晋 晋 · 文 Prose
兰亭集序
Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection (Lanting Ji Xu)
永和九年，岁在癸丑，暮春之初，会于会稽山阴之兰亭，修禊事也。
群贤毕至，少长咸集。
此地有崇山峻岭，茂林修竹；
又有清流激湍，映带左右，引以为流觞曲水，列坐其次。
虽无丝竹管弦之盛，一觞一咏，亦足以畅叙幽情。
Meaning
The preface to the poems of the Orchid Pavilion gathering of the third day of the third month of the ninth year of Yonghe (353), when Wang Xizhi, with Xie An, Sun Chuo, Chi Tan, Zhi Dun, and thirty-seven others, gathered at the Orchid Pavilion in the shade of the Kuaiji Mountain for the purification rite of the Shangsi Festival, floating the cups on the winding stream, drinking and composing poems, and Wang Xizhi wrote this preface. The opening records the time, the place, and the gathering: 'in the ninth year of Yonghe, the year being Guichou, at the beginning of the late spring, we met at the Orchid Pavilion in the shade of the Kuaiji Mountain, for the purification rite. All the worthies came, and the old and the young were all gathered.' Then the landscape: 'in this place there are the lofty peaks and the steep ridges, the dense groves and the tall bamboos; and there are also the clear stream and the rushing current, mirrored and girdling the left and the right, drawn to make the winding stream of the floating cups, and we sat in order by its side.' Then the pleasure: 'though there is not the abundance of the silk and the bamboo strings, one cup and one chant are enough to express the quiet feelings freely.' The whole, from the time to the place to the scene to the pleasure, the joy of the gathering of the worthies, and below will turn from the joy to the pain and to the grief: 'what I was glad to meet, briefly attained by myself, joyfully content' is soon 'the things of the past, between the lifting and the lowering of the head, have already become the old traces,' and the 'great indeed is the matter of the life and the death.'
永和九年，岁星在癸丑，暮春三月初三，我们在会稽郡山阴县的兰亭聚会，举行修禊活动。众多贤才都到了，年少的年长的聚集一堂。这里有高高的山、陡峻的岭，茂密的树林、修长的竹子；又有清澈湍急的溪流，环绕映衬在左右，大家把它引来作为流觞的曲水，依次坐在水边。虽然没有丝竹管弦演奏的盛况，但一杯酒一首诗，也足够畅快地抒发内心的深情。
Appreciation
The genre of the piece is the 'preface,' a preface of the collection of poems, yet its artistic achievement far exceeds the ordinary occasional pieces, opening the vanguard of the later literati's gathering prefaces (such as Li Bai's 'Preface of the Spring Night's Feast in the Peach-Blossom Garden with My Younger Cousins'). In composition, the whole advances in the three layers of 'the joy, the pain, and the grief' as the skeleton: first the landscape of the Orchid Pavilion and the joy of the participants, then the brief joy of 'when one is glad of what one meets, briefly attained by oneself, joyfully content,' then turning to the melancholy of 'the things of the past, between the lifting and the lowering of the head, have already become the old traces' and the grief of 'great indeed is the matter of the life and the death,' from the joy before the eyes to the grief of the past and the present alike, the scope from the narrow to the wide. In language the loose and the even are combined, with the four-character sentences as the backbone: 'the lofty peaks and the steep ridges, the dense groves and the tall bamboos,' 'the clear stream and the rushing current, mirrored and girdling the left and the right,' the even sentences forming the beauty of the rhythm, and the prose sentences free in the flow, the classical elegance of the Wei-Jin style.
【白话串讲】 “永和九年，岁在癸丑，暮春之初，会于会稽山阴之兰亭”——王羲之写《兰亭集序》。“群贤毕至，少长咸集”——“一觞一咏，亦足以畅叙幽情”——“固知一死生为虚诞，齐彭殇为妄作”——“后之视今，亦犹今之视昔”——他在曲水流觞间写下天下第一行书。 【意象与手法】 全文以「乐」起、以「痛」承、以「悲」结，由景入情、由情入理，骈散相间而四字句为骨，句式整饬中见流走，被后世推为序体散文之冠 【情感与主旨】 王羲之于山水之乐中忽悟「死生亦大矣」，痛斥时人「一死生、齐彭殇」的虚诞，寄望「后之览者，亦将有感于斯文」，在晋人玄谈声中发出清醒的生命之叹 【名句点睛】 常考「群贤毕至，少长咸集」「一觞一咏，亦足以畅叙幽情」所写的名士风雅与「俯仰之间，已为陈迹」的生死之思——以清丽的宴游文字负载深沉的宇宙情怀
Background
Wang Xizhi (303–361, or 321–379), courtesy name Yishao, a native of Linyi, Langya, later moving to the shade of the Kuaiji Mountain, a famous calligrapher and man of letters of the Eastern Jin, rising to General of the Right Army and Governor of Kuaiji, known as 'Wang the Right Army.' His family was of the high families of the Eastern Jin, his uncle Wang Dao assisting the government, yet Wang Xizhi delighted in the landscape and did not covet the glory and the profit, once saying 'I shall die of the joy.' In the ninth year of Yonghe (353), on the third day of the third month, the Shangsi Festival, Wang Xizhi, with Xie An, Sun Chuo, Chi Tan, Zhi Dun, and forty-one others, held the purification rite at the Orchid Pavilion in the shade of the Kuaiji Mountain, floating the cups on the winding stream, drinking and composing poems, obtaining thirty-seven poems, and Wang Xizhi wrote this preface for the collection. The manuscript of the preface was later obtained by Emperor Taizong of Tang and honored as 'the first running script of the world,' carved into the Dingwu copies in the Song, and became the supreme divine piece of the history of the calligraphy. In the background of the age, the Eastern Jin literati honored the pure conversation; the gathering of the Orchid Pavilion is the epitome of the elegance of the Wei-Jin scholars, and beneath the joy of the gathering, Wang Xizhi's feeling of the impermanence of the life and the shortness of the years.
王羲之（303—361，一说321—379），字逸少，琅琊临沂人，后徙居会稽山阴，东晋著名书法家、文学家，官至右军将军、会稽内史，世称「王右军」。其家族为东晋高门，伯父王导辅政，然王羲之性好山水，不慕荣利，尝言「吾卒当以乐死」。永和九年（353）三月初三，值上巳节，王羲之与谢安、孙绰、郗昙、支遁等四十一人于会稽山阴兰亭举行修禊之会，众人曲水流觞、饮酒赋诗，得诗三十七首，王羲之为诗集作序，即此《兰亭集序》。此序墨迹后为唐太宗所得，被尊为「天下第一行书」，宋代刻入定武诸本，遂成书法史上无上神品。时代背景上，东晋士人尚清谈、崇玄学，多祖述《庄子》「齐物」「逍遥」之说，以旷达自饰；王羲之此文却于雅集之乐中陡然转入「死生亦大矣」的悲慨，明确指斥「一死生、齐彭殇」之论为「虚诞」「妄作」，可见东晋思想中儒家情志对玄学虚无的反拨，亦见右军深于情、重于生的士人本色。此序所载雅集，后人称为「兰亭之会」，历代传为文人风雅的美谈，其文其字，遂与晋人的生命情怀一同不朽。
Art
The art is the three-layer advance of 'the joy, the pain, and the grief' and the combination of the loose and the even with the four-character sentences as the backbone: the even sentences such as 'the lofty peaks and the steep ridges, the dense groves and the tall bamboos' and 'the clear stream and the rushing current, mirrored and girdling the left and the right' form the beauty of the rhythm, and the prose sentences flow freely; from the joy before the eyes to the grief of the past and the present alike, the scope from the narrow to the wide.
此文体裁为「序」，是诗集序言，属序跋类散文，然其艺术成就远超一般应酬之文，开后世文人雅集序（如李白《春夜宴从弟桃花园序》）之先河。章法上，全文以「乐—痛—悲」三层递进为骨架：先写兰亭景胜与会者之乐，次写「当其欣于所遇，暂得于己，快然自足」的短暂欣悦，再转入「向之所欣，俯仰之间，已为陈迹」的怅惘与「死生亦大矣」的悲慨，由眼前之乐推向古今同悲，格局由狭而广。语言上骈散结合、以四字句为主：「崇山峻岭，茂林修竹」「清流激湍，映带左右」等四字短语连用，句式整饬；「此地有……又有……引以为……列坐其次」则以散句缓之，整中见散、工而不滞。修辞上多用铺陈与对偶，写景则清丽如画，议论则峻拔有力，叙事、写景、抒情、议论四者熔于一炉。尤其「群贤毕至，少长咸集」「一觞一咏，亦足以畅叙幽情」等句，以极简文字写出极盛的风雅气象，足见晋人文章「清峻通脱」的本色。
Allusions
The allusions of the piece are most subtle, mostly fused into the customs and the images, felt only upon the careful savoring. First, the 'purification rite': the custom of the Shangsi Festival of washing away the ill luck by the water, far inheriting the Zhou Rites' spring official's yearly lustration, and the History of the Later Han's 'Rites' also records the officials and the people cleansing at the eastern flowing water on the third Shangsi day of the third month, the Orchid Pavilion gathering the refinement of this ancient custom; second, the 'winding stream of the floating cups': the company sitting in order by the winding stream, floating the cups on the water, the one whose cup stops drinking and composing, this custom originating in the Han-Wei 'banquet of the winding stream,' and Wang Xizhi transforming it into the poetic elegance; the 'purification' and the 'floating cups' the festival customs and the cultural allusions in one, the ancient custom and the elegant gathering fused.
此文用典极含蓄，多融入风俗意象之中，须细味方觉。其一是「修禊」：上巳节临水祓除不祥之俗，远承《周礼》春官掌岁时祓除，《后汉书·礼仪志》亦载三月上巳官民洁于东流水上，兰亭之会正是此古老风俗的高雅化；其二是「流觞曲水」：众人列坐曲水之侧，浮杯于水，杯止即饮赋诗，此俗本于汉魏「曲水宴」，而王羲之以之化为诗酒风流的象征；其三是「一觞一咏」：暗承石崇金谷园之会（《晋书》载石崇与宾朋宴集赋诗，不能者罚酒三斗），王羲之显然以兰亭比附金谷而欲超之；其四是「死生亦大矣」：《庄子·德充符》有「死生亦大矣」之语，王羲之借庄语而反其道，以痛惜生命的方式驳斥庄学「齐死生」之论；其五「一死生」「齐彭殇」直指《庄子·齐物论》「莫寿于殇子而彭祖为夭」的相对主义，作者斥之为「虚诞」「妄作」。典故的运用使这篇宴集小序承载了儒道思想的深层对话，风雅之中自有思辨的分量。
Commentary
The 'Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection' is the model of the 'the perfection of both the book and the text': its manuscript was praised by Emperor Taizong of Tang as 'utterly good and utterly beautiful,' honored by the later ages as the 'first running script of the world,' and the text itself is a masterpiece of the Six Dynasties prose. In the literary history, the piece establishes the paradigm of the literati's gathering preface, and Li Bai's 'Preface of the Spring Night's Feast in the Peach-Blossom Garden with My Younger Cousins' and Wang Bo's 'Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng' are both nourished by it; the composition of 'the joy, the pain, and the grief' and the 'the later ages looking at the present, just as the present looking at the past' have become the eternal meditation of the Chinese literati on the life and the impermanence.
《兰亭集序》是「书文双绝」的典范：其墨迹被唐太宗誉为「尽善尽美」，后世奉为「天下第一行书」，而文章本身亦为六朝散文的杰作。文学史上，此文确立了文人雅集序的范式，李白《春夜宴从弟桃花园序》、王勃《滕王阁序》皆受其滋养；其「乐—痛—悲」的章法与「后之视今，亦犹今之视昔」的时空意识，更成为后世士人面对聚散无常时的共同感慨。思想上，此文在玄风炽盛的东晋独标「生」的清醒，被近人视为晋人「人的觉醒」在文学上的标志性文本，与《世说新语》所载名士风流相互印证。传播上，因书法之盛名，历代摹本、刻本无数，文句如「群贤毕至」「流觞曲水」「游目骋怀」皆成成语与常用语，深入汉语肌理。现代学者多从「生命意识」切入解读，以为右军此序将宴游之乐升华为对宇宙人生的终极追问，其价值早已超出书法与文学，成为中国文化中「风雅与哲思并存」的精神标本。
Prosody
Line by line
永和九年，岁在癸丑，暮春之初，会于会稽山阴之兰亭，修禊事也。
In the ninth year of Yonghe, the year being Guichou, at the beginning of the late spring, we met at the Orchid Pavilion in the shade of the Kuaiji Mountain, for the purification rite. (The opening: the time, the place, and the gathering, the purification rite of the Shangsi Festival, the beginning of the record.)
永和九年，岁星在癸丑，暮春三月初，我们在会稽郡山阴县的兰亭聚会，举行修禊活动。
In the ninth year of Yonghe, the year Guichou, early in late spring, we gathered at Lanting in Shanyin, Kuaiji, for the purifying rite.
开篇以编年史笔法起笔，「永和九年，岁在癸丑」先记干支年月，庄严郑重，如史笔立传；「暮春之初」点明时令，暗用《论语》「暮春者，春服既成，冠者五六人，童子六七人，浴乎沂，风乎舞雩，咏而归」的沂水春风之典，为雅集定下高雅的基调。「会于会稽山阴之兰亭」交代地点，会稽乃东晋名士荟萃之地，兰亭更是江南胜景；「修禊事也」一句揭出聚会缘由——上巳临水祓除不祥的古老风俗。二十余字囊括时间、地点、人物、事件、缘由，字字落到实处，笔法简净而气象从容。这种以编年式起笔写宴游的写法，既见王羲之的史家修养，也为后文由「乐」入「悲」的宏大抒情预设了庄重的基调，使一场春日雅集具备了与历史对话的分量。
The date. In the ninth year of Yonghe, the year Guichou, early in late spring, we gathered at Lanting in Shanyin, Kuaiji, for the purifying rite. The chronological opening and the spring purifying rite set the preface's gravity. To have dated the gathering would be a record; the Yonghe-year-Guichou-early-late-spring gathering-at-Lanting-for-the-rite is the record.
此地有崇山峻岭，茂林修竹；又有清流激湍，映带左右，引以为流觞曲水，列坐其次。
In this place there are the lofty peaks and the steep ridges, the dense groves and the tall bamboos; and there are also the clear stream and the rushing current, mirrored and girdling the left and the right, drawn to make the winding stream of the floating cups, and we sat in order by its side. (The landscape: the lofty peaks, the dense groves, and the clear stream, and the winding stream of the floating cups, the scene of the gathering.)
这里高高的山、陡峻的岭，茂密的树林、修长的竹子；又有清澈湍急的溪流环绕映衬左右，把它引来作流觞的曲水，众人依次坐在水边。
Here are lofty mountains and steep ridges, lush forests and tall bamboos; there is also a clear rapid stream, mirrored on left and right, which we brought for the winding-cup, and we sat along its banks.
此句专写兰亭之景，是全篇「乐」的起点。「崇山峻岭，茂林修竹」以两组四字对偶写静态之景，山高林密、竹修木茂，构图高远；「又有清流激湍，映带左右」以散句写动态之水，清流湍急、环绕映衬，一幅山水长卷徐徐展开。最妙在「引以为流觞曲水，列坐其次」——自然之水被人工「引」为曲水，众人「列坐」其间，人入画中、情景交融，将自然山水点化为诗酒流觞的舞台。写景不见「美」字而美自具，全凭名词与动词的精准组合：「崇」「峻」写山势，「茂」「修」写林木，「激」「湍」写水势，「映带」写水之环抱，字字贴切。句式上四字句连用造成整饬的节奏，随后以「又有」「引以为」的散句破之，整散相间，正是六朝骈散未分时的自然高格，与后世骈文的板重迥异其趣。
The setting. Here are lofty mountains and steep ridges, lush forests and tall bamboos; there is also a clear rapid stream, mirrored on left and right, which we brought for the winding-cup, and we sat along its banks. The mountains, bamboos, and winding-cup stream are the Lanting scene. To have described the site would be a setting; the lofty-mountains-lush-bamboos against the clear-rapid-stream-winding-cup-and-sitting-along is the setting.
虽无丝竹管弦之盛，一觞一咏，亦足以畅叙幽情。
Though there is not the abundance of the silk and the bamboo strings, one cup and one chant are enough to express the quiet feelings freely. (The pleasure: not the abundance of the music, yet one cup and one chant freely expressing the quiet feelings, the joy of the gathering of the worthies.)
虽然没有丝竹管弦演奏的盛况，但一杯酒一首诗，也足够畅快抒发内心深处的感情。
Though we had no full orchestra, one cup and one poem were enough to pour out our deep feelings.
此句由景及人，由外境转入心境，是全篇精神境界的点睛之笔。「虽无丝竹管弦之盛」以退为进，先自抑；「一觞一咏，亦足以畅叙幽情」转而自足，点出雅集之乐不在声色的繁盛，而在诗酒清谈中「幽情」的畅达。「幽情」二字是全句的眼：不是寻常欢愉，而是深藏于胸的、与山水自然相契的高雅情志，唯名士之会方能言此。句中「一觞一咏」与「丝竹管弦」对举，一简一繁、一清一盛，以简约胜繁盛，正见晋人「得意忘言」的审美取向——物质的享受可以省略，精神的交流不可或阙。此句亦为后文「当其欣于所遇」的哲理转折张本：正因为此乐系于「幽情」之畅，故当欣遇易逝、情随事迁时，悲慨便油然而生。乐之深，正为悲之切的伏笔。
The cups. Though we had no full orchestra, one cup and one poem were enough to pour out our deep feelings. The no-orchestra concession and the one-cup-one-poem deep feeling are the gathering's point. To have said the poetry and wine were enough would be a claim; the no-full-orchestra against the one-cup-one-poem-enough-to-pour-out-deep-feelings is the claim.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
Wang Bo's 'Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng'—'the falling clouds and the single goose flying together, the autumn water sharing one color with the long sky'—is the Tang parallel-prose model of the banquet gathering, the splendor of the rhetoric and the feeling of the ill-fated talent. The 'Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection' of Wang Xizhi is the Jin model, the ease of the Wei-Jin and the meditation of the life and the death. One the splendor of the Tang and one the ease of the Jin; one the 'the falling clouds and the single goose' and one the 'the winding stream of the floating cups'—the two models of the Chinese gathering prefaces, the aesthetic of the two ages in the two pieces.
王勃《滕王阁序》与《兰亭集序》同为文人雅集序，一为六朝骈散未分之文，一为初唐骈文极则，恰成对照。相同处在于章法都遵循「写景—叙事—抒情—议论」的路径，都以一次宴集为契机寄慨人生：兰亭序由「乐」入「悲」，滕王阁序由「盛宴难再」发「胜地不常」之叹。差异亦分明：兰亭序语言清丽自然，骈散相间而气韵疏朗，情感内敛深挚；滕王阁序辞采富丽，骈俪对仗工绝（「落霞与孤鹜齐飞，秋水共长天一色」），情感外放高华，用典繁密。一淡一浓、一简一丰，正见六朝文风与初唐文风的递变。两文并读，可完整把握中国序体散文由清峻向富丽演进的轨迹，亦见「宴集—感怀」母题在两代文学中的不同回声。
赤壁赋 赤壁赋 苏轼 · 同为「乐—悲—旷」三段式的人生感怀名篇 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
苏轼《赤壁赋》与《兰亭集序》相隔七百余年，而章法精神深相呼应：皆以一场山水之游（兰亭修禊／赤壁泛舟）起笔，由当下之乐转入「哀吾生之须臾」的悲慨，再以哲思化解（兰亭寄望「后之览者」／赤壁归于「物与我皆无尽也」）。兰亭序直面「死生亦大矣」而悲而不解，赤壁赋以变与不变的辩证超脱悲情——一为晋人的深情执着，一为宋人的理性旷达，正见中国士人生命意识由「悲」向「旷」的演进。两文皆以四字句与虚词调节节奏，皆熔写景、抒情、议论于一炉，堪称中国散文中「以文载思」的双璧。苏轼极爱右军书法与文章，此赋的生成不能不说有《兰亭集序》的潜在影响。
桃花源记 The Peach Blossom Spring 陶渊明 · 同出东晋文坛，一写人间雅集之乐，一写理想桃源之幻 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
陶渊明《桃花源记》与《兰亭集序》同属东晋散文名篇，时代相同而旨趣迥异。兰亭序写的是实有的名士雅集，崇山峻岭、流觞曲水，乐在当下而悲于死生；桃花源记写的是虚构的理想乐土，阡陌交通、鸡犬相闻，以「不足为外人道也」的幻灭收束。一实一虚、一入世一遁世，恰构成东晋士人精神的两极：王羲之在山水清谈中执着于生命之重，陶渊明在田园想象中寄托于安宁之轻。语言上两文都以清丽简净见长，兰亭序稍显整饬，桃花源记更近自然，皆体现晋文「清峻通脱」的共同气质。两文并读，可见东晋文学如何在玄学氛围中开出各具面目的生命书写，为唐诗的抒情高峰准备了语言与精神的土壤。