Biography

Jia Dao was born near modern Beijing; after a period as a Buddhist monk, he went to Chang'an. He became one of Han Yu's disciples, but failed the jinshi exam several times. He wrote both discursive gushi and lyric jintishi. His works were criticised as "thin" by Su Shi, and some other commentators have considered them limited and artificial.

According to Dr. James J.Y. Liu (1926–1986), a professor of Chinese and comparative literature, Jia's poem "The Swordsman" "seems...to sum up the spirit of knight errantry in four lines." "The Swordsman" reads in Liu's translation as follows:

:For ten years I have been polishing this sword;

:Its frosty edge has never been put to the test.

:Now I am holding it and showing it to you, sir:

:Is there anyone suffering from injustice?

A metric translation of the original Chinese poem with one iamb per Chinese character reads as follows:

:A decade long I honed a single sword,

:Its steel-cold blade still yet to test its song.

:Today I hold it out to you, my lord,

:and ask: "Who seeks deliverance from a wrong?"

生平

賈島貧寒，曾經做過和尚，法號無本。元和五年（810年）冬，至長安，見張籍。據說在洛陽的時候後因當時有命令禁止和尚午後外出，賈島做詩發牢騷，被韓愈發現其才華。後受教于韓愈，並還俗參加科舉，但累舉不中第。元和十四年（819年），韓愈抵潮州（今廣東潮州），致信賈島，賈島作《寄韓潮州愈》詩給韓愈。長慶二年（822年）舉進士，以「僻澀之才無所用」。唐文宗的時候被排擠，貶做長江主簿。唐武宗會昌年初由普州司倉參軍改任司戶，未任病逝。《新唐書》將賈島附名于《韓愈傳》之後。

評價

賈島是著名的「苦吟派」詩人，著名的典故「推敲」即出自此人。傳說他在驢背上苦思「鳥宿池邊樹，僧推月下門」兩句，反覆斟酌用推還是用敲字，以至錯入了韓愈的儀仗。後來人們將斟酌鍊字稱作「推敲」。他還曾為自己的《送無可上人》頷聯「獨行潭底影，數息樹邊身」寫了注釋，其中的「二句三年得，一吟雙淚流」道出作者吟詩的艱辛，後世亦有詩人受這兩句詩的影響。

賈島的代表作有〈尋隱者不遇〉：「松下問童子，言師採藥去；只在此山中，雲深不知處？」，他較為擅長五言律詩，意境多孤苦荒涼，趙紫芝、翁靈舒之輩，獨喜賈島、姚合之詩。姚合與賈島友善，後世合稱「姚賈」，並將二人之詩稱為「姚賈詩派」；又有一說，姚詩學賈。

司空圖說賈島：「賈浪仙誠有警句，視其全篇，意思殊餒，大抵附于蹇澀，方可致才，亦為體之不備也。」蘇軾在〈祭柳子玉文〉中提到：「元輕白俗，郊寒島瘦。」評價他和同時代的詩人孟郊，遂成千古定評。歐陽修譏其詩如「燒殺活和尚」。有《長江集》10卷，通行有《四部叢刊》影印明翻宋本。

賈島為僧無可兄，兩人詩歌均尚奇險。《劍客》辭云：「十年磨一劍，霜刃未曾試。今日把示君，誰有不平事？」竹林七賢之劉伶好酒，後人戲謔曰：「賈島醉來非假倒，劉伶飲盡不留零」。

注釋

參考

• 《全唐詩》賈島小傳

• 《全唐文》卷七六三蘇絳《賈司倉墓誌銘》

• 《新唐書》卷一七六

• 《唐才子傳》卷五

• 李嘉言：《賈島年譜》

• 賈島詩英譯書 : When I Find You Again, It Will Be in Mountains: The Selected Poems of Chia Tao by Mike O'Connor. Paperback, 160 pages. Published November 1st 2000 by Wisdom Publications

• 靜永健：〈賈島「推敲」考 〉。