滕王閣， 因王勃而不朽Wang Bo’s Literary Genius Elevates the Pavilion of Prince Teng to Fame

嚴(yán)夕寒

滕王閣位于江西省南昌市，是南昌市地標(biāo)性建筑。它與湖南岳陽樓、湖北黃鶴樓并稱為“江南三大名樓”。是什么原因使滕王閣名揚(yáng)中外呢？

Located in Nanchang in Jiangxi Province， thePavilion of Prince Teng stands as a prominentlandmark. Known as one of the “Three GreatTowers of Southern China”， it shares this honorwith the Yueyang Tower in Hunan Province andthe Yellow Crane Tower in Hubei Province. Butwhat precisely gives the Pavilion of Prince Tengrenowned fame， both locally and globally？

滕王閣始建于公元653 年（唐永徽四年），為唐太宗李世民的弟弟李元嬰所建。李元嬰曾在山東滕州任職，故被世人稱為“滕王”。后來李元嬰調(diào)至洪州（現(xiàn)江西南昌）任都督。在洪州生活了多年的李元嬰，因思念滕州，修建了這一建筑，并命名為“滕王閣”。

T he Pavilion of Prince Teng was first built in 653AD （the fourth year of the Yonghui calendar inthe Tang Dynasty） by Li Yuanying， the younger brotherof Emperor Taizong， Li Shimin. Li Yuanying spent hisearly years in Tengzhou， Shandong Province， earninghim the name “Prince Teng”. He was later appointedas the governor of Hongzhou （present-day Nanchang，Jiangxi）. As nostalgia for Tengzhou gripped him， hedecided to manifest his longing by constructing thetower and named it the “Pavilion of Prince Teng”.

公元675 年（唐上元二年），時(shí)任洪州都督的閻伯嶼重修了滕王閣，并在重陽節(jié)這天，在滕王閣大宴賓客，以此彰顯自己的功績(jī)。也就是在這一天，滕王閣的美名因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)人的出現(xiàn)而流傳千古。

Twenty years later， in 675 AD， the buildingwas refurbished under the helm of thenew governor， Yan Boyu. To commemoratethis event and flaunt his accomplishment，Yan threw a grand banquet at the Pavilionof Prince Teng on the Double Ninth Festival.This gathering would etch the pavilions namein history， all thanks to one individual.

那一天，一個(gè)身穿白衣、風(fēng)度翩翩的少年出現(xiàn)在了閻都督的宴席之上。他就是唐代著名詩(shī)人王勃。王勃自幼就是個(gè)天才，六歲時(shí)便能寫文章，且詩(shī)文構(gòu)思巧妙。16 歲因科舉及第而入朝為官。那一年，26 歲的王勃去探望遠(yuǎn)在交趾貶任縣令的父親，途經(jīng)洪州，因他的才氣在當(dāng)時(shí)已為不少人知曉，故被邀出席了滕王閣宴會(huì)。

On that day， a young man of unassuming eleganceand a plain white dressing came to Governor Yansbanquet. He was Wang Bo， an eminent poet of theTang Dynasty. Wang Bo was a child prodigy， penningarticles from the tender age of six and showcasing exceptionalpoetic talent. By the age of sixteen， he hadalready aced the imperial examination， earning himan official post. During that year， while still in his earlytwenties， he was en route to visit his father， an officialserving in the south. His burgeoning reputationpreceded him， leading to an invitation to the banquetat the Pavilion of Prince Teng.

宴會(huì)上，閻都督假意請(qǐng)?jiān)趫?chǎng)的才俊們即興為滕王閣作序文。其實(shí)在宴會(huì)開始之前，閻都督已經(jīng)讓自己的女婿準(zhǔn)備好了文章，想讓他在宴會(huì)上一展身手，博得盛名。在場(chǎng)的人基本都知道閻都督的用意，所以都推辭不寫。性情直率的王勃卻并不在乎這些，他站起身，接過紙筆，說“我來試試”。見此情形，閻都督面露尷尬，但也不好拒絕，只好點(diǎn)頭應(yīng)允，心中有氣又不好發(fā)作，于是便起身離開宴席，走進(jìn)里屋。他吩咐下人去看王勃到底寫了什么，隨時(shí)把內(nèi)容報(bào)告給他。

At the banquet， Governor Yan insincerely urged theassembled guests to spontaneously compose a tributefor the pavilion. In truth， he had already instructed hisson-in-law to prepare a piece beforehand， intendingto seize the spotlight and reap the fame. Sensing hisploy， many of the guests politely declined the challenge.However， the candid Wang Bo wasnt swayed bythese machinations. He stood up， picking up thepen and declaring， “Let me give it a try.” Despitethe embarrassment， Yan had no choice but toacquiesce， masking his annoyance by retreatinginto an inner chamber and ordering a servant toreport the content of Wang Bos writing to him.

當(dāng)下人來報(bào)“豫章故郡，洪都新府”時(shí)，閻都督不屑道：“哼，不過是老生常談罷了！”當(dāng)下人再報(bào)“星分翼軫，地接衡廬”時(shí)，閻都督沉默不語，隱隱感覺這小子好像有點(diǎn)水平。當(dāng)王勃寫到“落霞與孤鶩齊飛，秋水共長(zhǎng)天一色”， 下人再報(bào)時(shí)，閻都督忍不住贊嘆道：“此真天才，當(dāng)垂不朽！”

Upon hearing the first line， “Nanchang， the capitalof Yuzhang Commandery during the Han Dynasty， isnow the provincial center of Hongzhou，” Yan snorteddismissively， “Bah， just hackneyed old phrases.” Whenthe servant delivered the next verse， “It straddles theborder between the Ye and Zhen constellations andis located adjacent to Mount Heng and Mount Lu，”Yan fell silent， sensing the talent of the young man.However， it was the line， “The setting sun and thesolitary wild duck fly together， while the autumnwaters merge with the boundless sky”， that drew aninvoluntary exclamation from Yan， “Truly a genius，destined for immortality！”

滕王閣上，王勃文思滔滔不絕，一氣呵成，寫就千古絕唱《滕王閣序》，文驚四座。

As he sat in the pavilion， Wang Bos thoughtsflowed like a stream. He penned his immortal masterpiece“Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng” in asingle burst of creativity， leaving everyone awestruckby his talent.

《滕王閣序》開篇先介紹了滕王閣所處的地理位置， 接著遠(yuǎn)近結(jié)合對(duì)周邊環(huán)境進(jìn)行了描寫，寫出驚世名句“落霞與孤鶩齊飛，秋水共長(zhǎng)天一色”。隨后，王勃在文中表達(dá)了自己經(jīng)歷人生大起大落之后的感慨和自勉：雖時(shí)運(yùn)不齊，命途多舛，但仍然窮且益堅(jiān)，不墜青云之志。這番對(duì)人生和命途的感慨，使文章的立意更為深邃高遠(yuǎn)，由此造就了這“千古第一駢文”。

“Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng” starts bysketching the geographical location of the pavilion andthe surrounding milieu near and far. This gives birth tothe iconic verse， “The setting sun and the solitary wildduck fly together， while the autumn waters merge withthe boundless sky.” Furthermore， Wang Bo infuseshis reflections and self-motivation， born from hisown experience through lifes highs and lows. Despitethe buffets of fate and adverse circumstances， hisresolve stands firm， his ambitions undimmed. Theseintrospective musings on life and fate lend an extralayer of profundity to the piece， solidifying its status asa timeless classic.

《滕王閣序》全篇短短幾百字，用了40 多處典故，創(chuàng)造了20 多個(gè)成語，如“天高地迥”“萍水相逢”“時(shí)運(yùn)不濟(jì)”“命途多舛”等，幾乎每一個(gè)都沿用至今。令人驚嘆的是，這一不朽之作是年輕的王勃未經(jīng)事先相應(yīng)準(zhǔn)備，在當(dāng)堂構(gòu)思寫就的。此后千百年的歷史中，滕王閣便與王勃這個(gè)名字緊緊聯(lián)系在了一起。

Although in just a few hundred words， “Prefaceto the Pavilion of Prince Teng” weaves in over fortyallusions and gives birth to more than twenty idiomaticexpressions， such as “the sky is high and the earth isdistant”， “chance encounters”， “adverse circumstances”，and “a turbulent destiny”. Almost all these phrasesremain in use even today. What is truly remarkable isthat this piece of poetry sprung forth spontaneouslyfrom the young Wang Bos mind， all in a single creativeoutburst. Since then， the name of Wang Bo has becomeinextricably linked with the Pavilion of Prince Teng，resonating through millennia.

根據(jù)《新唐書》記載，上元三年八月，王勃省親返回渡南海時(shí)，不幸溺水，驚悸而亡。真是天妒英才！

Sadly， as mentioned in New Book of Tang， WangBo met a tragic end by drowning in the South Sea inAugust of the third year of Shangyuan calendar. It istruly disheartening to witness how the heavens oftenclaim individuals of remarkable talent prematurely.

王勃的生命雖然如驚鴻一般短暫，卻如夏花一樣絢爛。他就像一顆流星，在群星璀璨的盛唐一掠而過，但是他的光輝卻閃耀了千余年。王勃的《滕王閣序》使滕王閣名聲大噪，聲貫古今。在千年的歷史中，滕王閣飽經(jīng)滄桑，屢遭毀壞，但屢毀屢建，先后重建了29 次。如若沒有《滕王閣序》，滕王閣可能早就化為塵土淹沒在歷史長(zhǎng)河之中了。如今去滕王閣游玩，如果誰能完整背誦《滕王閣序》，就可以免去門票自由參觀，由此可見《滕王閣序》對(duì)于滕王閣的重要性。

Wang Bos life， though brief， is blazed withthe intensity of a sun-kissed bloom. Like ashooting star in the sky of the Tang Dynasty，his impact was felt far and wide and is stillrecognized today， even a thousand years later.His masterwork “Preface to the Pavilion ofPrince Teng” gave the pavilion a special placein history. The Pavilion of Prince Teng has seenmany changes over the years， being rebuilt 29times. But without the preface， it might havebeen forgotten long ago. Today， anyone whocan recite the preface is allowed to enter thepavilion for free， underscoring its enduringsignificance.

文以樓名，樓以文傳。原本沒有生命的建筑因文人墨客的驚鴻一筆，而被賦予了文化傳承的意義。除了滕王閣，岳陽樓因?yàn)榉吨傺偷摹对狸枠怯洝仿暶h(yuǎn)播，黃鶴樓也因?yàn)槔畎椎摹饵S鶴樓送孟浩然之廣陵》和崔顥的《黃鶴樓》聞名于世。這些千古名篇賦予了建筑生命，使之能夠抵擋歲月的摧殘；這些建筑也因?yàn)樵?shī)文的傳承而歷久彌新，讓中華文脈和建筑文化得以延續(xù)，生生不息。

Buildings gain their fame through thewords written about them. These words breathelife into their structures and transform theminto enduring symbols of cultural heritage. Justlike the Pavilion of Prince Teng， the YueyangTower has achieved global recognition thanksto Fan Zhongyans “Memorial to the YueyangTower”. The Yellow Crane Tower is famousfor Li Bais “Bidding Farewell at Yellow CraneTower to Meng Haoran to Guangling” and CuiHaos “The Yellow Crane Tower”. These literaryworks bring these buildings to life， helpingthem survive through the ages. Through thesheer power of poetry， these architecturalmarvels not only preserve but also revitalizethe Chinese cultural and architectural legacy，ensuring their perpetual prosperity.