Ask Xie Anshi in Preface to Lanting Collection: Celebrate the festive season together. Whole poem translation

In the ninth year of Yonghe, in early March, we gathered in Huiji and Lanting to do business. Many talented people gather here, young and old. Lanting Group has towering peaks, lush trees and tall bamboo forests. There is also a clear and swift stream (like a green ribbon) around the pavilion, which draws water for the flow and sits next to it. Although there is no grand occasion of playing music, drinking some wine and writing some poems is enough to describe that hidden feeling. On this day, the weather is fine, the air is fresh and the weather is sunny. Looking up at the vastness of the universe and overlooking the diversity of everything on earth is really a very happy thing, which can broaden our horizons and broaden our minds. The communication between people quickly runs through life, and some people talk about their ambitions indoors. Some people rely on what they like, pin their feelings on it, and live freely. Although they have their own hobbies, quietness and restlessness are different. When they are happy with what they touch, they will be complacent, happy and satisfied for a while. They don't know that aging is coming. When you are tired of what you get or love, your feelings will change with things, and so will your feelings. What I used to like, in an instant, has become an old trace, but I can't help but feel the feelings in my heart because of it. Besides, if I obey nature, I will die eventually! The ancients said, "Life and death are important things after all." How can it not make people sad? Whenever I see the reasons for the feelings of my predecessors, the reasons are consistent, and it is inevitable that I will feel sad and incomprehensible when reading the articles of my predecessors. It turns out that it is wrong to equate life and death, and it is wrong to equate longevity and short life. It is sad that future generations look at people today just as people today look at their predecessors. So write down the people who attended the meeting one by one and record the poems they made. Even though times have changed, things have changed, but the reasons for people's feelings are the same. Future readers will also be deeply touched by the poems of this gathering.