唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
过香积寺
Passing the Incense-Mound Temple
不知香积寺，数里入云峰。
古木无人径，深山何处钟。
泉声咽危石，日色冷青松。
薄暮空潭曲，安禅制毒龙。
A few miles in, I enter the cloud peaks.
Old trees, no path of men;
In the deep hill, from where the bell?
The spring's voice chokes on the perilous stone;
The sunlight chills the green pine.
At dusk, by the empty pool's bend,
Seated in trance, he subdues the poison dragon.
Meaning
I do not know where the Incense-Mound Temple is; only after a few miles do I enter the cloud-wrapped peaks. Ancient trees, no path of men; from deep in the hill, somewhere, a bell sounds. The spring's voice chokes against the perilous rock; the sunlight chills the green pines. At dusk by the bend of the empty pool, the monk sits in trance and subdues the poison dragon.
不知道香积寺在何处，走了数里才进入云雾缭绕的山峰。古木参天没有行人的路径，深山里不知何处传来钟声。泉水流过险石发出幽咽之声，日光照在青松上透出清冷。薄暮时分空寂的潭水曲折处，僧人安禅入定制服了心中的毒龙。
Appreciation
The poem's chief wonder is 'motion for stillness, sound for silence.' The first couplet's 'I know not' and 'enter the cloud peaks' writes the deep hill hiding the temple, hard to seek. The second, 'Old trees, no path of men; in the deep hill, from where the bell?' sets the 'no one' stillness against the 'from where the bell' sound—the bell only makes the empty hill more still, gaining the joy of 'a bird's cry makes the mountain stiller.' The third, 'The spring's voice chokes on the perilous stone; the sunlight chills the green pine,' works 'chokes' and 'chills' to perfection—the spring chokes on the sharp rock, the light cools in the deep pine, a subtle synesthesia. The close, 'at dusk by the empty pool's bend, seated in trance he subdues the poison dragon,' ends from scene into chan, empty and still, poem and zen one.
【白话串讲】 “古木无人径，深山何处钟”——王维走进无人的深山，只听见远处钟声。“泉声咽危石，日色冷青松”——中国诗里写“空”与“静”，没有比这更幽深的了。 【意象与手法】 此诗最妙在「以动写静、以声衬寂」。首联「不知」「数里入云峰」写山深寺隐、寻觅之难；颔联「古木无人径，深山何处钟」以「无人」之静与「何处钟」之声相映，钟声反显空山更幽；颈联炼「咽」「冷」入神，通感妙绝；尾联以空潭安禅收束，由景入禅，诗禅合一。 【情感与主旨】 香积寺在长安附近，为唐代名刹。此诗约作于开元、天宝间王维隐终南、辋川时期（约740前后）。时王维亦官亦隐，深受南宗禅与净土思想熏染，诗多写山水禅悦。全诗以寻访为线索渲染山寺幽邃与心境空寂，体现「晚年惟好静」的禅修体悟。 【名句点睛】 中高考重点：「泉声咽危石，日色冷青松」中「咽」「冷」的炼字，要求答出拟人、通感手法与幽寂意境；又考「安禅制毒龙」用佛典的深意——以禅定制服心中妄念，是全诗由写景入禅理的关键。
Background
The Incense-Mound Temple lay near Chang'an, a famed Tang monastery. This poem was likely written around 740, when Wang Wei, both official and recluse, was steeped in Southern-Chan and Pure-Land thought and wrote much of landscape and chan-joy. The poem is no factual 'arrival record' but uses the search as a thread to render the temple's depth and the mind's emptiness, showing the chan insight of 'in late years I love only stillness.' The closing 'subdue the poison dragon' uses a Buddhist tale, exactly his way of speaking chan through poem, writing mind through scene—a representative of High-Tang landscape where Buddhist truth enters.
香积寺在长安城南，为唐代名刹，因《维摩诘经》「香积佛国」而得名。此诗约作于开元、天宝年间王维隐居终南、辋川时期（约740年前后）。王维中年以后亦官亦隐，先后得法于南宗禅，又与净土信仰相接，深受佛学熏染，诗多写山水禅悦，「晚年惟好静，万事不关心」正是其心境的夫子自道。此诗题作「过香积寺」，却不写进寺拜佛、寺中景物，而是以寻访的过程为线索，层层渲染山深寺隐、幽邃难觅的气氛，最终落脚于「安禅制毒龙」的禅悟，可见其意不在纪游，而在以诗说禅、以境写心。诗中「毒龙」用佛典喻烦恼妄心，正见其以禅定求清净的修行体悟，是盛唐山水诗中融佛理入诗境的代表作，也是王维「诗中有画」「诗中有禅」的典型例证。王维早年亦曾热衷仕进，张九龄罢相后，他渐生归隐之心，遂于蓝田辋川购置别业，与裴迪浮舟往来，弹琴赋诗，啸咏终日；同时他又笃信佛教，退朝之后焚香独坐，以禅诵为事。此种亦官亦隐的生活，使其诗既有山水的明秀，又有禅理的深静。此诗写寻访香积寺，正是其『晚年惟好静』心境的产物：寻寺之难即是入禅之难，见寺之幽即是见心之静，全诗无一句说教而禅意自足，正是王维以山水为禅、以诗为偈的独特方式，也是理解盛唐禅诗的关键文本。
Art
The chief craft is 'motion for stillness, sound for silence.' The first couplet writes the temple hidden deep, hard to find; the second sets stillness against the bell's sound, the bell making the empty hill stiller; the third works 'chokes' and 'chills' to subtle synesthesia; the close turns from scene to chan, empty and still, poem and zen one.
此诗最妙在「以动写静、以声衬寂」。首联「不知香积寺，数里入云峰」写山深寺隐、寻觅之难：「不知」起笔即设悬念，寺在何方？「数里入云峰」写攀寻之久、入山之深，云雾缭绕之中，香积寺犹未知所在。颔联「古木无人径，深山何处钟」是千古名联：「无人径」写人迹罕至的静，「何处钟」写深山传来的钟声，以声衬静，钟声非但不破寂，反而使空山显得更加幽深，深得「鸟鸣山更幽」之趣。颈联「泉声咽危石，日色冷青松」炼「咽」「冷」入神：泉因石险而声咽，日因松深而色冷，通感妙绝，幽寂之境如在目前。尾联「薄暮空潭曲，安禅制毒龙」由景入禅，以空潭之静映安禅之定，用佛典收束全篇，空灵幽寂，诗禅合一。全诗由寻到见、由景到禅，章法绵密，无一句写禅而禅意自足。此诗还有一个容易被忽视的妙处，即全篇以『寻』为暗线：由『不知』起，经『数里入云峰』『何处钟』的层层探问，到『薄暮』时分终于抵达潭畔，时间与空间同步推进，读者的心也随之由迷入悟；诗中四次写声（钟声、泉声）与色（日色、潭色）的对照，声愈寂而色愈冷，正是心境由躁入静的映照。以寻访的历程写参禅的历程，以景色的幽冷写心境的空寂，此诗在章法上实为『以游写禅』的典范。
Allusions
The close 'seated in trance, he subdues the poison dragon' uses a Buddhist tale. The Nirvana Sutra tells the Buddha by compassion subdued a great poison dragon; the Lotus Sutra uses 'poison dragon' for the troubling passions—Wang Wei means the mind's stray thoughts subdued by chan. 'Incense-Mound' itself is the Buddha-land's name for fragrant food (from the Vimalakirti Sutra, Incense-Mound chapter); the temple's name hints the Pure Land. 'Seated in trance' is sitting meditation. The Buddhist allusions melt without trace into the landscape; the one closing line moves naturally from scene to chan—Wang Wei's perfected 'chan in poem,' with no pedantry.
尾联「安禅制毒龙」用佛典：《涅槃经》载佛以慈力降伏大毒龙；《法华经》等又以「毒龙」喻烦恼妄心、贪嗔痴念，王维此处取后义，谓以安禅入定制服心中的毒龙——即种种妄想杂念，达于空寂清净之境。「香积」本佛国饭香之名，出《维摩诘经·香积佛品》，香积如来以众香为饭，寺以「香积」为名，暗含净土意指，王维拈出此名，已寓佛缘。「安禅」即坐禅入定，是禅宗修行的核心工夫。此外「空潭」暗合佛家「空」义，潭水澄澈空明，正是禅心明净的写照。全诗佛典不着痕迹地化入山水描写之中，「制毒龙」一结由写景自然过渡到说禅，了无滞碍，体现王维「以禅入诗」的化境，绝无掉书袋之嫌。『安禅』二字还可细味：禅宗以定为入道之门，安禅即安心于禅定，『安』字写出坐禅时的安稳自在，与『薄暮』的苍茫、『空潭』的澄澈相映，正见其定境之深。又『毒龙』在《佛遗教经》等经中亦喻贪欲，王维取『制毒龙』为结，正是其『一生几许伤心事，不向空门何处销』的自白——以禅定销尽烦恼，正是他中年以后的精神归宿，故论者谓此诗是王维心灵的自传。
Commentary
The Qing critic Shen Deqian, in Tang Shi Biecai, judged the 'spring's voice' couplet 'profoundly secluded,' saying 'four lines write the temple's outer still scene, the last two its inner quiet.' Wang Shizhen ranked it 'chief among Wang and Pei's Wangchuan poems.' The modern Yu Bixia, in Shi Jing Qian Shuo, said the words 'chokes' and 'chills' 'refine even imagined scene into truth.' Su Shi said 'taste Mojie's poem, and there is painting in the poem'—this piece's empty pool, perilous rock, chilled light and green pine are exactly that proof. All prize its painting the chan-mind through scene, clear-cold and lone yet long in flavour.
沈德潜《唐诗别裁》评「泉声」一联「幽绝」，谓「四句写寺外幽景，末二句写寺中静境」，拈出全诗由外而内、由景入禅的章法。王士禛推此诗为「王裴辋川诸诗之冠」，见其在王维山水诗中的地位。俞陛云《诗境浅说》称「咽」「冷」二字「炼得向壁虚构之景，皆成妙谛」，极赏其以一字而造幽境的功力。苏轼谓「味摩诘之诗，诗中有画；观摩诘之画，画中有诗」，此篇空潭危石、日冷青松，正是「诗中有画」的绝好例证；而其由画境入禅心、清寒孤寂而韵味悠长的品格，又见出王维诗「禅」的一面。诸家评赏皆重其以画境写禅心，此诗遂成为理解王维山水禅诗的一把钥匙。历代论王维诗，多引苏轼『诗中有画』之评，而此诗恰可作『画中有禅』的补充：全诗如一幅深山藏寺图，云峰、古木、危石、青松、空潭，层层点染，而『钟声』『泉声』又在画外传响，使静止的画面生出幽远的声息。王士禛标举神韵，以此诗为辋川诸作之冠，正因其以最少的笔墨写最深的禅境，不着色相而韵味无穷。此诗在文学史上的意义，在于它是唐诗中『以禅入诗』的成熟标志：禅不是附加的说理，而是融化于山水之中，成为中国山水诗的最高境界之一。
Prosody
Line by line
不知香积寺，数里入云峰
I know not where the Incense-Mound Temple lies; a few miles in, I enter the cloud peaks.
不知道香积寺在何处，走了数里才进入云雾缭绕的山峰。
I knew not where the Xiangji Temple lay; for several li I entered cloud-capped peaks.
起联写寻寺之难，为全诗设下悬念。「不知」二字开门见山，写出香积寺的深藏不露，也暗含寻访者初入山时的惘然；「数里入云峰」补足「不知」的原因——山路幽深，云峰叠起，走了数里仍不见寺影。此联以「数里」写空间之远，以「云峰」写山势之高，未写寺而寺之幽深已见，未写禅而访禅之意已萌。清人评此联「起势高远」，正指其于入山寻访的平淡叙述中，已把读者带入云雾缭绕、渺然深远的境界，为下文「无人径」「何处钟」的幽寂氛围预作铺陈。
The opening couplet writes the difficulty of finding the temple, planting suspense. The word 'knew not' opens at once, showing the temple's deep hiding and the seeker's bewilderment as he first enters the hills; 'for several li I entered cloud-capped peaks' supplies the reason for 'knew not' — the mountain road is deep, the cloud peaks layered, and after several li still no sign of the temple. 'Several li' for the distance, 'cloud peaks' for the height; the temple not yet written, yet its seclusion already felt, the wish to visit Chan already stirring.
古木无人径，深山何处钟
Old trees, no path of men; in the deep hill, from where the bell?
古木参天没有行人的路径，深山里不知何处传来钟声。
Ancient trees, no human path; in the deep hills, a bell from nowhere.
此联是全诗最著者，以声衬寂、以动写静。「古木无人径」写视觉之静：古木森森，不见人迹，小径荒芜，一片死寂；「深山何处钟」写听觉之动：正当万籁俱寂之时，深山里忽然传来一声钟响。「何处」二字极妙，既写出钟声的缥缈难寻，又暗示寺之所在仍被深山掩藏。钟声本为有声，此处却以有声衬无声：空山无人，唯余钟响，钟声荡开之后，山谷愈显幽静，正是「鸟鸣山更幽」的同一机杼。这一联将读者从「数里入云峰」的迷茫带入「何处钟」的期待，寻寺之情、入禅之意，都在这一声钟里。
This couplet is the poem's most famous, writing stillness through sound, quiet through movement. 'Ancient trees, no human path' writes the visual stillness: ancient trees, no trace of man, the path deserted, a dead quiet. 'In the deep hills, a bell from nowhere' writes the auditory movement: in the utter silence, suddenly a bell from the deep hills. The words 'from nowhere' are fine — both the elusiveness of the bell and the hidden site of the temple. The bell, a sound, sets off the silence: empty hills, no man, only the bell; after it dies, the valley is the quieter, the same mechanism as 'a bird's cry makes the hill more still'. This couplet carries the reader from the bewilderment of 'several li in cloud peaks' to the expectation of 'a bell from nowhere', the seeking and the Chan, all in that one bell.
泉声咽危石，日色冷青松
The spring's voice chokes on the perilous stone; the sunlight chills the green pine.
泉水流过险石发出幽咽之声，日光照在青松上透出清冷。
The spring sounds choked among steep rocks; the sunlight is cold on the pines.
此联是全诗炼字的巅峰，也是中高考赏析的重中之重。「咽」字写泉声：泉水被嶙峋危石所阻，流得滞涩，声音便如人之哽咽，以人写泉，是拟人；「冷」字写日色：日光透过深密的青松，光线暗淡，触目生寒，以触觉写视觉，是通感。二字把泉之幽咽、日之清冷写到入神，山石之险、松林之深由此可想。「咽」承上联「何处钟」的声境，「冷」承「无人径」的色境，声色并臻，把深山古寺的幽寂推向极致。宋人评此联「状难写之景如在目前」，正谓其以二字而造出可感可触的幽寂意境。
This couplet is the peak of verbal refinement, the crux of appreciation. The word 'choked' writes the spring: the stream, blocked by jagged steep rocks, flows reluctant, its sound like a man choking — writing the spring through the human, personification. The word 'cold' writes the sunlight: light through the dense pines is dim, and looking on it one feels cold — writing sight through touch, synaesthesia. The two words write the choked spring and the cold light to the life, the steep rocks and deep pines imaginable. 'Choked' carries the sound-world of the 'bell from nowhere' above; 'cold' carries the color-world of 'no human path'; sound and color at their height, pushing the deep hills and ancient temple's seclusion to the utmost.
薄暮空潭曲，安禅制毒龙
At dusk, by the empty pool's bend, seated in trance he subdues the poison dragon.
薄暮时分空寂的潭水曲折处，僧人安禅入定制服了心中的毒龙。
At dusk, by the bend of the empty pool, in meditation he tames the poisonous dragon of the mind.
尾联由景入禅，收束全诗。「薄暮」点时间，天色将晚，寻访之程渐入尾声；「空潭曲」写潭水澄澈空明、曲折幽深，一片空寂之境——潭之「空」既是景语，亦是禅语，暗合佛家「空」观。面对如此空潭，诗人安禅入定，以禅定制服心中的「毒龙」（烦恼妄念），完成由外在山水之静到内在心境之静的飞跃。此联不写寺而写潭，不写佛而写定，把全诗的幽寂之境提升到禅悟的高度；「制毒龙」用佛典而不露痕迹，与「空潭」的意象水乳交融，正是王维「以禅入诗」化境的体现。
The closing couplet moves from scene to Chan, gathering the poem. 'At dusk' names the hour, the visiting nearing its end; 'the bend of the empty pool' writes the clear, empty, winding pool, a realm of stillness — the pool's 'emptiness' is both scenery and the Buddhist concept of emptiness. Facing this empty pool, the poet sits in meditation and, through concentration, tames the 'poisonous dragon' of the mind, the restless passions, completing the leap from the stillness of outer landscape to the stillness of inner mind. The couplet writes not the temple but the pool, not the Buddha but the meditation, raising the seclusion to the height of Chan awakening; 'taming the poisonous dragon' uses a Buddhist sutra allusion without a trace, fused with the 'empty pool' — the height of Wang Wei's writing Chan into poetry.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both Wang Wei landscapes; compare the two moods of vastness and chan-stillness.
王维《终南山》「太乙近天都，连山接海隅」写终南山的雄浑壮阔，远望连山接天、云雾变幻，气象万千；《过香积寺》则写深山古寺的幽寂禅意，古木无人、泉咽松冷，境界清寒。二诗同出王维之手，同以终南山水为背景，而一以「阔」胜、一以「幽」胜：前者是俯瞰式的宏观写意，后者是步入式的微观体察；前者见山水之雄，后者见禅心之静。比较二诗，正可看出王维山水诗「壮美」与「优美」两种意境并存的面貌，及其由写景到写禅的不同进路，是理解其诗风多面性的绝佳对读材料。
竹里馆 The Bamboo Lodge 王维 · 同具禅意，一写寺境一写幽居 Same/diff (same author; both chan-flavored; one a temple scene, one a lone dwelling)Both Wang Wei chan poems; compare the 'stillness for chan' craft.
王维《竹里馆》「独坐幽篁里，弹琴复长啸。深林人不知，明月来相照」与《过香积寺》同具浓厚的禅意，同以幽静之境写禅心，而场景有别：竹里馆写诗人独居竹林的幽居生活，弹琴长啸、明月相伴，是「我」与自然的直接对话；过香积寺写寻访深山古寺的历程，泉咽松冷、空潭安禅，是「我」向佛境的皈依。二诗皆以「无人」「深」营造寂静，皆以动衬静（长啸、钟声），手法相通而归宿各异：一归于闲适自得，一归于禅定解脱。合读二诗，可见王维「以静写禅」手法的一致性与题材的丰富性。