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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

庆台韩子华寄示清居大士牧牛图颂酬寄长句

A Long Poem in Reply to Han Zihua of Qingtai, Who Sent the Herding-the-Buffalo Verse-Picture of the Bodhisattva Qingju

张方平

Zhang Fangping

禅理Chan philosophy 牧牛herding the buffalo 酬答reply

香严昔向沩山住，只作田翁学牧牛。
路绝纤尘宁见迹，野无寸草漫回头。
晴天任去云作伴，露地闲眠夜不收。
却问清居真了未，树边蓑笠为谁留。

Xiangyan once dwelt at Weishan; he only played the old farmer learning to herd the buffalo.
The road bears no fine dust—how see a track? the wild has no blade of grass—he turns back in vain.
In clear sky he lets it go, the clouds his companion; on open ground he dozes at leisure, not gathered in at night.
But I ask: has Qingju truly awakened? For whom is the straw cloak left by the tree?

Listen

Meaning

Written in reply to a friend's Chan verse-picture, the poem uses 'herding the buffalo' as a metaphor for taming the mind. It follows the ox from traces to tracelessness, from bond to freedom, until the closing question asks whether even the herdsman's straw cloak should be left behind—pointing to the final Chan stage where both ox and self are forgotten.

香严昔日往沩山居住，只作田家老翁学牧牛。路上绝无纤尘，哪见牛迹；野外没有寸草，徒然回头。晴空任凭牛儿去，以云为伴；露地之上闲眠，夜里也不收归。却问清居大士真正了悟没有，树边的蓑笠为谁而留。

Appreciation

The seven-character regulated verse turns the whole Buddhist 'herding' allegory into poetry, peeling layer by layer to the state beyond ox and mind. The first couplet cites the Xiangyan case, the second writes the mind unbound by dust or grass, the third the ox's freedom, the last a sharp double question—a subtle Chan thrust. Using the ox to write the mind, the poem is at once doctrinal and lyrical, its wit restrained yet its realm complete.

【白话串讲】张方平和韩子华的牧牛图颂：“香严昔向沩山住，只作田翁学牧牛”——禅宗以牧牛喻修行。“路绝纤尘宁见迹，野无寸草漫回头”——“树边蓑笠为谁留”——他谈禅宗的牧牛修行。【意象与手法】诗为酬答禅友之作，通篇以「牧牛」喻「调心」，深得禅宗牧牛图颂之旨。首联以香严在沩山牧牛的典故点题；颔联「路绝纤尘」「野无寸草」写牛迹俱无、心无所系；颈联「云作伴」「夜不收」写牛之自在、心之无拘；尾联以「清居真了未」「蓑笠为谁留」的反问作结，机锋暗藏。全诗以牛写心，层层剥落，直至无牛无心之境。【情感与主旨】主旨是酬答韩子华所示清居大士牧牛图颂，借「牧牛」这一禅门公案，探讨调心悟道的过程，最终以「蓑笠为谁留」的反问，点破「牛亦无、心亦空」的究竟，见作者对禅宗了义的理解与对禅友的机锋相酬。【名句点睛】「却问清居真了未，树边蓑笠为谁留」以双反问收束，机锋凌厉，暗藏「牛既无，蓑笠何用」的禅机，是全诗悟境的最深处。

Background

This poem, titled 'A Long Poem in Reply to Han Zihua of Qingtai, Who Sent the Herding-the-Buffalo Verse-Picture of the Bodhisattva Qingju,' is a seven-character regulated verse replying to a Chan friend. Han Zihua is Han Jiang (styled Zihua), a famous Northern Song minister, once chief councillor, close friend of Zhang Fangping; Qingtai is his office or residence. 'Bodhisattva Qingju' is a Chan monk; the 'herding-the-buffalo verse-picture' is a famous Chan cultivation image. Chan uses 'herding the buffalo' to mean 'taming the mind': the wandering mind is like a runaway ox, cultivation like herding, step by step reining it in until 'the ox tamed, the mind forgotten.' Master Puming wrote ten 'Herding-the-Buffalo Verse-Pictures' from 'unherded' to 'both extinguished.' Han sent Qingju's picture-verse; Fangping replied with a long poem re-enacting the case. Knowing this Chan metaphor unlocks the imagery of 'ox tracks' and 'straw cloak.' Fangping and Han were both Chan friends, exchanging Chan words and matching wits; this poem is a product of that cleric-literati custom of 'poetry as Chan inquiry,' condensing the ten stages of the verse-picture into one regulated poem—showing their deep Chan attainment.

此诗题作「庆台韩子华寄示清居大士牧牛图颂酬寄长句」，是一首酬答禅友的七言律诗。韩子华即韩绛（字子华），北宋名臣，官至宰辅，与张方平同朝为官、交谊甚厚，庆台是其官职或居处的代称。「清居大士」当是一位禅僧，「牧牛图颂」则是禅宗著名的修行图示。禅宗以「牧牛」喻「调心」：人之妄心如奔逸之牛，修行如牧牛，须步步收摄，直至「牛驯心忘」的境地，普明禅师曾作《牧牛图颂》十首，分「未牧、初调、受制、回首、驯伏、无碍、任运、相忘、独照、双泯」十个阶段，流传极广。韩子华寄来清居大士的牧牛图颂，张方平遂作长句相酬，以诗语重演「牧牛」公案。了解这一禅门喻象，方能读懂诗中「牛迹」「蓑笠」等意象的深意。张方平与韩绛皆为禅门知交，彼此以禅语相酬、以机锋相印证，此诗便是这种士僧交游、以诗参禅风气的产物，一首七律之中，浓缩了牧牛图颂十阶的禅理，足见二人禅学修养之深。

Art

This seven-character regulated verse of four couplets turns the whole 'herding the buffalo' into 'taming the mind,' peeling layer by layer, a subtle thrust hidden. First couplet cites Xiangyan's case to set the core metaphor; second writes ox tracks gone, mind bound to nothing; third writes the ox's freedom, mind at ease; last couplet suddenly asks—if the ox is forgotten and mind empty, for whom is the straw cloak left?—one question breaks all before, thrust pointing to 'both extinguished.' The whole poem enacts Chan in verse, tightly linked, closing on a question with endless aftertaste. The 'ox' runs through: from 'learning to herd' to 'how see track' to 'not gathered at night' to 'straw cloak for whom'—one line one realm, step by step lifting, condensing the verse-picture's cultivation sequence into four couplets of peeling. Enacting Chan in verse without losing poetry's flavor, wit restrained yet realm complete—the poem's greatest artistic success.

此诗是七言律诗，八句四联，通篇以「牧牛」喻「调心」，层层剥落，机锋暗藏。首联「香严昔向沩山住，只作田翁学牧牛」用香严智闲禅师的典故点题，把「牧牛」确立为全诗的核心喻象；颔联「路绝纤尘宁见迹，野无寸草漫回头」写牛迹俱无，牛已不假绳牵、不须草引，喻心已不逐外境、不系一物；颈联「晴天任去云作伴，露地闲眠夜不收」写牛之自在无拘，以云为伴、露地闲眠，喻心已到任运自然、无住无著的境地；尾联「却问清居真了未，树边蓑笠为谁留」陡然一问，若牛已忘、心已空，则那牧牛的蓑笠又为谁而留？一问破尽前文，机锋直指「双泯」之境。全诗以诗演禅，环环相扣，末以反问作结，余味无穷。全诗又以「牛」字贯串始终：从「学牧牛」的起手，到「宁见迹」的驯伏，再到「夜不收」的任运，终至「蓑笠为谁留」的双泯，一句一境、步步提升，把牧牛图颂的修行次第，浓缩为四联的层层剥落。以诗演禅而不失诗味，机锋内敛而境界圆融，正是此诗艺术上的最大成功。

Allusions

The poem uses Chan allusions, to be distinguished one by one. 'Xiangyan': Tang monk Xiangyan Zhixian, heir of Weishan Lingyou; first under Baizhang, then at Weishan, asked 'your original face before your parents were born,' could not answer, later weeding heard a tile hit bamboo and suddenly awakened, wrote the 'one strike forgets all known' verse. 'Xiangyan once dwelt at Weishan' records this case; 'only played old farmer learning to herd' uses herding to mean his taming-and-awakening. 'Herding the buffalo': the famous Chan metaphor for taming the mind; Master Puming's 'Herding-the-Buffalo Verse-Picture' writes the whole process 'herd—tame—both extinguished' in ten images, a figurative expression of the cultivation sequence. 'Fine dust' (xianchen) means tiny delusion; 'road bears no fine dust' means the mind-path has not a wisp of false thought; 'inch of grass' means the dust-bond drawing the mind; 'wild has no inch of grass' means outer bonds cut, the ox need not turn back for grass—mind need not turn back to chase scenes. 'Open ground' (ludi) means unshaded open place; scriptures use 'open-ground white ox' to mean the pure unstained mind-nature; 'open-ground leisure sleep' uses this, meaning the mind-nature pure, at ease asleep. All allusions fit the 'herd-buffalo-as-Chan' meaning, used without sticking, one with the poem—showing the author's deep immersion in Chan.

此诗用禅宗典故，须逐一辨明。其一，「香严」指唐代香严智闲禅师，沩山灵祐禅师法嗣，相传他先依百丈怀海，后参沩山，沩山以「父母未生时本来面目」话问之，智闲不能对，后因除草闻瓦砾击竹而豁然开悟，作「一击忘所知」之颂。「香严昔向沩山住」即记此公案，「只作田翁学牧牛」则以牧牛喻其调心悟道的过程。其二，「牧牛」是禅宗著名的调心之喻，普明禅师《牧牛图颂》以十图十颂写「牧牛—调心—双泯」的全过程，是禅门修行次第的形象化表达。其三，「纤尘」喻微细的妄想，「路绝纤尘」谓心路已无一丝妄念；「寸草」喻牵引心神的尘缘，「野无寸草」谓外缘已断，牛不须回头觅草，喻心不须回头逐境。其四，「露地」指空旷无遮之地，佛经中以「露地白牛」喻清净无染的心性，「露地闲眠」正用此典，谓心性清净、自在安眠。诸典皆切牧牛喻禅之旨，用而不滞，与诗意浑然一体，见作者于禅学浸淫之深。

Commentary

The Herding-the-Buffalo Verse-Picture is a famous Chan cultivation image; Master Puming's ten verses from 'unherded' to 'both extinguished' write the whole taming process, deeply influential. Zhang Fangping's poem, replying to the picture-verse in verse, may be read as a re-enactment of this Chan case. Readers prize the last couplet's thrust—herding has reached 'free' and 'forgotten,' the ox traceless, mind unbound, then for whom is the straw cloak (herding gear) left by the tree? This question matches the last stage 'both extinguished': ox forgotten, man also forgotten, both subject and object lost, is the ultimate. This accords with Chan's 'the way is not hard, only aversion to choice' and 'bodhi has no tree.' Northern Song literati often met Chan monks, settling body and mind through Chan; Fangping's poem has restrained wit yet deep awakening, showing not a casual Chan dabbler but one who gained much—a superior work among Song Chan-reply poems. In short, the poem with one regulated verse re-enacts Chan's 'herd the mind, both extinguished,' from herding to forgetting the ox, from forgetting the ox to forgetting the herd, from forgetting the herd to both extinguished, finally even the straw cloak has nowhere to stay—awakening to the ultimate. Proving Chan by poetry, meeting friends by Chan—the poem's most intriguing point.

牧牛图颂是禅宗修行次第的著名图示，普明禅师《牧牛图颂》十首，从「未牧」到「双泯」，写尽调心的全过程，影响深远。张方平此诗以诗酬牧牛图颂，可视为对禅门这一公案的再演绎。论者读此诗，多赏其尾联「却问清居真了未，树边蓑笠为谁留」的机锋——牧牛已至「任运」「相忘」之境，牛既无迹、心已无系，则那树边的蓑笠（牧具）又为谁而留？此一问，正对应牧牛图颂的最后一阶「双泯」：牛忘人亦忘，能所双亡，方是究竟。这与禅宗「至道无难，唯嫌拣择」「菩提本无树」的宗旨一脉相承。北宋士大夫多与禅僧往还，以禅理安顿身心，张方平此诗机锋内敛而悟境深微，见其于禅学并非泛泛，而是深有所得，是宋人酬答禅诗中的上乘之作。可以说，此诗以一首七律，重演了禅门「牧牛调心、能所双亡」的了义：由牧牛而忘牛、由忘牛而忘牧、由忘牧而双泯，最终连「蓑笠」亦无处可留，悟境至此，方为究竟。以诗证禅、以禅会友，正是此诗最耐人寻味的地方。

Prosody

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

Rhyme Level-tone You rhyme; rhyme words niu, tou, shou, liu sustained to the end.押平声尤韵，入韵字为牛、头、收、留，一韵到底。

Tone pattern Seven-character lüshi follows level-oblique pattern, first line not rhyming. Middle two couplets neatly antithetic: second 'road bears no fine dust—how see track, wild has no inch of grass—turns back in vain' pairs 'road bears' with 'wild has,' 'fine dust' with 'inch of grass,' 'how see track' with 'turns back in vain'; third 'clear sky lets go—clouds companion, open ground leisure sleep—not gathered at night' pairs 'clear sky' with 'open ground,' 'lets go' with 'leisure sleep,' 'clouds companion' with 'not gathered at night'—matching parts, opposing tones.七言律诗依律调平仄，首句不入韵。中二联对仗工整：颔联「路绝纤尘宁见迹，野无寸草漫回头」以「路绝」对「野无」、「纤尘」对「寸草」、「宁见迹」对「漫回头」；颈联「晴天任去云作伴，露地闲眠夜不收」以「晴天」对「露地」、「任去」对「闲眠」、「云作伴」对「夜不收」，皆词性相侔、平仄相对。

Reading note This poem rhymes in level-tone You; You belongs to the third-grade open-mouth division of the Liu group, its round, drawn-out vowel gives a composed, leisurely, lingering sound, just right for the 'lets go' and 'leisure sleep' herding realm and the joy of Chan. The four rhyme words niu, tou, shou, liu are even and long, like a herdsman's flute slow-blown, like white clouds unfolding, suiting the 'clouds companion' and 'not gathered at night' freedom. The whole poem fits the meter; the middle couplets are neat yet naturally flowing, read without effort, just matching Chan's 'ordinary mind' purport. Most worth savoring is the last rhyme 'liu' (stay)—the sound turns long, hanging unresolved, just answering the last couplet's question 'for whom is the straw cloak left'—once asked, the sound lingers like a Chan case inviting deep inquiry. Writing empty Chan in a long vowel—sound and realm in harmony—is Fangping's sophistication in the sound of his Chan-reply poetry.此诗押平声尤韵，尤韵属流摄开口三等，元音圆转悠长，读来有一种从容、闲适、绵延的声情，正宜写「任去」「闲眠」的牧牛之境与禅悦之趣。四个人韵字牛、头、收、留，声气平和悠长，如牧笛徐吹、如白云舒卷，与诗中的「云作伴」「夜不收」的任运自在十分相称。全诗平仄合律，中二联对仗工稳而流转自然，读来毫不费力，正合禅宗「平常心」的旨趣。尤可玩味者，是末韵「留」字——声转绵长，悬而未决，恰与尾联「蓑笠为谁留」的反问相应，一问既出，余音袅袅，如禅门公案，引人深参。以悠长之韵写空灵之禅，声与境谐，正是张方平酬答禅诗声韵上的高明处。

Line by line

香严昔向沩山住，只作田翁学牧牛。

Xiangyan once dwelt at Weishan; he only played the old farmer learning to herd the buffalo.

香严昔日往沩山居住，只作田家老翁学牧牛。

Xiangyan once dwelled at Weishan; he only played the farmer old man, learning to tend the ox.

此联以香严智闲禅师的公案点题，为全诗确立了「牧牛」这一核心喻象。上句「香严昔向沩山住」，用香严依止沩山灵祐禅师的典故，点出禅宗调心悟道的法门传承；下句「只作田翁学牧牛」，一个「只」字见其用心之专——香严在沩山，不务玄谈，只如田家老翁般老老实实地牧牛，这「牧牛」正是禅门「调心」的喻象：妄心如牛，须时时收摄、步步驯伏。此联之妙，在于以极平常的「田翁牧牛」写极深微的「调心悟道」，把玄妙的禅修化作了一幅乡野牧牛图。以公案起笔，既点明了诗的禅门背景，又为下文「牛迹俱无、蓑笠何用」的层层剥落埋下了伏笔，是「以事引理」的稳当起手。

This couplet uses the gong-an of Chan master Xiangyan Zhixian to point out the title, establishing the core image of tending the ox for the whole poem. The first, Xiangyan once dwelled at Weishan, uses the allusion to Xiangyan relying on Weishan Lingyou, pointing out the lineage of the Zen gate's method of taming the mind and awakening. The second, he only played the farmer old man, learning to tend the ox: the single word only shows the singleness of his purpose - Xiangyan at Weishan did not busy himself with mysterious talk, but like a farming old man, honestly tended the ox; this tending the ox is exactly the Zen gate's image for taming the mind: the deluded mind is like an ox, to be constantly gathered and step by step tamed. The couplet's beauty lies in writing the most subtle taming of the mind and awakening through the most ordinary farmer old man tending the ox, turning the mysterious Zen practice into a rural ox-tending picture. Opening in a gong-an, it at once points out the poem's Zen background and lays a ground for the later peeling off of the ox's traces gone and why the raincoat and hat, the steady opening of leading reason through the matter.

晴天任去云作伴，露地闲眠夜不收。

In clear sky he lets it wander, the clouds his companion; on open ground he dozes at leisure, not brought in at night.

晴空任凭牛儿去，以云为伴；露地之上闲眠，夜里也不收归。

In the clear sky he goes where he will, the cloud his companion; on the open ground he sleeps at leisure, not brought home at night.

此联写牛之自在无拘，喻心已臻任运自然的境地。上句「晴天任去云作伴」，写牛儿在晴空下任意而去，只有天上的云与它作伴，「任去」二字见其无拘无束，不再需人驱赶看管。下句「露地闲眠夜不收」，写牛在空旷的露地上闲闲而眠，到了夜里也不必收归，「露地」暗用佛经「露地白牛」之典，喻清净无染的心性，「夜不收」则见其已无须收摄。此联之妙，在于以牛的「任去」「闲眠」写心的「任运」「无住」——到了这一步，心已不再驰逐外境，也不须刻意把持，而是彻底的自在安然。这正对应牧牛图颂中「任运」「相忘」的阶次，是全诗由「调心」走向「忘心」的关键一联，语淡而境深。

This couplet writes the ox's freedom from restraint, meta-phoring the mind's reaching the realm of acting as it wills by nature. The first, in the clear sky he goes where he will, the cloud his companion, writes the ox going at will under the clear sky, with only the cloud above as its companion; the words goes where he will show its freedom from constraint, no longer needing a man to drive or watch. The second, on the open ground he sleeps at leisure, not brought home at night, writes the ox sleeping at leisure on the empty open ground, and at night no need to bring it home; the open ground secretly uses the sutra allusion of the white ox on the open ground, meta-phoring the pure and undefiled mind, and not brought home at night shows it no longer needs gathering. The couplet's beauty lies in writing the mind's acting as it wills and abiding nowhere through the ox's going where it wills and sleeping at leisure - at this stage, the mind no longer races after outer objects, nor needs deliberate holding, but is completely at ease. This exactly corresponds to the stages of acting as it wills and forgetting each other in the ox-tending pictures, the key couplet of the whole poem moving from taming the mind to forgetting the mind, the words plain yet the realm deep.

却问清居真了未，树边蓑笠为谁留。

But I ask whether Qingju has truly awakened; for whom is the straw cloak left by the tree?

却问清居大士真正了悟没有，树边的蓑笠为谁而留。

I ask, Qingju Bodhisattva, have you truly realized? By the tree, the raincoat and hat - for whom are they kept?

此联以双反问收束全诗，机锋凌厉，是全诗悟境的最深处。上句「却问清居真了未」，一句反问直指清居大士：你所作的牧牛图颂，自己可真正了悟了没有？下句「树边蓑笠为谁留」再进一步——若牛已无迹、心已无系，那树边牧牛的蓑笠，又是为谁而留？此问暗藏禅机：牧牛既至「相忘」之境，则不仅牛要忘，牧牛的「人」与「蓑笠」也当一并放下，能所双亡，方是究竟。此联之妙，在于以问作结，不落言诠，把「双泯」的最高悟境，化作了两个悬而未决的追问，让读者与清居大士一同去参。机锋所向，正是牧牛图颂的最后一阶，收得空灵而有余味，是全诗禅意的最高点。

This couplet gathers the poem in a double rhetorical question, the gong-an sharp, the deepest place of the awakened realm. The first, I ask, Qingju Bodhisattva, have you truly realized? one rhetorical question points straight at Qingju Bodhisattva: the ox-tending pictures and verses you made, have you yourself truly realized them? The second steps further - if the ox has left no trace and the mind has no tie, then the raincoat and hat for tending the ox by the tree, for whom are they kept? This question secretly holds the Zen paradox: since tending the ox has reached the realm of forgetting each other, then not only the ox is to be forgotten, but also the man who tends the ox and the raincoat and hat are to be laid down together; only when the grasper and the grasped both die is it ultimate. The couplet's beauty lies in closing in a question, not falling into words, turning the highest awakened realm of double extinction into two unresolved questions, letting the reader, with Qingju Bodhisattva, explore them together. Where the gong-an points is exactly the last stage of the ox-tending pictures, closing empty with aftertone, the highest point of the poem's Zen meaning.

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Word focus

牧牛 Herding the buffalo—the Chan metaphor for taming the mind: the restless mind is the ox, cultivation is herding it step by step until ox and mind are forgotten. 「只作田翁学牧牛」之「牧牛」，是禅宗最著名的调心之喻。禅门以「牛」喻人之妄心——躁动、奔逸、难以驯伏，正如一头不听使唤的野牛；以「牧牛」喻修行——须时时看管、步步收摄，使妄心渐次驯服，最终达到「牛驯心忘」的境地。普明禅师《牧牛图颂》以「未牧、初调、受制、回首、驯伏、无碍、任运、相忘、独照、双泯」十个阶段，把这一过程形象地展开。张方平用「牧牛」二字，便一下子把全诗纳入了这一禅门修行的谱系，使后文的「牛迹」「云伴」「蓑笠」等意象都有了着落。此词之妙，在于以最乡土的「牧牛」写最精微的「调心」，化高深为平常，正是禅宗「平常心是道」的精神，也见作者对禅门修行的理解已入堂奥。

蓑笠 Straw cloak and hat—the herdsman's rain gear, here standing for the tools and traces of practice; the closing question asks whether even these should be abandoned when awakening is complete. 「树边蓑笠为谁留」之「蓑笠」，是牧人的雨具，在此喻指修行的「工具」与「痕迹」。蓑衣斗笠，本是牧牛人遮风避雨之物，用以牧牛；然若牛已忘、心已空，牧既不用，蓑笠便成了多余的赘物。张方平以「蓑笠为谁留」发问，其深意正在于此：修行的种种法门、种种方便，如蓑笠之于牧人，本是渡河的舟筏，若已到彼岸，则舟筏当舍——「法尚应舍，何况非法」。此词之妙，在于以一件极具体的牧具，点破了禅宗「不执着于法」的究竟义：若还留着蓑笠，便是还执着于「牧」、执着于「修」，未到「双泯」之境。一问「为谁留」，实是问「你是否真了」，机锋所向，正在于此，是全诗禅机的落点。