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唐 Tang · 诗 Poem

终南别业

My Retreat at Zhongnan

王维

Wang Wei

隐逸reclusion 禅意zen 山水Landscape

终南别业中岁颇好道，晚家南山陲。
兴来每独往，胜事空自知。
行到水穷处，坐看云起时。
偶然值林叟，谈笑无还期。

In middle age I came to love the Way;
in late years I made my home at Zhongnan's feet.
When the mood comes I go alone,
and the fine things I know alone.
I walk till the stream runs dry,
then sit and watch the clouds rise.
By chance I meet an old man in the woods;
we talk and laugh, with no thought of going home.

Listen

Meaning

Past middle age I grew fond of the Buddhist Way; in my later years I made my home at the foot of the Zhongnan mountains. When the mood comes I often walk alone, and the fine things I know are known to me alone. I walk until the water comes to an end, then sit and watch the clouds rise. By chance I meet an old man in the woods; talking and laughing, we forget to turn for home.

中年以后我颇喜好佛道之学，晚年把家安在终南山边。兴致来时每每独自出游，美好的情事只自己知晓。走到水流的尽头，便坐下来看云彩升起。偶然遇见林中的老翁，谈笑之间竟忘了归期。

Appreciation

The poem opens on 'love of the Way' and is wholly given to 'ease of mind'. The second couplet, 'When the mood comes I go alone, and the fine things I know alone', writes an unconstrained ease that asks nothing from outside. The third couplet, 'I walk till the stream runs dry, then sit and watch the clouds rise', is the keenest stroke: walking and sitting, watching the water end and the clouds rise, it writes a mind at home with whatever comes, and the dry stream and the rising cloud hint at a Chan truth—life from the very brink of extinction, stillness and motion breeding one another—a clear, pale picture with a far-reaching reasoned charm. The last couplet, 'By chance I meet an old man in the woods; we talk and laugh, with no thought of going home', closes on human company, showing the joy of a heart at peace with all things. The language is plain and the realm is deep, taking the manner of Tao Yuanming yet with the further wit of Chan.

【白话串讲】 “中岁颇好道，晚家南山陲”——王维中年好佛，晚年住在终南山。“行到水穷处，坐看云起时”——走到水流尽头，就坐下来看云升起。这句话，成了无数人的人生哲学。【意象与手法】全诗以「好道」领起，通篇写「适意」二字。首联叙事，交代学道与归隐的历程；颔联「兴来每独往、胜事空自知」，写其无拘无束、不假外求的悠游，「独往」见孤往之趣，「空自知」见自得之乐；颈联「行到水穷处、坐看云起时」是全诗警策，以行止坐看写随遇而安，水穷云起暗含禅理——绝处逢生、动静相生，画面澄淡而理趣悠远；尾联「偶然值林叟、谈笑无还期」，以人事收束，「偶然」见随缘，「无还期」见忘机。全诗不用一奇字丽语，纯以白描写隐居之乐，平淡中见深味，是豪华落尽见真淳的境界。【情感与主旨】此诗作于王维晚年隐居终南山时期，写其学佛信道、亦官亦隐的闲适生活。诗中无一字言苦言乐，而随遇而安、物我两忘的禅悦之境自在其中：独往自知是自得，水穷云起是安顿，偶遇林叟是随缘。全诗见出王维以禅心观照人生的境界，是盛唐隐逸诗任性自然精神的代表，「行到水穷处、坐看云起时」更成为中国人面对困境时的精神资源。【名句点睛】中高考必考「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」：常问表现了诗人怎样的心境（答：随遇而安、闲适淡泊、豁达自在的禅境）及其中蕴含的哲理（绝处逢生、顺其自然）；亦常考「胜事空自知」之「空」的含义、「偶然」的随缘意味、全诗由叙事到写景再到人事的章法。

Background

The poem was probably written in Wang Wei's later years, when he lived in retirement at Zhongnan. In his later years he served yet also retired, and was a devout Buddhist (men called him the 'Poet Buddha'); he wandered at ease in his Wangchuan retreat at Zhongnan. 'In middle age I came to love the Way' records his own course of learning the Buddhist Way; 'in late years I made my home at Zhongnan's feet' names the place of his retirement. The whole writes the ease of a mind at home with whatever comes, and the forgetting of self and thing—it is a representative work of Wang Wei's 'painting in his poems, Chan in his painting', and shows the 'follow nature freely' spirit of high-Tang reclusion.

此诗约作于王维晚年隐居终南山、蓝田辋川时期，学界一般认为写于天宝年间（约750年前后）。王维（701—761），字摩诘，蒲州（今山西永济）人，开元九年进士，官至尚书右丞，世称王右丞。王维早年热衷仕进，中年以后历经张九龄罢相、李林甫专权，朝政日非，遂渐生归隐之心，先后隐于终南山与辋川，过着亦官亦隐的生活。王维笃信佛教，与僧侣交游甚密，晚年退朝之后，焚香独坐，以禅诵为事，人称诗佛。终南山位于长安之南，山势绵延，自古为道教佛教名山，也是唐代士人隐逸的理想之地，卢藏用更以隐居终南为出仕捷径，留下终南捷径的典故；而王维之隐，则纯为心性之安顿。此诗即写其隐居生活之适意，诗中「中岁颇好道」自述学佛信道之历程，「晚家南山陲」点明隐居之所，「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」更成为禅意诗的代表名句，可见其晚年心境之澄明。此诗题为别业，实写心性，与一般写园林建筑之作不同：全篇无一字及屋宇，而独往、坐看、谈笑，皆隐者之日常，可见王维所重者在心境之安顿而非居所之华美，此亦唐人隐逸诗由外向内转的标志之一。

Art

The poem opens on 'love of the Way' and is wholly given to 'ease of mind'. The second couplet, 'When the mood comes I go alone, and the fine things I know alone', writes an unconstrained ease that asks nothing from outside; the third couplet, 'I walk till the stream runs dry, then sit and watch the clouds rise', is the keenest stroke, writing a mind at home with whatever comes—the dry stream and the rising cloud hint at a Chan truth, stillness and motion breeding one another, a clear, pale picture with a far-reaching reasoned charm. The last couplet, 'By chance I meet an old man in the woods; we talk and laugh, with no thought of going home', closes on human company, showing the joy of a heart at peace with all things. The language is plain and the realm is deep, taking the manner of Tao Yuanming yet with the further wit of Chan.

全诗以「好道」领起，通篇写「适意」二字，章法上由叙事而写行止，由写景而写人事，层层展开。首联「中岁颇好道，晚家南山陲」，以平实之语叙事，交代学道与归隐的历程：「中岁」与「晚」对举，见其人生轨迹，「好道」是归隐之因，「晚家」是归隐之果。颔联「兴来每独往，胜事空自知」，写其无拘无束、不假外求的悠游：「每」字见其频繁，「独往」见其孤往之趣，「空自知」见其自得之乐，不求人知，不假外求，正是隐者真趣。颈联「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」，是全诗警策：「行」与「坐」对举，写其行止之随性；「水穷」与「云起」相承，暗含禅理——行至水尽之处，不妨坐下看云，绝处自有生机，随遇而安，动静相生，画面澄淡而理趣悠远。尾联「偶然值林叟，谈笑无还期」，以人事收束：「偶然」见其随缘，「无还期」见其忘机，与山野之人谈笑忘归，正是与物无忤之境。全诗不用一奇字丽语，纯以白描写隐居之乐，平淡中见深味，是豪华落尽见真淳的境界。

Allusions

The poem uses few story-allusions, and its charm is near to Chan. 'Zhongnan' is the Zhongnan mountains, a Buddhist and Daoist haunt south of Chang'an, and quietly uses Tao Yuanming's 'picking chrysanthemums by the eastern hedge, I see the southern hills at leisure', figuring reclusion. 'The stream runs dry' and 'the clouds rise' transform the Buddhist ease of following conditions, agreeing quietly with the Vajracchedika's teaching of a mind that dwells nowhere yet gives rise to thought. The whole does not dazzle with allusion but lodges Chan wit in the scene before the eye, exactly answering Wang Wei's pursuit of a beauty 'beyond the image, yet born of it'.

本诗少用事典，而理趣近禅。「好道」之「道」，兼指佛道二家，王维中年以后日饭十数名僧，以玄谈为乐，又服食求道，诗中之「好道」正是其宗教生活的自述。「南山」即终南山，为长安南面的佛教道教胜地，亦暗用陶渊明「采菊东篱下，悠然见南山」之典，以南山喻隐逸之境，见其归隐之志与陶渊明一脉相承。「独往」「自知」，暗合庄子「独与天地精神往来」之孤往精神与自得之境，隐者之乐，正在不求人知的自我圆满。「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」两句，人以为暗合佛家随缘任运之旨，近于《金刚经》「应无所住而生其心」的无住之境：水穷是境之极，云起是机之生，绝处逢生，正是禅宗于日用中见道的观照方式，故后人以此联为诗禅结合之典范。「偶然值林叟」之「偶然」，见其不期而遇、随缘而处。全篇不以典故炫博，而以眼前景物寄禅机，正合王维不立文字而境生象外的审美追求，是盛唐禅诗的本色。

Commentary

Xu Zeng of the Qing, in his 'Er An on Tang Poetry', remarks: 'I walk till the stream runs dry, then sit and watch the clouds rise—this is the realm of no doubting and no fearing.' Shen Deqian said of it that 'such lines are truly unintended yet full of intent, doing nothing yet leaving nothing undone'. The modern scholar Yuan Xingpei calls this couplet 'a felt picture of reasoned charm'. It has been honoured through the ages as Wang Wei's first Chan poem; Su Shi's saying that 'to taste Mojie's poems, there is painting in them' is nowhere better verified than in this piece.

历代评家对此诗推崇备至。清人徐增《而庵说唐诗》评「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」：此即「不疑不惧」之境，谓其安顿自若、了无挂碍；沈德潜《唐诗别裁》称此种句真是无意而皆意，无为而无不为；清人纪昀评此联为「无事在身、无机在心」之句；近人袁行霈称此联把理趣化为可感的画面。苏轼「味摩诘之诗，诗中有画」之评，于此篇尤得其验，而「诗中有禅」亦以此篇为最。此诗与《终南山》《山居秋暝》等共同构成王维晚年山水禅诗的高峰：宋代严羽《沧浪诗话》以羚羊挂角、无迹可求论盛唐禅诗之妙，此诗正是典范。后世文人在困顿之中多以此诗自遣，「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」一语，至今仍是中国人面对困境时随遇而安的精神资源，屡被题咏引用，其影响已超出诗歌，成为一种生活哲学。近人钱锺书论王维诗，谓其能于寂静中见动，于平常中见奇，此篇正是注脚；又此诗与《终南别业》之题相合，后人多以此为王维晚年心境之自供，论其诗者必及此篇，其经典地位历千年而不坠。

Prosody

Form Five-character regulated verse五言律诗

Rhyme Ping-shui rhyme, upper-level four zhi group (feet, know, time, home)陲、知、时、期，押平水韵上平四支，首句不入韵

Tone pattern First line not entering the rhyme, oblique onset and oblique close首句不入韵，仄起仄收（首字平声，一三五不论）；中二联大体对仗，颈联以拗句写闲适

Reading note A late five-character lü of Wang Wei's, in the Wangchuan retreat line, pale and far, leisurely, with painting in it and Chan within.本诗为五言律诗，首句不入韵，押上平四支韵，韵脚「陲、知、时、期」皆清亮悠远，正与闲适淡远的诗境相谐。首联「中岁颇好道，晚家南山陲」作平仄仄仄仄对仄平平平平，首句五字四仄，拗峭而不失自然，是王维晚年诗不斤斤于格律的表现；颔联「兴来每独往，胜事空自知」为流水对，意脉相连；颈联「行到水穷处，坐看云起时」，平仄作平仄仄平仄对仄平平仄平，与常格稍异而拗中见峭，恰与其随遇而安之旨相合，后世论者谓此联以拗句写闲适，愈拗愈见其闲，可见王维于格律之间自有其用意；尾联「偶然值林叟，谈笑无还期」，亦以平实语收束。全诗无一字着力，而句句天成，是不烦绳削而自合的典范；与杜甫五律之精严锤炼相比，王维此诗以平淡天然取胜，开中唐以后以俗为雅、以淡为美的先声，其声情与禅意相谐，读之如闻其行吟山水之音。

Line by line

中岁颇好道，晚家南山陲。

In middle age I grew fond of the Way; in later years I made my home by South Mountain's edge.

中年以后颇喜好佛道之学，晚年把家安在终南山边

In midlife I quite loved the Way; in old age I settled at South Mountain's edge.

首联叙事，是全诗的纲领。「中岁颇好道」，一句自述学佛信道之历程：「中岁」即中年，「颇」字见其好之深、入之笃，「好道」是王维后半生的精神皈依，也是其归隐的思想根源；「晚家南山陲」，一句点明归宿：「晚」字与「中岁」相对，见其人生由仕而隐的轨迹，「南山」即终南山，「陲」字指山边，家于南山之陲，正是隐者安顿之所。两句一因一果，一精神一居所，把诗人的一生归宿交代得清清楚楚。语极平实，无一字用力，而好道之诚、归隐之决，自在言外；以叙事开篇，不写景而先写心，为全诗定下闲淡的基调，也可见王维晚年诗风洗尽铅华、以平淡为宗的特点。

The opening couplet narrates, the poem's outline. In midlife I quite loved the Way one line self-narrates the Buddhist-and-Daoist learning course: midlife is middle age; quite shows the love's depth, the devotion's earnestness; loved the Way is Wang Wei's latter half's spiritual refuge, also the seclusion's ideological root. In old age I settled at South Mountain's edge one line names the final resting place: old age set against midlife, showing the life's trajectory from office to seclusion; South Mountain is Zhongnan; edge means the mountain's side; making a home by South Mountain's edge is precisely the recluse's settling place. The two lines one cause one effect, one spirit one dwelling, laying out the poet's life's final resting place clearly. The words most plain, not one character using force, yet the loved-the-Way sincerity and the seclusion's resolve self-show beyond the words. Opening with narrative, not scenery but first the heart, setting the poem's leisurely keynote; also showing Wang Wei's late-style washed free of ornaments, taking plainness as the root.

兴来每独往，胜事空自知。

When the mood comes I go alone, and the fine things I know alone.

兴致来时每每独自出游，美好的情事只自己知晓

When the mood strikes, I often go alone; the fine things I alone know.

颔联写隐居的日常生活，是全诗闲适之境的具体展开。「兴来每独往」：兴致来了便独自出游，「每」字见其频繁，「独往」见其孤往——不呼朋引伴，不预设目的，兴之所至，身之所行，正是隐者无拘无束的生活；「胜事空自知」：沿途的美好情事，只自己知晓，「空」字作独、只解，写其自得之乐——山水之美，禅悦之趣，不必与人共，不必求人知，独自领略，独自欢喜。此联妙在以独写乐：独非孤寂，而是圆满，是庄子「独与天地精神往来」的自足之境。不求人知，不假外求，正是隐者真趣，也为下文「水穷云起」的随缘任运作了精神铺垫。两句对仗工整而自然，语淡而味永，是理解全诗适意之旨的钥匙。

The second couplet writes the seclusion's daily life, the concrete unfolding of the poem's leisurely realm. When the mood strikes, I often go alone: when the mood comes, going out alone; often shows the frequency; go alone shows the solitary going - not calling companions, not pre-setting purpose; where the mood leads, the body goes; precisely the recluse's unbound life. The fine things I alone know: the journey's fine affairs only self-known; alone is read as solely, only, writing the self-contented joy - the hills-and-waters beauty, the Zen delight, need not be shared, need not be known; alone savoring, alone rejoicing. This couplet's subtlety lies in writing joy through solitude: solitude is not loneliness, but completeness, Zhuangzi's alone journeying with heaven-and-earth's spirit self-sufficient realm. Not seeking others' knowing, not borrowing the outside, precisely the recluse's true delight, also preparing the later water's end, clouds' rise's following-conditions spiritual ground. The two lines' parallel refined yet natural, words plain yet meaning long - the key to understanding the whole poem's at-ease purpose.

行到水穷处，坐看云起时。

I walk till the stream runs dry, then sit and watch the clouds rise.

走到水流的尽头，便坐下来看云彩升起

I walk to where the stream ends, then sit and watch the clouds rise.

颈联是全诗警策，也是千古名句。「行到水穷处」：信步而行，走到水流的尽头——路已尽，水已穷，似乎到了绝境；「坐看云起时」：却从容坐下，看云雾在山间升起。「行」与「坐」对举，见其行止之随性；「水穷」与「云起」相承，暗含禅理：水穷是境之极，云起是机之生，看似绝处，转瞬便有新机，正是随遇而安、绝处逢生的禅悟。此联之妙，在以具体可感的画面写抽象的人生境界：不著一理字，而理趣自在其中；不著一禅字，而禅意弥漫纸上。行到水穷，是顺其自然；坐看云起，是安顿自若。动静相生，画面澄淡而理趣悠远，把诗人豁达自在的心境写得如在目前，遂成禅诗之绝唱，也是中国人面对困境时的精神资源。

The third couplet is the poem's alert stroke, also an age-famous line. I walk to where the stream ends: strolling at will, walking to the water's end - the road already ended, the water exhausted, seemingly reaching a dead end. Then sit and watch the clouds rise: yet calmly sitting, watching mists rise among the hills. Walk set against sit, showing the coming-and-going's following-nature; water's end carrying on to clouds' rise, secretly holding Zen principle: water's end is the realm's extreme, clouds' rise is the opportunity's birth; seemingly the dead end, in an instant there is new life; precisely the following-conditions-at-ease, life-from-the-dead-end Zen awakening. This couplet's subtlety lies in using concrete, sensible pictures to write abstract life's realm: not one principle word, yet the principle-delight self-present; not one Zen word, yet Zen feeling pervades the page. Walking to the water's end is following nature; sitting watching the clouds rise is settling at ease. Motion and stillness generating, the picture clear and faint, principle-delight far-reaching; writing the poet's open, at-ease mind as if present - hence becoming the Zen poem's masterpiece, also the Chinese spirit's resource when facing difficulty.

偶然值林叟，谈笑无还期。

By chance I meet an old woodcutter; talking and laughing, I forget when to go back.

偶然遇见林中的老翁，谈笑之间竟忘了归期

By chance I meet an old man in the woods; talking and laughing, I forget the hour of return.

尾联以人事收束，全诗归于一片天机。「偶然值林叟」：「偶然」二字是此联之眼——不期而遇，没有预设，没有目的，正是随缘忘机之境；「林叟」是山中之老樵，与诗人同为山居之人，相逢于林间，亲切自然。「谈笑无还期」：两人谈笑甚欢，竟忘了归去的时间，「无还期」三字，写其乐而忘返，也写其本无日程——隐者之闲，闲到连时间都可以忘记。此联与前文呼应：「独往」是孤往之乐，「逢叟」是相得之乐；「空自知」是自足，「谈笑」是忘机。诗人与物无忤、与人和乐，正是禅悦之境在人事中的体现。以「偶然」收束，全篇的刻意之迹尽消，唯余一片天机，余韵悠长，令人回味不尽。

The closing couplet closes in human affairs, the whole poem returning to a piece of natural天机. By chance I meet an old man in the woods: by chance two characters are this couplet's eye - meeting unplanned, no pre-setting, no purpose; precisely the following-conditions, forgetting-craft realm. The old man in the woods is the mountain's old woodcutter, a mountain dweller like the poet; meeting in the woods, warm and natural. Talking and laughing, I forget the hour of return: the two talking and laughing joyfully, actually forgetting the return time; no return time three characters write the joy's forgetting to return, also writing the originally-no-schedule - the recluse's leisure, leisurely to the point that even time can be forgotten. This couplet echoes the previous text: go alone is solitary-going joy; meeting the old man is the getting-along joy. Alone knowing is self-sufficiency; talking and laughing is craft-forgetting. The poet with things unopposed, with people harmonious, precisely the Zen-delight realm's embodiment in human affairs. Closing in by chance, the whole poem's deliberate traces all dissolve, leaving only a piece of natural天机; aftertaste long, making one savor endlessly.

Study

Word focus

空 'Alone' in 'the fine things I know alone' means 'only, but'; it writes that the joy need not be shared with another, finding contentment in itself, and shows the lone-way delight of the recluse. 「胜事空自知」之「空」，是全诗炼字之要。「空」字此处作独、只解，写美好的情事只有自己知晓，一个「空」字，把隐者自得其乐、不求人知的境界写尽：独往之游，所见之美，所悟之趣，不必与人共赏，不必求人印证，独自领略，独自欢喜，这正是庄子「独与天地精神往来」之自足。「空」字又暗含禅意：空者，无所执着也，乐事过而不留，心境澄明如镜，正合佛家空观。若换作「只」「独」等字，则仅写数量之少；唯「空」字兼含独、只、无着之意，既写自得之乐，又写无求之怀，一字而两境俱到。此字与「独往」相配，一写行为之孤，一写心境之空，正是隐者孤往独行之趣的集中体现，也为下文「水穷云起」的随缘境界作了铺垫，可见王维炼字以淡取胜、以意胜字的本领。

偶然 'By chance' in 'By chance I meet an old man in the woods' means unpremeditated, unexpected; it writes exactly a mind at ease with conditions, unguarded and candid, in the joy of Chan. 「偶然值林叟」之「偶然」，是全诗随缘之境的点睛之笔。「偶然」即不期而遇、毫无预设：既非相约，亦非刻意寻访，只是信步所至，恰好相逢。这一个「偶然」，写尽隐者生活的本然状态——没有日程，没有目的，兴之所至，随遇而安，连相逢都是天机自然。若换作「忽」「适」等字，则只写时间之仓促；唯「偶然」二字，兼含不经意、无预期、顺其自然之意，正是随缘忘机、不著痕迹的禅悦之境。此字又与全文呼应：「兴来」是偶然之兴，「独往」是偶然之行，「水穷云起」是偶然之遇，「林叟相逢」是偶然之缘，全篇无一事出于安排，无一念落于执着，正是禅宗于日用中见道、无心而合道的境界。一字之微，而全诗神髓俱在，可见王维炼字之精。

坐 A key expression in the poem. Read it as an image, mood, or grammar point in context. 「坐看云起时」之「坐」，是全联动静相生之关键。「行到水穷处」，是行，是动，是有所往而至于极；「坐看云起时」，是坐，是静，是无所求而观其变。这一个「坐」字，写出诗人行至水穷之后的从容：路尽而不忧，水穷而不恼，坦然坐下，静看云起。「坐」是安顿的姿态：身心俱歇，万虑俱忘，正是禅坐之境；「坐」又是观照的姿态：不慌不忙，静观其变，云起云落，皆在眼中，正是无心而观的道眼。此字与「行」相对，一动一静，而归于静；与「看」相配，一坐一看，而归于闲。若换作「立」「倚」等字，则或失其从容，或失其安顿；唯「坐」字兼含安顿与观照之意，把随遇而安、绝处逢生的禅悟写得如在目前，一字千金，正是此联千古传诵的关键所在。