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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

寄高弁侍郎

Sent to Vice-Minister Gao Bian

张方平

Zhang Fangping

赠友to a friend 赞颂eulogy 士人品格scholar's character

大雅久颓弊，夫君真古人。
道维皇极正，文着帝刑淳。
美望锵金石，深诚照鬼神。
立朝惟一介，为郡有遗仁。
素尚陶弘景，风流贺季真。
岁寒松有节，明莹玉无尘。
霜简虽清重，铜符亦久迍。
老成急登用，必有及斯民。

The great ya has long fallen into decay; you, sir, are truly an ancient.
The Way upholds the royal norm; your prose shows the sovereign's laws in purity.
Your fair repute rings like metal and stone; your deep sincerity shines on ghosts and gods.
At court you stood alone, a single upright man; as prefect you left a legacy of kindness.
In retirement you honor Tao Hongjing; in spirit you rival He Zhizhang.
In cold age the pine keeps its joint; bright and clear, the jade bears no dust.
Though your frost-white tablet was pure and weighty, your bronze seal lingered long in hardship.
Such seasoned men should be employed at once; surely it will reach the common people.

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Meaning

The poet praises his friend Gao Bian as a true man of the old school—upright in court, kind as a prefect, lofty as Tao Hongjing and free as He Zhizhang, steadfast as pine and pure as jade. He notes that though Gao holds a pure post he has long lingered in hardship, and urges that such seasoned men be employed soon, for their worth will surely reach the people. The poem is both a eulogy and a hopeful plea for worthy service.

大雅之风久已颓弊，您真是古时的高人。道维系皇极之正，文章著明帝王刑法之淳厚。美好的声望铿锵如金石，深挚的诚意昭照鬼神。在朝为官惟是一介耿直，治理州郡留下仁爱遗泽。平素崇尚陶弘景，风流可比贺知章。岁寒之松有节操，明莹之玉无纤尘。虽持清重的霜简，铜符却也久处困顿。老成之人急当登用，必有恩泽惠及这些百姓。

Appreciation

The whole is a eulogy built on comparison. It opens by contrasting the decayed age with the friend's worth, then layers praise—royal norm, repute, sincerity, office, retirement, character—each couplet a fresh facet, never piling flatly. The line 'in cold age the pine keeps its joint; bright and clear, the jade bears no dust' is the highest image of character. The close turns from praise to hope, landing on 'reach the common people,' the poet's care for the world. Tight in form, it is a fine Song eulogy.

【白话串讲】张方平寄高弁侍郎：“大雅久颓弊，夫君真古人”。“美望锵金石，深诚照鬼神”——“素尚陶弘景，风流贺季真”——“岁寒松有节，明莹玉无尘”——他赞高弁。【意象与手法】全诗以赞颂友人为体，通篇用比。以「大雅久颓弊」的反衬见友人之可贵，以「皇极」「帝刑」称其学行之正，以「金石」「鬼神」誉其声望之隆、诚意之深，复以陶弘景、贺知章比拟其清高风流，以松、玉喻其节操品行之洁，层层铺陈，愈赞愈高。末二句由赞转望，落到「及斯民」的用世关怀。【情感与主旨】主旨是对友人高弁的全面称颂与殷切期许：赞其古道、学养、声望、诚意、节操、风流，而最终落笔于「老成急登用，必有及斯民」，希望这位老成君子早获重用，以济苍生，见作者以天下为己任的用世情怀。【名句点睛】「岁寒松有节，明莹玉无尘」以松、玉并喻，写尽高弁的坚贞与高洁，是全诗品格意象的最高处，也最能见张方平论人的标准。

Background

Titled 'Sent to Vice-Minister Gao Bian,' this is a pentasyllabic pailü eulogy and hope for a friend. Gao Bian, by the histories, was a Northern Song grandee (likely the like-named Gao Ruona or a close high Gao), styled with 'Bian,' who rose to vice-minister, hence the title. Zhang Fangping and Gao served together and knew each other deeply; the poem, titled 'sent,' was likely written when Gao was posted out or at leisure, as comfort and encouragement. In mid-Northern Song, the custom among gentlemen of urging and praising one another through verse was strong; such praise-poems were many yet often mere pleasantries. Zhang's is solemn and earnest, framed on the old way, character and learning, showing his high hope for the friend. The line 'though your frost-white tablet was pure and weighty, your bronze seal lingered long in hardship' reveals Gao's present state—holding a pure post abroad, long in the prefectures, not yet greatly used—so the last line's 'should be employed at once' feels urgent. Knowing this, one reads the poem's turn from praise to hope. Zhang judges men first by wind and benefit to the people; this poem is the verse-form of that standard, praising the friend yet revealing his own breast.

此诗题作「寄高弁侍郎」，是一首赞颂并期许友人的五言排律。高弁其人，考诸史籍，当为北宋大臣高若讷或与之相近者，字义与「弁」相关的高姓显宦，历官至侍郎，故题中称「侍郎」。张方平与高弁同朝为官，相知甚深，此诗以「寄」为题，当是高弁外放或闲居之时，张方平作诗相慰相勉。北宋中期，士大夫之间以诗文相砥砺、相推重之风极盛，此类赞人诗不在少数，然多流于应酬套语。张方平此诗却写得庄重恳切，通篇以古道、节操、学行为纲，可见其对友人的期许之高。诗中「霜简虽清重，铜符亦久迍」一句，透出高弁此时持节外任、久处州郡而未大用的处境，故末句「老成急登用」方显得殷切。了解这一背景，方能读懂此诗由赞转望的情感脉络。张方平论人，首重风节与利民，此诗正是他这一用人标准的诗化表达，赞的是友人，见的却是作者自己的胸襟与怀抱，读来意味深长。

Art

This is a pentasyllabic pailü of eight couplets and sixteen lines, one rhyme throughout, tightly ordered. Its outstanding feature is the use of comparison (bi). The first couplet first lowers then raises: 'the great ya has long fallen into decay; you, sir, are truly an ancient' sets the age's decay against the friend's worth. The second writes his learning's rightness, the third his repute and sincerity, the fourth his office's integrity, the fifth pairs Tao Hongjing and He Zhizhang for his retirement and freedom, the sixth uses pine and jade for his character, the seventh his pure yet long-hardshipped state, the eighth his hope. The eight couplets—direct, contrast, allusion, metaphor—rise in layers, praising a gentleman with order yet no piling. Especially fine is 'in cold age the pine keeps its joint; bright and clear, the jade bears no dust'—the pine's joint, the jade's purity, the very image of a generation's ideal character. The whole uses praise as bone and hope as tail, complete in form, a fine Song eulogy. Worth noting is its 'show by metaphor instead of argue': it does not judge directly but uses royal norm, sovereign laws, metal and stone, ghosts and gods, pine and jade to 'write' character, making abstract virtue sensible—praise without flattery, solemn yet not stiff.

此诗是五言排律，共八联十六句，通篇一韵到底，章法谨严。艺术上最突出的是「比体」的运用。首联先抑后扬，「大雅久颓弊，夫君真古人」以时代之衰反衬友人之贵；二联写其学行之正，三联写其声望之隆、诚意之深，四联写其居官之节，五联以陶弘景、贺知章二人并拟其隐逸与风流，六联以松、玉双喻其节操与品行，七联写其清重而久迍的处境，八联结以期许。八联之间，或正写、或反衬、或用典、或比喻，层层递进，把对一位君子的称颂写得极有层次，而无堆砌之弊。尤以「岁寒松有节，明莹玉无尘」一联最为凝练，松之节、玉之洁，正是一代士人品格理想的物化。通篇以赞为骨、以望为尾，结构完整，是宋人赞人诗中的佳作。更可称道者，是其「以喻代论」的手法：不直接评判友人，而用皇极、帝刑、金石、鬼神、松玉等一连串物象与典故来「写」其品格，使抽象的德行化为可感的形象，赞而不谀、庄而不板，极见排律铺陈而不失凝练的功力。

Allusions

The allusions and tropes must be told. First, 'great ya' refers to the correct sound of the Ya hymns of the Shi Jing, later standing for the proper literary tradition; 'the great ya has long fallen into decay' says the right way has long declined. Second, 'royal norm' (huangji) comes from the 'Great Plan' of the Documents—'establish and use the royal norm,' the great middle and right Way. Third, 'sovereign's laws' (dixing) means the ruler's rewards and punishments; 'your prose shows the sovereign's laws in purity' says his writing clarifies the laws' purity. Fourth, 'Tao Hongjing' was a Liang hermit, the 'Minister in the Mountains,' who declined office and lived on Mao Shan, honored for his high withdrawal. Fifth, 'He Zhizhang' (He Jizhen) of the Tang, broad and free, styled the 'Four-Ming Mad Guest,' retired to Jing Lake late in life, here for the friend's free spirit. Sixth, 'frost tablet' (shuangjian) is the censor's white tablet of impeachment, 'pure and weighty' for his pure standing. Seventh, 'bronze seal' (tongfu) is the tiger-seal of prefects, for his post abroad. The allusions fit the man and event, not piled loosely. Especially 'Tao Hongjing' and 'He Zhizhang' together—one hermit, one mad, one still one free—exactly sum the friend's 'retirement' and 'freedom,' showing Zhang's precise choice of allusion, the proper mode of praising through the ancient worthies.

此诗用典与取譬须辨。其一，「大雅」指《诗经》的雅乐正声，后世以「大雅」代指典正的文学传统，「大雅久颓弊」谓正道久衰。其二，「皇极」出《尚书·洪范》，「建用皇极」，皇极即大中至正之道。其三，「帝刑」指帝王的刑赏法度，「文着帝刑淳」谓其文章能阐明法度之淳厚。其四，「陶弘景」是南朝梁隐士，人称「山中宰相」，屡聘不出，隐居茅山，尚之者慕其高蹈。其五，「贺季真」即唐代贺知章，字季真，旷达风流，自号「四明狂客」，晚年归隐镜湖，此以喻友人之清狂潇洒。其六，「霜简」指御史所持的竹简，白简弹劾，清重喻其位望之清贵。其七，「铜符」是州郡长官的虎符铜印，喻其外任。诸典皆贴切其人其事，非泛泛堆砌。尤其「陶弘景」与「贺季真」二典的并用，一隐一狂、一静一动，恰好概括了友人「素尚」与「风流」的两个侧面，见张方平择典之精、拟人之切，以古贤之高标映衬友人之品格，正是赞人诗用典的正格，允为精当。

Commentary

Praise-poems most fear the shallow; Zhang's avoids it by being concrete, hence valued by critics. The first couplet 'you, sir, are truly an ancient' is the poem's spine; the word 'ancient' sums the friend's bone, and the later royal norm, sovereign laws, metal and stone, ghosts and gods, pine and jade all grow from it, writing his surviving old way and upright character. This fits the mid-Northern Song gentleman's general esteem for name and bone, read beside Fan Zhongyan's 'first worry for the world' and Ouyang Xiu's 'what I keep is right principle, what I do is loyalty and trust.' Especially 'such seasoned men should be employed at once; surely it will reach the common people' lands the praise on 'benefit the people,' showing Zhang's root standard—talent and bone are dear, yet reaching the people is the ultimate worth. This breast, 'praising without forgetting the world,' is what lifts the poem above mere pleasantry, typical of Song poems showing character through argument. It is a poem that clarifies intent and mutual urging by verse, worth savoring, a model.

赞颂诗最忌浮泛，张方平此诗却能落到实处，故为论者所称。首联「夫君真古人」是全诗之纲，以「古人」二字总括友人之风骨，下文的皇极、帝刑、金石、鬼神、松玉诸喻，皆从此生发，写的是友人古道犹存、风节挺立的品格。这与北宋中期士大夫重名节、尚风骨的普遍风气相合，可与范仲淹「先天下之忧而忧」、欧阳修「所守者道义，所行者忠信」并观。尤其「老成急登用，必有及斯民」一联，把对友人的赞颂最终落到「利民」二字上，见出张方平论人论事的根本标准——才学节操固然可贵，而能惠及百姓方是终极的价值。这种「赞人而不忘天下」的胸襟，正是此诗超越一般应酬之作的地方，也是宋人诗中以议论见人格的典型。可以说，此诗于赞颂中寓经世，于期许中见风骨，读之既见高弁之贤，更见张方平论人论政的标准，是一首以诗明志、以诗相砺的佳作，耐人寻味，堪称典范。

Prosody

Form Pentasyllabic pailü (regulated octave sequence)五言排律

Rhyme Rhymes in the level-tone zhen category; rhyme words are ren, chun, shen, ren, zhen, chen, zhun, min, sustained throughout.押平声真韵，入韵字为人、淳、神、仁、真、尘、迍、民，一韵到底。

Tone pattern As a pentasyllabic pailü it follows the level-oblique pattern, fully parallel, as in 'the Way upholds the royal norm; your prose shows the sovereign's laws in purity,' 'your fair repute rings like metal and stone; your deep sincerity shines on ghosts and gods,' 'at court you stood alone; as prefect you left a legacy of kindness,' 'in retirement you honor Tao Hongjing; in spirit you rival He Zhizhang,' 'in cold age the pine keeps its joint; bright and clear, the jade bears no dust,' 'though your frost-white tablet was pure and weighty; your bronze seal lingered long in hardship'—all level-oblique opposed, parts of speech matched.五言排律依律调平仄，通篇对仗，如「道维皇极正，文着帝刑淳」「美望锵金石，深诚照鬼神」「立朝惟一介，为郡有遗仁」「素尚陶弘景，风流贺季真」「岁寒松有节，明莹玉无尘」「霜简虽清重，铜符亦久迍」，皆平仄相对、词性相侔。

Reading note This is a pentasyllabic pailü of eight couplets, rhyming throughout in the level-tone zhen category. Zhen belongs to the open third division of the zhen rhyme group, its vowel fine and pure, giving a solemn, clear, upright music, fit for praising a gentleman. The eight rhyme words—ren, chun, shen, ren, zhen, chen, zhun, min—run with one breath like pearls on a string, keeping the long poem from scattering. Pailü most fears a slack middle; here all eight couplets are parallel yet shift meaning without stiffness: learning, repute, character, freedom, state—each has its own focus, linked by zhen's pure breath, so rich yet not mixed, long yet not weary. Worth savoring: the rhyme word 'zhen' (true) is exactly the first couplet's 'you, sir, are truly an ancient' rhyme—the poem's sound-spine and its meaning-spine meet in one; tuning on 'true,' the upright sound and the upright virtue enhance each other, showing Zhang's pailü skill of sound and meaning as one.此诗为五言排律，共八联，通押平声真韵，一韵到底。真韵属臻摄开口三等，元音细而清正，读来有一种庄重、清越、端严的声情，正宜写对君子的称颂与期许。八个入韵字人、淳、神、仁、真、尘、迍、民，声气一贯，如珠走盘，使长篇而不散乱。排律最忌中幅疲沓，此诗八联皆对仗，而能层层换意、毫不板滞：写学行、声望、节操、风流、处境，各联自有重点，赖真韵的清正声气贯穿始终，故繁而不杂、长而不懈。尤其值得玩味的是，真韵的「真」字正是首联「夫君真古人」的韵脚，全诗的声韵之纲与立意之纲在此合一，以「真」字定调，端严之音与端方之德相得益彰，足见张方平排律声情合一的功力。

Line by line

大雅久颓弊，夫君真古人。

The great ya has long fallen into decay; you, sir, are truly an ancient.

大雅之风久已颓弊，您真是古时的高人。

The great elegance has long decayed; you, sir, are truly an ancient man.

此联开篇即立全诗之纲，先抑后扬，笔力千钧。上句「大雅久颓弊」，以《诗经》雅乐正声代指典正的传统，说这正道已经衰颓很久了，一句横扫，为友人的出场蓄足反衬之势。下句「夫君真古人」陡然一转，赞友人古道犹存、风节如古之君子，一个「真」字下得极重，不是说其似古人，而是断然肯定其「就是古人」，见推许之深。两句一抑一扬，以时代之衰反衬人格之贵，把友人从当世的颓风中拔举出来，置于古贤之列。这种起笔，既有史家的判语，又有知交的深情，为全诗定下了庄重而恳切的基调，后文一切称颂，皆是对「真古人」三字的展开。

The opening at once establishes the whole poem's outline, first depressing then raising, the brush a thousandweight. The first, the great elegance has long decayed, uses the elegant correct strain of the Book of Songs to stand for the classical tradition, saying this right way has long decayed; one sweeping line gathers force for the friend's appearance as a reverse foil. The second turns abruptly, you, sir, are truly an ancient man, praising the friend for still holding the ancient way and an integrity like the ancient gentlemen; the single word truly is laid down with great weight - not saying he resembles the ancients, but flatly affirming that he is an ancient man, showing the depth of the esteem. The two lines, one depressing one raising, use the age's decay to set off the worth of the character, lifting the friend out of the contemporary decline and placing him among the ancient worthies. This opening at once carries the historian's verdict and the deep feeling of a friend, fixing the poem's solemn and earnest key; all the later praise is the unfolding of the three words truly an ancient man.

岁寒松有节，明莹玉无尘。

In cold age the pine keeps its joint; bright and clear, the jade bears no dust.

岁寒之松有节操，明莹之玉无纤尘。

In the year's cold, the pine has its joints; the bright jade has no dust.

此联是全诗品格意象的最高处，以松、玉双喻，凝练而精绝。上句「岁寒松有节」用《论语》「岁寒然后知松柏之后凋也」之意，以经霜不凋的松树喻友人坚贞的节操，松之「节」既指松枝的节结，更指人的气节。下句「明莹玉无尘」以莹洁无瑕的美玉喻友人品行之高洁，「无尘」二字写其一尘不染。两句一取「坚贞」，一取「高洁」，恰好概括了士人品格的两个维度：外在的操守与内在的纯净。以自然之物拟人格，比直言「节高」「行洁」更形象、更隽永，读之如见其人在风雪中挺立、在尘世中自洁，是全篇中最能见张方平论人标准的点睛之笔。

This couplet is the highest point of the poem's character imagery, using the double metaphors of pine and jade, condensed and exquisite. The first, in the year's cold, the pine has its joints, uses the meaning of the Analects' only when the year turns cold do we know the pine and cypress are the last to fade, using the frost-unfading pine to meta-phor the friend's steadfast integrity; the pine's joints mean at once the nodes of the pine bough and the man's integrity. The second, the bright jade has no dust, uses the flawless jade to meta-phor the loftiness of the friend's conduct; the words no dust write his being unstained. The two lines, one taking steadfastness, one taking loftiness, exactly sum the two dimensions of the scholar's character: the outer操守 and the inner purity. Comparing character through natural things is more vivid and enduring than directly saying high integrity and pure conduct; reading it, one sees the man standing firm in the wind and snow and keeping himself clean in the dusty world, the eye of the whole poem most showing Fangping's standard in judging men.

老成急登用，必有及斯民。

Such seasoned men should be employed at once; surely it will reach the common people.

老成之人急当登用，必有恩泽惠及这些百姓。

A mature man should be raised to office in haste; his grace must reach these people.

此联收束全诗，由赞转望，是全诗情感与主旨的落点。上句「老成急登用」，直言这样老成持重、德才兼备的人应当尽快得到重用，「急」字见作者心情之迫切，也暗示友人久处外任、未展其才的处境。下句「必有及斯民」更推进一步，把对友人的期许落到「惠及百姓」上——他一旦登用，必有恩泽泽及黎民。「斯民」二字，把个人的仕进与天下苍生联系起来，使全诗由私谊的赞颂上升为对国计民生的关怀。此联之妙，在于赞人不终于赞，而终于「利民」这个更高的标准，见出作者以天下为己任的胸襟，也使这首赞人诗超出了一般的应酬格局，具有了深沉的社会关怀。

This couplet gathers the poem, turning from praise to expectation, the landing of its feeling and bent. The first, a mature man should be raised to office in haste, directly saying that such a mature, weighty, virtuous and able man should be quickly employed; the word urgent shows the author's pressing heart, and hints at the friend's long outer posting, his talent not yet extended. The second steps further, his grace must reach these people, stepping the expectation of the friend onto blessing the people - once he is raised, his grace must reach the common folk. The words these people connect personal advancement with the world's people, raising the whole poem from private friendship's praise to concern for the nation's livelihood. The couplet's beauty lies in praising a man not ending in praise but ending in the higher standard of benefiting the people, showing the author's breast of taking the world as his own charge, and making this poem of praise rise above the ordinary exchange pattern into deep social concern.

Study

Word focus

古人 'Ancient' (guren) in 'you, sir, are truly an ancient' is the poem's eye, one word summing the friend's whole bone. In Song usage, 'ancient' does not mean the past in time but a vanished moral model—the way, the wind, the worthies of old. Zhang calls the friend 'ancient' to say he still keeps the rare old warmth and stern wind of the age. The word's weight is that it uses time as a value yardstick: the age's wind has decayed, only the friend transcends the vulgar and reaches the ancients—both the highest praise and a gentle critique of the present. The later royal norm, sovereign laws, pine-joint and jade-purity are all the unfolding of 'ancient.' Two words set the poem's spine, giving the scattered praise a hold—Zhang's power of forging meaning. 「夫君真古人」之「古人」，是全诗的诗眼，一字而总括友人的全部风骨。在宋人语境中，「古人」不是指时间的过去，而是指一种逝去的道德典范——古道、古风、古贤的人格。张方平以「古人」许友人，是说他身上还保留着当世已然罕见的古道热肠与凛然风节。此词之重，在于它以「时间」为价值标尺：当世之风已颓，唯友人能超越流俗、直追古人，这既是对友人的至高赞许，也是对当世的委婉批评。后文的皇极之正、帝刑之淳、松节玉洁，无一不是「古人」二字的具体展开。以二字定全篇之纲，使纷繁的赞语有了统摄，正是张方平炼意的功力所在。

松 'Pine' (song) in 'in cold age the pine keeps its joint' is among the oldest gentleman-comparison images in Chinese culture. The pine does not wither in winter, the more green in cold, hence the Analects' 'only when the year grows cold do we know the pine and cypress fade last,' and the pine became a sign of steadfastness. Zhang compares the friend with the pine not for its evergreen but for its 'joint'—the pine's hard joint is like man's unyielding integrity. The word's wonder is the pun on 'joint': both the pine's node and man's integrity, making metaphor and tenor one. In the hardship of 'your frost-white tablet was pure and weighty; your bronze seal lingered long in hardship,' the friend stays like the pine, unyielding in frost—exactly the character Zhang most values. The choice of this word shows his esteem for integrity first, and his poetic culture of comparing virtue through things. 「岁寒松有节」之「松」，是中国文化中最古老的君子比德意象之一。松经冬不凋，岁寒愈见其苍翠，故《论语》有「岁寒然后知松柏之后凋也」之叹，松遂成为坚贞气节的象征。张方平以松喻友人，重点不在其常青，而在其「有节」——松干的节结坚硬，正如人的气节凛然不可夺。此字之妙，在于「节」的一语双关：既实写松的节结，又虚指人的节操，使比喻与所喻浑然无间。在「霜简虽清重，铜符亦久迍」的仕途困顿中，友人能如松般经霜不凋、守节不移，这正是张方平最看重的品格。一字之选，见出作者论人首重气节的价值取向，也见其以物比德、化虚为实的诗学修养。