Tang Dynasty
过酒家（节选）
对酒但知饮，逢人莫强牵。
倚炉便得睡，横瓮足堪眠。
Translation
Before wine, I know only to drink; when I meet people, I need not force conversation or company. Leaning by the wine stove, I can fall asleep; lying beside a jar, I have enough for a good rest.
Analysis
This excerpt from “Passing a Wine Shop” presents a relaxed and almost deliberately unworldly attitude toward drinking. There is no elaborate banquet scene, no moral argument, and no ornate description. The poet simply stands before wine and drinks. “Before wine, I know only to drink” is strikingly direct. It suggests frank pleasure, but also a withdrawal from social obligation. The next line, “when I meet people, I need not force conversation,” rejects artificial sociability. Drinking here is not a ritual of social performance; it is a private, free act. The final two lines make this freedom concrete. The poet can sleep by the stove or beside a wine jar. He requires little and is not concerned with appearances. The tone is not heroic but rustic, unrestrained, and slightly eccentric. Wang Ji’s poetry often carries the spirit of reclusion and wine, reminiscent of Tao Yuanming. The plain language of this poem is essential to its charm: it makes freedom feel ordinary, physical, and immediate.
About the Author
Wang Ji, courtesy name Wugong and styled Donggaozi, was a poet of the late Sui and early Tang periods. Known for his love of wine and reclusive temperament, he wrote in a plain and natural style that recalls the tradition of Tao Yuanming. Living during the transition toward Tang poetry, he avoided ornate diction and favored sincerity, rustic freedom, and personal feeling. His poem “Wild View” is especially important in the development of early Tang regulated verse.