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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

剧孟

Ju Meng

张方平

Zhang Fangping

时序changing times

人物无重轻，庙朝有失得。
世平徒匹夫，时摇一敌国。
奸雄望风尘，冠劒动慙色。
治庭不论功，声名辉典策。

Men in themselves bear no fixed weight of great or small; the gain and loss lie with the court that employs them.
In a peaceful age he is merely a common man; when the times are shaken, he outweighs an enemy state.
Ambitious schemers quail at the dust of trouble on the wind; the capped and sworded grandees blush with shame.
The well-ordered court never reckoned his merit, yet his name shines bright in the annals.

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Meaning

This short Song historical poem weighs the worth of Ju Meng, the famous knight-errant of the Western Han. Its thesis is a dialectic of talent: a man's weight depends not on himself but on the times and on those who use him — in peace he is an ordinary commoner, in upheaval he equals an enemy state in consequence. The schemers' dismay and the grandees' shame testify to his awe from the side, and the close pronounces that, though he claimed no merit, his name is immortal in the historical records. Behind the verse lies Zhang Fangping's statesman's conviction that the fate of government turns on gaining the right men.

人物本身并无绝对的轻重，而庙堂朝庭的得失却系于所用之人。世事清平之时，他不过是个寻常匹夫；时局动摇之际，其轻重竟等于一敌国。奸雄望见风尘便沮丧，那些衣冠剑佩的衮衮诸公反生愧色。治理之朝不斤斤论其功，而他的声名早已辉映史册。

Appreciation

Five characters in four couplets, but not the common regulated form: the poem carries the austere cleanness of old-style verse and proceeds entirely in verdict-like sentences without one stroke of scenery, winning by discernment alone — the Song type of historical poem that 'prevails by idea.' The core couplet sets 'merely a common man' against 'an enemy state,' an asymmetrical contrast of extraordinary tension that quotes the Records of the Grand Historian verbatim. The reactions of schemers and grandees corroborate from the side, and the ending settles the verdict. Structurally the four couplets form four steps of argument — axiom, proof, corroboration, verdict — one breath to the end and not one idle word, a whole essay on talent in forty characters.

【白话串讲】张方平写剧孟（汉代游侠）：“人物无重轻，庙朝有失得”。“世平徒匹夫，时摇一敌国”——“治庭不论功，声名辉典策”——他写一个能撼动敌国的侠客。【意象与手法】五言短章带古诗峻洁之气。首联以议论破空而起，立定史论基调；颔联「徒匹夫」对「一敌国」，以不对称的两句写不对等的价值，张力极强；颈联以奸雄与冠剑诸公的反应侧写剧孟之威；尾联言不矜功而名垂典策。通篇断语推进，不假景物。【情感与主旨】主旨是人才辨证论：人之轻重不系于己而系于时与用之者。借剧孟发「得人」之慨，折射宋人咏史重理性辨析、轻抒情兴叹的转向。【名句点睛】「世平徒匹夫，时摇一敌国」一联最见斤两，直用《史记》原语作不对称对照，二十八字抵得一篇人才论。

Background

Ju Meng was a celebrated knight-errant of the Western Han, of whom Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian says that 'when the realm was in turmoil, a chancellor who obtained him obtained the equivalent of an enemy state.' Zhang Fangping, a Northern Song statesman who served through several reigns, had the keenest sense of the ills of talent left idle and constantly petitioned that 'the choice of men should not be constrained by seniority rules'; he also prided himself on spotting and recommending talent. The poem draws on the episode of the Revolt of the Seven Kingdoms in Emperor Jing's reign, when the commander Zhou Yafu, reaching Luoyang and finding Ju Meng not yet won over by the rebels, rejoiced that the revolt could accomplish nothing — and Ju Meng, having helped pacify it, never spoke of his own part. Reading history with an eye to statecraft, Zhang used the knight-errant as his case: the weight of a common man lies between order and disorder, so the poem argues history while truly arguing politics.

剧孟为西汉著名游侠，《史记·游侠列传》载其「天下骚动，宰相得之若得一敌国」。张方平《剧孟》一诗借古咏史，当是读史有感之作。剧孟为洛阳人，以任侠仗义名重一时，汉景帝时吴楚七国之乱起，太尉周亚夫率军平叛，兵至洛阳，见剧孟尚未为叛军所招，大喜曰「吴楚举大事而不求孟，吾知其无能为已矣」，以为得一剧孟如得一敌国。剧孟助亚夫平乱后，不自言功，母丧时四方豪杰会葬者至千乘，其声名之重可见一斑。太史公于游侠传中列朱家、剧孟、郭解为三代，谓其「虽时扞当世之文罔，然其私义廉洁退让，有足称者」，可见剧孟在游侠谱系中承上启下的地位。方平历仕三朝，深知人才轻重与庙堂得失，故借剧孟发论：匹夫之重，时在治乱之间。宋自庆历以来，边患与党争交织，士大夫每于史册中求鉴戒，咏史诗因而大兴。方平此诗短小精悍，不似其送赠排律之铺陈，而近唐人咏史绝句的孤峭，当是退居读史时偶得。了解方平论政重「得人」的一贯主张（其荐士不遗余力），方能读懂「世平徒匹夫，时摇一敌国」的史论锋芒。张方平历官四朝，于人才淹滞之弊体察最深，其奏议中屡言「用人不宜限以资格」，此诗以游侠剧孟为喻，正与其庙堂政见互为表里，故虽咏史而实为论政。

Art

This poem is five characters in four couplets, but not the common regulated form: it carries the austere cleanness of old-style verse. The opening couplet, 'Men in themselves bear no fixed weight; the gain and loss lie with the court,' begins in argument, coming from nowhere and setting the key of historical judgment. The second couplet, 'In a peaceful age merely a common man; when the times are shaken, an enemy state,' continues with the words 'merely' and 'an' to reverse the scale, writing the gulf between a man's worth in calm and in upheaval — the heart of the poem. The third, 'Schemers quail at the wind-blown dust; the capped and sworded grandees blush,' uses the reactions of ambitious men and office-holders to write Ju Meng's awe from the side. The final couplet, 'The well-ordered court never reckoned his merit, yet his name shines bright in the annals,' closes: he claimed no credit, yet his name is immortal in the records. The whole proceeds in verdict-like sentences without any scenery, winning purely by discernment — the Song type of historical poem that 'prevails by idea.' Its structure is a chain of reasoning: the first couplet states the axiom of 'no fixed weight — the court has gain and loss'; the second proves it with Ju Meng's case; the third corroborates it with the reactions of schemers and grandees; the last settles the verdict of 'no merit reckoned yet a name in the annals' — four couplets as four steps of argument, one breath to the end, not one idle word. In phrasing, the lightness of 'merely a common man' against the weight of 'an enemy state,' and the dejection of 'quailing at the dust' against the shame of 'blushing,' all write contrast by pairing, giving visible tension to abstract judgment. This manner of arguing in old-style verse and pronouncing by antithesis is precisely what separates Song historical poems from Tang ones that 'end feeling with scenery'; in forty characters Zhang writes a whole essay on talent — the extreme case of the short form. In lineage, beginning in loose, prose-like lines and governing the whole by argument, this manner traces up to Zuo Si's poems on history, which use things to figure talent, and to Han Yu's putting argument into verse, and opens down into Wang Anshi, Su Shi, and the other Song masters — Zhang's poem stands at the hinge, short of breath yet long of lineage.

此诗五言四联，却非律诗常格，而带古诗峻洁之气。首联「人物无重轻，庙朝有失得」以议论起，破空而来，立定史论基调。颔联「世平徒匹夫，时摇一敌国」承上，以「徒」与「一」二字翻案，写出治平与震荡中人才价值之悬殊，是全诗核心。颈联「奸雄望风尘，冠劒动慙色」以奸雄之反应侧写剧孟之威。尾联「治庭不论功，声名辉典策」收结，言其不矜功而名垂史册。通篇以断语式句法推进，不假景物烘托，纯以识力见长，是宋人咏史「以意胜」的典型。其章法之严，在于环环相扣的推演：首联先立「无重轻—有失得」的总纲，颔联以剧孟之例实证之，颈联再以奸雄、冠剑两类人的反应侧证之，尾联归到「不论功而名垂」的定评，四联如四步论证，一气贯下而无一闲字。句式上，「徒匹夫」之轻与「一敌国」之重，「望风尘」之沮与「动慙色」之愧，皆以对举写反差，使抽象的史论有了可视的张力。这种以古诗为论、以对仗立断的写法，正是宋人咏史诗区别于唐人「以景结情」的显著标志，方平于此以四十字写尽人才论，可称短章之极则。就句法源流论，以散语发端、以议论驭篇的古体咏史，上可溯至左思《咏史》「郁郁涧底松」之以物喻才、韩愈《调张籍》之以论入诗，下开宋人王安石、苏轼诸家，方平此篇正居其枢纽，故虽短而体脉绵长。

Allusions

The poem's allusions rest on the Records of the Grand Historian. First, 'an enemy state' borrows verbatim the Biography of the Wandering Knights — 'The men of Wu and Chu raised their great affair yet did not seek Meng; I know they can accomplish nothing' and 'when the realm was in turmoil, a chancellor who obtained him obtained the equivalent of an enemy state' — saying Ju Meng's weight equaled a state. The words are Zhou Yafu's at the pacification of the Seven Kingdoms' revolt, when he reached Luoyang, found Ju Meng, and rejoiced; the historian thus used 'enemy state' to express his weight, and Zhang adopts it into the poem without one idle character. Second, 'capped and sworded' means cap and sword, the dress of scholar-officials; Zhang's 'the capped and sworded grandees blush' writes the office-holders who lean on rank and title yet blush before a commoner prodigy, tacitly using the Grand Historian's pairing of 'knight-errants in common cloth' against 'knight-errants among ministers.' Third, 'the well-ordered court never reckoned his merit' tacitly turns on the Han court's reckoning of merit: Ju Meng helped Zhou Yafu pacify the revolt yet never spoke of his own part, hence 'no reckoning of merit while his name shines of itself in the records' — the same praise as Li Bai's 'ashamed to accept reward when the deed was done,' but in plainer words. Fourth, 'wind-blown dust' means the signs of upheaval: the schemers' quailing before it sets off, from the side, Ju Meng's power to settle disorder, the term continuing the Tang idiom of 'wind and dust, a three-foot sword.' Beyond these, 'scheming hero' (jianxiong), originally in Xunzi and Han usage for an age's tyrant, here means those who covet the moment, whose spirits quail at Ju Meng's name — further proof of his weight; and 'annals' (diance) means the historical records, from the Zuozhuan's 'stored in the covenant-chamber, stored in the annals' — closing the poem's praise: a commoner whose name is imperishable, which answers the first line's 'no fixed weight,' for what has no fixed weight yet enters the annals shows precisely the weight of 'the times and their use.' Every phrase is grounded in history.

诗中典故本于《史记》。其一，「一敌国」直用《游侠列传》「吴楚举大事而不求孟，吾知其无能为已矣」「天下骚动，宰相得之若得一敌国」之语，谓剧孟之重等于一国。此语出周亚夫平七国之乱时，亚夫至洛阳得剧孟而大喜，史家遂以「敌国」极言其重，方平采以入诗，一字不虚。其二，「冠劒」指衣冠剑佩，代称士大夫，方平以「冠劒动慙色」写彼依凭名位的衮衮诸公，面对剧孟这样的布衣奇士反生愧色，暗用《史记》「布衣之侠」与「卿相之侠」的对举。其三，「治庭不论功」暗用汉廷论功之典，剧孟助周亚夫平七国之乱而不自言功，故云不论功而声名自辉典策，与李白「功成耻受赏」同一褒扬而措语更淡。其四，「风尘」指乱离之象，奸雄望风尘而沮，侧面烘托剧孟定乱之能，此「风尘」亦承唐诗「风尘三尺剑」之惯用语。此外，「奸雄」一词本出《荀子》及汉人语，本指乱世枭雄，此借指觊觎时局者，闻剧孟之名而气沮，益见其威重；「典策」即史册，谓剧孟之名载入青史、辉映后世，与「声名」相承，收束全篇之褒扬。「典策」一词，典者典籍、策者简策，合言史册，本出《左传》「藏在盟府，藏在典策」之语，方平借以言剧孟虽布衣而其名不朽，暗与首句「人物无重轻」相呼应——无轻重者终能入典策，正见「时用」之重。诸语皆史有凭依。

Commentary

Compared with Tang poems on Ju Meng (such as Li Bai's 'ashamed to accept reward when the deed was done, his lofty integrity unmatched'), Zhang writes no bold language but a rigorously structured historical judgment. Song poets loved reversing verdicts, and Zhang's 'men bear no fixed weight; the court has gain and loss' already opens the dialectic of 'value varying with the times,' close to Su Shi's historical insight in his essay on Jia Yi. The Siku editors called Zhang's prose 'unimpeded and lucid,' and his verse likewise: four couplets of verdicts without one idle word is precisely that lucidity. Read beside his 'Reading the Fan-chuan Collection' and 'Reading Du Gongbu's Poems,' Zhang judges poets and men with a historian's eye: reading Du Fu he sees boldness, reading Du Mu he sees misfortune, singing Ju Meng he sees weight. Shen Deqian said Song poetry 'prevails by idea,' and this short piece with its full idea is a footnote to that. More broadly, the wandering knights were mostly classed in orthodox history as 'breakers of law and prohibition'; Sima Qian alone gave them biographies and praised that 'their word was sure and their deed was sure to follow.' Zhang inherits the Grand Historian's discernment and adds the new verdict that 'a man's value depends on the times and their use,' succeeding Sima in historical insight while opening the Song manner in poetic method. As to the Tang–Song difference in historical poems: Li Bai sings of knights with the dash of 'slaying a man every ten paces,' Gao Shi with the abandon of 'meeting at Ju Meng's house,' both writing their own generosity through the knight; Zhang coolly judges history with the dialectic of 'no fixed weight' and 'merely a common man' to write 'the way of using men' — the knight is the Tang poet's medium of lyric and the Song poet's occasion for political argument, marking the shift of ethos and poetics between the two dynasties. Short as it is, the poem opens a route of political argument in a theme that easily runs hot, a cold counterpoint to the ardor of Tang knight-errant poems and a representative Song historical miniature; one should know that Zhang was not only a court rhetorician but possessed the historian's talent of discerning reading.

此诗与唐人咏剧孟者（如李白「功成耻受赏，高节卓不群」）相较，方平不作豪语，而作法度谨严的史论。宋人咏史每好翻案，方平此诗「人物无重轻，庙朝有失得」一联，已开「价值因时而异」的辩证，近苏轼《贾谊论》的史识。四库馆臣称方平文「疏畅通达」，其诗亦如此，此篇四联皆断语，无一闲字，正是通达处。与同集《读樊川集》《读杜工部诗》并观，方平论诗论人皆有史家眼光：读杜见其豪，读樊川见其遇，咏剧孟见其重。清人沈德潜论宋诗「以意取胜」，此篇短章而意足，可为注脚。再推而广之，游侠在正史中多被视为「乱法犯禁」之流，司马迁独为立传、称其「言必信，行必果」，方平承太史公之识，又出之以「人才价值系于时用」的新断，可谓在史识上接武司马、在诗法上开宋调。就唐宋咏史之别观之，李白咏侠以「十步杀一人」的意气胜，高适以「相逢剧孟家」的豪纵胜，皆以侠写己之慷慨；方平则冷眼论史，以「无重轻」「徒匹夫」的辩证写「用人之道」，侠在唐人是抒情的媒介，在宋人则成论政的由头，正见两朝士风诗风之迁转。故方平此诗虽短，却于「侠」这一易流于慷慨的题材中独辟「论政」一路，与唐代游侠诗之热烈恰成冷热对照，足为宋型咏史短章的代表。读此当知方平非仅廊庙词臣，亦具读史识鉴的史才。

Prosody

Form Five-character old-style poem (gushi) on history五言古诗（咏史）

Rhyme Entering-tone 'zhi' rhyme throughout: de, guo, se, ce — oblique endings, crisp and forceful as the stroke of a verdict.通押入声职韵，入韵字为得、国、色、策，仄韵收束，峭洁有力。

Tone pattern Old-style five-character verse without strict tonal regulation, turned by sense: the opening couplet argues in loose, prose-like lines, and the second advances in antithesis.五言古体，不尚严格律调，而以语意斡旋，如「人物无重轻，庙朝有失得」以散句起论，「世平徒匹夫，时摇一敌国」以对句推进。

Reading note Though five characters in four couplets, this is not the common regulated form but close to the austerity of old-style verse, the key being its entering-tone zhi rhyme. The zhi rhyme closes short, swift, and tight — fittest for the incisiveness and edge of historical judgment; a slow level rhyme would have lost its crispness. Zhang rhymes de, guo, se, ce in four clipped syllables that read like the pronouncing of a verdict, one stop per line, matching the verdict-like syntax of 'no fixed weight,' 'merely a common man,' 'blush,' and 'shines in the annals.' Entering tone in Song verse carries the sound-feeling 'quick and stern,' right for the cold tone of reversing a verdict. Compared with the mild warmth of his farewell regulated poems in the same collection, this piece turns gaunt and sinewy — proof of Zhang's command of matching rhyme-category to content. Old-style verse moves by breath, not strict meter, and Zhang takes precisely its antiquity: loose lines to open the argument, antithesis to advance it, following the rise and fall of sense free of tonal constraint, so that a whole historical essay fits in forty characters without crowding the breath. Using oblique rhymes in old-style verse continues the tradition of Bao Zhao, Du Fu, and Han Yu, 'odd vigor through oblique rhymes'; the entering-tone zhi rhyme especially shows bone through its stops, giving the poem the ring of metal and stone and the manner of a verdict — the opposite pole from the warm level rhymes of poems of praise or parting, and proof that Zhang's prosody escapes the commonplace. To appreciate the Song practice of 'idea first, sound assisting,' this entering-tone miniature is a prime example.此诗虽为五言四联，却非律诗常格，而近古诗的峻洁，其关键在押入声职韵。职韵属曾摄入声，收音短促急敛，最宜写史论的斩截与锋芒，若用平声缓韵便失其峭。方平以「得、国、色、策」四字押闭口急音，读来如断案下语，一句一顿，与诗中「无重轻」「徒匹夫」「动慙色」「辉典策」的断语式句法相表里。入声在宋诗中有「促而厉」的声情，正合咏史翻案的冷峻口吻。与同集平和温厚的送赠排律相较，此篇声韵一变而为瘦劲，可见方平驱遣韵部以应内容的能力。古诗本以气行、不尚严律，方平此篇正取其古——以散句起论、以对句推进，随语意起伏而不受律调拘束，故能于四十字中容一篇史论而气不促。以仄韵写古体，上承鲍照、杜甫、韩愈诸家「以仄韵寓奇崛」的传统，入声职韵尤以顿挫见骨，使此咏史之作读来有金石之音、断案之势，与平声东韵、真韵写颂写别的温厚恰成两极，可见方平声律之学不落窠臼。欲体会宋人咏史「以意胜、以声助」的作法，此短章入声职韵的运用，正是一例。

Line by line

人物无重轻，庙朝有失得。

Men in themselves have no fixed weight of great or small; the gain and loss belong to the court that gains and uses them.

言人本身无绝对轻重，而庙堂得失系于所用之人

In themselves, men have no weight; the court has only gain and loss.

此开篇一联是全诗史论的总纲，破空而起，最见宋人咏史的思辨锋芒。上句「人物无重轻」看似抹平人才价值，实则是反说——人本身并无天生轻重；下句「庙朝有失得」方揭出真意：人之轻重，全在庙堂能否得而用之，用则得其利、失则受其弊。这便把「重轻」的标准从人物本体移到了用人者身上，立论极醒豁。方平一生以荐士为务，深知得人失人之别，此联正是其政治经验的诗化。更可味者，以「无」与「有」对举，先破后立，章法上先纵后收，为后文「世平徒匹夫，时摇一敌国」的具体论证张本。五言短联而能容一整套用人哲学，是咏史短章中极具概括力的一手，非泛写感慨者可比。

The opening couplet is the whole outline of the historical argument, rising empty of the sky, most showing the Song historical poem's edge of speculation. The first, in themselves, men have no weight, seems to flatten the value of talent, really speaking in reverse: men in themselves have no inborn weight. The second, the court has only gain and loss, at last reveals the true meaning: a man's weight lies entirely in whether the court can gain and use him; use him and gain the profit, lose him and suffer the harm. This moves the standard of weight from the man himself to the one who employs him, the thesis most clear. Fangping spent his life recommending scholars, and knew well the difference between gaining and losing men; this couplet is the poetizing of his political experience. What is more to taste is the pair of no and has, first breaking then establishing, the structure first releasing then gathering, laying the ground for the later concrete argument of in the peaceful age a common man, in the troubled time a hostile state. A short five-character couplet that can hold a whole philosophy of employing men, a most概括 hand in a short historical poem, no match for the general sighing.

世平徒匹夫，时摇一敌国。

In a peaceful age he is merely a common man, but when the times are shaken he weighs as much as an enemy state.

治世中不过是寻常匹夫，乱世里却重如一敌国

In the peaceful age he was but a common man; in the troubled time he outweighed a whole hostile state.

此联是全诗核心论证，紧承首联「无重轻—有失得」而来，以剧孟为例作具体展开。上句「世平徒匹夫」，太平年月剧孟不过一布衣游侠，与常人无异，「徒」字写尽治世对奇才的淹没；下句「时摇一敌国」，动荡之际其向背足以摇动局势，价值竟等于一国，「一敌国」三字直用《史记》原语，分量千钧。一「徒」一「一」，轻重悬隔，恰好印证首联「庙朝有失得」的断语：人才之重不系于己，而系于时与用之者。此联之妙，在以极不对称的两句写极不对等的价值，形成强烈张力，读来令人悚然。宋人咏史最善此等翻案与对照，方平此联正是以史识胜、以对比力的范例，二十八字抵得一篇人才论。

This couplet is the poem's core argument, following the opening's no weight and has gain and loss, unfolding concretely through the case of Ju Meng. The first, in the peaceful age he was but a common man: in the peaceful years Ju Meng was but a wandering knight in plain clothes, no different from ordinary men; the word but exhausts the peaceful age's drowning of rare talent. The second, in the troubled time he outweighed a whole hostile state: in the times of upheaval, his allegiance was enough to shake the situation, his value equal to a whole state; the three words a whole hostile state directly use the Shiji's original words, the weight a thousand jun. The two words but and a set the weight gulf apart, exactly proving the opening's verdict that the court has gain and loss: the weight of talent lies not in himself but in the time and the one who uses him. The couplet's beauty lies in writing utterly unequal value in two utterly asymmetrical lines, forming a strong tension that makes the reader start. Song historical poems most excel at this reversal and contrast; this couplet is the example of winning through historical discernment and contrastive force, twenty-eight characters worth a whole essay on talent.

Study

Word focus

轻 'Light' (qing), paired against 'heavy,' is the pivot of the argument: men have no inherent weight, so weight is conferred by whether the court gains them — and the ending, where Ju Meng's name shines in the annals, quietly turns lightness into weight. 「人物无重轻」之「轻」字，与「重」对举，是全诗立论的支点字。轻者，分量少也，与重构成价值判断的两极。方平此处著「无重轻」三字，表面说人物本无轻重之别，实则埋下伏笔：轻重非固有，乃由庙朝得失所赋。此字之妙，在它把惯常的「人才有轻重」常识径直推翻，逼出下句「庙朝有失得」的新标准，形成破立之势。更可玩者，全诗结于「声名辉典策」，剧孟终以「重」垂史，与起句「无重轻」遥相呼应——起点说人才无固有轻重，终点说善用则名垂典策（即成其重），首尾以「轻—重」收束，结构圆紧。一字而牵动全篇的辩证，是咏史诗中炼意胜炼辞的标本。

得 'Gain' (de), paired against 'loss,' is the eye of the poem: to gain means to obtain and employ the right man — with Ju Meng gained there is safety, lost there is upheaval — so this single word carries the whole thesis of employing talent. 「庙朝有失得」之「得」字，是与「失」对举的诗眼，代表用人得当与否的两种结局。得者，得人而用也；失者，失人不用或用之不当也。方平一生识拔人才（荐范镇、苏轼等），最深「得人」之要，此字正是其政治经验的凝结。上句言人物「无重轻」是虚，此句言庙朝「有失得」是实——价值的天平最终落在执政者能否「得」人。与后文「时摇一敌国」相照：能得剧孟则安，失之则摇，失得之间系一国之安危。一字而系全篇主旨，比泛用「用舍」「进退」等词更见斩截。宋人咏史以识力见长，方平此「得」字正是一字定宗旨的炼字范例，简处见大。

剧孟