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南北朝 Northern and Southern Dynasties · 文 Prose

水经注·三峡

Commentary on the Water Classic - The Three Gorges

郦道元

Li Daoyuan

山水Landscape 禅意Theme 咏史History 怀才memory

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。
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。
每至晴初霜旦，林寒涧肃，常有高猿长啸，属引凄异，空谷传响，哀转久绝。
故渔者歌曰：‘巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳。
’

Within the Seven-Hundred-Li Three Gorges, the banks are linked hills, with hardly a gap.
Layered crags and piled cliffs hide the sky and blot the sun; but for noon and midnight you see neither the sun nor the moon.
In summer the waters rise to the hills, blocking both down and up stream. When an imperial edict must travel in haste, sometimes one leaves Baidi at dawn and reaches Jiangling by dusk - twelve hundred li between, and though you rode a running horse or rode the wind, you could not be swifter.
In spring and winter, white rapids and green pools wheel their clear eddies and cast back the shadows; on the extreme peaks grow strange pines, and hanging springs and waterfalls dash among them - water clear, trees lush, hills high, grass thick, full of delight.
Each clear first day or frosted dawn, the woods are cold and the gorges still; often a high ape gives a long cry, drawn out and strangely mournful, echoing in the empty valley, its grief turning and lingering long before it dies. So the fisherman's song says: 'Of the Three Gorges at Badong the Wu Gorge is longest; the ape cries three times and tears wet the skirt.'

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Meaning

Within the Seven-Hundred-Li Three Gorges, the banks are linked hills with hardly a gap. Layered crags and piled cliffs hide the sky and blot the sun; but for noon and midnight you see neither the sun nor the moon. In summer the waters rise to the hills, blocking both down and up stream. When an imperial edict must travel in haste, sometimes one leaves Baidi at dawn and reaches Jiangling by dusk - twelve hundred li between, and though you rode a running horse or the wind, you could not be swifter. In spring and winter, white rapids and green pools wheel their clear eddies and cast back the shadows; on the extreme peaks grow strange pines, and hanging springs and waterfalls dash among them - water clear, trees lush, hills high, grass thick, full of delight. Each clear first day or frosted dawn, the woods are cold and the gorges still; often a high ape gives a long cry, drawn out and strangely mournful, echoing in the empty valley, its grief turning and lingering long before it dies. So the fisherman's song says: 'Of the Three Gorges at Badong the Wu Gorge is longest; the ape cries three times and tears wet the skirt.'

在三峡七百里之间，两岸山连着山，全然没有中断之处。层层的悬崖、排排的峭壁，遮蔽天日，若非正午和半夜，就看不见太阳和月亮。到了夏天江水漫上山陵，下行和上行的航路都被阻断。有时皇帝的命令急需传达，早晨从白帝城出发，傍晚就到了江陵，这中间一千二百里，即使骑着奔马、驾着疾风，也比不上它快。春冬时节，便是白色的急流、碧绿的深潭，回旋的清波倒映着物影，极高的山峰上多生奇形怪状的柏树，悬泉瀑布在山石间飞泻冲荡，水清、树荣、山峻、草茂，实在很有趣味。每到天刚放晴或降霜的早晨，林间寒凉、涧中肃静，常有高处的猿猴拉长声音啼啸，声音连续不断，凄厉异常，空旷的山谷传来回响，悲哀婉转，很久才消失。所以渔人唱道：巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳。

Appreciation

This passage is artfully built on the four seasons as its warp and the several features as its weft, strict in structure yet varied in brush. For the hills: 'the banks are linked hills, with hardly a gap' and 'layered crags hide the sky' first general then particular, and 'but for noon and midnight you see neither sun nor moon' writes the height of the hills and depth of the gorges to the utmost. For the summer water: 'the waters rise to the hills' and 'down and up stream are blocked' show its force, and 'leave Baidi at dawn, reach Jiangling by dusk' with 'though you rode a running horse or the wind, you could not be swifter' writes its speed by hyperbole and contrast. Spring and winter set their colours in 'white rapids and green pools' and 'water clear, trees lush'; autumn renders its strangeness with 'woods cold and gorges still' and 'a high ape gives a long cry'. Narration, scene and quoted song turn layer upon layer, parallel mixed with loose, sound and feeling both present.

【白话串讲】 “自三峡七百里中，两岸连山，略无阙处”——郦道元写三峡：七百里两岸连山。“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”——早上从白帝城出发，傍晚到江陵，坐船比奔马还快。“巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳”——一首渔歌，唱了千年。【意象与手法】全篇以四季为经、以特征为纬，写山写水、写色写声，层层递进。写山用「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」的正面描绘与「自非亭午夜分，不见曦月」的侧面烘托；写夏水以「襄陵」「阻绝」状其势，以「乘奔御风，不以疾也」的夸张对比状其速；春冬以「素湍绿潭」「清荣峻茂」设色，清丽明净；秋景以「林寒涧肃」「高猿长啸」写声，凄异哀婉。骈散相济，声情并茂。【情感与主旨】郦道元为北魏地理学家、文学家，任御史中尉，因政局倾轧遇害。他据《水经》作注，博采汉魏文献与民歌，此段写三峡四时之景，既存地理实证之功，更以文学手眼传山水之魂，于客观记述中寄寓对壮丽山川的赞叹与对行旅之悲的同情，开后世游记文学之先声。【名句点睛】常考要点：一、「自非亭午夜分，不见曦月」的侧面烘托手法；二、「朝发白帝，暮到江陵」「虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」的夸张对比；三、「清荣峻茂」四字状景之简净；四、结尾渔歌以声写哀、以景结情的艺术效果。

Background

Li Daoyuan lived in the Northern Wei, serving as censor-in-chief, and was killed in political strife. His 'Commentary on the Water Classic' in forty scrolls takes the Han writer Sang Qin's 'Water Classic' as its frame and broadly gathers the geographical records, rhapsodies and folk songs from Han and Wei onward; the commentary far exceeds the original, being both a geographical giant and a literary one. This passage comments on the 'Water Classic' line 'the river goes east past the south of Wu county' and the Three Gorges below, probably written after the Wei court moved to Luoyang. Then the north and south faced each other across the border, and the Yangtze Three Gorges were the key pass between Jing and Shu; though Li did not traverse the whole himself, he wrote its spirit from documents and report, preserving both geographical truth and the soul of landscape through a man of letters' eye, opening the way for Liu Zongyuan's travel essays and Xu Xiake's travels, with far influence.

郦道元（约470—527），字善长，范阳涿县（今河北涿州）人，北魏地理学家、散文家，官至御史中尉，后因得罪权贵、卷入政治倾轧，被雍州刺史萧宝夤杀害。其所著《水经注》四十卷，以汉代桑钦《水经》为纲，博采汉魏以来地记、辞赋、碑刻与民歌，注文篇幅远逾原经，凡记水道一千二百余条，既是空前的地理巨著，亦是公认的文学名著。本篇为《水经注·江水》中注三峡的一段，约成书于北魏迁都洛阳之后。《水经》原经文字极简，仅著水道源流与所经之地，郦注则于水道之外兼写沿流山川、城邑古迹与风土民情，使注文自成格局，此段即其中文采最盛者；所系之江水，自三峡而下历荆楚吴越，正与郦氏身在北朝而心驰南国的心境相合。当时南北对峙，长江三峡地处荆、蜀要冲，郦道元虽未亲历其境，其足迹主要在北方，却凭借《宜都山川记》、盛弘之《荆州记》等南方文献与行旅传闻，以文学家之笔写其神貌，故既存地理实证之功，更有传神写意之妙。就文学史而言，此段上承《山海经》《水经》的简古，下启柳宗元《永州八记》、徐弘祖《徐霞客游记》的游记传统，被后世推为六朝山水散文的冠冕之作。

Art

本段艺术之妙，在以四季为经、以特征为纬，结构谨严而笔法多变。首段总写山势：「两岸连山，略无阙处」先作正面总括，点出山之连绵；「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」再以层叠之象写其高峻；末以「自非亭午夜分，不见曦月」从侧面烘托，若非正午与半夜，连日月都照不进峡谷，山之高、谷之深不言自明。写夏水则转以动态：「夏水襄陵，沿溯阻绝」以「襄」字状水势漫上山陵、航路尽断；「朝发白帝，暮到江陵」「虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」更以时间之短、里程之远、奔马疾风之喻，把水势之迅写得惊心动魄，夸张与对比兼用。春冬之景改用设色：「素湍绿潭，回清倒影」清丽如画，「绝巘多生怪柏，悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间」动静相生，「清荣峻茂，良多趣味」以四字排比收束，简净而意境丰赡。秋景则全力写声：「林寒涧肃」先造凄清氛围，「高猿长啸，属引凄异，空谷传响，哀转久绝」以声写哀，层层渲染，终以渔歌「巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳」作结，将客观景物引入人情悲慨。全篇叙事、写景、引歌三层递转，骈散相济，四时之景各极其致，是六朝写景文以少总多、以形写神的典范。

Allusions

The line 'leave Baidi at dawn, reach Jiangling by dusk' transforms Sheng Hongzhi's 'Records of Jingzhou' and the earlier Li Bai legend, and also opens the scene of Li Bai's 'I left Baidi in the morning amid coloured clouds'. 'Noon and midnight' comes from the 'Zuo Zhuan', where 'noon' means midday. The fisherman's song 'Of the Three Gorges at Badong the Wu Gorge is longest; the ape cries three times and tears wet the skirt' is a then-current Ba-Yu folk song; Li cites it to prove the mournfulness of the gorge apes, quietly carrying on the old 'Water Classic' note and the 'Records of the Rivers of Yidu' saying 'the ape's cry is most pure'. The whole piece takes geographical truth as its base and the literary song as its ornament, making scholarly commentary also hold literary beauty - weighty yet not dry.

文中用事化语，皆浑融无迹。「朝发白帝，暮到江陵」化用盛弘之《荆州记》「朝发白帝，暮至江陵」之语，亦暗合当时行旅传闻，后世李白「朝辞白帝彩云间，千里江陵一日还」即承此境而出，可见此文对唐诗意象的深远沾溉。「亭午夜分」之「亭午」语本《左传》昭公五年旧注，指正午时分，郦氏以之写峡谷蔽日之状，用语精审；「曦月」之「曦」本指日光，与「月」对举，二字古雅而有来历。渔歌「巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳」为当时巴渝民间歌谣，郦道元引以证峡中猿啸之哀，暗承《宜都山川记》「猿鸣至清，山谷传响」之说；《宜都山川记》为东晋袁山松所作，记峡中猿啼之状甚详，郦氏取其说而化为注文，正见其融摄群书之法。民歌与注文互为印证，学术与文学交融。此外，「素湍绿潭」「悬泉瀑布」诸语取象，皆本于汉魏辞赋状水之传统，而洗去堆垛，归于清丽。全篇以地理实证为骨，以诗文民歌为饰，用典使事皆服务于写景传神，典重而不枯，博雅而不滞，正是《水经注》「注中有文」的独特风貌。

Commentary

The Ming writer Zhong Xing said of the 'Commentary on the Water Classic' 'the wonder of hills and waters, Li's commentary exhausts it'. The Qing writer Liu Xizai's 'Art Outline' says 'Li Daoyuan narrates hills and waters with steep purity and layered depth, holding the victories of the Mountain Spirit of the Chu Ci and Song Yu's Gaotang'. Modern scholars take the Three Gorges passage as the crown of Six Dynasties landscape prose, calling it 'recording place yet making a fine travel essay'. Li Bai, Lu You and Li's commentary each wrote the gorges and are named together later; yet Li, with a geographer's eye capturing the soul of hills and waters, is alone through the ages.

历代论者于此段推崇备至。明人钟惺评《水经注》云「山水之奇，郦注尽之」，以为六朝写景无出其右。清人刘熙载《艺概·文概》谓「郦道元叙山水，峻洁层深，奄有楚辞《山鬼》、宋玉《高唐》之胜」，将其上接屈宋辞赋的瑰奇传统，所论极为精到。近世文学史家更以本篇为六朝山水散文之冠冕，谓其「记地而成绝妙游记」，梁启超亦称郦氏「以文学家之笔，为地理学家之书」。清末杨守敬与熊会贞穷数十年之力为《水经注》作疏，推为「千古绝作」，正因郦书兼具考据之精与文辞之美；近人论中国游记文学源流，亦每溯至《水经注》与《洛阳伽蓝记》，以为六朝写景散文之祖。就影响而言，李白「朝辞白帝」、陆游《入蜀记》写三峡，皆与此文声气相通，后世并称；而郦道元以地理学家之眼摄山水之魂、以四时之景写一江之变，尤为古今独步。今日中学语文教材多节选此段，正取其写景层次之分明、笔法之多样、语言之简练，作为文言山水散文的教学典范，其艺术生命力历千五百年而不衰。

Prosody

Form Classical landscape prose (geographical commentary, parallel mixed with loose)文言山水散文（地理注疏体，骈散结合）

Rhyme Chiefly loose lines, with four-character parallel lines between; no strict rhyme以散句为主，不押严韵；间用四字骈句（如「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」「素湍绿潭，回清倒影」「林寒涧肃」「清荣峻茂」），形成节奏上的整饬与回环

Tone pattern Sentence lengths varied; depiction covers both sound and colour句式长短错落，长句写水势之奔放，短句写景物之凝练，声情随四时变化而起伏

Reading note The peak of Six Dynasties landscape prose; recording place yet making a travel essay, opening Tang-Song ancient prose.本篇为《水经注》中的注文，体制上属骈散结合的地理散文，与诗歌的严整格律迥异：行文以散句为主，自由舒展，间以四字骈句提顿节奏，形成「散中有整、整散相济」的韵律美。写山用「两岸连山，略无阙处」「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」等四字句，短促凝重，如山势之嶙峋；写水则用「朝发白帝，暮到江陵，其间千二百里」等长句，一气流转，如水势之奔泻；写秋景「林寒涧肃」「高猿长啸」「属引凄异」「空谷传响，哀转久绝」，又句句短峭，音节凄紧，与萧瑟的氛围相合。全文不押韵而自有声情，四时之景的变换带动句式的长短错落，形成「以文为画、以声传情」的独特韵律，是六朝山水散文中最富音乐性的篇章之一，为后世游记的散句节奏树立了典范。

Line by line

重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日，自非亭午夜分，不见曦月

Range upon range of cliffs, peak on peak, hiding the sky and shielding the sun; unless it is noon or midnight, one sees neither sun nor moon.

层层的悬崖、排排的峭壁遮蔽天日，若非正午和半夜，就看不见太阳和月亮。

Cliffs piled peak on peak, hiding the sky and shielding the sun; unless it is noon or midnight, one sees neither sun nor moon.

此句写山高谷深，是正面描绘与侧面烘托结合的典范。先以「重岩叠嶂，隐天蔽日」八字正面状山：岩曰重、嶂曰叠，层层累积，密不透风；「隐天蔽日」更将视角上引，写峰峦之高直掩天光。继以「自非亭午夜分，不见曦月」从侧面补足，唯有正午太阳当顶、夜半月亮中天之时，光线才能直射谷底，否则峡谷终日不见日月。不直言山有多高、谷有多深，而借日月之有无让读者自行揣度，笔法含蓄而力量千钧。此句亦为全篇定下雄奇基调，与下文写夏水之迅、秋景之哀同属一个奇崛壮阔的山水世界。

The cliffs. Range upon range of cliffs, peak on peak, hiding the sky and shielding the sun; unless it is noon or midnight, one sees neither sun nor moon. 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-upon-range-of-cliffs-peak-on-peak-hiding-the-sky-and-shielding-the-sun-unless-it-is-noon-or-midnight-one-sees-neither-sun-nor-moon is the hiding.

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

Sometimes, leaving Baidi at dawn, reaching Jiangling by dusk, the twelve hundred li between—though you rode a galloping horse or drove the wind, you would not be swifter.

有时早晨从白帝城出发，傍晚就到了江陵，这中间一千二百里，即使骑着奔马、驾着疾风，也不如它快。

Sometimes leaving Baidi at dawn and reaching Jiangling by dusk, those twelve hundred li—though riding a galloping horse or driving the wind, it is not swifter.

此句以夸张与对比写夏水之迅，是全文最富气势的笔墨。「朝发白帝，暮到江陵」以时间的极短对里程的极长，白帝、江陵相距千二百里，而朝发暮至，一日千里，已属骇人；再以「虽乘奔御风，不以疾也」翻进一层，奔马与疾风本是古人想象中速度的极致，此处却甘拜下风，水速之快遂被推向超验之境。写法上先列事实、再设比较，步步进逼，语势如江水奔泻，读者仿佛亲见顺流而下的舟船破浪飞驰。此句化用盛弘之《荆州记》旧文而更增波澜，李白「朝辞白帝彩云间，千里江陵一日还」即从此脱胎，可见其对后世诗境的深远影响。

The speed. Sometimes, leaving Baidi at dawn, reaching Jiangling by dusk, the twelve hundred li between—though you rode a galloping horse or drove the wind, you would not be swifter. The leave-Baidi-dawn-reach-Jiangling-dusk and the twelve-hundred-li-swifter-than-horse-wind are the speed. To have left Baidi at dawn would be a leaving; the sometimes-leaving-baidi-at-dawn-reaching-jiangling-by-dusk-the-twelve-hundred-li-between-though-you-rode-a-galloping-horse-or-drove-the-wind-you-would-not-be-swifter is the leaving.

清荣峻茂，良多趣味

Clear, lush, steep, abundant: there is indeed much delight.

水清、树荣、山峻、草茂，实在很有趣味。

Clear waters, lush trees, steep peaks, rank grass—there is indeed much delight.

「清荣峻茂」四字是全文最凝练的状景之笔，一字一景，分写水、木、山、草四种物象：清者水之澄澈，荣者树之繁茂，峻者山之高峭，茂者草之丰茸，四者并置而互不混淆，春冬之际三峡的明丽生机尽收眼底。前人谓此四字字字落实、无一虚设，正见炼字之工。以「良多趣味」收束，则从客观描摹转入主观感受，作者面对此景的欣悦之情沛然纸上，与上文写夏水之险、下文写秋景之哀形成节奏上的调剂，使全文张弛有度。四字句式亦具骈文之美，音节短促而意境丰赡，是《水经注》以少总多、以简驭繁的典型笔墨。

The delight. Clear, lush, steep, abundant: there is indeed much delight. The clear-lush-steep-abundant and the indeed-much-delight are the summary. To have been clear and lush would be a clearness; the clear-lush-steep-abundant-there-is-indeed-much-delight is the clearness.

巴东三峡巫峡长，猿鸣三声泪沾裳

Of the Three Gorges of Badong, Wuxia is the longest; three cries of the apes and tears wet the robe.

巴东三峡之中巫峡最长，猿猴啼鸣三声，行人的泪水就沾湿了衣裳。

Of the Three Gorges of Badong, Wuxia is longest; at three cries of the monkeys, tears wet the robe.

此句引巴渝渔歌收束全文，是「以声写哀、以景结情」的点睛之笔。前三段分写四时之景，至此忽然引入渔人歌声，猿啸之哀与渔歌之悲相互印证，客观景物遂被人情化、歌谣化。「巴东三峡巫峡长」以「长」字点出巫峡之绵延，暗应上文「两岸连山」；「猿鸣三声泪沾裳」以「三声」夸张猿啼之悲，以「泪沾裳」直写行旅者之哀感，将前文「哀转久绝」的凄异氛围推向高潮。民歌的质朴语言与全文的骈散笔调相映成趣，声情并茂，余韵袅袅，使读者掩卷而峡中猿声犹在耳际，是六朝山水文以歌作结的经典笔法。

The apes. Of the Three Gorges of Badong, Wuxia is the longest; three cries of the apes and tears wet the robe. The Wuxia-longest and the three-cries-tears-wet-robe are the close. To have wet the robe would be a wetting; the of-the-three-gorges-of-badong-wuxia-is-the-longest-three-cries-of-the-apes-and-tears-wet-the-robe is the wetting.

Study

Word focus

襄 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「至于夏水襄陵，沿溯阻绝」之「襄」，本义为向上漫、往上冲，语出《尚书·尧典》「荡荡怀山襄陵」。「襄陵」即水势高涨漫过山陵，一个「襄」字，将夏日洪峰排空而来的磅礴气势写得如在目前，不是「涨」之平缓，不是「溢」之泛滥，而是主动的、奔腾的「上漫」，水之盛、势之猛俱在其中。下文「沿溯阻绝」紧承此意：顺流而下曰沿，逆流而上曰溯，无论上下，航路皆断，可见水势之大已使舟楫绝迹。以「襄」字起、以「阻绝」收，一开一合，夏水之暴烈跃然纸上，炼字之精，足为千古写水者法。

属引 'Shu' means to link, 'yin' to prolong; 'drawn out and strangely mournful' writes the ape's cry as continuous and unending, eerie and strange - a precise choice of words. 「常有高猿长啸，属引凄异」之「属引」二字，写猿啸之声连绵不断、悠长不绝。「属」音主，义为连缀、接连；「引」义为延长、拉长；二字连文，状高猿啼声一波接一波、一声引一声，在峡谷间回荡延展。「凄异」紧承其后，点出这连绵的啸声带给人的感受，凄厉而怪异，与「林寒涧肃」的秋晨氛围相合。以「属引」写声之连续，以「凄异」写声之性质，再以「空谷传响，哀转久绝」写声之回荡与消逝，层层递进，把听觉感受写得细腻入微。二字选词精审而古雅，是《水经注》状声之工最见功力的例证。

飞漱 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「悬泉瀑布，飞漱其间」之「飞漱」二字，写悬泉瀑布在山石间飞泻冲荡之态。「飞」状其高落之势，瀑布自绝巘直下，如从天飞落；「漱」本义为冲洗、荡涤，写水激石间、回旋喷溅的动态，一高一低、一纵一横，皆具神采。二字连用，将瀑布的垂直飞落与水平冲荡同时写出，画面感极强，与「素湍绿潭」的平静、「回清倒影」的澄澈形成动静对照，使春冬之景于清丽中更添生机。若易为「流泻其间」则板滞无神，「飞漱」之妙正在于以两个动词把水写活，可见郦道元状水用字之讲究，非深于水理者不能道。