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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

赠三茅朱先生

For Master Zhu of the Three Mao Mountains

张方平

Zhang Fangping

哲理Philosophical 时序Seasonal / Temporal

鬰仪结邻太霄道，金铛玉珮虚皇冠。
𬬻中火候烟霞煖，坛上磬声星斗寒。
紫节晨游从玉女，绿𫐌夜降接灵官。
愿持璧纽充盟信，乞取胎精九化丹。

The sun god Yùyí dwells beside the Grand Empyrean Way;
With golden bells and jade pendants, the Void Sovereign's crown.
In the furnace, the fire's heat warms the rosy mist;
On the altar, the chime's sound chills beneath the cold stars.
At dawn, with purple staff, he wanders with jade maidens;
At night, descending on the green carriage, he greets spirit officials.
I wish to hold the jade ring as a token of my covenant,
To beg for the elixir of ninefold transformation from the embryonic essence.

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Meaning

The poet describes the immortal realm of a Daoist master on Maoshan, depicting celestial regalia, alchemical practice, and ritual scenes, and finally expresses his earnest wish to offer a jade token and receive the supreme elixir of ninefold transformation.

日神鬰仪与道结邻，太霄道上仙官戴着金铛玉珮、虚皇之冠。𬬻中火候既足，丹气如烟霞般温润；坛上磬声敲响，星斗之下夜气清寒。清晨持紫节游从玉女，夜里降绿𫐌接迎灵官。我愿执玉璧为信物立盟，乞取那胎精九转的还丹。

Appreciation

The poem is written entirely in the style of a celestial journey, using concrete imagery to evoke the immaterial. The first couplet establishes the divine hierarchy; the second couplet contrasts warmth and cold, furnace and altar, sensory oppositions that capture the intensity of spiritual cultivation. The third couplet arrays the celestial retinue with vivid colors—purple staff, jade maidens, green carriage, spirit officials. The final couplet turns to the speaker's humble request for the elixir, uniting the preceding spectacle into a solemn petition. The most striking line is the couplet about the furnace and the altar, where warmth and cold mirror both outer alchemy and ritual purification, grounding celestial fantasy in tangible practice.

【白话串讲】张方平赠三茅山朱先生：“鬰仪结邻太霄道，金铛玉珮虚皇冠”。“𬬻中火候烟霞煖，坛上磬声星斗寒”——“愿持璧纽充盟信，乞取胎精九化丹”——他写求道。【意象与手法】通体游仙笔意，以实写虚。首联立道教神仙谱系，颔联「火候烟霞煖」对「磬声星斗寒」，一暖一寒、一𬬻一坛，以感官对照写修炼之境。颈联以紫节、玉女、绿𫐌、灵官铺排仙班，设色绚烂。结联转入乞丹之愿，由铺写收归请求。【情感与主旨】主旨不在慕仙轻佻，而在「愿持璧纽充盟信」的诚悫——一位退老大臣向道士执璧乞丹，礼敬郑重，见宋儒晚年三教调和、不废养生的真实心态。【名句点睛】「𬬻中火候烟霞煖，坛上磬声星斗寒」一联最见功力，煖寒对照写尽外丹与斋醮并修之实，游仙诗而能如此质实，难得。

Background

The 'Three Mao Mountains' refers to the sacred Maoshan range, associated with the Three Mao Brothers, Han dynasty immortals, and later the Shangqing (Maoshan) school of Daoism. Master Zhu was likely a Daoist recluse of this lineage. Zhang Fangping, in his retirement, took deep interest in Buddhist and Daoist learning and wrote many poems on immortal themes. This piece likely resulted from an actual visit to Maoshan and a discussion on alchemy and breath practice with Master Zhu. It reflects the Northern Song literati tendency to harmonize the Three Teachings and to seek physical and spiritual peace in later life.

三茅指茅山三茅君，道教圣地；朱先生当为隐于茅山之道士。张方平晚年退居，于释老之学多有涉猎，集中颇多游仙、赠道流之作，此即其一。宋承唐风，士大夫与方外交接为常，王安石、苏轼皆然。方平此诗写赠朱先生，铺陈道教修炼景象与乞丹之愿，当是方平访茅山、与朱道士论炉火胎息之术时所作。了解方平晚年思想由儒入道、以求身心安顿的转轨，方能读懂末联「乞取胎精九化丹」的诚悫——那不是佞道，而是乱世退臣对长生与超越的朴素向往。茅山为上清派祖庭，诗中所写𬬻火、坛磬、玉女、灵官，皆上清斋法的实境。再考「三茅」之名，指西汉时茅盈、茅固、茅衷三兄弟修道成真，后人于句曲山（今江苏句容茅山）立祠奉之，遂成道教上清派（茅山宗）的祖庭，陶弘景即隐居于此、整理上清经诀。朱先生既隐于茅山，当为茅山宗传人，故诗中「鬰仪」「金铛玉珮」「虚皇」「玉女」「灵官」等语，非泛泛神仙套语，而是紧扣上清经法——如「鬰仪」出《黄庭经》日月之神，「金铛玉珮」为《真诰》所载仙真冠饰，「胎精九转」则属上清存思与金丹并修的法门。张方平晚年退居后究心释老，其集中游仙、赠道流之作甚多，此诗正是他亲赴茅山、与朱道士论炉火胎息之术的实录。明了此一层，诗中「愿持璧纽充盟信」的郑重，便知是一位老臣向得道者执礼求法的庄敬，而非文人的游戏笔墨。

Art

This seven-character regulated verse is distinguished by concretizing the abstract: celestial realms are rendered through tangible regalia and ritual objects—golden bells, jade pendants, purple staves, green carriages. The second couplet juxtaposes warmth of the furnace's rosy smoke and the cold of starlit altar chime, creating a sensory balance of inner and outer practice. Colors are deployed with precision: gold, jade, purple, green—orderly and resplendent, closer to a Song-dynasty Daoist mural than to Tang fantasy. The perspective also shifts from distant observation (gazing at the immortal officers) to near participation (holding the jade ring), giving the poem a clear formal progression.

此诗七言四联，通体游仙笔意，而以实写虚，是其特色。首联「鬰仪结邻太霄道，金铛玉珮虚皇冠」写仙官冠带之盛，以「鬰仪」（日神）起兴，立定道教神仙谱系。颔联「𬬻中火候烟霞煖，坛上磬声星斗寒」一暖一寒、一𬬻一坛，以感官对照写修炼之境，炼丹与斋醮并举。颈联「紫节晨游从玉女，绿𫐌夜降接灵官」以紫节、玉女、绿𫐌、灵官铺排仙班仪从，色彩绚烂。结联「愿持璧纽充盟信，乞取胎精九化丹」转入乞丹之愿，由铺写收归请求。通篇设色浓丽而不淫，以道教术语为意象，却自有宋人理路清晰的骨架。细察其诗法，此诗妙在「以实写虚、以色见理」。道教神仙之境本属虚无，张方平却偏以「金铛玉珮」「紫节」「绿𫐌」等实有的仪卫名物去描摹，使飘渺的仙界有了可触的质感；而「火候烟霞煖」「磬声星斗寒」一联，更以「煖」「寒」二字的感官对照，把「炼丹」与「斋醮」两种修持写成一热一冷的实境，读之如见𬬻烟袅袅、坛磬泠泠。设色上，金（金铛）、玉（玉珮、玉女）、紫（紫节）、绿（绿𫐌）四色交错，绚烂中自有秩序，不似李商隐游仙之迷离，而近宋代道观壁画之工整。更可玩味者，此诗虽通体仙语，却始终有一条「求道者」的视线贯穿——首联仰望仙官，颈联旁观仙从，尾联方以「我」出面执璧乞丹，由远及近、由旁观到参与，章法遂有层次。这种「以道教知识为骨、以感官意象为肉」的写法，正是宋人游仙诗较唐人更「实」的关键。

Allusions

Yùyí is the sun god from the Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Classic); 'dwelling beside' (jiélín) evokes alignment with cosmic luminaries. Golden bells and jade pendants are the regalia of immortals as recorded in the Zhen'gao (Declarations of the Perfected). The furnace and fire phase refer to outer alchemy's controlled heating. Purple staff (zǐjié) is a deity's credential, attended by jade maidens and spirit officers. The jade ring (bìniǔ) as covenant token recalls ancient diplomatic or religious oaths. The 'elixir of ninefold transformation from embryonic essence' refers to the highest grade of internal and external alchemy in Shangqing practice. All terms are grounded in specific Daoist scriptures, not generic Daoist imagery.

诗中道教故实须逐条疏解。其一，「鬰仪」为日神之名，出《黄庭经》「鬰仪结璘善相保」，结邻谓与月神结为比邻，此处指朱先生亲近太霄之道。其二，「金铛玉珮」为仙真冠饰，《真诰》载仙官「金铛玉佩」，写其身份。其三，「火候」本炼丹术语，谓鼎𬬻温度节度，烟霞煖状丹气氤氲。其四，「紫节」即紫旄节，仙官所持信物；「玉女」「灵官」皆道教侍从之神。其五，「璧纽」指玉璧之纽，用以充盟誓之信；「胎精九化丹」谓九转还丹中孕育真精之品，出上清经诀。诸语皆茅山派修炼实指，非泛道情。更须逐层疏解其法脉：首联「鬰仪结邻太霄道」中，鬰仪为日神（《黄庭内景经》「高奔日月吾上道，鬰仪结璘善相保」，结璘为月神），「结邻」即与日月之神比邻，谓朱先生道行已近太霄之上清之境；「金铛玉珮虚皇冠」写其仙真冠服，虚皇即太虚之尊神，暗点朱先生已位列仙班。颔联「𬬻中火候」指外丹鼎𬬻的文武火节度，「坛上磬声」则指斋醮之仪，一丹一醮，正是上清派「内修金丹、外行斋法」的并重。颈联「紫节」「玉女」「灵官」皆《真诰》《度人经》所载仙真侍从，「紫节」即紫旄之节、仙官持以驱策灵官之信物。尾联「胎精九化丹」则指九转金丹中蕴含先天胎真之精者，是上清存思与金丹合修的最高品第。张方平把这些经诀术语一一坐实，足见其于茅山上清一系确有研读，非徒耳食道听。

Commentary

Zhang Fangping's Daoist poems, like his 'To the Heavenly Water Duke of Kongtong,' mark his late-life engagement with Daoism. Unlike the untrammeled imagination of Li Bai, Fangping's language is rooted in actual ritual and alchemical practice. Critics of the Siku Quanshu noted his usual plainness, yet here he employs rich color, showing adaptability to the genre. The poem's earnestness—holding a jade ring as pledge—speaks to a retired minister's respectful request for spiritual guidance, not idle fantasy. Read within the Northern Song context of harmonizing Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, the poem reveals a serious search for tranquility after public life.

方平集中游仙诸作，与《赠崆峒天水公》同调，皆晚年涉道之痕。宋人赠道流诗，唐人如李白已开其端，方平此诗设色近李，而理路近宋——李白「遥见仙人彩云里」纯任想象，方平则𬬻火、坛磬、火候、胎精，句句落在修炼法度上，是读过经诀的人写的。四库馆臣谓方平「不事雕绘」，此诗却颇事设色，可见其于方外题材另开一面。与苏轼《和陶》及《安州老人食蜜歌》相较，苏之涉道多带幽默与旷达，方平则较庄重诚悫。读此诗当置于宋士大夫三教合一的思想背景下，方见其价值：它不是求仙妄语，而是一位退老大臣与道士论道时的礼敬之词。若再深论，此诗还可置于宋士大夫「三教融通」的思想脉络中来读：北宋自真宗崇道、徽宗崇道之间，儒者于佛老多持「取其养心、去其荒诞」的态度，苏轼、黄庭坚、张方平辈皆然。张方平晚年退居，政治上既已无所施，遂转求身心之安顿，其于道教，所取者在「坐忘」「胎息」的养心之术，而非「服食」「飞升」的荒诞之求——此诗「乞取胎精九化丹」看似求仙丹，实则「愿持璧纽充盟信」的郑重里，透出的是对一位得道高人修持境界的敬仰，以及对自身身心康宁的素朴愿望。与唐人游仙诗之浪漫想象相较，张方平此篇以「读过经诀」的学养、以「退臣向道」的诚意，写出了一种更内敛、更近人情的游仙——它不求升遐，只求在丹𬬻磬声间安顿一颗倦宦之心。这正是宋人涉道诗最可贵的气质。

Prosody

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

Rhyme Rimes in the even tone of the hán category: guān, hán, guān, dān. Single rhyme throughout.通押平声寒韵，入韵字为冠、寒、官、丹，一韵到底。

Tone pattern Standard tonal pattern for seven-character lǜshī; the middle two couplets are antithetical with matched parts of speech.七律平仄，中二联「𬬻中火候烟霞煖，坛上磬声星斗寒」「紫节晨游从玉女，绿𫐌夜降接灵官」讲对仗，词性相侔。

Reading note The hán rhyme, an open first-class final of the shān group, imparts a clear, distant, slightly restrained quality suited to the vastness and chill of the celestial scene. The initial 'crown' sets the regal tone; the contrast of 'warm' and 'cold' mirrors the dual practices of alchemy and ritual. The final rimes 'officials' and 'elixir' bind the celestial court and the poet's request. Despite the dense imagery, the rhyme's clarity keeps the poem from becoming ornate; the meticulous structure—divinity, practice, retinue, petition—ensures a rational frame typical of Song regulated verse.此诗寒韵，属山摄开口一等，音色清远而微含收敛，最宜写游仙之寥廓与清寒。首联以「冠」字起，写出仙官冠带之盛；颔联「煖」「寒」相对，一暖一寒，音色上亦形成温度对比，读来如见𬬻火与夜坛；颈联「官」「丹」收束仙班与乞丹。七律游仙，最难在设色不淫、用典不晦，此诗以鬰仪、金铛、紫节、玉女、灵官层层铺排，却因寒韵的清远底色，整体不堕繁缛。宋人写道教题材，每以理路清整救唐人之浮，此诗设色虽丽，而章法井然：起写神格，承写修炼，转写仙从，合写乞丹，四联各有归属。寒韵之清，正助其游而不溺、丽而不靡，是宋调游仙中较耐读的一篇，其声情之清远与意趣之质实，恰成一表一里、相得益彰。

Line by line

火候烟霞煖

The sun god Yùyí becomes a neighbor, aligned with the Grand Empyrean—opening the cosmic register of the Shangqing tradition.

写丹𬬻火候既足、丹气如烟霞般温润

The furnace's fire-stage is warm with mist and cloud.

此五字截取自「𬬻中火候烟霞煖」，是全诗写炼丹最凝练的一句。火候二字是外丹术的核心概念，指鼎𬬻中文武既济的节度，差之毫厘则丹不成；方平以「烟霞煖」状其候，把抽象的火功写成可见可感的氤氲暖意，是炼字之妙。更可味者，煖字与下句「星斗寒」之寒字正成冷暖对照：𬬻中是丹气之煖，坛上是夜气之寒，一内一外、一修炼一斋醮，遂将道教修持的两种场面收于一联。宋人写游仙每患空廓，方平此句落在实际火功上，正见其曾究心炉火之术，非率尔涂饰。五个字里，有术语、有景象、有温度，游仙诗而能如此质实，难得。

These five characters are taken from the furnace's fire-stage warm with mist and cloud, the poem's most condensed line on refining the elixir. The word fire-stage is the core concept of outer alchemy, meaning the measured degree in the furnace where the martial and civil fires are harmonized; a hair's breadth off and the elixir fails. Fangping uses mist and cloud, warm to describe the stage, writing the abstract fire-work as a visible, palpable misty warmth, the beauty of the worked word. What is more to taste is that the warm here forms a cold-warm contrast with the word cold in the next line's stars are cold: within the furnace is the warmth of the elixir breath, on the altar is the cold of the night air, one inner one outer, one refinement one ritual, gathering two scenes of Taoist practice into one couplet. Song poets writing wandering immortals often suffer from emptiness; this line of Fangping's lands on actual fire-work, showing he once studied the furnace art, not a hasty ornament. In five characters there is a technical term, a scene, and a temperature; a wandering-immortal poem so solid is rare.

愿持璧纽充盟信，乞取胎精九化丹。

He wears golden bells and jade pendants, the crown of the Void Sovereign—marking the master's high immortal rank.

愿执玉璧为信物立盟，乞求九转胎精之丹

I would take the jade disc's clasp as a pledge of covenant, and beg for the nine-transformed elixir of the embryo essence.

结联是全诗归趣，由前面铺陈仙界收归人间的请求，章法上所谓「敛」也。璧纽指玉璧上的钮系，古人盟誓、聘问皆执璧为信，方平说「愿持璧纽充盟信」，是把求丹郑重其事地写为一场立盟，见其诚悫而非戏语。下句「乞取胎精九化丹」，胎精谓丹体中孕育的真一之精，九化即九转，是上清派最高品第的金丹。此联之重，在把全诗从「写仙」扭转为「求道」：前面鬰仪、金铛、玉女、灵官皆是朱先生所处的仙班，至此方点出自己愿望——以盟信之诚，乞先生赐丹。一个退老大臣向道士执璧乞丹，措辞如此庄重，恰见宋儒晚年三教调和、不废养生之真实心态，读来比轻佻的慕仙语诚恳得多。

The closing couplet is the poem's final bent, gathering the preceding spread of the immortal world back to a human request, the structure's so-called gathering. The jade disc's clasp means the loop on the jade disc; in old times covenants and missions held the jade disc as the pledge, and Fangping says I would take the jade disc's clasp as a pledge of covenant, writing the begging for the elixir solemnly as a covenant, showing sincerity, not play. The second line, beg for the nine-transformed elixir of the embryo essence: embryo essence means the true one essence conceived within the elixir body; nine-transformed is nine times transmutation, the highest grade of golden elixir of the Shangqing school. The couplet's weight lies in that it twists the whole poem from writing immortals to seeking the Way: the preceding solemn retinue, golden tripod, jade maidens and spirit officers are all the immortal rank Mr. Zhu dwells in, and only here does the poet name his own wish - with the sincerity of a covenant pledge, beg the master to grant the elixir. A retired senior minister, holding a jade disc and begging a Taoist for the elixir, the phrasing so solemn, exactly shows the true Northern Song Confucian of late years harmonizing the three teachings and not abandoning nourishing life; it reads far more sincerely than the light talk of admiring immortals.

Study

Word focus

丹 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 「乞取胎精九化丹」之「丹」字，是全诗终极意象，亦游仙诗之魂。丹者，金丹也，道教以为服之可长生久视，自《抱朴子》以降，外丹之术蔚为大观。方平于此不称「药」不称「丸」，而独取「丹」字，正因丹是道教修炼文明的符号核心，承载鼎𬬻、火候、九转一整套法度。此丹前有「胎精」修饰，谓其中蕴含先天真一之精；有「九化」限定，谓历经九转而成熟，品第极高。一字而系全篇求道之愿，分量远非寻常名词可比。更可玩者，首联写仙官冠带、颔联写𬬻火、颈联写仙班，皆铺垫，至结联方落于「丹」，如百川归海，丹字遂成全诗收穴。游仙诗最忌散漫，方平以丹字提挈，结构立紧。

火 A key expression in this poem; read it with the Chinese note below. 「𬬻中火候烟霞煖」之「火」字，是连接人间与仙境的实象。游仙诗多写虚无，方平偏从此一字落笔，火是炼丹鼎𬬻中的真火，即魏伯阳所谓「火电相烹」的火功。此火非寻常灶火，而是依阴阳爻策节制的文武火，故能令「烟霞煖」——丹气如烟霞升腾而温度温润。方平取「火」字，是把飘渺的长生术拉回可操作的修炼现场，使游仙诗有了工艺的质感。与下联「坛上磬声星斗寒」的「磬」相对，火属炼、磬属斋，一阳一阴，恰合道教外丹与斋醮并修的实情。一字之中，见出作者读过经诀、究心火功，非泛写仙境者流可比。