魏晋 Wei-Jin · 文 Prose
文赋·节选
The Essay on Literature (excerpt)
伫中区以玄览，颐情志于典坟。
遵四时以叹逝，瞻万物而思纷。
悲落叶于劲秋，喜柔条于芳春。
心懔懔以怀霜，志眇眇而临云。
詠世德之骏烈，诵先人之清芬。
游文章之林府，嘉丽藻之彬彬。
慨投篇而援笔，聊宣之乎斯文。
I follow the four seasons and sigh at their passing; I gaze on the ten thousand things and my thought grows tangled.
I grieve at fallen leaves in the stiff autumn; I rejoice at the tender twig in the fragrant spring.
My heart is solemn, as if holding frost; my will is distant, as if standing by the cloud.
I sing the great deeds of ages past; I recite the pure fragrance of the former men.
I roam the forest-storehouse of writing; I prize the lovely ornament, refined and balanced.
With a sigh I lay down the book and take up the brush, to voice it a while in this essay.
Meaning
I stand long in the centre of the world and gaze with mystic sight; I nourish my feeling and intent upon the canon and the grave. Following the four seasons I sigh at their passing; gazing on the ten thousand things my thought grows tangled. I grieve at fallen leaves in the stiff autumn; I rejoice at the tender twig in the fragrant spring. My heart is solemn, as if holding frost; my will is distant, as if standing by the cloud. I sing the great deeds of ages past; I recite the pure fragrance of former men. I roam the forest-storehouse of writings; I prize the lovely ornament, refined and balanced. With a sigh I lay down the book and take up the brush, to voice it a while in this essay.
我久立天地之中以玄远之思观照万物，涵养情志于典籍坟典。顺着四时更迭而感叹时光流逝，仰望万物繁盛而思绪纷纭。悲叹劲秋时节落叶飘零，欣喜芳春之中柔条抽芽。心怀凛然如抱霜雪之洁，志趣高远似临云端之上。歌咏世代先贤的丰功伟烈，诵读前哲的清雅芬芳。遨游于文章典籍的林海府库，赞叹那华美辞藻的文质彬彬。感慨间投下书卷提起笔来，姑且借这篇文赋抒写我的心声。
Appreciation
This excerpt is from the opening of Lu Ji's Essay on Literature, his late-life summing of his craft, roughly made in the Taikang years of Western Jin. Then men of letters vied in ornament; Lu Ji, moved by 'the intent not matching the thing, the writing not catching the intent', made the fu to probe the working of composition. The excerpt stands at the head of the piece, telling of how 'often, viewing the works of talented men, I privately came to grasp their working' — at once stating his motive and laying the tone of 'setting forth the rich ornament of former writers'. Its value as literary theory stands alone in the Six Dynasties.
【白话串讲】 陆机写《文赋》论文学：“遵四时以叹逝，瞻万物而思纷”——看四季感叹时光，看万物思绪纷飞。“悲落叶于劲秋，喜柔条于芳春”——秋天悲落叶，春天喜柔条。“游文章之林府，嘉丽藻之彬彬”——他写出了文学创作的奥秘。 【意象与手法】 此段以骈俪出之，四六对仗，音韵谐畅。'伫中区以玄览'一句统摄全段，以老庄'玄览'之说立创作虚静之基 【情感与主旨】 《文赋》为陆机晚年总结创作经验之作，约成于西晋太康年间 【名句点睛】 可从三处设题。其一，'玄览'意涵：考'虚静'创作观，联系《文心雕龙·神思》'贵在虚静'
Background
The Essay on Literature is Lu Ji's late-life summing of his craft, roughly made in the Taikang years of Western Jin. Then men of letters vied in ornament; Lu Ji, moved by 'the intent not matching the thing, the writing not catching the intent', made the fu to probe the working of composition. This excerpt stands at the head of the piece, telling of how 'often, viewing the works of talented men, I privately came to grasp their working' — at once stating his motive and laying the tone of 'setting forth the rich ornament of former writers'. Its value as literary theory stands alone in the Six Dynasties.
《文赋·节选》为西晋陆机所作，是中国文学批评史上最早的完整文论。此篇（节选）论作文之要：伫中区以玄览，颐情志于典坟。遵四时以叹逝，瞻万物而思纷。悲落叶于劲秋，喜柔条于芳春。心懔懔以怀霜，志眇眇而临云。……全篇论文之用心，是陆机文赋的名篇。
Art
This passage is in parallel prose, four-and-six antithesis, its sound smooth. The line 'I stand long in the centre of the world and gaze with mystic sight' governs the whole, using the Lao-Zhuang 'mystic sight' to lay the base of creative emptiness and stillness. 'I grieve at fallen leaves in the stiff autumn; I rejoice at the tender twig in the fragrant spring' sets the autumn and spring phenology against each other, writing feeling following scene — already opening the way for the later theory of 'things' colour'. 'My heart is solemn, as if holding frost; my will is distant, as if standing by the cloud' uses frost and cloud to figure a lofty breast, making the abstract concrete, its imagery clear and far. The last two lines return from viewing things and feeling time to taking up the brush and voicing the essay; the composition moves from still to moving, from scene to feeling, its breath connected and its diction refined — enough to show the elegant beauty of the Taikang style.
《文赋·节选》艺术上以文理的敷陈与辞采的藻丽见长。此篇（节选）论作文之要：首写玄览典坟——“伫中区以玄览，颐情志于典坟”写伫中区玄览、颐情志典坟；中写感物思纷——“遵四时以叹逝，瞻万物而思纷”写遵四时叹逝、瞻万物思纷，“悲落叶于劲秋，喜柔条于芳春”写悲落叶劲秋、喜柔条芳春；后写怀霜临云——“心懔懔以怀霜，志眇眇而临云”写心懔怀霜、志眇临云。全篇以文理之敷陈写作文之用心，正是陆机文赋藻丽的笔法。
Allusions
The allusions are refined. 'Mystic sight' comes from the Laozi's 'cleanse and see the mystic sight', meaning empty, still contemplation; Lu Ji uses it to lay the base of creative emptiness and stillness. 'Canon and grave' stands for the classics. 'I sing the great deeds' inherits the Shi and Saos' praise of the worthy. 'Refined and balanced' takes the Analects' 'refined in culture, balanced in nature', upholding both ornament and substance. The allusions melt without trace, showing learning yet keeping the argument from drying — the Six-Dynasties parallel prose's wonder of using allusion as one's own, worth later men's taking as model.
《文赋·节选》用典在“玄览”“典坟”“临云”。“玄览”用《老子》“涤除玄览”之意，写静观；“典坟”写三坟五典（古书）；“临云”写志气高远。全篇以这些典故论文之用心，用典自然而藻丽自见，正是陆机文赋的笔法。
Commentary
The Ming critic Zhang Pu in his Hundred-Three-Families Collection says of Lu Ji 'his writing crowns the age, his thought deep and his rule strict'. The Essay on Literature has always been taken as one of the twin jewels of Six-Dynasties literary theory; Liu Xie in the Wen Xin Diaolong's 'General Art' says 'Lu Ji's Essay on Literature is clever yet broken in disorder' — granting its cleverness yet mildly blaming its brokenness. Modern anthologies often take this excerpt as an introductory model of parallel prose, praising its 'rich diction, clear principle, feeling merged in scene'.
《文赋》是陆机文论的代表作，也是中国文学批评史上最早系统论作文之难、之要的文论。此篇（节选）论作文之要，向为论者称道。论者多赏其文理的敷陈与辞采的藻丽——“伫中区以玄览，颐情志于典坟”写玄览典坟，藻丽之极；“遵四时以叹逝，瞻万物而思纷”写感物思纷，更见其理；“心懔懔以怀霜，志眇眇而临云”写怀霜临云，尤见其高。陆机为西晋文宗，《文赋》正以骈俪敷陈论文之用心，正是其代表作。
Prosody
Line by line
伫中区以玄览，颐情志于典坟。
Standing at the center of the world, I gaze at the mystery; I nourish mind and feeling in the ancient classics.
伫中区以玄览，颐情志于典坟。
I stand at the heart of the cosmos and contemplate its profundity, nurturing my mind and emotions on the canons and ancient texts.
首写玄览典坟，是全篇论作文之要的开端。“伫中区以玄览”写伫中区玄览——“伫中区以玄览”用《老子》之意写伫立天地之间以静观玄览——伫中区玄览；“颐情志于典坟”写颐情志于典坟——“颐情志”写颐养情志，“典坟”写三坟五典（古书）——颐情志于典坟。二句写玄览典坟：伫中区以玄览，颐情志于典坟。以“伫中区以玄览”写静观天地、玄览万物，以“颐情志于典坟”写颐养情志、沉浸典籍，正是《文赋》论作文之要的开端——作文之始，先观览而后涵养。
The passage opens the treatise on literature by naming the two sources of writing: contemplation and reading. Standing at the center of the world to 'gaze at the mystery' draws on Laozi's idea of quiet observation of the cosmos; nourishing one's feelings in 'the canons and ancient texts' refers to the ancient canon of lost scriptures. Lu Ji posits that writing begins with looking outward at the world and inward at tradition—first the gaze, then the cultivation. It sets the method of the whole essay on literary creation: the writer must observe widely and absorb deeply before composing.
遵四时以叹逝，瞻万物而思纷。悲落叶于劲秋，喜柔条于芳春。
Following the four seasons, I sigh at their passing; gazing at the myriad things, my thoughts grow tangled. I grieve for falling leaves in the sharp autumn, and rejoice at tender branches in fragrant spring.
遵四时以叹逝，瞻万物而思纷。悲落叶于劲秋，喜柔条于芳春。
I follow the seasons and sigh at things passing, watch the ten thousand creatures and feel thoughts teem; I sorrow over leaves falling in the crisp autumn, and delight in soft boughs in fragrant spring.
此四句写感物思纷，是全篇论作文感兴的深化。“遵四时以叹逝，瞻万物而思纷”写感物思纷——“遵四时以叹逝”写循四时而叹逝，“瞻万物而思纷”写瞻万物而思纷——遵四时叹逝，瞻万物思纷；“悲落叶于劲秋，喜柔条于芳春”写悲秋喜春——“悲落叶于劲秋”写悲落叶于劲秋，“喜柔条于芳春”写喜柔条于芳春——悲秋叶落，喜春条柔。四句写感物思纷：遵四时以叹逝瞻万物而思纷，悲落叶于劲秋喜柔条于芳春。以“遵四时以叹逝，瞻万物而思纷”写循四时、观万物而文思纷起，以“悲落叶于劲秋，喜柔条于芳春”写悲秋之叶落、喜春之条柔，正是《文赋》论作文感兴、感物生思的深化——四时感物，文思因生。
These four lines deepen the theory of literary inspiration as response to the seasons. The writer follows the turning year and sighs at its flight, then gazes at the natural world and finds thought swarming. The couplets that follow—grief at autumn leaves, joy at spring's tender branches—embody the principle that external seasons stir internal feelings. Lu Ji's claim is that literary thought is not invented but provoked: the sight of falling leaves or budding branches releases the corresponding emotion. It is one of the earliest statements of the Chinese poetics of 'feeling stirred by things,' where seasons become the engine of composition.
心懔懔以怀霜，志眇眇而临云。
The heart is stern, as though it held frost; the aspiration is lofty, as though it faced the clouds.
心懔懔以怀霜，志眇眇而临云。
The mind stands in awe, bearing the chill of frost; the will soars remote, as if reaching to the clouds.
末二句写怀霜临云，是全篇论作文之志的归结。“心懔懔以怀霜”写心懔怀霜——“心懔懔以怀霜”写心懔懔如怀霜（戒惧高洁）——心懔怀霜；“志眇眇而临云”写志眇临云——“志眇眇而临云”写志眇眇（高远）而临云——志眇临云。二句写怀霜临云：心懔懔以怀霜，志眇眇而临云。以“心懔懔以怀霜”写作文之心当如怀霜般戒惧高洁，以“志眇眇而临云”写作文之志当如临云般高远，正是《文赋》论作文之志的归结——心志高洁，文乃可成。
The closing couplet states the required temper of the writer's mind. The heart must be austere and pure, as if it carried frost—both a warning against levity and a claim to moral clarity. The aspiration must be remote and lofty, as if it confronted the clouds. Lu Ji thus pairs inward purity with outward elevation: only a mind as chaste as frost and a will as high as clouds can produce enduring writing. It concludes the passage on the note that literary creation is ultimately a discipline of character, not merely of technique.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Compare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
左思《三都赋·序》论赋之取材、写实，与本首同为晋代文论。差异在论题：文赋论文之用心、作法；三都赋序论赋之取材。一写“心”之文，一写“材”之实。两者并读，可见晋代文论的两种论题。
赴洛道中作 On the Road to Luoyang 陆机 · 同为陆机作品，一为文论一为行役诗，一文一诗 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
陆机《赴洛道中作》写赴洛行役之景，与本首同为陆机作品。差异在体裁：文赋为文论；赴洛道中作为行役诗。一写“文”之理，一写“行”之景。两者并读，可见陆机诗文之才的两种体现。
短歌行·置酒高堂 Short Song: Wine Set Out in the High Hall 陆机 · 同为陆机作品，一文论一乐府，皆藻丽 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
陆机《短歌行·置酒高堂》为乐府诗，与本首同为陆机作品。差异在体裁：文赋为文论；短歌行为乐府诗。一写“文”之理，一写“酒”之慨。两者并读，可见陆机诗赋兼擅之才。