不識廬山真面目Of Mountain Lu We Cannot Make Out the True Face

崔高浩

“不識廬山真面目”是一個(gè)漢語成語，形容“對客觀事物的認(rèn)識還不全面，沒有認(rèn)識到事物的真正本質(zhì)”，在日常表達(dá)中也用“廬山真面目”來表示事物的真相或某人本來的面目。

“Of Mountain Lu we cannot make out thetrue face” is a Chinese idiom used to describe “anincomplete state of understanding of an objectivephenomenon， with its true nature left unprobed”. Indaily speech， “the true face of Mountain Lu” is alsoused to connote the true nature of some thing orperson.

該成語出自宋代大文豪東坡居士蘇軾（1037—1101）所作的《題西林壁》一詩，后半句是“只緣身在此山中”。

The idiom is a line from the poem “Written on theWall at West Forest Temple” by the renowned SongDynasty poet Su Shi （1037–1101）， or Dongpo Jushi（Jushi being a moniker for learned scholars duringthose times）. The idiom is followed by another linein the poem： “For we are lost in the heart of the veryplace.”

《題西林壁》

橫看成嶺側(cè)成峰，

遠(yuǎn)近高低各不同。

不識廬山真面目，

只緣身在此山中。

Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple

Its a range viewed in face and peaks viewed from the side，

Assuming different shapes viewed from far and wide.

Of Mountain Lu we cannot make out the true face，

For we are lost in the heart of the very place.

這首詩是蘇軾在1084 年（北宋神宗元豐七年）游覽廬山后所作，題中的“西林”指的是位于廬山西側(cè)、名為西林寺的一座寺廟。當(dāng)時(shí)蘇軾受貶，改遷汝州團(tuán)練副使，前往汝州時(shí)途經(jīng)九江，與友人同游廬山，寫下了這首《題西林壁》。

This poem was written in the year of 1084， which is alsothe 7th year in the Yuanfeng calendar during the reign ofEmperor Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty. It wascomposed after Su Shis visit to Mountain Lu. The name “WestForest” was the name of a temple located at the western sideof the mountain. At that time， Su Shi was demoted and exiledto a post that only carried a nominal title in Ruzhou city. Onhis way there， he passed by Jiujiang city and visited MountainLu with friends. The poem was a result of that visit.

蘇軾吟詠的廬山是一座什么樣的山呢？廬山位于江西省，長約25千米，寬約10 千米，山體呈橢圓形。數(shù)十座山峰連綿不絕，似屏風(fēng)一般，主峰為海拔1 474 米的漢陽峰。周武王時(shí)期，名為匡俗（一說“匡裕”）的賢者隱居于此，朝廷聽聞后派人請他出山，但匡俗卻隱匿消失，只留下了他的空茅廬。因此，廬山被稱為“有廬舍之山”。從古至今，無數(shù)文人墨客、藝術(shù)家等各界名士前來參觀，得道高僧和著名道士也在此修行。無論在哪個(gè)朝代，廬山都是一座充滿了濃厚文化氛圍和雅趣的名山。

What is the real Mountain Lu like then？ It is located inJiangxi Province， with a breadth of 25 km and width of 10km， in the shape of an ellipse. Consisting of a span of tensof mountains， it stands there like a folding screen， of whichthe main one， Mount Hanyang， climbs as high as up to 1，474meters. During the reign of King Wu of Zhou Dynasty， ahermit sage named Kuang Su （or Kuang Yu） lived in thisarea. The Zhou court heard of his whereabouts and sent forhim. However， Kuang Su disappeared， leaving behind only

an empty cottage. As such， Mountain Lu is called a“mountain with Lu cottages”. Across different historicalperiods， many literati and artists paid their visits here，including reputed Buddhist monks and Taoist priests.At any given dynasty， Mountain Lu was praised as asymbol of strong cultural character and refined taste.

廬山山勢雄偉、山清水秀、風(fēng)光旖旎（yǐ nǐ）、三面臨江，由于周圍都與江水相接，故山上常年云霧彌漫，人們很難看清楚它的真實(shí)面貌。

Mountain Lu is known for its magnificent height，enchanting scenery and mesmerizing view. As its footstretches into the adjacent river in three directions， itsmountain top is surrounded by clouds and fogs， thusgiving people a hard time to glimpse a clear view of itsfull geological features.

蘇軾的《題西林壁》，用平易凝練的語句描繪了廬山。其中“不識廬山真面目”將哲學(xué)道理寓于詩中，后來成了一個(gè)大家熟知的成語，越是反復(fù)咀嚼（ jǔ jué），越給人以深刻啟發(fā)。

Su Shis poem “Written on the Wall at West ForestTemple” depicts Mountain Lu in a plain and simplelanguage. The third line “Of Mountain Lu we cannotmake out the true face” embeds a philosophical thesisand later on develops into a common idiom known byeveryone. The more one chews on this line， the moreinspired one is to become.

我們常說“人在森林深處，就無法看清整片森林”。比如，下象棋或圍棋時(shí)，在一旁觀看的人比下棋的人更容易看清棋局。這也就是中文里所說的“當(dāng)局者迷，旁觀者清”了。作為當(dāng)事者，我們有時(shí)很難全面、客觀、多角度地去看待一件事。

As a common saying goes， you “cant see the forestfor the trees”. For instance， when you are playing chessor Go， the ones who stand aside the actual players aremore at an advantage to grasp the whole situation.In Chinese， we have a corresponding saying： “Thoseinvolved in the matter are easily blinded to the truth，and those not involved can see things clearly.” If wehappen to be directly involved in a situation， it is?at times difficult to approach it comprehensively，objectively and multifariously.

游覽在霧氣氤氳（yīn yūn） 的廬山，隨著腳步前行，各不相同的山脈、山峰和名勝都在變化，而且被霧氣籠罩的山勢也朦朧不清。有人認(rèn)為，廬山只有像屏風(fēng)一樣延綿不絕的山峰；有人認(rèn)為，大瀑布就是廬山的全部；還有人認(rèn)為，在高峰上觀賞到的云霧才是廬山真正的面目。若想一睹廬山的真面目，就要從霧氣籠罩的山中走出來，既要往前看，也要往側(cè)看，或許只有這樣才能勉強(qiáng)看到廬山的真容。假設(shè)用“橫看”和“側(cè)看”比喻視角，用“霧”比作主觀和先入之見，那么要像撥開山中籠罩的濃霧一樣來擺脫主觀和成見，既“橫看”又“側(cè)看”，并從各個(gè)角度客觀地看待不同的情況和問題，才能看到它們的真實(shí)面目。

As one treks through the cloudy and foggymountain range， every climb to a peak introducesa changing view of interest， adding another layermeaning to the mountains ambiguous ambience. Somepeople believe Mountain Lu is all about the sprawlingmountain range that stands like a folding screen; somepeople believe the giant waterfall is the true essence ofthe mountain; other people believe the clouds and fogsas one gets climbing up the peaks are the true face ofMountain Lu. However， if one truly wants to get a fullview of this giant， they have to walk out of the cloudymountain roads and divert their vision both forwardsand sideways. Only in such a way can one manage toget a rough glimpse of its true face. If we see lookingforwards and sideways as metaphors for perspective，the fog then represents ones pre-conceived notion ofthings. What is needed therefore is for us to dispel ourpreexisting biases when looking at things， the sameway one would walk out the fog to see Mountain Lu.To grasp the true nature of various circumstances andproblems， we need to retain both forward and sidewayperspectives to ensure that we can approach them in amultifarious and objective way.