常建的一生行迹（708-765）
常建（约708-765），长安（今陕西西安）人，一说邢台人。唐玄宗开元十五年与王昌龄同榜进士，曾任盱眙尉，仕途失意后放浪琴酒，往来终南太白、紫阁诸峰，后寓居鄂渚，与王昌龄等唱和隐居。其诗旨远兴僻，以《题破山寺后禅院》名垂千古，殷璠《河岳英灵集》列之为卷首。
长安（727） · 长安登第
唐玄宗开元十五年（727年），约二十岁的常建在长安进士及第，与后来名满天下的王昌龄同榜登科。此前一年他曾落第，滞留长安忍辱苦读，一朝题名，始偿夙愿。
盱眙（742） · 盱眙沉沦
唐玄宗天宝元年（742年）前后，及第多年的常建沉于下僚，出任盱眙县尉。盱眙地处淮水之滨、运河要冲，他泊舟淮水，值霜降之夜，水清月寒，羁旅之愁涌上心头。
终南山（745） · 终南高卧
唐玄宗天宝四载（745年）前后，不堪吏职的常建辞官归隐，放浪琴酒，往来于终南山的太白峰、紫阁峰之间，栖心林壑，颇有肥遁高卧之志。山中的云气松风，洗尽了他的宦情。
鄂渚（750） · 鄂渚归隐
唐玄宗天宝九载（750年）前后，常建南下游历，寓居鄂渚（今湖北武昌）西山。他与挚友王昌龄、诗人张偾在此同隐唱和，清溪孤云之间，诗酒相娱，获大名于当时。
京口（751） · 江南行吟
唐玄宗天宝十载（751年）前后，常建自鄂渚东下，漫游江南，途经长江与运河交汇的京口（今江苏镇江）。他于江上抚琴，琴声与月色江水相融，物我两忘。
虞山·破山寺（752） · 江南行吟
唐玄宗天宝十一载（752年）前后，常建游至常熟虞山，清晨入破山寺，穿行于曲径禅房、花木潭影之间，题诗于寺壁。此诗一出，万口传诵，成为唐诗中题咏寺观的第一名作。
渔浦（753） · 江南行吟
唐玄宗天宝十二载（753年）前后，常建继续南游，渡过钱塘江，行至浙东渔浦。春草池塘、沧浪钓翁的江南风物令他流连忘返，生出扁舟天际、独往沧浪之想。
鄂渚（终老）（765） · 鄂渚归隐
唐代宗永泰元年（765年）前后，漫游归来的常建终老于鄂渚隐居之所。他历经安史之乱的动荡，看尽人事代谢，晚年的诗篇愈发幽远清峭，带着对乱世的深沉感喟。
The Life Journey of Chang Jian, Hermit of the Mountain Temples
Chang Jian (c. 708-765), of Chang'an, passed the jinshi of 727 in the same class as Wang Changling. Sinking in the post of Xuyi defender, he gave himself to the qin and wine, wandering the peaks of the Zhongnan range and hermitting at Ezhu on the Yangzi. His 'Inscribed at Poshan Temple' is the most celebrated temple poem in the language; Yin Fan's River-Soul Anthology opens with him.
Timeline of the Journey
- 727 · 长安 — Passing the jinshi with Wang Changling after a failed year — 'my home still stands in Qin; I cannot bear to be the man who lost his way.'
- 742 · 盱眙 — Moored on the Huai at Xuyi in office he despised — frost-night, cold moon close to the wall, the traveller's ache.
- 745 · 终南山 — Resigning to the Zhongnan peaks — Taibai, Zige — wine and the qin among clouds, the world's dust washed away.
- 750 · 鄂渚 — Hermitting at Ezhu with Wang Changling — 'the clear stream is deep beyond sounding; above the hermitage, one lone cloud.'
- 751 · 京口 — On the river at Jingkou he played the jade qin — one string, one heart made clear; ten thousand trees gone still.
- 752 · 虞山 — Dawn in the ancient temple at Mount Yu — 'the winding path leads to seclusion; the chan cell deep in flowers and trees.'
- 753 · 渔浦 — South over the Qiantang to Yupu — spring grass, quiet water, and the wish of a lone skiff to the horizon.
- 765 · 鄂渚 — Having outlived the An Lushan years, he died in his Ezhu retreat — late poems ever more remote and clear.
'The mountain light delights the birds; the pool's shadow empties the heart.' One quatrain of Chang Jian's has consoled a thousand years of readers; no poet of the Tang entered silence more completely, or returned from it more surely.
