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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

送吴春卿赴都

Sending Off Wu Chunqing to the Capital

张方平

Zhang Fangping

山水Mountains and Waters 愁思Melancholy 时序Seasonal Change 咏物Objects and Creatures

法座临轩策俊髦，同君陛见预旌招。
疲驽十驾始千里，孤鹗一飞先九霄。
兰棹秋风行逦迤，觚棱旭日势岧峣。
石渠为谢诸时彦，行迈同趋便殿朝。

At the imperial throne, the sovereign tests the gifted ones;
With you I once stood in the ranks summoned before the steps.
A weary nag, ten spans of driving, at last a thousand miles;
A lone eagle, one flap of wings, first to soar above the nine heavens.
In autumn wind, orchid oars trail along the winding streams;
In rising sun, the palace eaves rise lofty and steep.
At the Stone Canal, convey my thanks to all the present worthies;
As you hurry on, together you'll approach the side-hall court.

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Meaning

The poem recalls how the poet and the addressee were both once summoned to the imperial examination, then contrasts their later careers: the poet as a slow nag, the friend as a soaring eagle. After picturing the friend’s journey in autumn and his arrival at the capital, the poet asks him to convey greetings to the worthies at court, implicitly expressing his own regret at remaining outside.

天子在殿前设下法座，临轩亲策天下的杰出之士；当年我与你一同被引到御阶之下拜见，同在那被旌节礼聘而来的贤士行列里。可我这样一匹疲乏的劣马，要驾行十天才勉强凑够千里之程；你却像那百鸟不及的孤鹗，一振翅便先我高出九霄之上。如今秋风乍起，你那兰木为桨的行舟正沿着水路迤迤而行；想那京城宫阙的觚棱，在朝阳里显得多么高峻巍峨。请你到了石渠阁中，替我向那些当世的才俊一一致意道谢；你此番远行赶路，正好与他们同趋便殿，一道去参预天子的早朝。

Appreciation

The poem opens with the shared memory of the imperial examination, establishing a common starting point. The second couplet contrasts the two men through the images of a tired nag and a lone eagle, the former laboring over a thousand miles, the latter soaring above the nine heavens. The third couplet shifts to scene painting: autumn wind and orchid oars on the water, morning sun and towering palace ridges in the capital. The closing lines, instead of conventional parting words, ask the friend to greet the court worthies, while the poet himself fades into the background, leaving a quiet sense of personal displacement. The whole piece is restrained, with self-deprecation and praise balanced, and a deep feeling couched in imagery and allusion.

【白话串讲】张方平送吴春卿赴京：“法座临轩策俊髦，同君陛见预旌招”。“疲驽十驾始千里，孤鹗一飞先九霄”——“石渠为谢诸时彦”——他勉励朋友前程远大。【意象与手法】全篇以两组意象撑起骨架：一组是驽马与孤鹗，一慢一疾、一地一天，把送者与被送者的处境拉开落差；一组是兰棹与觚棱，一在江湖水上，一在宫阙云间，行程与归宿在颈联的对仗中同时呈现。诗人写自己用『疲』『始』，写对方用『孤』『先』，字面上是自谦，骨子里是对朋友风力的服气。颈联不著一字感情，只把秋风、旭日两种光景并置，离思与期许自在其中。尾联不写别语而写托词，把一己之情推到一群时彦身上，收得开阔。【情感与主旨】这不是一般的惜别之作。同受制举之召的旧事一提，便把两人的交谊与仕途放在同一起点上；接下来的自贬与推许，是把二十年间的迟速盈虚都压进两句十四字里。诗中既有为友人得路而喜的诚意，也有滞留于外、久未得展的萧瑟，喜与愧交叠，才有那句『石渠为谢诸时彦』的低回。北宋前期士大夫的赠别诗常兼自陈之意，这一首是极清楚的样本。【名句点睛】『疲驽十驾始千里，孤鹗一飞先九霄』是全篇眼目。上句化《荀子》驽马之喻而添一『疲』字，下句取《汉书》鸷鸟不如一鹗之语而加一『孤』字，两个添字使成语翻出新意；『始』与『先』相对，一个吃力，一个轻捷，音节亦随之一顿一扬。『觚棱旭日势岧峣』则以汉赋旧词写宋人宫阙，七字中有仰望之姿，是颈联最见笔力处。

Background

Zhang Fangping (1007–1091), courtesy name Andao, was a Song dynasty statesman and writer. He passed the special imperial examinations in 1034, along with Wu Yu (also known as Wu Chunqing), who was the addressee of this poem. Zhang later held high offices but at some point felt left behind in his career, while Wu was being recalled to the capital. This poem, likely written on that occasion, conveys congratulations for Wu’s advancement, mixed with the poet’s own sense of frustration at being stalled. The work exemplifies the tradition of using a farewell poem to express personal feelings and aspirations.

张方平（一〇〇七—一〇九一），字安道，晚号乐全居士，应天府宋城（今河南商丘）人。少时家贫无书，曾向人借《史记》《汉书》，旬日即还，自言已尽得其详，强记之力为一时所惊。景祐元年举茂材异等，又中贤良方正，由校书郎、知昆山县起家，历知谏院、知制诰、翰林学士、御史中丞、三司使，神宗朝拜参知政事，两度出守益州，蜀人感其惠政，为图像于净众寺。他一生长于论边防、议财赋，尝上《平戎十策》以言西夏之患；晚年不附新法，以太子少师致仕，谥文定。苏洵父子与他交谊极深，苏轼后来编次其遗文为《乐全集》并作序，视之为知己。诗题中的吴春卿，当即仁宗朝名臣吴育，字春卿，建安人，景祐元年礼部第一，累官枢密副使、参知政事，以议论刚直、遇事不回著称。张方平与吴育同在制举得人之列，诗中『同君陛见预旌招』一语，正指两人当年同受临轩策试之召、并列于礼聘之数。此诗当作于吴育自外任被召还京之时，方平尚在外或位次未显，故通篇既写朝廷用人之盛，也写自己迟滞不进的自嘲，是北宋前期士人赠别兼自陈的常体。

Art

The structure is exceptionally clean. The first couplet sets a grand ceremonial stage. The second couplet uses a strict antithesis of land and sky, slow and fast, to create a sharp contrast without overt commentary. The third couplet juxtaposes the traveler’s immediate scene (autumn river) with the imagined capital (sunlit palace), bridging distance. The final couplet turns an affectionate request into a subtle self-portrait, as the poet steps aside from the scene. The language is plain yet forceful, relying on balanced imagery and allusions rather than ornate diction.

此诗的章法极为清峻。首联不写别情，先补一段两人共有的往事，把制举临轩的场面摆在开头，等于替全篇立一个共同的起点。颔联紧接这个起点作分途之写：出句自比疲驽，十驾才及千里；对句以孤鹗喻友，一飞已先九霄。两句都是比喻，但一取地上之行、一取天上之举，速度、高度、姿态无一相同，落差全在对仗的骨架里撑开，不需要一句议论。颈联忽然收住感慨，改为并置两幅画面：秋风兰棹是行者此刻在途的实景，旭日觚棱是京阙将至的想象之景，一水一云，一动一静，由江湖遥指宫掖，空间的跨度替代了时间的推移。尾联又变格，不作叮咛，反而托友人代己致意于石渠诸彦，把私交之情引向一个更大的士人群体，末句『行迈同趋便殿朝』以他人之朝班作结，自己的身影退到画外，留白最深。全篇自谦处不作卑辞，推许处不涉谀语，笔力都在字面之下，可见其为文以气骨胜的路数。

Allusions

The poem is rich in classical allusions, all used aptly. 'Fa seat and carriage' refers to the emperor’s personal examination of candidates. 'Flag summons' derives from Mencius, signifying a ceremonial call to office. 'Weary nag, ten spans' comes from Xunzi, where a worn-out horse eventually covers a thousand miles, here turned into a self-deprecating remark. 'Lone eagle' comes from the Han shu, where a hundred falcons are not worth one osprey, used to praise unmatched talent. 'Lan zhao' (orchid oars) evokes the fragrant boat imagery of the Lisao. 'Guleng' (palace eaves) is from Ban Gu’s Rhapsody on the Western Capital, symbolizing the imperial palace. 'Stone Canal' refers to the Han dynasty library, a metaphor for the Song academy. Allusions are integrated so naturally that the lines read as plain narrative.

诗中用典密而不涩，多取汉魏旧语以写宋朝制度。『法座临轩』写天子于殿前设座亲策制举之士，是唐宋以来临轩试贤良的实制，非泛语。『旌招』本《孟子·万章下》所言『招虞人以旌』，古者以旌为招贤之信，后世遂以旌招指朝廷以礼征聘之事，此处切合两人同受制举之召。『疲驽十驾』出《荀子·劝学》『骐骥一跃，不能十步；驽马十驾，则亦及之』，原意在勉人以积累取胜，诗人加一『疲』字，遂由自励转为自嘲。『孤鹗一飞』本《汉书》所载邹阳上书语『鸷鸟累百，不如一鹗』，唐宋以来专用为荐士、许人之辞，加『孤』字则更见其孤峻绝群。『兰棹』承屈骚以兰桂饰舟之遗意，为行舟增一层芳洁。『觚棱』出班固《西都赋》『上觚棱而栖金爵』，指宫殿脊角转折之处，宋人常借以代指京阙。『石渠』指汉宣帝时诸儒论五经之石渠阁，本朝以之代称馆阁秘书之署，故『石渠诸时彦』即今之在馆诸贤。『行迈』取《诗经·王风·黍离》『行迈靡靡』之语，写远行迟迟之貌。『便殿』则为正殿之外的别殿，天子常朝、召对多在其处。诸典各安其位，读来只觉是叙事之词，不觉是掉书袋。

Commentary

Zhang Fangping is known primarily as a statesman and essayist, but his poetry is remarkable for its unadorned, forceful style. This piece demonstrates his penchant for using a few bold images to structure the whole poem. The ‘eagle’ imagery recurs in his poetry, as seen in his other farewell poem to Liu Ji, where he writes ‘See the lone eagle in the clouds.’ In this poem, the eagle is at once a real bird and a symbol of exceptional talent. The final request to greet the court worthies is a clever twist, making the poet’s absence felt more deeply than any direct expression of regret. The poem embodies the Song literati ideal of measured emotion and scholarly allusion.

张方平以政事名世，文章亦为一时所重，而诗名不甚彰。历代论其诗者，多注意到他不走西昆藻饰一路，也不落江西生硬一途，而是以气骨与议论见长，语句挺健，少作雕镂之工，这正与他奏议文字的作风相通。苏轼编次其文集时，以为其文如其为人，磊落坦荡，不为回护之辞；后世著录《乐全集》者亦称其诗文疏宕有奇气。此诗可作一例：通篇不施丽字，只以驽马、孤鹗、兰棹、觚棱四物立骨，而人物的迟速高下、朝野的远近隔阂尽在其中。若将它与集中《贻刘几》并读，尤见其笔性：那一首以『请看云中一鹗孤』作结，此一首以『孤鹗一飞先九霄』居腰，同一鹗喻，一用以期人于未来，一用以许人于当下，可知『鹗』字在他笔下几乎成了称赏人物的固定符号，而每用必有分寸，不至泛滥。至于结句托友人代谢时彦，则近于唐人赠别诗中『为报』一体的变调，把自身的落寞压在他人的朝班之下，含而不露，是全篇最耐咀味处。

Prosody

Form Seven-character Regulated Verse (Qiyan Lüshi)七言律诗

Rhyme The rhyme falls on the first, second, fourth, sixth, and eighth lines: mao, zhao, xiao, yao, chao. These belong to the xiao and hao rhyme categories, with a common loose merger in Song recitation.首句入韵，韵脚为髦、招、霄、峣、朝，以下平萧宵一系为主，『髦』字本属豪韵，宋人诗中萧宵肴豪时有通协，此为一例。

Tone pattern The form uses the rising tone pattern with rhyme entering from the first line. The overall tonal contrast is carefully managed, with the fourth and eighth lines balancing the pattern.仄起首句入韵式。起句『法座临轩策俊髦』作仄仄平平仄仄平，颔联出句第七字用仄收而对句以平声『霄』字相救，属律诗常见的拗而不失黏对之例。

Reading note The sound and feeling are closely matched: the rhyme words are mostly open and bright, supporting the poem’s upward gaze. The second couplet is intensely packed with entering and falling tones, conveying the laborious grinding of the nag, before rising swiftly on 'xian jiu xiao' (first above nine heavens). The third couplet slows down with two disyllabic continuous words, 'li yi' and 'tiao yao', mimicking the meandering boat and the steep palace roof. The final couplet settles into a steady, restrained rhythm, closing with a long, open rhyme.这首七律的声情安排颇可玩味。四个韵脚除首句的『髦』字外，招、霄、峣、朝皆开口洪亮，通篇读来有一种向上扬举的语调，与诗中殿廷、九霄、宫阙的高远意象相合；而『髦』字用豪韵入协，音略沉厚，正好压住开篇的仪典之重，使起句不至过于飘扬。颔联是全篇节奏最紧的一联：『疲驽十驾』四字连用两组仄声，喉舌之间颇费气力，读来自有迟滞之感；『孤鹗一飞』则平仄迭出而末三字『先九霄』一路上扬，声音随意思腾空。到颈联，诗人有意换气，句末连用两个联绵词，『逦迤』是叠韵，音节回环不断，写舟行之曲；『岧峣』同在宵韵，音节高举而收，写楼观之峻。两个连绵词分置对仗的末二字，使这一联的节奏由紧转缓、由促转长，恰好为尾联的从容道别铺路。尾联『石渠为谢』一顿，『行迈同趋』再顿，末以平声『朝』字收住，声气平稳落地，与首句的『髦』字遥相呼应，全篇于是首尾相衔而不显气竭。

Line by line

法座临轩策俊髦，同君陛见预旌招。

The emperor personally tests the talented at court; the poet and his friend were both among those summoned by ceremonial flag. This opening not only establishes the grand occasion of the imperial examination but also binds the two men to a shared beginning, making the later contrast more poignant.

天子临轩亲策俊才，我与你同被召见，共在礼聘之列。

The emperor in his throne examined the able men at the side hall; with you I was summoned and stood among those bidden by banners.

开篇便把镜头架在殿廷之上。『法座』『临轩』是制度语，一落笔即有仪典的分量，不写一己之私交而先写朝廷取士之盛，格局自高。次句『同君』二字最关键，它把两个人的仕历系在同一个起点上：既是叙旧，也为下文的分途埋下伏笔。若无此句的『同』，颔联的一慢一疾便成了无端的比较；有了这个『同』，落差才显出岁月的重量。『预旌招』用礼聘之典而语气从容，不夸不怨，把当年荣遇说得像寻常事，正是老于世故者的口吻。

The opening sets the camera at once in the palace hall. Throne and side hall are institutional words, and with the first stroke there is the weight of ceremony; instead of writing private friendship, it first writes the splendor of the court's recruitment, and the frame rises of itself. The key is the words with you: they tie the two men's careers to one starting point, at once recalling old times and laying the thread for the later parting of ways. Without this with, the slow and swift of the next couplet would be a groundless comparison; with it, the gap shows the weight of the years. The phrase bidden by banners uses the allusion to courteous summons, yet the tone is unhurried, neither boastful nor resentful, speaking of that old honor as an ordinary event - exactly the manner of one long versed in the world.

疲驽十驾始千里，孤鹗一飞先九霄。

The poet likens himself to a tired nag that only reaches a thousand miles after ten days of driving, while the friend is a lone eagle that flies past the nine heavens in one stroke. The words 'tired' and 'only' reveal self-disgust, and 'lone' and 'first' show admiration; the antithesis is sharp both in image and in sound, with the slow, blocked rhythm of the first line contrasting with the quick, rising rhythm of the second.

我像疲乏的劣马，十天才走满千里；你像孤鹗，一飞就高过九霄。

A tired jade horse, ten days to a thousand li; a lone osprey, one flight above the ninth heaven.

两句是全篇的骨节。上句取《荀子》驽马十驾之喻，本是勉人积累之语，诗人加『疲』字、加『始』字，把原典中那点自励的余味彻底压掉，只剩迟重与吃力。下句取邹阳『鸷鸟累百，不如一鹗』的成语，加『孤』字、加『先』字，孤则不群，先则轻捷，一举便超出同辈。妙在两句都不说人事，只说禽兽之行，而仕途的迟速、位望的高下已判然可见。音节上，上句多仄声，读来滞涩；下句转平，读来飘举，声情与意象恰好合辙。

These two lines are the bone of the whole poem. The first takes Xunzi's worn horse ten yokes, originally a word urging accumulation; the poet adds tired and at last, pressing out all the self-encouragement of the original, leaving only heaviness and labor. The second takes Zou Yang's a hundred fierce birds are not worth one osprey, adding lone and first: lone means uncompanioned, first means swift, one flight beyond all peers. The beauty is that neither line speaks of human affairs, only of the beast and bird, yet the speed and slowness of office, the height and lowness of standing, are already clear. In sound, the first line is full of oblique tones, reading clogged; the second turns level, reading buoyant, the voice and the image exactly matched.

兰棹秋风行逦迤，觚棱旭日势岧峣。

In autumn wind, the traveler’s orchid-scented oars set a winding course; in morning sun, the palace eaves of the capital rise steep and high. The couplet juxtaposes the present river journey with the imagined dawn over the imperial palace, bridging distance and creating a visual contrast between the moving boat and the fixed tower, the bleak autumn and the hopeful sunrise.

秋风里兰木船桨迤迤而行，朝阳中宫阙的觚棱高峻巍峨。

In autumn wind the orchid oars wind on; in the rising sun the palace ridges tower high.

颈联是全诗最见画意的一联。上句写送别处的水程，兰棹是眼前之物，秋风是眼前之气，『逦迤』二字写舟行曲折不断，声音亦长；下句越过千里直取京阙，觚棱是想象之景，旭日是想象之光，『岧峣』二字写楼观高耸入云，音节峻拔。一联之内，由此地到彼都，由萧瑟之秋到初升之日，行者的去路与前程同时铺开，而诗人自己仍留在秋风江上，隐然有一层不写出的对照。两个联绵词分置句末，使这一联在节奏上比颔联舒缓，正好承接上文的紧峭而作一缓。

This neck couplet is the poem's most pictorial. The first writes the water road at the farewell: orchid oars are the thing before the eyes, autumn wind the breath before the eyes; winding on writes the boat's unbroken twist, the sound also long. The second leaps a thousand li straight to the capital: palace ridges are the imagined sight, rising sun the imagined light; tower high writes the towers soaring into cloud, the syllables steep. In one couplet, from this place to that capital, from bleak autumn to the new-risen sun, the traveler's road and his future spread at once, while the poet himself remains on the autumn wind river - an unwritten contrast hidden within. The two lian绵 words sit at the line ends, making this couplet's rhythm looser than the jaw couplet, easing the tightness above and taking a breath.

Study

Word focus

始 Here means 'only at last' or 'only then', emphasizing the effort and lateness of reaching a thousand miles. It contrasts with '先' (first) in the next line, intensifying the difference between the poet and the friend. 『疲驽十驾始千里』的『始』字，是全句的重量所在。若换作『及』或『到』，只叙其事；用『始』，则把过程的漫长与结果的勉强一并托出——费尽十驾之力，方才『开始』够上千里，语气里有一种自知其钝的坦然。它与对句的『先』字形成尖锐对照：一个是终于才够，一个是一举已过，两字各据句中第五字之位，恰是七言诗节奏的着力点，读到此处必须一顿，落差便在这一顿里砸实。张方平不肯用哀语自诉迟滞，只借一个虚字把二十年光阴的耗损说尽，这是老手的省笔。

孤 Not just 'solitary' but 'peerless' or 'aloof', implying the eagle’s remarkable, separate excellence. It echoes the Han shu phrase 'one osprey is worth a hundred falcons' and points to the friend’s upright, uncompromising character. 『孤鹗』之『孤』并非孤单之意，而是孤峻、绝群。邹阳原语只说『鸷鸟累百，不如一鹗』，重在以一敌百；诗人添一『孤』字，把那只鹗从群鸟之中彻底拔出来，既写其才之独，也写其性之不与人同。以此赠吴育尤为贴切：史称吴育议事刚直，遇不可则辩之不已，正是一种不肯合众的孤峭。更可注意的是此字与集中《贻刘几》结句『请看云中一鹗孤』的呼应，同一字眼，一置句首以状飞举之势，一垂句末以留仰望之姿，可见诗人对这个意象的偏爱与经营。

势 Posture or momentum. In this context, it gives the static palace eaves a rising, dynamic force, as if the architecture itself is soaring under the morning sun. It conveys the poet’s admiration and also his sense of distance from the grand center. 『觚棱旭日势岧峣』的『势』字下得极有力。宫阙本是静物，旭日亦只是照临，一加『势』字，静者忽有向上冲举之态，仿佛楼角的层层转折正在光里生长。这不是写高度，而是写高度给人的压迫与吸引，是仰视者眼中的动感。句法上，『势』字承『旭日』而领『岧峣』，使一个形容词性的联绵词有了主语与来由，不至虚浮。它同时替诗人说出了那种对京阙既向慕又觉其遥不可即的心情：势在彼而身在此，一字之中已含分际。