岳阳楼记

《岳阳楼记》是一篇为重修岳阳楼写的记。北宋宋仁宗庆历四年（1044年），滕子京被贬至岳州。到任一年，滕子京就把岳州治理得政通人和，百废俱兴。庆历五年（1045年），滕子京重修岳阳楼，待楼修成，致书同年进士范仲淹（即《与范经略求记书》一文）写一篇《岳阳楼记》。滕子京和范仲淹同为被贬官员，时常向其抱怨自身的处境，范仲淹明白滕子京自贬谪到巴陵为知州后，常展露愤恨不平之气，欲劝勉之，正好滕子京来信求撰记，所以范仲淹在文中写道：“不以物喜，不以己悲”与“先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐”，自抒怀抱也规劝老友。

《岳阳楼记》写于庆历六年九月十五日（1046年10月17日），范仲淹在河南邓州担任知州时写的这篇散文，所以推测文章是在花洲书院，而非登上岳阳楼之时写就。不过，《岳阳楼记》能够成为传世名篇并非因为其对岳阳楼风景的描述，而是范仲淹借《岳阳楼记》一文抒发先忧后乐、忧国忧民的情怀。

欧阳修的散文《偃虹堤记》是继《岳阳楼记》的仿作。其文章开头即说：“有自岳阳至者，以滕侯之书，洞庭之图来告，曰愿有所记。”

评价

尹洙评价《岳阳楼记》是“传奇体”。

孙绪《沙溪集·无用闲谈》：“范文正公《岳阳楼记》，或谓其用赋体，殆未深考耳。此是学吕温《三堂记》，体制如出一轴。然《岳阳楼记》闳远超越，青出于蓝矣。夫以文正千载人物，而乃肯学吕温，亦见君子不以人废言之盛心也。”

Memorial to Yueyang Tower or On Yueyang Tower is a work of literary prose by Northern Song dynasty author and statesman Fan Zhongyan concerning the scenery as viewed from the titular Yueyang Tower, and the variable emotions it evokes in visitors. The work carries a political undertone, touching on topics of governance and civic duty important to Fan Zhongyan, then exiled after the failiure of the Qingli Reforms.

History

Memorial to Yueyang Tower was commissioned by Teng Zongliang, a friend of Fan Zhongyan's, to commemorate the completion of his restoration efforts. Exiled from the capital to Bailing Prefecture for misappropriation of government funds, Teng Zongliang spent a three years (from 1044 to 1047) as the governor of the prefecture, whereupon he enacted monetary policies which allowed the prefecture to acquire sufficient funds to restore the tower.

Several poems from the Tang and Song Dynasties were also inscribed on the renovated tower at the time.

Content

The work is 368 characters in length; the beginning and end speak of political matters, particularly those pertaining to the virtues of Teng Zongliang's governance, while the middle section remarks on the natural beauty of the area.

The beginning of the text concerns Teng Zijing's banishment from the capital after his misappropriation of government funds and his subsequent rectification of the governance of Bailing Prefecture (in modern day Yangzhou), and the restoration of the tower.

The second part extols the scenery of Dongting Lake; Fan Zhongyan remarks that visitors who come upon the tower during stormy days may be, should they be bitter or homesick, struck by melancholy, but that the same sight in pleasant spring weather may make visitors feel elation and delight.

The end of the text remarks, more abstractly, on the proper virtues of government officials, who should be concerned for the people and their sovereign over themselves. The famous saying "Be concerned before the world is, and be joyful after the world is joyful" (先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐) originated from Memorial to Yueyang Tower.