兰亭集序 Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems

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。 yǒng hé jiǔ nián, suì zài guǐ chǒu, mù chūn zhī chū, huì yú kuài jī shān yīn zhī lán tíng, xiū xì shì yě.
In the ninth year of Yonghe, the year guichou, at the start of late spring, we gathered at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji, to perform the purification rite.

群贤毕至，少长咸集。 qún xián bì zhì, shào zhǎng xián jí.
All the worthy men arrived; young and old gathered together.

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。 cǐ dì yǒu chóng shān jùn lǐng, mào lín xiū zhú, yòu yǒu qīng liú jī tuān, yìng dài zuǒ yòu, yǐn yǐ wéi liú shāng qū shuǐ, liè zuò qí cì.
The place has high mountains and steep ridges, dense woods and tall bamboo, and a clear, rushing stream that gleams on either side; we drew its water into a winding channel to float the wine cups, and sat in a row along it.

虽无丝竹管弦之盛，一觞一咏，亦足以畅叙幽情。 suī wú sī zhú guǎn xián zhī shèng, yī shāng yī yǒng, yì zú yǐ chàng xù yōu qíng.
Though we had no grand music of strings and pipes, a cup of wine and a poem in turn were enough to let us speak freely of what lay deep within.

是日也，天朗气清，惠风和畅。 shì rì yě, tiān lǎng qì qīng, huì fēng hé chàng.
On that day the sky was bright and the air clear, and a gentle breeze blew soft and free.

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。 yǎng guān yǔ zhòu zhī dà, fǔ chá pǐn lèi zhī shèng, suǒ yǐ yóu mù chěng huái, zú yǐ jí shì tīng zhī yú, xìn kě lè yě.
Looking up, we took in the vastness of the universe; looking down, the abundance of living things. Letting the eye roam and the mind run free was enough to give eye and ear their fullest pleasure. It was truly a joy.

夫人之相与，俯仰一世。 fú rén zhī xiāng yǔ, fǔ yǎng yī shì.
People live together in this world, and a lifetime passes in the space of a bow and a lifted head.

或取诸怀抱，悟言一室之内；或因寄所托，放浪形骸之外。 huò qǔ zhū huái bào, wù yán yī shì zhī nèi; huò yīn jì suǒ tuō, fàng làng xíng hái zhī wài.
Some draw out what is in their hearts and talk face to face within a single room; some follow what they love and roam unrestrained beyond the body’s bounds.

虽趣舍万殊，静躁不同，当其欣于所遇，暂得于己，快然自足，曾不知老之将至； suī qǔ shě wàn shū, jìng zào bù tóng, dāng qí xīn yú suǒ yù, zàn dé yú jǐ, kuài rán zì zú, zēng bù zhī lǎo zhī jiāng zhì;
Though what they take up and what they set aside differ in a thousand ways, and the quiet differ from the restless, when each delights in what he meets and for a moment finds it his own, he is content and satisfied, and does not even notice that old age is coming;

及其所之既倦，情随事迁，感慨系之矣。 jí qí suǒ zhī jì juàn, qíng suí shì qiān, gǎn kǎi xì zhī yǐ.
then, once he tires of what he pursued, his feelings change with the changing things, and regret follows close behind.

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！ xiàng zhī suǒ xīn, fǔ yǎng zhī jiān, yǐ wéi chén jì, yóu bù néng bù yǐ zhī xīng huái, kuàng xiū duǎn suí huà, zhōng qī yú jìn!
What delighted us a moment ago has, between a glance down and a glance up, already become a thing of the past, and still we cannot help being moved by it; how much more so when a life, long or short, follows the course of nature and must end at last!

古人云：“死生亦大矣。”岂不痛哉！ gǔ rén yún: “sǐ shēng yì dà yǐ.” qǐ bù tòng zāi!
The ancients said, “Death and life are great matters indeed.” How can it not be painful!

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。 měi lǎn xī rén xīng gǎn zhī yóu, ruò hé yī qì, wèi cháng bù lín wén jiē dào, bù néng yù zhī yú huái.
Whenever I read what moved the people of the past, their reasons match mine like the two halves of a tally; I never read them without sighing in grief, and I cannot explain it to myself.

固知一死生为虚诞，齐彭殇为妄作。 gù zhī yī sǐ shēng wéi xū dàn, qí péng shāng wéi wàng zuò.
So I know that to treat death and life as one is empty talk, and to make the long-lived Peng equal to a child who died young is a reckless claim.

后之视今，亦犹今之视昔，悲夫！ hòu zhī shì jīn, yì yóu jīn zhī shì xī, bēi fú!
Those who come after will look at us as we look at those before us. How sad!

故列叙时人，录其所述，虽世殊事异，所以兴怀，其致一也。 gù liè xù shí rén, lù qí suǒ shù, suī shì shū shì yì, suǒ yǐ xīng huái, qí zhì yī yě.
So I set down the names of those present and record what they wrote. Ages differ and events differ, but what stirs the heart is the same.

后之览者，亦将有感于斯文。 hòu zhī lǎn zhě, yì jiāng yǒu gǎn yú sī wén.
Readers in times to come will also be moved by these writings.