Introduction to Su Shis Red Cliffs | Generated by AI
Question: Provide an introduction to “前赤壁赋” (The First Ode on the Red Cliffs) by Su Shi.
Answer:
《前赤壁赋》 (The First Ode on the Red Cliffs / Former Rhapsody on Red Cliff) is one of the most famous prose-poems (赋) in Chinese literary history, written by Su Shi (苏轼, also known as Su Dongpo) in 1082 during his exile in Huangzhou (present-day Huanggang, Hubei).
Basic Information
- Author: Su Shi (1037–1101), courtesy name Zizhan (子瞻), art name Dongpo Jushi (东坡居士)
- Year: 1082 (Song Shenzong Yuanfeng 5th year)
- Location described: Red Cliffs (赤壁) along the Yangtze River — the piece is set near the site traditionally associated with the Battle of Red Cliffs (208 CE), though scholars now believe Su Shi was actually at a different Red Cliff cliff farther upstream.
- Companion piece: 《后赤壁赋》 (The Second Ode on the Red Cliffs), written in the same year, three months later.
Structure & Content Summary
The work is written in the fu (rhapsody) style, blending prose and poetry with strong lyrical and philosophical elements.
Typical structure can be divided into four main parts:
-
Setting the scene
Autumn night, bright moon, Su Shi boating on the river with friends, drinking wine, enjoying flute music. -
Guest’s melancholy speech
A companion expresses sadness about the brevity of human life compared to the eternity of the river and moon — using famous historical figures (Cao Cao, Zhou Yu, etc.) who once dominated the Red Cliffs but are now gone. -
Su Shi’s philosophical response (the core & most quoted part)
Su refutes the guest with a famous water-moon metaphor:- “客亦知夫水与月乎？逝者如斯，而未尝往也；盈虚者如彼，而卒莫消长也。”
→ “Do you also know about the water and the moon? What passes is like this [river], yet it never truly goes away; what waxes and wanes is like that [moon], yet in the end it neither increases nor decreases.”
→ He argues that from the perspective of change, everything is impermanent; but from the perspective of constancy, both the self and the universe are eternal.
→ Therefore one should “embrace the endless changes with the infinite” and find joy in the present moment rather than grieving over transience.
- “客亦知夫水与月乎？逝者如斯，而未尝往也；盈虚者如彼，而卒莫消长也。”
-
Conclusion
Everyone becomes joyful again, they drink more, finish the wine, and fall asleep as the boat drifts on without anyone noticing.
Literary & Philosophical Significance
- Combines Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist thought
- Most representative work of Su Shi’s optimistic, transcendent attitude toward adversity
- The water-moon-water argument is one of the most famous philosophical passages in classical Chinese literature
- Extremely influential in Chinese literary tradition — frequently quoted, recited, painted, and calligraphed for over 900 years
Most Famous Lines (modern Chinese + English)
客曰：「……哀吾生之须臾，羡长江之无穷。」
→ “… lamenting the brevity of our life, envying the endlessness of the Yangtze.”
苏子曰：「……盖将自其变者而观之，则天地曾不能以一瞬；自其不变者而观之，则物与我皆无尽也。」
→ “If we look at it from the viewpoint of change, then heaven and earth cannot last even a moment; if we look at it from the viewpoint of constancy, then all things and I are inexhaustible.”
“惟江上之清风，与山间之明月，耳得之而为声，目遇之而成色，取之无禁，用之不竭，是造物者之无尽藏也，而吾与子之所共适。”
→ “Only the clear wind over the river and the bright moon between the mountains: the ear hears them as sound, the eye meets them as color. We may take them without prohibition and use them without exhaustion — they are the inexhaustible treasury of the Creator, which you and I can share forever.”
《前赤壁赋》 remains one of the pinnacle works of Song dynasty literature and is still widely memorized and loved in Chinese-speaking world today.
References:
- None (classic literary work; explanation based on standard interpretations and original text)