Whether it’s reciting poetry and singing in harmony, singing freely, or drinking with hairpins and dancing gracefully, they all show a sense of carefree and extraordinary purity, which is truly enviable. However, upon closer reading, one can see a hint of helplessness and hardship. Everyone drinks first, then gets drunk, then wakes up again, but in the song, it is said to wake up first, then get drunk again, and then drink again. The author’s uniqueness lies in the combination of waking up and getting drunk, that is, getting drunk and drinking again. Drunk, awake, and then deeply intoxicated again. It seems like learning from Li Bai’s saying ‘I wish I could stay drunk for a long time and not wake up’, but it also lacks the carefree attitude of Tai Bai’s saying ‘I am born to be useful, and my precious money will come back again’. In the past, Ruan Ji was fond of drinking because during the Wei and Jin dynasties, there were many reasons in the world, and few famous scholars had complete knowledge. As a result, he became accustomed to drinking heavily and did not get involved in worldly affairs. At the end of the Sui Dynasty and the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Ji also sighed and said, “Seeing people all drunk, why endure to wake up alone?” They either enjoyed drinking to avoid trouble or out of anger towards the world, but the intention of drunken men was not in drinking.
不论是吟诗唱和，还是任情高歌，抑或是簪花饮酒又婆娑，都可见出自得其乐的逍遥之意和超凡脱俗的高洁神韵，真令人无比羡慕。然而，仔细读来，便又见出几分无奈的苦衷。世人皆是先饮后醉复又醒，然而曲中却是先言醒复言醉又言饮。作者的独异处即是方醒又醉，即醉再饮。醉了，醒了，复又沉沉醉去。似是在学李白 “但愿长醉不愿醒”，然而又少了太白 “天生我才必有用，千金散尽还复来” 的洒脱。昔日阮籍好饮，是因 “魏晋之际，天下多故，名士少有全者”，由此而“不与世事，遂酣饮为常”。(《晋书》) 隋末唐初王绩也叹道： “眼看人尽醉，何忍独为醒。” 他们或为避祸，或因愤世而好酒，然而醉翁之意皆不在酒。
曾瑞·《喜春来·阅世》
佳章软语醒时和，
白雪阳春醉后歌，
簪花饮酒且婆娑。
开闷锁，
闲看恶风波。
Seeing Trough the World
To the Tune of Joy in Advent of Spring
Zeng Rui
Chanting poems and replying in chorus when sobering up,
Singing Spring Snow to your heart’s content when in your cup,
Wearing flowers and dancing gracefully while kissing the cup.
Enjoying myself to drinking song,
Free from the right and wrong.
