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宋 Song · 诗 Poem

贻辰长老

Presented to Elder Chen

张方平

Zhang Fangping

赠僧to a monk 禅理Chan doctrine 隐逸reclusion

同流谁往还，终日掩柴关。
壁观少林寺，门风先洞山。
道场随处是，心地本来闲。
指我常河水，都忘鬓发斑。

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Meaning

The poet addresses Elder Chen, a revered Chan monk, praising his secluded cultivation and orthodox lineage. Through the elder's guidance he realizes that the mind is originally still and that awakening is everywhere, so that he forgets even the sorrow of aging.

同流之中有谁往来，整日掩闭柴门。壁观如少林寺达摩，门风先承洞山一脉。道场随处皆是，心地本来自在闲静。指给我恒河之水，使我忘却鬓发斑白。

Appreciation

The whole poem speaks Chan in plain Chan language, shallow in wording yet deep in meaning. Its centerpiece couplet, 'The Dharma arena is everywhere; the mind-ground is originally at ease,' states the essential Chan tenet of 'Buddha is the mind, the pure land is anywhere' in the plainest terms—the poem's crowning line.

【白话串讲】张方平写给辰长老：“同流谁往还，终日掩柴关”。“壁观少林寺，门风先洞山”——“道场随处是，心地本来闲”——“指我常河水，都忘鬓发斑”——他参禅忘老。【意象与手法】诗为赠僧之作，通篇以禅语写禅境。首联写长老闭门谢客、离群独修；颔联以达摩壁观、洞山门风称其宗风之正；颈联「道场随处是，心地本来闲」直揭禅理，写即心即佛、处处道场；尾联以「常河水」「忘鬓斑」写长老点化之功与自己因之忘老的感悟。全诗语浅意深，禅味盎然。【情感与主旨】主旨是赠辰长老，赞其禅修之深、宗风之正，并借长老的指点，表达自己对「心地本闲」的禅理的体认，从而超脱了岁月催人的烦恼，寄寓了作者晚年向佛、以禅悦心的精神追求。【名句点睛】「道场随处是，心地本来闲」一联最见禅意，以极平常之语道出「即心即佛、随处净土」的禅宗要义，是赠僧诗中的点睛之笔。

Background

This poem, titled 'Presented to Elder Chen,' is a verse given to a monk. 'Elder Chen' was likely a revered Chan monk known to Zhang Fangping; 'elder' is the honorific for a senior, virtuous monk. In his later years Zhang deeply trusted Buddhism and often exchanged poems with Chan monks; this is one of them. Northern Song literati commonly befriended Chan monks—Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian all did—and Chan teachings of 'Buddha is the mind' and 'ordinary mind is the Way' deeply shaped their inner lives. As Wang Anshi's reforms advanced, Zhang withdrew and turned inward, seeking rest in Chan. This poem praises the elder's wall-gazing cultivation and Dongshan lineage and confesses his own insight that 'the mind-ground is originally at ease,' a portrait of his late-life self-composure. Understanding Song literati-monk friendship and Zhang's late mind is needed to read the poem's serene detachment.

此诗题作「贻辰长老」，是一首赠僧诗。「辰长老」当是张方平所结识的一位禅门高僧，「长老」是禅林对德高望重僧人的尊称。张方平晚年笃信佛教，与禅僧多有往还，其集中赠僧、酬僧之作不少，此诗即其一。北宋士大夫与禅僧交游成风，范仲淹、欧阳修、苏轼、黄庭坚等皆与方外多有唱和，禅宗的「即心即佛」「平常心是道」之说，深深浸润了北宋士人的精神世界。张方平在王安石变法中渐次退避，心境趋于内敛，遂于禅门中寻求安顿。此诗写赠辰长老，赞其壁观之修、洞山之风，并自道「心地本来闲」的体悟，正是他晚年以禅自处的写照。了解北宋士僧交游与张方平晚年的心境，方能读懂诗中那份超然物外的宁静。禅门的「即心即佛」「平常心是道」，恰为这位饱经仕途风波的重臣提供了一处安顿身心的清凉地，此诗便是他借赠僧之机，吐露这份禅悦心境的真实记录。

Art

A five-character regulated octave, eight lines and four couplets, it speaks Chan throughout in plain Chan language, shallow in wording yet deep in meaning. The opening couplet writes the elder's secluded cultivation through the everyday image of 'shutting the brushwood gate'; the second names his orthodox lineage through two great Chan lineages; the third directly reveals Chan truth, the poem's eye, in the plainest words; the fourth writes the elder's teaching and the poet's release from old age. The whole is unornamented, flowing like clear spring and white stone. Its greatest success is using Chan without falling into abstract doctrine. The character 'ease' (xian) threads the poem: the shut gate is bodily ease, wall-gazing is cultivational ease, the everywhere arena is environmental ease, the original mind is essential ease, forgetting grey temples is mental ease—five 'eases' leading from outer solitude to inner purity.

此诗是五言律诗，八句四联，通篇以禅语写禅境，语浅而意深。首联「同流谁往还，终日掩柴关」写长老离群独修，以「掩柴关」的日常意象见其谢绝尘扰的清净；颔联「壁观少林寺，门风先洞山」以禅宗两大法脉称其宗风，点明长老禅学的渊源之正；颈联「道场随处是，心地本来闲」直揭禅理，是全诗的眼目，以最平白的语言说出「处处是道场、心本自闲」的顿悟之旨；尾联「指我常河水，都忘鬓发斑」写长老的点化，以「忘鬓斑」收束，见禅悦使人超越老境。全诗不事雕琢，纯以禅意贯之，如清泉白石，冲淡自然。以禅入诗而能不堕理障，是此诗艺术上的最大成功。全诗又以「闲」字为眼：掩柴关是身之闲，壁观是修之闲，道场随处是境之闲，心地本来是性之闲，忘鬓斑是心之闲，五「闲」贯串，层层深入，把禅的「闲」从外在的离群，引向内在的自性清净，环环相扣而自然流走，正是以诗演禅、以禅证心的佳构。

Allusions

The poem uses Chan allusions, each to be discerned. 'Wall-gazing' refers to the First Patriarch Bodhidharma sitting facing a wall for nine years at Shaolin, the model of Chan meditation; 'wall-gazing at Shaolin' praises the elder's depth. 'Dongshan' is Tang master Dongshan Liangjie, who with his disciple Caoshan Benji founded the Caodong (Soto) school, one of the five Chan houses; 'the sect's spirit first inherits Dongshan' says the elder's lineage descends from Dongshan. 'Dharma arena' originally meant the place of the Buddha's enlightenment, but Chan says 'mind is the arena' and 'everywhere is the arena,' hence 'the arena is everywhere' means cultivation needs no fixed monastery. 'Chang River' is the Ganges, whose countless sands symbolize the multitude of beings and Dharma gates; the elder 'points me to the Ganges waters' uses the Ganges to signify the inherently pure, inexhaustible source of the self-nature. All allusions fit Chan, used without obstruction.

此诗用禅宗典故，须逐一辨明。其一，「壁观」指禅宗初祖达摩在少林寺面壁九年，凝神壁观、心如墙壁，是禅门坐禅的典范，「壁观少林寺」即以此称辰长老禅修之深。其二，「洞山」指唐代洞山良价禅师，与其弟子曹山本寂共创曹洞宗，为禅宗五家之一，门风细密，主「君臣五位」「偏正回互」之说，「门风先洞山」谓长老的宗风先承洞山一脉。其三，「道场」本是佛成道说法之处，禅宗则谓「心是道场」「处处是道场」，故「道场随处是」是说禅修不必拘于丛林，处处皆可修行。其四，「常河」即恒河，佛经中恒河沙数喻众生之众、法门之多，长老「指我常河水」，是以恒河喻自性清净、法源无尽。诸典皆切禅门，用而不滞，与诗意浑成。而「少林」与「洞山」二典的对举尤有深意：一为禅宗初祖的壁观，一为五家之一的门风，前者见修证之工夫，后者见法脉之传承，把辰长老的禅学渊源与造诣一并点出，可见作者对禅门法脉的熟悉，用典之切，正在于以禅门典故说禅门之人。

Commentary

A monk-giving poem excels by 'having Chan meaning without Chan hindrance.' Zhang's poem avoids piling Buddhist terms or feigning mystery, writing Chan scenes in plain words like 'shut the brushwood gate' and 'Ganges waters,' truly grasping 'ordinary mind is the Way.' Critics prize the couplet 'The Dharma arena is everywhere; the mind-ground is originally at ease' for stating the whole Chan tenet in ten characters, plain yet lasting. Northern Song literati wrote many such poems with monks—Su Shi's 'To Elder Zong of Donglin' ('stream sound is the long tongue, mountain color the pure body'), Wang Wei's 'Passing Xiangji Temple' ('at dusk by the empty pool, sit in meditation, tame the poison dragon')—all put Chan into poetry. Compared with them Zhang's is not startling but serene, settling the body and mind with 'originally at ease,' typical of Song late-life Buddhist composure. 'Quite forgetting my grey temples' grounds Chan awakening in release from aging, especially touching.

赠僧诗贵在「有禅意而无禅障」。张方平此诗写赠辰长老，不堆砌佛典，不故作玄奥，而以「掩柴关」「常河水」等平易语写禅境，深得禅宗「平常心是道」之旨。论者读此诗，多赏其「道场随处是，心地本来闲」一联，以为以十字道尽「即心即佛、随处净土」的禅宗要义，语浅而味永。北宋士大夫与禅僧唱和，佳作甚多，如苏轼《赠东林总长老》「溪声便是广长舌，山色岂非清净身」，王维《过香积寺》「薄暮空潭曲，安禅制毒龙」，皆以禅入诗。张方平此诗与之相比，不尚奇警，而贵冲淡，以「本来闲」三字安顿身心，正是宋人晚年向佛、以禅悦心的典型心境。「都忘鬓发斑」一句，把禅悟落实为对衰老的超脱，尤为亲切动人。可以说，此诗之妙，在于它以最平易的语言，写出了最通透的禅理：无玄言、无机巧，只把「本来闲」三字轻轻道出，便已得禅宗「平常心」的真髓，读之如饮清泉、如坐春风，是宋人赠僧禅诗中不可多得的冲淡之作。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated octave (lüshi)五言律诗

Rhyme Rhymes in the level-tone shan rhyme; rhyme words are guan, shan, xian, ban, one rhyme throughout.押平声删韵，入韵字为关、山、闲、斑，一韵到底。

Tone pattern As a five-character regulated octave it follows the standard level-oblique pattern with the first line not entering the rhyme; the middle two couplets are neatly antithetical—the second matches 'wall-gazing' with 'sect spirit,' 'Shaolin' with 'Dongshan'; the third matches 'Dharma arena' with 'mind-ground,' 'everywhere' with 'originally,' 'is' with 'at ease.'五言律诗依律调平仄，首句不入韵。中二联对仗工整：颔联「壁观少林寺，门风先洞山」以「壁观」对「门风」、「少林寺」对「先洞山」；颈联「道场随处是，心地本来闲」以「道场」对「心地」、「随处」对「本来」、「是」对「闲」，皆词性相侔、平仄相对。

Reading note This poem rhymes in the level-tone shan rhyme; the shan rhyme belongs to the open second division of the mountain category, its vowels clear yet slightly reserved, giving a detached, quiet, leisurely emotional color that suits the Chan mood. The four rhyme words—guan, shan, xian, ban—flow peacefully like a clear spring: the first 'guan' closes on the stillness of the shut gate; the second 'shan' carries the distance of Dongshan; the third 'xian' lands on the mind's ease; the last 'ban' returns to the pallor of forgetting age—the rhyme arrangement matches the poem's advance. The whole follows tonal rules, its middle couplets neatly antithetical yet without carved marks, reading like a monk's casual talk. Especially the rhyme word 'ease' (xian) is the poem's eye; setting the sound on 'ease' unites sound and Chan meaning, giving a cool, leisurely feeling. Writing Chan joy in a detached rhyme, sound and scene become one—Zhang's mastery of the five-character octave.此诗押平声删韵，删韵属山摄开口二等，元音清亮而略含含蓄，读来有一种冲淡、闲静、悠然的声情，正与诗中的禅境相称。四个人韵字关、山、闲、斑，声气平和，如清泉徐流：首联「关」字收于掩门之静，颔联「山」字承以洞山之远，颈联「闲」字落在心地之闲，尾联「斑」字归于忘老之淡，韵脚的安排与诗意的推进若合符节。全诗平仄合律，中二联对仗工稳而不露斧凿，读来如闻禅僧闲话，自然流走。尤其「闲」字一韵，正是全诗「心地本来闲」的诗眼所在，以「闲」字定声，声情与禅意合一，使人读之顿生清凉闲适之感。以冲淡之韵写禅悦之境，声境浑成，正是张方平五律的高明处。

Line by line

壁观少林寺，门风先洞山。

Wall-gazing at Shaolin Monastery; the sect's spirit first inherits from Dongshan.

壁观如少林寺达摩，门风先承洞山一脉。

Wall-gazing at the Shaolin Temple; your school's air first came from Dongshan.

此联称颂辰长老的宗风，以禅宗两大法脉并举。上句「壁观少林寺」，用达摩在少林寺面壁九年的典故，写长老禅修之深，如初祖般凝神壁观、心如止水；下句「门风先洞山」，用洞山良价禅师开曹洞宗之典，说长老的宗风先承洞山一脉，见其禅学渊源之正、法脉之纯。两句一写「修」，一写「承」，前者见其工夫之深，后者见其法统之正，把一个禅僧的来处与造诣都点得清清楚楚。此联之妙，在以禅门典故称人而不显堆砌，仿佛只是寻常问讯，实则句句是行家语，见出作者于禅学浸淫之深。以「少林」「洞山」对举，南北禅宗汇于一身，正是对长老极高的赞许。

This couplet praises the Elder Chen's school style, pairing the two great Zen lineages. The first, wall-gazing at the Shaolin Temple, uses the allusion to Bodhidharma facing the wall for nine years at Shaolin, writing the elder's deep Zen practice, like the First Patriarch, his mind still as still water. The second, your school's air first came from Dongshan, uses the allusion to Dongshan Liangjie founding the Caodong school, saying the elder's school style first inherits the Dongshan line, showing the correctness of his Zen source and the purity of his lineage. The two lines, one writing practice, one writing inheritance, the former showing the depth of his work, the latter the correctness of his dharma transmission, pointing out clearly the source and attainment of a Zen monk. The couplet's beauty lies in praising a man through Zen allusions without appearing to pile them up, as if an ordinary greeting, yet every line is the expert's word, showing the depth of the author's immersion in Zen. Pairing Shaolin and Dongshan, the Northern and Southern Zen converging in one man, is exactly the highest praise of the elder.

道场随处是，心地本来闲。

The Dharma arena is everywhere; the mind-ground is originally at ease.

道场随处皆是，心地本来自在闲静。

The place of practice is everywhere; the ground of mind is originally at leisure.

此联是全诗的眼目，直揭禅理，语浅而意深。上句「道场随处是」，化用禅宗「处处是道场」「心是道场」之说，谓修行不必拘于丛林伽蓝，山河大地、行住坐卧，无处不是道场。下句「心地本来闲」，更点破「本觉」之旨：人的心地本自清净、本自闲静，只是被尘劳妄想所遮，若能识得，当下即是解脱。「本来」二字是禅宗话头的关键，强调清净闲适不是外求而得，而是自性本具。此联以最平常的字句，说出最透彻的禅理，不涉玄言而禅味十足，与「平常心是道」「即心即佛」的宗风若合符节。以十字道尽一宗要义，正是赠僧诗中最见功力的点睛之笔。

This couplet is the poem's eye, directly revealing the Zen truth, the words plain yet the meaning deep. The first, the place of practice is everywhere, transforms the Zen saying everywhere is the place of practice and the mind is the place of practice, saying that practice need not be confined to the monastery; rivers and hills, walking, standing, sitting and lying, nowhere is not the place. The second, the ground of mind is originally at leisure, further points out the purport of original awakening: the ground of men's minds is originally pure and originally at leisure, only covered by dusty toil and deluded thought; if one can recognize it, in that moment one is freed. The two words originally are the key to the Zen saying, emphasizing that purity and leisure are not sought from without but inherent in self-nature. This couplet speaks the most thorough Zen truth in the most ordinary words, without mysterious talk yet full of Zen flavor, exactly matching the school styles of the ordinary mind is the Way and this very mind is the Buddha. Speaking a whole school's essential purport in ten characters is exactly the eye of a poem to a monk that most shows skill.

指我常河水，都忘鬓发斑。

He points me to the Ganges waters, and I quite forget my temples gone grey.

指给我恒河之水，使我忘却鬓发斑白。

You point out to me the Ganges water; I quite forget that my temples are streaked with white.

此联收束全诗，写长老的点化之功与自己因之超脱老境的感悟。上句「指我常河水」，长老以恒河之水相示，恒河沙数、法源无尽，长老所指的，是那自性清净、不生不灭的本来面目；下句「都忘鬓发斑」，一句写尽禅悦的效用——我因长老的指点而了悟，竟然连鬓发斑白、岁月催人的烦恼都一并忘却了。此联之妙，在于把抽象的禅悟，落实为一个极具体、极亲切的生活感受：「忘鬓斑」三字，写尽了禅对人生苦恼的消解。人到老年，最难忘者莫过于衰老之叹，而禅能使人「都忘」，这便是禅的究竟受用。以「常河水」的无尽，对「鬓发斑」的有涯，在忘与不忘之间，见出作者晚年向佛、以禅悦心的真实心境。

This couplet gathers the poem, writing the elder's work of pointing out and the author's realization of transcending old age because of it. The first, you point out to me the Ganges water: the elder shows the Ganges water, the Ganges sands and the inexhaustible dharma source; what the elder points out is the originally pure, unborn and undying original face. The second, I quite forget that my temples are streaked with white, writes the effect of Zen delight in one line - because of the elder's pointing, one awakens, and actually forgets even the streaked temples and the grief of years urging men on. The couplet's beauty lies in landing the abstract Zen awakening on a most concrete and intimate living feeling: the three words forget the white temples write to the full Zen's dissolving of life's grief. In old age, the hardest thing to forget is the sigh at decline, yet Zen makes one quite forget, and this is Zen's ultimate use. Pairing the inexhaustible Ganges water with the limited streaked temples, between forgetting and not forgetting, it shows the true late-life frame of mind of turning to the Buddha and soothing the heart with Zen delight.

Study

Word focus

道场 In 'the Dharma arena is everywhere,' daochang originally meant the Buddha's enlightenment site but in Chan means 'mind is the arena,' so the line says cultivation needs no fixed monastery—every place is the arena. 「道场随处是」之「道场」，本指释迦成道之处，后泛指供佛修行、讲经说法的场所。然在禅宗语境中，「道场」的含义发生了根本的转变——马祖道一谓「心是道场」，又说「行住坐卧、应机接物，尽是道」，故禅门有「处处是道场」之说，把外在的修行场所化约为内在的心地。张方平用「道场随处是」，正是承此禅门新义，说修行不必拘于伽蓝禅院，山河大地、日用平常，无处不是道场。此词之妙，在于它承载了禅宗「即事而真、即俗而真」的思想，把超然的修行拉回到平常的生活，与下句「心地本来闲」的「本来」二字呼应，共同指向「自性本净」的禅理。一词而含禅宗思想史上的关键转义，见出作者对禅学的理解并非皮毛。

本来 In 'the mind-ground is originally at ease,' benlai points to the Chan core idea of 'original enlightenment'—the mind's ease is not cultivated or sought but inherent, needing only turning inward to be seen. 「心地本来闲」之「本来」，是禅宗话语中极关重要的字眼，指向「本觉」「本净」的核心观念。禅宗认为，人人皆有佛性，此性本自清净、本自具足，只是被无明尘垢所遮，故云「本来无一物，何处惹尘埃」。张方平以「本来」修饰「闲」，意在强调：心地的闲静不是修出来的，不是外求的，而是自性本有的，只待一念回光便能照见。此词之妙，在于它消解了「修行」的紧张——若闲是「本来」的，则无须刻意造作，只需放下尘劳、返观自性，当下即是。二字看似寻常，实是禅宗顿悟法门的精义所聚，与「道场随处是」的「随处」相映，共同构成「即心即佛、随处解脱」的完整禅观。以一字而见宗风，正是此诗炼字的高妙处。