《兰亭序》
- 王羲之 - “天下第一行书”
永和九年,岁在癸丑,暮春之初,会于会稽山阴之兰亭,修禊事也。群贤毕至,少长咸集。此地有崇山峻岭,茂林修竹;又有清流激湍,映带左右,引以为流觞曲水。列坐其次,虽无丝竹管弦之盛,一觞一咏,亦足以畅叙幽情。是日也,天朗气清,惠风和畅,仰观宇宙之大,俯察品类之盛,所以游目骋怀,足以极视听之娱,信可乐也。
夫人之相与,俯仰一世,或取诸怀抱,晤言一室之内;或因寄所托,放浪形骸之外。虽取舍万殊,静躁不同,当其欣于所遇,暂得于己,快然自足,不知老之将至。及其所之既倦,情随事迁,感慨系之矣。向之所欣,俯仰之间,已为陈迹,犹不能不以之兴怀。况修短随化,终期于尽。古人云:死生亦大矣。岂不痛哉!
每览昔人兴感之由,若合一契,未尝不临文嗟悼,不能喻之于怀。固知一死生为虚诞,齐彭殇为妄作。后之视今,亦犹今之视昔。悲夫!故列叙时人,录其所述,虽世殊事异,所以兴怀其致一也。后之览者,亦将有感于斯文。
Orchid Pavilion Preface
Calligraphy by Wang Xizhi
In the ninth year of Yonghe, also designated as the year of Gui Chou, we gathered on the arrival of late spring at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin county, Huiji Prefecture for the Waterside Purification Festival. Talented and virtuous people, old
and young, all showed up. Here in sight were towering mountains and precipitous ridges, flourishing trees and slender bamboos. A clear and glistening brook was gurgling in gaiety on both sides of the pavilion. We channeled the water into a winding groove and floated the wine cup on it. Along the groove everyone was seated. With no accompaniment of strings or flutes, still we took pleasure in composing poems during wine drinking and merrily expressed our heart. It was a fair day. The air was refreshing and the breeze was smooth. The boundless universe on high and the vast varieties on earth were such to enjoy that one could feast his eyes and please his ears to the max. What a delight!
People gathered and scattered. Life is but a span. Some prefer face-to-face talk in private about their thoughts or ideals, whereas some allow themselves an abandoned life by giving themselves to external things that are to their liking. Despite the wide differences in people’s taste and temperament, the change in spirits is similar: when they’re delighted with what comes their way, their heart is full, yet they’re unaware that old age is drawing nearer and nearer; but when they become tired of what they used to like, their spirits begin to go high and low with the change of things, followed by mixed feelings. In the twinkling of an eye, the delight stales, for which one cannot but
sigh. Moreover, a man’s life, whether long or short, is predestined, and it will end in nothingness sooner or later. The ancients said, “it matters a lot to live or to die.”
Isn’t death a great sorrow?
Whenever the cause that made the ancients sigh coincides with mine, I cannot help lamenting over their stories, yet I can’t figure out my grief. I certainly know it’s absurd to identify life with death, and that so is to identify longevity with erality. Alas! People of tomorrow see as much from today as we do from yesterday.
Hence I have put down the names of all present at the Orchid Pavilion, as well as the poems they composed here. Though times will change and situations may differ, the spirits we share. Those who read this collection of poems in the future will also feel the vicissitude of life from my words.