Chinese poem illustration: 将进酒/ Another Toast Please by Li Bai
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Wine drinking is a deep rooted culture in Chinese history and today. The most popular Tang poems on wine drinking are almost by Li Bai alone. This poem might help on understanding the differences between oriental wine drinking style and western’s, which could be the followings: The orientals mean to express feeling and get released by drinking, while for westerns , it is about indulging and getting lost. Orientals like to help each other to drink excessively and westerns drink per their own capacity.
With the above understanding, it is very easy to understand that Li bai started this poem with feeling expression , the worry and sorrow for the very swift time passing by, which also implied that something still in his bucket list.
With first glance , this poem depict a lively and luxurious dining and drinking party. With extreme pride and sorrow, Li Bai showed his strong , magic and wild spirit : careless to money, looking down those ancient great people, impolitely behave as the host, and his huge drinking capacity. As a second review of this poem, what make this poem the most famous , is not only that almost every sentence is so famous even till today, frequently heard in drinking parties, but also we can find out it is thoughtful structured with outstanding writing technique . It start with a high but sad pitch, and then turned to a lovely and happy pitch with extreme pride. At the end, Li Bai turned back to the most high and strong pitch: Another Toast!, let destroy the ten thousand generations of sorrow with another toast.
将进酒
李白
君不见，黄河之水天上来，奔流到海不复回。
君不见，高堂明镜悲白发，朝如青丝暮成雪。
人生得意须尽欢，莫使金樽空对月。
天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来。
烹羊宰牛且为乐，会须一饮三百杯。
岑夫子，丹丘生，将进酒，杯莫停。
与君歌一曲，请君为我倾耳听。
钟鼓馔玉不足贵，但愿长醉不复醒。
古来圣贤皆寂寞，惟有饮者留其名。
陈王昔时宴平乐，斗酒十千恣欢谑。
主人何为言少钱，径须沽取对君酌。
五花马，千金裘，呼儿将出换美酒，与尔同销万古愁。
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