觀滄海
Viewing the Blue Sea
Cao Cao 曹操 (155–220)
Qin–Han · 207

Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-001009 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/001009
Rights: Eastern Han poem; the author died in 220. Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice.
Source: Wikisource, https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/觀滄海 (retrieved 2026-10-11)
English translation: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0
Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/cao-cao-viewing-the-blue-sea

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東臨碣石，以觀滄海。
水何澹澹，山島竦峙。
樹木叢生，百草豐茂。
秋風蕭瑟，洪波湧起。
日月之行，若出其中；
星漢燦爛，若出其裏。
幸甚至哉，歌以詠志。

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东临碣石，以观沧海。
水何澹澹，山岛竦峙。
树木丛生，百草丰茂。
秋风萧瑟，洪波涌起。
日月之行，若出其中；
星汉灿烂，若出其里。
幸甚至哉，歌以咏志。

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English translation by Claude (an AI)

East I came to Jieshi
to look upon the blue sea.
How the waters heave and roll,
how high the island hills stand.
Trees grow thick there,
the hundred grasses lush.
The autumn wind is sighing,
great waves surge and rise.
The journey of the sun and moon
seems to begin inside it;
the Milky Way in its splendour
seems to rise from within.
What fortune, what joy:
I sing to tell my mind.