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南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 文 Prose

三峡

The Three Gorges (San Xia)

郦道元

Li Daoyuan

名篇Masterpiece 山水游记Landscape travelogue 写景Scenery depiction

自三峡七百里中，两岸连山，略无阙处。
重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日，自非亭午夜分，不见曦月。
至于夏水襄陵，沿溯阻绝。
或王命急宣，有时朝发白帝，暮到江陵，其间千二百里，虽乘奔御风，不以疾也。

Within the seven-hundred-li Three Gorges, the two banks are linked hills with scarce a gap. Piled crags and ranged peaks hide the sky and blot the sun; but for noon or midnight you see not the sun or moon. Then in summer the waters swell over the knolls, up and down cut off. When a royal command must speed, sometimes at dawn you leave Baidi, by dusk reach Jiangling — a thousand two hundred li between, and though you rode the running wind, it were not so fast.

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Meaning

The passage first describes the Gorges' unbroken linked hills and their height that hides sun and moon except at noon and midnight. It then turns to summer, when swollen waters block all passage, yet when a royal edict must race through, a boat covers a thousand two hundred li from Baidi to Jiangling in a single day — faster than a running horse or the wind.

在三峡七百里的水路中，两岸都是连绵的高山，几乎没有中断缺口的地方。层层的岩石、叠叠的峰峦，遮蔽了天空、遮住了太阳；如果不是正午和半夜，就看不见太阳和月亮。到了夏天，江水暴涨，漫上山陵，向上航行和向下航行的船只都被阻断隔绝了。有时朝廷的命令需要紧急传达，早晨从白帝城出发，傍晚就到了江陵，这中间一千二百里的路程，即使是骑着飞奔的快马、驾着疾风，也不认为有这么快的。

Appreciation

It opens 'within seven hundred li, linked hills, scarce a gap' to sum the mountains' continuity, then 'piled crags, ranged peaks, hide sky, blot sun' for their height, 'but for noon or midnight see not the sun' by side-light; turning to summer water, 'swell over knolls' for its force, 'cut off' for travel broken, 'dawn leave Baidi, dusk reach Jiangling' for its speed, closed by 'though ride the wind, not so fast.' Parallel and prose interlace, four-character lines, concession clauses lift mountain and water to the extreme; numbers (seven hundred li, thousand two hundred li) mix real and virtual.

【白话串讲】郦道元写《三峡》：“自三峡七百里中，两岸连山，略无阙处”。“重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日”——“朝发白帝，暮到江陵，其间千二百里，虽乘奔御风，不以疾也”——“常有高猿长啸，属引凄异”——“巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳”。【意象与手法】骈散结合、以少胜多：四字句为主，骈偶相对（「重岩叠嶂」对「隐天蔽日」），间以长句舒缓；「自非……不见」「虽……不以」的让步假设句式，以退为进，把山之高、水之急写到极致；数字入文（七百里、千二百里），虚实相生【情感与主旨】写三峡之险与江山之壮，在客观冷静的记述中暗含对大自然伟力的惊叹与行旅之艰的感慨，是中国山水散文写实写意结合的典范【名句点睛】「朝发白帝，暮到江陵……虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」以极短之语写极速之舟，成为后世写「快」的经典语式，李白《早发白帝城》即由此化出

Background

Li Daoyuan (c. 470-527), styled Shanfang, of Fanyang Zhuoxian (today Zhuozhou, Hebei), was a famed geographer and prose writer of Northern Wei. Born to an official family, he served as secretariat gentleman, investigating censor, and prefect of East Jingzhou, rising to censor-in-chief, known for stern law and fearlessness before the powerful, and died by royal slander. As a youth he traveled with his father Li Fan through parts of Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and diligently gathered texts; he annotated the Waterways Classic (Shui Jing) of a Three Kingdoms author, over years producing the Commentary on the Waterways Classic (Shui Jing Zhu) in forty rolls, some three hundred thousand characters, recording over twelve hundred waterways with notes twenty times the original, touching banks' hills, towns, passes, products, customs, legends - a water-indexed geographic encyclopedia. The Three Gorges is a passage from roll thirty-three, the Jiang Shui section. The gorges are the upper-Yangtze Qutang, Wu, and Xiling, from Baidi City in Fengjie west to Nanjinguan in Yichang east, some seven hundred li, with high mountains, deep valleys, many shoals and swift currents, ever a traveler's dread. Notably, Li lived in the divided Northern Wei and never reached the upper Yangtze; this passage was written from earlier records and texts. Yet with astonishing brush he evoked the gorges' four-season wonders in just over a hundred words, real and imagined fused, vivid to the eye - its literary achievement far above its geographic value, a landscape masterpiece recited for ages.

郦道元（约470—527），字善长，范阳涿县（今河北涿州）人，北魏著名地理学家、散文家。他出身官宦世家，历任尚书郎、治书侍御史、东荆州刺史等职，官至御史中尉，以执法严峻、不畏权贵著称，后遭皇族谗害而死。郦道元少年时随父亲郦范宦游，足迹遍及今山西、河北、河南、山东等地，又勤于搜访文献，为三国时人所撰《水经》作注，历时多年写成《水经注》四十卷，约三十万字，记载大小水道一千二百余条，注文二十倍于经文，旁及两岸的山川、城邑、关隘、物产、风俗、传说，实为一部以水为纲的地理百科全书。《三峡》即《水经注》卷三十三《江水》篇中描写长江三峡的一段。三峡指长江上游的瞿塘峡、巫峡、西陵峡，西起重庆奉节白帝城，东至湖北宜昌南津关，绵延约七百里，山高谷深、滩多水急，自古为行旅畏途。值得注意的是，郦道元生活在南北分裂的北魏，其足迹并未到达长江上游，此段文字当据前人记载与文献考订而写；然而他以惊人的笔力，仅用一百五十余字便写出三峡四时奇观，虚实相生、宛然在目，其文学成就远在其地理学价值之上，成为后世传诵不衰的山水名篇。

Art

This is parallel-prose landscape prose whose core is 'say much with little': the excerpt's hundred-odd words give the gorges' mountain, water, seasons, travel speed, no idle character. Structure first total then part, mountain to water: 'within seven hundred li, linked hills, scarce a gap' totals the mountains' reach, 'seven hundred li' for length, 'linked, scarce a gap' for wholeness; 'piled crags, ranged peaks, hide sky, blot sun' in two antitheses for weight and height; 'but for noon or midnight see not sun or moon' by hypothesis proves the sky-hidden height to its limit. The lower half turns with 'then' from still to moving: 'summer waters swell over knolls' for the flood, 'up and down cut off' for boats stopped, first a check; then 'when a royal command must speed' turns sharp to the boat's speed, 'dawn leave Baidi, dusk reach Jiangling' sets short time against far space, 'a thousand two hundred li' fixes by number, closed by 'though ride the wind, not so fast' as hyperbole, like a running horse halted. Throughout parallel and prose mix: four-character lines crisp, long lines easy, rhythm taut and loose — the peak of Six Dynasties landscape's 'clear and lovely' style.

此段为骈散结合的山水散文，其艺术核心在「以少总多」：节选仅一百五十余字，却写出三峡的山势、水势、季节差异与行旅之速，无一闲字。结构上先总后分、由山到水：起笔「自三峡七百里中，两岸连山，略无阙处」总写山势之绵延，以「七百里」定其长、「连山」「略无阙处」定其整，笔势开阔；「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」以四个名词性短语两两对偶，写山之厚重高峻；「自非亭午夜分，不见曦月」则以假设反证，从侧面烘托山之遮天——非正午不见日、非半夜不见月，把「高」写到极限。下半写水，以「至于」领起转折，由静入动：「夏水襄陵」四字写水势暴涨漫山，「沿溯阻绝」写舟楫断绝，先抑一笔；随即「或王命急宣」陡转，写朝廷急命之下舟行之速，「朝发白帝，暮到江陵」以时间之短对空间之远，「其间千二百里」以数字坐实，最后以「虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」的夸张收束，如奔马骤止。通篇骈散相间：四字骈句（重岩叠嶂、隐天蔽日、沿溯阻绝）短促有力，长句（自非亭午夜分、虽乘奔御风）舒缓生姿，节奏张弛有度，是六朝山水散文「清丽」风格的巅峰。

Allusions

Though mainly factual, its images root in tradition. 'Baidi' is Baidi City in Fengjie, where Gongsun Shu claimed the Han mandate and named it; later Liu Bei retreated there to entrust the boy to Zhuge Liang, making it a site of history and grief. 'Jiangling' is Jingzhou, the Chu capital Ying, a strategic town. 'Dawn leave Baidi, dusk reach Jiangling' for boat speed was later turned by Li Bai's 'at dawn I left Baidi in colored clouds, a thousand li to Jiangling in one day,' making Baidi-Jiangling the famous Tang couplet, showing the Shuijing Zhu's nurture of Tang poetry. 'Ride the wind' echoes Zhuangzi's Liezi riding the wind, the wind-ride figures the boat's speed. 'Swell over knolls' comes from the Documents' 'Yao's flood encircled mountains, swelled over knolls,' used here for summer's force with fresh sense. The gorges also bear the Wu mountain goddess and the long apes' cries (later 'often high apes wail, drawn and strange' and the fisher's song 'three cries and tears wet the robe'), cloaking the hydrology in myth and ballad.

此段文字虽以写实为主，其意象与语汇却深植于中国文化传统，典故与掌故层叠其间。「白帝」即白帝城，在今重庆奉节县，西汉末公孙述据蜀，见白龙出于井中，自以为承汉祚，遂自称白帝，于此建城，故称白帝城；三国时刘备伐吴兵败，退驻白帝城托孤于诸葛亮，此地遂成为历史与文学的伤心之地。「江陵」即今湖北荆州，为长江中游重镇，春秋战国时为楚之郢都所在，三国时为兵家必争之地。「朝发白帝，暮到江陵」本是写舟行之速的纪实，后来李白《早发白帝城》「朝辞白帝彩云间，千里江陵一日还」化用此语，使白帝、江陵成为唐诗中最著名的地名对举，可见《水经注》对唐诗的滋养。「乘奔御风」之语，上承《庄子·逍遥游》「列子御风而行」的典故，以御风而行喻舟行之疾，想象奇逸。「襄陵」出自《尚书·尧典》「荡荡怀山襄陵，浩浩滔天」，本写洪水漫上山陵之势，郦道元用以状夏水之盛，语有出处而意更翻新。三峡一带更流传着巫山神女、高猿长啸的传说（本篇后文有「常有高猿长啸，属引凄异」及渔歌「巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳」），使这段水文记述笼罩在神话与民谣的诗意之中。

Commentary

The Three Gorges is the most famed passage of the Shuijing Zhu and a source-text of Chinese landscape prose. Liu Xianting of Qing called the Shuijing Zhu 'a strange book unseen under heaven,' for fusing scholarship, scenery, and record. This excerpt is famed for 'concise yet rich' — hundred-odd words hold the mountains' form, the four seasons, the boat's speed, historical lore, every word a pearl. In literary history it follows Sang Qin's plain Shuijing, precedes Liu Zongyuan's Yongzhou Eight Records' seclusion and Su Shi's Red Cliff's openness; Tang-Song landscape prose almost all felt its influence. Ming critics cited it for landscape poetry notes, proving its place as 'landscape literature's mother text.' In schools 'piled crags, hide sky' and 'dawn leave Baidi' are recited by generations; Li Daoyuan is called a founder of Chinese travel literature. It turned the Yangtze gorges from a geographic name into a literary image, a symbol of 'the land's grandeur.'

《三峡》是《水经注》中最负盛名的段落，也是中国古代山水散文的源头性名篇。郦道元以地理学家的笔触兼文学家的才情写三峡，使这段注文成为「文」与「地」完美结合的典范；清代刘献廷评《水经注》为「宇宙未有之奇书」，正着眼其融考据、写景、记事于一体的伟大。《三峡》节选段尤其以「简而能厚」著称：仅一百五十余字，而山川形势、四时景物、舟行疾缓、历史掌故无不毕具，清人评其「文字精妙，字字珠玑」。在文学史上，此文上承桑钦《水经》的质朴，下启柳宗元《永州八记》的幽峭、苏轼《赤壁赋》的旷达，唐宋以降的山水散文几乎无不受到《水经注》的影响；明人钟惺、谭元春评诗论文时尝援引《水经注》文字为山水诗作注，可见其作为「山水文学母本」的地位。现代以来，《三峡》长期入选中学语文教材，「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」「朝发白帝，暮到江陵」等句为几代人所熟诵，郦道元也被誉为中国游记文学的开山者之一。就文化价值而言，此文把长江三峡从地理名词变成文学意象，使一条凶险的水道成为「江山之壮」的象征，其影响已远超地理学本身。

Prosody

Form Six Dynasties parallel-prose landscape prose (geographic commentary)六朝骈散结合的山水散文（地理注记体）

Rhyme Unrhymed, its music comes from parallel and prose interlace. Four-character lines like 'piled crags, ranged peaks, hide sky, blot sun' and 'up and down cut off' are crisp and opposed, a clangor; long lines like 'but for noon or midnight see not sun or moon' and 'though ride the wind not so fast' are easy and long like wave crests. Short and long alternate, fast and slow, read like the hills' rise and the water's hurry, its own rhythm.此文不押韵，其韵律感来自骈偶与散句的交错。四字骈句如「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」「沿溯阻绝」短促有力、两两相对，形成铿锵的节拍；长句如「自非亭午夜分，不见曦月」「虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」舒卷悠长，如浪头起伏。短句与长句交替出现，快慢相间，读来如山势之起伏、水流之疾徐，自成节奏。

Tone pattern An objective narrative tone, the speaker not stating feeling directly but letting the scene move the reader: mountains in heavy voice ('piled crags, hide sky'), water in runaway voice ('dawn leave Baidi, dusk reach Jiangling'), speed in flying voice ('though ride the wind'); the concession clauses 'but for… see not' and 'though… not so fast' give the narrative reasoned tightness and admiring aftertaste, passion within calm.通篇为客观记述语调，叙述者不直接抒情，而以景物自身的力量感染读者：写山则语势凝重（「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」），写水则语势奔放（「朝发白帝，暮到江陵」），写快则语势飞动（「虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」）；「自非……不见」「虽……不以疾也」的假设让步句式，更赋予叙述以推理的严密与赞叹的余味，冷静中见激情。

Reading note Its sound-beauty is the perfect isomorphism of parallel-prose rhythm and scene's spirit. The passage is built on four-character lines — 'linked hills,' 'piled crags,' 'hide sky,' 'summer waters swell,' 'up and down cut off,' 'dawn leave Baidi,' 'dusk reach Jiangling' — paired, crisp like beaten measure, mirroring the gorges' jaggedness and the water's rush; long lines ease between — 'within seven hundred li,' 'but for noon or midnight see not sun or moon,' 'a thousand two hundred li, though ride the wind not so fast' — set space, make hypothesis, stretch hyperbole, easy like the river's turn. This 'parallel and prose aiding' is the mark of mature Six Dynasties landscape: too parallel stagnates, too prose flatters, Li Daoyuan takes the middle, four-character for bone, long for spirit, tidy yet flowing. Note the sound shifts with content: mountains heavy, water runaway, 'dawn to dusk' like a running horse, 'ride the wind' like soaring — speech-speed and thing-speed one. Later Tongcheng critics urged 'seek the breath by the sound'; the Three Gorges is its perfect model, proving prose needs no rhyme to make heavenly rhythm by clause length and parallel mix — why it stays fit to chant.《三峡》的声情之美，在于骈散节奏与景物气韵的完美同构。全段以四字句为骨干——「两岸连山」「重岩叠嶂」「隐天蔽日」「夏水襄陵」「沿溯阻绝」「朝发白帝」「暮到江陵」，皆两两成偶、短促铿锵，如击节而诵，与三峡山势的嶙峋、水势的湍急相映成趣；间以长句缓之——「自三峡七百里中」「自非亭午夜分，不见曦月」「其间千二百里，虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」，或定空间之界，或作假设之推，或伸夸张之致，舒卷吞吐，如江流之回环。这种「骈散相济」的语言，是六朝山水散文成熟的标志：太骈则滞（如齐梁骈文之堆砌），太散则平（如流水账之寡味），郦道元取其中道，以四字立骨、以长句运神，使文章既整饬可诵，又气韵流动。尤可注意者，其声情随内容而变：写山则沉厚，写水则湍急，写「朝发暮到」则如奔马，写「乘奔御风」则如腾空，语速与物速合一。后代桐城派论文主张「因声求气」，谓文章之妙在声调气韵，《三峡》正是「因声求气」的绝佳范本；它证明散文不必押韵，凭句式长短、骈散交替即可成就天籁般的节奏，这也是它千百年来宜于诵读、历久弥新的内在原因。

Line by line

自三峡七百里中，两岸连山，略无阙处。

Within the seven-hundred-li Three Gorges, the two banks are linked hills with scarce a gap. (The total opening: 'within seven hundred li' sets the range by number, 'linked hills' the mountains' continuity as the gorges' wonder, 'scarce a gap' by negative reinforces the link, fixing the 'mountain' keynote; the long 'within…' eases like a slow pan, broad not pressed.)

在三峡七百里的水路中，两岸都是连绵的高山，几乎没有中断缺口的地方。

Across the seven hundred li of the Three Gorges, both banks are unbroken mountains, with scarcely a gap.

这是全段的总起，两句勾勒出三峡最根本的地理特征——山连而不断。「自三峡七百里中」以「自……中」的介宾结构定出叙述的范围，「七百里」是郦道元对三峡里程的估算（今实测全长约一百九十余公里），以数字入文，先给读者一个具体的空间尺度。「两岸连山」四字写山势之绵延——以水为坐标，两岸皆山，山之「连」正是三峡区别于一般峡谷的奇观；「略无阙处」紧承「连山」，「略」为「几乎、大体」之意，「阙」即缺口，四字以否定之否定强化山之连绵不绝，把「连」字写绝。这三句的妙处在于以少总多：不写山之高、不写谷之深，只写「连」与「无阙」，却已奠定全段「山」的基调；且「七百里」之远与「略无阙处」之全互相印证，空间感完整而辽阔，为下文「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」的细写预留了层次。句式上「自……中」「略无……处」两个结构舒缓从容，如长镜头缓缓摇过，笔势开阔而不迫。

The range. Across the seven hundred li of the Three Gorges, both banks are unbroken mountains, with scarcely a gap. The seven-hundred-li Three Gorges and the unbroken-banks-scarcely-gap are the opening. To have unbroken banks would be an unbroken-ness; the across-the-seven-hundred-li-of-the-three-gorges-both-banks-are-unbroken-mountains-with-scarcely-a-gap is the unbroken-ness.

重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日，自非亭午夜分，不见曦月。

Piled crags and ranged peaks hide the sky and blot the sun; but for noon or midnight you see not the sun or moon. (The点睛 for height: 'piled crags, ranged peaks' two antitheses, 'hide sky, blot sun' uses sky and sun as reference for the peaks' height; 'but for noon or midnight' by hypothesis proves the light can scarce enter, letting the reader infer the gorge's depth — one real one side, the height and depth stand in relief.)

层层的岩石、叠叠的峰峦，遮蔽了天空、遮住了太阳；如果不是正午和半夜，就看不见太阳和月亮。

Range on range of cliffs, peak on peak, hide the sky and shield the sun; unless it is noon or midnight, neither sun nor moon is seen.

此句写山之「高」，是全段写山的点睛之笔，其写法是先正面铺陈、再侧面反证。「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」八字两两对偶：岩言其层、嶂言其叠，「重」「叠」互文见义，状山石峰峦层层堆积之势；「隐天蔽日」以「天」「日」为参照，写山峰之高竟遮蔽天日，夸张而不失其真。「自非亭午夜分，不见曦月」随即以假设句反证：「自非」即「如果不是」，「亭午」为正午、「夜分」为半夜，「曦」指日光、「月」指月光——意思是除非正午（太阳正当头顶）和半夜（月亮正当头顶），峡谷中根本看不见日月的踪影。这种「以退为进」的写法，比正面说「山高万丈」高明得多：不写山有多高，只写光有多难照进来，让读者自己推想峡谷之深邃幽暗。四句由「岩嶂」之实写转到「曦月」之虚写，一实一虚、一正一侧，山的高峻与峡谷的幽深立体地呈现出来；且句式整齐中见变化，「重岩叠嶂」短促、「自非……不见」悠长，节奏起伏，为后文转写水势作了铺垫。

The cliffs. Range on range of cliffs, peak on peak, hide the sky and shield the sun; unless it is noon or midnight, neither sun nor moon is seen. The range-upon-range-hidden-sky and the unless-noon-midnight-no-sun-moon are the height. To have hidden the sky would be a hiding; the range-on-range-of-cliffs-peak-on-peak-hide-the-sky-and-shield-the-sun-unless-it-is-noon-or-midnight-neither-sun-nor-moon-is-seen is the hiding.

至于夏水襄陵，沿溯阻绝。

Then in summer the waters swell over the knolls, up and down cut off. (The hinge 'then' turns from mountain to water, the first seasonal turn. 'Swell over knolls' for summer's flood force, drawn from the Documents' flood; 'up and down cut off' — 'along' downstream, 'against' upstream, both stopped — first checks, to build the later speed; without this 'cut off' the 'dawn to dusk' speed loses its contrast.)

到了夏天，江水暴涨，漫上山陵，向上航行和向下航行的船只都被阻断隔绝了。

In summer the waters rise and overflow the banks; upstream and downstream alike are blocked.

此句以「至于」领起，是全文由写山转入写水的枢纽，也是季节变化的第一次转折。「至于」二字如话本中的「话说」，轻轻一转，便从静穆的山景过渡到奔涌的水势。「夏水襄陵」四字写夏汛水势之盛：「襄」为「漫上、淹没」之意，「陵」为山陵——江水暴涨竟漫上山陵，其势可知；此语本于《尚书·尧典》「荡荡怀山襄陵，浩浩滔天」的洪水描写，郦道元化用古语状三峡夏汛，语有出处而气象翻新。「沿溯阻绝」紧承水势之盛：「沿」指顺流而下、「溯」指逆流而上，一「沿」一「溯」涵盖上下行两种航向，皆「阻绝」——水势之大，连船只都完全断绝了交通。这一句的妙处在「先抑后扬」：先说夏水猛到舟楫绝迹，仿佛三峡完全不可通行，为下文「或王命急宣」的舟行之速蓄足势头；没有这一「绝」，便衬不出下一段「朝发暮到」之「速」。八字的转折简劲有力，是全段节奏由缓转疾的关节点。

The flood. In summer the waters rise and overflow the banks; upstream and downstream alike are blocked. The summer-waters-overflow-banks and the upstream-downstream-blocked are the flood. To have overflowed the banks would be an overflowing; the in-summer-the-waters-rise-and-overflow-the-banks-upstream-and-downstream-alike-are-blocked is the overflowing.

或王命急宣，有时朝发白帝，暮到江陵，其间千二百里，虽乘奔御风，不以疾也。

When a royal command must speed, sometimes at dawn you leave Baidi, by dusk reach Jiangling — a thousand two hundred li between, and though you rode the running horse and the wind, it were not so fast. (The climax: by boat speed writes the water's hurry. 'When a royal command must speed' gives the rush a reason; 'dawn leave Baidi, dusk reach Jiangling' sets short time against far space; 'a thousand two hundred li' fixes distance; 'though ride the wind' cites Zhuangzi's Liezi, concedes then judges 'not so fast,' pushing speed to the extreme — from real to virtual, narrative to metaphor, rushed like the torrent.)

有时朝廷的命令需要紧急传达，早晨从白帝城出发，傍晚就到了江陵，这中间一千二百里的路程，即使是骑着飞奔的快马、驾着疾风，也不认为有这么快的。

Sometimes when a royal command must be carried in haste, one leaves Baidi at dawn and reaches Jiangling by dusk; those twelve hundred li—though you rode a galloping horse or drove the wind, you would not be as swift.

这是全段的高潮，以舟行之速写水势之急，是郦道元写三峡最著名的段落。「或王命急宣」五字先为极速行舟找到一个现实的理由——王命急迫，舟人不得不冒险疾行，使夸张有了情理依据；「有时」二字又说明这是特殊情况，与「沿溯阻绝」的常态形成对照，更显出这「有时」之速的惊心动魄。「朝发白帝，暮到江陵」以朝暮对举，写一日之间自白帝至江陵——两城相距数百里，「朝发暮到」以时间之短写空间之远、水速之疾，八个字如利箭出弦；「其间千二百里」补足距离，「千二百里」与「朝暮」一对照，其速可知。「虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」是点睛的夸张：「奔」指奔马、「御风」化用《庄子》列子御风而行的典故，意为即使骑着快马、驾着疾风，也不认为有坐船这么快——以「虽」字让步、以「不以疾也」判断收束，把快意写到极致。全句由实入虚、由叙事入比喻，节奏急促如湍流，恰与所写之「疾」相映成趣，是写「快」的千古绝唱。

The speed. Sometimes when a royal command must be carried in haste, one leaves Baidi at dawn and reaches Jiangling by dusk; those twelve hundred li—though you rode a galloping horse or drove the wind, you would not be as swift. The leave-Baidi-dawn-reach-Jiangling-dusk and the twelve-hundred-li-swifter-than-horse-wind are the climax. To have left Baidi at dawn would be a leaving; the sometimes-when-a-royal-command-must-be-carried-in-haste-one-leaves-baidi-at-dawn-and-reaches-jiangling-by-dusk-those-twelve-hundred-li-though-you-rode-a-galloping-horse-or-drove-the-wind-you-would-not-be-as-swift is the leaving.

Study

Word focus

略无阙处 'Scarce a gap' (lüe wu que chu) — 'lüe' is a range adverb 'almost, generally,' 'wu' negative, 'que' a gap, 'chu' place; together 'almost no broken place.' Three graces: the 'lüe' is precise — flat 'no gap' would be too absolute, 'almost' keeps measure, the Six Dynasties' 'real and virtual together' self-awareness; 'que chu' uses 'gap' for 'break,' seeing the linked hills as one whole wall, fresh; paired with 'linked hills,' one positive one negative, drives 'linked' home. Later writers of mountain ranges borrow this phrase. 「两岸连山，略无阙处」之「略无阙处」四字，是写山势连绵的点睛之笔。「略」在古汉语中作范围副词，意为「几乎、大体」，表示一种接近全称的判断；「无」为否定，「阙」通「缺」，指缺口、中断；「处」为地方。「略无阙处」即「几乎没有中断的地方」，以「几乎」之近似全称，写两岸高山连绵不绝、浑然一体之势。这个短语的妙处有三：其一，「略」字用得极精——若直言「无阙处」，则语气过于绝对，反失真实；加一「略」字，既写山势之连绵无间，又保留叙述的分寸，是六朝散文「虚实相生」的语言自觉。其二，「阙处」以「缺口」写「中断」，把连绵之山当作一堵完整的墙来看待，形象而新颖。其三，四字与「两岸连山」配合，「连山」是正面总写，「略无阙处」是反面细证，一正一反，把「连」字坐实写透。后世写山脉连绵者，多取此语入文，足见其生命力。

隐天蔽日 'Hide sky, blot sun' (yin tian bi ri) — the tersest idiom for height. 'Hide' and 'blot' oppose, 'sky' and 'sun' oppose, a clangor. Its grace is using sky and sun as reference — not stating absolute height but the effect of blocking them, letting the reader infer the peaks' loftiness, the 'cloud-to-moon' method. With 'piled crags, ranged peaks' above, form then effect, step by step. Later fixed as idiom for high ranges or thick mist; here backed by 'but for noon or midnight' it gains more picture and shock. 「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」之「隐天蔽日」，是写山之高峻最凝练的成语式表达。「隐」为遮蔽、「蔽」为遮挡，「天」「日」并举，谓山峰之高竟把天空和太阳都遮蔽了。四字的结构极工整：动词「隐」「蔽」相对，宾语「天」「日」相对，两两成偶，读来节奏铿锵。其妙处在于以「天」「日」为参照系——山峰之高，不写其绝对高度，而写其遮蔽天空日月的效果，让读者从光线的消失推想山势的崔巍，这是「烘云托月」式写法的典范。与上句「重岩叠嶂」配合：「重岩叠嶂」写山之形（层层堆积），「隐天蔽日」写山之效（遮天蔽日），由形及效，层层推进。此语后来凝固为成语，凡写高山峻岭、浓云密雾皆可用之；而《三峡》中的「隐天蔽日」，因有「自非亭午夜分，不见曦月」的具体情境支撑，比一般成语化的使用更具画面感与震撼力。

襄陵 'Swell over the knolls' (xiang ling) — 'xiang' is 'rise up, overflow,' here the summer water mounts the knolls. The word has lineage: from the Documents' 'encircled mountains, swelled over knolls, vast to heaven,' for the flood's force; Li Daoyuan lifts it for the gorges' summer, adding archaic vastness. 'Xiang' with 'ling' — not 'rise' or 'overflow' but water mounting the knolls — uses the knoll's height to show the water's force, the flood before the eyes; the phrase is antique and heavy, fitting the passage's lean style. With 'up and down cut off' after, 'swell' the cause, 'cut off' the effect, logic tight. One 'xiang' shows both his wide learning and his Midas touch — use the old without being bound by it. 「至于夏水襄陵」之「襄」字，是全文炼字最见功力处。「襄」本义为「解衣耕」，引申有「上举、漫上」之意；此处「襄陵」谓夏水漫上山陵。此字大有来历：出自《尚书·尧典》「荡荡怀山襄陵，浩浩滔天」，本写上古洪水的滔天之势——「怀山」谓环绕山陵、「襄陵」谓漫上山陵，郦道元信手拈来状三峡夏汛，使这段地理记述平添了上古神话的浑茫气象。更妙的是「襄」与「陵」的组合：不说「水涨」「水溢」等泛泛之词，而说水竟「襄」于「陵」——以山陵之高衬水势之盛，水之高过山陵，则其暴涨之势如在目前；且「襄陵」二字古雅厚重，与全段简劲的文风相称。与下文「沿溯阻绝」衔接，「襄陵」写水之盛、「阻绝」写航之断，一因一果，逻辑紧密。一个「襄」字，既见郦道元博极群书的学养，又见其点石化金的手段，是「用古而不泥古」的典范。

三峡