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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

东方朔

Dongfang Shuo

张方平

Zhang Fangping

咏史historical reflection 隐智reclusive wisdom

不独岩扃与市尘，金门亦可晦吾真。
孤风大义人谁见，宣室聊曾抗幸臣。

Not only the cliff-gate and the market's dust—even the Golden Gate can conceal my true self.
His lone integrity and great righteousness—who ever beheld? In the Xuan Hall he once stood against the favored ministers.

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Meaning

This quatrain praises the Han wit Dongfang Shuo, arguing that reclusion need not mean leaving the court—even within the Golden Gate one can hide one's true self. It laments that his lone integrity and great righteousness went unrecognized, yet cites his standing against favored ministers in the Xuan Hall as proof of his stature. Beneath the historical praise lies the poet's own reflection on how a straight official may preserve himself amid a corrupt court.

东方朔不只是隐于山岩扃户与避居市尘，即便在金马门为官亦可韬晦保全本真。他那孤标之风、宏大之义有谁得见，当年在宣室也曾抗争过宠幸之臣。

Appreciation

In twenty-eight characters the seven-quatrain achieves a small frame with a large pattern: 'not only…even' breaks the common view of reclusion, then 'lone integrity…who saw' laments, and 'Xuan Hall…against favored ministers' proves. The whole argues rather than describes, with 'cliff-gate' paired with 'market dust,' 'lone integrity' with 'great righteousness'—a Song historical poem of 'valuing insight and overturning judgments.' Its wit lies in reversing 'great reclusion is in the court and market,' showing Dongfang's wisdom of hiding the true self within the noisy court.

【白话串讲】张方平写东方朔：“不独岩扃与市尘，金门亦可晦吾真”——他大隐于朝。“孤风大义人谁见，宣室聊曾抗幸臣”——他写东方朔在朝堂的机智。【意象与手法】此诗咏东方朔，章法以「破—立—叹—证」为序。起句「不独岩扃与市尘」先破隐逸之常格，次句「金门亦可晦吾真」立朝隐之说；后联「孤风大义」叹其人不识，「宣室抗幸臣」证其风节。通篇以议论为诗，翻「大隐朝市」之案，见宋人咏史尚识。【情感与主旨】主旨在于推许东方朔「朝隐」的智慧与孤风大义，既肯定其混迹金门而能晦真，更惜其风节不为世人所见。诗中暗含方平自身的身世之感：直臣立于朝，亦须有晦真自全之智。【名句点睛】「金门亦可晦吾真」一句最见翻案，以朝市为隐、以晦真为归，是宋人咏史识见之高者。

Background

Zhang Fangping's 'Dongfang Shuo' praises the Western Han eccentric Dongfang Shuo (courtesy Manqian), known for witty remonstrance; he called himself 'sunken in the vulgar, retired at the Golden Gate,' saying 'within the palace one may retire and preserve oneself,' founding the 'great reclusion in court and market' idea. Zhang, a noted straightforward Northern Song minister who knew the difficulty of standing in court, especially prized such wisdom of 'mixing in the ranks yet preserving the true self.' The poem was likely written when reading history. In mid-Northern Song, scholars often weighed the 'exit and entrance' doctrine; Dongfang's 'between office and reclusion' wisdom was worth pondering. The lines 'even the Golden Gate can conceal my true self' and 'stood against favored ministers in the Xuan Hall' exactly write his court-reclusion and stature. To read it one must place it in the Song context of 'valuing exit-entrance, prizing whole-truth,' sensing Zhang's using the ancients' cup to pour his own standing-in-court grievance. Zhang, a straight minister, deeply knew the difficulty of court, hence especially cherished Dongfang's wisdom of whole-self through concealment; short as it is, the poem uses the ancients to speak of himself, implicitly showing his philosophy of preserving self in a turbid age.

张方平此《东方朔》，咏西汉武帝朝奇人东方朔（字曼倩）。朔以滑稽多智、谐语谏君著称，尝自称「陆沉于俗，避世金马门」，谓「宫殿中可以避世全身」，开「大隐朝市」之说。方平北宋名臣，历仕三朝，以直谏立身，亦深谙立朝之难，故于东方朔这种「混迹朝班而能全真」的智者特加推许。此诗当作于其读史有感之际。北宋中期，士大夫论古每重「出处」之道，或隐或仕各有其义，而东方朔式「仕隐之间」的智慧尤足供玩味。诗中「金门亦可晦吾真」「宣室抗幸臣」，正写朔之朝隐与风节。读懂此诗，须置之于宋人「重出处、尚全真」的士论背景中，方能体会方平借古人之酒杯、浇自己立朝块垒的深层寄托。方平以直臣立朝，深悉立朝之难，故于东方朔朝隐全真之智特加拳拳；此诗虽短，实借古人以自道，于颂其风节之中，隐然见其处浊世而能全自身之哲思。方平立朝以直，而于此独赏朔之善全，其间或自有身世之感存焉，读诗者不当轻放过此一层寄托。

Art

A seven-quatrain of four lines and twenty-eight characters, themed on Dongfang Shuo, small in frame but large in pattern. 'Not only the cliff-gate and market dust, even the Golden Gate can conceal my true self' first breaks then establishes: the first says reclusion is not only the common forms of cliff-gate and market dust, the second overturns into the court-reclusion idea; 'not only' sweeps common views, 'even' turns a new realm. 'His lone integrity and great righteousness—who saw, in the Xuan Hall he once stood against favored ministers' first laments then proves: the first laments his unrecognized integrity, the second proves his stature by the Xuan Hall deed. Within four lines are break, establish, lament, prove—a short piece with a long poem's vein. The whole argues as poetry, without scene; though antithesis not required in quatrains, 'cliff-gate' pairs 'market dust,' 'lone integrity' pairs 'great righteousness,' the intent coherent. It is a sharp Song historical poem of 'valuing insight, overturning judgments,' also showing Zhang's trenchant side amid his fluent style. Twenty-eight characters hold the four steps break-establish-lament-prove; beginning with 'not only' sweeps common views, continuing with 'even' reveals new realm, the latter couplet one lament one proof, no wasted brush—a model of a quatrain bearing heavy meaning, and his habit of arguing as poetry. Closing on 'conceal the true self' shows judgment within the short frame; allusion and argument generate each other, so though only twenty-eight characters the bone shows—most showing the ability to total much with little.

此诗七言绝格，四句二十八字，以咏东方朔为线，章法小而格大。「不独岩扃与市尘，金门亦可晦吾真」起二句先破后立：上句言隐不止于岩扃市尘之常格，下句翻出「金门亦可晦真」的朝隐之说，一「不独」扫尽俗见，「亦」字转出新境；「孤风大义人谁见，宣室聊曾抗幸臣」后二句先叹后证：上句叹朔之孤风大义无人识，下句以宣室抗幸臣之事证其风节。四句之中，破、立、叹、证俱全，短章而有长篇之脉。通篇以议论为诗，不假景语，对仗虽非必（绝句可不对），而「岩扃」对「市尘」、「孤风」对「大义」意脉相贯。是宋人咏史「尚识见、重翻案」一路的精警之笔，亦见方平疏畅诗风中犀利的一面。二十八字而具破立叹证四步，短章有长篇之脉；起以「不独」扫俗见，承以「亦可」揭新境，后联一叹一证，笔无虚设，是绝句能扛重意之范例，亦见其以议为诗之惯技。末句以「晦真」收束，于短章中见论断，用典与议论相生，故虽仅二十八字而风骨自张，最见以少总多之能。

Allusions

The allusions center on Dongfang Shuo's own story, from the Records of the Grand Historian and Han Shu. 'Cliff-gate' means a mountain retreat; 'market dust' means hiding in the city—the two traditional paths of reclusion. 'Golden Gate' is the Han palace gate where Dongfang served as gentleman-at-large, said 'retired at the Golden Gate, within the palace one may retire and preserve oneself—why must one be in deep mountains and humble huts'; Zhang's 'even the Golden Gate can conceal my true self' is based on this, establishing 'court reclusion.' 'Xuan Hall' is the Weiyang Palace's Xuan Hall where Emperor Wen summoned Jia Yi to ask about ghosts; 'stood against favored ministers' refers to Dongfang's witty remonstrance curbing favored ones (like dwarves and Dong Yan). 'Lone integrity and great righteousness' summarizes that though witty he had a correcting great righteousness. All allusions fit his biography, not overblown—showing Song historical poetry's habit of verifying facts and Zhang's careful reading.

诗中用典皆围绕东方朔本事，源出《史记·滑稽列传》与《汉书》。「岩扃」指山岩扃户，即岩隐；「市尘」指避居市井，即城市之隐；二语概传统隐逸之两途。「金门」即金马门，汉宫门名，东方朔为太中大夫，待诏金马门，尝云「陆沉于俗，避世金马门，宫殿中可以避世全身，何必深山之中、蒿庐之下」，方平「金门亦可晦吾真」即本此，立「朝隐」之说。「宣室」指汉未央宫宣室殿，文帝尝于此召贾谊问鬼神；「抗幸臣」指朔尝以谐谏裁抑宠臣（如侏儒、董偃之徒）之事。「孤风大义」则概朔虽滑稽而实有匡正之大义。诸典皆切朔之本传，不滥不僻，见宋人咏史征实之习，亦见方平读史之细。岩扃市尘金门，举隐逸三途；宣室抗幸，点朔之本传；朝隐之说本于朔之自言，方平据史立论，不逞臆说，故虽仅四句而用典绵密，非率尔应酬之作。诗中岩扃市尘金门三途并列，宣室抗幸点出其本传，朝隐之说本于朔之自言，方平据史立论，用典绵密而四句能包多层意旨。

Commentary

Short as it is, the poem shows Zhang's historical insight. Tang poets writing Dongfang often depicted his jesting strangeness, like Li Bai's 'Only then know the emperor's nobility, no longer proud as before'; Zhang uniquely extracts his two aspects—'court-reclusion whole-self' and 'lone integrity'—overturning into the deep wisdom of 'great reclusion in court and market.' This 'insight over event' orientation fits the Song historical taste of 'valuing argument, overturning judgments.' Qing scholars' 'Song Poetry Excerpts' says Zhang 'does not carve,' and his argumentative passages show the most craft. His line 'even the Golden Gate can conceal my true self,' taking court-market as reclusion and whole-self as归宿, grasps the marrow earlier than Bai Juyi's 'great reclusion dwells in court and market,' also reflecting Northern Song officials' thought on the 'standing-in-court self-preservation' way as factional strife rose. Zhang, famous as a straight minister, implies self-comparison. This poem can be seen as a sharp representative of the Northern Song historical-poem line 'valuing exit-entrance, knowing court-reclusion,' valuable for studying Song historical criticism and poetics. Tang poets mostly depicted Dongfang's jesting; Zhang uniquely extracts his court-reclusion and stature, insight already a level higher; Northern Song officials in rising factional strife often resonated with his 'conceal the true self,' and this poem glimpses one facet of the age's self-conduct. Hence Zhang's quatrain uses the ancients to speak of himself, insight above the Tang depiction of jesting, also affording a glimpse of Northern Song scholars' self-conduct.

此诗虽短，却颇可见方平咏史之识。唐人咏东方朔多写其诙谐诡谲，如李白「方知帝王贵，不复傲当时」；方平此诗则独抉其「朝隐全真」「孤风大义」两端，翻出「大隐朝市」的深层智慧。这种以「识」胜「事」的取向，正合宋人咏史「尚议论、重翻案」的趣味。清人《宋诗钞》称方平「不事雕琢」，此诗议论处最见功夫。其「金门亦可晦吾真」一句，以朝市为隐、以晦真为归，比之白居易「大隐住朝市」之说更早得其髓，亦折射北宋士大夫在党争渐起之际对「立朝自全」之道的思索。方平以直臣名世，借朔自况之意隐然。此篇可视为北宋咏史诗中「重出处、识朝隐」一路的精警代表，于研究宋人史评与诗学颇有价值。唐人咏朔多状其诙谐，方平独抉其朝隐与风节，识见已高一层；北宋士大夫处党争渐起之世，每于朔之「晦真」有会心，此诗正可窥其时士人处身之道的一端。故方平此绝，借古以自道，识见在唐人状朔诙谐之上，于北宋士人处身之道亦足资一窥。

Prosody

Form Seven-character regulated quatrain七言绝句

Rhyme Rhymes with the level-tone zhen rhyme; rhyming characters are zhen and chen; the first line's 'dust' (chen) borrows a neighboring rhyme (or cushion rhyme) to enter, the zhen-zhen group清越, short piece one rhyme throughout.通押平声真韵，入韵字为真、臣，首句「尘」借邻韵（或衬韵）入，真谆辙清越，短章一韵到底。

Tone pattern Seven-quatrain follows regulated level-oblique; the opening 'not only cliff-gate and market dust' fits the level-oblique pattern; the latter couplet 'lone integrity great righteousness who saw, Xuan Hall once stood against favored ministers' is largely antithetic, the breath coherent.七言绝句依律调平仄，起句「不独岩扃与市尘」平仄合式，后联「孤风大义人谁见，宣室聊曾抗幸臣」大体对仗，气脉相贯。

Reading note This seven-quatrain, though only four lines, has its own prosodic order. The zhen rhyme, of the zhen group, with a fine, moist vowel and清越 sound, ideal for writing historical insight and the sigh of stature. Zhang uses zhen to frame the whole; the first line's 'dust' (chen) coordinates with later 'true' (zhen) and 'minister' (chen) (Song quatrains commonly borrow the first-line rhyme), the sound even and clean, reading like a historian speaking with edge, apt for his Song tone of valuing insight and overturning judgments. Short quatrains most fear exhausted meaning; this poem uses the layered turn 'not only—even—who saw—once' to pack break-establish-lament-prove within twenty-eight characters, the breath unbroken. The zhen rhyme's clarity holds his trenchant argument, giving the short piece bone. Song quatrains often value reason; this piece has a narrow rhyme yet long meaning, the zhen rhyme's clarity exactly its stylistic outward show, valuable for appreciating the Song seven-quatrain's sharpness. The zhen rhyme清越, short piece yet bone shows, sound and feeling correspond between break and establish, the twenty-eight characters packing four layers of meaning, much owing to this rhyme's clear firmness.此诗七言绝格，虽仅四句，音韵却自有章法。真韵属臻摄开口三等，元音细润、音色清越，最宜写咏史识见与风节之叹。方平以真韵笼全篇，首句「尘」与后「真」「臣」相协（宋人绝句首句借韵常见），声气匀净，读来如论古者语带锋棱，恰与其尚识见、重翻案的宋调相称。绝句短章最忌意尽，此诗以「不独—亦可—谁见—聊曾」的转折层递，于二十八字中包破、立、叹、证四步，气脉不断。真韵之清托住其犀利议论，使短章而有骨力。宋人绝句多尚理，此篇韵窄而意长，真韵之清正是其体格外显，于体会宋调七绝之精警颇有可取。真韵清越，短章而骨力自见，破立之间声情相应，绝句二十八字而能包四层意，得此韵之清刚者为多。

Line by line

不独岩扃与市尘，金门亦可晦吾真。

Not only the cliff-gate and the market's dust—even the Golden Gate can conceal my true self.

东方朔不只是隐于山岩扃户与避居市尘，即便在金马门为官亦可韬晦保全本真。

Not only the mountain retreat and the dusty market; even the Golden Gate can hide my true self.

起二句先破后立，是全诗识见所在。上句「不独岩扃与市尘」之「不独」二字，先扫尽传统隐逸的两种常格——岩扃之山隐、市尘之城隐，言隐不止于此；下句「金门亦可晦吾真」翻出东方朔「避世金马门」之说，谓身居朝班金门亦可韬晦保全本真。一「不独」一「亦」，破立之间，把「大隐朝市」的深层智慧点醒。此联之重，在以朝为隐、以晦真为归，翻尽「隐必去朝」的俗见。更可味者，「晦吾真」之「晦」字吃紧，不是失真而是藏真，藏而后全，正合道家「和光同尘」之旨。宋诗尚识，此联以议为诗而不觉枯，是方平咏史犀利处。

The opening breaks then establishes, the seat of the poem's insight. The words not only in not only the mountain retreat and the dusty market first sweep away the two constant patterns of traditional reclusion - the mountain reclusion of closing the door on the crags, the city reclusion of dwelling in the dusty market - saying reclusion is not limited to these. The second turns out Dongfang Shuo's saying of escaping the age at the Golden Horse Gate, saying that dwelling in the court's Golden Gate one can also hide and keep one's true self. One not only, one also, between breaking and establishing, points out the deep wisdom of the great reclusion in court and market. The couplet's weight lies in taking the court as reclusion and hiding the true as the归宿, reversing the vulgar view that reclusion must leave the court. What is more to taste is the word hide in hide my true: not losing the true but hiding the true, hiding then keeping whole, exactly suiting the Taoist tenet of softening the light and sharing the dust. Song poetry prizes insight; this couplet makes argument the poem without dryness, the sharp place of Fangping singing of the past.

孤风大义人谁见，宣室聊曾抗幸臣。

His lone integrity and great righteousness—who ever beheld? In the Xuan Hall he once stood against the favored ministers.

他那孤标之风、宏大之义有谁得见，当年在宣室也曾抗争过宠幸之臣。

His lofty spirit and great righteousness - who saw them? In the Xuanshi Hall he once stood up to the favored courtiers.

后二句先叹后证，是全诗情与事之归。上句「孤风大义人谁见」叹朔之孤标风操、宏大义概无人能识，一个「谁见」见其埋没之深、知音之稀；下句「宣室聊曾抗幸臣」以宣室（汉宫议政之殿）抗斥宠幸之臣的故实，证其风节非虚。二句一叹一证，由「人谁见」的怅惘转到「曾抗幸」的实据，章法由虚转实。此联之妙，在不仅赞朔之智，更揭其「义」——朔虽滑稽，实有匡正之大义，非徒谐谑。方平借古自况之意隐然：直臣立于朝，亦须有晦真之智、抗幸之节。结以「聊曾」轻笔收束，愈显风节之真，是绝句收法之妙。

The closing first sighs then proves, the归宿 of the poem's feeling and fact. The first, his lofty spirit and great righteousness - who saw them? sighs that Shuo's lofty standard of conduct and great righteousness were recognized by no one; the words who saw show the depth of his burial and the rarity of the understanding. The second, in the Xuanshi Hall he once stood up to the favored courtiers, uses the fact of resisting and rebuking the favored courtiers in the Xuanshi Hall (the Han palace hall of deliberation) to prove his integrity is no empty thing. The two lines, one sigh one proof, move from the wistfulness of who saw to the solid fact of once resisted, the structure turning from void to solid. The couplet's beauty lies in not only praising Shuo's wit, but revealing his righteousness - Shuo, though a jester, really had the great righteousness of correcting the age, not mere banter. Fangping's hidden meaning of comparing himself to the ancients is faint: the upright minister standing in court must also have the wit to hide the true and the integrity to resist the favored. Closing with the light brush of once, the integrity shows the more truly, the fine way of closing a quatrain.

Study

Word focus

金门 The 'Golden Gate' is the key image establishing 'court reclusion': the Han Golden Horse Gate where Dongfang served, here standing for official career, contrasted with 'cliff-gate' and 'market dust' as the three paths of reclusion (mountain, city, court); the word's weight is taking court as reclusion—dwelling in the noisiest yet able to be most hidden, overturning the common view that reclusion must leave court. 「金门亦可晦吾真」之「金门」，是立「朝隐」之说的关键意象。金门即汉金马门，东方朔待诏于此，尝自谓「避世金马门，宫殿中可以避世全身」。方平以此代指朝班仕途，与「岩扃」「市尘」对举，构成隐逸的三途：山、市、朝。此词之重，在以朝为隐——身居至闹而心能至隐，翻尽「隐必远朝」的俗见。与起句「不独」呼应：隐不独在岩市，亦在金门。一词而收束全诗「大隐朝市」的旨归，亦折射北宋士大夫党争渐起时对「立朝自全」之道的思索。宋诗尚识，此「金门」非地理而是哲学，是方平以史论诗的慧眼所在。

晦 'Conceal' (hui) is the poetic eye of court-reclusion: to hide or sheath, here meaning to conceal one's true self amid the Golden Gate's noise—not losing it but preserving it; it distinguishes two kinds of reclusion, the cliff's 'departure' and the court's 'concealment,' the latter a higher step, matching the Daoist idea of 'bearing plainness, embracing the uncarved.' 「金门亦可晦吾真」之「晦」字，是写朝隐的诗眼。晦者，藏也、韬也，如「晦其明」；此处谓在金门喧闹中藏敛本真，非失真而是全真。方平以此字点出东方朔处世的核心智慧：不是同流合污，而是和光同尘、晦而能全。此字之妙，在区别「隐」之两种：岩隐之「离」与朝隐之「晦」，离则远世、晦则处世，晦更高一着。与「吾真」连用，示所晦者形、所全者真，形晦而真全，正合道家「被褐怀玉」之旨。一词而勾出朔之人格内核，亦方平自身「立朝而能全」的夫子自道。宋诗炼理，此「晦」字以虚字立骨，最见省净。

幸臣 'Favored ministers' is the keyword proving Dongfang's stature: favorites who gained position by imperial favor (like Dong Yan, dwarves), whom Dongfang curbed by witty remonstrance, showing his unsycophantic stance; Zhang uses it to lift Dongfang from 'jester' to 'straight minister,' exactly the overturning brush, echoing 'his lone integrity—who saw' and revealing that the proof of great righteousness lies in standing against favorites. 「宣室聊曾抗幸臣」之「幸臣」，是证东方朔风节的关键词。幸臣指以宠幸得位的近臣（如董偃、侏儒之徒），东方朔尝以谐谏裁抑之，显其不苟同之节。方平以此写朔非徒滑稽，实有「抗幸」的正义之举。此词之重，在把朔从「俳优」抬到「直臣」：世人笑其诙谐，方平揭其抗幸之大义，正是翻案之笔。与「孤风大义人谁见」呼应——大义之证即在抗幸。更可味者，「聊曾」轻笔带过，不夸饰而风节自见，恰合朔「谈谐」以谏的本色。一词而立全诗「智中有义」的定评，亦方平借古自况——直臣立于朝，抗幸正是本分。

东方朔