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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

离都招友人

On Leaving the Capital, I Summon a Friend

张方平

Zhang Fangping

离都leaving the capital 归隐returning to reclusion 愤世world-weary

车马交尘路不停，势家门巷密如萍。
张汤筋力奈寒暑，楼护口舌摇风霆。
机牙潜发如驰传，声影相连若建瓴。
此地岂容山野客，盍归乎来掩岩扃。

Carriages and horses cross the dust, the road never still; the powerful families' lanes are dense as duckweed.
Zhang Tang's sinew could not withstand cold and heat; Lou Hu's tongue shakes the wind and thunder.
The trigger springs in secret like the relay post; sound and shadow linked like water poured from on high.
How could this place harbor a mountain-wild guest? Why not return and close the cliff gate?

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Meaning

Written as Zhang Fangping leaves the capital, this poem summons a friend to retire together. It first paints the capital's relentless bustle, the powerful families' crowding, and the dangerous machinations of court—citing the harsh official Zhang Tang and the glib Lou Hu. Then it turns sharply: such a place cannot hold a free mountain man, so why not come home and close the cliff gate? The poem expresses world-weariness and a clear resolve to withdraw.

车马扬起尘土，路上奔竞不停；权贵之家的门巷密集如浮萍。张汤的筋力也奈何不了寒暑，楼护的口舌能摇动风雷。机括暗发如驿传奔驰，声影相连如高屋建瓴。此地岂能容纳山野之客，何不归来掩闭岩扉之门。

Appreciation

A seven-character lüshi of first elaborate then turn, retreat as advance. The first six lines pile up the capital's noise and court danger—dust, powerful lanes, Zhang Tang, Lou Hu, triggers, poured water—building the peril to its height; the last two lines pivot to reclusion. The contrast between how could it harbor and why not return is sharp and decisive, giving the poem great tension as a summons-to-reclusion.

【白话串讲】张方平离开京城，招呼朋友：“车马交尘路不停，势家门巷密如萍”。“张汤筋力奈寒暑，楼护口舌摇风霆”——“此地岂容山野客，盍归乎来掩岩扃”——他写京城的喧嚣，想回山。【意象与手法】诗为离都招隐之作，前六句极力渲染都城的喧嚣、权贵的倾轧与宦海的险恶：车马交尘、势家门巷写奔竞之盛，张汤、楼护写酷吏游侠之跋扈，机牙、建瓴写权谋之险。末二句陡转，以「岂容山野客」点破自己与都城的格格不入，遂招友人「盍归乎来」，掩岩扃以归隐。全诗先铺后转，对比强烈。【情感与主旨】主旨是离京之际招友人同归，表达对都城奔竞、官场险恶的厌倦，与归隐山林的向往，寄寓了作者看透世情、急流勇退的清醒与决绝。【名句点睛】「此地岂容山野客，盍归乎来掩岩扃」一联是全诗归宿，以「岂容」的决绝与「盍归」的召唤，写尽了对尘网的厌弃与对归隐的渴望，振起全篇。

Background

This poem titled On Leaving the Capital, Summoning a Friend was written when leaving the capital Bianjing, summoning a friend to retire together. Zhang Fangping entered the center three times, serving Renzong, Yingzong, Shenzong; yet upright, his views clashed with the then-powerful Wang Anshi, and during the Xining years he gradually withdrew. This poem may have been written when he left the capital for outer post or retired to his hometown—a voice after seeing through court intrigue. Northern Song Bianjing was the world's most prosperous city, carriages crowding, canopies gathering, but behind the prosperity lay fierce factional strife and powerful rivalry. Zhang writes powerful families' lanes dense as duckweed for the powerful's occupation, trigger springs sound-shadow linked for the court's scheming danger—exactly a deep observation of mid-Northern-Song court politics. Summoning a friend to return together upon leaving the capital is a clear choice he made between service and reclusion. Understanding Zhang's political situation and the Northern Song factional background is needed to read the resolve's helplessness and clarity behind this poem. Leaving-capital summons-to-reclusion is a scholar's active choice between service and reclusion: having seen through the capital's vanity and rivalry, he will not parry with it, thus summons a friend to return to the mountains—this retreat at the flood's crest decisiveness is exactly the most moving spiritual底色 of the poem.

此诗题作「离都招友人」，写的是离开都城汴京之际，招友人一同归隐。张方平一生三入中枢，历仕仁宗、英宗、神宗三朝，然其为人刚直，与当权的王安石政见不合，于熙宁年间渐次退避。此诗或作于他离京外任、或致仕归乡之时，是看透官场倾轧之后的心声。北宋汴京是当时世界最繁华的都市，车马喧阗、冠盖云集，但在这繁华的背后，是朝堂上激烈的党争与权贵的倾轧。张方平以「势家门巷密如萍」写权贵盘踞之盛，以「机牙潜发」「声影相连」写官场机心之险，正是对北宋中后期朝政的深刻观察。在离都之际招友人同归，是他在仕隐之间作出的一次清醒抉择。了解张方平的政治处境与北宋党争的背景，方能读懂此诗那分决绝背后的无奈与清醒。离都招隐，是士人在仕隐之间的一次主动抉择：既看透了都城的浮华与倾轧，便不愿再与之周旋，遂招友人同返山林，这份「急流勇退」的果决，正是此诗最动人的精神底色。

Art

This is a seven-character lüshi of eight lines four couplets, structure first elaborate then turn, retreat as advance. The first six lines fully write the capital and court's danger: first couplet carriages cross dust road never still, powerful families' lanes dense as duckweed writes the bustle's abundance and powerful's density, the metaphor dense as duckweed writes the powerful's occupation and crowding of everything; second couplet Zhang Tang's sinew could not withstand cold and heat, Lou Hu's tongue shakes wind and thunder uses Han's harsh official and wandering knight to metaphor the court's powerful treacherous rhetoricians, writing their ruthless hearts and tongue-turning clouds; third couplet trigger springs in secret like relay post, sound and shadow linked like poured from on high uses trigger secretly springing and water poured high to metaphor court scheming's danger and rivalry's fierceness. These three couplets escalate layer by layer, rendering the capital's noise and official sea's danger to the extreme, then the last couplet how could this place harbor a mountain-wild guest, why not return and close the cliff gate suddenly turns, closing with reclusion. The whole uses elaboration as retreat, turn as advance; the more dangerous before, the more resolved the reclusion after, contrast strong—a typical retreat as advance summons-to-reclusion poem. The whole runs danger through the first six lines, return gathering the last two; between danger and return lies exactly the author's heart-path from world-weary to reclusion. And how could it harbor why not return one reject one welcome strong turn, more shows the brush's斩截 and decisiveness, making the poem after elaborate density suddenly return to clear emptiness; between open and gather, extreme tension, a fine structure of seven-character lüshi summons-to-reclusion.

此诗是七言律诗，八句四联，章法先铺后转、以退为进。前六句全力写都城与官场的险恶：首联「车马交尘路不停，势家门巷密如萍」写奔竞之盛与权贵之密，一个「密如萍」的比喻，写尽权贵盘踞、挤占一切的景象；颔联「张汤筋力奈寒暑，楼护口舌摇风霆」以汉之酷吏、游侠喻当朝之权奸说客，写其心狠手辣、口舌翻云；颈联「机牙潜发如驰传，声影相连若建瓴」以机括暗发、高屋建瓴喻官场权谋之险、倾轧之烈。这三联层层加码，把都城的喧嚣与宦海的险恶渲染到了极致，然后尾联「此地岂容山野客，盍归乎来掩岩扃」陡然一转，以归隐作结。全诗以铺为退、以转为进，前之愈险，后之归意愈决，对比强烈，是一首典型的「以退为进」的招隐诗。全诗以「险」字贯穿前六句，以「归」字收束后二句，险与归之间，正是作者由厌世到归隐的心路。而「岂容」「盍归」一拒一迎的强烈转折，更见其用笔的斩截与果决，使全诗于铺陈的繁密之后，突然归于清空，收放之间，极具张力，是七律招隐诗章法上的佳构。

Allusions

This poem's allusions must be distinguished. One, Zhang Tang is Western Han harsh official, Emperor Wu's commandant of justice, censorate minister, strict in law, yet diligent, not ceasing through cold and heat; Zhang Tang's sinew could not withstand cold and heat reverses its meaning, saying even one as diligent as Zhang Tang cannot escape the cycle of cold-heat, flourishing then declining. Two, Lou Hu is Western Han late wandering-knight rhetorician, famed for tongue, Lou Hu's tongue shakes wind and thunder says his tongue can turn clouds and overturn, metaphor the court's rhetorician-powerful's rivalry words. Three, trigger (jiya) is the crossbow's mechanism, springs at a touch; trigger springs in secret like relay post metaphors the court's secret plots, like crossbow secretly springing, like relay post swift, impossible to guard. Four, poured from on high (jianling) i.e. pour water from a high roof, from Shiji, metaphor occupying high and looking down, irresistible; sound and shadow linked like poured from on high writes faction-same-attack-different, sound-shadow linked, like water poured from a high roof, unstoppable. Five, why not return (heguihulai) transforms Shijing's Guofeng and summons-to-reclusion poetry's tone, meaning why not return. All allusions fit court danger and reclusion. Especially the joint use of Zhang Tang Lou Hu two allusions is subtle: one with harsh official's diligence shows the impermanence of flourish-decline, one with wandering knight's tongue shows the overturning of rivalry, both using Western Han figures to metaphor the court's ills, borrowing ancient to satirize present without trace. Writing present affairs with historical events, using ancient to mirror present, is exactly Song poets' common brush, this poem uses it especially apt and sharp.

此诗用典须辨。其一，「张汤」是西汉酷吏，为武帝时廷尉、御史大夫，用法严酷，然勤于职事、寒暑不辍，「张汤筋力奈寒暑」反用其意，说纵如张汤般勤勉，也难逃寒暑代谢、盛极而衰的命运。其二，「楼护」是西汉末年的游侠辩士，以口才名重一时，「楼护口舌摇风霆」谓其口舌能翻云覆雨、动摇风雷，以喻当朝说客权臣的倾轧之辞。其三，「机牙」是弩机的机括，一触即发，「机牙潜发如驰传」喻官场中的阴谋暗算，如弩机暗发、如驿传疾驰，防不胜防。其四，「建瓴」即「高屋建瓴」，语出《史记》，喻居高临下、势不可挡，「声影相连若建瓴」写党同伐异、声势相连，如高屋之上倒水，势不可遏。其五，「盍归乎来」化用《诗经·国风》与招隐诗的语气，意为「何不归来」。诸典皆切官场险恶、归隐之意。而「张汤」「楼护」二典的并用尤妙：一以酷吏之勤勉见盛衰之无常，一以游侠之口舌见倾轧之翻覆，皆以西汉人事喻当朝之弊，借古讽今而不露痕迹。以史事写时事、以古鉴今，正是宋人用典的常见笔法，此诗用得尤为贴切而见锋芒。

Commentary

Summons-to-reclusion poetry since Huainan Xiaoshan's Summoning the Hidden Gentleman has fine works generation by generation, yet its purport changes: Han-Jin summons-to-reclusion mostly writes the joy of forests and streams, summoning those who fled the world; Tang-Song summons-to-reclusion often links with leaving capital abandoning office, writing weariness of officialdom and return to fields. Zhang's poem belongs to the latter. Readers often prize its how could this place harbor a mountain-wild guest, why not return and close the cliff gate couplet, for the decisiveness of how could it harbor and the summon of why not return writing the clarity and decisiveness after seeing through the world. It can be read with Tao Yuanming's long in the cage, again gaining return to nature—Tao writes the joy of already returned, Zhang writes the will of about to return. Zhang, a heavy minister, upon leaving the capital summoning a friend to return together, that retreat at the flood's crest clarity is rarer than ordinary literati's empty talk of reclusion. This poem uses dense allusions like Zhang Tang, Lou Hu, trigger, poured-from-high to write court danger, exactly showing Northern Song factional strife's fierceness, a typical Song satirize world with poetry, clarify will with poetry. One can say, though this poem is summoning a friend, it is actually the author's self-summon, self-reflection: summoning a friend to reclusion is also summoning his own weary heart back to the mountains. Under the name of summoning others, practicing self-summon, this poem's deep meaning lies exactly here, reading especially shows an old minister who has experienced the official sea, his clarity and decisiveness after seeing through the world.

招隐诗自淮南小山《招隐士》以降，代有佳作，然其旨趣代有变迁：汉晋招隐，多写山林之乐、以招遁世之士；唐宋招隐，则常与「离都」「弃官」相连，写的是对官场的厌弃与对田园的回归。张方平此诗正属后者。论者读此诗，多赏其「此地岂容山野客，盍归乎来掩岩扃」一联，以为以「岂容」的决绝与「盍归」的召唤，写尽了看透世情后的清醒与果决。可与陶渊明「久在樊笼里，复得返自然」并观——陶诗写的是「已归」之乐，张诗写的是「将归」之志。张方平以重臣之身，在离都之际招友人同归，那份「急流勇退」的清醒，比一般文人的空言归隐更为难得。此诗以张汤、楼护、机牙、建瓴等密集的典故写官场之险，正见北宋党争之烈，是宋人以诗讽世、以诗明志的典型。可以说，此诗虽为「招友人」，实则更是作者的自招、自省：招友人归隐，也正是招自己那颗疲惫的心回归山林。以「招人」之名，行「自招」之实，此诗之深意，正在于此，读来尤见一位历经宦海的老臣，看破世情后的清醒与决绝。

Prosody

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

Rhyme Rhymes with the level-tone qing (青) rhyme; entering-rhyme characters: 停(tíng), 萍(píng), 霆(tíng), 瓴(líng), 扃(jiōng), one rhyme throughout.押平声青韵，入韵字为停、萍、霆、瓴、扃，一韵到底。

Tone pattern Seven-character lüshi follows regulated level-oblique; first line enters rhyme. Middle two couplets finely antithetical: second Zhang Tang's sinew could not withstand cold and heat, Lou Hu's tongue shakes wind and thunder with Zhang Tang against Lou Hu, sinew against tongue, withstand cold-heat against shakes wind-thunder; third trigger springs in secret like relay post, sound and shadow linked like poured from on high with trigger against sound-shadow, secretly springs against linked, like relay post against like poured from on high, all same part of speech, level against oblique.七言律诗依律调平仄，首句入韵。中二联对仗工整：颔联「张汤筋力奈寒暑，楼护口舌摇风霆」以「张汤」对「楼护」、「筋力」对「口舌」、「奈寒暑」对「摇风霆」；颈联「机牙潜发如驰传，声影相连若建瓴」以「机牙」对「声影」、「潜发」对「相连」、「如驰传」对「若建瓴」，皆词性相侔、平仄相对。

Reading note This poem rhymes with the level-tone qing rhyme; the qing rhyme belongs to the opening-fourth-class of the geng group, its vowel clear yet slightly sharp, reading with a hurried, steep, uneven sound-emotion, exactly suited to writing the capital's noise and court's danger. The five entering-rhyme characters 停, 萍, 霆, 瓴, 扃 connect in breath yet slightly urgent, harmonizing with carriages cross dust road never still bustle, tongue shakes wind-thunder arrogance, sound-shadow like poured from high rivalry—sound-emotion暗合. First line still (停) starts the rhyme, bringing a bustling market sound of endless striving; middle two couplets thunder (霆) poured (瓴) sharp sound, as if hearing the fierceness of tongue-battle and the springing of triggers; last closes with gate (扃), sound turns and settles, exactly fitting close the cliff gate reclusion's stillness. The whole's level-oblique conforms; middle two couplets antithesis fine; yet sound-emotion from restless to still, from sharp to settled, exactly matching the poetic advance from capital's noise to forest's stillness. Writing feeling with sound is Fangping's regulated verse prosodic care.此诗押平声青韵，青韵属梗摄开口四等，元音清亮而略带尖锐，读来有一种急促、峭拔、不平的声情，正宜写都市的喧嚣与官场的险恶。五个人韵字停、萍、霆、瓴、扃，声气连贯而略带紧迫，与「车马交尘路不停」的扰攘、「口舌摇风霆」的跋扈、「声影若建瓴」的倾轧，声情暗合。首句「停」字起韵，即带出一派奔竞不息的市声；中二联「霆」「瓴」音锐，如闻舌战之烈、机括之发；末以「扃」字收束，音转而沉静，恰合「掩岩扃」的归隐之静。全诗平仄合律，中二联对仗工稳，而声情由躁转静、由锐转沉，正与诗意「由都城之喧到山林之静」的推进若合符节。以声写情，是张方平律诗声韵上的用心处。

Line by line

车马交尘路不停，势家门巷密如萍。

Carriages and horses cross the dust, the road never still; the powerful families' lanes are dense as duckweed.

车马扬起尘土，路上奔竞不停；权贵之家的门巷密集如浮萍。

Carriages and horses churn the dust, the road never still; the powerful houses' lanes are thick as duckweed.

此联写都城奔竞之盛与权贵盘踞之密，是离都之际对汴京的冷眼观照。上句「车马交尘路不停」，车马如流、尘土交飞，路上奔竞之人从不停歇，「交尘」二字写尽都市的喧嚣扰攘，「不停」则透出追名逐利者永无宁日。下句「势家门巷密如萍」，写权贵之家门巷相连、密集如浮萍铺满水面，「密如萍」的比喻极妙——浮萍本是漂泊无根之物，用以状权贵门巷之密，既见其挤占之盛，又暗讽其浮华无根、转瞬即逝。两句一动一静、一写车马之喧、一写门巷之密，把都城的浮华与势利写得入木三分，为后文的「岂容山野客」埋下伏笔，也为尾联的归隐作了有力的反衬。

This couplet writes the capital's racing and the powerful entrenched, the cold-eyed view of Bianjing at the moment of leaving the capital. The first, carriages and horses churn the dust, the road never still: carriages and horses like a stream, the dust flying, the racers on the road never resting; the words churn the dust write to the full the city's clamor, and never still透出 the seekers of fame and gain having no peaceful day. The second, the powerful houses' lanes are thick as duckweed, writes the powerful families' lanes linked and dense as duckweed covering the water; the simile thick as duckweed is most fine - duckweed is originally a rootless drifting thing, used to picture the density of the powerful lanes, at once showing the crowding of their encroachment and secretly satirizing their glittering rootlessness and transience. The two lines, one motion one stillness, one writing the carriages' clamor, one writing the lanes' density, write the capital's glitter and snobbery to the bone, laying a ground for the later how could this place harbor a rustic guest, and a powerful foil for the closing's return to reclusion.

机牙潜发如驰传，声影相连若建瓴。

The trigger springs in secret like the relay post; sound and shadow linked like water poured from on high.

机括暗发如驿传奔驰，声影相连如高屋建瓴。

Their triggers secretly go off like galloping dispatches; voice and shadow link, as if pouring from a high roof.

此联写官场权谋之险、倾轧之烈，是全诗最见锋芒的比喻。上句「机牙潜发如驰传」，以弩机的机括暗发、驿传的快马疾驰，喻官场中的阴谋暗算——那些倾轧排挤，如暗箭之发、防不胜防，又如驿传之速、瞬息而至。下句「声影相连若建瓴」，用「高屋建瓴」之典，写党同伐异、声势相连，如高屋之上倒水，其势不可阻挡。「潜发」写其阴，「相连」写其众，一暗一明，把官场倾轧的险恶与集团的声威写得触目惊心。此联之妙，在于以极具体的物象（机牙、驿传、建瓴）写极抽象的政治，使「官场险恶」四字化作了可感可触的画面，读来令人不寒而栗，也为尾联「岂容山野客」的决绝提供了最充分的理由。

This couplet writes the danger of official intrigue and the fierceness of factional strife, the poem's sharpest metaphor. The first, their triggers secretly go off like galloping dispatches, uses the crossbow trigger's hidden release and the relay post's galloping horse to meta-phor the conspiracies in office - the slander and exclusion, like hidden arrows released, impossible to guard against, and like the relay post's speed, arriving in a flash. The second, voice and shadow link, as if pouring from a high roof, uses the allusion of pouring water from a high roof, writing that those who favor the same and exclude the different link their momentum, as if pouring water from a high roof, their force irresistible. The words secretly go off write its darkness, linked write its numbers, one hidden one manifest, writing the danger of official intrigue and the faction's prestige to the eye. The couplet's beauty lies in writing the most abstract politics through the most concrete things (triggers, relay dispatches, pouring from a high roof), turning the four words official danger into a touchable picture that makes the reader shiver, and giving the fullest reason for the closing's how could this place harbor a rustic guest.

此地岂容山野客，盍归乎来掩岩扃。

How could this place harbor a mountain-wild guest? Why not return and close the cliff gate?

此地岂能容纳山野之客，何不归来掩闭岩扉之门。

How could this place harbor a rustic guest? Why not come home and close the craggy door?

此联收束全诗，由铺陈陡转入归隐，是全诗的归宿。上句「此地岂容山野客」，一句点破自己与都城的格格不入——我本是山野之性，这奔竞倾轧的都城，岂能容得下我这样的人？「岂容」二字，既有对都城的疏离，更有对自身清白的自守。下句「盍归乎来掩岩扃」，化用招隐的语气，招友人一同归来，掩闭岩扉、归隐山林，「盍归乎来」是恳切的召唤，「掩岩扃」则是一幅清幽的归隐图景。此联之妙，在于以「岂容」的决绝对「盍归」的召唤，一拒一迎之间，完成了从厌世到归隐的精神转向，前六句铺陈的险恶，至此尽化为归去的坚定。收束得斩截而有余韵，是「以退为进」的招隐手法的点睛之笔。

This couplet gathers the poem, turning abruptly from spread to reclusion, the poem's归宿. The first, how could this place harbor a rustic guest? one line points out the unfitness between oneself and the capital - I am by nature a rustic, and this capital of racing and factional strife, how could it harbor such a man? The words how could carry at once the estrangement from the capital and the self-keeping of one's own purity. The second, why not come home and close the craggy door, transforms the tone of summoning the recluse, calling the friend home together, closing the craggy door and withdrawing to the hills; why not come home is an earnest summons, and close the craggy door a picture of secluded reclusion. The couplet's beauty lies in pairing the decisiveness of how could with the summons of why not, between the refusal and the welcome, completing the spiritual turn from loathing the age to returning to reclusion; the danger spread in the first six lines all turns at last into the resolve of going home. Closing decisive with aftertone, the eye of the summoning-the-recluse method of using retreat as advance.

Study

Word focus

势家 In powerful families' lanes dense as duckweed, powerful families (shijia) means the powerful, influential豪门. The power (shi) word is key to understanding the whole: it points the power logic behind the capital's prosperity—Bianjing is not ordinary human world, but the world of power; the powerful occupy by power, lanes dense, crowding everything. Fangping uses powerful families echoing the later Zhang Tang Lou Hu trigger, jointly sketching a power rivalry picture. This word's excellence lies in breaking the appearance of capital's crowding into the essence of powerful's monopoly: lanes dense as duckweed is not market prosperity, but powerful's occupying all. And what mountain-wild guest cannot bear is exactly this power word—the mountain-wild nature is plain, how could it contend with powerful families? One word shows the author's clear insight into the power world, also providing the most fundamental motive for the whole's leave capital return reclusion purport. 「势家门巷密如萍」之「势家」，指有权有势的豪门权贵。「势」字是理解全诗的关键：它点明了都城繁华背后的权力逻辑——汴京不是普通的人间，而是「势」的天下，权贵凭势盘踞，门巷密集、挤占一切。张方平以「势家」与下文的「张汤」「楼护」「机牙」相呼应，共同勾勒出一幅「权势倾轧」的图景。此词之妙，在于它把「都城的拥挤」这一表象，点破为「权贵的垄断」这一本质：门巷密如萍，不是市井的繁华，而是势家的占尽。而「山野客」所不容的，正是这「势」字——山野之人性本淡泊，岂能与势家争衡？一词而见作者对权力世界的清醒洞察，也为全诗「离都归隐」的主旨提供了最根本的动因。

机牙 In trigger springs in secret like relay post, trigger (jiya) is the crossbow's mechanism, springs at a touch, ancients used it to metaphor the launching of conspiracy. This word's excellence lies in using machine to metaphor human heart: the rivalry and exclusion in court, exactly like the crossbow's trigger, hidden in the formless, once touched, like arrow leaving the string, harming without preparation. The word secret (qian) more points its danger—the trigger's spring is not bright spear but dark arrow, impossible to guard. Fangping writes court with trigger, continuing the above Zhang Tang Lou Hu, concretizing the power-treacherous rhetorician's cloud-turning into a tangible mechanical device, making the abstract feeling court danger into a palpable trigger secretly springs heart-shaking. This word's excellence also carries the author's bodily fear of political struggle—without personally experiencing factional exclusion, one could never write such precise metaphor. 「机牙潜发如驰传」之「机牙」，是弩机上的机括，一触即发，古人用以喻阴谋的发动。此词之妙，在于以「机械」喻「人心」：官场中的倾轧排挤，正如弩机的机括，暗藏于无形，一旦触动，便如利箭离弦，伤人于不备。一个「潜」字更点出其阴险——机牙之发，不是明枪，而是暗箭，让人防不胜防。张方平以「机牙」写官场，与上文的「张汤」「楼护」相续，把权奸说客的翻云覆雨，具象化为一种可感可触的机械装置，使「官场险恶」这一抽象的感受，化作了「机括暗发」的惊心动魄。此词之妙，还在它承载了作者对政治斗争的切身恐惧——若非亲历党争倾轧，断难写出如此精准的比喻。