PoemBridge
Sign in Browse poems
All poems

唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

度南涧

Crossing the Southern Ravine

蔡襄

Cai Xiang

隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边

Dimly, a soaring bridge beyond the wild mist;
west of the rocky shoal I ask a fishing boat.
All day long peach blossom follows the flowing water -
where, along this clear stream, is the mouth of the cave?
Listen

Meaning

Crossing a southern ravine, the speaker glimpses a high bridge half-hidden in mist, questions a fisherman beside the rocks, and watches peach petals drift downstream all day. The petals and the stream recall the old story of the fisherman who followed peach blossoms to the hidden Peach Blossom Spring, and the poem ends on a question: where along this clear water is the entrance to that cave? Its theme is the longing for a retreat from the world, together with the knowledge that it cannot be found by asking.

隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] Faintly visible, a high-arched bridge lies beyond the wild haze; to the west of the boulder shelf I question a fishing boat. The peach petals drift with the current the whole day through - but on which bank of this clear brook does the cavern lie?
[Structure] The four lines move from the far and blurred to the near and questioning. First a bridge in mist, then a boat and a question, then the petals, then the unanswerable where. Each line narrows the focus while widening the uncertainty.
[Imagery] Mist, a bridge, a boat, petals on water: every image is one of in-betweenness - half seen, half heard, drifting. Nothing in the poem is solid or fixed, and that is exactly the point, since what is being sought is by definition not to be located.
[Mood] The mood is wistful and lightly tantalised. The tone is never disappointed; the question is left open, and the openness is the pleasure.

【白话串讲】 蔡襄写《度南涧》：“隐隐飞桥隔野烟，石矶西畔问渔船”——“桃花尽日随流水，洞在清溪何处边”——他度南涧寻桃源——桃花尽日随流水。 【意象与手法】 “隐隐飞桥隔野烟，石矶西畔问渔船”写飞桥野烟、问渔船；“桃花尽日随流水”写桃花随流水；结以“洞在清溪何处边”写寻洞不得。空灵桃源。 【情感与主旨】 蔡襄写度南涧之作，写飞桥野烟、桃花随流水而寻桃源洞不得的怅惘，是唐人写桃源主题的名篇。 【名句点睛】 常考“隐隐飞桥隔野烟，石矶西畔问渔船”写飞桥野烟；“桃花尽日随流水，洞在清溪何处边”以桃花流水写寻洞。

Background

The quatrain is transmitted under the name of Cai Xiang (1012-1067), courtesy name Junmo, a native of Xianyou in Fujian, who was one of the four great calligraphers of the Northern Song and a poet of some note; the piece is also found elsewhere in the Tang corpus, and its authorship has long been debated. What is not in doubt is its subject. Since Tao Yuanming's fourth-century fable of the Peach Blossom Spring - in which a fisherman of Wuling follows blossoming peach trees upstream, passes through a narrow cave and finds a community that has lived untouched by the world since the Qin - the peach-lined stream has been the standard Chinese figure for an attainable paradise that is nevertheless unreachable. Poets from Wang Wei to Li Bai returned to it, and this quatrain is one of the most economical versions of the theme.

《度南涧》为唐代诗人蔡襄所作诗。蔡襄（1012—1067），字君谟，兴化军仙游人，北宋诗人。此诗写景桃源，为度涧之作。诗中「隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船」写隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船；「桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边」写桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边。蔡襄此诗以写景桃源、洞在清溪何处边写其桃源之情，空灵桃源，是蔡襄诗中的名篇。此篇《度南涧》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《度南涧》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。此篇《度南涧》在历代选本中多被收录，其艺术价值与流传之广，正可见此诗在同类题材中的重要地位。诗人以匠心独运之笔写寻常之情事，遂使此作历千载而犹有生气，为后人所称赏不绝。

Art

The poem's whole method is indirection. It never names the Peach Blossom Spring; it simply supplies the two details that every reader recognises - drifting petals and a fisherman - and lets the allusion work by itself. The first line sets a distance both physical and visual: the bridge is dimly seen through wild mist, so from the start the scene resists possession. The second line is the only human action, and it is a question rather than a statement, which means the poem has no information to deliver and everything to wonder. The repetition of the water-word and the long duration implied by all day stretch the search across time as well as space. Finally the closing question, placed precisely where an answer should be, refuses closure. The result is a poem that enacts seeking rather than finding, and its beauty lies in that sustained suspension.

此诗艺术上以「空灵桃源、以桥写情」见长。全诗共四句，由隠隠飞桥隔野烟而桃花尽日随流水。起「隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船」写隠隠飞桥隔野烟：隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船；结「桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边」写桃花尽日随流水：桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边。全诗以桥写情，由隠隠飞桥隔野烟而洞在清溪何处边，空灵桃源，是蔡襄诗中的名篇。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。通篇以少总多之法出之，章法严谨而用意深曲，意象凝练而情韵悠长，读之愈久，愈觉其构思之精与笔力之健，堪称同类诗作中不可多得之佳篇，足见诗人炉火纯青的艺术功力。

Allusions

The controlling reference is Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Spring. Peach petals floating on a stream and a fisherman to question are the two elements by which the fable is recognised, and the cave at the end is the fable's literal threshold between the troubled world and the hidden one. The high or flying bridge also carries an association with ascent toward the immortal realm, since bridges and causeways in mist are conventional features of that border landscape. The speaker asks the fisherman exactly the question the fable's own fisherman could not answer afterwards: once he left, no one could ever find the place again. The allusion therefore supplies not just an image but the poem's dramatic situation.

诗中「隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船」「桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边」等语，皆含典故故实。「隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船」用飞桥之典（飞桥写高桥），写隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船；「桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边」用桃花之典（桃花写桃源），写桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边。诗人用飞桥、桃花之典入诗，不着痕迹，而把写景桃源之情写得真切可感，是善于熔铸典故的体现。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。此等用典之法，熔铸古今而不着痕迹，既不炫博以示学，亦不拘泥于旧解，正见诗人学养之深与运思之巧。读者于此等处尤当细心玩味，方能领会其言外之旨与味外之味。

Commentary

Critics have admired the quatrain for the way it compresses a famous prose fable into twenty-eight syllables without ever stating it. Later readers noted that the poem is strongest in its refusal of an ending: where most Peach Blossom Spring poems either claim to have glimpsed the place or lament the impossibility of doing so, this one simply asks, and leaves the reader to answer. Commentators also praised the first line's mist, remarking that it puts the whole poem at one remove from certainty. Its place in anthologies is secure less because of its doctrine than because of its atmosphere: it is one of the shortest evocations of a longing that cannot be satisfied and does not wish to be.

这首《度南涧》，是蔡襄写景桃源之作，写隠隠飞桥隔野烟、桃花尽日随流水、洞在清溪何处边之情，空灵桃源。起「隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船」——隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船。写隠隠飞桥隔野烟：隠隠飞桥隔野烟、石矶西畔问渔船——隔野烟、问渔船；结「桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边」——桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边。写桃花尽日随流水：桃花尽日随流水、洞在清溪何处边——随流水、何处边。这「桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边」，是全诗之结：以洞在清溪何处边写其桃源。全诗空灵桃源，以桥写情，正是蔡襄诗中的名篇。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。综观全诗，情真、景切、理深，三者浑融无迹，故能于短短数语之中寄无限深意，令人百读不厌。其含蓄蕴藉之处，正是中国古典诗歌以少总多、言有尽而意无穷的美学精神的生动体现。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (qi yan jue ju), four lines of seven syllables, composed in the modern regulated manner.诗（七言绝句）
Rhyme The first, second and fourth lines share a single level-tone rhyme, while the third line departs from it in the usual way. The smooth, unbroken rhyme gives the poem the flowing quality of the water it describes.此诗为七言绝句，共四句。押韵：「烟」「船」「边」押先部韵。前两句起、后两句转合，平仄相间，正与写景桃源的空灵桃源相称，也见其以七绝写桃源的凝练。
Tone pattern The tonal pattern alternates level and oblique syllables regularly, so that the first couplet sounds calm and slightly indistinct - suited to a bridge seen through mist - while the interrogative final line breaks the pattern with a lifted, unfinished cadence that matches its unanswered question.句式上，「隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船」写隠隠飞桥隔野烟，音节空灵；结「桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边」写桃花尽日随流水，音节悠长。全诗音节随情起伏，由空灵而悠长，正合七绝「凝练」之妙，读来如写景桃源、洞在清溪何处边之音，空灵而动人。
Reading note The prosody supports the theme of drifting. A single sustained rhyme carries the poem downstream like the petals, and the deliberate non-rhyming third line creates the small hesitation out of which the final question emerges. Nothing in the sound of the poem comes to a full stop, which is precisely the effect the subject requires.此诗为七言绝句，是蔡襄写景桃源之作，也是其诗中的名篇。全诗的艺术特色在于「空灵桃源、以桥写情」：「隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船」写隠隠飞桥隔野烟、「桃花尽日随流水洞在清溪何处边」写桃花尽日随流水。全诗空灵桃源，以桥写情。尤为精妙者，是「隠隠飞桥隔野烟」用飞桥之典；而「桃花尽日随流水」用桃花之典，正是蔡襄诗「空灵桃源」的典范，为历代选本所常收。《度南涧》一诗之所以读来声情并茂，正在于诗人以声韵配合情思、以节奏烘托意境，音节之长短、平仄之起伏，皆与诗意相为表里，此亦可见中国古典诗歌声律之美与匠心之工。

Line by line

隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船

Dimly, a soaring bridge beyond the wild mist; west of the rocky shoal I ask a fishing boat.

隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船

Dimly, the flying bridge is veiled in the wild mist; by the west side of the rocky islet, I ask the fishing boat.

起句写隠隠飞桥隔野烟，起笔即见其飞桥。「隠隠飞桥隔野烟」用飞桥之典写隠隠飞桥隔野烟，「隠隠飞桥」写隠隠飞桥、「隔野烟」写隔野烟；「石矶西畔问渔船」写石矶西畔问渔船，「石矶西畔」写石矶西畔、「问渔船」写问渔船。一句写隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船，以隠隠飞桥隔野烟写隔野烟、以石矶西畔问渔船写问渔船，写尽隠隠飞桥隔野烟、石矶西畔问渔船之情。以桥起兴，空灵而桃源，是「以桥起兴」的妙笔。

The opening line writes dimly, the flying bridge is veiled in the wild mist, the flying bridge at once. The words dimly the flying bridge use the flying-bridge allusion; veiled in the wild mist the mist. By the west side of the rocky islet, I ask the fishing boat writes the asking boat. The line writes to the full the feeling of the mist-veiled bridge and the asked fishing boat. Rising through the bridge, void and the Peach Blossom Spring, the fine brush of rising through the bridge.

桃花尽日随流水

All day long the peach blossom follows the flowing water.

桃花尽日随流水

The peach blossoms all day long follow the flowing water,

此句写桃花尽日随流水，是全诗写桃花之态的关键。「桃花尽日」用桃花之典写桃花尽日，「桃花」写桃花、「尽日」写尽日；「随流水」写随流水，「随」写随、「流水」写流水。一句写桃花尽日随流水，以桃花尽日写尽日、以随流水写随流水，写尽桃花尽日随流水之情。以桃写情，空灵而桃源，是「以桃写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

This line writes the peach blossoms all day long follow the flowing water, the key of the whole's writing the peach blossoms. The words the peach blossoms all day long use the peach allusion; follow the flowing water the following stream. The line writes to the full the feeling of the blossoms following the stream all day. Writing feeling through the peach, void and the Peach Blossom Spring, the eye-dotting brush. In a few words it writes to the full the deep meaning, feeling and rhyme both fine; hidden waves beneath the plain words, to be savored again and again.

洞在清溪何处边

Where, along this clear stream, is the mouth of the cave?

洞在清溪何处边

On which bank of the clear stream lies the cave?

结句写洞在清溪何处边，是全诗立意的落点。「洞在清溪」写洞在清溪，「洞在」写洞在、「清溪」写清溪；「何处边」写何处边，「何处」写何处、「边」写边。一句写洞在清溪何处边，以洞在清溪写清溪、以何处边写何处边，写尽洞在清溪何处边之情。以洞写情，空灵而桃源，是全诗最动人处，也是「以洞写情」的点睛之笔。此句以寥寥数语写尽深意，情韵兼胜，正是全诗点睛之笔。其于字句之间暗藏波澜，于平易之中寄寓曲折，尤当反复涵泳，方能得其三昧。

The closing line writes on which bank of the clear stream lies the cave? the landing of the whole's bent. The words the cave in the clear stream write the cave and the stream; on which bank the question. The line writes to the full the feeling of the cave by the clear stream. Writing feeling through the cave, void and the Peach Blossom Spring, the most moving place of the whole and the eye-dotting brush. In a few words it writes to the full the deep meaning, feeling and rhyme both fine; hidden waves beneath the plain words, to be savored again and again.

Study

Word focus

飞桥 A soaring or flying bridge - one arched high, or seeming to leap the ravine. The word gives the scene a touch of the supernatural, as if the bridge belonged to a borderland rather than to an ordinary valley. 「飞桥」写隠隠飞桥隔野烟，是写飞桥之态的关键。「隠隠飞桥隔野烟」着一「飞桥」，写飞桥——着一「飞桥」，写隠隠飞桥隔野烟，见其桥之飞。两字写尽飞桥之态，是「以词写桥」的妙笔。「飞桥」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
野烟 Wild mist or untended haze over open country. It is the poem's instrument of concealment: because of it, nothing can be clearly seen, and the whole landscape remains tentative and half-imagined. 「野烟」写隠隠飞桥隔野烟，是写野烟之态的关键。「隠隠飞桥隔野烟」着一「野烟」，写野烟——着一「野烟」，写隠隠飞桥隔野烟，见其烟之野。两字写尽野烟之态，是「以词写烟」的点睛之词。「野烟」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
渔船 The fishing boat. It supplies the human presence the allusion requires and turns the poem from a landscape into an encounter - someone is asked, even if the answer is never reported. 「渔船」写石矶西畔问渔船，是写渔船之态的关键。「石矶西畔问渔船」着一「渔船」，写渔船——着一「渔船」，写石矶西畔问渔船，见其船之渔。两字写尽渔船之态，是「以词写船」的点睛之词。「渔船」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。
清溪 The clear brook or stream. Its clarity is important: the water is perfectly transparent, and still the cave cannot be found in it, which is the poem's quiet paradox. 「清溪」写洞在清溪何处边，是写清溪之态的关键。「洞在清溪何处边」着一「清溪」，写清溪——着一「清溪」，写洞在清溪何处边，见其溪之清。两字写尽清溪之态，是「以词写溪」的点睛之词。「清溪」一字之用而全篇生色，与诗中情韵相为表里，正见诗人炼字之精与匠心之独运。读者于此等处若细细体会，自能领会其于平淡之中见功力、于寻常处见神奇之妙。

Related Reading

水调歌头·明月几时有 Song lyric to the tune Shui diao ge tou: 'The bright moon, when did it first appear?' 苏轼 · 同写桃源感怀、空灵旷达，一写人有悲欢离合、一写隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船，皆于桃源之中见空灵 Both works reach toward an ideal realm that remains out of reach, one in the sky and one upstream.

Su Shi imagines riding the wind home to the moon and then draws back, afraid of the cold heights, settling for life among his fellow human beings. This quatrain never draws back so deliberately; it simply cannot find the entrance. The two together illustrate two Chinese answers to the same yearning - one reconciles itself to the human world, the other goes on asking where the door is.

苏轼《水调歌头·明月几时有》「人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全」，写桃源感怀、空灵旷达，是宋词长调的名篇；蔡襄《度南涧》则以「隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船」「洞在清溪何处边」写问渔船、何处边。两诗同写桃源感怀、空灵旷达：一写人有悲欢离合、以悲欢写离合，一写隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船、以飞桥写桃源；一为苏轼之旷达、一为蔡襄之空灵，并读正可见诗写「桃源感怀」的两种笔法，皆于桃源之中见空灵。

 八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天 Song lyric to the tune Ba sheng gan zhou: 'Against the whispering evening rain that sweeps the river sky' 柳永 · 同写溪边凝望、空灵清丽，一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、一写隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船，皆于溪边之中见凝望 Both place a solitary figure beside water with an unanswered question, but the objects of the longing differ completely.

Liu Yong's traveller wants a person and a home, and the river's irreversible eastward flow becomes an image of loss. Here the speaker wants a place he has never seen, and the same downstream drift becomes an image of guidance, since the petals appear to be leading somewhere. The comparison shows how the direction of desire - backward toward what one has lost, or forward toward what one has never had - reshapes an identical riverside scene.

柳永《八声甘州·对潇潇暮雨洒江天》「对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋」，写溪边凝望、空灵清丽，是宋词写羁旅的名篇；蔡襄《度南涧》则以「隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船」「桃花尽日随流水」写问渔船、随流水。两诗同写溪边凝望、空灵清丽：一写对潇潇暮雨洒江天、以暮雨写清秋，一写隠隠飞桥隔野烟石矶西畔问渔船、以飞桥写桃源；一为柳永之清丽、一为蔡襄之空灵，并读正可见诗写「溪边凝望」的两种笔法，皆于溪边之中见凝望。