《千字文》(一)
天地玄黄,宇宙洪荒。日月盈昃,辰宿列张。
寒来暑往,秋收冬藏。闰余成岁,律吕调阳。云腾致雨,露结为霜。
金生丽水,玉出昆冈。剑号巨阙,珠称夜光。
果珍李柰,菜重芥姜。海咸河淡,鳞潜羽翔。
龙师火帝,鸟官人皇。始制文字,乃服衣裳。
推位让国,有虞陶唐;吊民伐罪,周发殷汤。
坐朝问道,垂拱平章。爱育黎首,臣伏戎羌。遐迩一体,率宾归王。
鸣凤在竹,白驹食场。化被草木,赖及万方。
The Thousand-Character Writing (I)
The sky was black and the earth was yellow,
The universe was vast and a dark whole.
The sun rises and sets and the moon is regularly round,
Stars spread high above without a toll.
Cold and heat come and go,
Fall harvest and storing for winter people know.
Intercalary days and months are fixed to make a year,
When clouds rise and meet cold, there will soon be a rain,
When dew drops congeal, they become frost in the main.
Gold is found in the Li River,
Jade is found in the Kunlun Mountains.
The best-known sword is called Juque,
The most famous peal is known as Yueguang.
Plum and a certain kind of apple are among best fruits,
Important vegetables include mustard and ginger.
Sea water is salty while river water is fresh,
Fishes swim in water while birds fly in the air.
Longshi, Huodi, Niaoguan and Renhuang, as legend goes,
Were celebrities of China’s remote ages.
Cang Jie created Chinese characters,
And some other people began to make clothes.
Good emperors Yao and Shun
Abdicated willingly,
The Zhou Dynasty’s Wu and the Shang Dynasty’ s Tang
Were the emperors who loved common people and punished criminals severely.
A wise emperor often consulted his good officials to administer his empire,
And the empire was governed in peace.
He loved his subjects and tended the multitude,
The minority nationalities like Rong and Qiang could be ruled with ease.
Places far and near come to be under one ruler,
All the people voluntarily submitted to the authority of the emperor.
Phoenixes are singing merrily among bamboos,
White colts are gazing on grassland.
The grace of a virtuous monarch will nourish the grass and trees,
And benefit the whole empire on many hands.