典论•论文（节选）
Historical Allusions and Essays (selected)
[魏晋]曹丕
By Cao Pi
盖文章经国之大业.不朽之盛事。年寿有时而尽，荣乐止乎其身，二者必至之 常期，未若文章之无穷。是以古之作者，寄身于翰墨，见意于篇籍，不假良史之辞， 不托飞驰之势，而声名自传于后。故西伯幽而演《易》，周旦显而制《礼》，不以隐 约而弗务，不以康乐而加思。夫然别则古人贱尺壁而重寸阴，惧乎时之过已。而人 多不强力，贫贱则慑于饥寒，富贵则流于逸乐。遂营目前之务，而遗千载之功，日月逝于上，体貌衰于下，忽然与万物迁化，斯志士之大痛也。融等已逝，惟幹著论 成一家言。
I would say that literary works (文-章）are the supreme achievement In the business ot state, a splendor that does not decay.A time will come when a person's life ends; glory and pleasure go no further than this body. To carry both to eternity, there is nothing to compare with the unending permanence of the literary work. So writers of ancient times entrusted their persons to ink and the brash, and lei their thoughts be seen in their compositions; depending neither on a good historian nor on momentum from a powerful patron, their reputations were handed down to posterity on their own force.The Earl of the West [later made King Wen of the Zhou], when imprisoned, amplified the Book of Changes; the Duke of Zhou, though in his glory, prescribed the Rites. The former did not ignore this [the importance of literary work] in spite of hardship; the latter was not distracted by health and pleasure;From this we can see how the ancients thought nothing of large jade disks [marks of wealth], but valued each moment, fearful lest their lime pass them by. Yet people usually do not excert themselves: in poverty and low station they fear the hunger and cold; amid wealth and honor they drift with the distractions of pleasure. They busy themselves with the demands of what lies right before iheir eyes, and neglect an accomplishment lasting a thousand years. Overhead, the days and months pass away from us; here below, face and body waste away. Suddenly we will move off into transformation with all the other things of the world—this is the greatest pain for a person with high aspirations (志).Kong Rong and the others have already passed away, and only the discourse composed Xu Gan are the fully realized work of an individual writer