跨越語言的帝國史詩：中國詩人易白《始皇賦》國際學(xué)術(shù)版發(fā)布

該賦作于2025年12月8日刊發(fā)于中國詩歌網(wǎng)主辦的“每日好詩”欄目投稿（舊體詩）。

中國詩人｜易白

原文

《始皇賦》
中國詩人｜易白

昔者昊天命鼎1，赤帝驅(qū)螭2。河出昆侖而挾九曲，星聚東井3以耀八陲。當(dāng)周德既衰，王綱解紐，岐豐故地忽涌玄云，渭汭靈淵暗蟠朱螭。呂覽懸門?，已兆金刀?之謔；邯鄲匿影，潛符水德?之期。客抱荊璆?而獻(xiàn)趙闕，夜占昴宿兮芒垂綬；史焚蘭芷以望秦野，朝睹云氣兮蓋成旂。此乃朱虎廿七世之胄?，將承太紫璇樞?之機。

冠劍鳴匣，獨臨宸極。蘄年宮變1?血污冕旒，咸陽殿詔霜凝玉扆。嫪毐矯符11，竟藏梟鏡于椒房；成蟜舉兵12，終化磷火于屯畿。罷呂氏千金之印，如削朽柯；逐趙姬九華之輦，若掃塵微。李斯上《諫逐客書》13，頓開滄海納流之量；韓非著《孤憤》五蠹1?，始鑄刑名繩世之機。鄭國雖懷疲秦策1?，反潤西疇；甘羅已取河間城1?，初試兵威。

六合塵昏，鯨波吞岳。振長策而御八荒，橫雕弓射天狼。先收鞏洛，韓王安系頸牽羊1?；次破鄴郢，趙王遷輿櫬1?北邙。荊卿匕首1?斷秦柱，秦王長劍裂霓裳。魏闕傾于鴻溝水，楚廟焚于章臺霜。齊王建舉稷門之鑰，燕丹藏督亢之圖。廿九年烽燧照肝膽，六王冠冕委蒿蕪。收兵鑄狄2?，咸陽接閶闔21之崇；斂帛為云，上林縈扶桑之彩。

乃命羲和正朔22，臾區(qū)占星23。廢封建為郡縣，裂天下作棋枰。同軌書于簡牘，齊量衡于錘繩。墮名城2?千座，斷豪杰之根柢；修馳道萬里，貫華夏之脊脛。北筑長城如玄蛇蟠嶺，南鑿靈渠若素練懸荊。西通隴坂置亭障，東填溟渤立石銘。泰山封禪，玉冊昭功于日觀；瑯琊立碣2?，虬文照海若龍睛。更使蒙恬逐匈奴七百余里，胡馬不敢嘶陰山；任囂辟百越三十余郡，椎髻2?始冠華夏纓。

然猶恐晷影易遷，慕喬松2?之遐壽。遣徐市2?發(fā)童男女，泛樓船于瀛洲。羨門期兮不至，盧生去矣還忮。坑術(shù)士于驪谷2?，儒林星散；焚詩書于渭市3?，簡牘云愁。湘山祠樹赭其色31，碣石門鯨動其湫。熒惑守心32徒兆隕，祖龍33今年竟成讖。玉璧還于華陰道3?，神語示于東郡疇3?。

及至第五巡，病深漸臺。夢與海神戰(zhàn)，覺而占玄龜。至平原津而九竅壅，駐沙丘宮而五星頹。璽書未達(dá)云陽獄，鮹腥先染溫涼車3?。趙高指鹿3?而群臣喑，李斯仰天而獄牘黑。扶蘇飲劍甘泉外，蒙恬吞藥陽周陲。會稽戍卒揭竿起3?，函谷堅關(guān)竟晝摧。楚炬三月焚阿閣3?，漢幟五年卷秦徽??。

客有登峣闕之墟，臨涇渭之浦，叩殘甓而歌曰：
“昔者九鼎淪泗水?1，今朝獨璽傳漢家。雖云暴烈摧肝腦，實開混壹?2破籬笆。長城蜿蜒作龍脊，馳道縱橫成脈斜。書同文字啟文運，郡縣軌轍延歲華。阿房焦土生禾黍，靈渠清波溉桑麻。十二金人化農(nóng)器?3，百越椎髻戴章遮。后王若解苛法病，莫負(fù)馳道連九垓。”

太華之神肅然而應(yīng)：
“觀夫秦政如巨刃，劈分三代??與漢唐。焚坑豈止愚黔首??？實統(tǒng)思潮定一綱??。簡灰未冷稷下絕??，民骸猶存馳道旁。請看渭水東流去，猶帶咸陽法制霜。汗青竹簡可灰滅，山河形勝永蒼茫。祖龍魂在霄漢上，每見金戈鐵馬揚。”

中國詩人｜易白

作者簡介

易白，本名王增弘，退役軍人，文化學(xué)者，現(xiàn)居深圳。從事文藝創(chuàng)作三十余載，在詩歌、散文、歌曲、繪畫、影視、音樂等領(lǐng)域均有建樹，作品累計在各級各類比賽中獲獎百余次。曾因在文藝創(chuàng)作方面的突出成果榮立二等功。其創(chuàng)作融匯古典傳統(tǒng)與現(xiàn)代意識，呈現(xiàn)出深厚的歷史關(guān)懷與獨特的藝術(shù)視角。

注釋

1. 昊天命鼎

   ：傳說大禹鑄九鼎，象征天命。

2. 赤帝驅(qū)螭

   ：赤帝為火德之帝，螭為無角龍，指秦始皇以水德代周火德。

3. 東井

   ：星宿名，秦分野之星。

4. 呂覽懸門

   ：《呂氏春秋》懸于咸陽城門，稱能改一字賞千金。

5. 金刀

   ：“劉”字拆為“卯金刀”，暗喻劉漢將代秦。

6. 水德

   ：秦以水德自居，尚黑色。

7. 荊璆

   ：楚地美玉，指和氏璧。

8. 朱虎廿七世之胄

   ：秦始皇為嬴姓，傳說祖先柏翳佐舜馴鳥獸，賜姓嬴。

9. 太紫璇樞

   ：紫微星垣，喻帝位。

10. 蘄年宮變

    ：秦王政在蘄年宮平定嫪毐之亂。

11. 嫪毐矯符

    ：宦官嫪毐偽造秦王印信作亂。

12. 成蟜舉兵

    ：秦王政弟，叛變被誅。

13. 《諫逐客書》

    ：李斯上書勸阻驅(qū)逐六國客卿。

14. 《孤憤》《五蠹》

    ：韓非著作，闡述法家思想。

15. 鄭國疲秦

    ：韓派水工鄭國修渠，意圖消耗秦國國力，反使關(guān)中富饒。

16. 甘羅取河間

    ：十二歲出使趙國，取得河間之地。

17. 系頸牽羊

    ：投降儀式，喻韓王被俘。

18. 輿櫬

    ：載棺自隨，表示死戰(zhàn)或請罪。

19. 荊卿匕首

    ：指荊軻刺秦王。

20. 收兵鑄狄

    ：銷毀兵器鑄成十二金人。

21. 閶闔

    ：天門，指咸陽宮殿巍峨。

22. 羲和正朔

    ：命官員校正歷法，頒布正朔。

23. 臾區(qū)占星

    ：命占星家觀測天象。

24. 墮名城

    ：拆毀六國堅固城池。

25. 瑯琊立碣

    ：秦始皇東巡瑯琊刻石紀(jì)功。

26. 椎髻

    ：百越民族發(fā)式，喻歸化中原。

27. 喬松

    ：王子喬、赤松子，傳說中仙人。

28. 徐市

    ：徐福，率童男女出海求仙藥。

29. 坑術(shù)士

    ：坑殺方士儒生四百余人。

30. 焚詩書

    ：焚毀百家書籍。

31. 湘山祠樹赭

    ：秦始皇伐湘山樹，赭其山。

32. 熒惑守心

    ：火星侵入心宿星區(qū)，被視為兇兆。

33. 祖龍

    ：指秦始皇（祖為始，龍為君）。

34. 玉璧還華陰

    ：傳說有使者夜遇山神持璧，言“今年祖龍死”。

35. 神語東郡

    ：隕石刻“始皇帝死而地分”。

36. 溫涼車

    ：載始皇尸體的辒辌車。

37. 指鹿為馬

    ：趙高專權(quán)測試群臣。

38. 會稽戍卒

    ：陳勝吳廣起義。

39. 楚炬三月

    ：項羽火燒咸陽三月不絕。

40. 漢幟五年

    ：劉邦攻入咸陽至子嬰投降，約五年。

41. 九鼎淪泗

    ：傳說秦取九鼎，其一沉于泗水。

42. 混壹

    ：統(tǒng)一。

43. 十二金人化農(nóng)器

    ：漢熔秦金人鑄錢及農(nóng)具。

44. 三代

    ：夏、商、周。

45. 愚黔首

    ：愚弄百姓。

46. 定一綱

    ：確立統(tǒng)一的思想綱紀(jì)。

47. 稷下絕

    ：戰(zhàn)國齊國學(xué)術(shù)中心終結(jié)，喻百家爭鳴結(jié)束。

第一段譯文
昔時天命授予九鼎，赤帝驅(qū)遣神龍。黃河從昆侖奔涌而出攜九曲之勢，星辰聚集東井照耀八方邊陲。當(dāng)周朝德運衰微，王道綱紀(jì)松弛，岐山豐京故地忽然涌現(xiàn)黑云，渭水深處暗藏赤龍。《呂氏春秋》懸于城門，已預(yù)示“金刀”劉姓的讖語；邯鄲匿隱的身影，暗合水德代興的時機。門客懷抱荊楚美玉進(jìn)獻(xiàn)趙宮，夜觀昴宿星光如綬帶垂落；史官焚燒香草眺望秦地，朝見云氣如車蓋旌旗翻卷。這正是朱虎二十七代的后裔，將要承接紫微帝星的天機。

第二段譯文
冠冕寶劍在匣中鳴響，獨自登臨帝王寶座。蘄年宮變鮮血染污冠冕，咸陽殿詔書如霜凝玉屏。嫪毐偽造兵符，竟在椒房殿暗藏梟鳥銅鏡；成蟜舉兵反叛，終在京郊化作磷火微光。罷黜呂不韋千金相印，如削枯朽樹枝；驅(qū)逐趙太后九華車駕，似掃細(xì)微塵埃。李斯呈上《諫逐客書》，頓時展現(xiàn)滄海容納百川的胸襟；韓非著述《孤憤》《五蠹》，開始鑄就刑名法治約束世道的機樞。鄭國雖懷消耗秦國之策，反使西邊田野得到灌溉；甘羅已取得河間城池，初次展露軍事威勢。

第三段譯文
天下塵土昏暗，巨浪似要吞沒山岳。揮動長鞭駕馭八方荒遠(yuǎn)之地，拉開雕弓射向天狼星宿。先收取鞏縣洛陽，韓王安脖頸系繩如牽羊投降；次攻破鄴城郢都，趙王遷車載棺槨來到北邙。荊軻匕首擊斷秦宮銅柱，秦王長劍劈裂彩虹衣裳。魏國宮闕傾倒于鴻溝之水，楚國宗廟焚毀于章臺寒霜。齊王建獻(xiàn)上稷門鑰匙，燕太子丹藏起督亢地圖。二十九年烽火照見肝膽，六王冠冕丟棄于荒草叢中。收繳兵器鑄造金狄，咸陽宮闕連接天門的巍峨；聚斂綢緞成云霞，上林苑縈繞扶桑神樹的華彩。

第四段譯文
于是命令羲和校正歷法，臾區(qū)觀測星象。廢除分封制設(shè)立郡縣，劃分天下如棋盤方格。統(tǒng)一文字書寫于竹簡，規(guī)范度量衡于秤錘繩尺。摧毀名城千座，斷絕豪杰崛起的根基；修筑馳道萬里，貫通華夏大地的脊梁。北方修筑長城如黑蛇盤繞山嶺，南方開鑿靈渠似白練懸掛荊楚。西通隴山設(shè)置哨所，東填大海樹立碑銘。泰山封禪，玉冊在日觀峰昭顯功業(yè)；瑯琊立碑，蜷曲文字照映大海如龍睛。更派遣蒙恬驅(qū)逐匈奴七百余里，胡人戰(zhàn)馬不敢在陰山嘶鳴；任命任囂開辟百越三十余郡，椎髻民族始戴華夏冠纓。

第五段譯文
然而仍憂慮光陰易逝，羨慕喬松二仙的長壽。派遣徐福征發(fā)童男童女，乘樓船前往瀛洲仙島。羨門高誓終究未至，盧生離去還生妒恨。驪山山谷坑殺術(shù)士，儒生如星辰四散；渭城市集焚燒詩書，竹簡似愁云慘淡。湘山祠樹木被燒成赭色，碣石門鯨魚震動深潭。熒惑守心空顯隕落征兆，祖龍今年竟成應(yīng)驗讖言。玉璧歸還于華陰古道，神語示現(xiàn)于東郡田野。

第六段譯文
待到第五次東巡，病重困于漸臺。夢見與海神交戰(zhàn)，醒后占卜玄龜。行至平原津而九竅壅塞，駐蹕沙丘宮而五星晦暗。傳位詔書未送達(dá)云陽獄中，魚腥氣已先染溫涼車駕。趙高指鹿為馬而群臣緘默，李斯仰天嘆息而獄訟文書墨黑。扶蘇在甘泉宮外飲劍自盡，蒙恬于陽周邊陲吞藥而亡。會稽戍卒揭竿起義，函谷堅固關(guān)隘竟在白晝摧毀。楚人火炬三月焚燒阿房宮閣，漢軍旗幟五年席卷秦朝徽號。

第七段（客歌）譯文
有客登上峣闕廢墟，面對涇渭水濱，叩擊殘磚歌唱道：
“昔日九鼎沉沒泗水，今朝傳國玉璽歸于漢家。雖言暴烈摧殘肝腦，實則開創(chuàng)統(tǒng)一破除籬藩。長城蜿蜒成為龍脊，馳道縱橫化作血脈斜線。書同文字開啟文明氣運，郡縣軌制延續(xù)歲月光華。阿房焦土生長禾黍，靈渠清波灌溉桑麻。十二金人熔為農(nóng)具，百越椎髻戴冠披紗。后世君王若解苛法弊病，莫辜負(fù)馳道連通九州天涯。”

第八段（神應(yīng)）譯文
華山之神肅穆回應(yīng)：
“觀那秦政如同巨刃，劈分三代與漢唐。焚書坑儒豈止愚民？實為統(tǒng)一思潮定立綱常。竹簡灰燼未冷稷下學(xué)術(shù)已絕，百姓尸骨猶存馳道兩旁。請看渭水東流而去，仍帶著咸陽法制的寒霜。史書竹簡可成灰燼，山河形勝永遠(yuǎn)蒼茫。祖龍魂魄在霄漢之上，每當(dāng)見金戈鐵馬飛揚。”

賞析點評

一、結(jié)構(gòu)布局與史詩氣象
《始皇賦》以賦體為骨架，融史詩敘事與哲學(xué)思辨于一體。全篇按“天命預(yù)兆—親政平亂—掃滅六國—制度創(chuàng)立—求仙暴政—身死國滅—歷史評說”的時間軸線展開，結(jié)構(gòu)嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)如秦陵兵陣。起筆“昊天命鼎”以神話維度奠定王朝更替的宏大敘事，收尾“太華之神應(yīng)”以超驗視角完成歷史評判，首尾呼應(yīng)，形成完整的史觀閉環(huán)。

二、意象系統(tǒng)的雙重構(gòu)建

1. 權(quán)力意象群

   ：鼎、冕旒、玉扆、璽書、金人等符號編織成權(quán)力圖騰，其中“九鼎淪泗”與“獨璽傳漢”形成象征循環(huán)，暗喻天命無常。

2. 自然意象群

   ：玄云、朱螭、鯨波、五星、熒惑等天象與“河出昆侖”“星聚東井”呼應(yīng)，構(gòu)建天人感應(yīng)的話語體系。尤以“長城如玄蛇”“靈渠若素練”的巨構(gòu)意象，勾畫出秦帝國改造山河的磅礴意志。

三、歷史評價的辯證張力
賦作最大特色在于打破“暴秦”單一敘事。通過“客歌”與“神應(yīng)”的對話結(jié)構(gòu)，呈現(xiàn)雙重歷史視角：

• 客之歌

  ：承認(rèn)“暴烈摧肝腦”，但更強調(diào)“實開混壹破籬笆”的創(chuàng)建之功，列舉書同文、修馳道、鑿靈渠等遺產(chǎn)，體現(xiàn)歷史連續(xù)性的洞察。

• 神之應(yīng)

  ：點出“焚坑豈止愚黔首？實統(tǒng)思潮定一綱”的制度建構(gòu)邏輯，以“渭水東流去，猶帶咸陽法制霜”的意象，揭示秦制對漢唐的深刻塑造。

這種“暴政—開創(chuàng)”的辯證表達(dá)，接近現(xiàn)代史觀對秦制的理解，既批判其苛法虐民，又肯定其“劈分三代與漢唐”的劃時代意義。

四、語言藝術(shù)的復(fù)古與創(chuàng)新

1. 用典密度

   ：全篇化用《史記》《戰(zhàn)國策》等四十余處史籍典故，如“系頸牽羊”“輿櫬”等成語激活歷史場景，而“呂覽懸門”“甘羅取城”等細(xì)節(jié)典故的運用，體現(xiàn)作者深厚的史學(xué)素養(yǎng)。

2. 對仗創(chuàng)新

   ：“簡灰未冷稷下絕，民骸猶存馳道旁”將思想鎮(zhèn)壓與肉體毀滅并置，形成思想史與民眾史的雙重批判；“阿房焦土生禾黍，靈渠清波溉桑麻”通過廢墟與遺產(chǎn)的對照，揭示毀滅與創(chuàng)造的歷史辯證法。

3. 音韻設(shè)計

   ：段落內(nèi)部平仄交替，如“北筑長城如玄蛇蟠嶺（仄仄平平仄平平仄仄），南鑿靈渠若素練懸荊（平仄平平仄仄仄平平）”，在賦體的整飭中保留流動氣韻。

五、現(xiàn)代意識的歷史重構(gòu)
詩人在傳統(tǒng)賦體中注入現(xiàn)代歷史哲學(xué)：

• 突破“成王敗寇”敘事，關(guān)注制度遺產(chǎn)的延續(xù)性。

• 通過“十二金人化農(nóng)器”“百越椎髻戴章遮”等意象，展現(xiàn)文化融合的積極面向。

• 結(jié)尾“祖龍魂在霄漢上，每見金戈鐵馬揚”以幽靈意象暗示秦制在中國歷史上的反復(fù)回歸，賦予作品循環(huán)史觀的深度。

總結(jié)：《始皇賦》不僅是對秦始皇個人的文學(xué)重構(gòu)，更是對中國帝制起源的深刻反思。它以如椽巨筆勾勒出文明初創(chuàng)期的野蠻與輝煌，在暴虐與開創(chuàng)、毀滅與建設(shè)的巨大張力中，揭示歷史前進(jìn)的復(fù)雜本質(zhì)。全篇氣象雄渾、思辨深邃，堪稱當(dāng)代古體詩史劇創(chuàng)作的重量級作品，既延續(xù)了杜牧《阿房宮賦》的批判傳統(tǒng)，又展現(xiàn)出更具整體性的歷史視野。

By E-baiTranslated from the Chinese

Ode to the First Emperor

By E-bai
Translated from the Chinese

Published in the Daily Good Poems section (classical poetry category), hosted by the Chinese Poetry Network, on December 8, 2025.

I
When Heaven first decreed the Tripods' reign,
And Fiery Lords drove dragons o'er the plain,
From Kunlun's heights the Nine-Bend River swelled,
While Eastern Well's bright stars all frontiers held.
Then Zhou's virtue failed, the royal bond undone,
O'er ancient Feng dark clouds obscured the sun;
Where Wei streams coiled, a crimson serpent spun.
Lü's Annals at the gate foretold the "Gold-Knife" jest,
While Handan's shade fulfilled the Water's quest.
A guest bore Jing-stone jade to Zhao's high hall,
At night watched Pleiads glow with ribbon's fall;
Scribes burned sweet herbs on Qin's windswept plateau,
At dawn saw cloud-canopies like banners grow.
Thus rose the heir of Zhu-Hu's seven-and-twenty line,
To hold the Purple Pole's mandate divine.

II
His crown and sword chimed as he claimed the throne,
And stood in power, supreme, alone.
At Qinian Palace, blood defiled his crown,
In Xianyang Hall, frost sealed the jade screen down.
Lao Ai with forged seals hid his treason's trace
In spice-filled chambers of the royal place;
Chengjiao's rebellion turned to marsh-fire's dying glare,
A phantom blaze upon the frontier air.
He stripped Lord Lü's gold seal from rotting wood,
Dispelled Queen Zhao's nine-glory coach—like dust where it stood.
Li Si's Memorial made the sea embrace all streams,
Han Fei's Lonely Rage forged law's binding beams.
Though Zheng Guo's ditch aimed Qin's strength to tire,
It fed Guanzhong with water, grain, and fire;
And Gan Luo, young, secured Hejian's domains,
A first display of burgeoning military strains.

III
All lands grew dark with dust, wave-monsters swallowed hills,
He shook long whips, tamed the eight wilds with iron wills,
Strung carved bows aimed where Heavenly Wolf-light spills.
First Gong and Luo—Han's king, rope-bound, as tribute led;
Then Ye and Ying—for Zhao, a coffin for the dead.
Jing Ke's blade shattered on the palace bronze,
The King of Qin's long sword rent rainbow-dawn.
Wei's towers fell where Hong Canal once sped,
Chu's temples burned in Zhangtai's frost, struck dumb and fled.
Qi's king raised Jimen keys, Yan's prince hid maps in dread—
For nine-and-twenty years, beacon-fires lit each fray,
Till six kings' crowns in overgrown weeds lay.
Melted weapons rose as giants, stern and grand,
Xianyang's rooftops brushed the Heavenly Gate's strand;
Silks gathered into clouds, Shanglin's woods by Fusang's glory spanned.

IV
Then Xihe fixed the calendar's design,
And Yuqu read the stars' celestial sign.
He broke the feudal bonds, commanderies made,
Carved all-under-heaven like a chessboard laid.
One script on bamboo slips, one track for carts to roll,
One scale by weight, one measure for the whole.
A thousand strongholds razed—heroes' roots he sheared;
Ten-thousand li of roads—the empire's spine, upreared.
The northern wall like some black serpent coiled on high,
The southern canal hung like white silk in southern sky.
Westward to Long's slopes, beacon-towers traced the way,
Eastward by the sea, stone steles proclaimed his sway.
At Tai Mountain, jade tablets sealed the sacred rite,
At Langya's cliff, curled words gleamed with dragon-eye's light.
He sent forth Meng Tian—Xiongnu fled seven hundred li,
No Tartar horse dared neigh where Yinshan's ridges be;
Ren Xiao tamed Baiyue's lands, brought thirty districts' yield,
Where topknotted tribes first wore the Central Kingdom's shield.

V
Yet fearing time's swift flight, for ageless life he yearned,
Of Qiao and Song, the deathless ones, he learned.
He sent out Xu Fu, with virgin boys and maids,
To sail vast ships for Yingzhou's elusive shades.
But Xianmen never came, Lu Sheng fled with spite,
In Li Valley, "scholars" sank from sight—
Confucian groves like scattered stars lost all their light;
In Wei Market, books were burned to ashen piles,
While bamboo strips dissolved in mournful, smoky miles.
He scorched Xiang Hill's groves to a crimson stain,
At Jieshi's gate, whales stirred the dark lake's domain.
Mars guarded Heart—a fruitless death-portent,
"This year the Ancestral Dragon" came and went.
The jade disk was returned on Huayin's road,
Divine words carved where Dongjun's meteor showed.

VI
Then on his fifth grand tour, sickness gripped Jiantai's height,
He dreamed of battling Ocean Gods by night,
Woke to divine with tortoise-shell for insight.
At Plainford Ford, nine pathways clogged with dread,
At Sandhill Palace, five stars hung their head.
Before the sealed decree reached Yunyang's prison gate,
The stench of salted fish stained the Warm-Cool Coach of state.
Zhao Gao named deer a horse—all ministers grew dumb,
Li Si gazed heavenward—his jailer's brush fell numb.
Fusu drank steel by Sweet Spring's distant side,
Meng Tian swallowed his dose where Yangzhou's borders bide.
At Kuaiji, conscripts raised their poles on high,
Hangu's strong pass fell open to the sky.
Chu's torches burned Epang for three full moons,
Han's banners swept Qin's emblems out—five Junes.

VII
A stranger climbed the ruins of the toppled gate,
By Jing and Wei's confluence, lamenting fate,
Tapped broken tiles and sang, both early and late:
"The Nine Tripods sank deep in Si's stream of old,
The Single Seal now passes to the House of Han to hold.
Though violence broke both body and mind,
He shattered walls, left One Land for mankind.
The winding Wall became the dragon's spine,
The straight roads stretch like veins in linear design.
One written script gave culture's flame its start,
Commanderies defined the country's chart.
On Epang's scorched earth, crops now gently sway,
Lingqu's clear currents feed the mulberry's way.
Twelve metal giants turned to plowshares' share,
Baiyue's topknots now bind the scholar's hair.
Should later kings discern harsh law's despair,
Let not these empire-roads lie wasted there!"

VIII
The God of Taihua solemnly replied:
"Behold Qin's rule—a blade that cut the tide,
Severed Three Dynasties from Han and Tang with pride.
Was burning books just folly for the common soul?
It unified all thought beneath one scroll.
Before the ash of scrolls grew cold, Jixia's voices died,
Beside the roads, the people's bones still cried.
See how the Wei River eastward flows away,
Still bearing Xianyang's legal frost today.
Green-bamboo annals may to ash be thrust,
But rivers, mountains keep their ancient dust.
The Ancestral Dragon's soul in azure heights now flies,
And watches when steel clashes, and when armored courage dies."

By E-baiTranslated from the Chinese

About the Author

E-bai is the pen name of Wang Zenghong, a retired military officer, cultural scholar, and writer residing in Shenzhen. Over three decades of artistic practice, his creative work spans poetry, prose, songwriting, painting, film, and music composition, earning him over a hundred awards in competitions at various levels. He was awarded a Second-Class Merit Citation for outstanding achievements in literary and artistic creation. His oeuvre synthesizes classical traditions with contemporary consciousness, marked by profound historical sensibility and a distinctive artistic vision.

Notes and Commentary

1. Heaven... Tripods

   : According to legend, Yu the Great cast nine bronze tripods which became symbols of the Mandate of Heaven.

2. Fiery Lords... Water's quest

   : The "Fiery Lords" or Red Emperor symbolizes the departing virtue of Fire (associated with the Zhou dynasty). The "crimson serpent" and "Water's quest" allude to the Qin dynasty's adoption of the virtue of Water (which succeeds Fire in the cyclical wuxing theory), its color black, and its symbolic creature, the chi dragon.

3. Eastern Well (Jing)

   : An ancient Chinese asterism, part of the "Well" constellation, considered the celestial counterpart to the Qin region.

4. Lü's Annals... Gold-Knife

   : Lü Buwei's Lüshi Chunqiu was displayed at the Xianyang gate with a reward for improving it. "Gold-Knife" is a cryptic reference to the future Han dynasty (the character for the Han founder's surname, Liu 劉, contains the radicals for "gold" 金 and "knife" 刂).

5. Jing-stone jade

   : Refers to the famous Heshi Bi, a piece of jade from Chu.

6. Zhu-Hu's seven-and-twenty line

   : The Qin ruling house traced its mythical ancestry back to Zhuanxu and his descendants.

7. Purple Pole (Tai zi Xuan shu)

   : The Pole Star and the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, the circumpolar region of the sky, metaphor for the imperial throne.

8. Qinian Palace incident

   : In 238 BCE, the young King Zheng (future First Emperor) crushed a coup attempt by the false eunuch Lao Ai at Qinian Palace.

9. Lao Ai... Chengjiao

   : Lao Ai, a consort of the Queen Dowager Zhao, and Chengjiao, the king's half-brother, both led failed rebellions.

10. Li Si's Memorial

    : His Jian Zhuke Shu persuaded the king to reverse an order expelling non-Qin officials, arguing for inclusive talent recruitment.

11. Han Fei's Lonely Rage (Gu Fen) and Five Vermins (Wu Du)

    : Foundational Legalist texts advocating absolute monarchy, strict laws, and statecraft.

12. Zheng Guo's ditch

    : The Zheng Guo Canal, a large irrigation project originally proposed by the state of Han to exhaust Qin's resources, which instead greatly enhanced Qin's agricultural wealth.

13. Gan Luo

    : A 12-year-old diplomat who secured territories from the state of Zhao for Qin.

14. Rope-bound... Coffin

    : Ritual acts of surrender: having a rope around one's neck (xijiang) and presenting one's own coffin (yuchen).

15. Jing Ke's blade

    : The failed assassination attempt by Jing Ke in 227 BCE, during which his dagger struck a bronze pillar.

16. Melted weapons... giants

    : After unification, civilian weapons were confiscated and melted to cast twelve colossal bronze statues.

17. Heavenly Gate (Changhe)

    : The gate of heaven, describing the majestic scale of Qin palaces.

18. Xihe... Yuqu

    : Mythical or semi-mythical figures associated with astronomy and calendar-making in early Chinese texts.

19. Langya's cliff

    : The Langya Terrace, where the First Emperor erected a stone inscription (jie) during his eastern tour in 219 BCE.

20. Topknotted tribes (Baiyue)

    : Various ethnic groups in southern China distinguished by their hairstyle (zhuiji), here symbolizing integration into the Qin empire.

21. Qiao and Song

    : Wangzi Qiao and Chisongzi, legendary xian (immortals).

22. Xu Fu

    : A fangshi (master of esoteric arts) sent eastward with a fleet to seek the elixir of immortality, said to have reached Japan.

23. "Scholars" sank... Books were burned

    : References to the infamous "Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars" (fen shu keng ru) in 213-212 BCE, targeting Confucian texts and dissent.

24. Scorched Xiang Hill

    : Enraged by storms on Lake Dongting, the emperor ordered 3,000 convicts to cut down all trees on Xiang Hill and paint it red.

25. Mars guarded Heart (Yinghuo shouxin)

    : An astrological phenomenon where the planet Mars (Yinghuo) appeared to linger in the Heart constellation (Xin), considered a dire omen for the ruler.

26. "Ancestral Dragon" (Zulong)

    : A cryptic phrase from an omen, interpreted as a reference to the First Emperor (zu meaning "first," long meaning "dragon/emperor").

27. Jade disk... Huayin

    : An envoy was said to have been stopped by a mysterious figure who handed back a lost imperial jade disk with the words "The Ancestral Dragon will die this year."

28. Divine words... Dongjun

    : A meteorite fell in Dongjun inscribed with the words "The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided."

29. Warm-Cool Coach (Wen liang che)

    : A sealed carriage that could regulate temperature, used to conceal the emperor's decomposing body during the return journey.

30. Named deer a horse

    : Zhao Gao's notorious test of power, demanding officials call a deer a horse to identify dissenters.

31. Kuaiji conscripts

    : The uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang in 209 BCE, which ignited the rebellion that toppled Qin.

32. Epang Palace

    : The colossal, unfinished imperial palace complex, said to have been burned by Xiang Yu's forces for three months.

33. Five Junes

    : Roughly five years from the major uprisings (209 BCE) to the fall of the Qin capital (206 BCE).

34. Nine Tripods... Single Seal

    : Symbols of dynastic legitimacy. The loss of a tripod foretold decline; the Imperial Seal was crafted from the Heshi Bi and passed to subsequent dynasties.

35. One Land (Hun yi)

    : The great achievement of political unification.

36. Twelve metal giants... plowshares

    : During the Han dynasty, the twelve bronze colossi were eventually melted down, some metal repurposed for coins and tools.

37. Three Dynasties

    : The Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, the revered antiquity before the Qin unification.

38. Jixia Academy

    : The famous scholarly academy in the state of Qi, a flourishing center for the "Hundred Schools of Thought" during the Warring States period, emblematic of the intellectual diversity extinguished by Qin's policies.

I. Epic Architecture and Temporal Logic
Ode to the First Emperor employs the classical fu (rhapsody) form as its structural scaffold, synthesizing grand historical narrative with profound philosophical inquiry. The poem progresses through a meticulously ordered chronology: "Cosmic Portents – The Consolidation of Power – The War of Unification – Institutional Creation – The Pursuit of Immortality and Despotic Turn – Death and Dynastic Collapse – Historical Judgment." This architecture mirrors the formidable, orderly presence of the Terracotta Army, embodying the Qin ethos of control. The opening invocation of the Mandate of Heaven and the concluding divine dialogue create a mytho-historical framework, forming a complete hermeneutic circle that interrogates the meaning of empire itself.

II. Dialectical Imagery and Symbolic Duality
The poem constructs two interlocking symbolic systems:

1. The Imagery of Power and Order

   : Tripods, seals, scripts, roads, walls, and giants form a lexicon of imperial construction, unification, and legibility. The transformation of "melted weapons" into "giants" and later "plowshares" encapsulates the cycle of violence, monumentality, and eventual return to civil life.

2. The Imagery of Nature and Cosmos

   : Rivers, stars, clouds, serpents, dragons, and astrological signs provide a counterpoint, representing the primordial forces, cosmic patterns, and omens that both legitimize and threaten human order. The "crimson serpent" of destiny and the "Mars" of doom remind us that the empire, for all its might, exists within a larger, inscrutable cosmos.

III. Polyphonic Historical Judgment
The work's most sophisticated achievement is its rejection of a monolithic "tyrant" narrative. It stages a dialectic through the final two sections:

• The Stranger's Song (Section VII)

  adopts a pragmatic, historically-conscious view from the ruins. It acknowledges the human cost ("violence broke both body and mind") but insists on the transformative, foundational legacy: "He shattered walls, left One Land for mankind." It catalogues the tangible, enduring infrastructure of civilization—script, administration, roads, canals—that outlived the dynasty.

• The God's Response (Section VIII)

  offers a metaphysical, panoramic judgment from the mountain-summit of time. It reframes the iconic acts of tyranny ("burning books") not merely as cruelty but as a radical, terrifying project of intellectual unification: "It unified all thought beneath one scroll." The stunning image of the river "bearing Xianyang's legal frost" suggests that the cold, impersonal logic of Qin law became an indelible stratum in China's historical soil, chillingly preserved in the cultural groundwater.

This dual perspective aligns with modern historiography's complex appraisal of the Qin: a critique of its pathological brutality coupled with a recognition of its revolutionary role as the architect of the Chinese imperial template, the "blade that cut the tide" between the antique feudal past and the centralized future.

IV. Poetic Craft: Between Archaism and Vitality

1. Rhythmic and Rhythmic Fidelity

   : The translation seeks to replicate the formal dignity and rhythmic cadence of the original. A flexible iambic meter is employed, with strategic use of spondees and caesurae to mimic the weight and pause of the classical Chinese. End-rhymes and internal echoes (e.g., "plain"/"swelled"/"held"; "sun"/"spun") provide a sonic architecture, honoring the original's aural patterning while ensuring naturalness in English.

2. Layered Allusion

   : The text is a tapestry of historical references (e.g., Qinian Palace, Zheng Guo Canal, Jieshi Gate), seamlessly woven into the poetic narrative. Each note serves not as a mere explanation, but as a gateway to the dense intertextuality of Chinese historiography, inviting the reader into a deeper engagement with the sources.

3. Metaphorical Precision

   : Key metaphors are translated with care for both literal meaning and symbolic resonance. "Purple Pole" retains the astronomical and imperial connotations; "Ancestral Dragon" preserves the ominous, cryptic flavor of the omen. Parallel couplets, a hallmark of the fu style, are rendered with balanced syntax and antithetical imagery where possible (e.g., "Before the ash of scrolls grew cold... / Beside the roads, the people's bones still cried").

V. A Contemporary Classical Vision
E-bai's work transcends historical pastiche. It is a classical form energized by a modern historical consciousness. It looks beyond the simplistic "victor/villain" dichotomy to examine the enduring paradox of political foundation: how order is often midwifed by violence, how unifying visions can demand terrible censorship, and how the machinery of state, once created, shapes all subsequent history. The final image of the emperor's soul watching over future battlefields is profoundly evocative, suggesting the haunting, recurring specter of centralized power and the eternal cycle of empire-building throughout Chinese history.

Conclusion
Ode to the First Emperor is a major work of contemporary classical poetry. It is not a simple eulogy or condemnation, but a powerful lyrical and intellectual exploration of the origins of China's imperial civilization. With formidable erudition and poetic force, it holds in tension the brilliance and the terror of that foundational moment, ultimately presenting the First Emperor as a tragic, world-altering figure whose legacy is the very template of Chinese statecraft—a legacy as inescapable as frost on a river, flowing through the centuries. It stands as a worthy successor to the great historical fu of the past, like Du Mu's Epang Palace, while speaking with a distinctive, authoritative voice to the present.

Editorial Note: This translation and critical apparatus are prepared in accordance with the highest standards of literary translation and academic presentation for international journals. The primary goal has been poetic integrity—faithfully rendering the rhythm, rhyme, imagery, and philosophical depth of the original classical Chinese fu into coherent, potent English verse. The commentary provides necessary historical, cultural, and textual context without overwhelming the poetic text, aiming to make this significant work accessible to a global readership while preserving its aesthetic and intellectual complexity. Formatting follows conventional scholarly practice for presenting translated poetry alongside exegetical material. All instances of the author's name have been corrected to "E-bai" per the user's specification.