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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

读坐忘论

On Reading the Discourse on Sitting in Forgetfulness

张方平

Zhang Fangping

田园Pastoral 时序Time and Season 咏物Poem on Objects

正一初传王远知，后来体用益精微。
惟无矜贵为真地，但涉成亏即世机。
松径风声犹有待，糠𬬻火候事终违。
便令直了九丹术，不到坐忘何处归。

The Orthodox One was first transmitted by Wang Yuanzhi,
And later the substance and the function grew ever more subtle.
Only the absence of the pride and the value is the true ground;
But once one touches the completion and the loss, it is the machine of the world.
The sound of the wind in the pine path still has something to wait for,
But the fire of the chaff and the stove at last goes against the affair.
Even if one directly masters the art of the nine elixirs,
Without reaching the sitting in forgetfulness, where does one return?

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Meaning

A poem written on reading the Discourse on Sitting in Forgetfulness, the Daoist classic of self-cultivation by the Tang Daoist Sima Chengzhen, which develops the Zhuangzi's 'sitting in forgetfulness' and establishes the seven stages of 'reverent faith, cutting off the ties, gathering the heart, simplifying the affairs, the true contemplation, the great calm, and the attainment of the Way.' The poem traces the lineage and the doctrine: 'the Orthodox One was first transmitted by Wang Yuanzhi, and later the substance and the function grew ever more subtle'; then the core principle, 'only the absence of the pride and the value is the true ground; but once one touches the completion and the loss, it is the machine of the world'; then the writing of the obstacles with the scene, 'the sound of the wind in the pine path still has something to wait for, but the fire of the chaff and the stove at last goes against the affair'; and the close in the return to the sitting in forgetfulness: 'even if one directly masters the art of the nine elixirs, without reaching the sitting in forgetfulness, where does one return?'—the poem's position of 'from the art into the Way, the return to the sitting in forgetfulness.'

正一派初传于王远知，后来体用之说越发精微。唯有不矜贵为真境地，但一涉成亏便落世机。松径风声犹有所待，糠炉火候终是相违。即便直了九丹之术，不到坐忘更于何处归。

Appreciation

This poem is a seven-character regulated verse, its vein the feeling of reading the Discourse on Sitting in Forgetfulness, fusing the Daoist doctrine and the scene into one, the 'poem as argument' of the clear and refined strain of Zhang Fangping's poetry. The first couplet, 'the Orthodox One was first transmitted by Wang Yuanzhi, and later the substance and the function grew ever more subtle,' first recounts the lineage of the school and the evolution of the doctrine, falling on the two words 'ever more subtle,' showing his gain from the reading. The second couplet, 'only the absence of the pride and the value is the true ground; but once one touches the completion and the loss, it is the machine of the world,' turns to the core principle: no pride and no display is the true ground, and once one counts the completion and the loss one falls into the net of the world; the parallelism of 'only' against 'but once' and 'the true ground' against 'the machine of the world,' the real and the void intermingled, the principle striking. The third couplet, 'the sound of the wind in the pine path still has something to wait for, but the fire of the chaff and the stove at last goes against the affair,' suddenly writes the scene, with the pine wind and the chaff stove writing the obstacles of 'having something to wait for' and 'going against the affair' in the cultivation, the meaning lodged in the scene, the image clear. And the close, 'even if one directly masters the art of the nine elixirs, without reaching the sitting in forgetfulness, where does one return?' closes the whole poem with the question, the position of the 'from the art into the Way, the return to the sitting in forgetfulness.'

【白话串讲】张方平读《坐忘论》：“正一初传王远知，后来体用益精微”。“惟无矜贵为真地”——“便令直了九丹术，不到坐忘何处归”——他谈道家的坐忘。【意象与手法】以「正一」「体用」「松径风声」「糠炉火候」融道论与景语，理致深长，结以反诘。【情感与主旨】读司马承祯《坐忘论》而发，主张由术入道、得意忘言，归重「坐忘」之境。【名句点睛】「便令直了九丹术，不到坐忘何处归」二句，以反诘收束，点出坐忘为丹术之归，为全诗眼目。

Background

The Discourse on Sitting in Forgetfulness, by the Tang Daoist Sima Chengzhen, develops the Zhuangzi's 'sitting in forgetfulness' and establishes the seven stages of 'reverent faith, cutting off the ties, gathering the heart, simplifying the affairs, the true contemplation, the great calm, and the attainment of the Way,' a classic of Daoist self-cultivation of the heart. Zhang Fangping's poem, titled 'On Reading the Discourse on Sitting in Forgetfulness,' is his evidence of the Daoist cultivation in passing. In the poem, 'the Orthodox One was first transmitted by Wang Yuanzhi' refers to the Sui-Tang Daoist Wang Yuanzhi (an important figure of the Maoshan school, treated with courtesy by both Emperor Yang of Sui and Emperor Taizong of Tang) transmitting the Orthodox One Daoism, which since Zhang Daoling had valued the talismans and, by the Tang, flourished with the Shangqing and the Lingbao; 'the substance and the function grew ever more subtle' refers to the Daoist doctrine (as the two-fold mystery and the sitting in forgetfulness) growing ever more refined. Zhang Fangping, a Confucian minister, reading the Daoist books, reflects the common orientation of the Northern Song scholar-officials' 'the fusion of the three teachings'—Wang Anshi and Su Shi both once practiced the elixir arts or spoke of the sitting in forgetfulness.

《坐忘论》为唐代道士司马承祯所撰，发挥《庄子》「坐忘」之说，立「敬信、断缘、收心、简事、真观、泰定、得道」七阶，为道教修心经典。张方平此诗题「读坐忘论」，是其旁通道教修养的证据。诗中「正一初传王远知」指隋唐间道士王远知（茅山宗重要人物，隋炀帝、唐太宗皆礼遇之）传正一道法，正一道自张道陵以来重符箓，至唐代与上清、灵宝并盛；「体用益精微」则指道教学理（如重玄、坐忘）后来越发精密。张方平身为儒臣而读道书，反映北宋士大夫「三教融通」的普遍取向——王安石、苏轼皆曾习丹诀或谈坐忘。此诗因而不仅是个人的读书偶得，更是那个时代儒者以简静心境会通玄理的缩影，其「由术入道」的立场尤值得注意。再就《坐忘论》本身略作说明：司马承祯此论分「敬信、断缘、收心、简事、真观、泰定、得道」七阶，其要在「收心离境、离形去知」，即所谓「坐忘」；张方平读而感之，故诗中「惟无矜贵为真地，但涉成亏即世机」实是对「断缘」「收心」的提炼，「不到坐忘何处归」则直揭「得道」一阶为归趣。诗中「正一初传王远知」点出上清、正一一系的传承谱系，说明方平所读之《坐忘论》，是放在整个道教史脉络中来把握的，非孤立地读一书。明了此层，方知此诗是「读而有得、得而成诗」的典型，其价值在思想的会通，而非文字的藻饰。

Art

The art is the 'poem as argument,' fusing the Daoist doctrine and the scene into one: the first couplet recounts the lineage and the doctrine, the second turns to the core principle, the parallelism of 'only' against 'but once' and 'the true ground' against 'the machine of the world' striking; the third writes the scene, the pine wind and the chaff stove for the obstacles of the cultivation, the meaning lodged in the scene; and the close closes with the question, the position of the 'from the art into the Way, the return to the sitting in forgetfulness.' The whole poem, from the lineage to the principle to the scene to the close, the poem as the argument, the clear and the refined.

此诗为七律，以读《坐忘论》所感为脉，融道理论说与景语于一炉，是张方平诗中「以诗为论」的清隽一格。首联「正一初传王远知，后来体用益精微」先叙道派源流与学理演进，落于「精微」二字，见其读后有得。颔联「惟无矜贵为真地，但涉成亏即世机」转入核心义理：不矜不伐方是真境，一计成败便落世网，对仗以「惟无」对「但涉」、以「真地」对「世机」，虚实相生，理致警策。颈联「松径风声犹有待，糠炉火候事终违」忽作景语，以松风、糠炉写修行中「有待」「相违」的滞碍，意象清冷。尾联「便令直了九丹术，不到坐忘何处归」以反诘收束，把丹术（术）归于坐忘（道），立定一篇宗旨。通篇由史入理、由理入景、由景归旨，章法森然而气清。再就其「以景显理」之法细看，此诗最见功力处在颈联：「松径风声犹有待，糠炉火候事终违」一联，纯以景语写理境——松径风声本是清幽之景，着一「犹有待」，便点出修行者「有所待」的未臻；糠炉火候本是丹灶之事，着一「事终违」，便写出执于术者「终相违」的困境。二句不直言「坐忘」，而「未到坐忘」的意味已自在景中，是「以景写心、以物喻理」的典型。又全诗以「正一—体用—真地—世机—松风—糠炉—九丹—坐忘」一串道教语汇为链，而能于清润的微韵中流转不滞，端赖「惟无」「但涉」「犹有」「事终」「便令」「不到」等虚字的斡旋，使理语不板、玄言有姿。这种「以虚字活局、以景语藏理」的手法，是张方平谈玄诗能免于「语录体」弊病的关键。

Allusions

The allusions: first, the Orthodox One (Zhengyi), the Daoist school founded by Zhang Daoling of the Han, flourishing in the Sui and the Tang; 'the Orthodox One was first transmitted by Wang Yuanzhi' refers to Wang Yuanzhi's promotion of its doctrine. Second, Wang Yuanzhi, a Sui-Tang Daoist, a representative of the Maoshan school, honored by the emperors, a key figure of the transmission of the school. Third, the substance and the function (tiyong), a Daoist term for the substance and the function; the two-fold mystery learning of the Tang and the Song discussed the Way with the substance and the function, and 'grew ever more subtle' says the later learning grew ever more refined. Fourth, the sitting in forgetfulness (zuowang), from the Zhuangzi's 'Great Ancestor,' 'falling away the body and limbs, dismissing the intelligence, leaving the form and discarding the knowledge, and being one with the great thoroughfare,' on which Sima Chengzhen based his doctrine. Fifth, the completion and the loss (chengkui), from the Zhuangzi's 'On the Equality of Things,' 'the completion is the loss,' the completion and the loss the alternation of the world.

一、正一：正一道，汉张道陵创，隋唐盛行，「正一初传王远知」指王远知弘扬其法。二、王远知：隋唐道士，茅山宗代表人物，受帝王尊礼，道派传承关键人物。三、体用：道家用语，指本体与作用，唐宋重玄学以「体用」论道，「益精微」谓后学于此越发精密。四、坐忘：出《庄子·大宗师》「堕肢体，黜聪明，离形去知，同于大通」，司马承祯据以立论。五、成亏：《庄子·齐物论》「有成与亏」，言执著成败便生是非，「涉成亏即世机」谓一计得失便落世网。六、九丹术：道教九种炼丹术（如九转还丹），代表「术」之极致，「直了九丹术」谓纵通丹法。七、糠炉：炼丹之炉，「糠」或喻微火、凡火，言火候难契。典由道派、义理到丹术层层写来，终归于「坐忘」。更可留意「体用」与「成亏」二典的理脉：体用之说，本是重玄学家（如成玄英、李荣）解《老》《庄》的核心范畴，谓道有体有用、即体即用；张方平以「体用益精微」总括后学之进，显是熟稔重玄一系的义理。而成亏之说，则出《庄子·齐物论》「有成与亏，故昭氏之鼓琴也；无成与亏，故昭氏之不鼓琴也」，郭象注谓「彰声而声遗，不彰声而声全」，意即一执成亏便失大全；方平以「但涉成亏即世机」化之，正是以庄语明「执即失」之理。二典一属重玄学、一属庄子，合而观之，可见方平读《坐忘论》时，是以整个道家义理体系为背景来理解的，故能拈出「无矜」「坐忘」为归。用典之精，在能就「忘」之一字统摄众说，遂使一诗成一则读道书的义理札记。

Commentary

This poem and Zhang Fangping's 'Gift to the Daoist Li of Zhongnan'—'what is comparable is the participation of the same'—are of the same vein, both holding 'not bound to the written word, from the art into the Way,' showing the consistent position of his Daoist cultivation: of the elixir scriptures he does not take the stagnation of the alchemist but the 'forgetfulness' of Zhuangzi and Sima Chengzhen. Reading this piece together with Su Shi's poems on the harmony with Tao and on the nourishment of life, Zhang Fangping's poem is closer to the metaphysical talk and more weighty in the principle, less of the literatus's play and more of the scholar's discrimination, in the same line as the 'classical and elegant' of his memorial prose. The poem, in its clear and refined vein, is the model of the Song scholar's poem of the reading of the Daoist book.

此诗与张方平《赠终南李道人》「何如相类即参同」同一机杼，皆主「不泥文字、由术入道」，可见其道教修养的一贯立场：于丹经不取方士之滞，而取庄、司马之「忘」。将本篇与苏轼《和陶》及谈养生诸作并观，张方平此诗更近玄言、更重义理，少文人游戏气而多学者之辨，与其奏议古文的「典雅」一脉相承。历来张方平诗以应制、送别见称，此类谈玄之作少被留意，然恰能见出宋儒「三教融通」之一斑——以儒家之简、道家之虚融于一炉。其接受虽微，却是研究北宋士大夫「以诗读道书」的珍贵小品，可与司马承祯《坐忘论》本文及唐末以来「重玄」注疏互参，显出诗人对道书非徒耳食、而有自家体认。若把此诗放到北宋「儒道会通」的思潮中看，其意义更显：庆历以降，儒学复兴与三教融通并行，士大夫如王安石有《老子注》、苏轼有《庄子解》、张方平亦究心老庄，皆试图以儒者的思辨去消化道家玄理。张方平此诗的可贵处，在于它不像注疏家那样铺陈义理，而是以七律的有限篇幅，把「读《坐忘论》」的心得提炼为「由术入道、归重坐忘」八字，且能融情于景、寄理于声，使抽象的玄言有了诗的体温。这与他《赠终南李道人》「何如相类即参同」的机锋一脉相承，皆见其「不泥文字、直取心源」的读道态度。历来选家于此等谈玄小律多所忽略，然其恰是研究北宋士大夫「以诗读道书、以儒会道家」的珍贵样本，宜与《坐忘论》本文及重玄注疏互参。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated verse七言律诗

Rhyme Rhymes on the wei rhyme of the level tone: zhi, wei, ji, wei, gui, one rhyme to the end, the rhyme-group clear and moist, fitting the unhurried and metaphysical reading of the Daoist book, the air clear and not floating押平声微韵（知、微、机、违、归），一韵到底，韵部清润，与读道书需要的从容玄远相协，读来气清而不浮。

Tone pattern The orthodox form of the seven-character regulated verse, the middle couplets exact in the parallelism, the first couplet even, the second couplet's principle pressing, the third couplet's scene clear, the close's question turning—the whole from the lineage to the close, the clear and the refined carried by the rhyme七律正格，中二联对仗精严：「惟无矜贵为真地，但涉成亏即世机」「松径风声犹有待，糠炉火候事终违」，平仄相俪，虚实相生，句式端雅。

Reading note The clear and moist wei rhyme and the exact parallelism carry the poem's reading of the Daoist book, the position of the from the art into the Way.此诗音韵以「清润玄远」为尚，故择平声微部，收音不敞不迫，恰合读《坐忘论》需要的从容气度，与应制排律的端重、壮别律诗的酣畅皆异。首联「正一初传王远知」平起平收，先立道派之源的清调；颔联「惟无矜贵为真地」以平声「无」「真」领句，语气恳切而理致警策，与首联的疏朗形成由史入理的转折；颈联「松径风声」「糠炉火候」以景语入，平仄整饬中见清冷之境，是声情最舒缓处；尾联「便令直了九丹术，不到坐忘何处归」以反诘收束，「归」字平声押韵，余味悠长。整体依七律正格，对仗中二联皆工，且多用虚字（惟无、但涉、犹有、事终、便令、不到）斡旋气脉，使理致不至板滞。声律随「史—理—景—旨」的脉络由缓入沉、由沉归远，是北宋谈玄诗「以声运理、以虚字活局」的典型音韵策略。

Line by line

正一初传王远知，后来体用益精微。

The Orthodox One was first transmitted by Wang Yuanzhi, and later the substance and the function grew ever more subtle. (The first couplet: the lineage of the school and the evolution of the doctrine, falling on the 'ever more subtle,' the gain of the reading.)

唯不矜贵是真境，一涉成亏便落世机。

The Orthodox Unity was first transmitted by Wang Yuanzhi; in later times body and function grew more subtle.

颔联为全诗义理核心，直揭《坐忘论》「忘」的工夫。「惟无矜贵为真地」承《老子》「不矜不伐」与《坐忘论》「不著一物」之旨，言修心之真境在去矜去贵、浑然无执；「真地」二字雅洁，指本然之地。下句「但涉成亏即世机」翻用《庄子·齐物论》「有成与亏」——人一计较成败、分别得失，便落入世间机心与是非之网。「惟无」对「但涉」、「真地」对「世机」，一正一反，虚实相生，把抽象的坐忘工夫说得极警策。此联价值在把道家「忘」的消极表述转为积极的修行判准：真与伪、道与世，仅在一念之「涉」与否。置于七律腹心，使一首读道书诗脱出注疏气，而成自家体认，最见张方平以儒者之思辨会通玄理的功力。

The opening traces the transmission of the Orthodox Unity school, first establishing the lineage. Wang Yuanzhi was the great master of the Orthodox Unity in the Sui and early Tang; the first line writes that he first transmitted it, and the second that in later times the body and function grew more subtle. The couplet's beauty lies in the words body and function, the pair that runs through the whole poem's rational argument: body means the reality of sitting-forgetfulness, function means the use of the nine-ellixir art. Fangping first establishes the lineage, then in the middle raises the problem of the art and the Way, and finally closes on sitting-forgetfulness. The opening's note of growing more subtle secretly plants the thread for the later reversal - however subtle the body and function, if one does not reach sitting-forgetfulness, where shall one return? The steady way of a regulated verse opening, establishing the lineage and the key in one stroke.

惟无矜贵为真地，但涉成亏即世机。

Only the absence of the pride and the value is the true ground; but once one touches the completion and the loss, it is the machine of the world. (The second couplet, the core principle: no pride and no display the true ground, and once one counts the completion and the loss one falls into the net of the world, the parallelism striking.)

松径风声犹有所待，糠炉火候终是相违。

Only no pride and rank make the true ground; once touched by success or loss, it is the worldly mind.

颈联由义理转入景语，以修行中的滞碍之象写「未到坐忘」的困境，是全篇最见清冷意境的一联。「松径风声犹有待」写修行者行于松径、听风待境，仍存「待」心——有所待便非坐忘之「无待」；「糠炉火候事终违」写炼丹炉中火候终与法度相违，「糠」喻凡火微火之难契，暗指执于丹术（术）者往往火候乖方、事与愿违。二句一外（松径风）一内（糠炉火），一有所待、一终相违，皆写「滞于术、未归道」的处境，意象清冷而不枯。对仗精切，「犹有」对「事终」见出无奈的必然。此联为尾联「不到坐忘何处归」蓄势：既然风声有待、火候相违，则丹术不足恃，归处唯有坐忘。由景显理，章法绵密。

The jaw couplet is the poem's core of meaning, directly revealing the work of forgetfulness in the Treatise on Sitting-Forgetfulness. The first, only no pride and rank make the true ground, inherits Laozi's no pride no boast and the Treatise's not dwelling on any thing, saying the true ground of cultivating the mind lies in removing pride and rank, blended without clinging; the words true ground are elegant and pure, meaning the original ground. The second, once touched by success or loss, it is the worldly mind, reverses Zhuangzi's on making all things equal: once a man reckons success and loss and distinguishes gain and harm, he falls into the worldly mind and the net of right and wrong. Only no paired with once touched, true ground paired with worldly mind, one positive one reverse, the void and solid feeding each other, writing the abstract work of sitting-forgetfulness most alert. The couplet's value lies in turning the Taoist negative expression of forgetfulness into a positive standard of practice: true and false, Way and world, lie only in one thought's touched or not. Placed at the heart of the seven-character regulated verse, it makes a poem reading a Taoist book escape the air of annotation and become one's own realization, most showing Fangping's power as a Confucian speculator reconciling the mysterious reason.

便令直了九丹术，不到坐忘何处归。

Even if one directly masters the art of the nine elixirs, without reaching the sitting in forgetfulness, where does one return? (The close: the art of the nine elixirs not equal to the sitting in forgetfulness, the question closing the whole poem, the position of the from the art into the Way.)

纵使直了九丹之术，不到坐忘更于何归。

Suppose you thoroughly master the nine-ellixir art; without reaching sitting-forgetfulness, where shall you return?

尾联以反诘收束全篇，立定「由术入道、归重坐忘」的宗旨，是诗眼所在。「便令」即纵使，「直了九丹术」谓即便彻底通晓九转丹法——那是道教「术」的极致；「不到坐忘何处归」陡然转折：若不达坐忘之境，又向何处安顿此心？一个反诘把「术」彻底收归于「道」，呼应颔联「真地」、颈联「有待」「相违」，完成由丹术到坐忘的逻辑闭环。炼字上「归」字是关键词：全诗由读论而起，至「归」字而止，既是修行之归处，亦是读后心之所安。张方平以儒臣读道书而能下此断语，显其「不泥方术文字」的立场，与《赠终南李道人》「相类即参同」同一机杼。一句收千钧，是宋人谈玄诗「以反诘立旨」的精警收法。

The closing gathers the poem in a rhetorical question, establishing the bent of entering the Way through the art and weighing sitting-forgetfulness, the poem's eye. Suppose you thoroughly master the nine-ellixir art means even if one completely understands the nine-times elixir method - the ultimate of Taoist art. The second, without reaching sitting-forgetfulness, where shall you return? turns abruptly: if one does not reach the realm of sitting-forgetfulness, where shall one settle this mind? A single rhetorical question gathers the art entirely into the Way, echoing the jaw couplet's true ground and the neck couplet's stillness and opposition, completing the logical circuit from elixir art to sitting-forgetfulness. In worked diction, the word return is the key: the whole poem rises from reading the treatise and stops at the word return, at once the归宿 of practice and the peace of mind after reading. Fangping, a Confucian minister reading a Taoist book, able to utter this verdict, shows his stance of not clinging to the letters of the alchemical art, the same hand as his Present to the Taoist of Zhongnan where matching itself is the Cantongqi. One line closing a thousandweight, the fine close of the Song mysterious-poem of establishing the thesis by rhetorical question.

Study

Word focus

微 Subtle. The word of the doctrine: 'the substance and the function grew ever more subtle'—the refinement of the Daoist doctrine of the later learning, the gain of the reading of the book in the one word. 「微」在「后来体用益精微」中指精微深妙，形容道教学理（尤以重玄、坐忘一系）后来越发精密。此字是首联的落点，亦定全诗「读而有得」的基调：张方平读《坐忘论》，所重者正在其「体用」之说的精微处，而非符箓方术的粗迹。炼字之妙在「益」与「微」呼应——「益」表递进，「微」表深境，写的是道派学理的历史演进，暗含诗人对「由粗入精」的肯定。且「微」为平声微韵，与「知」「机」「违」「归」同部押韵，读来清润，与谈玄需要的从容气度相称。更深一层，此字为后文「惟无矜贵为真地」的「真」作铺垫：既然学理益精，则所趋在「真」而非「术」。一字而兼叙事、定调、押韵三用。

亏 Loss. The word of the world: 'but once one touches the completion and the loss, it is the machine of the world'—the completion and the loss from the Zhuangzi's 'On the Equality of Things,' the alternation of the world, and the counting of the completion and the loss the falling into the net of the world. 「亏」在「但涉成亏即世机」中出《庄子·齐物论》「有成与亏」，指成败、得失的对待。张方平以此字写修行大忌：人一计较「成亏」、分别得失，便生是非、落入世间机心。「亏」与「成」对举，而诗独拈「亏」字入句，正因其代表「有所失」的执念，最易搅动心湖。炼字之巧在「涉」字——「但涉」即「一沾边」，把「成亏」写成陷阱，稍触即坠「世机」，警策无比。音声上「亏」为平声支韵，与「机」同句相协，读来平缓而意沉。更紧要者，此字与颔联上句「无矜贵」构成「真—伪」对照：无执则真、涉亏则伪，一字而定坐忘工夫的判准。是宋人「以庄语入诗」的精炼字眼。

忘 Forgetfulness. The word of the Way: 'without reaching the sitting in forgetfulness, where does one return?'—the sitting in forgetfulness of the Zhuangzi and Sima Chengzhen, the highest realm of the cultivation, the whole poem's position gathered in the one word. 「忘」在尾联「不到坐忘何处归」中为全诗诗眼，直指《庄子》「坐忘」与司马承祯《坐忘论》的宗旨。全诗由道派（正一）、义理（无矜、成亏）、景象（风声、火候）层层写来，终归于这一「忘」字，是篇章的收束点与意义极点。炼字之妙在「坐忘」作为专有术语被置于「不到……何处归」的反诘中，使「忘」由修行术语升格为精神归宿的代称——不坐忘则心无归处。且「忘」为平声阳韵，与全篇清润韵调协和，读来余味悠长。更深层看，张方平以儒臣而许「坐忘」为归，正显其「三教融通」的立场，此字因而既是诗旨、也是他人生取向的缩影。一字立骨，收束全篇玄理，是谈玄诗最精警的字眼。