文质彬彬·每日好词语 | 境生象外

整理/李怡蒙 制图/李晗

　　境生象外

　　诗文中的审美意境往往在物象之外，需要鉴赏者领悟其中的精神之美。“境”指作品所创造的审美意境，“象”是作品中所呈现出的具体物象。诗歌由语言文字写成，所描写的都是物象，在这些具体的物象之外，能够形成整体的审美情境。唐代诗人刘禹锡首次提出这个命题，强调文字与物象是确切的，而审美情境却是微妙而难以言传的。在古典诗论意境说的形成过程中，“境生象外”是一个重要的发展阶段。

　　Aesthetic Conception Transcends Concrete Objects Described

　　The aesthetic conception evoked by a poem or prose transcends what a physical object denotes, and a reader needs to perceive and appreciate the beauty of such aesthetic conception. Jing here refers to an aesthetic conception created by a poem or prose, while xiang refers to the image of a concrete object portrayed in such writing. Composed of words, a poem describes individual objects through which it evokes a coherent poetic conception beyond the physical appearance of such objects. This proposition was first put forward by poet Liu Yuxi of the Tang Dynasty. He pointed out that words and images were concrete while aesthetic conceptions were abstract and subtle and therefore hard to describe. Liu's proposition, namely, aesthetic conception transcending concrete objects described, marked an important stage in the development of the theory of aesthetic conception in classical Chinese poetry.

　　引例 诗者文章之蕴耶？义得而言丧，故微而难能。境生于象外，故精而寡和。（刘禹锡《董氏武陵集纪》）（诗歌难道是高度凝练的文章吗？有文章的意蕴却不能用太多文字，所以非常隐微，很难写得非常好。诗的意境往往产生于所描写的物象之外，所以非常精妙，很少有人能欣赏而产生共鸣。）

　　Is poetry highly condensed prose? A poem can convey the same meaning of a prose without using many words. Therefore, poetry is implicit and subtle, an art that is hard to master. Poetic conception often transcends what is denoted by the objects described, therefore it is subtle and difficult to achieve. (Liu Yuxi: A Preface to Dong's Notes from Wuling)

　　来源：中国青年报

　　2026年11月11日 01版