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唐 Tang · 文 Prose

进学解·版本

An Explanation of Progress in Learning

韩愈

Han Yu

劝学Exhortation to Study 名篇Masterpiece 古文Ancient-Style Prose

国子先生晨入太学，招诸生立馆下，诲之曰：业精于勤，荒于嬉；
行成于思，毁于随。

At dawn the Master of the National University entered the Grand Academy, called his students to stand beneath the hall, and admonished them, saying:
'Scholarship is perfected through diligence and ruined through frivolity; virtue is accomplished through reflection and destroyed through easy conformity.'

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Meaning

In this opening of 'An Explanation of Progress in Learning,' Han Yu, speaking as the master of the National University, gathers his students at dawn and delivers the creed that governs the whole essay: learning depends on diligence and moral character on independent thought. The famous antithesis — diligence versus play, reflection versus conformity — compresses the Confucian program of self-cultivation into sixteen characters. The passage is both a sincere exhortation and, given the self-mocking frame of the whole piece, the standard against which Han Yu will ironically measure his own thwarted career.

国子先生清晨走进太学，把学生们召集起来站在学馆之下，教导他们说：「学业精进在于勤奋，荒废在于嬉戏游乐；德行养成在于深思熟虑，败坏在于因循随俗。」

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] One morning the Master enters the academy, assembles his students under the hall, and instructs them: your studies become excellent through hard work and go to ruin through amusement; your conduct is formed through careful thought and undone by going along with the crowd. [Structure] The passage has a two-level architecture: a narrative frame — entered, called, admonished — that stages the scene like a short play, and inside it the sixteen-character creed that is the true center of the essay. The three verbs move the reader from the still morning to the moment of speech, and the final 'saying' hands the stage over to the maxims. Everything that follows in the essay — the master's proud recital of his own diligence and the students' mockery of his failure — is commentary on these sixteen characters. [Imagery] Though prose, the scene is cinematic: the dawn light, the students standing beneath the hall, the master's raised voice. The creed itself is built of hard, monosyllabic counters — diligence, amusement, reflection, conformity — each character a weight on the scale. The antithesis does the persuading: no argument is offered, because none is needed; the two horns of each contrast make the conclusion feel self-evident.

【白话串讲】韩愈写《进学解》：“业精于勤，荒于嬉；行成于思，毁于随”——学业因勤奋而精进，因嬉戏而荒废；德行因深思而养成，因因循而败坏——他说这是先生教诲学生的根本。【意象与手法】这是《进学解》的开篇立论，两句骈偶、四语排比，以「精—荒」「成—毁」的正反对举构成警句式的格言；「业」「行」对举、「勤嬉」「思随」相对，句法严整而意蕴深长，是韩愈古文「以骈入散、以偶行气」的典范。【情感与主旨】「业精于勤，荒于嬉；行成于思，毁于随」是韩愈一生的治学经验与人格信条，勉励后学以勤立学、以思立行，把儒家「自强不息」「慎思笃行」的修养精神凝为两句箴言，千载传诵。【名句点睛】「业精于勤，荒于嬉；行成于思，毁于随」十六字，以最凝练的对偶写最深刻的道理，是《进学解》乃至全部劝学文字中最脍炙人口的名句。

Background

Han Yu (768–824), courtesy name Tuizhi, was from Heyang in Henan, though his family claimed Changli as its ancestral seat; tradition knows him as Han Changli. The leader of the Ancient Prose Movement, he demanded that writing serve moral truth rather than ornament, and his essays earned Su Shi's famous verdict that his writing raised prose from the decline of eight dynasties. Written in the eighth year of the Yuanhe era (813), after Han Yu had been reappointed an erudite of the National University, the essay adopts the self-mocking form invented by Dongfang Shuo's 'Reply to a Guest's Objections' and Yang Xiong's 'Justification Against Ridicule': a student sarcastically praises the master's learning, then asks why his merit has won only poverty, and the master replies by redefining worth. This opening scene and creed set the standard that the ensuing irony will test.

《进学解》是韩愈的代表作之一，作于唐宪宗元和八年（813）韩愈由职方员外郎复为国子博士之后。韩愈（768—824），字退之，河南河阳（今河南孟州）人，郡望昌黎，世称韩昌黎，官至吏部侍郎，谥文，故又称韩文公。他是唐代古文运动的领袖，被苏轼誉为「文起八代之衰」，名列「唐宋八大家」之首。此节选为《进学解》的开篇：「国子先生晨入太学，招诸生立馆下，诲之曰」——国子先生即韩愈自指（他时任国子博士），太学即国子学，是唐代最高学府；「业精于勤，荒于嬉；行成于思，毁于随」即其训诫诸生的开宗明义之言。全篇模仿东方朔《答客难》、扬雄《解嘲》的设问体，以先生与诸生的对话自嘲自解，抒写怀才不遇之慨而归于进学自勉。此节选虽只一句训辞，却是全篇立论的纲领——后文先生历数自己「口不绝吟于六艺之文，手不停披于百家之编」的勤学，诸生反驳「先生之于文，可谓闳其中而肆其外矣」云云，皆由此「勤」「思」二字生发。韩愈一生「焚膏油以继晷，恒兀兀以穷年」，此二句正是其夫子自道。

Art

The artistic signature of the passage is the fusion of parallel prose into classical prose — using parallelism to carry the breath. The creed consists of two perfectly matched couplets: 'scholarship perfected through diligence' against 'ruined through frivolity,' and 'virtue accomplished through reflection' against 'destroyed through conformity.' 'Scholarship' answers 'conduct,' 'perfected' answers 'accomplished,' 'diligence' answers 'reflection,' 'ruined' answers 'destroyed' — word for word, yet the parallelism never feels mechanical, because the sense keeps moving. Each maxim is built as cause and effect doubled back on itself: cause and effect, then the negative cause and its effect — the logic is airtight, the language unforgettable. The narrative frame uses plain, sequential prose, so the sudden tightness of the creed lands with the force of struck metal. Sixteen characters cover two fields of endeavor and four habits, with not a word wasted — a perfect demonstration of Han Yu's doctrine that when the vital force is full, every length of phrase and pitch of voice falls rightly of itself.

此节选的文体是韩愈古文（赋体化散文），其艺术特色可括为「对偶立骨、警句传神、辞约义丰」三端。就对偶言，全文十六字，由两联工整的偶句构成：「业精于勤，荒于嬉」与「行成于思，毁于随」平仄相间、字字相对——「业」对「行」（事业对德行）、「精」对「成」（精进对养成）、「于勤」对「于思」、「荒」对「毁」、「于嬉」对「于随」，对仗精严而不失自然，是「骈散结合」的典范：句式为骈，气脉为散，读来整饬而不板滞。就警句言，两句皆以「正—反」对举立论：先说「精」「成」之由（勤、思），再说「荒」「毁」之由（嬉、随），一正一反、一立一破，道理在对比中不言自明，且「勤」「嬉」「思」「随」四字皆单音节动词性名词，一字千钧，凝为不可移易的格言。就辞约义丰言，十六字涵盖为学（业）、修身（行）两大领域与四种要素（勤、嬉、思、随），无一赘字；「精」「成」是果，「勤」「思」是因，「荒」「毁」是果，「嬉」「随」是因，因果对举、两两相生，逻辑之严密与语言之凝练相得益彰，正是韩愈「惟陈言之务去」「气盛言宜」主张的实践。

Allusions

Every word of the creed stands on a deep foundation in the Confucian classics. 'Perfected through diligence' descends from the Book of Documents on achievement resting on will and greatness on diligence, from Confucius's teaching to learn and constantly review, and above all from Xunzi's 'Exhortation to Learning' with its carving without giving up. 'Ruined through amusement' answers the classic warning against playing with things and losing one's will, and Confucius's exasperation with those who eat all day and use their minds nowhere. 'Accomplished through reflection' continues Mencius's teaching that the office of the mind is to think, and the Doctrine of the Mean's program of extensive study, accurate inquiry, and careful reflection. 'Destroyed through conformity' echoes Confucius's condemnation of the village worthy as a thief of virtue, and Mencius's praise of the great man who cannot be bent by wealth or honor. Han Yu distills the entire Confucian discipline of learning into sixteen characters.

此节选的文化意蕴，是儒家劝学传统的凝缩，其每一个词都有深厚的思想渊源。其一是「业精于勤」的勤学传统：《尚书》「功崇惟志，业广惟勤」、孔子「学而时习之」、荀子《劝学》「学不可以已」，皆以勤为进学之本；韩愈「业精于勤」直承此脉，而其「焚膏油以继晷，恒兀兀以穷年」的自述，正是「勤」的夫子自道。其二是「荒于嬉」的警诫传统：「嬉」即嬉戏玩忽，《周易》「安而不忘危」、孔子「饱食终日，无所用心，难矣哉」，皆警玩物丧志；韩愈以「嬉」对「勤」，确立了中国读书人「以勤戒嬉」的基本信条。其三是「行成于思」的慎思传统：《论语》「学而不思则罔」、孟子「心之官则思」、《中庸》「慎思之，明辨之」，皆以思为成德之要；「思」字承儒家「思」学而来，又与《礼记·中庸》「博学之，审问之，慎思之」的功夫次第相接。其四是「毁于随」的自律精神：「随」即随俗因循，《论语》「乡愿，德之贼也」、孟子「富贵不能淫」，皆斥随俗苟且；韩愈「毁于随」以「随」对「思」，把「独立不倚」的士人人格写进治学格言。十六字中，勤、嬉、思、随四字各有所本，是儒家修养哲学最凝练的概括。

Commentary

In Chinese cultural history these sixteen characters have long outgrown their context to become a national maxim — quoted by students, hung in academies, and set beside the proverb about the mountain of books and the road of diligence as the most famous exhortation to study in the language. Critics of prose style have made the passage a textbook case of parallel bones inside classical writing: Liu Xizhao in his 'Survey of Art' praised Han Yu for not being bound to a single manner, and in these sixteen characters one sees the fusion at its purest. The passage also frames the whole essay's deep irony — a master who preaches diligence while his own diligence has won him nothing — which is what elevates the piece from sermon to literature, and it is precisely the tension between creed and career that later readers have found most modern in Han Yu.

「业精于勤，荒于嬉；行成于思，毁于随」在中国文化史上的地位，超过一般文句而成为民族格言。就思想价值言，它以十六个字完整概括了儒家「为学」与「修身」的统一：勤与思是主观的功夫，嬉与随是堕落的根源，正反相对，确立了「勤思立身」的人格范式，与《周易》「天行健，君子以自强不息」、《荀子·劝学》「锲而不舍」一脉相承，是中国知识分子安身立命的座右铭。就文学价值言，此二句是《进学解》的点睛之笔，也是韩愈古文「以偶句立骨、以警句传神」的代表，对偶精严而气韵流动，被历代文章家奉为「骈散相济」的典范；清人刘熙载《艺概》称韩文「不专于一格」，正可于此十六字中窥其熔铸之功。就影响言，此二句自中唐问世以来，成为读书人自励互勉的通行语，历代书院、学塾多悬以为训，今日仍被广泛引用，与「书山有路勤为径」等句并列为最常引用的劝学格言；其「勤」「思」二字所代表的自强与慎思精神，已沉淀为中华文化最基本的价值取向，其生命力历一千二百年而不衰。

Prosody

Form Tang ancient-style prose (a rhyme-prose-inflected prose passage with a didactic, lecture-style opening)唐代古文（赋体化散体文，训诰体开场）

Rhyme No end-rhyme; the musical skeleton is built of parallel couplets — 'Scholarship is perfected through diligence, ruined through frivolity' and 'Virtue is accomplished through reflection, destroyed through conformity' — matched word for word and alternating level and oblique tones, so that the parallelism itself supplies the cadence: prose in form, rhyme-prose in breath.不押韵，而以骈偶对句构成声律骨架：「业精于勤，荒于嬉」与「行成于思，毁于随」两两相对，平仄相间（业精于勤：仄平平平；行成于思：平平平平，大体相谐），字字对仗而气韵流动，是「以偶行气」的骈散结合体。

Tone pattern The sentences move between four- and seven-character measures. 'At dawn the Master entered the Grand Academy' is a measured statement, like an elder mounting the hall; 'called his students to stand beneath it' is a quick beat of action; 'admonished them, saying' pauses like a bell before the creed. The sixteen characters then strike one after another in pairs, each phrase divided into two readings, every keyword landing on the end of its reading like a hammer on an anvil.句式以四字、六字的偶句为主，语气郑重端严：「国子先生晨入太学」以陈述起，如长者登堂；「招诸生立馆下」以动作写仪；「诲之曰」一顿，如提警钟；随后两句训辞连珠而出，每句两读（业精于勤／荒于嬉），一字一顿，如金石相击，训诫之声口毕现。

Reading note The acoustic beauty of the passage lies in using parallel sentences to carry a lecture's voice. 'At dawn he entered' opens level and slow, like a morning bell; 'called his students beneath the hall' halts, as the students gather and stand in order; 'admonished them, saying' is the master stroke — the solemn 'admonish,' the lingering 'them,' the full stop of 'saying' — one can almost hear the master clear his throat. Then the sixteen characters land: four-character blows followed by three-word counters, four again, then the falling close. The key words — diligence, amusement, reflection, conformity — each fall at the end of a reading, stressed like knocks on the listener's heart. The passage moves from slow to swift, from narrative to exhortation, the length of clauses tracking the weight of the sermon: long sentences set the scene, short sentences deliver the law, plain sentences gather force, parallel sentences release it — the living proof of Han Yu's doctrine that when the vital force is full, every length of phrase and pitch of voice is right.此节选的声情之美，在「以骈偶之句行训诰之气」。「国子先生晨入太学」九字平起，语调和缓，如晨钟初动，交代人物与时辰；「招诸生立馆下」六字一顿，如招集生徒、肃立馆前，画面与声音同时展开；「诲之曰」三字最见功力——「诲」字郑重，「之」字舒缓，「曰」字一顿，仿佛能听见国子先生清了清嗓子、正要开讲，悬念至此绷满。随后训辞十六字破空而出：「业精于勤」四字短促有力，如锤落铁砧；「荒于嬉」三字一顿，如警钟再响；「行成于思」四字转庄重，如老成持重者谆谆叮咛；「毁于随」三字收音，如暮鼓沉沉，余音不散。两句训辞前四字后三字、七言一顿，节奏整饬而顿挫分明——「勤」「嬉」「思」「随」四个关键字皆落在每读之末，重音突出，声声敲在听者心上。整段文字由缓入急、由叙入训，句读的长短与训诫的轻重完全同步：长句写景，短句立论，散句蓄势，偶句发力，正是韩愈「气盛则言之短长与声之高下者皆宜」主张的绝佳实践——十六字训辞之所以千古传诵，一半在其义理，一半正在这掷地有声的音韵节奏。

Line by line

国子先生晨入太学，招诸生立馆下，诲之曰：

At dawn the Master of the National University entered the Grand Academy, called his students to stand beneath the hall, and admonished them, saying:

国子先生清晨走进太学，把学生们召集起来站在学馆之下，教导他们说：

The Master of the National Academy enters the Academy at dawn, summons the students to stand below the hall, and exhorts them:

此句是《进学解》的开篇，以三个短促的动作完成「训话场景」的搭建。「国子先生」是韩愈的自称——他时任国子博士，掌太学之教，故以「先生」自居，「国子」点明其职守，身份郑重而不失谦和；「晨入太学」写其勤——清晨即入太学，与下文「业精于勤」的训辞暗相呼应，先生之「勤」正是其身教；「招诸生立馆下」写其仪——召集诸生立于学馆之下，「招」字见其主动，「立」字见其郑重，一幅师长训徒的画面如在目前；「诲之曰」三字点明说话者与听话者，以「诲」字领起下文训辞，「诲」者教导之谓，含殷切之意。三句一「入」一「招」一「诲」，动作连贯、层次分明，如戏剧开幕，把读者带入太学的训话现场；而先生「晨入」的勤勉身影，正是后文「业精于勤」训辞的最好注脚——他说的正是他做的。

This is the opening of 'Progress in Learning', establishing the scene of the lecture in three short actions. 'The Master of the National Academy' is Han Yu's self-designation — he was then Professor of the National Academy, in charge of teaching; 'enters the Academy at dawn' writes his diligence, echoing the precept below that 'learning is perfected by diligence', the master's own practice his best footnote; 'summons the students to stand below the hall, and exhorts them' the gesture and the tone, a picture of the teacher before his pupils rising before the eyes. The opening reads like a stage rising, bringing the reader into the lecture hall.

业精于勤，荒于嬉；

Scholarship is perfected through diligence and ruined through frivolity;

学业之所以精进，在于勤奋；之所以荒废，在于嬉戏游乐。

Learning is perfected by diligence, neglected by play.

此句是训辞的上联，专论「为学」，以正反对举立论，是全文立说的第一根支柱。「业精于勤」正面立论：「业」指学业、事业，「精」指精进、精深，「于」表原因——学业之所以精进，原因在于「勤」；一个「勤」字，把进学的唯一正途一语道破，斩钉截铁。「荒于嬉」反面衬托：「荒」与「精」相对，指荒废，「嬉」与「勤」相对，指嬉戏——学业之所以荒废，原因在于「嬉」。一正一反、一立一破，勤与嬉、精与荒两两对举，道理无须多言而自明；且「精」「荒」皆果，「勤」「嬉」皆因，因果对举，逻辑严整。此句的深意在于：韩愈把「嬉」提升为「业荒」的根源，确立了「以勤制嬉」的治学纪律——他本人「焚膏油以继晷，恒兀兀以穷年」的自述正是此句的注脚；后世「书山有路勤为径」的格言，亦由此化出。半联十字，道尽为学之全部秘诀。

This line is the upper half of the precept, on study alone, arguing by opposition, the first pillar of the essay. 'Learning is perfected by diligence' the positive thesis — learning reaches its height because of diligence, the one word 'diligence' naming the only true path, decisive. 'Neglected by play' the negative foil: 'neglected' set against 'perfected', 'play' against 'diligence', one establishment one undoing, the point self-evident. The depth: Han Yu raises 'play' to the root of ruin, establishing the discipline of 'diligence against play'; his own self-description, 'burning oil to follow the sun, year after year untiring', is the footnote, and the later proverb that 'diligence is the path of the mountain of books' derives from this.

行成于思，毁于随。

virtue is accomplished through reflection and destroyed through easy conformity.

德行之所以养成，在于深思熟虑；之所以败坏，在于因循随俗。

Conduct is formed by reflection, ruined by conformity.

此句是训辞的下联，专论「修身」，与上联「业精于勤」构成「业」「行」并举的完整结构。「行成于思」正面立论：「行」指德行、品行（与「业」相对，一指行事之功、一指道德之行），「成」指养成、成就，「思」指深思熟虑——德行的养成，在于「思」；孟子「心之官则思」、《论语》「学而不思则罔」，皆以思为成德之要，韩愈以一「思」字总摄儒家「慎思」传统。「毁于随」反面衬托：「毁」与「成」相对，指败坏，「随」指随俗因循、人云亦云——德行的败坏，在于「随」；《论语》斥「乡愿」为「德之贼」，正是「随」之弊的写照。此句的深意在于：韩愈把「随」与「思」对举，确立了中国士人「独立不倚」的人格理想——思则自主，随则失己；不随流俗、不阿世媚俗，正是韩愈一生「文起八代之衰」的精神根基，也是「行成于思」最生动的注脚。十六字至此收束，为学与修身、勤思与戒嬉随，尽在其中。

This line is the lower half of the precept, on self-cultivation, paired with 'learning is perfected by diligence' into the full structure of 'learning' and 'conduct'. 'Conduct is formed by reflection' the positive thesis: 'conduct' moral character, 'formed' its growth, 'reflection' the weighing of mind — Mencius said 'the office of the mind is to reflect', and the Analects 'learning without thought is lost'; Han Yu gathers the Confucian tradition of careful thought in one word. 'Ruined by conformity' the foil: 'ruined' against 'formed', 'conformity' against thought, drifting with the age. The depth: setting 'conformity' against 'reflection' establishes the ideal of the independent scholar — thought makes self-reliant, conformity loses the self; not drifting with the vulgar, not flattering the age, is the spiritual root of Han Yu's own career, the vivid footnote to 'conduct is formed by reflection'.

Study

Word focus

业精于勤 Literally 'the work of study is refined through diligence' — one of the most quoted maxims in the Chinese language on learning. 'Work' means one's studies or vocation, 'refined' means excellence in depth and purity, and 'diligence' is the sole road. The four characters form a complete causal judgment, and the word 'through' makes the relation between excellence and diligence one of necessity, not chance — which is exactly the force of a maxim. 「业精于勤，荒于嬉」之「业精于勤」，是《进学解》训辞的立骨之句，也是中国劝学文化中使用频率最高的格言之一。「业」训为学业、功业，「精」训为精进、专精，「于」表原因，「勤」训为勤奋——四个字构成一个完整的因果判断：学业的精进，取决于勤奋。其妙有三：其一，一字立因果——「于」字把「精」与「勤」的关系定为必然的因果而非偶然的关联，语气斩截，不容置疑，这正是格言的力量所在；其二，以「精」立标准——不是「成」不是「达」，而是「精」，精者专而深、纯而不杂，为学之极致，可见韩愈对学业的要求之高；其三，以「勤」立正途——进学之途千万，韩愈一言以蔽之曰「勤」，与《尚书》「业广惟勤」、《荀子》「学不可以已」一脉相通，把儒家的勤学传统凝为四字箴言。此四字此后成为读书人的日课自励语，与「锲而不舍」「学无止境」并列为劝学格言的正宗。

荒于嬉 'Ruined through amusement' — the negative half of the first maxim. 'Ruined,' like a field gone to weeds, answers 'refined'; 'amusement,' meaning play or diversion, answers 'diligence.' Han Yu elevates play to the general root cause of academic failure, compressing the old warnings against playing with things and losing one's will into three blunt characters. Paired with 'perfected through diligence,' it gives the positive term its edge by contrast. 「业精于勤，荒于嬉」之「荒于嬉」，是训辞中反面立论的关键，一个「嬉」字，韩愈第一次把「嬉戏」提升为学业荒废的总根源。「荒」训为荒废、荒芜，与「精」相对，如田之荒芜、业之颓败；「嬉」训为嬉戏、玩忽，与「勤」相对，指游手好闲、玩物丧志。「荒于嬉」三字的深意有三：其一，它以「嬉」为因、以「荒」为果，把「贪玩误学」这一人人皆知的现象凝为一个因果判断，朴素而深刻；其二，它暗承《尚书》「玩物丧志」、《论语》「饱食终日，无所用心，难矣哉」的警诫传统，而比前人更凝练——「荒于嬉」三字，胜过千言说教；其三，它与「业精于勤」形成工整对仗（精对荒、勤对嬉），一正一反，如钟鼓对鸣，使「勤」的正面意义在「嬉」的反衬下更为鲜明。后世「业荒于嬉」或单独引用，或与「精勤」连用，已成为汉语中「劝学戒嬉」的标准表达，其生命力正来自这一「嬉」字的精准与深刻。

毁于随 'Destroyed through conformity' — the closing half of the second maxim and the sharpest word in the creed. 'Destroyed' answers 'accomplished'; 'conformity' means following the crowd, going along with custom, echoing others. Han Yu's insight: the enemy of character is not wickedness but conformity — the failure to think and to stand alone. This is both his personal creed, independent in prose style and unyielding in conduct, and a classical formulation of the scholar's independent character. 「行成于思，毁于随」之「毁于随」，是训辞下联的收束，也是韩愈人格理想中最有锋芒的一个字眼。「毁」训为败坏、毁弃，与「成」相对；「随」训为随俗、因循，指人云亦云、随波逐流、不敢独立特行。「毁于随」三字的深意有三：其一，它揭示了德行的最大敌人不是「恶」而是「随」——平庸的随俗比明显的堕落更隐蔽，韩愈将「随」与「思」对举，指出不思考、不坚持的随俗才是德行败坏的根本，见识极为深刻；其二，它暗含韩愈一生的精神立场——他反对骈文末流之「随」，倡古文运动之「思」；反对「低首下心，伈伈睨睨」之「随」，主「特立独行」之「立」，此三字正是其「文起八代之衰」的人格宣言；其三，它与《论语》「乡愿，德之贼也」、孟子「大丈夫」之论一脉相承，而凝为最精粹的四字格言。后世「毁于随」或单用或与「成于思」连用，已成为中国士人「独立人格」的经典表述。