宋 Song · 诗 Poem
琴诗
Song of the Qin
若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣？
若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听？
If you say the sound resides in the fingertips, then why not listen at your very fingers?
Meaning
This short philosophical poem asks two rhetorical questions about where the sound of a qin comes from. If the sound were in the instrument, it would sound even sealed in its case; if it were in the fingers, one could hear it in the bare fingertips. By refuting both, the poem reveals that the sound arises from the conditioned meeting of qin, fingers, and playing — a gentle illustration of the Buddhist doctrine of dependent origination.
如果说琴上有琴声，那么把琴放在匣子里，为什么不响呢？如果说声音在指头上，那么为什么不从你的手指上听出声音呢？
Appreciation
A short philosophical poem by Su Shi, arguably his most Zen-flavored. Two premises, two refutations: the sound is neither in the qin nor in the fingers, but in their harmonious conjunction. Using the everyday act of playing the qin to convey a profound Buddhist truth, it says little yet means much. The repetitive 'if you say… why not…' is the very Chan method of breaking attachment through questions.
【白话串讲】 苏轼写《琴诗》：“若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣”——如果琴上有琴声，放在匣里为什么不响？“若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听”——如果说声音在指头上，怎么不从你指头上听——他说琴声来自琴与手指的配合。 【意象与手法】 此诗是苏轼的一首七言绝句，以琴声的发问写哲理，是苏轼哲理诗中最具禅趣的一首。首句「若言琴上有琴声」设问——如果说琴上有琴声；次句「放在匣中何不鸣」以反诘驳之——那么放在匣中的琴为什么不响呢？三句「若言声在指头上」再设问——如果说声音在指头上；末句「何不于君指上听」以反诘驳之——那么为什么不从你的指头上听出声音呢？全诗两问两答，以反诘破执——琴声既不在琴上，也不在指上，而在琴与指的因缘和合之中，以家常的弹琴事写深刻的佛理，言浅意深，是千古名篇。那「若言」「何不」的往复设问，正是禅宗「以问破执」的手法，全诗无一字说理，而哲理自明。 【情感与主旨】 此诗有小序「元丰六年闰六月」，作于宋神宗元丰六年（1083），时苏轼谪居黄州。元丰二年（1079），苏轼因「乌台诗案」获罪入狱，元丰三年被贬黄州（今湖北黄冈），此后谪居黄州。谪居期间，苏轼潜心佛道，写下了大量富有哲理与禅趣的作品（《琴诗》即其一）。那「若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣」以琴在匣中不鸣破「琴上有声」之执，那「若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听」以指上无声破「声在指上」之执——琴声既非琴，亦非指，而是琴与指因缘和合而生，正是佛家「缘起性空」之理（万物皆因缘和合而生，无有自性）。全诗以弹琴的常识写佛家的缘起之理，言浅而意深，是苏轼谪居黄州时参禅悟理的体现，也是其「以诗说理」的名篇。那以问破执的机锋、那因缘和合的禅理，正是苏轼在贬谪中以佛理安顿身心的智慧。 【名句点睛】 常考“若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣”与“若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听”以两问两破，写琴声出于琴指相合的道理，言浅意深。
Background
Composed in the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083), with the preface 'intercalary sixth month of Yuanfeng,' while Su Shi was in exile at Huangzhou. After the Wutai Poetry Case of 1079 he was imprisoned and the next year banished to Huangzhou, where he turned to Buddhism and Daoism and wrote many philosophical, Zen-flavored works. The two questions — if the sound is in the qin, why silent in the case; if in the fingers, why not audible there — refute both attachments and reveal that the sound arises from the conditioned meeting of qin and fingers, just as all things arise dependently without inherent self-nature. It is a window onto his Buddhist thought during exile.
此诗作于宋神宗元丰六年（1083），有小序「元丰六年闰六月」，时苏轼谪居黄州。苏轼于元丰二年（1079）因「乌台诗案」（御史台弹劾其诗作讥讽朝政）获罪下狱，几乎丧命，次年（元丰三年，1080）被贬为黄州（今湖北黄冈）团练副使。谪居黄州期间，苏轼生活清苦，但潜心于佛道与诗文，写下了《赤壁赋》《念奴娇·赤壁怀古》《定风波》等大量名作，其人生哲学也在这一时期由儒入佛道，愈见旷达与通透。《琴诗》即写于此期。诗中「若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣」设问破执——如果说琴上有琴声，那琴放在匣子里为什么不响？「若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听」再设问破执——如果说声音在指头上，那为什么不从手指上听出声音？两问两驳，以家常的弹琴事写佛家的缘起之理——琴声既非琴本身，亦非指本身，而是琴与指（以及弹奏）因缘和合而生；正如万物皆因缘和合而有，无有自性。此诗是苏轼哲理诗中最具禅趣的一首，也是理解苏轼谪居黄州时期佛道思想的窗口。
Art
Four levels: First, the structure of breaking attachment through questions — all four lines are rhetorical, two premises and two refutations, leaving the principle to reveal itself, a poetic version of Chan's break-attachment-by-questioning. Second, the philosophy of dependent origination — the sound comes from neither qin nor finger alone but from their conditioned union, a plain statement of arising from conditions, empty of self. Third, the homely analogy — using the common act of playing the qin without bookish allusion, embodying the Chan idea that ordinary mind is the Way. Fourth, the repetitive rhythm — the 'if you say… if you say…' 'why not… why not…' forms a circular, pressing cadence like a master's repeated interrogation. Together they make a twenty-eight-character poem that states deep Buddhist truth through an everyday act.
此诗的艺术特色可从四个层面解析。其一，以问破执的结构。全诗四句皆设问——「若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣」「若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听」，两问两驳，以反诘破除「声在琴」「声在指」的执着，不下一字断语而哲理自明，是禅宗「以问破执」手法的诗化。其二，因缘和合的哲思。全诗写琴声的来处——既非琴，亦非指，而是琴与指因缘和合而生，以弹琴的常识写佛家「缘起性空」之理，言浅而意深，是千古名篇。其三，家常的取譬。全诗以弹琴这件家常事设喻，不引经据典、不故作高深，却于寻常事中见深刻哲理，正是「平常心是道」的禅趣。其四，往复的节奏。全诗「若言……若言……」「何不……何不……」的往复设问，形成回环的节奏，如禅师的反复逼问，层层破执。四重手法，使这首二十八字的小诗以家常的弹琴写深刻的佛理，正是苏轼「以诗说理」的本领，也是其谪居黄州时参禅悟理的体现。
Allusions
The poem's thought is rooted in Buddhist and Daoist tradition. 'Placed in its case it does not sound' evokes the image of the qin in the case (a good qin waits for a worthy player) and the high-mountains-flowing-water friendship ideal. 'Why not listen at your fingers' echoes the Buddhist snapping the fingers (a measure of time) and the Chan finger-pointing-at-the-moon — the fool watches the finger, not the moon; Su Shi's listen-at-the-finger mirrors that fallacy. The principle of dependent origination is the core Buddhist teaching 'this being, that arises.' The sharpness of refutation belongs to Chan's outside-the-scriptures separate transmission. The poem adapts these images to write profound truth through a homely act — Su Shi's gift of bringing Chan into poetry.
此诗的哲思深植于佛禅与老庄传统。「若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣」设问破执——那「琴在匣中不鸣」令人想到「匣中琴」的意象（好琴藏于匣中，无人弹则不鸣），也令人想到「高山流水」的知音传统（琴待知音而鸣）；「若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听」再设问破执——那「指上无声」令人想到「弹指」的意象（弹指是佛教表示时间的极短单位，「弹指顷」），也令人想到「指月」的禅宗公案——禅宗以手指月，愚者观指而不观月，苏轼以「指上听声」写执于指者之迷，正暗合「指月」之喻；那「因缘和合」之理，正是佛家「缘起」的核心教义——「此有故彼有，此生故彼生」，琴声待琴、指、弹奏三者因缘和合而生于其间，无有自性，令人想到「诸法因缘生」的佛偈；而那「破执」的机锋，正是禅宗「不立文字，教外别传」的以问破执传统，令人想到「如何是祖师西来意」等禅门机锋。全诗化用「匣中琴」「弹指」「指月」「缘起」「破执」等佛禅意象与机锋，以家常的弹琴事写深刻的佛理，正是苏轼「以禅入诗」的本领——那两问两驳，正是禅门「以问破执」的诗化表达。
Commentary
Long esteemed as Su Shi's most Zen-flavored philosophical poem and a model of Chan in poetry. Critics praise it for using qin-playing to illustrate the Dharma, plain in words yet deep in meaning; moderns note the two questions and refutations perfectly express the Buddhist truth of dependent origination, reflecting his Chan practice in exile. Its special value: it states, through a common act, that the sound arises from neither qin nor finger but from their conditioned union, just as all things arise dependently. The repeated 'if you say / why not' is the poetic form of Chan questioning. It is the apex of Su Shi's poetry of principle and a classic of Song-dynasty interest in principle. Alongside Written on the Wall of West Forest and Ding Feng Bo, it shows his exilic equanimity.
此诗历来被推为苏轼哲理诗中最具禅趣的一首，也是中国诗歌「以禅入诗」的典范。历代论者对此诗评价极高：宋人评此诗「以弹琴喻佛法，言浅意深」；近人更指出「若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣」「若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听」两问两驳，以反诘破执，写尽佛家「缘起性空」之理，是苏轼谪居黄州时参禅悟理的体现。在文学史上，此诗的特殊价值在于：它以弹琴这件家常事写佛家的缘起之理——琴声既非琴，亦非指，而是琴与指因缘和合而生，正如万物皆因缘和合而有，无有自性；那「若言」「何不」的往复设问，正是禅宗「以问破执」手法的诗化，不下一字断语而哲理自明。此诗是苏轼「以诗说理」的极致——宋诗以「理趣」见长，苏轼此诗正是宋诗「理趣」的典范，也是「以禅入诗」的经典。此诗与苏轼的《题西林壁》（「不识庐山真面目」）同为哲理诗，一写认知的局限，一写缘起的真相；又与《琴诗》同时期的《定风波》（「一蓑烟雨任平生」）同写谪居黄州的旷达。对于今日读者，此诗是理解苏轼佛道思想与宋诗「理趣」的窗口，也是中国诗歌以家常事写大哲理的经典——那匣中的琴、指尖的声，穿越千年，仍在启发着人们对「缘起」的思考。
Prosody
Line by line
若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣？
If you say the sound of the qin resides in the qin itself, then why, placed in its case, does it not sound? (The first refutation: if sound were inherent in the qin, it would sound even alone in its case — yet it is silent, so sound is not a property of the instrument. A homely fact breaks a rigid assumption, in true Chan fashion.)
如果说琴上有琴声，那么把琴放在匣子里，为什么不响呢？
If you say the qin holds its music within it, why is it silent when laid in its case?
这句是破执的第一问，也是千古名句，以反诘破除「琴上有声」的执着，言浅而意深。「若言琴上有琴声」先立一执——如果说琴上有琴声，琴声是琴本身所固有的；「放在匣中何不鸣」以反诘破之——那么把琴放在匣子里，为什么不响呢？那「匣中不鸣」正是破执的关键——如果琴声真是琴本身固有的，那么琴放在匣中无人弹时，也应有声，然琴在匣中寂然不鸣，可见琴声并非琴本身所固有。这句的深意在于：它以家常的弹琴事破「琴上有声」的执着——琴声不待琴而生，琴只是琴声的因缘之一（器），若无指之弹、人之情，琴亦不鸣；那「何不鸣」的反诘，正是禅宗「以问破执」的机锋，不下一字断语，而执着自破。而那「匣中琴」的意象，也令人想到好琴藏匣、待知音而鸣的深意。以「若言」立执、以「何不鸣」破执，正是苏轼「以诗说理」的本领，也让这句成为写哲理的名句。
This line is the first question of breaking the attachment, and a famous line through the ages, using the rhetorical question to break the the-qin-holds-the-sound attachment, the words plain and the meaning deep. If you say the qin holds its music within it first sets up an attachment — if the qin's sound is inherent in the qin itself; why is it silent when laid in its case? breaks it with the rhetorical question — then when the qin is laid in its case, why does it not sound? The silent-in-the-case precisely the key to breaking the attachment — if the qin's sound were truly inherent, then the qin in its case, no one playing, should also sound, and yet the qin in the case is silent, hence the qin's sound is not inherent in the qin. This line's deep meaning: using the household qin-playing affair to break the the-qin-holds-the-sound attachment — the qin's sound not waiting on the qin to arise, the qin only one of the causes (the instrument), without the finger's playing and the man's feeling, the qin also silent; the why-silent rhetorical question, precisely the Chan school's question-breaks-attachment gong-an, not one word of judgment spoken, and the attachment self-broken. And the qin-in-its-case image, also evoking the fine qin's stored-in-the-case and waiting-for-the-soulmate deep meaning. Setting up the attachment through if-you-say, breaking it through why-silent, precisely Su Shi's poetry-reasons craft, making this line a famous philosophical verse.
若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听？
If you say the sound resides in the fingertips, then why not listen at your very fingers? (The second refutation, paired with the first: sound is in neither the instrument nor the hand, but in their conditioned meeting — echoing the finger-and-moon parable, where fixating on the finger misses the sound just as fixating on the finger misses the moon.)
如果说声音在指头上，那么为什么不从你的手指上听出声音呢？
If you say the sound lies in the fingers, why can you not hear it on your own fingers?
这句是破执的第二问，也是千古名句，以反诘破除「声在指上」的执着，与上句相对，写尽缘起之理。「若言声在指头上」再立一执——如果说声音在指头上，琴声是指头本身所固有的；「何不于君指上听」以反诘破之——那么为什么不从你的手指上听出声音呢？那「指上无声」正是破执的关键——如果琴声真是指头本身所固有的，那么不弹琴时，从指头上也应能听出声音，然指上寂然无声，可见琴声并非指头所固有。这句的深意在于：它与上句合观，写尽琴声的来处——既非琴（器），亦非指（人），而是琴与指因缘和合而生，正如万物皆因缘和合而有，无有自性；那「何不于君指上听」的反诘，正是禅宗「以问破执」的机锋，那「指上听」亦暗合「指月」之喻——执指为月，则不见月；执指有声，则不见声。以「若言」立执、以「指上听」破执，正是苏轼「以诗说理」的本领，也让这句与上句合为写缘起之理的千古名句。
This line is the second question of breaking the attachment, and a famous line through the ages, using the rhetorical question to break the the-sound-in-the-fingers attachment, set against the above line, exhausting the dependent-origins doctrine. If you say the sound lies in the fingers again sets up an attachment — if the sound lies in the fingers, the qin's sound inherent in the fingers themselves; why can you not hear it on your own fingers? breaks it with the rhetorical question — then why can you not hear the sound on your fingers? The fingers'-silence precisely the key to breaking the attachment — if the qin's sound were truly inherent in the fingers, then when not playing the qin, one should also hear the sound from the fingers, and yet the fingers are silent, hence the qin's sound is not inherent in the fingers. This line's deep meaning: read together with the above, exhausting the qin sound's source — neither the qin (instrument), nor the fingers (man), but the qin and fingers' dependent-arising conjunction, just as all things arise through dependent conjunction, without self-nature; the why-not-hear-on-your-fingers rhetorical question, precisely the Chan question-breaks-attachment gong-an, and the hear-on-the-fingers secretly matching the point-at-the-moon metaphor — holding the finger as the moon, then seeing not the moon; holding the fingers as the sound, then hearing not the sound. Setting up the attachment through if-you-say, breaking it through hear-on-the-fingers, precisely Su Shi's poetry-reasons craft, making this line with the above a famous line through the ages of the dependent-origins doctrine.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
West Forest, 'Seen broadwise ridges, sideways peaks; far, near, high, low, never the same. I do not know the true face of Mount Lu, only because I am within the mountain,' writes the limit of perception, the apex of Su Shi's philosophical poetry. This Song of the Qin writes the truth of origination through the qin. Both are Su Shi's philosophical poems: one the cognitive limit of 'not knowing Lu's true face,' this the origination truth of 'neither qin nor finger'; one perspective through viewing, this breaking attachment through questioning.
《题西林壁》「横看成岭侧成峰，远近高低各不同。不识庐山真面目，只缘身在此山中」以观山写认知的局限，是苏轼哲理诗的巅峰。此诗《琴诗》则「若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣」「若言声在指头上，何不于君指上听」以弹琴写缘起之理，是苏轼哲理诗中最具禅趣的一首。同为苏轼哲理诗，一写「不识庐山真面目」的认知局限（题西林壁），一写琴声非琴非指的缘起真相（琴诗）；一以「横看侧看」写视角，一以「匣中不鸣」破执着。两诗对读，可见苏轼以诗说理的两种境界——认知的反思与缘起的参悟。
水调歌头·明月几时有 Tune: Shui Diao Ge Tou — When Did the Bright Moon Appear 苏轼 · 同苏轼写人生之理 Same poet on the principle of lifeShui Diao Ge Tou, 'Men have their griefs and joys, partings and meetings; the moon has its dim and bright, full and crescent — this has been so since olden times,' writes life's partings through the moon's phases. This Song of the Qin writes the truth of origination through the qin's sound. Both are Su Shi on principle: one the acceptance of 'this has been so since olden times,' this the insight of 'conditioned arising'; one nature's law through the moon, this origination's law through the qin.
《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」以月亮的圆缺写人生的离合，是苏轼写人生之理的千古名篇。此诗《琴诗》则「若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣」以弹琴写缘起之理，是苏轼写哲理的又一作品。同为苏轼写理，一写「此事古难全」的圆融（水调歌头），一写「因缘和合」的真相（琴诗）；一以「月有阴晴圆缺」写自然之理，一以「琴声何来」写缘起之理。两作对读，可见苏轼参透人生的多种角度——既有对悲欢离合的通达，也有对万法缘起的了悟。
绝句 Quatrain 志南 · 同宋代禅意诗，一写春景一写琴声 Both Song Chan poems — one on spring scene, one on qin soundZhi Nan's Quatrain, 'By the old tree in shade I tie the short punt, a staff of thorns helps me cross east of the bridge. The apricot-rain that wets the robe, the willow-wind that chills not the face,' writes Chan mood through spring scene. This Song of the Qin writes Chan truth through the qin's sound. Both are Song Chan poems: one enters Chan through scene, this breaks attachment through argument — two paths of Song 'Chan in poetry,' one in mood, one in questioning.
《绝句》「古木阴中系短篷，杖藜扶我过桥东。沾衣欲湿杏花雨，吹面不寒杨柳风」以春景写禅意，是南宋僧人志南的名篇。此诗《琴诗》则「若言琴上有琴声，放在匣中何不鸣」以弹琴写缘起之理，是苏轼的禅趣诗。同为宋代禅意诗，一写「沾衣欲湿杏花雨」的春景禅意（绝句），一写「放在匣中何不鸣」的琴声禅理（琴诗）；一以写景入禅，一以破执说理。两诗对读，可见宋代「以禅入诗」的两种路径——境中悟禅与问中破执。