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魏晋 Wei-Jin · 诗 Poem

饮酒·其五

Drinking Wine (V)

陶渊明

Tao Yuanming

田园Pastoral 隐逸Reclusion 哲理Philosophy

结庐在人境，而无车马喧。
问君何能尔？
心远地自偏。
采菊东篱下，悠然见南山。
山气日夕佳，飞鸟相与还。
此中有真意，欲辨已忘言。

I built my hut in the human realm,
Yet hear no clamor of car and horse.
You ask how this could be?
With mind detached, the place is remote.
Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence,
Leisurely I see the southern mountain.
Mountain air is lovely in evening,
Birds returning flock together.
In this there is true meaning,
I want to tell, but have forgotten words.

Listen

Meaning

The poem expresses the poet's reclusive joy and philosophical insight: by detaching the mind from worldly noise, even a dwelling in the mundane world becomes secluded. The simple act of picking chrysanthemums and seeing the mountain leads to an ineffable understanding of life's truth.

把草庐建在众人聚居的尘世，却听不到车马的喧闹。若问如何能够如此？只因心志高远，所处之地自然偏远。在东篱之下采撷菊花，悠然间不经意望见了南山。山间的气象在傍晚时分格外美好，飞鸟结伴一同归返。这中间自有真切的意趣，想要辨明，却已忘了该用怎样的言语。

Appreciation

This poem, the fifth of Tao Yuanming's 'Drinking Wine' series, centers on the paradox of living in the world without worldly disturbance. The key line 'With mind detached, the place is remote' establishes the theme. The most celebrated couplet describes picking chrysanthemums and unexpectedly seeing the southern mountain, capturing a state of effortless harmony with nature. The final lines invoke Zhuangzi's idea that true meaning transcends words.

【白话串讲】陶渊明辞官归隐，在篱笆边采菊花，一抬头看见了南山。“此中有真意，欲辨已忘言”——他把自由活成了诗，从此“采菊东篱下”成了中国人向往田园生活的最高模板。【意象与手法】全诗语淡而味醇，章法由理入景、由景入悟。前四句以问答立“心远地自偏”之论，理趣盎然【情感与主旨】此诗为陶渊明归隐田园后所作《饮酒》二十首之第五首，约成于晋安帝义熙年间（405年辞官归隐之后）【名句点睛】常考“采菊东篱下，悠然见南山”的闲适之境与“见”（非“望”）字的妙处（无心相遇、物我两忘）

Background

This poem was written after Tao Yuanming retired from officialdom and returned to farming, around the Yixi reign of Emperor An of Jin (after 405 AD). Having completely left his official career, Tao lived a self-sufficient farming life and found the Way of Nature in plain rural life. The 'Drinking Wine' series uses drinking as a pretext to write about reclusive realization, and this piece is a representative of his pastoral poetry and life philosophy.

陶渊明《饮酒·其五》是《饮酒》组诗二十首中的第五首。陶渊明（365—427），字元亮，一名潜，浔阳柴桑人，东晋末至刘宋初的诗人、辞赋家，被誉为隐逸诗人之宗。组诗约作于东晋义熙十三年（417）前后，时诗人已归隐柴桑故里多年。据诗前小序，陶渊明闲居寡欢，无夕不饮，既醉之后辄题数句自娱，纸墨遂多，集而成篇，故总题为《饮酒》——并非一时一地之作，而是积年醉后偶得的结集，因而组诗题材杂出，或咏史、或哲理、或田园。义熙元年（405），陶渊明任彭泽令仅八十余日，因不肯束带见督邮、不愿为五斗米折腰向乡里小人，遂辞官归隐，自此躬耕终生，直至贫病而卒。《饮酒》组诗正写于归隐之后、心境渐趋澄明之际。此诗所咏的结庐人境、采菊东篱，既是实写隐居生活，亦是对心隐哲学的提炼。在文学传统上，汉魏以来隐逸诗多写招隐、游仙或失志之叹（如左思《招隐》、郭璞《游仙》），至陶渊明方将隐逸化为日常田园的审美体验，开田园诗一派；此诗心远地自偏更将《庄子》游心与佛理境由心造融会，成为后世士大夫精神退隐的箴言。版本上此诗文字历来稳定，唯悠然见南山之见一作望，苏轼力辨见字之妙，今从见本。

Art

The entire poem is simple in language but rich in flavor. The structure moves from reasoning to scene to enlightenment. The first four lines establish the argument through a question and answer. The middle four lines sketch scenes of picking chrysanthemums, seeing the mountain, mountain air, and returning birds, especially the character 'see' (见) expressing the wonder of unintended encounter. The last two lines close with 'true meaning forgotten in words,' leaving infinite aftertaste. It exemplifies Tao's style of 'simplicity revealing truth.'

全诗十句，章法由理入景、由景入悟，意脉如行云流水而浑然无迹。前四句立论，以问答破结庐人境与而无车马喧的表面矛盾：起二句先设反差——人居闹市却无尘嚣，似不可解；三四句以设问作答，点出心远二字为全诗眼目，将地理之偏远转为人心的超越，理趣盎然而不堕玄虚。五六句由理入景，是千古名句：诗人于东篱采菊，不经意抬头，南山悠然入目，见字妙在无心、不期，物我于瞬间接通；一个悠字写出情态的闲适与时间的舒缓。七八句承南山而写暮景，山岚日暮、飞鸟知还，暗喻万物各有归止。末二句由景入悟，用《庄子》得意忘言之旨，谓此中真意不可言说，归于静默。修辞上全诗语言平淡自然，不事雕琢，多用白描与口语（如问君何能尔近乎对话），却意境醇厚；对仗仅结庐对而无、采菊对悠然等自然成趣，不作刻意骈偶；以心远绾合内外、南山沟通景物与哲理，体现了陶诗外枯而中膏、似淡而实美的艺术辩证法。通篇无丽词、无愤语，于平淡中见至味，正是风雅之极致。

Allusions

'Mind detached makes place remote' derives from the Buddhist and Daoist idea that a pure mind makes pure land. 'Picking chrysanthemums' alludes to the Double Ninth Festival and the tradition of hermits taking chrysanthemums for longevity. The concluding line quotes Zhuangzi's 'Words are for meaning; once meaning is grasped, words are forgotten,' using silence to convey deep meaning.

此诗用典极淡，多化用于《庄子》与《楚辞》而归于自然，不落玄言诗堆垛故实的窠臼。其一为真意与忘言，直承《庄子·外物》言者所以在意，得意而忘言之说，以及《庄子·齐物论》的葆光之旨——陶渊明以欲辨已忘言写得意忘言之境，暗合魏晋玄学言意之辨，又不同于孙绰、许询玄言诗的枯燥说理，而是以田园实景托出，理在景中。其二为飞鸟相与还的归鸟意象，渊源自《楚辞·离骚》的远游与《古诗十九首》胡马依北风、越鸟巢南枝的思归，更直接呼应陶诗自身羁鸟恋旧林（归园田居）的回归母题——飞鸟知还，正是诗人弃官归隐的心理投射。其三为心远地自偏的心远，化用《庄子·大宗师》游心于淡与佛家境随心转之理，将空间之偏远归为心境之超越，与庐山慧远心净则佛土净的禅理遥通。其四为南山的指涉，或以为即庐山（渊明柴桑故居近庐山），亦含寿考、隐逸之象征（如《诗经·小雅·天保》如南山之寿）；后世采菊东篱更成为隐逸文化的符号。其五为车马喧的车马，汉乐府与古诗中每以车马指代功名奔竞（如车马如流水），此诗以无车马喧反写谢绝官场往来。版本异文上，见与望之争最著：苏轼《题渊明饮酒诗后》力主见字，以为因采菊而见山，境与意会，此句最有妙处，今从之。

Commentary

Su Shi highly praised the couplet about picking chrysanthemums and seeing the mountain, saying 'because picking chrysanthemums one sees the mountain, scene and mind meet, this line has the greatest subtlety.' Wang Shizhen from Qing declared it the ancestor of the 'leisurely' school of poetry. Both regard the word 'see' as the definitive expression of unintended encounter.

此诗自宋代起即被奉为隐逸诗之极致，历代评点不绝。南朝钟嵘《诗品》将陶渊明列为隐逸诗人之宗，虽未专评此篇，已定其基调。唐代王维、孟浩然、韦应物、柳宗元皆承其田园一脉。至宋，苏轼极推渊明，先后和陶诗一百余首，其《题陶渊明饮酒诗后》专辨见望之优劣，以为见字得神行之妙，此评几成定论。朱熹谓渊明诗所以为高，正在不待安排，胸次自然，正合悠然之境。明代许学夷《诗源辩体》称陶诗愈淡愈浓，愈近愈远；清代沈德潜《说诗晬语》谓陶诗胸次浩然，其中有一段渊深朴茂不可到处。近人王国维《人间词话》以无我之境论此诗采菊东篱下，悠然见南山，以为无我之境，以物观物，故不知何者为我、何者为物，将见南山视为物我两忘、与自然冥合的典范，影响极为深远。此诗的传播史，实即中国士大夫精神退隐理想的缩影：自六朝门阀倾轧、唐宋党争至明清易代，无数士人于困顿中借心远地自偏安顿身心。现代教育中，此诗入选各版语文教材，采菊东篱下成为国民级名句。其经典地位，在于以最平淡的语言凝固了中国人关于隐的最高哲学——不必远避深山，心远即是桃源。

Prosody

Form Five-character ancient poem (from Tao Yuanming's 'Drinking Wine' series No.5)五言古诗（古体诗，非近体律绝）

Rhyme Rhymes in level-tone xian/shan category: 喧, 偏, 山, 还, 言 - same rhyme throughout全诗十句，押平声韵，喧、偏、山、还、言古音相近，属先、删、寒诸韵通押，一韵到底，不换韵；韵脚疏朗悠长，与全诗闲适从容的情调相协。

Tone pattern Five-character ancient form, natural flow, unpolished, with a natural rhythm of two-two pause古体诗不受近体平仄黏对之拘，以意驭声、以气运句。五言句式自然顿挫，不避重复用字（如两心、两无、两自），求其气韵流畅而非格律精严；诵读时当于结庐、问君、采菊、悠然等处稍作停顿，以见从容之致。

Reading note The progression 'mind detached—see—true meaning' is a natural thread, a model of Tao's 'plainness with profound flavor,' deeply influencing Tang landscape pastoral poetry.此诗为五言古体，与唐代成熟的律绝不同：它不讲究对仗的工稳与平仄的黏合，而追求气韵的自然流转与意脉的浑成。十句之中，前四句以问答立理，中四句以景显理，末二句以悟收束，章法虽分明却无斧凿痕，正合古体诗贵在气象不贵在绳墨的审美。韵脚选用平声先删寒韵，开口舒缓、余味悠长，恰配悠然闲远之境；一韵到底不换，更显心境的安定专一，与那些转韵酬唱、情绪起伏的乐府歌行形成对照。句式上多用虚字（而、何、自、已）与口语（问君何能尔近乎对话），使议论不枯燥、写景不滞重。这种以古淡之体写至深之理、以闲常之事见高远之境的格律取向，正是陶渊明区别于颜延之、谢灵运等同时代诗人的根本处——他不以声律辞藻胜，而以风神气韵胜，开后世平淡诗美之宗。

Line by line

问君何能尔？心远地自偏。

You ask how this can be? With heart distant, place becomes remote. A self-question and answer: 'heart distant' is the eye of the whole poem, revealing the true essence of reclusion.

若问如何能够如此？只因心志高远，所处之地自然偏远。

If you ask how one comes to this—the heart standing far away, and the place of itself growing secluded.

这两句承接前两句结庐在人境、而无车马喧所设之疑，以设问自答，是全诗由景入理的枢纽。问君何能尔之尔指代前文人居闹市却无尘嚣的反常现象，看似矛盾；心远地自偏则点破根由——关键不在所处之地是否真的偏远，而在心境是否超脱。心远二字为全诗诗眼：它将物理空间之偏（地理上的幽僻）翻转为人心的超越（精神上的退隐），于是结庐人境而能无车马喧便不再矛盾。这一转语深得《庄子》游心之旨与佛家境由心造之理，却又以口语化的设问出之，亲切自然而不堕玄虚。自魏晋以来，士大夫每以隐居避世为高尚，渊明却说不必避世，只要心能远俗，闹市亦是桃源，这便把隐逸从形迹提升到精神层面，对后世影响至巨。一个自字见出因果之必然，语气笃定，毫无勉强，正见诗人归隐多年后心境的圆融与自信。

These lines answer the doubt raised by the opening, 'my cottage stands among men, yet there is no noise of carriages,' through a question and self-answer, the hinge where the poem passes from scene to principle. 'So' refers to the seeming paradox of living in the market yet hearing no turmoil; 'when the heart is far away' reveals the cause: the key is not whether the place is physically remote but whether the mind is detached. The words 'the heart is far away' are the poem's eye, flipping physical seclusion into spiritual withdrawal, so that dwelling among men yet hearing no traffic ceases to be a contradiction. The turn draws on Zhuangzi's wandering mind and the Buddhist principle that the world is made by mind, yet it is spoken in colloquial question form, intimate rather than abstract. Where earlier gentlemen thought withdrawal meant fleeing the world, Tao says one need only keep the heart far from vulgarity—the busy street is itself Peach Spring—raising reclusion from outward act to inner state.

采菊东篱下，悠然见南山。

Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, I leisurely see the southern mountain. The character 'see' is excellent, unintentional encounter, carefree, unity of self and nature, a timeless line.

在东篱之下采撷菊花，悠然间不经意望见了南山。

Beneath the eastern hedge I pluck the chrysanthemums, and in my unhurried ease I look up and see the southern hill.

这是全诗最负盛名的千古名句，也是陶渊明田园诗美学的化身。采菊东篱下写的是极平常的劳作片段——诗人在宅边东篱下采摘菊花，毫无刻意；悠然见南山则于不经意间抬头，远处的南山悠然映入眼帘。此句之妙全在一个见字：它是无心之遇，而非有意之望，诗人与自然在一瞬间接通，物我两忘。若作望字，便成了诗人主动去寻山，机心毕露，神韵尽失，故苏轼力辨见字之佳。悠然一词双关，既写诗人情态之闲适舒缓，亦写南山自在之姿，主客交融。菊在传统文化中象征隐逸与高洁（陶渊明爱菊，后世奉为九月花神），南山则含寿考与静穆之意；采菊而见南山，暗合诗人对久长、宁静生命的向往。这一句没有任何雕饰，却以最淡的笔触写尽了天人合一的至境，故王国维以无我之境许之，以为不知何者为我、何者为物。

This is the poem's most famous couplet and the very incarnation of Tao's pastoral aesthetics. 'Beneath the eastern hedge I pluck the chrysanthemums' is the most ordinary labor, utterly unstudied; 'in my unhurried ease I see the southern hill' is an unintended glance upward, the mountain entering the view by itself. The art lies entirely in the word 'see': it is an unplanned encounter, not a deliberate search, and in an instant poet and nature connect, self and world forgotten. Had it been 'look for,' the poet would be actively hunting the mountain, calculation laid bare and spirit lost—why Su Shi insisted on 'see.' 'Unhurried' cuts two ways, the poet's leisurely mood and the mountain's own composure, subject and object merged. The chrysanthemum symbolizes reclusion and purity, the southern hill quiet longevity; plucking flowers and glimpsing the hill quietly names the poet's longing for a long, still life. Without ornament, the faintest brushwork renders the highest realm of heaven and man as one—why Wang Guowei named it the 'realm without self,' where one cannot tell which is the poet and which the thing.

此中有真意，欲辨已忘言。

In this there is true meaning; I want to tell, but have forgotten words. Alluding to Zhuangzi's 'words forgotten after meaning grasped,' closes with philosophy, lingering charm.

这中间自有真切的意趣，想要辨明，却已忘了该用怎样的言语。

In all this there is a true meaning; when I would spell it out, I have forgotten the words.

这两句由前文所写之景收束为悟，是全诗的哲学落点。此中指代前文结庐人境、采菊见山、飞鸟知还的整个生活与景象，真意指自然与人心中本然的、不假雕饰的意趣与天理。欲辨已忘言则化用《庄子·外物》得意而忘言之意——诗人想要把这份真意辨析言说，却发现一旦落入语言便已非真意本身，于是索性沉默。这并非失语，而是一种更高的完成：真意不可说、不必说，只可于悠然一瞥中默会。与前面心远地自偏的理、采菊见南山的景相呼应，全诗完成了景—理—悟的升华。值得注意的是，渊明此处并不像玄言诗人那样高谈道体，而是从采菊、见山这样具体的生活细节中自然引出忘言，显得真切而不空疏。这种将哲理融化于日常、以不言为至言的写法，正是陶渊明高出魏晋玄言诗、开启唐宋理趣诗的关键所在，对王维、苏轼一脉的禅意诗学影响深远。

These closing lines gather the foregoing scenes into an awakening, the poem's philosophical landing. 'Herein' refers to the whole life and vision—the cottage among men, the flowers, the hill, the returning birds; 'true meaning' means the unadorned delight and natural principle inherent in nature and the human heart. 'I would spell it out, I have forgotten the words' adapts Zhuangzi's 'grasp the idea and forget the words': the poet wants to articulate the meaning but finds that once it enters language it is no longer the meaning itself, and so falls silent. This is not aphasia but a higher completion: the true meaning cannot be spoken, need not be spoken, and may only be grasped in that unhurried glance. Answering the principle of 'the heart is far away' and the scene of 'plucking flowers and seeing the hill,' the poem completes a movement of scene, principle, and awakening. Notably, Tao does not lecture on the Way as the metaphysical poets did; he lets 'forgetting words' rise naturally from concrete acts of gathering flowers and seeing a hill, which is why his philosophy, melted into the everyday and taking silence as the highest speech, towers above Wei-Jin metaphysical verse and opens the way to the contemplative poetry of Wang Wei and Su Shi.

Study

Word focus

见 see (unintentionally) vs. look (intentionally) 悠然见南山之见字，是历来聚讼亦最见精微的一字，几可视为陶诗艺术生命的缩影。见即无意中看见、不期而遇，与望（主动去看）形成根本区别：望字是诗人有心寻山，机心未泯；见字则是采菊之际悠然抬头，南山自入眼帘，主客于不经意间冥合。苏轼在《题渊明饮酒诗后》中专门辨析，以为俗本作望南山则一片神行、不期而遇之趣索然，力主见字为长，此评遂成定论。这个字的深意在于它写出了物我关系的理想状态——不是人去占有、观照自然，而是自然主动与人相遇；诗人退到无言、无为的的位置，让景自己呈现。它与前句悠然相生：正因为心闲意缓，方能于无意中得见。后世王国维以无我之境论此，正以此见字为标本。一字之择，关乎全篇境界之高下，足见渊明炼字于平淡之中、不痕不迹的功力，亦可见好诗往往成败系于一字。

心远 mind detached; inner distance from worldliness 心远地自偏之心远二字，是此诗的灵魂与诗眼，亦是陶渊明对中国隐逸文化最深刻的贡献。远在此不是空间距离的远，而是精神对世俗荣利、喧阗的疏离与超越；心远即心不为外物所役、不为尘网所牵。它的革命性在于：前人论隐，多强调形迹之隐——必入深山、必远人境，渊明却说只要心能远俗，则结庐人境亦可无车马喧，地之偏不偏全在心境，不在地理。这就把隐逸从避世的行为提升为安顿心灵的态度，使后世无数身处闹市、羁于职事而不得抽身的士人，也能在精神上求得一方桃源。心远上承《庄子》游心于淡、坐忘之旨，下启王维行到水穷处、坐看云起时的随遇而安，更与佛家境随心转相通。二字平易，却包蕴着化解人世纷扰的终极智慧，故能穿越千载，成为中国人面对困顿时的精神锚点。

悠然 leisurely; carefree 悠然见南山之悠然，是陶渊明诗中最能标识其人格与风格的关键词之一。悠本义为长远、闲适，然为词尾助成情态；悠然合言，写出一种舒缓、自在、无所牵绊的精神状态。在此句中，悠然既形容诗人采菊时从容不迫的闲适，也暗写南山自在静穆的姿容，主客同一份闲远，物我于此交融。它并非懒散，而是历经仕途挫折、决然归隐后所获得的内心安定——唯有心远于尘嚣，方能真悠然。与全诗理脉相扣：心远是原因，悠然是显现，见南山是结果，三者一气贯通。在陶诗语汇中，悠然（及悠、闲、淡）反复出现，构成其平淡自然美学的内核；后世评陶诗似淡实美、外枯中膏，正可于此一字中窥见——表面只是随口说出的闲适，底下却是整个生命抉择的沉静力量。