唐 Tang · 诗 Poem
终南望余雪
Viewing the Remaining Snow on Zhongnan
终南阴岭秀，积雪浮云端。
林表明霁色，城中增暮寒。
Piled snow floats above the cloud-strata there.
The forest's rim shows the clear, bright air;
In the town the evening cold grows more, everywhere.
Meaning
How fair the northern slope of Mount Zhongnan; the snow on its ridge seems to float above the clouds. The treetops are painted with the cleared daylight after snow, and in the city of Chang'an, because of this leftover snow, the dusk cold deepens further.
终南山北坡多么秀美，岭上积雪仿佛浮在云端。林梢涂抹着雪后初晴的日色，而长安城中，因这余雪更添了入暮的寒意。
Appreciation
The first line, 'Zhongnan's shaded northern ridge stands fair,' names the northward slope (shaded, hence its snow stays) and praises it in a single word; the second, 'piled snow floats above the cloud-strata,' writes the snowy peak's height and cold with hyperbole. The third, 'the forest's rim shows the clear, bright air,' catches the lucid light after the snow clears; the fourth, 'in the town the evening cold grows more,' turns from mountain to man and closes on the body's felt chill, so that the snow needs no naming yet cold shows through. Four lines, three layers—from far to near, from scene to person—and the poem stops exactly when its meaning is full, the famous 'he stopped because meaning was spent' anecdote of the exam hall.
【白话串讲】 祖咏考进士，题目是《终南望余雪》。别人写满六韵，他写了四句就交卷：“终南阴岭秀，积雪浮云端。林表明霁色，城中增暮寒”。考官问为何不写完，他说：意尽矣。 【意象与手法】 起句「阴岭」点终南向北之坡（背阳故积雪），「秀」字总评；次句「浮云端」以夸张写雪岭之高寒。三句「林表明霁色」写雪后初晴之朗，四句「城中增暮寒」由山及人，以体感收束，不写雪而寒自见。四句三层，由远及近、由景及人。 【情感与主旨】 祖咏（约699—746）开元进士。此诗传为应制试作，题「终南望余雪」，试帖诗例须六韵十二句，咏至此四句而止，人或诘之，答曰「意尽」，遂成名篇，足见盛唐人不拘常格的风度。 【名句点睛】 高频考点：理解「意尽而止」的试帖轶事；赏析「积雪浮云端」的炼字与「城中增暮寒」以人衬景的虚写；体会盛唐五绝的精炼。
Background
Zu Yong (c. 699–746) was a Kaiyuan-era presented scholar. This poem is said to be an exam piece on the set topic 'Viewing the Remaining Snow on Zhongnan'; the trial-poem rule required six rhymes and twelve lines, yet he stopped at these four. When challenged, he answered 'meaning is spent,' and the piece became famous—enough to show the High-Tang temper of not being bound by the common form.
祖咏，洛阳人，唐玄宗开元十二年（724）进士，与王维交谊深厚，王维有诗赠之，其诗多写山水田园，风格清丽自然。此诗传为祖咏应进士试时的试帖诗作：唐代试帖诗例须六韵十二句，限题限韵，祖咏吟成四句二十字即搁笔交卷，主考官诘问为何不写完，祖咏答曰「意尽」，宁弃功名而不肯以浮词续貂，遂传为千古美谈。此事见《唐诗纪事》，虽未必全然信实，却极见盛唐诗人「意在笔先、以意驭诗」的自信与风度。诗题「终南望余雪」，写从长安城遥望终南山（今陕西西安南）雪后初霁之景。终南山为秦岭主峰之一，距长安约三十里，冬日积雪，天晴时在城中即可望见，雪峰在云际若隐若现，是长安士人习见的景致。祖咏以短短二十字写尽此景的神韵与寒意，正合盛唐五绝「以少总多」的审美理想，其「意尽而止」的创作态度，也成为中国诗论中「言有尽而意无穷」的生动注脚。
Art
The opening 'shaded ridge' points to Zhongnan's northward slope (back to the sun, so its snow lingers), and the word 'fair' is the overall judgment; the next, 'floats above the cloud-strata,' writes the snowy peak's height and cold with hyperbole. The third, 'the forest's rim shows the cleared light,' writes the lucidity after the snow first clears; the fourth, 'in the town the evening cold grows more,' turns from mountain to man and closes on bodily feeling, so that the snow needs no naming yet cold shows of itself. Four lines, three layers—from far to near, from scene to person.
全诗四句二十字，结构精严，层次分明，由远及近、由景及人，一气贯通。首句「终南阴岭秀」点明观望对象与方位：终南山北坡为「阴岭」，背向日光，积雪不易消融，一个「阴」字已暗伏「积雪」之因；「秀」字总评其秀美，凝练而不浮泛。次句「积雪浮云端」由「阴岭」引出积雪，以夸张之笔写雪岭之高——山高入云，积雪仿佛浮在云端之上，「浮」字化静为动，写出雪峰在云雾中若隐若现的轻盈缥缈之感。三句「林表明霁色」写雪后初晴：日光返照，林梢一片明朗，「霁色」二字点出雪霁天晴的清新光景，画面由远山拉近到林表。四句「城中增暮寒」陡然由景入情、由山及人：长安城中因这余雪更添入暮的寒意，不写雪而寒自见，以人的体感收束，将自然之景化为切身之感，余味无穷。全诗四句，一句一层，层层推进，正是「意尽」之诗却余韵悠长的典范。此诗在结构上还暗藏一层巧思：四句分写「秀—高—霁—寒」，前三句皆从「望」字落笔，是远望所得之景，末句却从「感」字收束，是城中人切身之感，由望入感、由景入身，正是「望」字的题面落实。诗人不写雪之洁白、不写山之巍峨，专从「余」字生发——阴岭之雪是未消之余，林表霁色是初晴之余，城中暮寒是雪后之余，四句无一字离「余」而句句是「余」，扣题之紧、立意之巧，正是此诗「意尽」而味不尽的关键，也是其能在二十字中包孕无限境界的奥秘所在。
Allusions
'Shaded ridge': Zhongnan screens Chang'an on the south, and its northern slope is the 'shaded ridge,' where sunlight seldom reaches so the snow does not melt. 'Remaining snow' marks snow left after the clear; 'cleared light' is the sunshine after snow. The trial-poem form bound him to a rhyme scheme, yet Zu Yong broke the rule and turned it into a high model.
此诗为应制之作而绝少用典，其妙处正在以眼前景写眼前意，不假故实。细究之，「阴岭」二字暗含地理知识：终南山为东西走向，北坡背阳，日光难及，故积雪不化，「余雪」之「余」正由此生出，这是以地理解诗意的含蓄用事。「浮云端」的「浮」字暗承汉魏以来以云写山高的传统（如「太华峰头玉井莲」以云衬高），以云之浮写雪之浮，虚实相生。「霁色」为雪后晴光，本是试帖常用语，此处却用得清新自然。「城中增暮寒」暗用「高处不胜寒」之理而不着痕迹：山高积雪，寒气下侵，城中暮寒因此更甚，诗人不引故实，而以物理常识与体感经验写诗意，正是盛唐五绝「不著一字，尽得风流」的典范。全诗以「无典」为法，在试帖诗限题限韵的约束下反而写出最自由的神韵，可见祖咏「意尽」之说非虚。此诗虽无显典，却暗含应制诗的传统与突破：唐代试帖诗以颂圣应制为常，多写祥瑞之景、献谀之词，祖咏却把应制之题写成纯然的山水小品，只写雪景与寒意，无一字颂圣，这本身就是对试帖体例的「破格」。而其「意尽」之答，正合刘勰《文心雕龙》「物色尽而情有余」与司空图《二十四诗品》「含蓄」之旨，把作诗的标准从「合体」转向「尽意」，与王士禛「神韵说」所标举的「不著一字，尽得风流」遥相呼应，足见其超越时代的诗学眼光。
Commentary
The Tang Poetry Record carries the phrase 'meaning is spent,' told as a fine tale; the Ming critic Hu Yinglin said of this poem that 'within twenty characters its realm is vast and far,' ranking it among the finest five-character quatrains.
祖咏此诗最著名的评论即出自其本事本身：《唐诗纪事》载其「意尽」之答，传为千古美谈，后人论诗每引此事说明创作当以意为主、宁短毋滥。明·胡应麟《诗薮》评此诗「二十字中，境界宏远」，赞其以极短篇幅写出极阔意境；清人论盛唐五绝，多列此为上乘，与王维《辋川绝句》同称「五绝之妙，全在气象」。近人选唐诗，此诗为必录之作，其「意尽而止」的创作态度更被当代诗论视为「以少总多」美学原则的典范例证：诗歌的价值不在篇幅长短，而在是否达到了「意尽」的完满。此诗还常与王维《终南山》对读：王维以四十字写终南山之全貌，气象宏阔；祖咏以二十字写望余雪之一瞬，神韵悠远，一纵一收，皆为写终南的杰作，可见同一题材在高手笔下能各臻其妙。此诗的影响还体现在后世的同题创作上：唐末张乔《终南山》「带雪复衔春，横天占半秦」、宋代王禹偁《望终南山》诸作，皆在祖咏的格局上踵事增华，而终未能出其右，可见二十字定格的经典难以超越。近代以来，此诗更成为「精炼美学」的教学范本，语文教材、诗话选本无不收录，其「意尽而止」的创作态度被反复称引，成为中国诗论「以少总多」「辞约旨丰」的生动注脚，也是盛唐五绝艺术成就的缩影。
Prosody
Line by line
终南阴岭秀
Zhongnan's shaded northern ridge stands fair;
终南山北坡多么秀美。
The northern ridge of Zhongnan is beautiful,
首句五字，点破题面而意蕴已丰。「终南」点山，照应诗题之「终南望」；「阴岭」点北坡，是诗人从长安城望去的方位——北坡背阳，日光难至，积雪因此不化，为全诗「余雪」之题暗埋伏笔，一个「阴」字既是地理实写，又是诗意的机关。「秀」字是总评，凝练含蓄，不具体写山如何秀而秀在其中，正合五绝「以少总多」的笔法。从结构看，此句是「望」的总起，确立了观望者（长安城中人）与观望对象（终南阴岭）的空间关系，为后文「浮云端」的远景、「林表明霁色」的中景、「城中增暮寒」的近景层层展开提供了立足点，起笔虽简而布局已定。
The opening five characters name the theme yet already rich in meaning. Zhongnan names the mountain, matching the title's Zhongnan gazing. Northern ridge names the north slope, the poet's viewing position from Chang'an - the north slope faces away from the sun, sunlight hard to reach, hence the piled snow not melting; secretly planting the伏笔 for the whole poem's remaining-snow theme. One northern character is at once geographic real writing and the poetic mechanism. Beautiful is the overall verdict, concise and reserved; not concretely writing how the mountain is beautiful yet beauty within, precisely fitting the five-character quatrain's few-to-概-many brush. From structure, this line is gazing's general opening, establishing the spatial relation between the gazer (the person in Chang'an) and the gazed object (Zhongnan's northern ridge), providing the footing for the later floating-above-clouds distant view, the treetops-showing-clear-sky middle view, the city's dusk-cold near view's layer-by-layer unfolding. The opening simple yet the layout already set.
积雪浮云端
Piled snow floats above the cloud-strata there.
岭上积雪仿佛浮在云端。
its piled snow floating above the clouds.
次句是全诗最见炼字功力的名句。「积雪」紧承「阴岭」，点明余雪之景；「云端」写山之极高，仿佛直入云中；最妙在「浮」字——雪不是「在」云端，而是「浮」在云端，一个动词化静为动，将雪峰与云气相接、若隐若现、仿佛悬浮的动态写得轻盈缥缈，既见山势之高峻，又见雪色之明净，更见暮色将临之际云雾缭绕的迷离。「浮」字还暗含诗人远望时视线的游移：雪峰在云中时隐时现，望去便觉它在浮动。此句以夸张写实，虚实相生，是写雪岭高寒的千古名句，胡应麟谓此诗「境界宏远」，此句正是宏远境界的集中体现。
The second line is the poem's most word-refining famous line. Piled snow carries on from northern ridge, naming the remaining-snow scene. Above the clouds writes the mountain's great height, as if straight into the clouds. The most subtle is floating - the snow is not at above the clouds, but floating above the clouds; one verb turns static to dynamic, writing the snow peak touching cloud breath, now-hidden-now-shown, as if suspended, light and缥缈. At once showing the ridge's lofty steepness, the snow color's cleanness, and the dusk's approach's cloud-wreathed bewilderment. Floating also secretly holds the poet's distant-gazing sight's wandering: the snow peak now hidden now shown in the clouds, hence seeming to float. This line uses hyperbole as real writing, void-and-solid generating; it is the age-famous line on snow ridge's cold height. Hu Yinglin called this poem's realm grand and far; this line is precisely the grand-and-far realm's concentrated embodiment.
城中增暮寒
In the town the evening cold grows more, everywhere.
长安城中因这余雪更添了入暮的寒意。
In the city, the dusk grows colder.
结句是全诗最精彩的翻转：前三句皆写山景，此句陡然收笔于城中人的体感，由远及近、由景及人，不写雪而寒自透。诗人不直接说雪如何白、山如何高，而说长安城中暮色中的寒意因为这场余雪而更甚——山间积雪未消，寒气下侵，城中人虽未上山，也感到那股透骨的凉意。「增」字最有分量：城中本有暮寒，因余雪而「增」，一个「增」字把雪的影响从山上延伸到城中，从视觉延伸到触觉，从自然延伸到人心。此句以虚写实、以人衬景，正是「言有尽而意无穷」的收束：雪景已写尽，而雪意、寒意、望雪之人徘徊不去的身影，都留在二十字之外，供读者久久回味。
The closing line is the poem's most excellent reversal: the first three lines all write mountain scenery; this line abruptly closes in the city person's bodily feeling, from far to near, from scenery to person; not writing snow yet cold self-penetrating. The poet does not directly say how white the snow, how high the mountain, but says in Chang'an the dusk's cold has grown worse because of this remaining snow - the mountain snow unmelted, the cold breath invading downward; the city person though not climbing the mountain, also feels that bone-piercing chill. Grown is most weighty: the city originally has dusk cold, yet grown because of the remaining snow; one grown extends the snow's influence from the mountain to the city, from sight to touch, from nature to the human heart. This line uses the void to write the solid, using the person to set off scenery; precisely the words finite, meaning infinite close: the snow scene already exhausted, yet the snow meaning, the cold, the snow-gazing person's lingering figure, all remain beyond the twenty characters, for the reader's long savoring.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Both write snow scenes; Zu views the snow's lucidity, Liu writes the lone angler's solitude.
柳宗元《江雪》「千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。孤舟蓑笠翁，独钓寒江雪」与祖咏此诗同为写雪的短章绝唱，意境却大异其趣。祖咏写「望」雪，从城中遥望终南，雪是远山之上的景物，笔调明丽空灵，寒意在景外，是审美化的观赏；柳宗元写「钓」雪，置身于万籁俱寂的寒江之中，雪是包围万物的背景，笔调冷峭孤寂，寒意在骨里，是人格化的自况。祖咏之雪是「余雪」，带雪霁天晴的希望；柳宗元之雪是「寒江雪」，是天地间的绝对孤独。一明朗一幽峭，一闲适一孤愤，同为五绝、同写雪景，而面目全异，正可见中国古典诗歌「同一题材、万千境界」的丰富性。
终南山 Zhongnan Mountain 王维 · 同写终南山，一望余雪一写全貌 Same (same mountain)Both write Zhongnan; one views the remaining snow, one writes the mountain's vastness—read together.
王维《终南山》「太乙近天都，连山接海隅」以四十字大写终南山之全貌，从山之高写到山之深，从山外之景写到山中之人，气象宏阔，是写终南山的全景式杰作；祖咏《终南望余雪》以二十字专写望雪之一瞬，聚焦阴岭积雪、林表霁色，是写终南山的特写式小品。一纵一收，一博一约：王维以盛唐的雄浑笔力吞吐终南，祖咏以盛唐的精炼笔意捕捉余雪。两诗并读，恰可见盛唐诗人面对同一座山的两种观察方式与审美趣味，也说明写景诗的价值不在篇幅大小，而在能否写出独特的神韵——祖咏二十字所写的「余雪」，其精光四射，丝毫不逊于王维四十字的连山接海。