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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

桃花溪

Peach Blossom Stream

张旭

Zhang Xu

山水Landscape 隐逸Seclusion 桃源Peach Blossom Spring

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。

Dimly seen, a flying bridge spans the misty wild;
By the rocky bank, I ask a fishing boat.
Peach blossoms all day long drift with the flowing stream;
Where, in the clear creek, is the cave of the Peach Blossom Spring?

Listen

Meaning

Amid misty clouds, a dim flying bridge is visible; the poet asks a fisherman about the Peach Blossom Spring. Peach blossoms drift all day, but the cave's location remains unknown, ending with a wistful question.

云烟迷茫中，一座飞桥隐隐横架；我在石矶西边向渔舟探问。桃花整日随着溪水漂流，那桃源的洞口，究竟在清溪的哪一边？

Appreciation

The poet creates a misty, ethereal scene, moving from distant bridge to human action. The drifting blossoms contrast with the hidden cave, and the unanswered question leaves lingering meaning, reflecting the Zen-like style of Wang Wei and Meng Haoran's landscape poetry.

【白话串讲】张旭隔着野烟看隐现的飞桥，问船夫：桃花一直随水流下来，那传说中的桃花源洞口，到底在哪里？诗人永远在找自己的桃花源。【意象与手法】诗人以朦胧淡远之笔写桃源神韵。「隐隐飞桥隔野烟」以「隐隐」「隔」二字写远景之缥缈，开阖有度；「石矶西畔问渔船」由景转入人物动作，亲切自然。末两句以桃花流水之动景反衬桃源之难觅，以问句收篇，含蓄空灵，深具唐人绝句「言有尽而意无穷」之妙。【情感与主旨】张旭以「草圣」名世，然其诗亦清逸。桃花溪在湖南桃源县，相传为陶渊明《桃花源记》所本之地。诗人借寻访桃源胜迹，寄托对隐逸闲适生活的向往，于烟水迷蒙中写尽求而不得的怅惘，是盛唐山水诗「诗中有画」的典型。【名句点睛】山水田园诗常见考题。考点：①意境——「隐隐」「野烟」营造的朦胧美；②用典——化用《桃花源记》而不着痕迹；③炼字——「问」「尽日」「何处」的虚处传神；④章法——由景入事、以问作结的含蓄结构。

Background

Zhang Xu, known as the 'Sage of Cursive Calligraphy,' also wrote pure poetry. Peach Blossom Stream in Hunan's Taoyuan County is said to inspire Tao Yuanming's 'Peach Blossom Spring.' This poem captures his quest for that utopia, blending a calligrapher's eye with Tang landscape aesthetics.

张旭（约675—约750），字伯高，吴郡（今江苏苏州）人，盛唐著名书法家，以草书冠绝当世，人称「草圣」，与贺知章、张若虚、包融并称「吴中四士」。张旭以书法名世，其诗今存仅六首左右，然多清逸绝俗之作，此篇即为代表作。桃花溪在湖南桃源县西南，相传即陶渊明《桃花源记》所本之地，溪畔桃花夹岸，流水潺潺，自古为文人寻幽访胜之所。此诗当为张旭游历楚地、寻访桃源遗迹时所作，具体作年已不可考。诗人以书法家之眼观照山水，于烟水迷蒙中捕捉灵趣，将访幽探胜的闲情化为空灵小诗。盛唐之世，山水田园诗极盛，王维、孟浩然之外，张旭此作以缥缈笔致写隐逸之思，别具一格，体现盛唐诗人「诗中有画、画中有诗」的审美取向，也折射出盛唐文人普遍追慕隐逸、神往理想乐土的时代心态。从诗史脉络看，此诗上承陶渊明《桃花源记》之理想，下启盛唐山水田园诗之兴，其以二十八字写尽寻幽之趣的功力，正见盛唐诗人于短章中见远韵的集体才情，亦是后世「桃源诗」一脉（如王维《桃源行》）的源头活水。

Art

The poet uses hazy brushstrokes: 'dimly' and 'misty' create a fairy-tale distance. The 'ask' brings human presence naturally. The final couplet uses moving blossoms to contrast the still cave, and the rhetorical question achieves 'words exhausted but meaning inexhaustible.'

此诗艺术上最突出处在于以朦胧之笔写迷离之境，含蓄空灵。首句「隐隐飞桥隔野烟」起笔即造境：飞桥横跨溪上，本应清晰可辨，却被「隐隐」二字推远，再以「隔」字点破野烟之阻，一桥一烟之间，远景缥缈如画，开阖有度。次句「石矶西畔问渔船」由静景转入动态：诗人立于石矶之西，向渔舟发问，一个「问」字既暗合《桃花源记》中渔人问津的情节，又使画面生出人物与声音，亲切自然。第三句「桃花尽日随流水」写桃花整日逐流而去，以动景写时间之流逝，暗示桃源之可望而不可即。末句「洞在清溪何处边」以虚问收束全篇，不答而答，将寻隐之痴与求而不得的怅惘尽付言外。全诗由远及近、由景及人、由实入虚，层层推进，末以问句作结，留有烟水迷离之回味，深得唐人绝句含蓄蕴藉之妙。此外，全诗以「隔」「问」「尽日」「何处」等字贯穿，字字虚中含实、实中寓虚，虚实的回环正与桃源可望不可即的主题互为表里。

Allusions

The poem alludes to Tao Yuanming's 'Peach Blossom Spring,' where a fisherman discovers a hidden utopia. 'Ask the fishing boat,' 'peach blossoms drift,' and 'where is the cave' all derive from that tale, expressing hermit aspirations seamlessly.

此诗最主要的用典为东晋陶渊明《桃花源记》。文中武陵渔人「缘溪行，忘路之远近。忽逢桃花林，夹岸数百步……复前行，欲穷其林。林尽水源，便得一山，山有小口，仿佛若有光」，遂入而得见世外乐土。张旭诗中「石矶西畔问渔船」化用渔人问津之事，「桃花尽日随流水」取桃花夹岸、落英缤纷之意象，「洞在清溪何处边」则以「洞」字直接呼应「山有小口」之桃洞。三句皆从《桃花源记》化出，却不用一处生僻典故，用典自然浑成，不着痕迹。此外，「桃花流水」自《桃花源记》之后已成中国文学中隐逸乐土的经典意象，李白「桃花流水窅然去，别有天地非人间」、王维「渔舟逐水爱山春，两岸桃花夹古津」皆承此脉。张旭以二十八字浓缩桃源故事之精髓，借古题写新意，将访隐之思化为空灵诗境，足见其熔铸典故的高超功力。其化用古事而不见故实之痕，正合唐人「用典如水中着盐」之论，堪称绝句用典的上乘境界。

Commentary

Ming critic Zhong Xing commented: 'Scene is deep; words are not deep but meaning is deep.' Zhang Xu's wild cursive contrasts with this pure, leisurely poem, showing his versatility. The unanswered question leaves a misty scene, a masterpiece of painting with poetry.

此诗历代评价颇高。明人钟惺、谭元春《唐诗归》评此诗「境深，语不深而意深」，指出其语言平易而意境幽远的特色。清代沈德潜《唐诗别裁》录此诗，称其「幽秀绝伦」。张旭以狂放不羁的草书名世，其书法如龙蛇飞舞、气势磅礴，而其诗却如此清空闲远、不着烟火气，足见才人无所不可，性情之复杂与艺术之多元，正可互证。全诗不着一「隐」字而隐逸之趣盎然，问渔而不答，留下烟水迷离之境，堪称以诗写画、以画写心之作。从诗史角度看，此诗与《桃花源记》构成了「文—诗」互文的经典范例，也是唐人绝句中化用散文典故而臻化境的典范，对后世「桃源」题材的诗歌创作（如王维《桃源行》）影响深远，具有重要的文学史价值。今人论此诗，多与崔颢《黄鹤楼》之「白云千载空悠悠」并观，皆以空灵之笔写历史与理想之渺远。此诗传诵千年而不衰，正因其以最简的篇幅写出了人类对理想乐土永恒的向往与追寻，具有超越时代的普世价值，是唐诗宝库中一枚晶莹的明珠。

Prosody

Form Seven-character quatrain (oblique tone, first line not rhymed)七言绝句（仄起首句不入韵）

Rhyme Pingshui rhyme, first division of upper level one: 烟, 船, 边押平水韵上平一先韵：烟、船、边。

Tone pattern 仄仄平平仄仄平，平平仄仄仄平平；平平仄仄平平仄，仄仄平平仄仄平「隐隐飞桥隔野烟」为仄仄平平仄仄平，「石矶西畔问渔船」为平平仄仄仄平平；后二句「桃花尽日随流水」为平平仄仄平平仄，「洞在清溪何处边」为仄仄平平仄仄平，平仄合律，音韵流美。

Reading note Derived from Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Spring, ending with a question, gaining the landscape tone of Wang Wei and Meng Haoran.此诗为七言绝句，仄起首句不入韵式，属近体诗正格。全诗二十八字，四句两联，首句写远景，次句写近景与人，三句写溪中动态，四句以问作结，起承转合分明。押平水韵上平一先韵，「烟」「船」「边」三字皆闭口收束，音感绵长舒缓，与全诗迷离空灵之境相谐。绝句体最重含蓄，此诗以问句收篇，正是绝句「以不尽尽之」的典型手法。张旭以草书驰名，其诗却严守格律、清丽可诵，可见盛唐文人诗书兼擅之才。后人将此诗与王维《鹿柴》、孟浩然《宿建德江》并观，皆以寥寥二十八字写出山水之远韵，为盛唐绝句写景抒情之上乘。

Line by line

隐隐飞桥隔野烟

Dim, dim, the flying bridge veils the wild mist;

云烟迷茫中，一座飞桥隐隐横架。

Through veiling mist, a soaring bridge shows faintly.

「隐隐飞桥隔野烟」为全诗起句，七字即成一幅缥缈水墨。「隐隐」叠词写桥之若隐若现，将实景虚化；「隔」字点出野烟横亘其间，一桥一烟构成前后层次，空间的纵深感立现。诗人不写桥之高、桥之险，而专写其在烟中迷离之态，正为全诗「桃源难觅」的迷离基调定音。此句妙在「以隐写显」：桥本可见，因烟而隐，恰如桃源本可寻，因迷而失，景物之「隔」已暗含心物之「隔」，为下文问津求洞预埋伏笔，开篇即笼罩全诗。

The opening line makes an ethereal ink painting in seven characters. Dim, dim is a reduplication rendering the bridge half-seen, half-hidden, blurring the real scene. Veils fixes the wild mist stretching between; bridge and mist create foreground and background, depth of space at once apparent. The poet writes not the bridge's height or peril but its drifting state in the smoke - striking the hazy keynote of Peach Blossom Spring hard to find. The line's craft is writing the visible through the hidden: the bridge is there, yet hidden by mist, just as Peach Blossom Spring is findable yet lost in bewilderment; the veiling of scenery already implies the veiling between heart and world, foreshadowing the asking for the ford and the cave. From the first character the whole poem is shrouded.

石矶西畔问渔船

By the western edge of the rocky ledge I ask a fishing boat;

我在石矶西边向渔舟探问。

West of the rocky ledge, I ask the fisherman's boat.

「石矶西畔问渔船」由纯然写景转入人物活动，画面顿生活气。「石矶」点明立足之处，临水之石，可望可近；「西畔」以方位词写实，亲切如在目前；「渔船」正是《桃花源记》中武陵渔人之舟，暗示此溪即桃源溪水；「问」字为全句诗眼，既是向渔人问路，更是向传说问津，暗合渔人问津之典。诗人不说「问渔人」而说「问渔船」，以物代人，更见空灵。此句承上启下：承「飞桥野烟」之景，启「桃花流水」之问，一「问」字将诗人的寻幽之痴、求隐之切和盘托出，落笔轻巧而情致绵长。

From pure scenery the line moves to human action, the picture quickening. Rocky ledge fixes the standing point - stone by the water, approachable. Western edge sets a direction, vivid as before the eyes. Fishing boat is exactly the boat of the Wuling fisherman in Peach Blossom Spring, hinting this stream is that stream. Ask is the eye of the line: asking the fisherman the way, and asking the legend for a ford, echoing the fisherman's seeking. The poet does not say ask the fisherman but ask the fishing boat - object for person, all the more ethereal. The line carries above and below: bearing the flying bridge and wild mist, opening into the question over peach blossoms and flowing water; one ask lays bare the poet's obsession with seclusion, light in brushwork, long in feeling.

桃花尽日随流水

Peach blossoms drift all day upon the flowing water;

桃花整日随着溪水漂流。

Peach blossoms drift all day long upon the stream.

「桃花尽日随流水」转写溪中最物，以动景写时间。「桃花」既是实景，又暗扣《桃花源记》「芳草鲜美，落英缤纷」之桃花意象；「尽日」写桃花随流之久，暗示诗人伫立凝望之久，一个「尽」字把时间的绵长与心事的缠绕都写了进去；「随流水」三字尤妙，桃花逐波而逝，一去不回，恰如桃源胜境之杳不可追，亦如年华之不可挽留。此句以花之流转写水之无情，表面写景，实则借景抒情，将前两句的寻幽之兴一转而为淡淡的怅惘，为末句的「何处边」之问蓄足情势，是全诗由实入虚、由喜入怅的转折枢纽。

The line turns to the stream's chief image, writing time through motion. Peach blossoms are real scenery and secretly recall the lush grass and fallen blossoms of Peach Blossom Spring. All day writes how long the blossoms drift, implying how long the poet has stood gazing; one word all packs in the length of time and the tangle of thought. Upon the flowing water is exquisite: flowers drift away on the current, gone beyond recall, like the Peach Blossom realm unrecoverable, like youth beyond keeping. The line uses the flowers' drifting to write water's heartlessness; scenery on the surface, feeling借景 within, turning the delight of seeking into faint wistfulness, storing up full force for the closing on which bank - the hinge from the real to the illusory, from joy to regret.

洞在清溪何处边

On which bank of the clear stream lies the cave?

那桃源的洞口，究竟在清溪的哪一边？

On which shore of the clear water, then, is the mouth of the cave?

「洞在清溪何处边」以虚问收束全篇，是全诗点题之句。「洞」即桃源洞口，直扣《桃花源记》「山有小口」之典；「清溪」回照全篇，溪愈清而境愈真，愈显桃源之近在咫尺；「何处边」三字以疑问作结，不答而答，将求隐之向往与不可得之怅惘尽付言外。妙在问而不答：若答，则诗境坐实；不答，则烟水迷离，余味无穷。此句与首句「隐隐」遥相呼应，首尾环合：以迷离起，以迷离终。全诗二十八字，由景入事、由事入问，层层逼进，末句一「问」如钟声袅袅，余韵悠长，深得唐人绝句「言有尽而意无穷」之妙。

Closing in an imaginary question, the line names the poem's theme. The cave is the mouth of Peach Blossom Spring, straight to the small opening in the mountain. Clear stream answers the whole poem: the clearer the water, the realer the realm, the nearer the spring seems. On which shore ends in question, answering without an answer, laying the longing for seclusion and the wistfulness of unreachability beyond words. Exquisite in asking without answering: answered, the scene would be fixed; unanswered, mist and water blur, savor inexhaustible. The line echoes the opening dimly, beginning and end ring-closed: veiled it begins, veiled it ends. Twenty-eight characters move from scene to action to question, pressing layer by layer; the final ask lingers like a bell, long aftertaste - the very Tang quatrain's word ends, meaning never ends.

Study

Word focus

隐隐 Dimly seen: creates a misty, fairy-tale atmosphere, leading to the question about the spring. 「隐隐飞桥隔野烟」之「隐隐」，为全诗第一组叠词，奠定全篇迷离朦胧的基调。「隐隐」本指隐约不清、若隐若现之貌，此处写飞桥在野烟中时隐时现的视觉感受，将一座实有的桥推入虚境，使景物带上烟水气与仙气。这个叠词有双重效果：一是「化实为虚」，桥本具体可感，经「隐隐」点染，顿成水墨画中淡远的一笔；二是「以声助景」，叠词的音韵轻缓绵长，读来如烟霭流动，声情相生。更妙的是，「隐隐」与下句「问渔船」的「问」字暗中呼应——桥隐隐而不可即，恰似桃源隐隐而不可寻，物象之迷离正是心境之迷离的外化。炼此二字，全诗空灵之境已定。

问 Ask: echoes the fisherman story in Tao Yuanming, hinting at the search for utopia. 「石矶西畔问渔船」之「问」字，是全诗由景入情的关键动词，也是化用陶渊明《桃花源记》的点睛之笔。在《桃花源记》中，武陵渔人「缘溪行」而逢桃花林，遂穷其林而得洞，张旭此处反其意而用之：渔人本为问津之人，诗人却向渔人发问，一问一答之间，角色易位，寻幽者的痴态立现。「问」字所问者有三层：问路——桃源洞口在何处；问典——桃花源是否真有其地；问心——诗人自己能否寻得理想的隐逸归宿。一个「问」字，将外在的寻访动作化为内在的精神求索，动作轻巧而意蕴丰厚，含蓄有味，是全诗由写景转入抒情的枢纽，堪称一字千钧。

尽日 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「桃花尽日随流水」之「尽日」，是全诗时间维度的点睛之笔。「尽日」即整日、终日，写桃花随流水漂流的持续之久，也暗写诗人伫立溪畔凝望之久。这个时间副词至少有四层作用：其一，写实景，桃花逐流，终朝不歇，如画中流动的时间；其二，写情态，诗人「尽日」凝望，其寻幽之痴、求隐之切，不言而喻；其三，写象征，桃花尽日随流而逝，恰喻年华如流水不可挽留，桃源如落花不可追寻；其四，写章法，前两句写空间之「隔」，此句转写时间之「久」，由空间而时间，视角拓开，为末句「何处边」的空间之问再作一层铺垫。二十八字中能以两字写出时空交织，足见炼字之精。

桃花溪