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明 Ming · 诗 Poem

秋日巴中

An Autumn Day in Bazhong

王廷相

Wang Tingxiang

羁旅life on the road 感怀reflection

巴东秋气早，行客已悽悽。
江险深三峡，云寒暗五溪。
中原无雁至，异国足猿啼。
况近乌蛮塞，连年尚鼓鼙。

In eastern Ba the autumn air comes early;
the traveller is already chilled with grief.
The river is more perilous and deep than the Three Gorges;
the cold clouds darken the Five Streams.
From the Central Plain no wild goose arrives;
in this foreign land there is no end of gibbons crying.
And we are close to the Wuman frontier,
where year after year the war drums still sound.

Listen

Meaning

Autumn comes early to eastern Ba, and a traveller who reaches it feels the chill of grief at once. The river here is more dangerous and runs deeper than the Three Gorges, and cold cloud darkens the country of the Five Streams. No wild goose comes from the Central Plain with word from home; in this strange land there is nothing but the crying of gibbons. And this place lies close to the Wuman frontier, where year after year the war drums have not fallen silent.

巴东的秋气来得早，行客到此已觉凄凄然。江流险恶深于三峡，云色凄寒暗蔽五溪。中原之地大雁不至，异乡之地只足猿啼。何况接近乌蛮边塞，连年来战鼓仍不息。

Appreciation

The poem takes the sorrow of travel as its theme, and yet folds a private fate into landscape and the affairs of the age. The opening couplet gives place, season and feeling at once. The second works the words 'deep' and 'darken' upon the scene and renders the remoteness and severity of the Ba country. The third sets a negative against a positive, the goose that never comes standing for letters cut off and the endless gibbons deepening the solitude. Then the last couplet pushes out from one man's grief to the unfinished war on the border, so that the poem does not sink into private weakness but ends on something graver and larger.

【白话串讲】 “巴东秋气早，行客已悽悽”——王廷相写巴中：秋天来得早。“中原无雁至，异国足猿啼”——中原的信雁不来，只有猿啼。“况近乌蛮塞，连年尚鼓鼙”——边塞连年战鼓。【意象与手法】此诗以羁旅之悲为主旨，而能将个人身世融入江山时局，含蓄深沉。首联「巴东秋气早，行客已悽悽」点地、点时、点情，开门见山；颔联「江险深三峡，云寒暗五溪」以「深」「暗」二字炼景，写出巴蜀地僻气肃之状；颈联「中原无雁至，异国足猿啼」以「无」「足」对照，雁不至暗伤音书断绝，猿啼多更添孤寂；尾联「况近乌蛮塞，连年尚鼓鼙」由一身之戚推向边患未息之忧。通篇对仗匀称，景情相生，结有余味。【情感与主旨】王廷相（1474—1544），字子衡，号浚川，仪封（今河南兰考）人，弘治十五年进士，累官至南京兵部尚书，明代著名哲学家与诗人。其诗论主张「意象透莹」，反对「事实粘著」。此首题一作《秋日巴中旅行》，当作于诗人宦游巴蜀、滞留异乡期间。巴东秋早，江险塞遥，又当明代西南多事之秋，诗人独客于此，兼以音书难寄、猿啼盈耳，遂以五律写羁旅之悲，并微露对连年边患的忧虑。【名句点睛】中高考若选此诗，考点多在：一、炼字，要求赏析「深」「暗」「无」「足」等副词、形容词的锤炼之妙，体会以实字写虚情之法；二、景情关系，尾联由个人羁愁推及边患时局的「以小见大」；三、羁旅诗的意象传统（秋气、猿啼、雁信、鼓鼙）。

Background

Wang Tingxiang (1474 to 1544), styled Ziheng and called Junchuan, was a native of Yifeng, in modern Lankao in Henan; he took his doctorate in the fifteenth year of the Hongzhi reign and rose to be Minister of War at Nanjing, and he was a well-known philosopher as well as a poet. In poetics he held that the image should be luminous and opposed sticking to bare fact. This poem is also titled An Autumn Day Travelling in Bazhong and must have been written while he served away from home in Ba and Shu. Autumn comes early in eastern Ba, the river is dangerous and the frontier remote; the Ming south-west was then in a troubled period, and the poet, alone in a strange place, unable to send or receive letters, with the cries of gibbons in his ears, used a five-character regulated poem to write the sorrow of travel and to hint at his worry over years of border warfare.

王廷相（1474—1544），字子衡，号浚川，仪封（今河南兰考）人，弘治十五年（1502）进士，历官至南京兵部尚书，是明代著名的哲学家、文学家，与李梦阳、何景明等并称「前七子」，然其诗论独标「意象透莹」之说，主张诗歌「以意象为主」、情与景浑融无间，反对「事实粘著」的质实写法。此诗题一作《秋日巴中旅行》，当作于诗人宦游巴蜀、滞留异乡期间。巴东（今重庆东部及湖北西部一带）地处巴山蜀水之间，江流险急，秋气早至；而明代中期，西南地区土司叛乱、边患频仍，乌蛮一带连年用兵，诗人独客于此，正值秋风萧瑟，又兼音书难寄、猿啼盈耳，遂以五律写羁旅之悲，并在尾联由一己之戚微露对连年边患的忧虑，把个人身世融入江山时局，正是其「意象透莹」诗论的一次实践。明代中期，西南地区土司与流官矛盾尖锐，播州、乌蒙、乌撒等地屡有叛乱，朝廷连年用兵，四川、贵州一带战事不息。王廷相历官南北，曾任四川按察使等职，对西南边务当有切身的了解，故此诗写巴中之秋，特以『况近乌蛮塞，连年尚鼓鼙』收束，把个人的羁旅之悲放入时代的边患背景之中。作为哲学家，王廷相重实学，其诗亦尚意象而戒浮华，此诗正是其以切身之感写时势之忧的作品，在明代文人诗中，别具一种经世致用的气质。

Art

The poem takes the sorrow of travel as its theme, yet folds a private fate into landscape and the affairs of the age, reserved and deep. The opening couplet, in which the autumn air comes early to eastern Ba and the traveller is already chilled with grief, gives place, season and feeling at once, straight to the point. The second couplet, with the river more perilous and deep than the Three Gorges and cold clouds darkening the Five Streams, works the two words 'deep' and 'darken' upon the scene and renders the remoteness and severity of the Ba country. The third, in which no wild goose arrives from the Central Plain and there is no end of gibbons crying in a foreign land, sets a negative against a positive: the goose that does not come hints at letters cut off, and the many gibbons deepen the solitude. The closing couplet, with the Wuman frontier near and the war drums sounding year after year, pushes out from a single man's grief to anxiety over unfinished border war. The parallelism is even throughout, scene and feeling generate each other, and the ending leaves an aftertaste.

此诗以羁旅之悲为主旨，将个人身世融入江山时局，含蓄深沉。章法上，首联点地、点时、点情：「巴东秋气早」写巴东秋来特早，地势之高寒立见，「行客已悽悽」写行客到此已觉凄然，一个「已」字写出愁情之早生，开门见山。颔联炼景：「江险深三峡，云寒暗五溪」以「深」「暗」二字写江之险、云之寒——「深三峡」言江流险恶更甚于三峡，「暗五溪」言寒云蔽空、五溪黯淡，地僻气肃之状如在目前。颈联对照：「中原无雁至，异国足猿啼」以「无」「足」对举，中原雁信不至，暗伤音书断绝；异乡猿啼盈耳，更添孤寂，一无一有，凄清倍增。尾联推进：「况近乌蛮塞，连年尚鼓鼙」以「况」字递进，由一身之愁推向边患未息之忧，由小我而天下，结有余味。全诗对仗匀称、炼字精警，景情相生，正是「意象透莹」的体现。此诗在格律上的特点，是严守五律而能于规矩中见变化：颔联『江险深三峡，云寒暗五溪』以地名入对，一江一云、一水一山，意象疏朗；颈联『中原无雁至，异国足猿啼』以方位对举，一中一外、一无一是，情感顿挫；而『况』字领起尾联，如流水之就下，由写景自然转入写怀，全诗由景入情、由情入时，层层推进，正是五律起承转合的典范，也可见明代诗人对唐人格律的严守与活用。

Allusions

There is very little direct allusion, and the excellence lies in the quiet use of earlier images. The Five Streams properly names five watercourses in western Hunan, a wild region of exile since Han and Wei times, as in Li Bai's line about hearing that his friend had passed the Five Streams on the way to Longbiao, and here it stands for the remote country beyond Ba and Shu. Wuman was the name of a south-western people in Tang times, paired with the Baiman, and stands generally for the marches of Yunnan and Guizhou, so that the Wuman frontier means the south-western border. The war drums come from the Record of Music in the Book of Rites, where the sound of the drums is stirring and by it the troops advance, and later stand simply for warfare. All these words use geography and the images of music to write wilderness and fighting without saying so directly, so that the background of the age appears of itself, exactly in keeping with his doctrine that the image should be luminous.

此诗用典与化用甚少，而妙在暗用前人意象。「五溪」本指湘西沅水流域的五条溪流（雄溪、樠溪、酉溪、潕溪、辰溪），汉魏以来为蛮荒贬谪之地，李白《闻王昌龄左迁龙标遥有此寄》「闻道龙标过五溪」即以「五溪」写贬所之荒远，王廷相借指巴蜀徼外之地，暗含荒远之叹。「乌蛮」为唐代对西南少数民族部落的称呼（与「白蛮」相对），泛指滇黔川边之民，「乌蛮塞」即西南边塞，点出明代西南用兵之地。「鼓鼙」语出《礼记·乐记》「鼓鼙之声欢，欢以立动，动以进众」，本指军中鼓乐，后以「鼓鼙」代指战事，「连年尚鼓鼙」暗写边患未息。「猿啼」则承郦道元《水经注》「巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳」的巴蜀意象传统。诸词皆以地理、乐象暗写边荒与兵戈，不事直陈而时代背景自见，正合其「意象透莹」之主张。『行客』一词，本于《古诗十九首》『人生天地间，忽如远行客』，写人生如寄之感，王廷相以行客自指，正暗含此意；『凄凄』又见于《诗经·小雅·小明》的客子之叹，与《楚辞》『悲哉秋之为气也』的悲秋传统相接。至于『乌蛮』，唐代樊绰《蛮书》有乌蛮、白蛮之分，宋元以后泛指西南诸族，王廷相用之，既写边塞之远，亦暗含对边地各族关系的忧虑，一词而兼具地理与政治的双重意味。

Commentary

Qian Qianyi's brief lives of the poets of the dynasty judged Wang Tingxiang's work in five and seven characters to show talent and feeling worth looking at but imitation that loses truth, which is somewhat severe; Shen Deqian's Ming Shi Bie Cai, on the other hand, includes his An Autumn Day Travelling in Bazhong without reservation. Modern critics hold that he lived up to his own principle that the image should be luminous, and that the two lines about the river more perilous than the Three Gorges and the cold clouds darkening the Five Streams lodge feeling in scene without sticking to fact, a fair footnote to his poetics. Writing as a philosopher, he lets reason and feeling generate each other and opens a door of his own beside the lingering court manner of the mid-Ming, and this regulated poem may stand as his representative.

钱谦益《列朝诗集小传》评王廷相「五七言研讨，才情可观，而摹拟失真」，持论稍苛，谓其诗偶有摹拟之痕；然沈德潜《明诗别裁》仍录其《秋日巴中旅行》（即此诗）而不废，可见其在明诗中的地位。近人论王廷相诗，谓「意象透莹」之说能身体力行，此篇「江险深三峡，云寒暗五溪」二句，景中寓情、不粘事实，正是其诗论的注脚。王氏以哲学家而为诗，故诗中多理趣与思致：不是堆砌典故、摹拟汉魏的复古派面目，而是以清刚的笔触写真实的羁旅情怀，在明中叶台阁体余风之外别开户牖。此诗虽非王廷相最著名之作，却完整地体现了其「以意象为主」的诗学主张，是研究明代中期诗风转变与「前七子」内部异趋的重要材料，也是明代五律中写羁旅之悲的佳作。近人选明诗，多录高启、李梦阳、何景明诸家，而王廷相以哲学家而为诗，其诗名往往为学名所掩；然此诗『江险深三峡，云寒暗五溪』一联，气象雄浑，直可追步唐人，足见其诗才。明诗自弘治以来，前七子倡文必秦汉、诗必盛唐，摹拟之风大盛，王廷相虽名列七子，而其诗独以意象透莹之说矫正摹拟之弊，主张写真情实感，此诗正其主张的实践，在明中叶诗坛上别开生面，也是研究明代诗学由摹拟转向性灵的重要材料。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse五言律诗（平起首句不入韵式）

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, upper level eight qi group (grief, streams, crying, drums), one rhyme throughout押平声韵，韵脚为「悽、溪、啼、鼙」，属平水韵上平八齐韵，一韵到底。

Tone pattern Level onset, the first line not entering the rhyme; the middle two couplets are neatly parallel首句「巴东秋气早」以平声起，为平起首句不入韵式；中二联对仗工整：「江险」对「云寒」，「深三峡」对「暗五溪」；「中原」对「异国」，「无雁至」对「足猿啼」，平仄相间，声调沉郁。

Reading note The poem is also titled An Autumn Day Travelling in Bazhong; it writes the grief of early autumn on the road in a strange land.此诗为五言律诗，八句四联，章法谨严：首联点地时情，颔联写江山之险暗，颈联写音书之断绝，尾联推及边患时局，起承转合分明。格律上，全诗平仄合律，中二联对仗精工，而「深」「暗」「无」「足」「况」「尚」等炼字与虚字穿插其间，使严整的格律生出沉郁顿挫的声情。押韵属上平八齐，韵脚「悽、溪、啼、鼙」皆为低回之音，正合羁旅之悲的声情；「悽悽」叠字起韵，音节低回，「鼙」字收韵，如战鼓余响，声情与辞情相谐。明代五律多承唐人格调，王廷相此诗在格律上严守唐法，而以清刚的炼字、真实的感情出之，无摹拟之痕，正是其「意象透莹」诗论在格律中的体现——格律是骨架，意象是血肉，情思是灵魂，三者相得，遂成明人五律中写羁旅之悲的佳作。

Line by line

巴东秋气早，行客已悽悽

In eastern Ba the autumn air comes early; the traveller is already chilled with grief.

巴东的秋气来得早，行客到此已觉凄凄然。

Autumn comes early to eastern Ba; the traveler already feels desolate.

起联点地、点时、点情，是全诗开门见山的起笔。「巴东秋气早」写巴东地势高寒、秋来特早——一个「早」字，既写巴东节候之异于中原，也暗含行客心理上「秋来得太早」的惊觉，仿佛秋天追着行客的脚步提前而至；「行客已悽悽」写行客到此已觉凄然，「已」字与「早」字相应：秋既早至，愁便早生，行客的凄惶从踏足巴东那一刻便开始了。「悽悽」即凄凄，叠字写愁情之弥漫，一开篇便以秋气与愁情笼罩全诗。此联不写景而先写情，情由秋气逼出，景情交融，为下文「江险」「云寒」「猿啼」的层层铺写定下凄凉的基调，正是「以情领起」的典型章法。

The early autumn. Autumn comes early to eastern Ba; the traveler already feels desolate. The early autumn and the already desolate traveler are the opening. To have opened with the early autumn would be an opening; the autumn-comes-early-to-eastern-Ba-the-traveler-already-feels-desolate is the opening.

江险深三峡，云寒暗五溪

The river is more perilous and deep than the Three Gorges; the cold clouds darken the Five Streams.

江流险恶深于三峡，云色凄寒暗蔽五溪。

The river's perils outdepth the Three Gorges; cold clouds darken the Five Streams.

此联是全诗炼字的精华，以「深」「暗」二字写尽巴蜀地僻气肃之状。「江险深三峡」写江流之险恶更甚于三峡——「深」字兼含「深于」（超过）与「深峻」二义，言巴东江势之险比三峡犹有过之，夸张而不失实；「云寒暗五溪」写寒云蔽空、五溪黯淡——「暗」字以云色写天色，更以「暗」写心情：天暗、地暗、心亦暗。二字皆以实字写虚情：江之「深」是水势之实，而写出行路之艰、前程之险；云之「暗」是天色之实，而写出心境之沉、客愁之浓。对仗上「江险」对「云寒」、「三峡」对「五溪」，一水一云、一实一虚，工整而意境苍凉，正是王廷相「意象透莹」的实践，也是中高考炼字赏析的经典例句。

The gorge. The river's perils outdepth the Three Gorges; cold clouds darken the Five Streams. The deep-gorge river and the dark-clouded streams are the landscape. To have deepened the Three Gorges would be an exaggeration; the river's-perils-outdepth-the-Three-Gorges-cold-clouds-darken-the-Five-Streams is the exaggeration.

中原无雁至，异国足猿啼

From the Central Plain no wild goose arrives; in this foreign land there is no end of gibbons crying.

中原之地大雁不至，异乡之地只足猿啼。

No geese come from the Central Plain; in this strange land there are more than enough gibbon cries.

此联以「无」「足」对举，写音书断绝与孤寂倍增，是全诗情感最浓的一联。「中原无雁至」写从中原方向飞来的大雁一只也没有——雁足传书是古诗常典，雁不至即书不至，家乡的音信渺无踪迹，「无」字写尽盼望之空；「异国足猿啼」写异乡之地却到处都是猿啼——郦道元《水经注》「巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳」，猿啼本是巴蜀愁苦之声，「足」字写其多、其频，一声声啼进客心。「无」与「足」对照：该来的（家书）没有，不该听的（猿啼）满耳，一无一有，把客居他乡的孤寂写到极处。此联以传统意象（雁、猿）写真切之情，对仗精工而不失自然，是全诗「以景写情」最成功的句子。

The gibbons. No geese come from the Central Plain; in this strange land there are more than enough gibbon cries. The no-geese (no letters) and the too-many gibbon cries are the loneliness. To have set no-geese against too-many-gibbons would be a contrast; the no-geese-come-from-the-Central-Plain-in-this-strange-land-there-are-more-than-enough-gibbon-cries is the contrast.

况近乌蛮塞，连年尚鼓鼙

And we are close to the Wuman frontier, where year after year the war drums still sound.

何况接近乌蛮边塞，连年来战鼓仍不息。

Worse, near the Wuman frontier, war drums have not ceased for years.

尾联以「况」字递进，由个人之愁推向家国之忧，是全诗境界的升华。「况近乌蛮塞」写此地更接近乌蛮边塞——「乌蛮」指西南少数民族聚居之地，明代中期西南土司叛乱频繁，「况」字把前六句的个人羁旅之悲，引向更广阔的时局之忧；「连年尚鼓鼙」写连年来战鼓不息——「尚」字暗含「至今犹然」的无奈，边患绵延多年而未能平息。此联的深意，在于由「一身」而「天下」：行客之凄凄、江云之险暗、雁断猿啼之孤寂，都因这「连年鼓鼙」的时代背景而更显沉重——个人之悲实是时局之悲的投影。以「鼓鼙」收束，战鼓声与猿啼声交织，结得警策而余味不尽，正是「以小见大」的典范收笔。

The drums. Worse, near the Wuman frontier, war drums have not ceased for years. The worsening near-the-barrier and the years of war drums are the close. To have closed on the war drums would be a close; the worse-near-the-Wuman-frontier-war-drums-have-not-ceased-for-years is the close.

Study

Word focus

深 It says that the river is more dangerous even than the Three Gorges; an adjective used as a verb, it renders to the full both the steep rush of the water and the fearfulness of so remote a place. 「江险深三峡」的「深」字，是此联炼字的关键，一语双关。「深」字两义：一作「深于、超过」解，言巴东江流之险恶比三峡犹有过之，以三峡之险作参照，极写此地江势之可畏；一作「深峻、深邃」解，言江水在峡谷中幽深奔流、莫测其底，写出水势的险急与幽深。「深」字兼含二义而皆通，正是炼字的妙处——读者取其一义则得其形，兼取二义则得其神：江既险于三峡，又深不可测，行路之艰、前程之险，尽在这一字之中。同时「深」以实字写虚情：水势之深是实景，而「险」与「深」合观，又暗含行客对前途的忧惧，景情交融，正是「意象透莹」主张的体现，也是理解此联的关键字眼。

暗 It describes cold cloud blotting out the sky; it paints the colour of the weather and stains it with grief at the same time, scene and feeling fused, the word-craft mature. 「云寒暗五溪」的「暗」字，以云色写天色、更以天色写心情，是全诗最见情致的炼字。「暗」本写云之蔽日、天色昏沉，是视觉之实；但置于「云寒」之后，便兼有触觉与心理的意味——寒云密布，天地昏暝，行客眼中的世界一片黯淡，心中也自然一片黯淡。「暗」字把「五溪」从地理名词化为一种阴暗凄凉的意境：五溪本是荒远之地，再被这「暗」字一染，更显其僻、其远、其不可居。与上句「深」字对举，「深」写江之险、「暗」写云之寒，一水一天、一实一虚，把巴蜀的险恶与凄寒写得如在目前。以实字写虚情，暗色即是愁色，正是此诗「景情相生」的典范，也是中高考炼字题的热点。

足 In the phrase about gibbons crying the word means 'many'; set against the wild goose that never arrives, it makes the loneliness heavier still. 「异国足猿啼」的「足」字，作「多、充足」解，与上句「无」字构成精妙的对照。「中原无雁至」写该来的不来——家书断绝；「异国足猿啼」写不该有的偏多——猿啼盈耳。「无」与「足」一虚一实、一静一动，把客居异乡的孤寂推向极处：音信渺然，唯闻猿啼，那一声声凄厉的猿鸣，仿佛替行客啼出了满腹的乡愁。「足」字还暗含厌烦与无奈：不是偶然一声，而是到处都是、啼个不休，躲也躲不开、听也听不完，正是「足」的烦扰。「猿啼」本出《水经注》「猿鸣三声泪沾裳」的巴蜀意象，着一「足」字，更添一层「苦声盈耳」的沉重，与「无雁至」的寂静相对照，以声写寂、以有写无，炼字之妙，尽在其中。