汉 Han · 诗 Poem
气出唱 其一
Qi Chu Chang · The First Song (气出唱 其一)
华阴山，自以为大。
高百丈，浮云为之盖。
仙人欲来，出随风，列之雨。
吹我洞箫，鼓瑟琴，何訚訚！
酒与歌戏，今日相乐诚为乐。
玉女起，起舞移数时。
鼓吹一何嘈嘈。
从西北来时，仙道多驾烟，乘云驾龙，郁何务务。
遨游八极，乃到昆仑之山，西王母侧，神仙金止玉亭。
来者为谁？
赤松王乔，乃德旋之门。
乐共饮食到黄昏。
多驾合坐，万岁长，宜子孙。
A hundred fathoms high, with clouds floating over it as its canopy.
The immortals wish to come —
they come with the wind, they are ranged in the rain.
They blow my bamboo flute; they strike the lute and the zither;
how joyful, how joyous!
Wine and song and sport; today's happiness is truly happiness.
The jade maidens rise,
and dance for however many hours.
The drums and pipes — how loud, how roaring.
From the northwest they come;
the immortal way has many chariots of smoke,
driving cloud, driving dragon,
so rich, so heavy.
Sporting through the eight extremes,
we come to the mountains of Kunlun,
beside the Queen Mother of the West,
where the immortals rest on gold and abide in jade pavilions.
Who is it that comes? —
Chi Song and Wang Qiao,
at the gate of the Virtue that turns and returns.
To feast and drink together until dusk.
Many chariots, all seated;
for ten thousand years and long life,
a blessing on your descendants.
Meaning
The first of the Qi Chu Chang songs describes a journey to the realm of the immortals. He begins with the great peak of Hua Yin and the immortals who arrive with wind and rain, plays music and drinks in the mountains, and then rides cloud and dragon to the eight extremes, reaching the mountains of Kunlun and the seat of the Queen Mother of the West, where Chi Songzi and Wang Ziqiao join the feast. The song closes with the prayer for ten thousand years and a blessing on descendants, which brings the immortal banquet back to the concerns of a mortal house.
华阴山自以为十分高大，高有百丈，浮云为它作华盖。仙人将要来临，随清风而出，列队伴着细雨。吹起我的洞箫，弹起瑟和琴，多么和悦庄严啊！饮酒唱歌游戏，今日相聚欢乐，实在是快乐。玉女起身，翩翩起舞，舞了整整好几个时辰。鼓吹之声多么嘈杂喧闹。从西北方来时，仙道众多驾着烟云，乘云驾龙，云气多么郁盛。遨游天地八极，于是来到昆仑山上，西王母身侧，神仙止息于金台玉亭。来者是谁？是赤松子和王子乔，他们是自德行之门而来的仙人。一起欢饮美食直到黄昏。众多车驾聚拢合坐，祝愿万岁长存，子孙昌盛。
Appreciation
[Structure] The song is organized as a journey in space. It opens with earth — the peak of Hua Yin, a hundred fathoms high with a canopy of cloud — then passes to the arrival of the immortals, then to the banquet in the mountains, then to the sky, when the scene lifts to cloud, dragon, the eight extremes, Kunlun and the court of the Queen Mother of the West, and finally stops on the prayer for long life and for descendants. Each stage belongs to the last. [Voice] The poem keeps a single speaker throughout, and that speaker is a general and a statesman: he does not contemplate the immortals but joins them, and he does not leave the world at the end but prays for its continuation. [Language] The verse is deliberately unpolished. Lines of three, four, five, six and seven characters are thrown together, and colloquial exclamations — 何訚訚, 一何嘈嘈 — are left in place. There is no decoration and the force is all the greater for it. [Feeling] What is unusual here is the lack of any anxiety. Where Cao Cao's other poems confront the brevity of life, this one simply enjoys the immortal banquet. The enjoyment turns out to be the point: if the immortals can feast until dusk, so may a mortal, and the prayer at the end is not a contradiction of the journey but its consequence.
【白话串讲】 曹操写《气出唱》：“华阴山，自以为大。高百丈，浮云为之盖”。“仙人欲来，出随风”——“吹我洞箫，鼓瑟琴”——“玉女起，起舞移数时”——他写游仙的幻想。 【意象与手法】 全诗以「游仙」为线，按空间推进：起写华阴山之高，继写仙人降临，再写山中宴乐，然后笔锋一转由山中而天上，遨游八极直抵昆仑之山、西王母之侧，与赤松王乔共乐，终以「万岁长，宜子孙」的祝辞收束。语言古朴恣肆，长短句错落，不加雕饰而气势自雄；「自以为大」「何訚訚」「郁何务务」「一何嘈嘈」等口语入诗，质朴古拙，正合汉乐府「质而不俚」的传统。 【情感与主旨】 曹操晚年，功业已成而年岁日增，深感人生苦短，故有求仙长生之想；此诗写仙界宴乐的热闹欣悦，正是其生命意识的流露。全诗以「万岁长，宜子孙」的祝祷收束，把一己的求仙之想与家族的绵延之愿合而为一，正见汉人「长生」观念中浓厚的家族意识；其游仙诗或以为寄托延揽英才、平定天下之志，或以为晚年生命意识的流露，二说并存，皆可通。 【名句点睛】 常考「遨游八极，乃到昆仑之山」的仙界空间想象，「来者为谁？赤松王乔」的设问用典（赤松子、王子乔见《列仙传》），以及「万岁长，宜子孙」所见的汉人长生观念；此诗与《短歌行》《龟虽寿》同见曹操的生命意识，亦可对读。
Background
Qi Chu Chang belongs to the Chinese folk song collection of the Han, in the 相和歌辞·相和曲 section, and was an old tune from the Chu and Han periods that Cao Cao wrote new words for; this is the first of three songs. Cao Cao (155–220), courtesy name Mengde, was of Pei state Qiao, that is Bozhou in Anhui, and was a statesman, general and writer of the late Han, and the figure who opened the Jian'an age of literature. Some twenty of his poems survive, all written to old folk tunes, some on current affairs, some on his ambitions, some on the immortal journey — plain, sombre and forceful in manner. This song describes meeting immortals at Mount Hua, drinking and playing music, travelling to the eight extremes and reaching Kunlun and the Queen Mother of the West, feasting with Chi Songzi and Wang Ziqiao, and closing with the prayer for ten thousand years and a blessing on descendants. The same theme continues in his《精列》, and the two poems together are the best evidence of his late preoccupation with the shortness of life.
《气出唱》是曹操的一组游仙乐府诗，共三首，此其一。《气出唱》属汉乐府《相和歌辞·相和曲》，本为楚汉以来的旧曲，曹操借旧题而作新辞，写求仙访道、神游八极的幻想。曹操（155—220），字孟德，沛国谯（今安徽亳州）人，东汉末年杰出的政治家、军事家、文学家，建安文学的开创者。其诗今存二十余首，皆用乐府旧题，或写时事（《蒿里行》），或抒怀抱（《短歌行》《龟虽寿》），或寄游仙（《气出唱》《精列》），风格古直悲凉、气韵沉雄。此诗写华阴山遇仙、吹箫鼓瑟、饮酒作乐，又遨游八极、直至昆仑之山、西王母之侧，与赤松子、王子乔等仙人同乐，末以「万岁长，宜子孙」的祝祷收束——一幅仙界宴乐的瑰丽图景。曹操晚年，功业已成而年岁日增，深感人生苦短，故有求仙长生之想；其游仙诗或以为寄托延揽英才、平定天下之志，或以为晚年生命意识的流露，二说并存，皆可通。就乐府传统而言，汉代游仙诗多以「服食求神仙」为旨，或写西王母之会、或写列仙之游，此诗正是这一传统的典型作品；而曹操于求仙之中，时时流露「万岁长，宜子孙」的现实关怀，又使传统的游仙题材染上建安时代特有的生命意识——求仙不是逃避现实，而是对生命的珍视与执着。此诗与《精列》同题并作，可视为曹操游仙乐府的代表篇章。
Art
The poem is valued for plainness and for a kind of uncontrolled energy. Its organization follows the journey: the mountain, then the coming of the immortals, then the banquet, then the ascent into the sky, then the court of the Queen Mother, then the prayer. The transitions are made with no bridge at all — one line is on the mountain and the next is on cloud and dragon — and the abruptness is itself the effect, since the reader is carried as the poet is. The verse is in lines of uneven length, three characters (华阴山, 玉女起), four (乘云驾龙), five (高百丈), six and seven (仙人欲来，出随风，列之雨), used without any rule. This freedom is traditional for the Han folk song and gives the poem its irregular, driving rhythm; short lines hurry, long lines linger, and the scene changes with the line length. The vocabulary is colloquial to the point of plain speech: 自以为大, 何訚訚, 郁何务务, 一何嘈嘈. Nothing is polished, and yet the effect is commanding, because the language is exactly as grand as its subject requires and no grander. The poem's banquet, with its drums and pipes roaring, is one of the few places in Cao Cao's work where the mood is light.
此诗艺术上以「古朴恣肆、神采飞动」见长，最能见曹操乐府诗的本色。全诗以「游仙」为线，按空间推进：起写华阴山之高（「高百丈，浮云为之盖」），继写仙人降临（「仙人欲来，出随风，列之雨」），再写山中宴乐（「吹我洞箫，鼓瑟琴」「酒与歌戏」「玉女起，起舞移数时」），然后笔锋一转，由山中而天上（「从西北来时，仙道多驾烟，乘云驾龙，郁何务务」），遨游八极，直抵昆仑之山、西王母之侧，与赤松王乔共乐，终以「万岁长，宜子孙」的祝辞收束。全篇层次井然，而笔势飞动，如乘云驾龙，一气直下。语言上则极尽古朴恣肆之能事：长短句错落（三言「华阴山」、四言「乘云驾龙」、五言「高百丈」、六言七言间用），不加雕饰，而气势自雄；「自以为大」「何訚訚」「郁何务务」「一何嘈嘈」等语，口语入诗，质朴古拙，正合汉乐府「质而不俚」的传统。诗中仙界宴乐的热闹喧阗（鼓吹嘈嘈、乐共饮食到黄昏），与曹操《短歌行》「对酒当歌」的慷慨悲凉异趣，纯是一片欣悦的仙境想象，是其诗中少见的欢愉之篇。
Allusions
The imagery and the典故 all come from the神仙 narratives current in the Han. 华阴山 is Mount Hua, west of the modern county of Hua Yin in Shaanxi, one of the five great peaks and already a mountain sought out by those who wished to become immortals; its height, with cloud for a canopy, is the manner of an immortal mountain. 仙人欲来，出随风，列之雨 describes immortals arriving on wind and ranged in rain, an image that belongs to the tradition of 排云御气 found in the Chu Elegies. 洞箫, the bamboo flute, and 瑟琴, the zither and harp, are the instruments of the immortal banquet. 訚訚, from the Analects, describes a converse that is courteous and harmonious, and is applied here to the music. 玉女 is the jade maiden, and the account of a jade maid washing her hair at Mount Hua is the source of the place's fame. 昆仑之山 and 西王母 are the centre of the Han pantheon: Kunlun is the mountain where the gods dwell, and the Queen Mother of the West, though she began as a beast of the《Classic of Mountains and Seas》, had by Han times become a gracious Queen of Heaven. 赤松王乔 are Chi Songzi, the rain-master of the age of Shennong, and Wang Ziqiao, the heir of King Ling of Zhou who rode off on a crane; both are in the《Liexian Zhuan》. The blessing 万岁长，宜子孙 occurs on Han bronze mirrors, so the immortal wish and the family wish are the same wish.
此诗的意象与典故皆取自汉代的神仙传说，是汉乐府游仙诗的典型形态。其一，「华阴山」即华山，在今陕西华阴县南，为五岳之西岳，汉代已为求仙者所向往，「高百丈，浮云为之盖」写山之高峻，浮云为盖，正是仙山气象。其二，「仙人欲来，出随风，列之雨」，写仙人乘风御雨而来，本于《楚辞》「风为御兮」的想象，也是汉代仙传中仙人「排云御气」的典型形象。其三，「吹我洞箫，鼓瑟琴」，洞箫、琴瑟为仙乐之器，《史记·封禅书》载仙人好楼居、喜音乐，汉代画像石中仙人奏乐之图甚多，此句正是仙界宴乐的传统图景；「何訚訚」之「訚訚」，出《论语》「訚訚如也」，写和悦恭谨之貌，移以写仙乐之和美。其四，「玉女」为仙女，《史记》言华山有玉女洗头盆之迹，「玉女起，起舞移数时」写仙舞之久。其五，「昆仑之山」「西王母」为汉代神仙体系的中心意象——昆仑为众神所居之山，西王母为昆仑之主，《山海经》载西王母之事，而汉代已演为雍容的女仙，此诗写「西王母侧，神仙金止玉亭」，正是汉代西王母信仰的反映。其六，「赤松王乔」即赤松子与王子乔，为汉代最著的两大仙人：赤松子为神农时雨师，王子乔为周灵王太子晋，乘鹤仙去，皆见《列仙传》。「万岁长，宜子孙」则是汉人祝祷之辞，见诸汉代铜镜铭文，以之结篇，求仙之旨与祈福之愿合而为一。
Commentary
The first of the Qi Chu Chang songs is not among the most celebrated of Cao Cao's songs, but it is an important chapter in the Han and Wei folk song. Zhong Rong's《Poets Rating》placed Cao Cao's work in the lowest class, yet described him in general as 古直, ancient and straight, with lines of real sadness; this poem is 古直 in the same way, since it records the banquet in plain speech with no ornament. Its value may be taken in three directions. In theme, together with《精列》and《龟虽寿》it opened the tradition of the literati immortal-journey poem, and was followed by Cao Zhi's《Yuan You Pian》, by Guo Pu's《You Xian Shi》and by Li Bai's《A Dream of the Heavenly Mother's Land》. In character, the wish for long life appears at the very moment when the poet knows that life has a limit, and this knowing is what makes the wish energetic rather than pleasant. In style, the uneven lines, close to speech, anticipate the later song-verse of Li Bai. Read together with the other songs of the same hand, this poem shows a writer who would not be tied to one manner.
《气出唱》其一在曹操乐府诗中虽不若《短歌行》《龟虽寿》之著称，却是汉乐府游仙诗的重要篇章，历代论者多从「汉魏风骨」处着眼。钟嵘《诗品》列曹操诗为下品，然于建安诗歌的总体评价则曰「曹公古直，甚有悲凉之句」；此诗虽多欢愉之辞，而其「古直」之气一以贯之——语言质朴，不事雕琢，直写仙境宴乐，正是汉乐府「感于哀乐，缘事而发」的遗响。其价值有三：一在题材，此诗与《精列》等游仙之作，开创了文人游仙诗的传统，直接启导曹植《远游篇》、郭璞《游仙诗》及后世李白《梦游天姥吟留别》等，是游仙诗史上承前启后的关键一环；二在人格，曹操身处乱世而功业已就，晚年求仙，与其《龟虽寿》「神龟虽寿，犹有竟时」「养怡之福，可得永年」的生命意识互为表里——他明知「犹有竟时」，仍要高唱「万岁长」，这份明知不可而强求之的执着，正是曹操式的生命哲学；三在风格，此诗以杂言写仙境，长短错落、气势飞动，与《短歌行》的典雅、《观沧海》的雄浑各擅胜场，合观可见曹操作诗不拘一格的大家风范。汉魏之际，游仙诗渐成风气，曹操此作实开其端，其于中国诗歌史的贡献，不可忽视。
Prosody
Line by line
华阴山，自以为大。
Mount Hua Yin, and it thinks itself great.
华阴山（华山）自以为十分高大。
The Hua Yin Mountain thinks itself very great.
起句三字点出仙山，以「自以为大」四字写山之自矜，别具谐趣与哲思。「华阴山」即华山，为西岳，本已高大；「自以为大」却是拟人笔法，写山自恃其高，踌躇满志——一座山竟有「自以为了不起」的得意，古朴天真，读之莞尔。此句的妙处有二：一是以山之高衬仙之更高，山自以为大，然仙人乘风御雨、遨游八极，山不过仙界一隅，其「大」在仙人眼中何足道哉？为下文仙人的出场作了铺垫；二是「自以为」三字暗含机锋，山尚自矜其大，人之自大、世之自大者，又何以异此？汉乐府古直之语中，往往藏此哲思，曹操此句，正是以诙谐之笔写深沉之意，起笔即不同凡响。三字短句起调，音节斩截，也定下全诗古朴恣肆的基调。
The mountain's conceit. The Hua Yin Mountain thinks itself very great. The personified pride of the mountain is the setup: the mountain thinks itself huge, but the immortals will dwarf it. To have introduced a sacred mountain would be a setting; the mountain that thinks itself great is the setting.
仙人欲来，出随风，列之雨。
The immortals wish to come; they come with the wind, they are ranged in the rain.
仙人将要来临，随清风而出，列队伴着细雨。
The immortals are about to come; they ride out on the wind and draw up in ranks with the rain.
此三句写仙人降临的声势，是全诗由写山转入写仙的枢纽。「仙人欲来」先作预告，如仙乐前的静场；「出随风」写仙人乘风而出，衣袂飘举；「列之雨」写仙人列队而行，伴以细雨——风为前驱，雨为仪仗，仙人出场的气象赫然。三句皆短，音节急促，恰如仙踪之倏忽；「随风」「之雨」的意象，本于《楚辞》「风为御兮」的仙游传统，也是汉代仙传中仙人「排云驭气」的典型写法。值得注意的是此三句由「山」及「仙」的转场：上文山自以为大，此处仙人欲来，山之大顿时黯然——仙人的气派远非山可比。全诗自此进入仙界宴乐的正面描写，而「随风」「之雨」的轻灵意象，已为全篇染上一层飘然欲仙的色彩。
The immortals' coming. They ride out on the wind and draw up in ranks with the rain. The wind as forerunner and the rain as retinue is the Chuci procession style. To have said the immortals arrived would be an arrival; the coming-out-on-the-wind and the rain-ranked arrival are the arrival.
吹我洞箫，鼓瑟琴，何訚訚！
They blow my bamboo flute; they strike the lute and the zither; how joyful, how joyous!
吹起我的洞箫，弹起瑟和琴，多么和悦庄严啊！
Blow my end-blown flute, strike the se and the qin—how harmonious and solemn!
此三句写仙人奏乐，是全诗仙界宴乐的第一个乐境。「吹我洞箫」以「我」字领起——诗人与仙人同乐，已入仙界之中，「我」字的插入，使这场仙乐成为诗人亲历的现场，亲切而真切；「鼓瑟琴」写鼓瑟弹琴，洞箫、瑟、琴三器和鸣，正是汉代画像石中常见的仙乐图景；「何訚訚」以「訚訚」状乐声之和悦庄严——「訚訚」本出《论语·乡党》「与下大夫言，侃侃如也；与上大夫言，訚訚如也」，写和敬恭谨之貌，移以写仙乐，则乐声的和谐庄重如在耳畔，一个「何」字，更写尽赞叹之情。此三句以简笔写繁乐，三字一顿，音节铿锵，恰如仙乐之节拍；诗人于仙界闻乐而乐，其欣悦之情，溢于言表，是曹操诗中难得的欢愉之笔。
The music. Blow my end-blown flute, strike the se and the qin—how harmonious and solemn. The my includes the poet among the immortals. The solemn harmony is the feast's tone. To have described celestial music would be a sound; the flute and se and qin, how harmonious, are the sound.
玉女起，起舞移数时。
The jade maidens rise and dance for however many hours.
玉女起身，翩翩起舞，舞了整整好几个时辰。
The jade maidens rise and dance for hours on end.
此二句写仙舞之久，是全诗仙界宴乐的高潮之一。「玉女」即仙女，汉代西王母信仰中玉女为西王母侍者，《史记》载华山有玉女洗头盆之迹，此诗前写华阴山，此写玉女起舞，前后呼应；「起舞移数时」写玉女起舞良久——「移数时」即历经数时，舞之久见乐之酣，也见仙界时间之悠长，人间一舞不过片刻，仙舞则「移数时」而不倦。此二句的妙处在于以「久」写「乐」：舞得越久，越是尽兴；时间越久，越是欢愉。全诗至此，仙乐仙舞，酒酣耳热，一片升平景象；而「玉女起」的「起」字，写玉女应声而起、应节而舞的动态，笔致飞动，如见其舞。汉乐府写宴乐，多以「久」写酣，曹操此句则纯是欣悦，无一丝悲凉，是其游仙诗的特色所在。
The dance. The jade maidens rise and dance for hours on end. The hours of dancing are the immortal feast's time: on earth a moment, in heaven long. To have said the jade maidens danced would be a dance; the rising and the dancing through the hours are the dance.
遨游八极，乃到昆仑之山，
Sporting through the eight extremes, we come to the mountains of Kunlun,
遨游天地八极，于是来到了昆仑山上，
They roam the eight extremes of the world, and come at last to the Kunlun Mountains,
此二句是空间的大转场，由华阴山的宴乐猛然拉向八极之游。「遨游八极」写神游天地之极——「八极」指四方八方的尽头，是古人想象中天地之极限，《淮南子》有「八纮」「八极」之说；「乃到昆仑之山」写遨游的终点——昆仑山为汉代神话中众神所居、西王母所在之山，《山海经·海内西经》言昆仑之虚方八百里、高万仞，是仙界最高的所在。由华阴山到昆仑山，由人间之山到神界之山，空间的跨越极巨，而诗人以「遨游」二字轻轻带过，如乘云御风，瞬息千里，正见其神游之自由、想象之雄阔。此二句承上启下：上文仙乐仙舞是山中之乐，自此转入昆仑之游、西王母之会，全诗的境界由小及大、由近及远，一步步推向仙界的最深处，章法上如登高望远，渐入佳境。
The journey. They roam the eight extremes of the world and come at last to the Kunlun Mountains. The space jumped in two clauses (the eight ends of the earth, then the queen mother's mountain) is the god's freedom. To have said they traveled to Kunlun would be a journey; the roaming of the eight extremes ending at Kunlun is the journey.
来者为谁？赤松王乔，乃德旋之门。
Who is it that comes? Chi Song and Wang Qiao, at the gate of the Virtue that turns and returns.
来者是谁？是赤松子和王子乔，他们是自德行之门而来的仙人。
Who are the newcomers? Chisongzi and Wangzi Qiao; they come by the gate of circling virtue.
此三句写昆仑之会中仙人的名号，是全诗用典最集中之处。「来者为谁」设问提起，如仙家相询，语气亲切；「赤松王乔」即赤松子与王子乔，汉代最著名的两大仙人——赤松子为神农时雨师，能入火自烧、随风雨上下（见《列仙传》）；王子乔为周灵王太子晋，好吹笙作凤凰鸣，后乘白鹤仙去（见《列仙传》）。二仙皆是凡人得道成仙的典型，其现身昆仑，正说明仙路可通、凡人可仙，暗含诗人求仙之志。「乃德旋之门」一句较费解，或谓「德旋」为仙人所居之门名，或谓指德行之门——仙人之来，皆由德行积累，凡人修行，亦可登仙。此句以设问引出二仙，再以「德旋之门」收束，一问一答，章法灵动；而赤松、王乔的典故，为全诗添上历史与传说的纵深，也使这场仙境之游显得真实可亲。
The named immortals. Who are the newcomers? Chisongzi and Wangzi Qiao; they come by the gate of circling virtue. The two famous historical immortals (rain master Chisong, prince Wang Qiao) prove the way of immortality is open to humans. To have named the immortals would be a list; the question who and the answer naming Chisong and Wang Qiao at the gate of virtue are the list.
多驾合坐，万岁长，宜子孙。
Many chariots, all seated; for ten thousand years and long life, a blessing on your descendants.
众多车驾聚拢合坐，祝愿万岁长存，子孙昌盛。
The many chariots gather and sit together; may the ten thousand years endure, and blessing rest on the descendants.
结句以祝祷之辞收束全篇，是全诗主旨的点明。「多驾合坐」写众仙车驾聚拢、同席共坐——昆仑之会，仙人云集，一片和乐；「万岁长」祝愿长生不老，万岁永存；「宜子孙」祝愿子孙昌盛，福泽绵延——这八字是汉代祝祷的习用语，常见于汉代铜镜铭文（如「长宜子孙」「万岁长存」）。以祝辞结篇，其意有二：一是求仙之旨的落实——遨游八极、会见西王母，归根结底是为了「万岁长」的长生之愿；二是福寿双全的祝愿——不仅自己万岁长存，还要子孙繁盛，把一己的求仙之想与家族的绵延之愿合而为一，正见汉人「长生」观念中浓厚的家族意识。此结句与起句「华阴山，自以为大」遥相呼应：山自以为大，人则求万岁长、宜子孙，山之高与人之寿，皆是「大」的追求；而诗人曹操晚年功成业就、唯求长生与子孙昌盛的心境，也于此和盘托出，全诗由华阴山起、以万岁长结，首尾圆合。
The blessing. The many chariots gather and sit together; may the ten thousand years endure, and blessing rest on the descendants. The copper-inscription closing (long life, blessing to descendants) brings the immortal journey back to the human wishes: long life and heirs. To have said the poem blessed longevity and descendants would be a closing; the gathered chariots and the ten-thousand-years-blessing-descendants are the closing.
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Cao Zhi's《White Horse》opens "The white horse is caparisoned with gold, and steps north-west in loose file," and ends "I give my body to the state's emergency, and count death as returning home." Cao Cao's song seeks the immortals — journeying through the eight extremes, meeting the Queen Mother of the West, praying for ten thousand years of life; his son's song seeks glory, and finds death a small thing beside it. The father answers the question of how to transcend death by wishing for-long life; the son answers it by wishing for a death that counts. Both are sons of the same age looking at the same short life, and their ways of going beyond it are the two faces of the 建安风骨.
曹植《白马篇》「白马饰金羁，连翩西北驰」「捐躯赴国难，视死忽如归」与曹操《气出唱》其一同属建安乐府，同写理想人生的想象，而取向迥异。曹操之诗写游仙：遨游八极、会西王母、求万岁长生，其理想在超越生死、与天地同久；曹植之诗写游侠：白马金羁、捐躯国难、视死如归，其理想在建功立业、以忠义不朽。一以求仙超越死，一以立功超越死——父子二人面对「人生几何」的共同命题，给出了两种答案：孟德求之于仙界，子建求之于人间；一神游天上，一驰骋边塞。两诗对读，可见建安诗人于乱世中的生命意识：或寄幻想于长生，或寄热血于功名，其慷慨之气则一，正是「建安风骨」的一体两面。
梦游天姥吟留别 A Dream of the Heavenly Mother's Land, Departing Again (梦游天姥吟留别) 李白 · 同为游仙之作，汉魏游仙的朴拙与盛唐游仙的瑰丽 Both are poems of an immortal journey; one is plain and crude, the other gorgeous, and the two mark the shift from Han belief to Tang imagination.Li Bai's《Dream of the Heavenly Mother's Land》travels to the same sky, but its images are faults of lightning, a cave that opens, sun and moon lighting a hall of gold and silver — bright, vast, and entirely the invention of a poet. Cao Cao's journey has the plainness of a Han picture stone: Mount Hua, jade maidens dancing, drums roaring. The difference is also one of belief: Cao Cao's journey is the wish of a man who fears death, and Li Bai's is the sport of a man who has already decided that his body cannot serve; where Cao Cao prays for descendants, Li Bai ends by refusing to bow his head. Between the two poems lie the five hundred years that separate the faith of the Han from the imagination of the High Tang.
李白《梦游天姥吟留别》与曹操《气出唱》其一同为游仙之作，同写神游仙境、遨游天界，而风格判然。曹操之游仙古朴恣肆：华阴山、玉女起舞、鼓吹嘈嘈，意象质直，语言近口语，如汉代画像石般古拙浑朴；李白之游仙瑰丽奇诡：列缺霹雳、洞天中开、日月照耀金银台，意象绚烂，语言纵横捭阖，如盛唐壁画般金碧辉煌。曹操写仙境，是汉人朴素的求仙信仰——万岁长、宜子孙，带着现实功利的温度；李白写仙境，是盛唐士人的精神飞越——安能摧眉折腰事权贵，借游仙寄傲岸之情。两诗相隔五百年，正可见中国游仙诗由汉魏的信仰实录到盛唐的抒情虚构的演进；而李白「霓为衣兮风为马」的仙装想象，实承曹操「仙人欲来，出随风，列之雨」的余绪，一脉相承而青出于蓝。
饮酒·其五 Drinking Wine · The Fifth (饮酒·其五) 陶渊明 · 同为对尘世的超越，一神游仙界、一回归田园 Both write of passing beyond the world of men, and the one journeys outward to the immortals while the other turns inward to his own garden.Tao Yuanming's fifth poem of the Drinking Wine cycle says "I pick chrysanthemums beneath the eastern hedge, and look on the southern mountains at ease," and ends "there is a true meaning here, but I would speak of it and already I have forgotten my words." Cao Cao goes outward — through the eight extremes to Kunlun and to the court of the Queen Mother, wishing for long life — and finds his release in a journey; Tao Yuanming goes inward — the chrysanthemum, the mountain, and then silence — and finds his in a mind that is distant of its own accord. Cao's paradise is more splendid and more futile, because it is a wish granted only in imagination; Tao's is plainer and holds, because it is a state of mind. Between them lie the two ways in which the men of the Wei and Jin declined the sufferings of their age: one by escaping upwards, the other by no longer needing to escape.
陶渊明《饮酒·其五》「采菊东篱下，悠然见南山」「此中有真意，欲辨已忘言」与曹操《气出唱》其一同写对现实人生的超越，而路径相反。曹操向天外求超越：遨游八极、会见西王母、求万岁长生，把解脱寄托于仙界的神游，是外向的、宗教式的超越；陶渊明向内心求超越：采菊东篱、悠然见山、欲辨忘言，把安顿落实于田园的日常，是内向的、审美式的超越。一神游天上，一栖居人间；一求长生之寿，一求心远之境。曹操的仙境愈瑰丽，愈见其对现实的执着（求仙正因惧死）；陶渊明的田园愈平淡，愈见其对尘世的放下（忘言正因得意）。两诗对读，可见魏晋士人超越苦难的两种方案：孟德以幻想御之，渊明以心境化之，而中国诗歌的仙趣与隐趣，亦由此分流。