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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

贻刘几

Presented to Liu Ji

张方平

Zhang Fangping

赠友presented to a friend 豪侠gallant

家自唐来世大儒，惟君不肯读家书。
春游烂漫少曾醒，俊气飘扬频得卢。
早讲猿公飞劔术，更通风后握机图。
何时羽猎长围合，请看云中一鹗孤。

Your house has been great Confucians since Tang; yet you alone will not read the family books.
In spring outings, wild and merry, seldom sober; your gallant spirit soaring, often winning the winning cast.
Early you studied the Ape Elder's flying-sword art, and further know the Wind Sovereign's battle-array chart.
When will the imperial hunt's great circle close? Behold the lone osprey in the clouds.

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Meaning

Zhang Fangping praises his friend Liu Ji, a man born of a distinguished Confucian house yet unfettered by it. The poem delights in Liu's wild youth, his gallant spirit and his mastery of both sword-art and military strategy. It closes by foreseeing that, like a lone osprey above the clouds, Liu will one day stand apart and supreme.

你家自唐代以来便是世代大儒，偏偏你却不肯读那家传诗书。春游烂漫之中你少有清醒之时，俊爽之气飘扬、频频赢得博戏。你早曾讲求猿公飞剑之术，更通风后握奇之阵图。何时羽猎长围合拢，请看云中那只孤鹗卓然独立。

Appreciation

The poem is a seven-character regulated verse written with a gallant's own bold brush. It opens by a reverse turn — a noble Confucian lineage versus a refusal to read the family books — and builds through images of revelry, sword and strategy to the closing osprey metaphor. Antitheses are firm yet the manner is open and lofty, a specially bold path among Song friendship poems.

【白话串讲】张方平写给刘几：“家自唐来世大儒，惟君不肯读家书”——他家世代大儒，他却不读家书。“春游烂漫少曾醒”——“早讲猿公飞劔术，更通风后握机图”——“何时羽猎长围合，请看云中一鹗孤”——他写一个不守成规的才子。【意象与手法】此诗赠刘几，章法以「世家—放—武—期」为序。起联「世大儒」「不肯读家书」以反笔立其不羁；次联「春游」「得卢」写其俊爽任侠；三联「猿公飞劔」「风后握机」写其文武兼资；结联「羽猎」「一鹗孤」以期待收束，喻其终当卓立。通篇以豪笔写豪士，多用侠武意象，见宋人赠友诗中英爽一路。【情感与主旨】主旨在于推许刘几虽出儒门而不拘绳墨、文武兼资的豪俊之姿，既赏其春游任侠、飞剑握机之奇，更期其如云中孤鹗、终当特立。诗中充满对友人才调的激赏与对未来的期许，是赠豪侠友诗中扬厉之笔。【名句点睛】「何时羽猎长围合，请看云中一鹗孤」一联最见期待，以围猎合阵喻世事、以孤鹗喻友，豪宕中见特立，是宋诗以象写人之妙。

Background

Zhang Fangping's 'Presented to Liu Ji' — the Liu Ji addressed was a Northern Song man of letters (styled Boshou, from Luoyang, who associated with Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang, later studied the Dao and retired to Song Mountain). His family was scholarly, yet he himself was unrestrained, fond of gallantry and skilled in martial arts, later living as a hermit on Song Mountain. Fangping was a famous Northern Song minister, upright and fond of unusual men, and especially praised Liu Ji as one 'born of a Confucian house yet a gallant.' This poem was likely written during their friendship. In the mid-Northern Song there was a fashion among literati for combining civil and martial, admiring gallantry and valor (as Guo Kui and Di Qing rose by arms while scholars also liked to discuss the military and sword) — Liu Ji was a striking example, born of a Confucian house yet versed in the Ape Elder's sword art and the Wind Sovereign's array chart. The lines 'will not read the family books,' 'often winning the cast,' 'flying-sword art,' 'battle-array chart' and 'lone osprey' exactly write his unruliness and strange talent. To read this poem one must place it in the Song scholarly ethos that 'esteemed heroes and valued combined civil-martial talent,' to feel Fangping's admiration and expectation for Liu Ji.

张方平此《贻刘几》，所贻之刘几为北宋文人（字伯寿，洛阳人，与欧阳修、司马光辈交游，后学道），其家世儒，而本人豪放不羁、好任侠、通武艺，后隐居嵩山。方平北宋名臣，性刚而好奇士，于刘几这种「儒门出豪侠」的人物特加推许。此诗当作于二人交游之际。北宋中期，文人中颇有兼资文武、慕侠尚气之风（如郭逵、狄青辈以武显，而文士亦好谈兵剑），刘几正是其中特出者——出儒门而通猿公剑术、风后阵图。诗中「不肯读家书」「频得卢」「飞劔术」「握机图」「一鹗孤」，正写其不羁与奇才。读懂此诗，须置之于宋人「重豪杰、尚文武兼资」的士风背景中，方能体会方平对刘几那份激赏与期许。刘几儒门而出豪侠，最足动方平之赏，此诗之作，既写其不羁，亦期其远大；北宋士大夫中兼资文武、慕杰尚气之风，于此一人之身与一篇之诗皆可窥见。刘几其人豪宕不羁，方平赏之甚至，此诗正可见其于温厚之外，亦重英爽奇气，交游取人之广如此。

Art

This is a seven-character regulated verse of four couplets, eight lines, taking the presentation to Liu Ji as its thread, its structure lofty and bold. 'Your house has been great Confucians since Tang; yet you alone will not read the family books' opens with a reverse brush: first it raises his family's Confucian nobility, then turns with 'yet you alone,' writing his unruliness — one rise, one fall, the gallant air already shows. 'In spring outings, wild and merry, seldom sober; your gallant spirit soaring, often winning the winning cast' writes his任性放达, a wild youth. 'Early you studied the Ape Elder's flying-sword art, and further know the Wind Sovereign's battle-array chart' writes his combined civil-martial, strange air pressing. 'When will the imperial hunt's great circle close? Behold the lone osprey in the clouds' closes with expectation, the hunt's closing array figures the world, the lone osprey figures the friend, bold yet showing the solitary stand. The whole writes a gallant with a gallant brush, antitheses firm yet manner open, a bold path among Song friendship poems, also showing Fangping's rarely lofty air in his usually plain fluent style.

此诗七言律格，四联八句，以赠刘几为线，章法扬厉而豪宕。「家自唐来世大儒，惟君不肯读家书」起联以反笔立骨：先抬其家世儒门之贵，再以「惟君不肯」一转，写其不羁，一起一落，豪气已见；「春游烂漫少曾醒，俊气飘扬频得卢」次联写其任侠放达，春游烂漫、俊气得卢（樗蒲胜采），活画豪少之态；「早讲猿公飞劔术，更通风后握机图」三联写其文武兼资，猿公剑术、风后阵图，奇气逼人；「何时羽猎长围合，请看云中一鹗孤」结联以期待收束，围猎合阵喻世事、孤鹗喻友，豪宕中见特立。通篇以豪笔写豪士，对仗工稳而气象开张，是宋人赠友诗中英爽一路，亦见方平疏畅诗风中少有的扬厉之姿。起以「世大儒」与「不肯读」反笔立骨，中写任侠与文武兼资，结以孤鹗为期，扬厉开张，一洗方平他作之疏淡，而见其胸中亦有英爽不平之气，诗格随人而变，最是可玩。通篇扬厉开张，一洗方平他作之疏淡，而见其胸中亦有英爽不平之气，诗格随人而变，此种因题制宜最是可玩。

Allusions

The allusions all fit Liu Ji's strange talent. 'Great Confucians since Tang' raises his family; 'will not read the family books' reverses the common 'house transmits poetry and books' to write his unruliness. 'Winning the cast' uses the name of the winning throw in chu-pu (a gambling game); the Jin History records Liu Yi 'staking a million at one cast,' lu being the best throw — Fangping writes with 'often winning lu' his gallant常胜. 'Ape Elder's flying-sword art' uses the Wu Yue Chun Qiu tale of the Yue girl meeting the Ape Elder (Yuan Gong) testing swords and flying into the forest, figuring sword skill; Liu Ji liked the sword, fitting exactly. 'Wind Sovereign's holding-the-array' uses the Wind Sovereign's 'Holding-the-Mystery Classic' (the Yellow Sovereign's minister Wind Sovereign expounded the mystery array), figuring military strategy; Fangping writes with it his knowledge of war. 'Lone osprey' uses 'among raptors the foremost' and 'one osprey' to figure a solitary outstanding talent (as Kong Rong recommended Mi Heng: 'a hundred raptors are not worth one osprey'). These allusions fit the combined civil-martial theme, not excessive, not obscure, showing the Song habit of citing fact and admiring the strange in presentation poems.

诗中用典皆切刘几之奇才。「世大儒」抬其家世，唐以来儒门之誉；「不肯读家书」反用「诗书传家」之常，写其不羁。「得卢」用樗蒲（博戏）胜采之名，《晋书》载刘毅「樗蒲一掷百万」，卢为最胜之采，方平以「频得卢」写其豪爽常胜。「猿公飞劔术」用《吴越春秋》越女遇猿公（袁公）试剑、飞身入林之典，喻剑术之高；刘几好剑，正合。「风后握机」用风后《握奇经》（黄帝臣风后演握奇阵）之典，喻兵机阵图；方平以此写其通兵。「一鹗孤」用「鸷鸟中之尤者」及「一鹗」喻特立之才（如孔融举祢衡「鸷鸟累百，不如一鹗」）。诸典皆切文武兼资之题，不滥不僻，见宋人赠诗征实与尚奇之习。得卢用樗蒲胜采，猿公风后皆武库旧典，一鹗取孔融举士之喻，方平以豪侠之典写豪侠之人，典与人称，奇气逼人；此种尚奇用典，已开宋调咏豪士之先。诗中得卢猿公风后一鹗诸典，皆豪侠武库旧语，方平以豪侠之典写豪侠之人，典与人相称，奇气逼人，已开宋调咏豪士之先声。

Commentary

This poem writes a gallant with a gallant brush, in Fangping's collected works a specially lofty air. Tang poets presenting gallant friends often wrote free spirit, as Gao Shi 'a man should prize his own bold march'; Fangping's poem, against a Confucian-house background, writes Liu Ji's 'will not read the family books' and 'flying sword, holding array,' showing a specially 'Confucian yet gallant' strangeness. This esteem for combined civil-martial fits the mid-Northern Song scholarly thought of 'esteeming heroes and valuing achievement' (Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi both urged adaptation and employing talent). The Qing 'Song Poems Selection' says Fangping 'does not carve,' and this poem's lofty parts show the most skill. Its close 'behold the lone osprey in the clouds,' figuring the friend as osprey, both praises his solitary stand and expects his greatness, a cut above plainly saying 'you shall be eminent.' Fangping was famed as an upright minister yet could prize such unruly talent, exactly showing his broad embrace.

此诗以豪笔写豪士，在方平集中别具扬厉之姿。唐人赠豪侠友多写意气，如高适「男儿本自重横行」；方平此诗则于儒门背景下写刘几之「不肯读家书」「飞剑握机」，更见一种「儒而侠」的奇特。这种推许文武兼资的取向，正合北宋中期士人「重豪杰、尚事功」的思潮（范仲淹、王安石皆主通变任才）。清人《宋诗钞》称方平「不事雕琢」，此诗扬厉处最见功夫。其结「请看云中一鹗孤」，以孤鹗喻友，既赞其卓立、又期其远大，比直说「君当贵显」更高一着。方平以直臣名世，而能赏此种不羁之才，正见其襟抱之广。此篇可视为北宋赠豪侠友诗的代表，于研究宋人尚豪杰的士风颇有价值。唐人赠豪侠多重勋贵浪漫，方平于儒门中见侠骨，识见自别；其结以孤鹗为期，不徒赞且期之，交情之厚与识人之明并见，是宋人赠友诗中英爽一格的代表。结以孤鹗为期，不徒赞且期之，交情识人并见，是宋人赠友诗中英爽一格之可代表者。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated verse (qilü)七言律诗

Rhyme Throughout in level-tone Yu rhyme; rhyming characters are shu, lu, tu, gu, one rhyme to the end, four couplets grand, Yu-Mo slice clear and slow.通押平声虞韵，入韵字为书、卢、图、孤，一韵到底，四联宏制，虞模辙清徐。

Tone pattern Seven-character regulated verse follows the regulated level-oblique; the middle two couplets 'in spring outings... often winning lu' and 'early you studied... know the array chart' are firm antitheses with matched level-oblique.七言律诗依律调平仄，中二联「春游烂漫少曾醒，俊气飘扬频得卢」「早讲猿公飞劔术，更通风后握机图」对仗工整，平仄相侔。

Reading note This seven-character regulated verse has a clear-slow sound yet a bold-lofty manner. The Yu rhyme belongs to the yu sheng, round vowel, clear-slow timbre, most fit for writing the gallant air of presenting a friend and the far expectation. Fangping uses Yu rhyme to hold the whole: opening 'shu,' continuing 'lu,' turning 'tu,' closing 'gu,' four rhymes succeeding, one breath continuing, read like a brave parting with lofty tone, exactly matching his Song manner of esteeming heroes and prizing strange talent. The middle two couplets antithesize: 'spring outing' against 'gallant spirit' as action against action, 'Ape Elder' against 'Wind Sovereign' as immortal against sage, firm yet strange air横生. Regulated verse most fears flat weakness; this poem uses Yu rhyme's clear-slow to hold the bold-lofty, so the lofty brush does not turn to clamor. Song friendship poems stress recognition; this poem's sound and bold feeling match, Yu rhyme's clarity is exactly its manner made manifest, of value for grasping the Song seven-character regulated presenting-gallant mode.此诗七言律格，音韵清徐而气象豪宕。虞韵属遇摄合口三等，元音圆润、音色清徐，最宜写赠友的英爽之气与期待的悠远。方平以虞韵笼全篇，起「书」、承「卢」、转「图」、合「孤」，四韵相承，声气一贯，读来如壮别者语带扬厉，恰与其尚豪杰、重奇才的宋调相称。中二联对仗，「春游」对「俊气」以行对，「猿公」对「风后」以仙圣对，工稳而奇气横生。七律最忌平弱，此诗以虞韵的清徐托住豪宕，使扬厉之笔不流于叫嚣。宋人赠友多重识，此诗音韵与豪情相表里，虞韵之清正是其体格外显，于体会宋调七律赠豪侠之格颇有可取。虞韵清徐，声如壮别扬厉，与豪杰奇才之境相发，四韵流贯而气不弱，七律赠豪迈之士，得此韵乃能称其英爽。

Line by line

家自唐来世大儒，惟君不肯读家书。

Your house has been great Confucians since Tang; yet you alone will not read the family books — the opening reverse brush that sets Liu Ji's unruliness against his noble lineage.

你家自唐代以来便是世代大儒，偏偏你却不肯读那家传诗书。

Your family, since Tang times, has been a line of great Confucians; yet you alone refuse to read the family books.

起联以反笔立骨，是全诗写人之根。上句「家自唐来世大儒」先抬刘几家世，儒门之贵、渊源之远，先立一正；下句「惟君不肯读家书」以「惟君」一转，写其独不肯守家法、读诗书，一正一反，豪气已见。此联之妙，在「世大儒」与「不肯读」构成张力：出身愈贵，不羁愈奇，恰是「儒门出侠」的绝妙注脚。更可味者，「惟」字吃紧，见其独异于族中之庸，特立之姿跃然。后文「春游得卢」「飞剑握机」「一鹗孤」，皆自此「不肯」二字生发——正因不肯守常，方有种种奇行。宋诗尚骨力，此联以反笔起手，是方平扬厉处。

The opening establishes its bone in a reversed brush, the root of the whole poem's writing of the man. The first, your family, since Tang times, has been a line of great Confucians, first raises the Liu family lineage, the nobility of the Confucian gate and the distance of its source, first establishing a positive. The second, yet you alone refuse to read the family books, turns with you alone, writing that he alone refuses to keep the family methods and read the books; one positive one reverse, the heroic air already seen. The couplet's beauty lies in the tension between a line of great Confucians and refuse to read: the nobler the origin, the stranger the untrammeledness, exactly the perfect footnote to a knight-errant born in the Confucian gate. What is more to taste is that the single word alone is weighty, showing his uniqueness from the common of the clan, the independent posture leaping to the eye. The later spring outing with Lu, the flying sword and the grasped stratagem, the lone osprey, all spring from these two words refuse to - precisely because he refuses to keep the ordinary, there come all the strange deeds. Song poetry prizes bone and force; this couplet opens in a reversed brush, the exalting place of Fangping.

早讲猿公飞劔术，更通风后握机图。

Early you studied the Ape Elder's flying-sword art, and further know the Wind Sovereign's battle-array chart — the couplet that writes Liu Ji's combined civil-martial strangeness.

你早曾讲求猿公飞剑之术，更通风后握奇之阵图。

Early you studied the Ape Lord's flying-sword art; further, you understand Feng Hou's secret array charts.

此联写文武兼资，是全诗奇气所聚。上句「早讲猿公飞劔术」用越女遇猿公试剑之典，写刘几早习剑术之高；下句「更通风后握机图」用风后《握奇经》之典，写其更通兵机阵图。二句由武（剑）而文（阵），一「早」一「更」，见其兼治之勤与兼资之奇。此联之重，在把一位「不肯读家书」的儒门子，写成文武双绝的豪杰，翻尽「儒生柔弱」的俗见。更可味者，「猿公」对「风后」，一仙一圣，意象奇诡而工稳；「飞剑」对「握机」，一动一静，恰成武学之两翼。方平于此极写其奇，正为结联「一鹗孤」的期待张本，是宋诗以典写人的妙笔。

This couplet writes his double civil and military endowment, the gathering of the whole poem's strange air. The first, early you studied the Ape Lord's flying-sword art, uses the allusion to the Yue maiden meeting the Ape Lord and testing the sword, writing Liu Ji's early mastery of swordplay. The second, further, you understand Feng Hou's secret array charts, uses the allusion to Feng Hou's Book of the Secret Engine, writing his further understanding of military stratagem and array. The two lines move from the military (the sword) to the civil (the array), one early one further, showing the diligence of his double study and the strangeness of his double gift. The couplet's weight lies in writing a Confucian-gate son who refuses to read the family books into a hero supreme in both letters and arms, reversing the vulgar view that the Confucian scholar is weak. What is more to taste is the Ape Lord paired with Feng Hou, one immortal one sage, the imagery strange and yet steady; flying sword paired with grasped stratagem, one motion one stillness, exactly the two wings of martial arts. Fangping here writes his strangeness to the utmost, precisely laying the ground for the closing's expectation of the lone osprey, the fine brush of Song poetry writing a man through allusion.

何时羽猎长围合，请看云中一鹗孤。

When will the imperial hunt's great circle close? Behold the lone osprey in the clouds — the closing that gathers all praise into expectation of Liu Ji's solitary greatness.

何时羽猎长围合拢，请看云中那只孤鹗卓然独立。

When will the imperial hunt close its long cordon? Look, in the clouds, a single lonely osprey.

结联以期待收束，是全诗归宿之处。上句「何时羽猎长围合」以帝王羽猎、长围合阵喻世事之待澄清、功业之待成就，「何时」示期许之切；下句「请看云中一鹗孤」以孤鹗喻刘几，云中卓立、孤而能高，既赞其特立、又期其远大。二句将前面所有世家、任侠、文武的铺写，收束为一「期」字——何时围合，看此一鹗。此联之妙，在以围猎喻世、以孤鹗喻人，豪宕中见特立，比直说「君当贵显」更高一着。方平以直臣名世，而能以此扬厉之笔期许友朋，正见其襟抱。全篇以反笔起、以期待合，孤鹗之象照「不肯读家书」之奇，章法圆融。

The closing gathers in expectation, the poem's归宿. The first, when will the imperial hunt close its long cordon? uses the imperial hunt and the closed long cordon to meta-phor the world's affairs waiting to be settled and the achievement waiting to be completed; the words when show the eagerness of the expectation. The second, look, in the clouds, a single lonely osprey, uses the lonely osprey to meta-phor Liu Ji, standing alone in the clouds, lonely yet able to be high, at once praising his independence and expecting his far future. The two lines gather all the preceding spread of family, knight-errantry, and civil-and-military into the single word expect - when the cordon closes, look at this osprey. The couplet's beauty lies in using the hunt to meta-phor the age and the lonely osprey to meta-phor the man, showing independence within the heroic, a move higher than directly saying you will surely be eminent. Fangping was known as an upright minister, yet able to exhort his friend with this exalting brush, exactly showing his breast. The whole poem opens in a reversed brush and closes in expectation, the image of the lonely osprey answering the strangeness of refuse to read the family books, the structure round.

Study

Word focus

不肯 'Will not' (bu ken) is the poetic eye of Liu Ji's character and the bone of the whole poem: not 'cannot' but 'will not' read the family books, an active defiance and solitary stance. Fangping first raises the noble 'great Confucians' then turns with 'will not,' making a Confucian scion's unruliness striking — not unable but disdaining to, his pride full. It differs from 'cannot' (weak) versus 'will not' (strong); Liu Ji's strangeness lies precisely in this active 'will not,' echoed later by 'flying sword,' 'array chart' and 'lone osprey,' all flowing from this word. 「惟君不肯读家书」之「不肯」，是写刘几性格的诗眼，亦全诗立骨之词。不肯者，不屑、不从也，含主动之逆、特立之姿。方平于此先抬「世大儒」之贵，再以「不肯」一转，把一位儒门子的不羁写得极醒目——不是不能读，而是不屑读，傲气全出。此词之重，在区别「不能」与「不肯」：不能者弱，不肯者强，刘几之奇正在这「不肯」的主动。与后文「飞剑」「握机」「一鹗孤」呼应：不肯读家书是精神之逆，飞剑握机是行藏之奇，一鹗孤是人格之立，皆自此「不肯」流出。宋诗炼字，此「不肯」以虚字立骨，最见锋棱，是起手最警策处。

得卢 'Winning the cast' (de lu) is the allusive eye writing Liu Ji's gallantry: lu is the best throw in chu-pu, as Liu Yi 'staking a million at one cast'; 'often winning lu' writes his soaring spirit and constant winning, vividly sketching a wild youth. The wit lies in using a frivolous game to write a flying air — spring outings and gambling wins are the footnote to 'will not read the family books.' With 'often' it shows habit, not chance, deepening the real gallantry. 「俊气飘扬频得卢」之「得卢」，是用典之眼，亦写刘几豪爽的诗眼。卢为樗蒲（博戏）最胜之采，《晋书》载刘毅「樗蒲一掷百万」，卢采最难而得之，喻常胜、豪爽。方平以「频得卢」写其俊气飘扬、博戏常赢，活画豪少之态。此词之妙，在以轻佻之戏写飞扬之气——春游烂漫、博戏得卢，不写其正经事业，而写其任侠放达，恰是「不肯读家书」的注脚。与起联「不肯」呼应：不肯守常，故纵情游博；俊气飘扬，故频得胜采。更可味者，「频」字见其惯常，非偶一为之，益显豪爽之真。一词而勾出刘几任侠的一面，是次联最生动处。

一鹗 'The lone osprey' (yi e) is the closing eye figuring the friend and the resting image of the whole poem's expectation: the osprey is foremost among raptors, Kong Rong called Mi Heng 'a hundred raptors not worth one osprey,' later 'one osprey' means a solitary outstanding talent. Fangping uses it for Liu Ji, lofty in the clouds, alone yet high, both praising his uniqueness and expecting his greatness. The 'lone' sets the solitary stance against the common 'hundred'; with 'behold' he invites the reader to look together, lively in brush. The word settles the poem's verdict of 'a hero from a Confucian house.' 「请看云中一鹗孤」之「一鹗」，是结联喻友的诗眼，亦全诗期待的归宿意象。鹗为鸷鸟中之尤者，孔融举祢衡谓「鸷鸟累百，不如一鹗」，后以「一鹗」喻特立拔萃之才。方平以此喻刘几，云中卓立、孤而能高，既赞其卓尔不群，又期其远大。此词之重，在以「孤」字点出特立之姿——不同于庸众之「累百」，刘几是那「一鹗」。与起联「惟君不肯」呼应：不肯从众，正是「一鹗」之孤；孤而能高，正是方平所期。更可味者，「请看」二字邀请读者同看，把赞友化为共赏，笔态生动。一词而立全诗「儒门出豪杰」的定评，是结句最扬厉处。

贻刘几