It expresses the author's fear of wasting time, his desire to benefit the people and the country, his yearning for making contributions, and his indifferent view of life and death. This sentence comes from Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection".
Original text: Every time I look at the reasons for people's interest in the past, if they are combined into one, I will always sigh and mourn, which cannot be expressed in my heart. I know that death and rebirth are just illusions, and mourning for Qi Peng is an illusion. The future looks at the present, just as the present looks at the past, sad man! Therefore, I listed the people at that time and recorded what they said. Although the world is different and things are different, so the excitement is the same. Those who view it later will also feel the elegance.
Translation: Whenever I see the reasons for the sighs expressed by the predecessors, and the reasons are as consistent as a talisman, it is inevitable to sigh and mourn when reading the articles of the predecessors, and cannot understand it in my heart. I originally knew that the statement that equates life and death is untrue, and the statement that equates long life and short life is a fabrication. Future generations will look upon today's people just as today's people look upon their predecessors, which is sad.
So I wrote down the people who were present at the meeting one by one, and recorded the poems they composed. Even though times have changed and things are different, the reasons that trigger people's emotions and their thoughts and interests remain the same. Later generations of readers will also be moved by the poetry and prose of this gathering.
Extended information:
Creative background
On the third day of the third lunar month in the ninth year of Yonghe reign of Emperor Mu of Jin Dynasty (353 years), "I first crossed to Zhejiang with the final intention." "Wang Xizhi once held an elegant gathering with forty-one celebrities including Xie An and Sun Chuo at Lanting in Shanyin, Kuaiji.
Attendees composed poems on the spot, expressed their feelings, and copied them into a collection. Everyone recommended the convener of this gathering, the highly respected Wang Xizhi, to write a preface to record this gathering, which is the "Preface to the Lanting Collection" .
The article describes the scenery of Orchid Pavilion and the fun of Wang Xizhi and others gathering, and expresses the author's lament that great events do not come often and that "the shortcomings are modified and the end is over". The author is sometimes happy and sad, extremely happy and sad, and the article also changes from calm to agitated, and then from agitated to calm according to the changes of his emotions. It is full of the beauty of ups and downs, cadences and ups and downs, which is why "Preface to the Lanting Collection" has become a famous work.
The greater achievement of "Preface to the Lanting Collection" lies in its calligraphy art. The breath of the whole text is light, ethereal, free and natural; the brushwork is charming and elegant; the technique is both peaceful and strange, with varying sizes. It shows careful arrangement of artistic craftsmanship without any trace of artificiality and carving, and is natural.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Preface to the Lanting Collection