦、李白「乞归优诏许」之傲),宋人更喜以典故与理趣写去就,此诗曹溪蘧瑗二典即其例——不直说「我要归」,而借古人之境写己之志,含蓄而有骨。又,北宋大臣以亲老辞命为常,然措辞须得体,张方平于此不怨不矫,「惟愿朝恩早放归」既陈私情亦尊朝廷,分寸极好。近人论宋诗「以才学为诗」,此诗用典密而皆切己,足证其说;而它的温厚又使其免于宋诗常见的寒俭,在学者气与士大夫风度之间取得平衡。要之,此诗之佳在以辞官之书写出志节、交情与向道之趣,温厚而不俚,是学者陈情诗的范本;若与张氏乞养诸奏合观,更可见其「以礼驭情」的一贯面目——私愿再切,亦必纳于君臣之谊,此即宋调陈情得体之要义。
Prosody
Line by line
野怀常逐白云飞,疏拙那能合世机。
My wild heart always follows the white clouds flying; how could my plain clumsiness fit the schemes of the world? (The first couplet, the statement of the feeling: the white clouds for the wild nature, the plain clumsiness for the self, his unfitness for the times.)
山野之怀常随白云飞去,疏拙之性哪能迎合世间的机巧。
My wild heart often flies off with the white clouds; how could my rough and awkward nature fit the world's shifts?
首联陈情,写己之本色与不合时宜。野怀常逐白云飞以白云喻山野之怀,说自己的心性常随白云高飞远引,是隐逸之志的具象;疏拙那能合世机紧接,以疏拙(疏放笨拙)自处,说这样的性情哪能迎合世间机巧(世机指官场权变机心)。两句一正一反、一志一性,把一位不媚俗、恋山林的士大夫形象勾出。张方平落笔极坦诚,不饰「能吏」之貌,径以「疏拙」自认,正见其真率。更妙在「常逐」「那能」的语气:野怀是主动的飞,世机是被动的不合,写出一种虽在朝而心在野的张力。此联为全诗定调——后文乞归、话道皆从此「野怀」流出,是书怀诗开门见山的本色写法。
The opening pleads the case, writing one's own native cast and unfitness for the age. My wild heart often flies off with the white clouds uses the white cloud to meta-phor the wild heart of the hills, saying one's mind often flies far away with the white clouds, the concrete shape of the reclusive will. How could my rough and awkward nature fit the world's shifts? follows at once, taking one's stand on rough and awkward, saying how could such a nature cater to the world's clever shifts (the world's shifts meaning the bureaucratic mind of expediency). The two lines, one positive one reverse, one will one nature, sketch a scholar-official who does not flatter the age and loves the hills. Fangping lays down his brush most openly, not adorning the air of the able official, but directly owning to rough and awkward, exactly showing his truth. What is more beautiful is the tone of often flies and how could: the wild heart is an active flying, the world's shifts a passive unfitness, writing a tension of being in court yet the heart in the wild. This couplet fixes the poem's key - the later begging to return and speaking of the Way all flow from this wild heart, the native-way opening of a poem that pours out one's heart.
偶似曹溪一宿觉,已多蘧瑗九年非。
By chance, like the one-night awakening of Caoxi, already many are the nine years of wrong of Qu Boyu. (The second couplet, the self-examination: the one-night awakening of the Chan master Xuanjue for his sudden awakening, the nine years of wrong of Qu Boyu for his amendment of the past, the gain of the cultivation in the two allusions.)
偶似曹溪那一宿之悟,已多过蘧瑗九年的改过。
By chance, I am like the one-night enlightenment of Caoxi; already I have outdone Qu Yuan's nine years of knowing his faults.
颔联自省,是全诗最具理趣之处。偶似曹溪一宿觉用禅宗玄觉谒六祖、一宿而悟事,写己偶有如玄觉之顿悟,暗指向佛修省;已多蘧瑗九年非用蘧伯玉「年五十而知四十九年非」的改过典,说己之悔过进德已多过蘧瑗九年之数。两典一佛一儒、一悟一改,对仗工而义相成:悟是 instantaneous 的觉醒,改是accumulated 的功夫,合起来正是士大夫「知行并进」的修养。张方平于此以谦语写自得——「偶似」是谦,「已多」是实,谦实之间见其进德之勤。宋人作诗好以对仗运典故明理,此联正是一例:不须直说「我在修身」,只把两个古人的修境拈来比况,境界自出。读此联,可想见诗人虽辞官而问学不辍的气象。
The jaw couplet is self-examination, the poem's most rational-delighting place. By chance, I am like the one-night enlightenment of Caoxi uses the Zen allusion to Xuanjue visiting the Sixth Patriarch and awakening in one night, writing that one has by chance, like Xuanjue, a sudden enlightenment, secretly pointing to Buddhist cultivation and self-reflection. Already I have outdone Qu Yuan's nine years of knowing his faults uses the allusion to Qu Boyu's at fifty knowing the faults of the forty-nine years, saying one's repentance and moral progress have already outdone Qu Yuan's nine years. The two allusions, one Buddhist one Confucian, one awakening one reform, the parallel wrought and the meaning completing each other: awakening is the instant's awakening, reform is the accumulated work, and together they are the scholar-official's cultivation of knowing and acting advancing together. Fangping here writes self-content in modest words: by chance is modesty, already outdone is fact, and between modesty and fact one sees the diligence of his moral progress. Song poets loved to use parallel to move allusions and make reason clear; this couplet is one example - no need to say directly I am cultivating myself, only bringing in the two ancients' realms of cultivation to compare, and the realm of itself appears. Reading this couplet, one can imagine the poet, though resigning office, never resting from learning.
惟愿朝恩早放归。
I only wish the favor of the court to release me early. (The third couplet, the request to return: the illusory things of the world set aside, the request for the release urgent, the refusal of the appointment for the age of the parents.)
只愿朝廷恩典早放我归去。
I only pray the court's grace will soon let me return home.
此句为颈联之核,亦全诗乞归之旨所聚。惟愿朝恩早放归直陈心愿:只盼朝廷开恩,早放我归养。张方平措辞极有分寸——不言「乞」而言「愿」,不言「弃官」而言「放归」,既陈私情亦尊朝廷,是宋大臣辞命的得体语。更可玩者,它与首联「疏拙那能合世机」呼应:正因为不合世机、野怀在野,故愿早归;而「朝恩」二字又把私愿纳回君臣之礼,不使乞归流于傲遁。宋人陈情诗最忌怨怼与矫激,此句温厚而不俚、切直而不亢,恰得其体。一句之中,把「不赴」的理由(亲老)、态度(恭顺)、愿望(早归)悉数收拢,是全诗筋节所在。
This line is the core of the neck couplet, and the gathering place of the whole poem's bent of begging to return. I only pray the court's grace will soon let me return home states the wish directly: only hoping the court will show grace and soon send me back to care for my elders. Fangping's phrasing is most measured - he does not say beg but pray, does not say abandon office but let me return, stating the private wish while honoring the court, the proper words of a Song minister declining a commission. What is more to enjoy is its echo with the opening's how could my rough and awkward nature fit the world's shifts: precisely because he does not fit the world's shifts and his wild heart is in the wild, he wishes to return early; and the words the court's grace gather the private wish back into the rite of lord and minister, so that begging to return does not fall into proud withdrawal. Song poems pleading a case most hated grievance and excess; this line is warm and thick yet not vulgar, direct yet not arrogant, exactly suiting the measure. Within one line, the reason for not going (old parents), the attitude (deference), and the wish (early return) are all gathered, the knot of the whole poem.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
The two poems are both by Zhang Fangping on the theme of 'the age of the parents': the poem of the feelings declines the appointment to Zhongshan for the age of the parents, refusing to go; the poem of the sending writes the favor of the lord reaching the parents and the hope of the gate of the leaning mother, encouraging the friend. One the refusal of the self, one the sending of the friend; one the filial of the poet himself, one the filial urged on the friend—both from the Song respect for the filial, the two faces of the theme of 'the age of the parents' in Zhang Fangping.
二诗皆张方平写「亲老」主题。书怀诗因亲老辞命不赴中山,送陈诗写君禄及亲荣、倚门之念勉友人,一己一友,而同出宋人「重孝养」的价值底色。合观可见张方平于亲老一事,对己则辞官以养、对友则勉禄及亲,内外一致,是其生平孝思的两面投射。进一步看,二诗虽同写亲老,而处境正相反:书怀诗是「己欲养而辞官」,处于「去」位;送陈诗是「勉人禄以养亲」,处于「劝」位。一辞一勉,看似矛盾,实则出于同一「孝」字——能辞者辞以全孝,当仕者仕以荣亲,张方平于此并无刻板,而是随分尽责。这种「己与友互文见义」的写法,正见其孝思之周遍:不独严于律己,亦以孝勉友,是北宋士大夫「以孝为本」伦理观的生动流露。
赠琅邪智先长老 To Elder Zhixian of Langya Mountain 张方平 · 同出张方平、一儒臣陈情一禅悦忘言 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
书怀诗以曹溪一宿觉写向佛自省,赠智先诗以忘所问、腾腾写禅家自在,一为儒臣引禅以自修、一为亲访禅僧而忘言,同见张方平三教调和的底色。合观可见其诗中「禅」的两副面目:对友僧则写空寂,对执政则写修省,皆能就语境措辞,不为一律。更可玩者,二诗中的「禅」其实指向不同的修习姿态:书怀之禅是「自省」(以曹溪一宿觉证己之进德),落脚在儒臣的日用处;赠僧之禅是「忘言」(以腾腾写与长老相对而忘所问),落脚在方外的自在处。一内一外、一儒一释,而同出张方平一人之笔,正说明他的三教调和并非口头标榜,而是能随对象切换话语——对执政言修省以见其敬,对禅僧言忘得以见其契。这种「应机说法」式的诗笔,恰是其学养融通的明证。
乞郡帖(书) 乞郡帖(书) 苏轼 · 宋人乞养陈情之互参 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
苏轼亦屡以亲老乞郡,其书启陈情温厚得体,与张方平此诗气类相近。苏文以坦易写去就,张诗以典丽写志节,文体虽异,其「尊朝廷而陈私情、不怨不矫」的分寸却一脉相通。读二家可知北宋大臣乞养文字的共同体性:私情必纳于君臣之礼,恳切而不失体,此诗「惟愿朝恩早放归」正其范例。进一步看,苏张二人的乞养文字虽一文一诗,却共享一套「北宋大臣」的话语规范:先陈亲老之实,次尊朝廷之命,再陈己愿之切,始终以「臣」自处而不失恳挚,绝无唐人「挂冠而去」式的率性。张方平此诗把这套规范凝为韵语,以曹溪蘧瑗之典增其文采,而「朝恩早放归」一句仍是地道的陈情口吻。合观苏帖张诗,最可见宋代士大夫「以礼驭情」的陈情艺术——私情再切,亦必归于君臣之谊,此即宋调得体之要义。