Listen to this article张海 行书：常建《题破山寺后禅院》
【释文】清晨入古寺，初日照高林。竹径通幽处，禅房花木深。山光悦鸟性，潭影空人心。万籁此皆寂，惟闻钟磬音。
【款识】右录常建诗一首，乙酉年张海书友石斋。
【注释】破山寺：即兴福寺，今江苏省常熟市北。万籁：一切声响。磬：和尚念经时敲的一种乐器。
【简析】
破山在今江苏常熟，寺指兴福寺，是南齐时郴州刺史倪德光施舍宅园改建的，到唐代已属古寺。诗中抒写清晨游寺后禅院的观感，笔调古朴，描写省净，兴象深微，意境浑融，艺术上相当完整，是盛唐山水诗中独具一格的名篇。
这首诗题咏的是佛寺禅院，抒发的是寄情山水的隐逸胸怀。诗人在清晨登破山，入兴福寺，旭日初升，光照山上树林。佛家称僧徒聚集的处所为“丛林”，所以“高林”兼有称颂禅院之意，在光照山林的景象中显露着礼赞佛宇之情。然后，诗人穿过寺中竹丛小路，走到幽深的后院，发现唱经礼佛的禅房就在后院花丛树林深处。这样幽静美妙的环境，使诗人惊叹，陶醉，忘情地欣赏起来。他举目望见寺后的青山焕发着日照的光彩，看见鸟儿自由自在地飞鸣欢唱；走到清清的水潭旁，只见天地和自己的身影在水中湛然空明，心中的尘世杂念顿时涤除。佛门即空门。佛家说，出家人禅定之后，“虽复饮食，而以禅悦为味”（《维摩经·方便品》），精神上极为纯净怡悦。此刻此景此情，诗人仿佛领悟到了空门禅悦的奥妙，摆脱尘世一切烦恼，象鸟儿那样自由自在，无忧无虑。似是大自然和人世间的所有其他声响都寂灭了，只有钟磬之音，这悠扬而宏亮的佛音引导人们进入纯净怡悦的境界。显然，诗人欣赏这禅院幽美绝世的居处，领略这空门忘情尘俗的意境，寄托自己遁世无闷的情怀。
这是一首律诗，但笔调有似古体，语言朴素，格律变通。它首联用流水对，而次联不对仗，是出于构思造意的需要。这首诗从唐代起就备受赞赏，主要由于它构思造意的优美，很有兴味。诗以题咏禅院而抒发隐逸情趣，从晨游山寺起而以赞美超脱作结，朴实地写景抒情，而意在言外。这种委婉含蓄的构思，恰如唐代殷璠评常建诗歌艺术特点所说：“建诗似初发通庄，却寻野径，百里之外，方归大道。所以其旨远，其兴僻，佳句辄来，唯论意表。”（《河岳英灵集》）精辟地指出常建诗的特点在于构思巧妙，善于引导读者在平易中入其胜境，然后体会诗的旨趣，而不以描摹和词藻惊人。因此，诗中佳句，往往好象突然出现在读者面前，令人惊叹。而其佳句，也如诗的构思一样，工于造意，妙在言外。宋代欧阳修十分喜爱“竹径”两句，说“欲效其语作一联，久不可得，乃知造意者为难工也”。后来他在青州一处山斋宿息，亲身体验到“竹径”两句所写的意境情趣，更想写出那样的诗句，却仍然“莫获一言”（见《题青州山斋》）。欧阳修的体会，生动说明了“竹径”两句的好处，不在描摹景物精美，令人如临其境，而在于能够唤起身经其境者的亲切回味，故云难在造意。同样，被殷璠誉为“警策”的“山光”两句，不仅造语警拔，寓意更为深长，旨在发人深思。正由于诗人着力于构思和造意，因此造语不求形似，而多含比兴，重在达意，引人入胜，耐人寻味。
盛唐山水诗大多歌咏隐逸情趣，都有一种优闲适意的情调，但各有独特风格和成就。常建这首诗是在优游中写会悟，具有盛唐山水诗的共通情调，但风格闲雅清警，艺术上与王维的高妙、孟浩然的平淡都不类同，确属独具一格。
另欣赏：刘艺
刘艺 草书：常建《题破山寺后禅院》
【款识】常建破山寺后禅院，刘艺。
【Simple Translation】
The temple refers to Xingfu Temple, which was converted from the residence and garden of Ni Deguang, the governor of Chenzhou in the Southern Qi Dynasty, and was already an ancient temple in the Tang Dynasty. The poem is a unique piece of landscape poetry in the Tang Dynasty.
This poem is about a Buddhist temple and a Zen garden, and it expresses the seclusion of love for the landscape. The poet climbs Mount Broken and enters Xingfu Temple in the early morning, when the sun rises and shines in the woods on the mountain. The Buddhist call the place where monks gather “jungle”, so “high forest” also means to praise the Zen temple, and in the scene of light shining on the mountain and forest, it shows the feelings of praising the Buddha. The poet then walks through the bamboo path in the temple to the deep backyard, where he finds the Zen room where the sutra is sung and the Buddhist rituals are deep in the flowering woods. Such a quiet and wonderful environment makes the poet amazed, enchanted, and forgetful to appreciate it. He saw the green hills behind the temple glowing with sunlight and the birds flying freely and singing; he walked to the clear pool of water and saw the heaven and earth and his own figure in the water, and his mind was cleansed of earthly distractions. Buddha’s door is the door of emptiness. Buddhists say that after meditation, monks “eat and drink again, but taste meditation and happiness” (Vimala Sutra – Convenient Products), and are extremely pure and happy in spirit. At this moment and in this situation, the poet seems to have realized the mystery of the meditation of the empty door, free from all the worries of the earthly world, free and carefree like a bird. It seems that all other sounds of nature and the human world are silenced, only the sound of chimes and bells, which leads people into the realm of purity and happiness. Obviously, the poet appreciates the beauty of this Zen garden and the peacefulness of its dwelling place.
This is a poem in rhythm, but the tone is like the ancient style, the language is simple and the metre is adaptable. The first couplet of the poem is in running water, while the second couplet is not in couplet, because of the need to create ideas. This poem has been highly appreciated since the Tang Dynasty, mainly because of its beautiful and interesting conception and meaning. The poem expresses the interest of seclusion by inscribing a Zen garden, and concludes with the praise of transcendence from a morning visit to a mountain temple, writing plainly about the scenery and expressing emotions, while the meaning is beyond words. This kind of euphemistic and subtle conception is just like what Yineven of the Tang Dynasty said about the artistic characteristics of Chang Jian’s poetry: “Jian’s poem is like a poem that was first developed in Tongzhuang, but sought a wild path, and returned to the main road only after a hundred miles. Therefore, his purpose is far away, and his rise is secluded, and the best lines come easily, only on the table of meaning.” （The poems of Chang Jian are characterized by their ingenious conception and their skill in guiding the reader to enter into the winning place in an easy way, and then to experience the meaning of the poem, without being astonishing by descriptions and words. As a result, the best lines in the poems often appear in front of the reader as if out of nowhere, which is amazing. And the best lines, like the idea of the poem, are also created in the idea and are wonderful beyond words. In the Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu loved the two lines of “Bamboo Path” and said, “I wanted to make a couplet following its words, but I couldn’t get it for a long time, so I realized that it was difficult to make a meaning. Later, he stayed in a mountain lodge in Qingzhou and experienced firsthand the mood and interest of the two lines of “Bamboo Path”, and wanted to write a poem like that, but still “could not get a word” (see “The Mountain Lodge in Qingzhou”). Ouyang Xiu’s experience vividly illustrates the benefit of the two lines “Bamboo Path”, not in the exquisite description of the scenery, which makes people feel like they are there, but in the ability to evoke the intimate memories of those who have been there, so the cloud is difficult to create meaning. Likewise, the two lines “Mountain Light”, which Yin has called “a warning strategy”, are not only a warning phrase, but also have a deeper meaning, aiming to inspire people to think deeply. Because the poet concentrated on conceptualization and creation of meaning, he did not seek for similarity in form, but mostly contained similes, and the emphasis was on conveying meaning, which was fascinating and intriguing.
Most of the landscape poems of the Sheng Tang Dynasty are about seclusion and relaxation, and all of them have a kind of leisurely and comfortable mood, but each has its own unique style and achievements. Chang Jian’s poem is written in the midst of a leisurely journey and has the common mood of the landscape poems of the Sheng Tang Dynasty, but the style is leisurely, elegant and alert, and is artistically different from Wang Wei’s subtlety and Meng Haoran’s blandness.
