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南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 文 Prose

三峡·版本二

The Three Gorges (Version II)

郦道元

Li Daoyuan

山水散文Landscape Prose 三峡The Three Gorges 写景Scenery

春冬之时，则素湍绿潭，回清倒影。
绝巘多生怪柏，悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间，清荣峻茂，良多趣味。

In the time of spring and winter, there are the white rapids and the green pools, the clear eddies and the reflected shadows. On the sheer cliffs grow many strange cypresses; overhanging springs and waterfalls fly and rush among them. Clear and luxuriant, steep and flourishing, there is indeed much to delight in.

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Meaning

The 'spring and winter' passage of Li Daoyuan's famous description of the Three Gorges in his Commentary on the Classic of Waters. Where summer writes the violence of the water, spring and winter write the beauty of the mountains and rivers: the white rapids and the green pools, the clear eddies and the reflected shadows, the strange cypresses on the sheer cliffs, and the springs and waterfalls flying among them—concluding with the four characters 'clear and luxuriant, steep and flourishing, there is indeed much to delight in.' In just over forty characters the passage gathers the clarity of the water, the steepness of the cliffs, the strangeness of the trees, the lushness of the grass, and the sound of the waterfalls into one luminous picture.

春天和冬天的时候，就有雪白的急流、碧绿的深潭，回旋的清波、倒映的各种景物。极高的山峰上多生长着奇形怪状的柏树，悬挂的泉水、飞泻的瀑布，在它们之间飞速冲荡；水清、树荣、山峻、草茂，实在很有趣味。

Appreciation

The art of this passage is peerless in landscape writing, its secret 'the many through the few' and 'the rhythm of the parallel.' In just over forty characters it holds the clarity of the water, the steepness of the mountain, the strangeness of the tree, the lushness of the grass, and the sound of the waterfall, omitting nothing. In structure it moves from below upward, from near to far: first the water—'the white rapids and the green pools, the clear eddies and the reflected shadows,' the white rapids writing the whiteness of the swift current, the green pools the blue-green of the deep pool, 'clear eddies' the whirling of the clear waves, 'reflected shadows' the shadows of things mirrored, motion and stillness in turn, color answering color; then the mountain—'on the sheer cliffs grow many strange cypresses,' with 'sheer' writing the height of the peak and 'strange' the cragginess of the cypress, the mountain high and the tree old, the image vigorous; then the waterfalls between water and mountain—'overhanging springs and waterfalls fly and rush among them,' the overhanging spring hanging on the cliff face, the waterfall falling from above, 'fly and rush' writing their surging force, the sound on the paper; and the close, 'clear and luxuriant, steep and flourishing, there is indeed much to delight in,' gathers the whole in four characters, 'clear' the water, 'luxuriant' the trees, 'steep' the mountains, 'flourishing' the grass.

【白话串讲】郦道元写《三峡》的春冬之景：“春冬之时，则素湍绿潭，回清倒影”——白色的急流、碧绿的深潭。“绝巘多生怪柏，悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间”——“清荣峻茂，良多趣味”——他写三峡四季之美。【意象与手法】四字句为主、骈散结合；由水到山、由静到动、由局部到整体，层次分明；炼字精工，「素」「绿」「清」「荣」「峻」「茂」一字一景；动静相生，声（飞漱）色（素绿）俱全。【情感与主旨】借春冬三峡的清澈幽美，展现自然山水的无穷趣味，体现作者对山川的深挚热爱，与「夏水襄陵」的奔涌、「林寒涧肃」的萧瑟共同构成三峡的四季全景。【名句点睛】常考「素湍绿潭，回清倒影」的动静对照与「清荣峻茂」的凝练总括——四字各写水、木、山、草，被誉为中国山水文字中最精炼的写景句之一。

Background

Li Daoyuan (c. 470–527), courtesy name Shanchang, a native of Zhuolu, Fanyang (present-day Zhuozhou, Hebei), was a Northern Wei geographer and prose writer who rose to Censor-in-Chief. Devoted to learning, he commented on Sang Qin's Classic of Waters of the Eastern Han, completing the Commentary on the Classic of Waters in forty chapters, describing more than twelve hundred watercourses and citing more than four hundred books, fusing geographic inquiry with landscape description until the commentary became an independent literary work. 'The Three Gorges' is from the 'Rivers' chapter of the Commentary; it describes the magnificence and beauty of the Yangtze's Three Gorges (Qutang, Wu, and Xiling). Li Daoyuan, born in the northern dynasty, never set foot in the Three Gorges; the piece is largely written from earlier sources (as Sheng Hongzhi's Records of Jingzhou) and hearsay, yet it reads as if written from the scene itself, sound and color both present. The whole piece writes the Three Gorges by the four seasons; this selection, the 'spring and winter' passage, is the brightest and most limpid part of the whole.

郦道元（约470—527），字善长，范阳涿鹿（今河北涿州）人，北魏地理学家、散文家，历仕北魏，官至御史中尉。他好学博览，为东汉桑钦《水经》作注，成《水经注》四十卷，记述水道一千二百余条，引书四百余种，将地理考证与山水描写熔于一炉，使注文成为独立的文学作品。《三峡》选自《水经注·卷三十四·江水》，所写为长江三峡（瞿塘峡、巫峡、西陵峡）的雄奇秀丽。郦道元生于北朝，足迹未及三峡，此篇多据前代文献（如盛弘之《荆州记》）与传闻铺写，然落笔如亲历，声色俱现。全篇按四时写三峡：夏水襄陵、沿溯阻绝写水势之暴，春冬素湍绿潭、清荣峻茂写山水之秀，秋则林寒涧肃、猿鸣凄异写境界之悲，四季之景各极其妙。此节选即「春冬之时」一段，是全篇景物最明丽、笔致最清隽的段落。南北朝时期山水文学兴起，谢灵运、陶弘景、吴均诸家竞写山水，郦道元虽为地理学家，其文却与南朝山水小品异曲同工，故后世目《水经注》为「山水游记之祖」。

Art

The art lies in 'the many through the few' and 'the rhythm of the parallel.' The passage is just over forty characters, yet holds the clarity of the water, the steepness of the cliffs, the strangeness of the trees, the lushness of the grass, and the sound of the waterfall. In structure it moves from below upward, from near to far: first the water in the four phrases 'white rapids, green pools, clear eddies, reflected shadows,' motion and stillness in turn, color answering color; then the cliffs and the strange cypresses, 'sheer' the height and 'strange' the cragginess; then the springs and waterfalls 'flying and rushing among them,' the sound on the paper; and the close gathers the whole in the four characters 'clear and luxuriant, steep and flourishing, there is indeed much to delight in.' The style is mostly four-character sentences in parallel pairs, the sound clear and bright, like a spring sounding on the stones.

此段写景艺术冠绝千古，其妙在「以简驭繁」与「以偶成韵」。全段仅四十一字，而水之清、山之峻、木之怪、草之茂、泉瀑之声、倒影之趣，无所不包。章法上由下而上、由近及远：先写水——「素湍绿潭，回清倒影」，素湍写急流之白，绿潭写深潭之碧，「回清」写清波回旋，「倒影」写物影倒映，动静相生，色彩相映；次写出——「绝巘多生怪柏」，以「绝」写峰之高峻，以「怪」写柏之奇崛，山高木古，意象苍劲；再写水与山之间的瀑布——「悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间」，悬泉写泉之挂壁，瀑布写水之垂落，「飞漱」写其奔腾冲荡之势，声在纸上；末以「清荣峻茂，良多趣味」总收——「清」指水清，「荣」指木荣，「峻」指山峻，「茂」指草茂，四字各摄一类景物，凝练至极，而「良多趣味」以主观感受作结，景情交融。手法上，骈散相间，四字句（素湍绿潭、清荣峻茂）齐整如骈，五七字句（绝巘多生怪柏、飞漱其间）疏散如散文，长短错落，读来如泉鸣石上。历代评家谓此段「一字一景，句句入画」，实为山水散文以少胜多的极致。

Allusions

Though the passage writes purely the scene before the eyes, it is deeply steeped in the cultural image of the Three Gorges and the origins of Six Dynasties landscape aesthetics. In Chinese culture the Three Gorges has never been a mere geographical term: since the Nine Songs' 'Mountain Spirit' and the 'Gaotang Rhapsody,' the clouds and rain of Wu Mountain and the legend of the goddess have cast over the Three Gorges a mysterious and magnificent color, so that Li Daoyuan's spring and winter scene, though bright and limpid, carries the depth of the place. The water-color image of 'white rapids and green pools' inherits the clear-water tradition of the Songs' 'the waters of the Canglang are clear,' and runs in one line with Xie Lingyun's 'clear radiance can delight the heart'—to take 'clear' as the soul of landscape is exactly an important measure of Six Dynasties aesthetics.

此段虽纯写眼前景，却深蕴三峡的文化意象与南北朝山水审美的渊源。「三峡」在中国文化中从来不止于地理名词：自《楚辞·山鬼》《高唐赋》以降，巫山云雨、神女传说便使三峡蒙上神秘瑰丽的色彩，故郦道元写春冬之景，虽明丽澄澈，亦暗含此境之幽深。文中「素湍绿潭」的水色意象，承《楚辞》「沧浪之水清兮」的清水传统，又与南朝诗人谢灵运「清晖能娱人」的山水清赏一脉相承——以「清」为山水之魂，正是六朝审美的重要标尺。而「悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间」的动静对照，暗合《文心雕龙·物色》「窥情风景之上，钻貌草木之中」的写景理论，体现了齐梁时期「体物为工」的文学风尚。至于「清荣峻茂」四字，更可上溯《诗经》「秩秩斯干，幽幽南山」的比兴传统与《论语》「智者乐水，仁者乐山」的山水比德——清、荣、峻、茂既是物态，亦是人品：水清喻心之澄明，木荣喻生之繁盛，山峻喻志之坚高，草茂喻德之滋长，山水之趣中见人格之趣，这正是中国山水文学「山水即我」的文化基因。

Commentary

'The Three Gorges' is the most widely recited passage of the Commentary on the Classic of Waters and a foundational work of Chinese landscape prose, and this passage is generally regarded as the essence of the whole. In literary history, Li Daoyuan turned a geographical commentary into a landscape prose poem, making the Commentary a literary classic of 'peerless prose'; Liu Xizai of the Qing, in his Outline of the Arts, praised its 'exhaustive description of mountain and water, limning the form to the full, drawing as if in a picture,' and modern scholars have called it 'the peerless song of Northern Wei prose' and 'the fountainhead of travel literature'—Liu Zongyuan's 'Record of the Small Stone Pool,' Su Shi's 'Red Cliff Rhapsody,' and the West Lake records of Yuan Hongdao all trace their source to it.

《三峡》是《水经注》中传诵最广的篇章，也是中国山水散文的奠基之作，此段更被公认为全篇的精华。从文学史看，郦道元把一部地理注疏写成了山水美文，使《水经注》成为「文笔绝伦」的文学经典，清代刘熙载《艺概》称其「叙山水之胜，穷形尽相，模写如画」，现代学者更誉之为「北魏散文的绝唱」「游记文学的滥觞」——柳宗元《小石潭记》、苏轼《赤壁赋》、袁宏道西湖诸记，皆可溯源于此。此段「清荣峻茂，良多趣味」八字，更成为中国山水文字中最凝练的写景名句，被无数后世作家化用。从审美史看，南北朝是中国山水意识的觉醒期，谢灵运以诗写山，陶弘景、吴均以书札写山，郦道元则以地理散文写山，三者并力把山水从背景推为独立审美对象；此段以四十一字写尽春冬三峡的清明之美，正是这一审美自觉的巅峰体现。从接受史看，此文历代入选总集与课本，今人读之，仍觉三峡春冬之景如在目前，其「山水有灵，亦当惊知己于千古矣」（郦道元语）的深情感叹，至今动人。

Prosody

Form Geographical prose (Commentary on the Classic of Waters, landscape commentary)地理散文（《水经注》山水注文）

Rhyme This passage is mostly four-character sentences in parallel pairs (white rapids and green pools / clear eddies and reflected shadows, overhanging springs and waterfalls / flying and rushing among them), with rhyme and near-rhyme among the even clauses, not strict rhyme yet level and oblique alternating, the syllables clear and bright, reading like a spring sounding on the stones此段以四字句为主，骈偶成对（素湍绿潭／回清倒影，悬泉瀑布／飞漱其间），偶句间押韵与准押韵（湍、潭、影、柏、间、茂、趣），虽非严格押韵，而平仄相间、音节清亮，读来如泉鸣石上。

Tone pattern The sentence-forms mix the parallel and the loose, the four-character pairs bright and brisk, the particles carrying the flow, the tone from the water's calm to the cliffs' steepness to the waterfall's rush to the full close, level and vigorous句式骈散相间，四字句齐整明快，五七字句疏朗从容；「则」「其间」「良多」等虚词使语气舒缓流转，由客观写景转入主观赞叹（良多趣味），声情由清丽趋于欣悦。

Reading note The prose achieves its rhythm through the four-character parallel pairs and the even rhyme of the even clauses, the sound bright and limpid, fitting the luminous spring and winter scene.此段四十一字，是《水经注》中以少胜多的节奏典范。起句「春冬之时」四字点明时令，如乐曲定调；「则素湍绿潭，回清倒影」两对四字偶句，音节对称，一湍一潭、一回一倒，读来如波光流转；「绝巘多生怪柏」五字转长，音节拔高，如视线陡升，仰望绝壁；「悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间」复归四字而对仗，节奏加速，「飞漱」二字声短势疾，如瀑布奔泻；「清荣峻茂」四字一顿一顿，字字铿锵，如画龙点睛；「良多趣味」以四字感叹收束，语气舒展，余味悠长。全段节奏由平缓而跃动而总收，恰与景物的由静到动、由分到总相呼应。这种「以句法写景」的节奏艺术，使一段地理注文具备了诗的韵律，故后人称《水经注》「注中自有诗境」，此段即其明证，诵读之，三峡春冬的清荣峻茂如在目前、在耳、在怀。

Line by line

春冬之时，则素湍绿潭，回清倒影。

In the time of spring and winter, there are the white rapids and the green pools, the clear eddies and the reflected shadows. (The water of spring and winter: the white rapids and the green pools, the clear eddies and the reflected shadows, motion and stillness in turn, color answering color.)

春天和冬天的时候，就有雪白的急流和碧绿的深潭，回旋的清波，倒映的景物。

In spring and winter, there are white rapids and green pools, circling clarity and mirrored shadows.

此句写春冬三峡的水景，是全段开篇，也是动静、色彩兼备的写景典范。「春冬之时」先点明时令，暗示此景非夏之奔涌、非秋之萧瑟，而是枯水季节的清浅明净；「则」字领起，有「这时便可见到」的从容。「素湍绿潭」以两组偏正对举：素湍写急流，因水浅流急而浪花雪白，故曰「素」；绿潭写深潭，因水深积静而水色碧绿，故曰「绿」——一白一绿、一动一静，色彩对比鲜明。「回清倒影」更进一层：「回清」写清波在潭中回旋荡漾，「倒影」写两岸山木之影倒映水中，以虚写实——水上有波光之动，水中有山影之静，动静互见，虚实相生。四组名词短语两两相对，无一动词而画面自活，正合中国画「计白当黑」的留白之理。这十二字写尽了春冬三峡水的清澈、色彩与光影，为下文写山、写瀑布作了明净的底色。

The pools. In spring and winter, there are white rapids and green pools, circling clarity and mirrored shadows. The white-rapids-green-pools and the circling-clarity-mirrored-shadows are the scene. To have circled in clarity would be a circling; the in-spring-and-winter-there-are-white-rapids-and-green-pools-circling-clarity-and-mirrored-shadows is the circling.

绝巘多生怪柏，悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间，清荣峻茂，良多趣味。

On the sheer cliffs grow many strange cypresses; overhanging springs and waterfalls fly and rush among them. Clear and luxuriant, steep and flourishing, there is indeed much to delight in. (From water to mountain to waterfall: the strange cypresses on the sheer cliffs, the springs and waterfalls flying and rushing among them, and the close that gathers the whole in the four characters 'clear and luxuriant, steep and flourishing.')

极高的山峰上多生长着奇形怪状的柏树，悬挂的泉水、飞泻的瀑布在它们之间飞速冲荡；水清、树荣、山峻、草茂，实在很有趣味。

On the highest peaks grow strange cypresses; hanging springs and waterfalls leap and dart between them—clear, lush, steep, abundant, truly full of delight.

此句写春冬三峡的山景与草木，是全段的高潮与总收。「绝巘多生怪柏」写峰顶之景——「绝巘」言山之高峻陡峭，「怪柏」言柏之姿态奇崛，高山上扎根的古柏，历经风霜而枝干盘曲，一个「怪」字写尽其倔强苍劲的生命力；「悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间」写山间之水——泉水如挂壁之练，瀑布如垂天之布，「飞漱」以「飞」写其奔泻之势，以「漱」写其冲刷之态，仿佛能听见水石相激之声，把静态的山水图写活了；「清荣峻茂，良多趣味」以八字总括——「清」写水，「荣」写木，「峻」写山，「茂」写草，一字摄一类，字字精炼，然后以「良多趣味」一句主观赞叹收束，由景入情。全句由高及低（绝巘到其间）、由静到动（怪柏到飞漱）、由具体到概括，层次井然；而「清荣峻茂」四字各表其状、互不相犯，被誉为中国山水文字中空前绝后的凝练句，读之但觉三峡春冬之山水草木，尽收眼底。

The cypresses. On the highest peaks grow strange cypresses; hanging springs and waterfalls leap and dart between them—clear, lush, steep, abundant, truly full of delight. The highest-peaks-strange-cypresses and the hanging-springs-leaping and the clear-lush-steep-abundant are the close. To have grown on the highest peaks would be a growing; the on-the-highest-peaks-grow-strange-cypresses-hanging-springs-and-waterfalls-leap-and-dart-between-them-clear-lush-steep-abundant-truly-full-of-delight is the growing.

Study

Word focus

素湍绿潭 White rapids and green pools. The two colors of the water: the white of the swift current and the blue-green of the deep pool, color answering color, the brightness of the spring and winter water written in four characters. 「素湍绿潭」四字是全段水景的立骨之词，两两对举，色彩与动静皆成对照。「素」写急流之色——水浅流急，浪花翻涌如雪，故曰素湍；「绿」写深潭之色——水深积静，波光沉碧，故曰绿潭；一白一绿，一明一暗，一泻一蓄，构成三峡水色最鲜明的两极。选「素」不选「白」，盖「素」兼有「本色、不加雕饰」之意，暗合水之纯净天然；选「绿」不选「青」「碧」，盖「绿」更见潭水之活、之柔、之幽。四字连读，音节清亮（湍、潭皆阳平），如溪水淙淙。尤其「湍」与「潭」一湍急一幽深，声近而义远，诵读时自有急流深潭交替之感。此四字自郦道元出，后世写水者多化用之（如苏轼「水光潋滟晴方好」的湖光意象），而终不能出其右，正见其炼字「状难写之景如在目前」的功力。

飞漱 Flying and rushing. The force of the waterfalls: the springs and waterfalls 'flying and rushing among them,' their surging and dashing force, the sound on the paper, the liveliest stroke of the passage. 「飞漱」二字是「悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间」的句眼，写瀑布泉水冲荡之态，是全段唯一的动态音响之笔。「飞」写其势——泉水瀑布从绝巘之上倾泻而下，如飞如坠，见其高、见其疾；「漱」写其形与声——水流冲刷岩石，激荡回旋，如漱如洗，「漱」字本义为含水荡口，移以写水石相激，既见冲刷之状，又仿佛听见哗哗水声。二字连用，把静态的「悬泉瀑布」写得奔腾跳跃、有声有色，使整段清幽明净的画面骤然生动起来——前文「素湍绿潭」是静水，「飞漱其间」是动水，一动一静，正是春冬三峡「清」趣的两种形态。若易为「流泻其间」则平淡，「喷薄其间」则过猛，唯「飞漱」恰得瀑布凌空飞洒、击石荡响的神韵。此二字一落，全段之「趣」便有了声音的注脚，是郦道元体物入微的典型例子。

清荣峻茂 Clear and luxuriant, steep and flourishing. The four-character close that gathers the whole: 'clear' the water, 'luxuriant' the trees, 'steep' the mountains, 'flourishing' the grass—the whole scene summed in four characters, the essence of the passage. 「清荣峻茂」四字是全段的总括，也是中国山水文字中最凝练的写景句之一，被誉为「一字一景，四字成画」。四字各摄一类景物：清指水清，应前文「素湍绿潭，回清倒影」；荣指木荣，应前文「多生怪柏」的苍翠繁盛；峻指山峻，应前文「绝巘」的高峻陡峭；茂指草茂，补写山间草木的丰茂——水、木、山、草，一字一词，互不重复，互不侵犯，各尽其态，精炼到不可增删一字。更深一层，四字皆含褒扬的品性意味：清、荣、峻、茂不仅是物态，更暗示一种清朗、繁盛、高峻、丰茂的生命气象，与六朝人「以清为美」「以峻为骨」的审美理想相通。句式上四字连用、两两平仄相间，读来顿挫铿锵，如珠落玉盘。清人王士禛评此四字「字字珠玑」，实为确论——有此四字，三峡春冬之全景毕现，而「良多趣味」的赞叹也有了着落。