跨越语言的帝国史诗：中国诗人易白《始皇赋》国际学术版发布

该赋作于2025年12月8日刊发于中国诗歌网主办的“每日好诗”栏目投稿（旧体诗）。

中国诗人｜易白

原文

《始皇赋》
中国诗人｜易白

昔者昊天命鼎¹，赤帝驱螭²。河出昆仑而挟九曲，星聚东井³以耀八陲。当周德既衰，王纲解纽，岐丰故地忽涌玄云，渭汭灵渊暗蟠朱螭。吕览悬门⁴，已兆金刀⁵之谑；邯郸匿影，潜符水德⁶之期。客抱荆璆⁷而献赵阙，夜占昴宿兮芒垂绶；史焚兰芷以望秦野，朝睹云气兮盖成旂。此乃朱虎廿七世之胄⁸，将承太紫璇枢⁹之机。

冠剑鸣匣，独临宸极。蕲年宫变¹⁰血污冕旒，咸阳殿诏霜凝玉扆。嫪毐矫符¹¹，竟藏枭镜于椒房；成蟜举兵¹²，终化磷火于屯畿。罢吕氏千金之印，如削朽柯；逐赵姬九华之辇，若扫尘微。李斯上《谏逐客书》¹³，顿开沧海纳流之量；韩非著《孤愤》五蠹¹⁴，始铸刑名绳世之机。郑国虽怀疲秦策¹⁵，反润西畴；甘罗已取河间城¹⁶，初试兵威。

六合尘昏，鲸波吞岳。振长策而御八荒，横雕弓射天狼。先收巩洛，韩王安系颈牵羊¹⁷；次破邺郢，赵王迁舆榇¹⁸北邙。荆卿匕首¹⁹断秦柱，秦王长剑裂霓裳。魏阙倾于鸿沟水，楚庙焚于章台霜。齐王建举稷门之钥，燕丹藏督亢之图。廿九年烽燧照肝胆，六王冠冕委蒿芜。收兵铸狄²⁰，咸阳接阊阖²¹之崇；敛帛为云，上林萦扶桑之彩。

乃命羲和正朔²²，臾区占星²³。废封建为郡县，裂天下作棋枰。同轨书于简牍，齐量衡于锤绳。堕名城²⁴千座，断豪杰之根柢；修驰道万里，贯华夏之脊胫。北筑长城如玄蛇蟠岭，南凿灵渠若素练悬荆。西通陇坂置亭障，东填溟渤立石铭。泰山封禅，玉册昭功于日观；琅琊立碣²⁵，虬文照海若龙睛。更使蒙恬逐匈奴七百余里，胡马不敢嘶阴山；任嚣辟百越三十余郡，椎髻²⁶始冠华夏缨。

然犹恐晷影易迁，慕乔松²⁷之遐寿。遣徐市²⁸发童男女，泛楼船于瀛洲。羡门期兮不至，卢生去矣还忮。坑术士于骊谷²⁹，儒林星散；焚诗书于渭市³⁰，简牍云愁。湘山祠树赭其色³¹，碣石门鲸动其湫。荧惑守心³²徒兆陨，祖龙³³今年竟成谶。玉璧还于华阴道³⁴，神语示于东郡畴³⁵。

及至第五巡，病深渐台。梦与海神战，觉而占玄龟。至平原津而九窍壅，驻沙丘宫而五星颓。玺书未达云阳狱，鮹腥先染温凉车³⁶。赵高指鹿³⁷而群臣喑，李斯仰天而狱牍黑。扶苏饮剑甘泉外，蒙恬吞药阳周陲。会稽戍卒揭竿起³⁸，函谷坚关竟昼摧。楚炬三月焚阿阁³⁹，汉帜五年卷秦徽⁴⁰。

客有登峣阙之墟，临泾渭之浦，叩残甓而歌曰：
“昔者九鼎沦泗水⁴¹，今朝独玺传汉家。虽云暴烈摧肝脑，实开混壹⁴²破篱笆。长城蜿蜒作龙脊，驰道纵横成脉斜。书同文字启文运，郡县轨辙延岁华。阿房焦土生禾黍，灵渠清波溉桑麻。十二金人化农器⁴³，百越椎髻戴章遮。后王若解苛法病，莫负驰道连九垓。”

太华之神肃然而应：
“观夫秦政如巨刃，劈分三代⁴⁴与汉唐。焚坑岂止愚黔首⁴⁵？实统思潮定一纲⁴⁶。简灰未冷稷下绝⁴⁷，民骸犹存驰道旁。请看渭水东流去，犹带咸阳法制霜。汗青竹简可灰灭，山河形胜永苍茫。祖龙魂在霄汉上，每见金戈铁马扬。”

中国诗人｜易白

作者简介

易白，本名王增弘，退役军人，文化学者，现居深圳。从事文艺创作三十余载，在诗歌、散文、歌曲、绘画、影视、音乐等领域均有建树，作品累计在各级各类比赛中获奖百余次。曾因在文艺创作方面的突出成果荣立二等功。其创作融汇古典传统与现代意识，呈现出深厚的历史关怀与独特的艺术视角。

注释

1. 昊天命鼎

   ：传说大禹铸九鼎，象征天命。

2. 赤帝驱螭

   ：赤帝为火德之帝，螭为无角龙，指秦始皇以水德代周火德。

3. 东井

   ：星宿名，秦分野之星。

4. 吕览悬门

   ：《吕氏春秋》悬于咸阳城门，称能改一字赏千金。

5. 金刀

   ：“刘”字拆为“卯金刀”，暗喻刘汉将代秦。

6. 水德

   ：秦以水德自居，尚黑色。

7. 荆璆

   ：楚地美玉，指和氏璧。

8. 朱虎廿七世之胄

   ：秦始皇为嬴姓，传说祖先柏翳佐舜驯鸟兽，赐姓嬴。

9. 太紫璇枢

   ：紫微星垣，喻帝位。

10. 蕲年宫变

    ：秦王政在蕲年宫平定嫪毐之乱。

11. 嫪毐矫符

    ：宦官嫪毐伪造秦王印信作乱。

12. 成蟜举兵

    ：秦王政弟，叛变被诛。

13. 《谏逐客书》

    ：李斯上书劝阻驱逐六国客卿。

14. 《孤愤》《五蠹》

    ：韩非著作，阐述法家思想。

15. 郑国疲秦

    ：韩派水工郑国修渠，意图消耗秦国国力，反使关中富饶。

16. 甘罗取河间

    ：十二岁出使赵国，取得河间之地。

17. 系颈牵羊

    ：投降仪式，喻韩王被俘。

18. 舆榇

    ：载棺自随，表示死战或请罪。

19. 荆卿匕首

    ：指荆轲刺秦王。

20. 收兵铸狄

    ：销毁兵器铸成十二金人。

21. 阊阖

    ：天门，指咸阳宫殿巍峨。

22. 羲和正朔

    ：命官员校正历法，颁布正朔。

23. 臾区占星

    ：命占星家观测天象。

24. 堕名城

    ：拆毁六国坚固城池。

25. 琅琊立碣

    ：秦始皇东巡琅琊刻石纪功。

26. 椎髻

    ：百越民族发式，喻归化中原。

27. 乔松

    ：王子乔、赤松子，传说中仙人。

28. 徐市

    ：徐福，率童男女出海求仙药。

29. 坑术士

    ：坑杀方士儒生四百余人。

30. 焚诗书

    ：焚毁百家书籍。

31. 湘山祠树赭

    ：秦始皇伐湘山树，赭其山。

32. 荧惑守心

    ：火星侵入心宿星区，被视为凶兆。

33. 祖龙

    ：指秦始皇（祖为始，龙为君）。

34. 玉璧还华阴

    ：传说有使者夜遇山神持璧，言“今年祖龙死”。

35. 神语东郡

    ：陨石刻“始皇帝死而地分”。

36. 温凉车

    ：载始皇尸体的辒辌车。

37. 指鹿为马

    ：赵高专权测试群臣。

38. 会稽戍卒

    ：陈胜吴广起义。

39. 楚炬三月

    ：项羽火烧咸阳三月不绝。

40. 汉帜五年

    ：刘邦攻入咸阳至子婴投降，约五年。

41. 九鼎沦泗

    ：传说秦取九鼎，其一沉于泗水。

42. 混壹

    ：统一。

43. 十二金人化农器

    ：汉熔秦金人铸钱及农具。

44. 三代

    ：夏、商、周。

45. 愚黔首

    ：愚弄百姓。

46. 定一纲

    ：确立统一的思想纲纪。

47. 稷下绝

    ：战国齐国学术中心终结，喻百家争鸣结束。

第一段译文
昔时天命授予九鼎，赤帝驱遣神龙。黄河从昆仑奔涌而出携九曲之势，星辰聚集东井照耀八方边陲。当周朝德运衰微，王道纲纪松弛，岐山丰京故地忽然涌现黑云，渭水深处暗藏赤龙。《吕氏春秋》悬于城门，已预示“金刀”刘姓的谶语；邯郸匿隐的身影，暗合水德代兴的时机。门客怀抱荆楚美玉进献赵宫，夜观昴宿星光如绶带垂落；史官焚烧香草眺望秦地，朝见云气如车盖旌旗翻卷。这正是朱虎二十七代的后裔，将要承接紫微帝星的天机。

第二段译文
冠冕宝剑在匣中鸣响，独自登临帝王宝座。蕲年宫变鲜血染污冠冕，咸阳殿诏书如霜凝玉屏。嫪毐伪造兵符，竟在椒房殿暗藏枭鸟铜镜；成蟜举兵反叛，终在京郊化作磷火微光。罢黜吕不韦千金相印，如削枯朽树枝；驱逐赵太后九华车驾，似扫细微尘埃。李斯呈上《谏逐客书》，顿时展现沧海容纳百川的胸襟；韩非著述《孤愤》《五蠹》，开始铸就刑名法治约束世道的机枢。郑国虽怀消耗秦国之策，反使西边田野得到灌溉；甘罗已取得河间城池，初次展露军事威势。

第三段译文
天下尘土昏暗，巨浪似要吞没山岳。挥动长鞭驾驭八方荒远之地，拉开雕弓射向天狼星宿。先收取巩县洛阳，韩王安脖颈系绳如牵羊投降；次攻破邺城郢都，赵王迁车载棺椁来到北邙。荆轲匕首击断秦宫铜柱，秦王长剑劈裂彩虹衣裳。魏国宫阙倾倒于鸿沟之水，楚国宗庙焚毁于章台寒霜。齐王建献上稷门钥匙，燕太子丹藏起督亢地图。二十九年烽火照见肝胆，六王冠冕丢弃于荒草丛中。收缴兵器铸造金狄，咸阳宫阙连接天门的巍峨；聚敛绸缎成云霞，上林苑萦绕扶桑神树的华彩。

第四段译文
于是命令羲和校正历法，臾区观测星象。废除分封制设立郡县，划分天下如棋盘方格。统一文字书写于竹简，规范度量衡于秤锤绳尺。摧毁名城千座，断绝豪杰崛起的根基；修筑驰道万里，贯通华夏大地的脊梁。北方修筑长城如黑蛇盘绕山岭，南方开凿灵渠似白练悬挂荆楚。西通陇山设置哨所，东填大海树立碑铭。泰山封禅，玉册在日观峰昭显功业；琅琊立碑，蜷曲文字照映大海如龙睛。更派遣蒙恬驱逐匈奴七百余里，胡人战马不敢在阴山嘶鸣；任命任嚣开辟百越三十余郡，椎髻民族始戴华夏冠缨。

第五段译文
然而仍忧虑光阴易逝，羡慕乔松二仙的长寿。派遣徐福征发童男童女，乘楼船前往瀛洲仙岛。羡门高誓终究未至，卢生离去还生妒恨。骊山山谷坑杀术士，儒生如星辰四散；渭城市集焚烧诗书，竹简似愁云惨淡。湘山祠树木被烧成赭色，碣石门鲸鱼震动深潭。荧惑守心空显陨落征兆，祖龙今年竟成应验谶言。玉璧归还于华阴古道，神语示现于东郡田野。

第六段译文
待到第五次东巡，病重困于渐台。梦见与海神交战，醒后占卜玄龟。行至平原津而九窍壅塞，驻跸沙丘宫而五星晦暗。传位诏书未送达云阳狱中，鱼腥气已先染温凉车驾。赵高指鹿为马而群臣缄默，李斯仰天叹息而狱讼文书墨黑。扶苏在甘泉宫外饮剑自尽，蒙恬于阳周边陲吞药而亡。会稽戍卒揭竿起义，函谷坚固关隘竟在白昼摧毁。楚人火炬三月焚烧阿房宫阁，汉军旗帜五年席卷秦朝徽号。

第七段（客歌）译文
有客登上峣阙废墟，面对泾渭水滨，叩击残砖歌唱道：
“昔日九鼎沉没泗水，今朝传国玉玺归于汉家。虽言暴烈摧残肝脑，实则开创统一破除篱藩。长城蜿蜒成为龙脊，驰道纵横化作血脉斜线。书同文字开启文明气运，郡县轨制延续岁月光华。阿房焦土生长禾黍，灵渠清波灌溉桑麻。十二金人熔为农具，百越椎髻戴冠披纱。后世君王若解苛法弊病，莫辜负驰道连通九州天涯。”

第八段（神应）译文
华山之神肃穆回应：
“观那秦政如同巨刃，劈分三代与汉唐。焚书坑儒岂止愚民？实为统一思潮定立纲常。竹简灰烬未冷稷下学术已绝，百姓尸骨犹存驰道两旁。请看渭水东流而去，仍带着咸阳法制的寒霜。史书竹简可成灰烬，山河形胜永远苍茫。祖龙魂魄在霄汉之上，每当见金戈铁马飞扬。”

赏析点评

一、结构布局与史诗气象
《始皇赋》以赋体为骨架，融史诗叙事与哲学思辨于一体。全篇按“天命预兆—亲政平乱—扫灭六国—制度创立—求仙暴政—身死国灭—历史评说”的时间轴线展开，结构严谨如秦陵兵阵。起笔“昊天命鼎”以神话维度奠定王朝更替的宏大叙事，收尾“太华之神应”以超验视角完成历史评判，首尾呼应，形成完整的史观闭环。

二、意象系统的双重构建

1. 权力意象群

   ：鼎、冕旒、玉扆、玺书、金人等符号编织成权力图腾，其中“九鼎沦泗”与“独玺传汉”形成象征循环，暗喻天命无常。

2. 自然意象群

   ：玄云、朱螭、鲸波、五星、荧惑等天象与“河出昆仑”“星聚东井”呼应，构建天人感应的话语体系。尤以“长城如玄蛇”“灵渠若素练”的巨构意象，勾画出秦帝国改造山河的磅礴意志。

三、历史评价的辩证张力
赋作最大特色在于打破“暴秦”单一叙事。通过“客歌”与“神应”的对话结构，呈现双重历史视角：

• 客之歌

  ：承认“暴烈摧肝脑”，但更强调“实开混壹破篱笆”的创建之功，列举书同文、修驰道、凿灵渠等遗产，体现历史连续性的洞察。

• 神之应

  ：点出“焚坑岂止愚黔首？实统思潮定一纲”的制度建构逻辑，以“渭水东流去，犹带咸阳法制霜”的意象，揭示秦制对汉唐的深刻塑造。

这种“暴政—开创”的辩证表达，接近现代史观对秦制的理解，既批判其苛法虐民，又肯定其“劈分三代与汉唐”的划时代意义。

四、语言艺术的复古与创新

1. 用典密度

   ：全篇化用《史记》《战国策》等四十余处史籍典故，如“系颈牵羊”“舆榇”等成语激活历史场景，而“吕览悬门”“甘罗取城”等细节典故的运用，体现作者深厚的史学素养。

2. 对仗创新

   ：“简灰未冷稷下绝，民骸犹存驰道旁”将思想镇压与肉体毁灭并置，形成思想史与民众史的双重批判；“阿房焦土生禾黍，灵渠清波溉桑麻”通过废墟与遗产的对照，揭示毁灭与创造的历史辩证法。

3. 音韵设计

   ：段落内部平仄交替，如“北筑长城如玄蛇蟠岭（仄仄平平仄平平仄仄），南凿灵渠若素练悬荆（平仄平平仄仄仄平平）”，在赋体的整饬中保留流动气韵。

五、现代意识的历史重构
诗人在传统赋体中注入现代历史哲学：

• 突破“成王败寇”叙事，关注制度遗产的延续性。

• 通过“十二金人化农器”“百越椎髻戴章遮”等意象，展现文化融合的积极面向。

• 结尾“祖龙魂在霄汉上，每见金戈铁马扬”以幽灵意象暗示秦制在中国历史上的反复回归，赋予作品循环史观的深度。

总结：《始皇赋》不仅是对秦始皇个人的文学重构，更是对中国帝制起源的深刻反思。它以如椽巨笔勾勒出文明初创期的野蛮与辉煌，在暴虐与开创、毁灭与建设的巨大张力中，揭示历史前进的复杂本质。全篇气象雄浑、思辨深邃，堪称当代古体诗史剧创作的重量级作品，既延续了杜牧《阿房宫赋》的批判传统，又展现出更具整体性的历史视野。

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.