From: Cao Cao's "Dan Ge Xing"
Original text:
Dan Ge Xing
The author is Cao Cao?
Dynasties, Wei and Jin Dynasties
Singing and drinking, what is life like! Like morning dew, it will be more painful every day.
Generosity should be treated with generosity, and worries will be unforgettable. How to relieve worries? Only Du Kang.
Qingqing Zijin, my heart is leisurely. But for your sake, I still ponder it.
Yo yo, the deer roars, eating apples in the wild. I have guests who play the harp and sheng.
It’s as bright as the moon, when can you wipe it off? Worry comes from it and cannot be cut off.
The more unfamiliar you are, the more you cross the border, the more useless you are. Qi Kuo Tan?, thinking about old kindness.
The moon and stars are few and far between, and magpies are flying south. Three twists and turns around the tree, where is the branch to lean on?
The mountains never get too high and the sea never gets too deep. The Duke of Zhou vomits food, and the world returns to its heart. Extended information
Translation:
Sing while drinking, life is short and the days and months fly by. Just like the morning dew, it is fleeting and there are too many lost days! The singing at the banquet was passionate and generous, and melancholy filled my heart for a long time. What can you rely on to relieve your depression? Only binge drinking can provide relief. Those students wearing green collars (the attire of bachelors in the Zhou Dynasty), you make me yearn for you day and night. It's just because of you that I still recite it in pain.
Under the sunshine, the deer chirped happily and ate leisurely on the green slope. Once talented people from all over the world come to my house, I will play the harp and the sheng to entertain the guests. When will I be able to pick up the bright moon hanging in the sky? The sorrow and anger I have stored in my heart suddenly spurt out and form a river. Guests from far away came to visit me one by one along the field roads. After a long absence, they reunited for a heart-to-heart talk and a banquet, vying to tell the story of their past friendship.
The moonlight was bright and the stars were sparse, and a group of nesting magpies flew south. They flew around the tree for three weeks without folding their wings. Where can they find shelter? The mountains are majestic only if they do not abandon the earth and rocks, and the sea is majestic only if it does not abandon the trickling water. I wish to be as courteous and virtuous as the Duke of Zhou, and wish that all the heroes in the world would sincerely submit to me.
Creative background:
There are different opinions on the writing period of this poem. There are two theories: one is before the Battle of Chibi and the other is after the Battle of Chibi. The first theory is based on chapter novels and is unreliable. The second statement also has no historical basis. Therefore, the creative background of this poem has not yet been determined.
Cao Cao (155-220, Gengzi in the first month of the lunar month), whose courtesy name was Mengde, and whose last name was Geely, and whose nickname was Amo, was from Peiguoqiao (now Bozhou, Anhui), Han nationality. An outstanding statesman, military strategist, writer and calligrapher in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The founder of the Cao Wei regime in the Three Kingdoms, after his son Cao Pi became emperor, he was honored as Emperor Wu, with the temple name Taizu.
Cao Cao was skilled in military tactics and good at poetry. He expressed his political ambitions and reflected the suffering life of the people in the late Han Dynasty. He was majestic, generous and desolate. His prose was also clear and neat, which opened up and prospered Jian'an literature and gave it to later generations. He left behind precious spiritual wealth, known in history as the character of Jian'an, and Lu Xun evaluated him as "the founder of reformed articles." At the same time, Cao Cao was also good at calligraphy, especially Zhangcao. Zhang Huaiguan of the Tang Dynasty rated it as a "wonderful product" in "Shuguan".
Cao Cao was proficient in the art of war in the military and valued talents. For this reason, he would take the potential members under his command at all costs. In life, he was good at poetry to express his political ambitions and reflect the sentiments of the people in the late Han Dynasty. The suffering life is majestic, generous and sad; the prose is also clear and neat, which opened up and prospered Jian'an literature and left precious spiritual wealth to future generations. Lu Xun evaluated him as "the ancestor of reforming articles". At the same time, Cao Cao was also good at calligraphy. Zhang Huaiguan of the Tang Dynasty rated Cao Cao's calligraphy as "wonderful" in "Shujuan".
Reference material: Baidu Encyclopedia - Tanka Line