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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

送郭诚思归华下

Sending Guo Chengsi Back to the Foot of Mount Hua

张方平

Zhang Fangping

山水Landscape 田园Pastoral 咏史Historical Reflection 边塞Frontier

忘怀物外且如愚，何事劳精据藁梧。
以马喻马即非马，数舆无舆方得舆。
莫执斧斤过栎社，懒施几席向蘧庐。
好归玉秀峰前坐，闲看晴云自卷舒。

Forgetting all worldly things, I seem a fool;
Why weary your spirit leaning on a withered parasol tree?
To explain a horse by a horse—that is already not the horse;
To count the parts of a carriage and find none—only then do you grasp the carriage.
Do not carry an axe past the sacred oak of Lìshè;
Be too lazy to spread a mat toward the wayside inn.
Better to return and sit before Jade Beauty Peak,
Leisurely watching the clear clouds roll up and unfold by themselves.

Listen

Meaning

The poem urges a recluse friend returning to Mount Hua to abandon disputation and intellectual strain, to let go of attachments and judgments, and to find peace in sitting quietly and watching clouds drift naturally—embracing a life of simplicity and inner freedom.

把身外的万事万物都忘个干净，宁可显得像个愚钝的人；又何必耗尽精神，倚着那株枯梧桐苦苦思辩。拿马来说明马，说出口的就已经不是那匹马了；把车子一件件拆开来数，数到没有车可数，才算真懂得什么是车。不要提着斧子走过栎社那株神木，也懒得把几席铺设在只能借宿一宵的蘧庐。你还是回到玉秀峰前安然坐下吧，闲闲地看那晴空里的云自己卷起又舒开。

Appreciation

The poem opens by advising the friend to forget external things and prefer a seeming dullness, rather than exhausting his spirit in debate. The second couplet presents two paradoxes: saying 'horse' fails to capture the actual horse, and only by dismantling the carriage into parts and finding no carriage do you truly understand it. The third couplet alludes to the sacred oak of Lìshè, warning against measuring things by utility, and to the wayside inn, suggesting not to linger in transient places. The closing couplet turns to the concrete image of sitting before Jade Beauty Peak and watching clouds unfurl—transforming philosophical discourse into a serene picture. The entire poem builds a chain of images from debate to forgetfulness, from attachment to release, using negations to strip away layers until only the final image remains, exemplifying the Song dynasty's ability to infuse poetry with rational insight without losing poetic quality.

【白话串讲】张方平送郭诚思归华山：“忘怀物外且如愚，何事劳精据藁梧”。“以马喻马即非马”——他谈庄子。“好归玉秀峰前坐，闲看晴云自卷舒”——他劝朋友归隐。【意象与手法】全诗以槁梧、马、舆、斧斤、栎社、蘧庐、晴云串成一条由辩到忘、由执到放的意象链。前六句纯用理语推进，忘、莫、懒三个否定层层作减法；尾联忽然转出一片山色云影，理趣顿化为画境，是宋人以理入诗而不堕枯槁的典型手法。【情感与主旨】诗表面送人归隐华山，实则借庄子之言劝友人息辩忘言、守拙藏用，把归山写成一次精神的复位。其中也隐含诗人自己厌倦朝堂争议、向往闲适的心声，故语气虽是叮咛，底色却是自省。【名句点睛】「以马喻马即非马，数舆无舆方得舆」以两句重字极密的拗句直陈名实之辨，读来如禅家机锋，是宋诗筋骨思理的样本；「闲看晴云自卷舒」则以一片无心的云收束全篇，不着一字议论而万理俱足，馀味最长。

Background

Zhang Fangping (1007–1091), courtesy name Andao, late self-styled Lequan Jushi, was a native of Songcheng, Yingtian Prefecture. Poor in youth, he borrowed books and read them once. He rose to be a prominent official, eventually serving as Vice Grand Councilor. He was known for his incisive court arguments and expertise in finance, but privately he was devoted to Buddhism and Daoism, even transcribing the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, which Su Shi praised. This poem, sending someone back to Mount Hua, reflects his contemplative side. Mount Hua was a major Daoist center in the Northern Song, associated with hermits like Chen Tuan. The recipient, Guo Chengsi, is historically obscure, but the poem's allusions suggest he was a scholar of Zhuangzi who had engaged in debate. The poem's three negations—do not weary, do not carry an axe, be lazy to spread a mat—imply his previous involvement in worldly affairs. Zhang Fangping's address is also self-admonition, as a man weary of court disputes.

张方平（一〇〇七至一〇九一），字安道，晚号乐全居士，应天府宋城人。少时家贫无书，从人借三史读之，一览成诵；举茂材异等，历知昆山、睦州、益州，官至参知政事，以太子太保致仕，谥文定，苏轼为撰墓志。他一生有两副面目：在朝则议论剀切，为三司使时精于财计，晚年力争新法之失；在私则笃好佛老，尝手写《楞伽经》，苏轼为之作序，称其多生宿习。这首送人归华山之作，正出自后一副面目。华山在北宋是道教重镇。宋初陈抟隐居云台观，太宗赐号希夷先生，其后种放、张无梦一脉相承，士大夫经行关中者，多以访华山高隐为雅事。题称归华下，即归华山之下；玉秀峰当是华山峰峦之名。郭诚思其人，文献无征，然由诗中槁梧、栎社、蘧庐诸语推之，当是一位精研庄老、又曾出山与人论辩的隐者。诗中三处否定——莫劳精、莫执斧斤、懒施几席——正暗示对方此前陷在有为与好辩之中，如今幡然要走。因此这首诗不是一般的饯别。张方平不写行色，不写离愁，不写道路险远，通篇只讲一件事：回去，把话停下来，把眼光放平。以他的身份写这样的诗，其实也是一种自我叮咛——一个终日在朝堂上与人争是非的人，最懂得辩说之累，也最羡慕晴云的自在。北宋中期士大夫在儒者的事功与庄禅的息心之间来回摆荡，此诗便是这种摆荡留下的一枚清晰印记。

Art

The poem is striking for using an entire couplet to present pure philosophy in tongue-twister fashion: 'To explain a horse by a horse—that is already not the horse; to count the parts of a carriage and find none—only then do you grasp the carriage.' The repetition of 'horse' and 'carriage' is deliberate, creating a verbal mirror of self-referential logic. The poem employs a subtractive structure with three negations: 'forget,' 'do not,' 'be lazy'—stripping away attachments until only a person and a cloud remain. The final couplet shifts from argument to image, turning abstract reasoning into a concrete scene. The couplet on horses and carriages is a conceptual antithesis; the following couplet pairs allusions. The whole poem is tightly structured, with no superfluous lines, and exemplifies the Song penchant for 'muscle and bone' over Tang rich sentiment.

这首诗最特别的地方，是它敢用一整个颔联去讲纯粹的道理，而且讲得像绕口令。以马喻马即非马，数舆无舆方得舆，十四字里马字三见、舆字三见，重字密到近乎故意。近体诗最忌重字，张方平偏在此处连犯，原因很简单：他要的不是音声之美，而是逻辑之势。名相的自我缠绕，只有靠字面的自我缠绕才写得出来；读时舌头打结，正是义理打结的写照。其次是句式的减法。八句里安了三个否定：忘、莫、懒。忘怀物外是把外物撤掉，莫执斧斤是把工具与判断撤掉，懒施几席是连安顿的念头也撤掉。层层减去之后，剩下的只有一个人和一片云。宋人写理趣诗最容易犯的病是越说越满，此诗恰恰相反，是越说越空，直到无可再减，尾联的山色才浮得出来。第三是结法。前六句一路议论、一路劝止，语气不免峭硬；到好归玉秀峰前坐，忽然给出一个具体的姿势——坐；再到闲看晴云自卷舒，给出一个具体的动作——看。抽象的道理落到身体上，全诗于是由论转为画。妙在这画里没有主人：云自己卷，自己舒，无人指挥，也无人评说，恰是前面所有议论想说而说不尽的那层意思。以象作结，以无言收有言，这是张方平从庄子与禅家那里学来的手艺。最后是对仗。颔联以马对舆，是抽象概念的对仗；颈联以斧斤对几席、栎社对蘧庐，是典故的对仗。两联性质不同而气脉相接：一层辨名实之虚，一层论取舍之空，逐层推向尾联的放手。全篇八句无一句闲语，结构上毫无松散处。

Allusions

The poem is woven entirely from Zhuangzi's vocabulary. 'Withered parasol tree' refers to Zhuangzi's story of Huizi leaning against a parasol tree and chanting, wasting his spirit in debate. 'To explain a horse by a horse' comes from the Qiwulun, indicating that words cannot capture reality. 'Counting the carriage and finding none' echoes Zhuangzi's point about analyzing the hundred parts of a horse without finding the horse, and also parallels Buddhist chariot analogies. 'Carrying an axe past the sacred oak' alludes to the carpenter Shi who spared the useless sacred oak in Renjianshi, warning against utilitarian judgments. 'Wayside inn' comes from Tianyun, where benevolence and righteousness are called the inns of former kings, to be used for one night but not long occupied. Zhang Fangping goes further by saying he is too lazy to spread a mat, showing complete non-attachment. All five allusions serve the same theme of ceasing debate, forgetting words, hiding utility, and not lingering.

通篇几乎无一句不本《庄子》，可以说是一首用庄子语汇织成的诗。据槁梧出《庄子·德充符》，篇末记惠子倚树而吟、据槁梧而瞑，形容其耽于辩说、耗神至竭。张方平以何事劳精据槁梧发问，等于径呼对方为惠子，劝他不必再做以口舌逞能的事。以马喻马即非马本《庄子·齐物论》以指喻指之非指、以马喻马之非马。原意谓一切名言都不能真正抓住它所指的对象，一落言筌便已失真。此语与公孙龙白马非马的辩题字面相近而立意相反：公孙龙意在逞辩，庄子意在息辩，诗人取的正是后者。数舆无舆方得舆，语意与《庄子·则阳》指马之百体而不得马相通——把马的百体一一指出，并不能得到那匹马；反过来说，唯有明白拆尽部件之后并无一物名舆，才算真识得舆之为舆。此意又与佛典中分析车轮车轴而车不可得的车喻暗合，宋人谈玄论禅每合庄佛而用之，此句正是一例。莫执斧斤过栎社出《庄子·人间世》匠石之齐、见栎社树的故事：那株大树正因被视为不材之木而无人砍伐，得以长寿。斧斤本是《孟子》斧斤以时入山林的成语，此处却与栎社相连，意谓不要拿有用无用的尺子去量物，更不要以世俗之才自伐其生。懒施几席向蘧庐出《庄子·天运》：仁义，先王之蘧庐也，止可以一宿而不可久处。蘧庐即传舍旅馆。诗人说懒施几席，是连在暂寓之地铺陈安顿的心思都懒得起，比原文更进一层。五处用典皆出庄子一家，密而不涩，因为它们同指一事：息辩、忘言、藏用、不留。不为炫博，只为织成一条完整的义理链，这是宋人用典中较高的一种用法。

Commentary

Zhang Fangping is not famous as a poet, but his works offer valuable insight into Northern Song literati culture. This poem's dense use of Zhaungzi might be criticized by strict Tang poetics, but it exemplifies the Song style of 'muscle and bone.' The poem avoids the pitfall of excessive abstraction by ending with a concrete image, elevating it beyond a mere philosophical exercise. Zhang Fangping's late devotion to Buddhism and Daoism is reflected in the sincerity of the poem's message, making it a personal credo rather than mere courtesy.

张方平的诗名，历来远不及他的政声与文名。《宋史》本传重其识量与议论，苏轼为撰墓志亦极称其虑事之远；至于诗，四十卷《乐全集》中所存不少，而历代唐宋诗选本却少见采录。原因大约有二：一是他生当欧阳修、梅尧臣倡导诗文革新之际，风格上不立门户，既不峭硬如梅，也不宏放如欧；二是他的诗多为交游酬赠、说理遣怀之作，少有足以脱口传诵的警句。然而这类作品恰恰是理解北宋士风的好材料。严羽《沧浪诗话》批评近代诸公以文字为诗、以才学为诗、以议论为诗，若单看此诗颔联，正是这条批评的活样本——十四字里全是名相之辨，无一景语。但钱钟书《谈艺录》论唐宋诗之别，谓唐诗多以丰神情韵擅长，宋诗多以筋骨思理见胜；则此诗颔联的筋骨，也正是宋诗自立门庭之处。同一首诗，用唐人的尺子量是病，用宋人的尺子量是格，这里头的分歧比作品本身更耐推究。更值得称许的是它没有把议论做到底。倘使八句尽如颔联，此诗必成一篇押韵的《齐物论》摘抄；张方平却在尾联撤去全部辞辩，只留玉秀峰、晴云、卷舒数字，让理归于象。后来讲学一路的说理诗，往往议论有余而馀味不足，正缺此一转。就此而论，此诗虽非名篇，却在宋人理趣诗中站得住脚。此外，张方平晚年笃好佛老，手写《楞伽经》而苏轼为序，称其多生宿习。以此回看诗中息辩忘言之说，便知不是应酬套语，而确是他一生用力之所在。诗的分量，往往要连着人一起看才称得出来。

Prosody

Form 七言律诗七言律诗

Rhyme 押平声鱼虞通韵，首句入韵：愚、梧属上平七虞，舆、庐、舒属上平六鱼。二韵为邻韵，中古已近，宋人诗中通押颇常见，故不以出韵为病。押平声鱼虞通韵，首句入韵：愚、梧属上平七虞，舆、庐、舒属上平六鱼。二韵为邻韵，中古已近，宋人诗中通押颇常见，故不以出韵为病。

Tone pattern 大体依平起首句入韵式。首句忘怀物外且如愚为平平仄仄仄平平，合调；颔联则多拗，以马喻马即非马一句五仄相连，数舆无舆方得舆一句四平相接，皆逸出常格；颈联、尾联复归平稳，尾句闲看晴云自卷舒为平仄平平仄仄平，收束安详。大体依平起首句入韵式。首句忘怀物外且如愚为平平仄仄仄平平，合调；颔联则多拗，以马喻马即非马一句五仄相连，数舆无舆方得舆一句四平相接，皆逸出常格；颈联、尾联复归平稳，尾句闲看晴云自卷舒为平仄平平仄仄平，收束安详。

Reading note 此诗声律上最可注意的，是它在颔联处忽然失稳，而这失稳恰恰是有意的。以马喻马即非马，除第六字非为平，其余六字尽仄，五仄相连，读来滞涩顿挫，像话说不顺；数舆无舆方得舆则连出四平，滑而无着。一涩一滑，正与两句所辨的名实关系相应：言语抓不住实相，声音也就抓不住节奏。若把它改得句句合律，重字也一并回避，义理固然还在，那种在语言里碰壁的实感便荡然无存。用韵方面，鱼虞二部同为合口，韵母收在幽深的部位，发音时口形收敛、气息内含，不像阳、庚诸韵那样外扬。这种沉静的音色与全诗息辩、藏用、闲坐的旨趣极为相合。愚、梧、舆、庐、舒五个韵脚一路读下来，声音越来越松，到末字舒时几乎是一口气吐尽，与云影舒展的画面同时完成，音义相生。节奏上，七言的标准停顿是四三，此诗八句无一句变格：忘怀物外——且如愚，好归玉秀峰前——坐，闲看晴云——自卷舒。前四字铺陈情境，后三字下判断或落姿态，句句如此，稳而不促。正因骨架如此规整，颔联那两处拗折才显得触目，也才成为全诗的诗眼所在。此诗声律上最可注意的，是它在颔联处忽然失稳，而这失稳恰恰是有意的。以马喻马即非马，除第六字非为平，其余六字尽仄，五仄相连，读来滞涩顿挫，像话说不顺；数舆无舆方得舆则连出四平，滑而无着。一涩一滑，正与两句所辨的名实关系相应：言语抓不住实相，声音也就抓不住节奏。若把它改得句句合律，重字也一并回避，义理固然还在，那种在语言里碰壁的实感便荡然无存。用韵方面，鱼虞二部同为合口，韵母收在幽深的部位，发音时口形收敛、气息内含，不像阳、庚诸韵那样外扬。这种沉静的音色与全诗息辩、藏用、闲坐的旨趣极为相合。愚、梧、舆、庐、舒五个韵脚一路读下来，声音越来越松，到末字舒时几乎是一口气吐尽，与云影舒展的画面同时完成，音义相生。节奏上，七言的标准停顿是四三，此诗八句无一句变格：忘怀物外——且如愚，好归玉秀峰前——坐，闲看晴云——自卷舒。前四字铺陈情境，后三字下判断或落姿态，句句如此，稳而不促。正因骨架如此规整，颔联那两处拗折才显得触目，也才成为全诗的诗眼所在。

Line by line

以马喻马即非马，数舆无舆方得舆。

Forgetting all external things, appear to be a fool—cease intellectual striving.

拿马来说明马，说出口的就已经不是那匹马了；把车子一件件拆开来数，数到没有车可数，才算真懂得什么是车。

To use a horse to explain a horse is already not the horse; count the carriage until no carriage remains, and only then do you know the carriage.

这是全诗的骨节，也是最容易被当作绕口令读过去的两句。上句讲言与物的裂缝：你一开口说这是马，说出来的已是一个概念，不是眼前那匹活马；语言天生够不着实相。下句更进一步，讲名与体的空虚：把车轮、车轴、车辕一件件拆开来数，数到最后并没有一样东西叫做车——车只是众部件凑合时人给的一个名字。上句是即非，是当下就错；下句是方得，是彻底否定之后才有的肯定。一破一立，把息辩的道理推到了尽头。最妙的是它的写法与内容严丝合缝。马字三见、舆字三见，六个重字反复缠绕，读来舌头都要打结，而这正是名相自我缠绕的模样。诗人不去描述迷宫，而是直接让读者在句子里迷一次路，出来时自然明白：与其在字面上兜圈子，不如干脆放下。以形式演义理，宋人理趣诗中不多见这样准确的例子。

This is the poem's sinew, and the two lines most easily read past as a tongue-twister. The first writes the crack between word and thing: as soon as you open your mouth and say this is a horse, what you have said is already a concept, not the living horse before you; language is by nature unable to reach the reality. The second goes further, writing the void of name and body: count the wheels, the axle, the shafts one by one, and at the end there is no single thing called a carriage - the carriage is only the name men give when the parts come together. The first is already not, wrong on the spot; the second is only then know, the affirmation that comes after total denial. One breaking, one establishing, it pushes the doctrine of stopping argument to its end. The beauty is that the form fits the content seamlessly: the word horse appears three times, the word carriage three times, six repeated characters winding together, reading until the tongue knots, and that is exactly the self-winding of names and concepts. The poet does not describe the maze but lets the reader lose the way in the sentence itself, and coming out naturally understands: rather than circling on the page, simply let go. Arguing reason through form, a rare exact example in the Song reason-poem.

莫执斧斤过栎社，懒施几席向蘧庐。

Why exhaust your spirit leaning on a withered parasol tree, like Huizi debating endlessly?

不要提着斧子走过栎社那株神木，也懒得把几席铺设在只能借宿一宵的蘧庐。

Do not carry your axe past the Oak Shrine; I am too idle to set out mats in a passing inn.

颔联辨名实，此联转论取舍，是从想法落到做法。上句用《庄子·人间世》匠石见栎社树的故事：那株大树因被认作不材之木，才免于斧斤而享高寿。莫执斧斤四字，表面是劝人别砍树，实则是劝人别带着有用无用的那把尺子出门——一旦手里握着斧头，看什么都成了材与不材，物先被判决，人也随之被判决。下句用《庄子·天运》蘧庐之说：仁义只是先王的旅舍，可以住一晚，不可久居。张方平说懒施几席，比原文更狠：他连铺席安顿的兴致都没有。一个懒字最见分寸，不是道理上不能住，是心上不想住；不是抗拒，是索然。两句合起来，一戒执，一戒留，正好接住上文的忘与非，也为尾联的坐字腾出了地方——不该带斧头，不必设几席，那就空着手去山前坐罢。

The jaw couplet distinguishes name and reality; this turns to choice, moving from thought to practice. The first uses Zhuangzi's craftsman Shi seeing the Oak Shrine tree: that great tree, recognized as useless wood, escaped the axe and lived long. The four words do not carry your axe, on the surface advising men not to cut the tree, really advising them not to go out with the ruler of useful and useless - once the axe is in the hand, everything is judged as timber or not, things are sentenced first, and men with them. The second uses Zhuangzi's passing inn of Heaven's Way: benevolence and rightness are but the lodging of the former kings, where one may stay a night, not dwell long. Fangping says I am too idle to set out mats, even harsher than the original: he has not even the interest to spread the mat and settle. The word idle shows the measure: not that one cannot stay by reason, but that the heart does not wish to; not resistance, but flatness. The two lines together, one warning against the axe, one against the lodging, exactly receive the forgetting and not above, and make room for the closing's sit - no axe to carry, no mats to set, then go empty-handed and sit before the hills.

好归玉秀峰前坐，闲看晴云自卷舒。

Explaining a horse by 'horse' instantly misses the actual horse—concepts are not reality.

你还是回到玉秀峰前安然坐下吧，闲闲地看那晴空里的云自己卷起又舒开。

Go home and sit before the Jade Splendor Peak; idly watch the clear clouds of themselves curl and unroll.

前六句都在说不要如何，到这里才第一次说要如何，而所说的竟只是两件极简单的事：坐下，看云。全诗的重量都压在这一转上。先看坐。前面拆过马、拆过车、拒过斧斤与几席，人一直站着，一直在辩、在挑、在走；一个坐字，动作全停，身心才算落地。它与颔联的思辩恰成对照：思辩是不停地动，坐是彻底地停。再看云。云是全诗唯一的自然物象，也是唯一不曾被议论过的东西。妙在自卷舒三字：云自己卷，自己舒，不为谁卷，也不为谁舒，无成心，无意图，正是庄子所说的无心而化。诗人不再讲道理，只把一片云推到读者眼前，让它替自己把话说完。闲字则给出观看的姿态——不判断，不追问，只是看着。八句议论至此散尽，只留下山、人、云三样东西，而前面所有的名相之辨，忽然都有了着落。

The first six lines all say do not do this; here at last it says what to do, and what it says is only two very simple things: sit, watch the clouds. The poem's whole weight presses on this turn. First, the sit. Earlier it has dismantled the horse, dismantled the carriage, refused the axe and the mats; the man has been standing, arguing, choosing, walking; the single word sit stops all motion, and body and mind at last land. It contrasts with the jaw couplet's arguing: arguing is unceasing motion, sitting is thorough stillness. Then the cloud. The cloud is the poem's only natural object, and the only thing never argued. The beauty lies in of themselves curl and unroll: the cloud curls itself, unrolls itself, not curling for anyone, not unrolling for anyone, no fixed mind, no intent, exactly the transformation Zhuangzi speaks of, without a mind. The poet no longer argues reason, but pushes a single cloud before the reader's eyes, letting it finish his words for him. The word idle gives the posture of watching - not judging, not asking, only looking. By now the eight lines of argument disperse, leaving only hills, man and cloud, and all the preceding distinctions of names suddenly have their landing.

Study

Word focus

愚 foolishness, simulated stupidity; a Daoist virtue of appearing dull while holding deep wisdom 首句以且如愚收尾，一个愚字定下了全诗的调子。它是自愿的、装出来的钝，不是天生的笨。在张方平笔下，愚与下句的劳精正相对：劳精是聪明人的病，愚是聪明人自救的药。惠子据槁梧而瞑，正因为太不肯愚。这个字的分量还来自它的位置——它压在句末韵脚上，是全诗第一个落地的重音。若换作朴、拙、痴，意思相近而力道各异：朴偏于质地，拙偏于技艺，痴偏于情执，都不如愚那样带着一层甘心受人轻视的姿态。老子所谓我愚人之心哉，庄子所谓愚芚，说的都是这种以退为进的智慧。诗人一上手就把标准降到最低，后面所有的拆解与放弃，才有了立足之地。

方 only then; a conditional particle marking the precise moment of realization after full negation 数舆无舆方得舆，全句的转折都靠这个方字撑住。方是才、这才，是一道极窄的门槛：不是数了就得，也不是无舆便得，而是数到无舆这一步，才终于得。它把否定与肯定紧紧扣在一起，中间不留一丝退路。若换成即，如上句的即非马，语气就成了当下同时，逻辑上的次第便消失了；若换成始，虽也训才，却偏于时间的起点，少了那种恍然勘破的力量；若换成便，则太轻滑，像是顺手拈来。唯有方字既表条件，又表转折，还隐含一层来之不易的庆幸。上句用即非写迷，下句用方得写悟，两个虚字一暗一明，把颔联从绕口令提升为一副完整的破执图。宋人炼字常在虚字上着力，此处便是显例。

自 by oneself; naturally; without external cause—the key to the final image's effortless freedom 闲看晴云自卷舒，最要紧的是自字。去掉它，句子仍通，意思却塌了一半：晴云卷舒只是写景，晴云自卷舒才是写道。自是自己如此、本来如此，无人使之、亦无所为而然——庄子所谓自化，禅家所谓法尔如是。它同时替全诗解决了一个难题。前六句都是诗人在教人怎么做：忘、莫、懒，全是人为的用力；可用力去求无为，本身仍是有为。一个自字把主语从人交还给物：云不需要谁劝它放下，它本来就在卷与舒之间毫不费力。人只要看着，就够了。于是那些叮咛统统被这片云化解，全诗从劝勉的紧张里松开来。再看声情，自是去声，短促下沉，恰好垫在卷舒两个开口舒长的字之前，一顿一放，读来真如云影一收一展。字义与字音在此完全合一。