有生必有死  早終非命促
昨暮同爲人  今旦在鬼錄
魂氣散何之  枯形寄空木
嬌兒索父啼  良友撫我哭
得失不複知  是非安能覺
千秋萬歲後  誰知榮與辱
但恨在世時  飲酒不得足

《Elegy》Tao Qian (365-427)      江紹倫譯

To live is to accept death in peace
The day will come when I last breath
Last night we are together as man
This morn we are in Ghost Registrar’s hand
Whither I wonder will go my soul
In a decaying box my body is a load
My children seek their father in grief
Friends see my corps cry and heave
Loss or gain I no longer care
Rights and wrongs not my affair
After ten thousand years have passed away
Who will know my glory or disgrace
I regret while living still
Mellow brews I fail to drink my fill