张继的一生行迹（715-779）
张继（约715-约779），字懿孙，襄州（今湖北襄阳）人。天宝十二年进士，安史之乱中避地江南，大历间任盐铁判官。诗风清迥悲凉，长于羁旅抒怀，与刘长卿交好。《枫桥夜泊》以一诗不朽，为中国吟咏寒山寺的千古绝唱。
襄州（715） · 襄州少年
唐玄宗开元三年（715年）前后，张继出生于襄州（今湖北襄阳）。襄阳地当汉水之冲、南北要津，自古文武兼备，张继自幼受荆楚文化的滋养，性情疏朗而有侠气。
长安（753） · 长安登第
唐玄宗天宝十二年（753年），张继登进士第。他在长安应试期间，正值天宝盛世的尾声，朝政已由李林甫、杨国忠把持，暗流涌动，但表面犹存开元余辉。
苏州（756） · 江南避乱
唐肃宗至德元年（756年），安史之乱爆发，张继避地江南，途经苏州。他夜泊枫桥之下，听寒山寺钟声，写下《枫桥夜泊》，一诗不朽，使寒山寺名闻天下。
杭州（757） · 江南避乱
唐肃宗至德二年（757年）前后，张继自苏州沿运河南下至杭州。他在钱塘江畔暂歇，观潮赋诗，对江南的山水风物有了更深的体悟。
会稽（760） · 江南避乱
唐肃宗上元元年（760年）前后，张继游历会稽（今绍兴）。他在会稽凭吊兰亭遗迹、泛舟若耶溪，写下《会稽秋日奉酬陈明府》等诗，对越中山水情有独钟。
洪州（768） · 洪州盐铁
唐代宗大历三年（768年）前后，张继任洪州（今南昌）盐铁判官。他掌管江南西道盐铁赋税之政，虽为俗务，但有了稳定的俸禄，诗歌创作也进入新的阶段。
鄱阳（772） · 洪州盐铁
唐代宗大历七年（772年）前后，张继在洪州任上巡行鄱阳湖区域。鄱阳湖烟波浩渺，他在此写下多首描写湖山风物与羁旅之思的诗作，与刘长卿唱和。
洪州（终老）（779） · 晚岁飘零
唐代宗大历十四年（779年）前后，张继卒于洪州，享年约六十四岁。刘长卿作《哭张员外继》悼之，称其"世难愁归路，家贫缓葬期"，可见身后萧条。
The Life Journey of Zhang Ji, the Poet of Maple Bridge
Zhang Ji (c. 715-c. 779), courtesy name Yisun, was a native of Xiangzhou (present-day Xiangyang, Hubei). A jinshi of 753, he fled south during the An Lushan Rebellion and later served as Salt and Iron Commissioner in Hongzhou. His poetry is cool, desolate and steeped in the melancholy of travel; he was a close friend of Liu Changqing. One quatrain above all — 'Mooring by Maple Bridge at Night' — made the bell of Hanshan Temple ring through a thousand years of Chinese memory.
Timeline of the Journey
- 715 · 襄州 — Born in Xiangzhou on the Han River, nurtured by Chu culture — open-hearted, with a streak of the knight-errant.
- 753 · 长安 — Passed the jinshi at Chang'an in 753, in the last glow of Tianbao splendor before the storm broke.
- 756 · 苏州 — Fleeing the An Lushan Rebellion southward, he moored one night by Maple Bridge outside Suzhou; the temple bell at midnight became eternity in four lines.
- 757 · 杭州 — Continued down the canal to Hangzhou, watching the Qiantang tide and deepening his feeling for Jiangnan's rivers and hills.
- 760 · 会稽 — Traveled through Kuaiji (Shaoxing), paying homage at the Orchid Pavilion and boating on Ruoye Stream, writing for its magistrates.
- 768 · 洪州 — Appointed Salt and Iron Judge at Hongzhou (Nanchang), administering taxes with a settled salary that freed his art for new maturity.
- 772 · 鄱阳 — Inspected the Poyang Lake region, writing its misty expanses and exchanging verse with Liu Changqing.
- 779 · 洪州（终老） — Died at Hongzhou around sixty-four, so poor that his burial was delayed — as Liu Changqing mourned in his elegy.
One sleepless night at a riverside anchorage gave Zhang Ji immortality: 'The moon sets, crows cry, frost fills the sky; by Maple Bridge and Hanshan Temple, the midnight bell reaches my boat.' Grief, landscape and sound fused into perhaps the most beloved quatrain in the language.
