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宋 Song · 文 Prose

石钟山记

The Record of Stone Bell Mountain

苏轼

Su Shi

游记Travel Record 考证Textual Inquiry 说理Discourse 名篇Masterpiece

《水经》云：彭蠡之口有石钟山焉。
郦元以为下临深潭，微风鼓浪，水石相搏，声如洪钟。
是说也，人常疑之。
今以钟磬置水中，虽大风浪不能鸣也，而况石乎！
至唐李渤始访其遗踪，得双石于潭上，扣而聆之。

The Classic of Waters says: at the mouth of Pengli there is a Stone Bell Mountain. Li Yuan thought that below it hung a deep pool, and when a gentle breeze stirred the waves, water and stone struck against each other and sounded like a great bell. This theory men have always doubted. Now, if you set a bell or a stone chime in water, even in great wind and waves it cannot sound—how much less a stone! It was not until the Tang, when Li Bo searched out its ancient traces, that two stones were found on the pool; he struck them and listened.

Listen

Meaning

The opening of Su Shi's famous record of Stone Bell Mountain, which fuses travel, textual inquiry, and argument. He cites the Classic of Waters: at the mouth of Pengli (Lake Poyang) stands Stone Bell Mountain, and Li Daoyuan held that a gentle breeze stirring waves made water and stone strike together like a great bell—a theory 'men have always doubted.' Su Shi then tests it by common reason: set a bell or stone chime in water, and even great wind and waves cannot make it sound, 'how much less a stone!' He next notes that in the Tang, Li Bo searched out the mountain's traces, found two stones on the pool, struck them, and listened. The passage plants the doubt and the two rival theories, preparing the poet's own midnight expedition and his conclusion that the bell sounds from waves entering the caves in the rocks.

《水经》上说：彭蠡湖的入口处有一座石钟山。郦道元认为这山下临深潭，微风鼓起波浪，水与石相互撞击，发出的声音像洪钟一样。这种说法，人们常常怀疑它。如今把钟磬放在水中，即使有大风大浪也不能发出鸣响，更何况是石头呢！到了唐代，李渤才去寻访它的遗迹，在潭边找到两块石头，敲击它们来听声音。

Appreciation

The art lies in fusing travel, textual inquiry, argument, and feeling into one, with 'doubt—search—illumination' as the bone of the whole. The opening cites the Classic of Waters, locates Stone Bell Mountain, then brings forward Li Daoyuan's old theory of 'gentle breeze stirring waves, water and stone striking like a great bell,' and stops it with 'this theory men have always doubted'—the prose turning from level to steep. The author does not hurry to verify, but first sets a comparison: 'if you set a bell or a stone chime in water, even in great wind and waves it cannot sound—how much less a stone!'—refuting the old theory by common reason, the logic sharp and swift, the rhetorical 'how much less a stone!' like the snap of broken iron. Then he recounts Li Bo's search and his striking of the two stones, with the most sparing brush, merely recording the man and his deed without a word of praise or blame, while 'struck them and listened' already hides the coming criticism of Li Bo's shallow verification.

【白话串讲】苏轼写《石钟山记》：他怀疑前人为什么说石钟山会响。“今以钟磬置水中，虽大风浪不能鸣也”——他半夜坐小船去看，“大声发于水上，噌吰如钟鼓不绝”——“事不目见耳闻，而臆断其有无，可乎”——他说凡事要亲眼所见。【意象与手法】本文是游记，却以考据说理为骨，兼有叙事、议论、抒情之长。开篇引书立说、设疑驳难，以「人常疑之」与「而况石乎」的反诘造成文势顿挫；叙述李渤探访则剪裁精当、笔致简净。全篇以小见大，把一次普通的山水之游升华为「事不目见耳闻，而臆断其有无」的治学箴言，考据的严谨与文笔的洒脱浑然一体。【情感与主旨】文章借探求石钟山得名之由，抒写反对主观臆断、主张实地考察的求实精神，寄托了苏轼贬谪后寄情山水、以游证学的旷达情怀，其主旨不在记游之美，而在明理之真。【名句点睛】「事不目见耳闻，而臆断其有无，可乎」是全文点睛之笔，把游记升华为方法论宣言；「微风鼓浪，水石相搏，声如洪钟」以十二字写尽山水发声之妙，意象鲜明，常为选家称道。

Background

Su Shi (1037–1101), courtesy name Zizhan, hao Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan, Meizhou, a colossus of Northern Song literature and one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song. This piece was written in the sixth month of the eighth year of Yuanfeng (1084), when, five years after the Crow Terrace Poetry Case had demoted him to a minor post at Huangzhou, he was ordered to move to Ruzhou; on the way he saw off his eldest son Su Mai to his post and traveled to Hukou, Jiangxi, where this visit to Stone Bell Mountain took place. Stone Bell Mountain stands at the mouth of Lake Poyang's entry into the Yangtze; it is divided into Upper and Lower Stone Bell mountains, named either for its bell-like shape or for its bell-like sound, a question debated for ages. Even amid banishment, Su Shi could still travel in the mountains and pursue textual inquiry, writing this masterpiece that unites travel and inquiry—the very spirit of 'a life unburdened by rain or shine,' and of the Song scholars' emphasis on evidence over empty talk.

苏轼（1037—1101），字子瞻，号东坡居士，眉州眉山（今四川眉山）人，北宋文坛巨擘，诗、词、文、书、画兼擅，为「唐宋八大家」之一。本文作于宋神宗元丰七年（1084）六月，时值乌台诗案后，苏轼贬官黄州（今湖北黄冈）团练副使已历五年，正奉诏量移汝州（今河南临汝），途中送长子苏迈赴任德兴尉，顺道游历江西湖口，遂有此次石钟山之游。石钟山位于鄱阳湖入长江之口（彭蠡即鄱阳湖古称），分上石钟山、下石钟山，以形似覆钟或声如钟鸣得名，历代争论不休。《水经》为三国时桑钦所著地理书，郦道元《水经注》为之作注，本文所述郦元之说即出自《水经注》。苏轼于贬谪流徙之中，仍能亲历山水、究心考据，写下这篇融游记与考证于一体的名文，正见其「一蓑烟雨任平生」的旷达胸襟与「博观约取」的治学精神，也折射出宋代文人重实证、轻空谈的时代学风。此游距其两赋赤壁不过二三年，同一段贬谪岁月里，既有「清风徐来，水波不兴」的旷达之思，又有「扣石聆声、追本溯源」的求证之兴，逸兴与理趣并行不悖，正是一个完整苏东坡的两面。

Art

The art lies in fusing travel, inquiry, argument, and feeling, with 'doubt—search—illumination' as the bone. The opening cites the Classic of Waters, then Li Daoyuan's old theory, stopped by 'men have always doubted'—the prose turning from level to steep. The author does not hurry to verify but first refutes by common reason: 'if you set a bell or a stone chime in water, even in great wind and waves it cannot sound—how much less a stone!'—the logic sharp and swift. Then he recounts Li Bo's search and his striking of the two stones, with the most sparing brush, merely recording the man and his deed, while 'struck them and listened' already hides the coming criticism. The whole is written in loose prose, relieved by the particles 'ye, hu, yan' which modulate the flow, now slow, now fast.

《石钟山记》的艺术个性，在于把游记、考据、议论、抒情熔于一炉，而以「质疑—求索—明理」为贯穿全篇的骨脉。开篇先引《水经》之文，点出石钟山的地理位置，随即搬出郦道元「微风鼓浪，水石相搏，声如洪钟」的旧说，紧接着以「是说也，人常疑之」一句顿住，摆出疑点，文势由平转峭。此下作者并不急于考证，而是先设一喻：「今以钟磬置水中，虽大风浪不能鸣也，而况石乎！」以常理驳旧说，逻辑峻快，「而况石乎」的反诘如断铁之声。接着叙李渤寻访遗踪、得双石扣而聆之，用笔极简，只交代其人与其事，不置一词褒贬，而「扣而聆之」四字已暗藏后文对李渤浅陋考证的批判，是典型的「藏针于绵」。全文以散句行文，间用「也」「乎」「焉」等虚词调节语气，叙事则明净，议论则雄辩，考据则缜密，三美兼备，堪称宋代游记说理文的巅峰。通篇由疑入考、由考入悟，把一次亲历求证写成一篇方法论的宣言，理趣与情趣兼得，既无学究的冬烘，亦无文人的浮泛，正是苏轼所谓「出新意于法度之中」的文章境界。

Allusions

The cultural depth gathers in the double symbol of the name 'Stone Bell Mountain' and the metaphor of the 'bell and chime.' The dispute over the mountain's name is itself a case in cultural history: the Classic of Waters and Li Daoyuan hold the 'sounds like a great bell' theory, Li Bo the 'striking the stone sounds' theory, and Su Shi, having been there himself, proposes another, that the waves enter the holes in the rocks; one mountain's name draws a thousand years of inquiry, showing the Chinese spirit of weighing name against reality and tracing things to their source. The metaphor of the 'bell and chime' is especially telling—the bell and chime are the great ritual instruments, their sounding waits on being struck; Su Shi's rhetorical 'even in great wind and waves it cannot sound' both convinces by common reason and carries the deeper meaning that 'an instrument unsounded does not ring, a matter unexamined is not understood,' echoing the Record of Rites' 'the one good at answering questions is like one striking a bell.'

《石钟山记》的文化意蕴，凝聚在「石钟山」之名与「钟磬」之喻的双重象征里。「石钟山」得名之争本身即是文化史公案：《水经》与郦道元主「声如洪钟」说，李渤主「扣石发声」说，苏轼亲历后另立「微波入石穴罅」说，一山之名牵动千年考据，正体现了中国文化重名实相符、追本溯源的精神。文中「钟磬」之喻尤见匠心——钟磬为礼乐重器，其鸣必待叩击，苏轼以「虽大风浪不能鸣」反诘，既以常理服人，又暗含「器不叩不鸣、事不考不明」的深意，与《礼记·学记》「善待问者如撞钟，叩之以小者则小鸣，叩之以大者则大鸣」的以钟喻学传统遥相呼应。苏轼一生好为考据之文，如《赤壁赋》考曹操「孟德之困于周郎」、《记承天寺夜游》写月夜闲趣，皆见其「格物致知」的宋代学风；本文更把这种求实精神升华为「目见耳闻」的认识论命题，与朱熹「即物穷理」之说同调，亦与沈括《梦溪笔谈》的实证笔法互为印证，折射出宋人理性精神的高扬。

Commentary

'The Record of Stone Bell Mountain' has been widely recited since the Song, and later prose masters praised it as 'a travel record written as argument, brimming with rational delight.' Mao Kun's Selection of the Eight Great Prose Masters included it, praising Su's travel records as 'written through with argument, a peerless masterpiece of ten thousand ages'; Wu Chucai and Wu Tiaohou's Guwen Guanzhi also included it, making it a household classic. Its influence reaches beyond literature: the sentence 'a matter not seen with the eye and heard with the ear, yet judged by conjecture, can it be so?' has been cited as a motto of scholarship, beloved of the Qing textual scholars and of later scientific researchers; and the debate over the true source of Stone Bell Mountain's name has continued from the Song to the present.

《石钟山记》自宋以来广为传诵，历代文家誉其「以议论为游记」而「理趣盎然」。明人茅坤编《唐宋八大家文钞》录之，评苏轼游记「通篇以议论行文，遂成千古绝调」；清人吴楚材、吴调侯编《古文观止》亦收录此文，使其成为家弦户诵的名篇。其影响不止于文章学：文中「事不目见耳闻，而臆断其有无，可乎」一句，被后人引为治学格言，清代考据家、近代科学研究者皆乐道之；围绕石钟山得名真伪的争辩，更从宋代延续至今，苏轼本人的结论虽亦被后人修正，但其「亲历求证」的方法却得到一致推崇，可见其价值不在结论而在方法。从文学史看，此文与柳宗元《小石潭记》、王安石《游褒禅山记》并列为唐宋游记三大名篇，分别代表了「写景抒情」「借游明理」「以游证学」三种范式，而苏轼此文以考据入游记，最见宋人理智与才情兼备的风貌，对后世如徐霞客游记的实地考察精神亦有导夫先路之功。

Prosody

Form Song prose travel record with textual inquiry and argument (between travel record and argumentative essay)宋代散体游记兼考据说理文（介于山水游记与议论文之间）

Rhyme Unrhymed and without parallel couplets; the sound beauty comes from the varying length of the loose sentences and the tonal disposition of the particles: 'zhi, yi, er' in the middle of sentences, and 'yan, ye, yi, hu' at the ends, as 'there is a Stone Bell Mountain yan' (yan marks existence with a sigh), 'it cannot sound ye' (ye marks confirmation), 'how much less a stone hu' (hu marks the exclamation)本文不押韵，不事骈偶，音韵之美来自散句的长短节奏与虚词的声情调配：句中多用「之」「以」「而」等虚词调节语流，句末「焉」「也」「矣」「乎」交替收束，如「有石钟山焉」的「焉」表存在而带感叹，「不能鸣也」的「也」表确认，「而况石乎」的「乎」表反诘，读来一唱三叹、顿挫有致，是苏轼散文「行云流水，初无定质」声调美的典型。

Tone pattern The prose opens on the citation, level and steady; 'men have always doubted' turns it; 'how much less a stone hu' rises in an exclamatory snap; the recounting of Li Bo is level again—level, steep, level, the rhythm following the argument句式以四六言散句为主，长短相间，叙事处明净舒缓，议论处峻急有力；语调用陈述（《水经》云）、反诘（而况石乎）、顿挫（人常疑之）交替推进，先引后驳、先叙后议，形成由平入峭、由缓入急的递进语调。

Reading note The prose achieves its rhythm through the cadence of loose sentences and particles, 'yan, ye, yi, hu' alternating at the line ends, carrying the turn from citation to doubt to refutation.《石钟山记》作为宋代游记中的说理名篇，其声律价值不在韵律的严整，而在文气与逻辑的高度合一。全篇以「疑」为气眼：开篇引书立说，语气平缓如叙家常（《水经》云：彭蠡之口有石钟山焉）；至「是说也，人常疑之」，一「疑」字顿住，文气由平转滞；继而「今以钟磬置水中，虽大风浪不能鸣也，而况石乎」以让步复句扬起反诘，声调陡然高亢，「乎」字拖长，如钟声一击；「至唐李渤始访其遗踪」数句又复归舒缓，如闲庭信步，为下一轮质疑蓄势。这种「缓—顿—扬—缓」的声情曲线，恰与考据逻辑的「立说—生疑—驳难—再访」同步，使诵读成为一次随作者亲历求证的思想之旅。句末虚词的选用尤见匠心：「焉」字带出地理的确定性，「也」字显示常理的不可移易，「乎」字逼出反诘的锋芒，三者各有声情、各当其位。苏轼散文「如万斛泉源，不择地皆可出」的风格，在此文的音节流转中得到了最充分的体现。

Line by line

《水经》云：彭蠡之口有石钟山焉。郦元以为下临深潭，微风鼓浪，水石相搏，声如洪钟。

The Classic of Waters says: at the mouth of Pengli there is a Stone Bell Mountain. Li Yuan thought that below it hung a deep pool, and when a gentle breeze stirred the waves, water and stone struck against each other and sounded like a great bell. (The opening cites the Classic of Waters and Li Daoyuan's old theory, locating the mountain and setting the doubt that the whole record will resolve.)

《水经》上说：彭蠡湖的入口处有座石钟山。郦道元认为它下临深潭，微风掀起波浪，水与石相互撞击，发出的声音像洪钟一样。

The Classic of Waterways says: at the mouth of Lake Pengli stands Stone Bell Mountain. Li Daoyuan held that it fronts a deep pool below, and when a light wind stirs the waves, water and stone strike each other, making a sound like a great bell.

开篇四句是全文考证的起点，一笔两引、层层设局。首句「《水经》云：彭蠡之口有石钟山焉」以引书起笔，交代山的地理位置，立下考证的对象；次句「郦元以为下临深潭，微风鼓浪，水石相搏，声如洪钟」则转引郦道元的命名之说，以「下临深潭」点出地理形势，以「微风鼓浪，水石相搏」八字写声之由来，以「声如洪钟」四字揭命名之由，因果连贯、文字洗练。细玩此处笔法：作者只客观引述，不置评论，然「以为」二字已暗含「只是一家之言」的保留态度，为下文「人常疑之」预作铺垫。两句从书名到注释，从地理到声理，环环相扣，既见作者腹笥之富，又见其立论之严谨——考证文字而以从容散句出之，全无学究气，正是苏轼「行云流水」文风的体现。

The opening four lines are the whole text's textual research starting point, one stroke two citations, layer on layer setting the trap. The first line the-Classic-of-Waterways-says: at-Lake-Pengli's-mouth-stands-Stone-Bell-Mountain in the citation-opening, setting the mountain's geographic position, establishing the research object; the second line turning to cite Li Daoyuan's naming theory, in the fronts-a-deep-pool-below naming the geographic form, in the light-wind-stirs-waves-and-water-and-stone-strike-each-other eight characters writing the sound's origin, in the sound-like-a-great-bell four characters revealing the naming's reason, the cause-and-effect coherent and the words refined. Savouring the brushwork here: the author only objectively cites, no comment, and yet the holds-that two words already secretly carrying the merely-one-school-of-thought reservation, storing the ground for the below's the-often-doubted. Two lines, from the book title to the annotation, from geography to the sound-principle, ring within ring, at once seeing the author's learning's richness, and his argument's rigor — the research writing and yet in the unhurried prose sentences, no scholar's pedantry, precisely Su Shi's flowing-clouds-and-running-water style embodiment.

今以钟磬置水中，虽大风浪不能鸣也，而况石乎！

Now, if you set a bell or a stone chime in water, even in great wind and waves it cannot sound—how much less a stone! (The refutation by common reason: the bell and chime, the ritual instruments that sound on being struck, cannot sound in water; 'how much less a stone' snaps like broken iron.)

如今把钟磬放在水中，即使有大风大浪也不能发出鸣响，更何况是石头呢！

Now if you place a bell or chime in the water, even great wind and waves cannot make it ring — how much less a stone!

此句是全篇第一处反驳，以常理设喻、以反诘断案，笔势峻峭如刀。「今以钟磬置水中」是设喻的前提——钟磬为金属所制，本可发声，置水中尚且「虽大风浪不能鸣」，则「水石相搏」之石「而况」其不能鸣，不言自明。苏轼选「钟磬」作比极见巧思：钟磬与「石钟」同属「钟」类，以同类之物设喻，使反驳直指其名、正中要害；而「虽……不能……而况……」的递进句式，前句让步、后句逼问，逻辑上先退后进，气势上先抑后扬，「乎」字反诘如钟声一击，余响不绝。全文至此已把郦道元旧说驳得体无完肤，而作者犹不罢休，下文又引李渤之访，层层进逼，足见其考证不轻信旧闻、不放过一疑的严谨态度，此句正是这种求实精神第一次亮相。

This line is the whole piece's first refutation, in the common-sense metaphor and the rhetorical-question judgment, the brush's steepness like a knife. Now-if-you-place-a-bell-or-chime-in-the-water is the metaphor's premise — the bell and chime of metal by nature able to sound, placed in water and yet even-great-wind-and-waves-cannot-make-it-ring, then the water-and-stone-striking stone's how-much-less-its-inability-to-ring, self-evident. Su Shi's choosing the bell-and-chime for the comparison the ingenuity's clear: the bell-and-chime and the stone-bell both the bell category, using the same-category thing for the metaphor, making the refutation point straight at the name and hit the vital point; and the though-cannot-how-much-less progressive sentence, the preceding line's concession and the following line's pressing question, the logic's first-retreat-then-advance, the momentum's first-suppression-then-raising, the particle like a bell-stroke, the after-sound unceasing. The whole text here already refuting Li Daoyuan's old theory to the utmost, and the author still not stopping, the below's again citing Li Bo's visit, layer on layer pressing forward, seeing his research's no-easy-belief-in-old-reports and no-letting-go-of-one-doubt rigor, this line precisely this truth-seeking spirit's first appearance.

至唐李渤始访其遗踪，得双石于潭上，扣而聆之。

It was not until the Tang, when Li Bo searched out its ancient traces, that two stones were found on the pool; he struck them and listened. (The recounting of Li Bo's search, with the most sparing brush—merely the man and his deed—while 'struck them and listened' already hides the coming criticism of his shallow verification.)

到了唐代，李渤才开始寻访它的遗迹，在潭边找到两块石头，敲击它们来听声音。

Not until the Tang did Li Bo begin to seek the old traces; he found two stones by the pool, struck them, and listened.

此句叙李渤访山扣石之事，用笔极简而伏线极深。「始访其遗踪」之「始」字最堪玩味——点明自郦道元之后数百年无人问津，石钟山之名已成悬案，李渤是第一个动手求证的人，其精神可嘉；「得双石于潭上」叙其收获，「扣而聆之」写其方法，三言两语交代完毕，不加一字褒贬。然而细读之下，褒贬自在其中：作者只写李渤「扣石」而听其声，却不写其结论，更不写其是否真解石钟命名之由——这一「藏」字，为后文「扣而聆之，南声函胡，北音清越……自以为得之矣」的批判预留了空间；同时「扣而聆之」与开篇「声如洪钟」之「聆」字暗中相映，一写旧说、一写新访，让读者预感到一场实地考察即将展开。叙事之简净、布势之缜密，于此可见一斑，诚如古人所评「一句一折，妙不可言」。

This line narrating Li Bo's mountain-visiting and stone-striking affair, the brushwork extremely brief and yet the hidden thread extremely deep. The began-to-seek-the-old-traces's one word began the most savour-worthy — naming the centuries after Li Daoyuan's no-one's-asking, the Stone Bell Mountain's name already the suspended case, Li Bo the first hand-verifying person, his spirit commendable; the found-two-stones-by-the-pool narrating his harvest, the struck-them-and-listened writing his method, three or five words done, not one word of praise or blame. And yet close reading, the praise-and-blame within: the author only writing Li Bo's stone-striking and listening to its sound, and yet not writing his conclusion, the more not writing his whether's-real-understanding-of-the-stone-bell-naming — this concealment, storing the space for the below's struck-and-listened, the south-sound's-muffled and the north-note's-clear... himself-believing-he-got-it criticism; at once the struck-and-listened and the opening's sound-like-a-great-bell's listen word secretly echoing, one writing the old theory and one writing the new visit, making the reader foresee a field investigation's about-to-unfold. The narrative's simplicity and the layout's meticulousness, here visible in a glimpse, truly as the ancients' review, one-line-one-turn, wondrous beyond words.

Study

Word focus

搏 To strike, to clash. The word of Li Daoyuan's theory: 'water and stone struck against each other and sounded like a great bell'—the clash of water and stone, the force and the sound in one character, the theory the whole record sets out to test. 「水石相搏」之「搏」字，是全文写声第一字，妙在把静态的山水写出动态的撞击。「搏」本义为搏击、抓扑，多用于人兽相斗，苏轼移以写水与石的关系，使「微风鼓浪」与山石之间如两军相遇、交手相接，声随之生——水之柔与石之刚相搏，方有「声如洪钟」的洪亮音响。若易为「击」「撞」，则失其绵密缠斗之意；若易为「激」，则只及水面不及石质。唯「搏」字写出水石相持相犯的张力，与「微风鼓浪」的「鼓」字相配——「鼓」写风鼓动浪，「搏」写浪撞击石，两字一推一接，把声音的物理成因写得如在目前。更妙的是「搏」字暗含「以柔克刚」的意味：至柔之水，因风之助，竟能与至刚之石相搏而鸣，为后文「水石相搏」的考证主题立下声影。一字之微，已见苏轼炼字的功力与理趣。

扣而聆之 Struck them and listened. The word of Li Bo's verification: he only struck the stones with his hand and listened, never seeking the true cause; the most sparing brush that already hides the coming criticism of his shallow, careless inquiry. 「扣而聆之」四字写李渤考证石钟山的动作，是全文叙事中最凝练的一笔。「扣」即敲击，写其动手；「聆」本指倾耳细听，比「听」更专注、更用心——「聆」字从耳从令，本义为恭听命令，含郑重、专注之义，写李渤俯身叩石、侧耳细辨之态，如在目前。四字之中，「扣」与「聆」一外一内、一动作一心理，中间以「而」字相连，写尽一个考证者的完整流程：先以手验证（扣），再以耳辨别（聆）。若写作「击石听之」则直白无味，若写作「敲而听之」则失其古雅。苏轼以此四字状李渤之勤，笔端却含微讽——他越是「扣而聆之」地认真求证，越是衬出后文其结论之浅陋可笑，为「自以为得之矣」的讥评蓄势。一词之选，既见史笔的简净，又见文心的机巧。