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魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem

饮酒·其二

Drinking Wine, No. 2

陶渊明

Tao Yuanming

哲理Philosophy 隐逸Hermitage

积善云有报，夷叔在西山。
善恶苟不应，何事空立言。
九十行带索，饥寒况当年。
不赖固穷节，百世当谁传。

They say that heaped-up goodness has its reward—yet Bo Yi and Shu Qi lay on the Western Hill.
If good and evil truly meet no answer, why set up empty teachings at all?
At ninety he still walked with a rope for a belt; his hunger and cold were worse than in his prime.
Were it not for the virtue of holding firm in poverty, by whom would a name pass down a hundred generations?

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Meaning

It is said that goodness heaped up will be rewarded, yet Bo Yi and Shu Qi starved to death on the Western Hill. If good and evil in fact meet with no response, why set up teachings at all and speak to no purpose? At ninety a man still went about with a rope for a belt, and his hunger and cold were worse than in the years of his strength. If one did not rely on the virtue of holding firm in poverty, by whose name would anything be handed down through a hundred generations?

积善之说云有善报，伯夷叔齐却饿死西山。若善恶果然不报，何必空自立言教人。九十岁仍行束带索，饥寒更甚于壮年。若不依赖固守穷节，百世之后凭谁传名。

Appreciation

Only eight lines, yet the reasoning deepens at every step. Tao Yuanming sets the common saying that heaped-up goodness has its reward against the plain fact that Bo Yi and Shu Qi starved on the Western Hill, and the opening therefore overturns received wisdom at once. The question that follows—if good and evil meet no answer, why set up empty teachings?—lets a flash of indignation show through the calm. The fifth and sixth lines make the argument concrete in the image of a man at ninety still belted with a rope, hungrier and colder than in his prime. Then the closing couplet lifts abruptly: precisely because goodness is not repaid, only holding firm in poverty can carry a name through a hundred generations. The language is as plain as speech and yet holds a settled truth, which is what Su Shi meant in calling Tao's verse plain yet in fact patterned, spare yet in fact rich.

【白话串讲】陶渊明问：都说善有善报，可伯夷叔齐饿死在首阳山，善报在哪？“九十行带索，饥寒况当年”——他宁愿固穷，也不改自己的节操。“不赖固穷节，百世当谁传”——如果都不坚守，还有谁能传下去？【意象与手法】诗仅八句而理致层深：首二句以「积善云有报」与「夷叔在西山」对举，以伯夷叔齐饿死首阳的史实质疑善报之说，起笔即翻常识；三四句「善恶苟不应，何事空立言」顺势诘问，透出旷达中的愤激；五六句「九十行带索，饥寒况当年」以夷齐老年束索饥寒的惨状具象其说；末二句「不赖固穷节，百世当谁传」陡然振起，归于「固穷」乃传世之本，由疑善报到立守节，反转有力。语言如话而含至理，以史为喻、以问带议，见渊明「质而实绮，癯而实腴」之妙。【情感与主旨】《饮酒·其二》为陶渊明《饮酒》二十首组诗中的第二首，约作于东晋义熙十二年（416）前后，时渊明已归隐田园、躬耕自给。组诗非一时一地之作，多借酒抒怀，写归隐后的玄思与守节之志。此首以伯夷叔齐「积善无报」的史事发端，质疑世俗善有善报之说，进而申明「固穷」之节方是不朽所凭。【名句点睛】本诗为高考「陶渊明诗」「哲理诗」赏析篇目。考点：①「积善云有报，夷叔在西山」的用典与反衬；②「不赖固穷节，百世当谁传」的固穷之志；③以史为喻、以问带议的说理方式。

Background

Drinking Wine, No. 2, is the second of Tao Yuanming's sequence of twenty Drinking Wine poems, written about the twelfth year of the Yixi era of Eastern Jin (416), when the poet had already returned to the fields and was living by his own labour. The sequence was not written at one time or in one place; it mostly uses wine as a means of voicing feeling and records the abstruse reflections and the fidelity to principle of his life after retirement. This piece begins from the historical case of Bo Yi and Shu Qi, whose goodness went unrewarded, questions the common belief that good deeds bring good returns, and then states that holding firm in poverty is the only ground of lasting fame. In the last years of Eastern Jin the fashion for abstruse discourse was still strong, and Tao Yuanming, with the clear sight of a recluse farmer, turned such reasoning into plain poetic speech, inheriting the residue of Zhengshi abstruse verse while escaping its dryness and opening the pastoral realm in which principle is carried within scene.

《饮酒·其二》为陶渊明《饮酒》二十首组诗中的第二首，约作于东晋安帝义熙十二年（416）前后，时渊明五十二岁上下，已归隐田园、躬耕自给十余年。《饮酒》组诗前有小序，谓「余闲居寡欢，兼比夜已长，偶有名酒，无夕不饮……聊命故人书之，以为欢笑尔」，实则非一时一地之作，多借酒抒怀，写归隐后的玄思、孤愤与守节之志，是陶渊明思想与人格的集中展现。此首以伯夷叔齐「积善无报」的史事发端，质疑世俗「善有善报」之说，进而申明「固穷」之节方是不朽所凭。东晋末世，玄风仍炽，名士多以清谈相高，而渊明以田园隐者的清醒，将玄理化为平易诗语，既承正始玄言余绪，又脱出其枯燥之弊，开田园诗「理在景中」之境，此首正可见其以诗说理而不失诗味的艺术功力。此诗在《饮酒》组诗中虽非最著名者，然其思想之锐利，正见渊明归隐后对世道人心的冷峻思考；以诗说理而能情理兼至，是陶诗高于一般玄言诗之处，此诗正是陶渊明将玄理、史实、人格熔于一炉的代表作。

Art

In only eight lines the reasoning grows steadily deeper. The first two set 'they say that heaped-up goodness has its reward' against 'Bo Yi and Shu Qi lay on the Western Hill', using the fact of their starving on Mount Shouyang to question the doctrine of reward, so that the opening overturns common sense. The third and fourth press on with the question 'If good and evil truly meet no answer, why set up empty teachings at all?', letting indignation show through an unruffled surface. The fifth and sixth, 'At ninety he still walked with a rope for a belt; his hunger and cold were worse than in his prime', give the argument a body in the wretched image of old age. The last two, 'Were it not for the virtue of holding firm in poverty, by whom would a name pass down a hundred generations?', lift the poem sharply and settle it on fidelity in want as the ground of lasting fame, a reversal carried out with force. The words run like ordinary speech yet hold a settled truth, argument is carried by question and history is used as figure, showing the excellence that Su Shi described as plain yet in fact patterned, spare yet in fact rich.

诗仅八句而理致层深，章法跌宕：首二句「积善云有报，夷叔在西山」以「云有报」与「在西山」对举，用伯夷叔齐饿死首阳的史实质疑善报之说——据说积善有报，而夷齐饿死西山，报在何处？起笔即翻常识，立论奇峭；三四句「善恶苟不应，何事空立言」顺势诘问，若善恶果然无应，则圣贤立言岂非空设？反问之中透出旷达下的愤激；五六句「九十行带索，饥寒况当年」以夷齐老年束索饥寒的惨状具象其说，「况当年」三字更推进一层，谓其饥寒更甚于盛年，善者之困至此极矣；末二句「不赖固穷节，百世当谁传」陡然振起，归于「固穷」乃传世之本——由疑善报到立守节，反转有力。全诗语言如话而含至理，以史为喻、以问带议，正见渊明「质而实绮，癯而实腴」之妙。全诗四联，两两相对又层层递进：首联立疑，颔联诘问，颈联实证，尾联立旨，议论之四段式完整而紧凑；以史为据、以问代议、以形象补论，说理而不觉枯燥，正见陶诗「理趣」之妙——理在情中、理在象中，而非理在言外。

Allusions

The core allusion is that of Bo Yi and Shu Qi, told in the Records of the Grand Historian, Biographies of Bo Yi: the two sons of the lord of Guzhu yielded the state to each other, withdrew to Mount Shouyang, which is the Western Hill, refused to eat the grain of Zhou, lived on ferns and starved at last. 'They say that heaped-up goodness has its reward' inverts the commonplace of the Commentary on the Changes that 'a house that heaps up goodness will have abundant blessing' and of the Book of Documents that Heaven's way blesses the good and visits calamity on the licentious. 'Holding firm in poverty' comes from the Analects, Duke Ling of Wei, where 'the gentleman holds firm in poverty, while the small man in poverty gives way to excess', meaning fidelity to principle in want. The poet uses the starving of Bo Yi and Shu Qi to prove that goodness is not always rewarded, and then makes fidelity in poverty the ground of what endures, an allusion used by contrast, rich in reasoned interest, and a model of Tao's habit of using allusion as if by accident.

本诗核心用伯夷叔齐典故，事出《史记·伯夷列传》：孤竹君二子伯夷、叔齐让国而逃，闻西伯昌善养老而归周，及武王伐纣，叩马而谏，不食周粟，隐于首阳山（西山），采薇而食，终饿死山中。诗人以夷齐之饿死，证「善未必报」，起笔即据实立论，翻案有力。「积善云有报」反用《易·坤卦·文言》「积善之家必有余庆」及《尚书》「天道福善祸淫」之常言——圣贤立训，谓善必有报，而夷齐饿死，报于何有？「固穷」本于《论语·卫灵公》「君子固穷，小人穷斯滥矣」，谓穷困之中坚守节操而不改其志，诗人以「固穷节」为不朽所凭，正是以儒者之节回答道者之疑。用典反衬，理趣深长，是陶诗「用典于不经意」的范例。夷齐之典、固穷之训、积善之言，一史一儒一俗，三者在诗中互为发明：以俗谚立靶，以史实破靶，以儒训立旨，用典之妙，正在于三者之间的张力与统一，使一首八句的小诗承载了丰富的思想内容，足见陶渊明使典运思的功力。

Commentary

The poem is not in the Selections of Refined Literature, but Xiao Tong's preface to his edition of Tao Yuanming says that Tao 'speaks of the affairs of his time so that they can be pictured, and discusses his own heart with breadth and truth'. Su Shi of the Song loved Tao's verse above all and said it was 'plain yet in fact patterned, spare yet in fact rich'. Zhu Xi remarked that 'what Yuanming says of holding firm in poverty is something he has genuinely seen'. The modern scholar Gong Wang, in his critical notes on Tao Yuanming, says of this piece that 'it opens with Bo Yi and Shu Qi, doubts reward and returns to integrity; eight lines are worth a whole Biographies of Poor Scholars'. Scholars today praise the way it 'turns Zhengshi abstruse reasoning into the clear speech of the fields, doubting the ancients yet standing on its own ground, so that the backbone of the recluse shows plainly'. It illuminates the same fidelity as In Praise of Poor Scholars and Reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

萧统《陶渊明集序》评陶「语时事则指而可想，论怀抱则旷而且真」，此首以史议论怀抱，正见其真。宋人苏轼极爱陶诗，谓「渊明作诗不多，然质而实绮，癯而实腴」，此首以四组对句说理而不觉枯燥，正是质中见绮之例。朱熹评「渊明所说『固穷』，是真实见得」，非口头标榜——渊明归田躬耕、饥寒切身，其固穷之志是从饥寒中磨出来的。近人龚望《陶渊明集评议》谓此首「以夷齐发端，疑善归节，八句抵一篇《贫士传》」。当代学者更赞其「将正始玄理化为田园清言，疑古而自立，足见隐者之骨」。此诗与《咏贫士》《读山海经》诸作同彰固穷之志，是理解陶渊明思想（儒道互补、守节不移）的关键文本，也是魏晋哲理诗中艺术性最高的篇章之一。渊明之「固穷」，与后世士人标榜的清高不同，是其亲身挨过饥寒之后的真实选择，故朱熹谓其「真实见得」；此诗的价值，正在于把一种抽象的道德操守，写成了有血有肉的人生抉择，使读者不仅知其理，更能感其情，是哲理诗与抒情诗完美结合的典范。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient verse (one of the Drinking Wine sequence)五言古诗（《饮酒》组诗之一）

Rhyme Rhyming in the xian and han groups, with natural change of rhyme押上平十五删/寒韵（山、言、年、传），一韵到底

Tone pattern Not traceable五言古体，不拘平仄，音节自然

Reading note Tao Yuanming's literati five-character verse, in the old style, with no regulated-verse metre.此诗为五言古诗，属陶渊明《饮酒》二十首组诗，体制短小（八句四联）而章法谨严。前六句以两联一组推进议论：首联举史实、颔联发诘问，构成「立—破」之势；颈联以形象承转，尾联以反诘归旨，构成「承—合」之局，四联如四层波澜，层层翻进。押上平十五删（寒）韵，山、言、年、传四韵字一韵到底，声调平稳，正合说理诗庄重从容的语感；五言句式古拙，不用对仗而意脉流贯，是文人五言诗脱离乐府、走向个性化的典型。陶渊明以家常语写哲理诗，不事雕琢而理趣自深，开唐代王维、孟浩然、储光羲等田园哲理诗一脉，其「质而实绮」的风格在此诗中体现得尤为鲜明。

Line by line

积善云有报，夷叔在西山。

They say stored-up goodness meets its reward—yet Boyi and Shuaf ended in the western hills.

积善之说本云有善报，伯夷叔齐却饿死西山。

It is said that accumulated goodness brings its reward, yet Boyi and Shuaf starved on the western hills.

以史实对举，翻常识，起笔疑善报之说：首句「积善云有报」先引世俗常言与圣贤之训（积善之家必有余庆），次句「夷叔在西山」陡以史实截断——伯夷叔齐让国守节、不食周粟，饿死首阳，可谓至善，而结局竟如此惨酷。两句一虚一实、一说一证，把「善有善报」的信条击得粉碎。此联是全诗的立论根基，以最著名的善人遭最惨的结局，起笔即翻常识，奇峭有力，为下文「善恶苟不应」的诘问与「固穷」的归旨预作铺垫。

The opening pairs historical fact against common belief to challenge the doctrine of recompense. 'Stored-up goodness brings reward' cites the worldly maxim and the sages' teaching that a good house has surplus blessings. Then 'Boyi and Shuaf in the western hills' cuts it short: the two brothers who yielded their kingdom and starved rather than eat Zhou grain were supremely good, and their end was wretched. One line is abstract doctrine, the other concrete proof, and the proverb of good rewarded is shattered. The couplet is the poem's foundation: the most virtuous man suffers the cruellest fate, and the opening overturns common sense with a sharpness that prepares the later question and the final resolve.

善恶苟不应，何事空立言。

If good and evil truly go unrepaid, why did the sages leave all those empty words?

若善恶果然不报，何必空自立言教人。

If good and evil really meet no retribution, why take the trouble to set down words that teach in vain?

反问推进，透旷达中的愤激：若善恶果无报应，则圣贤为何立「福善祸淫」之言教人？「苟」字假设，「何事」二字质问，「空」字一笔抹倒——立言而无验，岂非空言？此问表面是质疑圣贤，实则愤激于天道之不公：善者饿死，恶者荣华，天理何在？两句以问带议，把首联的史实之疑推进为对天道本身的诘问，情绪由冷静的举证转为激切的质问，是全诗由疑到愤的转折，也为末联「固穷」之志的树立蓄足了势。

The rhetorical question presses on, revealing indignation beneath the detachment. If good and evil are indeed unrepaid, why did the sages lay down teachings of blessing for the good and ruin for the wicked? The word 'if' sets up the hypothesis, 'why' presses the challenge, and 'in vain' sweeps the teachings away: words with no result are empty words. On the surface the question doubts the sages; in truth it rages at the injustice of heaven—the good starve while the wicked thrive, where is the heavenly order? The question carries the argument from historical doubt to an indictment of heaven itself, the turning point of the poem and the preparation for the final resolve to hold to poverty.

九十行带索，饥寒况当年。

At ninety they still tied a rope for a belt, and hunger and cold were worse than in their prime.

九十岁仍以绳索为带，饥寒更甚于壮年。

At ninety years old they still wore a rope for a girdle, and hunger and cold pressed even harder than in their younger years.

具象夷齐惨状，证善报之虚：行带索写九十岁的夷齐仍以绳索束腰——衣不蔽体，以索代带，其穷可知；「饥寒况当年」更进一层，谓其饥寒之状比壮年时更甚。两句以最具体的细节写最残酷的现实：如此至善之人，老而愈穷，饥寒交迫，所谓善报，报于何有？此联承上文的史实之疑与天道之问，落到夷齐身体的惨状上，以形象的惨酷印证议论的激愤，使抽象的哲理有了血肉的实感，为末联「固穷节」的振起作了最有力的铺垫。

These lines render the wretchedness of Boyi and Shuaf in concrete detail, proving the emptiness of promised reward. 'At ninety they tied a rope for a belt' pictures clothing so ragged that a rope served as a sash—the poverty is plain. 'Hunger and cold were worse than in their prime' deepens it: their want grew greater, not less, in old age. The most concrete details state the cruelest fact: such supremely virtuous men grew poorer as they aged, and where was the reward? The couplet carries the earlier doubt and the indictment of heaven down onto the suffering body, giving abstract philosophy the weight of flesh and blood and preparing the final, rising line about keeping one's integrity.

不赖固穷节，百世当谁传。

Were it not for their resolve to hold to poverty, who would have carried their name across a hundred generations?

若不依赖固守穷节，百世之后凭谁传名。

If they had not relied on their integrity in want, who would have handed their name down through a hundred generations?

陡然振起，归旨于守节不朽，反转有力：前六句一路质疑善报、历数夷齐之惨，至末联忽翻出一境——然则夷齐之名何以百世传诵？正因其固守穷节，穷而不改其志，故虽饿死西山，而名垂千古。不赖固穷节，百世当谁传，以反诘道出：善未必有报，而守节必有传，天道之报虽虚，史笔之名不朽。「固穷」本于《论语》君子固穷，此处化儒理为诗心，由疑天道转而立人格，八句诗由破到立、由愤到守，章法跌宕，理趣深长，正是陶渊明「安贫守志」人生哲学的凝练表达。

The closing suddenly rises, landing on the immortality of holding to principle, and reverses the argument powerfully. The first six lines questioned reward and enumerated the brothers' misery, and then the final couplet turns: how then has their name lived for a hundred generations? Precisely because they held to poverty and would not change their will, they starved on the western hills yet their name endures. 'Were it not for their integrity, who would have carried their name?' states it as a question: goodness may not be rewarded in this life, but principle is remembered. The phrase 'holding to poverty' comes from the Analects' 'the gentleman holds to poverty,' and here Confucian doctrine becomes poetic heart—moving from doubting heaven to establishing character. The poem moves through breaking to building, through anger to endurance, in the condensed expression of Tao's philosophy of living poor and true.

Study

Word focus

固穷 From the Analects, where the gentleman holds firm in poverty; it means keeping one's integrity in want. It is the point on which the whole poem settles, and the phrase that lights it up. 「不赖固穷节」之「固穷」，本《论语·卫灵公》「君子固穷，小人穷斯滥矣」，谓穷困中坚守节操。此二字是全诗归旨所在，点睛之笔：前文历数善报之虚、夷齐之惨，至此方揭出真义——穷困本身不足悲，穷而能固其节，方是价值所在；天道之报虽不可恃，固穷之节自足传世。诗人以儒者之语立隐者之志，将全诗的愤激收束为坚贞，一字千金，是理解陶渊明人格的核心语汇，也是全诗由疑入定、由破入立的关键字眼。

带索 To use a rope as a belt. It pictures Bo Yi's hunger and cold in his last years with the utmost economy and the utmost bleakness, throwing into relief how hard it is to hold firm in poverty. 「九十行带索」之「带索」，以绳索为衣带，写伯夷暮年饥寒之状，极简而惨。带索二字白描如画：九旬老人，衣不蔽体，无带可用，以索束腰，其穷困窘迫之态宛然在目。此词以最日常的细节写最惨酷的现实，比直说「饥寒」更触目惊心；以索代带，既是身体之穷，亦是志节之坚——虽穷至此而志不移，反衬「固穷」之难能可贵。二字是具象化议论的典范，可见陶诗「以白描说理」的高超手腕。

空 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「何事空立言」之「空」字，一笔抹倒圣贤立言，是愤激之情的焦点。空者，徒然、无验之谓——若善恶无应，则立言教人岂非空设？此字以最轻的语气写最重的怀疑，将「积善有报」的信条连同其教化意义一并悬置，透出诗人对天道不公的激愤与旷达。唯其有「空」之疑，方有末联「固穷」之立，一空一实，由疑入信，此字正是全诗情感张力的支点，也是陶诗「以一字见议论锋芒」的典型。