About the author: Su Shi (1037-1101), courtesy name Zizhan and Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan, Meizhou (now Meizhou, Sichuan) in the Northern Song Dynasty. He is a famous writer and one of the eight great writers of prose in Tang and Song Dynasties. He is knowledgeable and versatile, and has high attainments in calligraphy, painting, poetry, and prose. His calligraphy, together with Cai Xiang, Huang Tingjian and Mi Fu, is known as the "Four Calligraphy Masters of the Song Dynasty"; he is good at painting bamboo, wood and strange rocks, and he is also outstanding in painting theory and calligraphy theory. He is the literary leader after Ouyang Xiu in the Northern Song Dynasty. His prose is as famous as Ouyang Xiu; his poetry is as famous as Huang Tingjian; his poetry is majestic and bold in style. Instead of the elegance of his poetry, he is called "Su Xin" together with Xin Qiji in the Southern Song Dynasty, and he is the most bold and bold. Send a lyricist.
[Original text]
In the autumn of Renxu, in the seventh month, Su Zi and his guests went boating under Red Cliff. The breeze comes slowly and the water waves are calm. Lifting wine to the guests, reciting poems about the bright moon, and singing graceful chapters. After a while, the moon rose above the east mountain, wandering among the bullfights. White dew flows across the river, and the water reaches the sky. Even though a reed is like this, thousands of hectares are at a loss. The vastness is as if Feng Xu is riding the wind without knowing where it is going; the flutteringness is as if he is left alone in the world, becoming an immortal and ascending to immortality.
So they drank and had a lot of fun, and sang along to the boat. The song goes: "The osmanthus sticks are covered with orchid oars, hitting the sky is bright and tracing the stream of light. It is dim and vague, and I look forward to the beauty in the sky." There is a guest who plays the cave flute, and he sings along with it. His voice was whining, like resentment, admiration, weeping, and complaining; the lingering sound was lingering like a wisp. The lurking dragon dances in the secluded ravine, and the concubine weeps in the lonely boat.
Su Zi was stunned. He sat upright and asked the guest: "Why is this so?" The guest said: "The moon and stars are sparse, and the black magpie flies south. Isn't this a poem by Cao Mengde? Looking west to Xiakou , Looking east to Wuchang, the mountains and rivers are close to each other, and the sky is green. Isn't this what Meng De was trapped in Zhou Lang? The river is crossed and a poem is written, and the hero of the whole life is here; now he is safe! Kuang Wu and his son are fishing and woodcutting on the river, hanging out with fish and shrimps, and making friends with elk, riding a small boat, and sending wine to each other. Mayflies are flying in the sky, a drop in the ocean. I mourn for a moment in my life, and I envy the infiniteness of the Yangtze River. I carry the flying immortals to fly, and I don’t know how sudden they are, leaving them in the sad wind."
Su Zi said: "Do you know that the water is like the moon? Those who have passed away are like this, but they have not yet gone; those who are full and empty are like that, but there is no growth and decline. If you look at the changes in Gaijiang, then the world will be like this. Once we can't see it in a moment; from the perspective of its unchanging nature, things and I are endless, so why envy me? In the world, everything has its own owner, even if it is not my own, I can't take any of it. But the cool breeze on the river and the bright moon in the mountains can be heard by the ears and made into colors by the eyes. They can be taken from them without restraint and can be used inexhaustibly. This is what I and my son love. *Eat."
The guests smiled happily, washed their cups and drank more. The core of the food is gone, and the cups and plates are in a mess. The couple and their pillows were spread out in the boat, unaware of the whiteness of the east.
[Brief Notes and Introduction]
Renxu: Thousands of branches in the fifth year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty (1082).
Ji Wang: The sixteenth day of each month in the lunar calendar.
Chibi: Chibi in Huanggang, Hubei, together with Chibi in Jiayu, Hubei, is regarded as the historical site of the battlefield where Zhou Yu defeated 800,000 Cao Cao's troops.
Gen (zhǔ): please, let, say.
Gui Chu (zhào), orchid oar: the reputation of the oar.
Su (sù): Zhou Sui, going upstream.
Niao Niao (niǎo): slender, describing the long and graceful sound.
嫠女(lí): Widow.
怀(qiǎo) ran: unhappy.
Miao (liáo): connect, surround.
舳 (zhú): stern;
舻 (lú): bow.
酾(shī): pour.
槊(shuò): Spear.
叏(páo) Zun: a wine glass made of gourd.
Xuyu (yú): a moment. Hidden (zàng).
Dishes (yáo): meat dishes.
Zhenshe: sleep with stacked pillows.
Food: also means "appropriate", to enjoy together
This poem describes the dialogue between the host and the guest through boating on a moonlit night, drinking wine and composing poems, which is said from the mouth of the guest. The emotion of remembering the past and regretting the present can also be heard from Su Zi's words of unwavering feelings. The whole poem is profound in emotion and insightful in theory. It is indeed a masterpiece among poems. The lines in the poem are "like resentment, like admiration, like weeping, like weeping" and "the breeze on the river, the understanding in the mountains", etc. are often quoted today.