临江仙·滚滚长江东逝水

临江仙·滚滚长江东逝水
作者:杨慎

滚滚长江东逝水，浪花淘尽英雄。是非成败转头空。青山依旧在，几度夕阳红。
白发渔樵江渚上，惯看秋月春风。一壶浊酒喜相逢。古今多少事，都付笑谈中。

Background:
This poem appears in the classical Chinese novel “Romance of Three Kingdoms”. Written in the 14th century during the Three Kingdoms Era, this tale is about three parties fighting each other to be the ultimate ruler of China. Many heroic characters appear in the novel but most of them die by the end of the story. This poem expresses the passage of time and resonates the emptiness of life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms

Line by Line Translation:

滚滚长江东逝水，浪花淘尽英雄。
The turbulent river water flows eastward and the waves carry away the heroes.

是非成败转头空。
Looking back, all the wrongs and rights and successes and failures of life seem empty

青山依旧在，几度夕阳红。
The green mountains are still there, and the sun has risen and fallen many times.

白发渔樵江渚上，惯看秋月春风。
White haired fishermen stand near the river. They are used to looking at the seasons of life.

一壶浊酒喜相逢。
A bottle of wine is used to celebrate the meeting of friends who have not seen each other for a long time.

古今多少事，都付笑谈中
Many things have happened from ancient times till now. These all melt into gossip and laughter。

This poem is used as the title song for the drama "Romance of Three Kingdoms."