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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

送苏学士钱塘监郡

Seeing Off Scholar Su to the Prefecture of Qiantang

张方平

Zhang Fangping

山水Landscape 田园Fields and Gardens 边塞Frontier 时序Seasons

趣时贵近君独远，此情于世何所希。
车马尘中久已倦，湖山胜处即为归。
洞庭霜天柑橘熟，松江秋水鲈鱼肥。
地邻沧海莫东望，且作阮公离是非。

The world runs after what is near and noble—you alone keep your distance;
What more could such a heart expect of the world?
Long weary of the dust of carriages and horses,
Where the lakes and hills are at their finest, that is home enough.
In Dongting's frosty sky the tangerines ripen,
In Songjiang's autumn waters the perch grow fat.
The land borders the sea—do not gaze eastward,
But be like Ruan Ji, and leave right and wrong behind.

Listen

Meaning

Zhang Fangping sees off a scholar friend taking up the post of prefect of Qiantang (Hangzhou). While the world runs after what is near and noble, the friend alone keeps his distance—and for such a heart, what more could the world offer? Weary of the dust of official travel, the friend will find his true home wherever the lakes and hills are finest. The journey south offers Dongting's tangerines and Songjiang's fat perch; and since the land borders the sea, the poet advises: do not gaze eastward in homesickness, but be like Ruan Ji, and leave the world's right and wrong behind. A farewell that turns into a lesson in the art of living.

别人都赶时髦去巴结权贵，你却偏要疏远他们；这份心志在世俗之中又有多少人能理解。你在车马喧嚣的尘世里早已厌倦，只要到了湖光山色绝佳的地方，便是你的归宿。洞庭湖秋霜时节柑橘成熟，松江的秋水里鲈鱼正肥。那地方地近沧海，你且莫向东眺望以免触动乡思，只学那阮籍，远离人间的的是非。

Appreciation

The poem's art lies in leading with the scene and binding with allusion. The first six lines build two layers: the first four write the man—the friend's lofty aloofness and weariness of office; the last two write the place—Dongting's tangerines and Songjiang's perch, the emblems of the southeast's abundance. The scenic words are really words of comfort: you may regret leaving the capital, but you will have the joy of lakes, hills, fish, and fruit. The four empty words 'weary,' 'enough,' 'not,' 'but' are the sinews: 'weary' writes the exhaustion of the official road, 'enough' the decision of the returning heart, 'not' and 'but' the advice and the reassurance. The closing allusion to Ruan Ji lifts the specific farewell into a lesson in the conduct of life.

【白话串讲】张方平送苏学士（很可能是苏轼）去杭州做官：“车马尘中久已倦，湖山胜处即为归”——“洞庭霜天柑橘熟，松江秋水鲈鱼肥”——“地邻沧海莫东望”——他劝朋友安心。【意象与手法】诗以车马尘中、湖山胜处、洞庭霜天、松江秋水构成尘俗与自然的对照，复以张翰鲈鱼、阮籍离是非二典收束，景语实为慰语，以丰美风物冲淡离愁，是宋人理遣的典型笔法。【情感与主旨】表达对友人立身孤高的赞许与临别慰勉，主张士大夫不以庙堂为唯一归处，而可借山水自遣、以清流自守，于送别中寄寓处身远祸的人生态度。【名句点睛】「车马尘中久已倦，湖山胜处即为归」以一倦一即写尽宦途疲惫与精神安顿；「且作阮公离是非」以阮籍收束，把寻常饯别升华为处世哲学的抉示。

Background

Zhang Fangping wrote this poem seeing off a friend, Scholar Su, to the prefecture of Qiantang. The friend, though hard to identify precisely, was from the title a scholar-official sent out to govern a prefecture. Zhang Fangping (1007–1091) served from the reign of Renzong to that of Zhezong, famed for his outspoken advice, and on good terms with Wang Gongchen and Ouyang Xiu; late in life he took exception to Wang Anshi's new laws. Though this is a poem of social occasion, it shows his character: instead of the conventional praise of the appointment, he first praises the friend's lofty aloofness in a world that runs after the near and noble—a stance typical of Zhang Fangping, who valued most the scholar-official's refusal to follow the crowd. The poem was written in autumn, as the friend was about to travel south.

张方平此诗作于送友人苏学士赴任钱塘监郡之时。苏学士其人虽难确考，然题称学士、监郡，可知是一位文资出身、外放为郡守的士大夫。北宋士大夫交游，送行之作重在相勉相慰，而非唐人那般凄切。张方平（1007—1091）历仕仁宗至哲宗，以直言敢谏、议论剀切著称，与王拱辰、欧阳修等相善，晚年亦与王安石新法持异议。此诗虽为应酬，却颇见其为人：不落俗套地夸官，而先赞友人立身之孤高。首联即点出苏氏在趋时贵近的世风中独守疏远，这种写法本身便带有张方平式的风骨——他一生最看重的，正是士大夫不随流俗的品格。诗当作于汴京或洛阳，时值秋日（湖南洞庭、松江鲈鱼皆秋景），友人将南行赴钱塘，临别赠言，既写沿途风物之诱人，又勉以阮籍式的解脱是非。背景虽简，却折射出北宋中期士大夫交游酬唱的精神底色：以清流自许，以山水自遣。再就钱塘一地而言，杭州自中唐白居易浚湖筑堤、遍咏湖山以来，已成士林公认的东南佳郡，北宋承平既久，其地益以富庶繁华，为游宦者所乐趋。张方平以「湖山胜处即为归」相许，正暗合宋人对杭州一地的普遍想象——那既是出仕理民的官场，亦不乏山水以慰羁旅，可作精神上的退路。故全诗不着一「愁」字，反以洞庭柑橘、松江鲈鱼相宽，与唐人折柳赠别、洒泪沾巾的凄恻判然有别。这种以理遣情、以风物代悲绪的笔法，透出北宋中期士大夫交游酬唱中那一分相视而笑的默契，亦见张方平作为前辈立身朝野的风度。

Art

The art lies in the structure of leading with the scene and binding with allusion. The first six lines build two layers: the first four write the man—the friend's lofty aloofness and weariness of office; the last two write the place—Dongting's tangerines and Songjiang's perch, the emblems of the southeast. The scenic words are really words of comfort: you may regret leaving the capital, but you will have the joy of lakes, hills, fish, and fruit. The four empty words 'weary,' 'enough,' 'not,' 'but' are the sinews: 'weary' writes the exhaustion of the official road, 'enough' the decision of the returning heart. The closing allusion to Ruan Ji lifts the specific farewell into a lesson in the conduct of life, and the parallel couplets are finely matched.

此诗艺术上最可注意者，在于以景引情、以典结意的结构。前六句铺排两层：前四句写人——苏氏之孤高与倦宦，后两句写地——洞庭柑橘、松江鲈鱼，皆东南胜境的物产象征。景语实为慰语：你此去虽有远离京城之憾，却有湖山鱼橘之乐。这种以丰美风物冲淡离愁的笔法，是宋人送别诗的典型策略，较唐人（如王维「劝君更尽一杯酒」）更重理遣。用字上，「倦」「即」「莫」「且」四个虚字尤见筋骨：倦字状宦途之疲，即字写归心之决，莫与且一劝一安，把叮咛写得从容不迫。尾联用阮籍典收束，由实入虚，将一场具体的送别升华为处世态度的抉示。全诗四联八句，起承转合了然，虽为七绝而气脉完足，毫无草率。对仗方面，三四句「车马尘中」对「湖山胜处」、五六句「洞庭霜天」对「松江秋水」，工稳而自然，见宋调之精致。此外尚可注意其虚字经营之妙：颈联「倦」与「即」一疲一决，写出由厌而安的心理转折；尾联「莫」与「且」一禁一劝，把叮咛化为从容的安顿。四个虚字如筋骨贯穿全篇，使一首短制不流于滑易。就结构而言，此诗前四句写人、后四句写地，由「独远」之品格而「倦归」之心境、由「湖山」之适意而「阮公」之处世，层层递进，最后以典收束，实入虚出，收得极稳。宋人七绝本以立意警拔见长，张方平此作虽为应酬，却于寻常送别中翻出处身远祸的哲学，正见其「以意为主」的诗学自觉，亦足以见北宋士大夫精神世界由唐之重情向宋之重理的迁移。

Allusions

The poem's two allusions both touch 'reclusion' and 'avoiding trouble.' 'Songjiang's fat perch' uses the story of Zhang Han of the Western Jin, a native of Wu, who at the sight of the autumn wind longed for the water-shield soup and perch of his home and said, 'What is precious in life is to follow one's own heart; how can I be bound to office thousands of miles from home for the sake of rank?' and ordered his carriage home. Zhang Fangping uses this allusion to hint that the friend's journey to Qiantang is near to a reclusive ease, not a bitter exile. 'Leave right and wrong behind, like Ruan Ji' uses the story of Ruan Ji of the Wei-Jin period, who drank himself senseless for sixty days to avoid a marriage alliance and wrote his 'Songs of My Heart' to hide his purpose, famed for keeping himself whole. The two allusions, one bright and one dark—Zhang Han's perch writing the form, Ruan Ji's flight from right and wrong writing the spirit—turn an ordinary farewell into a metaphor for the scholar-official's care for his own spirit in a troubled world.

诗中用典凡二处，皆关涉「归隐」「远祸」的主题。「松江鲈鱼」用西晋张翰（字季鹰）事。翰为吴人，见秋风起，乃思吴中菰菜、莼羹、鲈鱼脍，曰「人生贵得适志，何能羁宦数千里以要名爵」，遂命驾而归。张方平以此典写苏氏之赴钱塘，暗喻此行近于归隐式的适意，而非辛苦迁谪。「阮公离是非」用魏晋之际阮籍事。籍尝为免受当道猜忌，酣醉六十日避婚，又作《咏怀》以晦其志，世称其能远祸全名。诗中「且作阮公离是非」，是劝友人到了地邻沧海的钱塘，莫向东望而生乡思，且学阮籍韬光养晦、置身是非之外。两典一明一暗：张翰之典写形（鲈鱼秋水），阮籍之典写神（离是非），共同把一场寻常饯别点化为士大夫处身乱世、保全性灵的隐喻。宋人用典喜作理趣，此诗正是一例——典不炫博，而恰在关节处撑起全篇主旨。进一步辨析，张翰、阮籍二典虽同主「远世适志」，取径却各异：张翰之归，出于对故乡风物的眷恋，是形骸上的「适口」；阮籍之避，出于对险恶世道的忧惧，是精神上的「全身」。张方平将二者并用，恰成一种递进——先以鲈鱼秋水的丰美安顿友人的身，再以阮公离是非的韬晦安顿友人的心，一外一内，把「赴外任」这件事点化为既得口腹之乐、又全性命之真的双重解脱。这种以典相衔、以典相生的手法，避免了单一用典的扁平，使全诗主旨有了厚度。较之江西诗派后来「无一字无来处」的刻镂，张方平此处用典仍属「以意驱典」，典为我用而非我为典役，正是北宋中期宋诗尚未走入艰涩时的从容面目。

Commentary

Critics have written little of Zhang Fangping's verse, but this poem may be read with the essays on friendship and scholar-official spirit in his collected works. Chen Zhensun's catalogue of the Southern Song praised his prose as 'clear and simple,' and the same may be said of this poem: it does not pile up ornament or feign hesitation, but opens with 'the world runs after what is near and noble—you alone keep your distance,' setting the bone of the poem directly yet gently, the Song ideal of 'meaning as master.' The couplet 'Dongting's frosty sky, the tangerines ripen; Songjiang's autumn waters, the perch grow fat' is written in full-bodied images of comfort; and the closing allusion to Ruan Ji, with its far-reaching sigh, shares the interest of the Jiangxi school's 'turning iron into gold.'

历来论张方平诗者不多，然此首可与其文集《乐全集》中论交游、论士风之文互参。南宋陈振孙《直斋书录解题》谓其文「明白简易」，移评此诗亦当。全诗不堆砌辞藻，不故作吞吐，起手便以「趣时贵近君独远」立骨，直而能婉，实为宋诗「以意为主」之体现。方回《瀛奎律髓》选宋人送别，每重「有为而作」；此诗虽短，却非应景空文，末以阮籍作结，寄慨遥深，与江西诗派「点铁成金」之趣相通。近人论北宋送别诗，多标欧阳修、苏轼为大宗，张方平名位虽不及，而风骨近之——其诗如其人，质直中有风度。至于「洞庭霜天柑橘熟，松江秋水鲈鱼肥」一联，以饱满的物象写慰安，较唐人「孤帆远影碧空尽」之清空，别是一种丰腴的宋调，亦足以见时代风气之迁移。要之，此诗以短制见长，重在立意而非修辞，宜与张氏奏议、书札合观，方尽其「文以载道」之本色。值得一提的是，张方平在宋诗中地位虽不及欧、苏、黄、王，然其「以议论为诗、以理趣入情」的路数，实为宋调定型过程中的一环。此诗「车马尘中久已倦，湖山胜处即为归」一联，纯以理语写情，不借比兴而自见旷达，与欧阳修「始知锁向金笼听，不及林间自在啼」的理趣、苏轼「此心安处是吾乡」的安顿，可相参证，皆是以智慧消解情绪的宋人式慰藉。就此而言，这首看似平淡的送别小诗，实则是理解北宋士大夫「出处观」的一枚标本：他们不把庙堂视为唯一归处，而相信山水之间、是非之外，另有一番精神的故乡。张方平借一场寻常饯别，替整个时代说出了这种从容。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Level-tone wei rhymes: gui, fei, fei; the last word of the first line, 'xi,' also belongs to the rhyme-group, the three rhymes running through押平声微韵（平水韵上平五微）：归、肥、非；首句末字「希」亦属微韵，首句不入韵而末字恰在韵部，读来如三韵相贯。

Tone pattern Seven-character quatrain beginning on an oblique tone without the first line in rhyme; the first line 'the world runs after what is near and noble' runs oblique-level-oblique-oblique-level-oblique-oblique, the middle couplets broadly matching with some variation, showing the Song refusal to be bound by strict prosody七绝仄起首句不入韵体。首句「趣时贵近君独远」仄平仄仄平仄仄，次句「车马尘中久已倦」平仄平平仄仄仄，三四句「洞庭霜天柑橘熟，松江秋水鲈鱼肥」平仄平平平仄仄、平平平仄平平平，大体合律而略有腾挪，具宋人不为格律所缚之态。

Reading note A seven-character quatrain whose chapter-plan leads with the man, then the place, then binds with allusion; its parallel couplets fine and natural.此诗为七言绝句，章法上起承转合分明：首联立骨（独远之品格），颔联写倦归之心，颈联铺东南风物，尾联以阮籍典收束立意。用韵方面，归、肥、非同属平水韵上平五微，韵母开口呼，读音舒长，宜于表达宽慰从容的语气，与全诗劝勉友人的基调相合。首句末字希虽不入韵，却同处微韵，使四句在声音上遥相呼应，一气贯通。平仄上，张方平此作大体遵循七绝仄起式，然如「君独远」「久已倦」等处略有变通，不以严守粘对为务，反倒见出宋人作诗重意不重律的倾向——格律服务于内容，而非内容迁就格律。整体声情平稳温厚，无唐绝之峭拔，而有宋调之醇雅，正宜于此类士大夫交游赠答之作。

Line by line

车马尘中久已倦，湖山胜处即为归。

Long weary of the dust of carriages and horses, where the lakes and hills are at their finest, that is home enough. (The turning couplet writes the weariness of office and the decision of the returning heart: the word 'enough' makes the lakes and hills the true home without hesitation.)

你在车马喧嚣的尘世里早已厌倦，只要到了湖光山色绝佳的地方，便是你的归宿。

Long weary of the dust of carriage and horse; where the lake and hills are fairest, there is home.

这一联是全诗的转捩。前联写友人之「独远」，是品格的孤高；此联写友人之「倦」与「归」，则是仕宦心境的真实袒露。车马尘中四字，以极密的声音与意象写尽都城市井的喧嚣与奔波，久已倦三字则把这种疲惫推到无可回旋的境地。妙在「湖山胜处即为归」的「即」字——它不作迟疑，不作换算，仿佛只要山水在，故乡便在，归处便在。这种把精神归宿直接等同于自然山水的写法，是宋人消解离愁的典型思路：不靠醇酒大哭，而靠山水安顿。一个「即」字，既写出友人的旷达，也暗含诗人自身的价值认同——在张方平看来，士之归处本不在庙堂而在心安。

This couplet is the poem's turning point. The last couplet wrote the friend's lonely distance, the loftiness of his character; this writes his weariness and return, the true laying bare of the official heart. The four words dust of carriage and horse exhaust the noise and rush of the capital's markets in the densest sound and imagery; long weary pushes this lassitude to the point of no return. The beauty lies in the word in where the lake and hills are fairest, there is home: no hesitation, no reckoning, as if where mountains and waters are, home is, the place of return. This way of equating spiritual home with natural scenery is the Song way of dissolving parting grief: not drowning it in wine and tears, but settling it in landscape. The single word in writes the friend's openness and secretly the poet's own value - in Fangping's view, a scholar's home is not in the court but where the heart is at peace.

松江秋水鲈鱼肥。

In Songjiang's autumn waters the perch grow fat. (This single line, citing the perch of Songjiang, writes the excellence of the southeast in an image of abundance, while secretly using the story of Zhang Han, who at the autumn wind longed for the perch of his homeland and resigned his office—telling the friend that Qiantang, near Songjiang, offers that ease of spirit; the word 'fat' shows the Song delight in the concrete.)

松江的秋水里鲈鱼正肥。

In the autumn waters of the Song River the perch are fat.

此句单举松江鲈鱼，表面是写东南风物之佳，实则暗用张翰莼鲈之思的故实。张翰因秋风起而思吴中鲈脍，遂弃官归隐；诗人以此入诗，等于告诉友人：你此去钱塘，虽是外任，却近松江，正可领略张翰式的适意，不啻一种精神上的「归」。一个「肥」字最见宋诗炼字之趣——它本形容鱼之腴美，此处却连带写出秋水丰盈、物产殷实、生涯可安的满足感，平淡中寓丰腴。短短七字，景、典、情三者交融，既是对友人的慰勉，也透露出诗人对仕宦羁绊的淡淡倦意。以一句景语收束前半之铺陈，举重若轻。

This line takes only the Song River perch, on the surface writing the fair sights of the southeast, really using the allusion to Zhang Han's longing for the water shield and perch. Zhang Han, when the autumn wind rose, longed for the sliced perch of Wu and abandoned office to return; bringing this into the poem is to tell the friend: your going to Qiantang, though an outer post, is near the Song River, and you may well taste a Zhang Han-like ease, no less a spiritual return. The word fat shows the Song delight in the worked character: it describes the fish's richness, yet here it also carries the fullness of autumn waters, the abundance of produce, the contentment of a settled life, plain yet rich. Seven short characters where scene, allusion and feeling blend - at once comfort to the friend and a faint weariness with the bonds of office. Closing the first half of description in a line of scenery, handling the weight as if it were light.

且作阮公离是非。

Be like Ruan Ji, and leave right and wrong behind. (The closing line binds the poem with the allusion to Ruan Ji: since the land borders the sea and homesickness is easy, do not gaze eastward, but like Ruan Ji, who drank himself senseless to escape suspicion and wrote his hidden 'Songs of My Heart,' keep your spirit whole outside the world's right and wrong.)

只学那阮籍，远离人间的的是非。

Be like Master Ruan, and stay far from right and wrong.

末句以阮籍作结，是全诗立意的最终落点。「且作」二字轻而有力，不是强求，不是悲叹，而是顺水推舟的劝慰：既然地邻沧海、易动乡思，那就不必东望，且学阮籍以酣醉晦迹、置身是非之外。阮籍在魏晋易代之际佯狂避祸，其《咏怀》诗幽深难测，正象征一种在险恶世风中保全性灵的智慧。诗人引此，既是对友人的保护式叮嘱，也折射出北宋士大夫在党争渐起时的普遍心态——与其卷入是非，不如以清流自守。一句收束，把一场具体的送别升华为处身哲学的抉示，余味悠长。

The last line closes on Ruan Ji, the final landing of the poem's meaning. The two words be like are light yet forceful: not a demand, not a lament, but a consolation that follows the current - since the place borders the sea and easily stirs homesickness, then there is no need to gaze east; be like Ruan Ji, hiding traces in drunkenness and standing outside right and wrong. Ruan Ji, between the Wei and Jin transition, feigned madness to avoid calamity, and his Songs of My Thoughts are deep and unfathomable, symbolizing the wisdom of preserving the spirit in a dangerous age. The poet's allusion is at once a protective charge to the friend and a reflection of the Northern Song scholar-official's common mind as factional strife grew: rather than be drawn into right and wrong, keep oneself clear. One line closes a specific farewell and raises it to a choice of philosophy of life, the aftertaste long.

Study

Word focus

倦 Weary. The heaviest word before the turning couplet: 'long weary of the dust of carriages and horses' writes the exhaustion of official travel—not a momentary fatigue but an accumulated one, the heart and the true self consumed in the arena of fame. 倦字是颈联之前最沉的一个字。车马尘中久已倦，写尽宦途奔波后的心力交瘁。值得注意的是，此倦非一时的劳顿，而是「久已」之积——它暗示友人（及诗人自己）在名利场中消耗的，不只是体力，更是精神与本真。一个倦字，为后文「湖山胜处即为归」提供了心理依据：正因倦于尘，才急于归山水。张方平以质直见长，此字不事雕琢而分量极重，恰如他奏议中直陈时弊的文风，平实中有风骨。若易以「厌」「疲」等字，则或失之轻佻，或失之绵软，皆不及「倦」字那种既疲惫又清醒的复杂况味。

即 Enough, at once. The key of the turning couplet: 'where the lakes and hills are at their finest, that is home enough'—no hesitation, no calculation, as if wherever the mountains and waters are, home is, and the spirit's home is not in the court but in the peace of the heart. 即字看似寻常，却是全诗逻辑的关键。「湖山胜处即为归」——归处不必是故园，只要山水胜处，便「即」是归。这个即字取消了距离、取消了换算、取消了犹疑，把精神安顿直接等同于空间转移，体现出宋人特有的「理遣」思维：用道理把离愁消解掉。在张方平笔下，即不是勉强安慰，而是一种确信。它使全诗从唐人式的「劝君更尽一杯酒」的感性缠绵，转向宋人式的旷达自足。一字之转，时代风气可见。炼字之妙，往往不在奇险，而在这种看似平淡却不可移易的妥帖。

肥 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 肥字用于鲈鱼，本属常语，置于「松江秋水鲈鱼肥」句末，却别有丰腴之致。它写鱼之腴美，亦写秋水之沛然、物产之殷实、生涯之可安，一字而包举多种满足感。更妙在它与张翰莼鲈之思的暗合：张翰因「鲈鱼肥」而思归，诗人因「鲈鱼肥」而慰友，同一肥字，一引出弃官，一引出适意，意象的复调由此而生。宋诗尚平淡、尚理趣，肥字正以俗为雅、以浅见深，于浅近处见出丰盈。若换以「美」「鲜」等字，则意味骤减，可见此字之不可移易。