The meaning and moral of the preface to the Lanting Pavilion is to describe the beauty of the landscape around the Lanting Pavilion and the joy of the party, and express the author's feelings about the impermanence of life and death.
Part of the original text:
Yonghe was nine years old and was in Guichou. At the beginning of the spring, he would be in Lanting, which is located in the mountains of Huiji. A group of wise men never fails to arrive, but a few are long and salty. Here, there are mountains, lush forests and bamboo trees, as well as clear currents and turbulent currents, which reflect the left and right. Take it for granted that the water is flowing, and the row is second. Although it is not as prosperous as the string of silk and bamboo, it is enough to talk about love.
it's a sunny day, with clear air and pleasant weather. Looking up at the size of the universe and overlooking the richness of categories, it is enough to be extremely entertaining and believe in cola.
related translation:
In the ninth year of Yonghe, in the first ten days of March, we will gather in Lanting, Shanyin City, Huiji County, in order to do things. Many talented people gather here, old and young. Lanting has high peaks, lush forests and tall bamboos. There is also a clear and swift stream that shines around the pavilion.
We drew the stream as meandering water, and sat next to it in rows. Although there was no grand occasion to play music, drinking some wine and writing some poems was enough to describe the deep and hidden feelings.
on this day, the weather is clear, the air is fresh and the wind is warm. It is really happy to look up at the vastness of the universe and look down at many things on the earth to broaden your eyes and broaden your mind.
Notes and appreciation of the preface to Lanting:
Notes:
(1) Yonghe: the year number of Sima Dan, the emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, from 345 to 356 ***12 years. In the ninth year of Yonghe, there were 41 people, including Wang Xizhi, Xie An and Sun Chuo. Wang Xizhi wrote this preface to sum up his works after holding a ceremony and drinking and composing poems.
(2) Late spring: March in the lunar calendar. Evening, evening.
(3) meeting: assembly.
(4) kuài jī: County name, now Shaoxing, Zhejiang.
(5) Shanyin: Yuecheng District of Shaoxing today.
(6) the ceremony is also (for doing) the ceremony. According to the ancient custom, on the fourth day of the first three months of the lunar calendar (March 3 after Wei Dynasty), people gathered at the waterfront to play and wash their hands, so as to eliminate the ominous and seek happiness. In fact, this is a kind of spring outing of the ancients.
Appreciation:
This preface is simple and elegant, and has a profound charm, which prominently represents Wang Xizhi's prose style. And its words are exquisite and catchy. It is a masterpiece of ancient parallel prose. Preface to Lanting Collection has its strong points in several aspects of parallel prose. Syntactically, the antithesis is neat, the sentence meaning is arranged in parallel, the two are opposite, the phonology is harmonious, there is no trace of axe chisel, and the language is fresh, simple and natural.