Classical Prose
醉翁亭记
欧阳修
环滁皆山也。
其西南诸峰，林壑尤美。
望之蔚然而深秀者，琅琊也。
山行六七里，渐闻水声潺潺，而泻出于两峰之间者，酿泉也。
峰回路转，有亭翼然临于泉上者，醉翁亭也。
作亭者谁？山之僧智仙也。
名之者谁？太守自谓也。
太守与客来饮于此，饮少辄醉，而年又最高，故自号曰醉翁也。
醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之间也。
山水之乐，得之心而寓之酒也。
若夫日出而林霏开，云归而岩穴暝，晦明变化者，山间之朝暮也。
野芳发而幽香，佳木秀而繁阴，风霜高洁，水落而石出者，山间之四时也。
朝而往，暮而归，四时之景不同，而乐亦无穷也。
至于负者歌于途，行者休于树，前者呼，后者应，伛偻提携，往来而不绝者，滁人游也。
临溪而渔，溪深而鱼肥。
酿泉为酒，泉香而酒洌。
山肴野蔌，杂然而前陈者，太守宴也。
宴酣之乐，非丝非竹。
射者中，弈者胜，觥筹交错，起坐而喧哗者，众宾欢也。
苍颜白发，颓然乎其间者，太守醉也。
已而夕阳在山，人影散乱，太守归而宾客从也。
树林阴翳，鸣声上下，游人去而禽鸟乐也。
然而禽鸟知山林之乐，而不知人之乐。
人知从太守游而乐，而不知太守之乐其乐也。
醉能同其乐，醒能述以文者，太守也。
太守谓谁？庐陵欧阳修也。
Translation
Surrounding Chuzhou entirely are mountains. The peaks in the southwest, with their forests and valleys, are particularly beautiful. One sees a deep, richly green expanse — that is Langya Mountain. Walking six or seven li into the hills, one gradually hears the gurgle of water. Pouring out between two peaks is Brew Spring. Where the peaks turn and the path winds, a pavilion perches with winged eaves over the spring. That is the Old Drunkard's Pavilion. Who built it? A monk of the mountain, Zhixian. Who named it? The prefect named it after himself. The prefect comes here to drink with guests. He gets drunk after only a few cups, and being the oldest, calls himself the Old Drunkard. But the Old Drunkard's delight is not in wine. It lies in the mountains and waters. The joy of hills and streams is received in the heart and entrusted to wine. When the sun rises, the forest mist clears. When clouds gather, the rocky caves darken. These changes of light and shadow are the morning and evening in the mountains. When wild blossoms open with subtle fragrance, when fine trees grow luxuriant with deep shade, when wind and frost are crisp and clear, when the water falls and rocks emerge — these are the four seasons in the mountains. One goes in the morning and returns at evening. The beauty of the seasons differs, but the joy is inexhaustible. On the path, burden-carriers sing; walkers rest beneath trees. Those ahead call out and those behind answer. Old men with bent backs, children led by the hand — an endless stream of people — these are the people of Chuzhou on an outing. Fishing by the stream, where the water is deep and the fish are fat; brewing spring water into wine, where the spring is fragrant and the wine is clear. Dishes of mountain game and wild vegetables, set forth in casual abundance — that is the prefect's feast. The joy of the feast is not in strings or flutes. Arrows hit the target, chess players win. Cups and counters cross and mingle. People rise and sit, laughing and chattering — that is the guests' pleasure. An old man with graying face and white hair, slumped among them utterly drunk — that is the prefect. Soon the sun sets over the mountain. Human shadows scatter and dissolve. The prefect goes home and the guests follow. The forest grows dark, birds call overhead and below. Visitors depart, and the birds rejoice. Yet birds know only the joy of the forest — they do not know the joy of people. People know the joy of following the prefect on an outing — but they do not know the joy that the prefect finds in their joy. He who can share their joy when drunk and record it in prose when sober — that is the prefect. And who is the prefect? Ouyang Xiu of Luling.
Analysis
Record of the Old Drunkard's Pavilion is Ouyang Xiu's most famous essay, written during his exile as prefect of Chuzhou. The entire essay is structured around 'joy' — joy of landscape, joy of feasting, and ultimately the joy of sharing happiness with the people. The opening is famously concise: 'Surrounding Chuzhou entirely are mountains.' Five characters establish the scene with remarkable economy. The perspective then narrows progressively from the encircling mountains to specific peaks, to a spring, to the pavilion itself — like a camera zooming slowly into focus. 'The Old Drunkard's delight is not in wine. It lies in the mountains and waters' is the most famous line. The narrator admits he drinks little yet calls himself drunkard, but the real intoxication comes from landscape and human joy. The seasonal descriptions are compressed and vivid: wild blossoms, shady trees, frost and wind, receding water revealing rocks. The scene of the people of Chuzhou on an outing is warm and lively — people singing, resting, calling to one another, old and young walking together. For an exiled official, this picture of social harmony is deeply satisfying. The feast scene is bustling with game-drinking, chess, arrows, laughter. In the midst of it sits the prefect himself, 'graying face and white hair, slumped among them utterly drunk' — a self-portrait mixing humor and quiet pride. The final three sentences create a profound layering of perspectives: birds know the joy of the forest but not human joy; people know the joy of following the prefect but not the prefect's joy in their joy. This elevates the theme from personal pleasure to a kind of vicarious fulfillment — the joy of enabling others' joy. The final self-identification — 'Ouyang Xiu of Luling' — is direct and unpretentious. The essay reflects Ouyang Xiu's philosophical adaptation to exile: when you cannot serve the whole realm, you serve the part of it under your care.
About the Author
Ouyang Xiu, courtesy name Yongshu, literary name Zuiweng and later Liuyi Jushi, was a Northern Song writer, statesman, and historian from Yongfeng in Jizhou. He is one of the 'Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song' and a major leader of the Northern Song prose reform movement. Major works include 'Record of the Old Drunkard's Pavilion,' 'Rhapsody on the Sound of Autumn,' 'On Factions,' 'Preface to the Biographies of Actors,' and 'Die Lian Hua · Deep, Deep Is the Courtyard.'