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明 Ming · 诗 Poem

韬钤深处

Deep in the Art of War

戚继光

Qi Jiguang

小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟。
呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵。
云护牙签满，星含宝剑横。
封侯非我意，但愿海波平。

My small house has risen high on its pillow of hills;
The old league of worried hours still binds me.
Calling for the cup, I rise to salute my guests;
Waving the whisk, I sit and talk of war.
Clouds guard a full rack of books;
Starlight crosses - a bright sword held even.
Marquise and fief are not my wish:
Only that the waves of the sea lie flat.
Listen

Meaning

Composed at Penglai while Qi Jiguang was preparing the coastal defences, the poem describes the quiet of a general's study and then rejects the reward usually offered to such a life. The first half fills the room with books, wine, guests and a sword; the last couplet refuses a title and asks instead for the waves of the sea to lie flat. That closing wish has become the poem's most quoted line and the clearest statement of its patriotic feeling.

小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟。呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵。云护牙签满，星含宝剑横。封侯非我意，但愿海波平。

Appreciation

【Plain Paraphrase】The poet lives in a small house raised on the hills, bound by an old resolve to worry for the age; he calls for wine, salutes visitors, waves a whisk and discusses strategy; clouds guard his shelves, starlight holds a sword across his knees. Then the poem turns: a marquisate is not what he wants, only that the sea be calm.
【Structure】Eight lines in four couplets, each couplet doing one job - the setting, the conversation, the equipment, the refusal. The refusal therefore arrives after everything has been assembled against it.
【Imagery】The book and the sword are the two emblems of a scholar-general; the cloud and the starlight frame them, so the study itself seems to be lit from outside.

【白话串讲】 戚继光写《韬钤深处》：“小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟”——“呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵”——“云护牙签满，星含宝剑横”——“封侯非我意，但愿海波平”——他说封侯不是我的意愿——但愿海波平。 【意象与手法】 “小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟”以忧时写志；“呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵”以谈兵写抱负；“云护牙签满，星含宝剑横”以牙签宝剑写文武之备；结以“封侯非我意，但愿海波平”直抒胸臆。雄浑豪迈、言志明快。 【情感与主旨】 戚继光言志之作，抒写其不为封侯、只愿海疆平定的爱国情怀，是明代爱国将领诗中的名篇，“但愿海波平”成为千古名句。 【名句点睛】 常考“封侯非我意，但愿海波平”以海波平写爱国抱负；“云护牙签满，星含宝剑横”以宝剑横写武备。

Background

Qi Jiguang (1528-1588), courtesy name Yuanjing, was a Ming general from Penglai in Shandong who spent his career defending the southeast coast against Japanese pirate raids. He is remembered above all for the training routine and the 'Qi family boxing' he consolidated, which made his troops the best-disciplined in the empire. 'Deep in the Art of War' is said to have been written in years of retirement and study at Penglai, away from the front, when he turned to books and to wine with visiting officers. It is regarded as one of the outstanding poems by a militaryman in Chinese literary history.

《韬钤深处》为明代诗人戚继光所作诗。戚继光（1528—1588），字元敬，号南塘，晚号孟诸，山东蓬莱人，明代抗倭名将、民族英雄。此诗写咏怀言志，为咏韬钤（兵法）之作。诗中「小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟」写小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟；「呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵」写呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵；「云护牙签满，星含宝剑横」写云护牙签满，星含宝剑横；「封侯非我意，但愿海波平」写封侯非我意，但愿海波平。戚继光此诗以咏怀言志、但愿海波平写其言志之情，雄浑豪迈，是戚继光诗中的名篇。此篇《韬钤深处》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《韬钤深处》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem is a regulated verse of eight lines, and its art is largely restraint. The first three couplets accumulate the apparatus of a studied life - the raised house, the guests, the whisk, the shelves, the sword - and the fourth couplet discards the one thing such a life normally earns. Because everything has been piled up before the refusal, the wish that the waves of the sea lie flat lands like a door closing. The diction stays military and plain: no ornament, no recherché vocabulary, and the oblique tones of the close fall hard.

此诗艺术上以「雄浑豪迈、以志写怀」见长。全诗共八句四联，由小筑渐高枕而呼樽来揖客而云护牙签满。起「小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟」写小筑渐高枕：小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟；「呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵」写呼樽来揖客：呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵；「云护牙签满，星含宝剑横」写云护牙签满：云护牙签满，星含宝剑横；结「封侯非我意，但愿海波平」写但愿海波平：封侯非我意，但愿海波平。全诗以志写怀，由小筑渐高枕而但愿海波平，雄浑豪迈，是戚继光诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

'Waving the whisk' (hui zhu) carries a whole tradition: in the Wei-Jin period the fly-whisk was the emblem of literati pure conversation, so discussing strategy while waving it borrows the manner of the influential scholar without adopting the escapism. 'Ivory book-tags' (ya qian) refers to the ivory or bone tags that label scrolls in a library, hence the shelves themselves and the study behind them. 'Marquise' (feng hou) invokes the whole history of meritorious fiefs. 'The waves lie flat' answers the poet's own context of coastal defence, and turns a personal ambition into a public one.

诗中「小筑渐高枕忧时旧有盟」「呼樽来揖客挥麈坐谈兵」「云护牙签满星含宝剑横」「封侯非我意但愿海波平」等语，皆含典故故实。「小筑渐高枕忧时旧有盟」写小筑渐高枕忧时旧有盟；「呼樽来揖客挥麈坐谈兵」用挥麈之典（挥麈即执拂尘清谈），写呼樽来揖客挥麈坐谈兵；「云护牙签满星含宝剑横」用牙签之典（牙签为书签，写藏书），写云护牙签满星含宝剑横；「封侯非我意但愿海波平」写封侯非我意但愿海波平。诗人以挥麈、牙签之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把咏怀言志之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

The poem has been prized among the poems of generals since the Ming. Modern anthologies continue to print it as a document of patriotic resolve, and "Rank is not my wish; only that the waves of the sea lie flat" is among the most quoted couplets of its kind - the disinterest in fame appearing as the proof of sincerity in serving the state. Some readers take the quiet, book-filled opening as a record of actual retirement at Penglai; others treat it as the studious setting of an officer who is preparing rather than hiding. Either reading leaves the closing wish untouched.

这首《韬钤深处》，是戚继光写咏怀言志之作，写小筑渐高枕、呼樽来揖客、云护牙签满、但愿海波平之情，雄浑豪迈。起「小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟」——小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟。写小筑渐高枕：小筑渐高枕、忧时旧有盟——渐高枕、旧有盟；「呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵」——呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵。写呼樽来揖客：呼樽来揖客、挥麈坐谈兵——揖客、谈兵；「云护牙签满，星含宝剑横」——云护牙签满，星含宝剑横。写云护牙签满：云护牙签满、星含宝剑横——牙签满、宝剑横；结「封侯非我意，但愿海波平」——封侯非我意，但愿海波平。写但愿海波平：封侯非我意、但愿海波平——非我意、海波平。这「封侯非我意，但愿海波平」，是全诗之结：以但愿海波平写其言志。全诗雄浑豪迈，以志写怀，正是戚继光诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form Poem (Five-character regulated verse)诗（五言律诗）
Rhyme A five-character lüshi of eight lines in four couplets. Rimes: meng, bing, heng, ping - all in the Geng-Qing group, falling on the even lines.此诗为五言律诗，共八句四联。押韵：「盟」「兵」「横」「平」押庚青部韵。首联起、颔联承、颈联转、尾联合，平仄相间，正与写咏怀言志的雄浑豪迈相称，也见其以五律写言志的工稳。
Tone pattern Sound: the first couplet is calm and setting; the second brisk and social; the third broad and imagistic; the close lifted. The measured five-character cadence keeps the tone grave at every turn, and the plain tones at the end fall hard.句式上，「小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟」写小筑渐高枕，音节沉稳；「呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵」写呼樽来揖客，音节豪迈；「云护牙签满，星含宝剑横」写云护牙签满，音节雄浑；结「封侯非我意，但愿海波平」写但愿海波平，音节昂扬。全诗音节随情起伏，由沉稳而豪迈、由雄浑而昂扬，正合五律「工稳」之妙，读来如咏怀言志、但愿海波平之音，雄浑而动人。
Reading note Note: a regulated poem on the art of war, remarkable for being written by a general. Its formal evenness is part of the meaning: the composed, balanced verse contrasts with an urgent subject, and the poem's one blunt wish at the end breaks through that decorum deliberately. The couplet that opens - short, flat, unadorned - is the most quotable four characters in the poem.此诗为五言律诗，是戚继光写咏怀言志之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「雄浑豪迈、以志写怀」：「小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟」写小筑渐高枕、「呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵」写呼樽来揖客、「云护牙签满，星含宝剑横」写云护牙签满、「封侯非我意，但愿海波平」写但愿海波平。全诗雄浑豪迈，以志写怀。尤为精妙者，是「挥麈坐谈兵」用挥麈之典；而「但愿海波平」写尽海波平之情，正是戚继光诗「雄浑豪迈」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《韬钤深处》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟。

My small house has risen high on its pillow of hills; / The old league of worried hours still binds me.

小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟。

My small lodge, the pillow grows high; my old vow of concern for the times remains.

起句写小筑渐高枕，起笔即见其筑。「小筑渐高枕」写小筑渐高枕，「小筑」写小筑、「渐高枕」写渐高枕；「忧时旧有盟」写忧时旧有盟，「忧时」写忧时、「旧有盟」写旧有盟。一句写小筑渐高枕忧时旧有盟，以小筑渐高枕写渐高枕、以忧时旧有盟写旧有盟，写尽小筑渐高枕、忧时旧有盟之情。以筑起兴，雄浑而豪迈，是「以筑起兴」的妙笔。

The lodge. My small lodge, the pillow grows high; my old vow of concern for the times remains. The small lodge and the old vow are the opening. To have kept the old vow would be a vow; the my-small-lodge-the-pillow-grows-high-my-old-vow-of-concern-for-the-times-remains is the vow.

呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵。

Calling for the cup, I rise to salute my guests; / Waving the whisk, I sit and talk of war.

呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵。

I call for wine cups and bow to my guests, waving the whisk as we sit and talk of war.

此句写呼樽来揖客，是全诗写揖客之态的关键。「呼樽来揖客」写呼樽来揖客，「呼樽」写呼樽、「来揖客」写来揖客；「挥麈坐谈兵」用挥麈之典写挥麈坐谈兵，「挥麈」写挥麈、「坐谈兵」写坐谈兵。一句写呼樽来揖客挥麈坐谈兵，以呼樽来揖客写揖客、以挥麈坐谈兵写谈兵，写尽呼樽来揖客、挥麈坐谈兵之情。以樽写怀，雄浑而豪迈，是「以樽写怀」的点睛之笔。

The talk. I call for wine cups and bow to my guests, waving the whisk as we sit and talk of war. The wine cups and the waved whisk and the talk of war are the gathering. To have talked of war over wine would be a talk; the I-call-for-wine-cups-and-bow-to-my-guests-waving-the-whisk-as-we-sit-and-talk-of-war is the talk.

云护牙签满，星含宝剑横。

Clouds guard a full rack of books; / Starlight crosses - a bright sword held even.

云护牙签满，星含宝剑横。

Clouds guard the full shelves of book tokens; stars hold the sword laid across.

此句写云护牙签满，是全诗写牙签之态的关键。「云护牙签满」用牙签之典写云护牙签满，「云护」写云护、「牙签满」写牙签满；「星含宝剑横」写星含宝剑横，「星含」写星含、「宝剑横」写宝剑横。一句写云护牙签满星含宝剑横，以云护牙签满写牙签满、以星含宝剑横写宝剑横，写尽云护牙签满、星含宝剑横之情。以剑写怀，雄浑而豪迈，是「以剑写怀」的点睛之笔。

The sword. Clouds guard the full shelves of book tokens; stars hold the sword laid across. The book shelves and the laid-across sword are the scholar-warrior couplet. To have paired the books and the sword would be a couplet; the clouds-guard-the-full-shelves-of-book-tokens-stars-hold-the-sword-laid-across is the couplet.

封侯非我意，但愿海波平。

Marquise and fief are not my wish: / Only that the waves of the sea lie flat.

封侯非我意，但愿海波平。

Enfeoffment as a lord is not my wish; I only wish the sea waves be stilled.

结句写封侯非我意，是全诗立意的落点。「封侯非我意」写封侯非我意，「封侯」写封侯、「非我意」写非我意；「但愿海波平」写但愿海波平，「但愿」写但愿、「海波平」写海波平。一句写封侯非我意但愿海波平，以封侯非我意写非我意、以但愿海波平写海波平，写尽封侯非我意、但愿海波平之情。以海写情，雄浑而豪迈，是全诗最动人处，也是「以海写情」的点睛之笔。

The wish. Enfeoffment as a lord is not my wish; I only wish the sea waves be stilled. The not-my-wish for a title and the only-wish for a peaceful sea are the famous close. To have wished only for a peaceful sea would be a wish; the enfeoffment-as-a-lord-is-not-my-wish-I-only-wish-the-sea-waves-be-stilled is the wish.

Study

Word focus

小筑 small house; a modest dwelling, here raised on the ground like a pillow, which marks the poet's retreat from the front. 「小筑」写小筑渐高枕，是写小筑之态的关键。「小筑渐高枕」着一「小筑」，写小筑——着一「小筑」，写小筑渐高枕，见其筑之小。两字写尽小筑之态，是「以词写筑」的妙笔。「小筑」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
挥麈 waving a fly-whisk; the emblem of Wei-Jin literati conversation, borrowed so that talking of war looks like elegant discourse rather than mere soldiering. 「挥麈」写挥麈坐谈兵，是写挥麈之态的关键。「挥麈坐谈兵」着一「挥麈」，写挥麈——着一「挥麈」，写挥麈坐谈兵，见其麈之挥。两字写尽挥麈之态，是「以词写麈」的点睛之词。「挥麈」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
牙签 ivory book-tags; the labels on scrolls, hence the shelves of books themselves - a sign of study rather than of campaign. 「牙签」写云护牙签满，是写牙签之态的关键。「云护牙签满」着一「牙签」，写牙签——着一「牙签」，写云护牙签满，见其签之牙。两字写尽牙签之态，是「以词写签」的点睛之词。「牙签」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
宝剑 a bright sword; the military emblem, held level under starlight so that it reads as ready rather than displayed. 「宝剑」写星含宝剑横，是写宝剑之态的关键。「星含宝剑横」着一「宝剑」，写宝剑——着一「宝剑」，写星含宝剑横，见其剑之宝。两字写尽宝剑之态，是「以词写剑」的点睛之词。「宝剑」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

水调歌头·明月几时有 Tune: Prelude to the Water Melody - When Will the Bright Moon Appear? 苏轼 · 同写言志感怀、雄浑旷达，一写我欲乘风归去、一写封侯非我意但愿海波平，皆于言志之中见雄浑 Both write of resolve and grandeur - Su Shi on riding the wind, Qi Jiguang on 'Marquise and fief are not my wish, only that the waves of the sea lie flat' - each in its own way magnanimous.

Su Shi's 'Tune: Prelude to the Water Melody', "I would ride the wind home, yet fear the jade terraces, too high to bear the cold", rises above the world and then declines the ascent with a philosopher's casualness; Qi Jiguang's 'Deep in the Art of War' declines a marquisate with a general's plainness. Both poems end by setting aside fame: one for the cool of a moonlit roof, one for the calm of the sea. The contrast lies in the element chosen - air versus water - and in the tone, speculative against declarative.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「我欲乘风归去，又恐琼楼玉宇，高处不胜寒」，写言志感怀、雄浑旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；戚继光《韬钤深处》则以「封侯非我意，但愿海波平」「云护牙签满，星含宝剑横」写海波平、宝剑横。两诗同写言志感怀、雄浑旷达：一写我欲乘风归去、以乘风写超然，一写封侯非我意但愿海波平、以海波写言志；一为苏轼之旷达、一为戚继光之雄浑，并读正可见诗写「言志感怀」的两种笔法，皆于言志之中见雄浑。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Eight Beats of a Gaodie - Over the Silent Pool the Rain Descends on a Sky-wide Scene 柳永 · 同写边海凝望、雄浑清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写呼樽来揖客挥麈坐谈兵，皆于边海之中见凝望 Both write of looking out over a borderland of sea and sky - Liu Yong toward rain-washed autumn, Qi Jiguang toward the waves he asks to be calmed - and both let the view define the speaker's purpose.

Liu Yong's 'Eight Beats of a Gaodie' opens 'Over the silent pool the rain descends on a sky-wide scene, a fresh washing of clear autumn', a wanderer's view of desolation; Qi Jiguang's poem ends with "Only that the waves of the sea lie flat", the same horizon asked to be peaceful. One accepts the weather as it is, the other would have nature obey a wish. Set together, the two show how the Chinese poetic borderland can bear either sadness or resolve, and how little wording separates the two.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写边海凝望、雄浑清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；戚继光《韬钤深处》则以「呼樽来揖客，挥麈坐谈兵」「小筑渐高枕，忧时旧有盟」写谈兵、旧有盟。两诗同写边海凝望、雄浑清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写呼樽来揖客挥麈坐谈兵、以谈兵写言志；一为柳永之清丽、一为戚继光之雄浑，并读正可见诗写「边海凝望」的两种笔法，皆于边海之中见凝望。