A New Translation: Song of Integrity 正氣歌
Updated: Sep 19
I first came across this poem as a teenager, and I was awe-struck by its spirit and conviction. That feeling has never really left me.
Song of Integrity is the second piece in a series exploring 浩然之氣 — the "great force" Mencius first described, which Su Dongpo asked how to define, and which Zhu Xi named more precisely as 天地之正氣, the upright force of heaven and earth. You can find that earlier piece — covering all three writers — in a previous post. Wen Tianxiang doesn't define this force or ask what it is. He shows it: through his own life, and through twelve figures from Chinese history who embodied it before him — most while facing torture or death for refusing to compromise.
Below the translation, you'll find notes on each of the twelve historical allusions, with dates and sources, since much of the poem's weight comes from readers already knowing these stories.
正氣歌
Song of Integrity
天地有正氣，雜然賦流形。
下則為河嶽，上則為日星。
於人曰浩然，沛乎塞蒼冥。
Within heaven and earth,
there is an upright force.
It takes countless forms:
rivers and mountains below,
sun and stars above.
In a person, this great force is called integrity,
so vast it fills the sky.
---
皇路當清夷，含和吐明庭。
時窮節乃見，一一垂丹青。
Under it, the kingdom runs clear and settled;
true harmony dwells within and comes forth in the court.
In times of trial, true character appears —
each example preserved in history:
---
在齊太史簡，在晉董狐筆。
在秦張良椎，在漢蘇武節。
in the court historian’s records in Qi,
in Dong Hu’s brush in Jin,
in Zhang Liang’s hammer in Qin,
and in Su Wu’s staff in Han.
---
為嚴將軍頭，為嵇侍中血。
為張睢陽齒，為顏常山舌。
It was General Yan’s head.
It was Ji Shao’s blood.
It was Zhang Xun’s teeth.
It was Yan Gaoqing’s tongue.
---
或為遼東帽，清操厲冰雪。
或為出師表，鬼神泣壯烈。
Or it was the hat in Liaodong,
pure integrity, unyielding as ice and snow.
Or it was the Memorial before Battle,
its heroic devotion moving spirits to tears.
---
或為渡江楫，慷慨吞胡羯。
或為擊賊笏，逆豎頭破裂。
Or it was the oar striking the river,
with ardent resolve to crush the invaders.
Or it was the court tablet that struck the rebel,
cracking the traitor’s skull.
---
是氣所磅礴，凜烈萬古存。
當其貫日月，生死安足論。
This upright force is vast and fierce —
it will last for all time.
When one’s integrity reaches the sun and moon,
what then are life and death?
---
地維賴以立，天柱賴以尊。
三綱實繫命，道義為之根。
By this force, earth’s foundations stand firm;
by it, heaven’s pillars stand exalted.
By it, the three key human relationships endure;
the Way and rightness are its root.
---
嗟余遘陽九，隸也實不力。
楚囚纓其冠，傳車送窮北。
Alas, disaster struck my country —
and I, its servant, was not strong enough to stop it.
Like the captive of Chu, I kept my hat tied properly in place;
a cart carried me off to the bleak, far north.
---
鼎鑊甘如飴，求之不可得。
陰房闃鬼火，春院閟天黑。
Death in a boiling cauldron would be sweet to me,
yet even that I could not have.
Silent, the cell is lit by ghostly fire.
Spring comes; the prison stays sealed in darkness.
---
牛驥同一皁，雞棲鳳凰食。
一朝蒙霧露，分作溝中瘠。
An ox and a fine horse share the same trough;
a phoenix feeds where chickens roost.
One day, the damp would take its toll;
I knew I would lie wasted in a ditch.
---
如此再寒暑，百沴自辟易。
嗟哉沮洳場，為我安樂國。
Two years have passed like this;
every illness has stayed away.
Ah, this ground where dampness gathers —
it has become my land of peace.
---
豈有他繆巧，陰陽不能賊。
顧此耿耿在，仰視浮雲白。
Do I have some special method? No —
nature’s forces cannot harm me.
I look within — this upright force remains undiminished;
I look up and watch the white clouds drift by.
---
悠悠我心悲，蒼天曷有極。
哲人日已遠，典刑在夙昔。
風檐展書讀，古道照顏色。
A deep sorrow lingers in my heart —
O Heaven, where is its end?
The wise and upright are gone now,
yet the example they set long ago lives on.
In the wind beneath the eaves, I open a book and read;
the way of the ancients shines upon my face.
Historical & Mythological Allusions in 正氣歌
The Cosmic Foundation
地維賴以立，天柱賴以尊 — "By this force, earth's foundations stand firm; by it, heaven's pillars stand exalted."
Long ago, a water god named Gong Gong fought another god for control of the world — and lost. Furious, he smashed his head into a mountain that held up the sky. The crash broke the pillar holding up heaven and snapped the ropes tying down the earth. The sky tilted. The earth sank on one side. It was one of the worst disasters ever told in Chinese myth. Wen Tianxiang says this upright force is what keeps that same pillar standing and those same ropes tied — it holds the whole world together, even now.
The Twelve Exemplars
1. 在齊太史簡 — "in the court historian's records in Qi" (548 BCE)
A powerful minister named Cui Zhu murdered his own ruler. The court historian wrote down exactly what happened: "Cui Zhu murdered his lord." Cui Zhu had him killed for it. The historian's younger brother took over the job — and wrote the same words. Cui Zhu killed him too. A third brother wrote it again. Only then, facing a fourth brother who would clearly do the same thing, did Cui Zhu finally give up and let the record stand.
2. 在晉董狐筆 — "in Dong Hu's brush in Jin" (607 BCE)
Duke Ling of Jin was a cruel ruler. His top minister, Zhao Dun, kept warning him to change — so the duke sent killers after him instead. Zhao Dun ran, but before he crossed the border out of the country, a relative of his killed the duke. Zhao Dun turned around and went back. The court historian wrote: "Zhao Dun murdered his ruler." Zhao Dun said he hadn't done it — he was innocent. The historian answered: you were the top official, you were still in the country when it happened, and you came back without punishing the killer. That makes it your responsibility. Zhao Dun accepted it. Confucius later said the historian did the right thing by telling the truth, but also felt sorry for Zhao Dun — if he'd just crossed the border, he would have been cleared.
3. 在秦張良椎 — "in Zhang Liang's hammer in Qin" (218 BCE)
Zhang Liang's family had served the kingdom of Han for generations. When the Qin empire destroyed Han, Zhang Liang sold everything he owned to pay for one thing: revenge. He hired a strongman and had a huge iron hammer made — about 60 kilograms. When the emperor's convoy passed by, the two men ambushed it and swung the hammer at the emperor's carriage. But they hit the wrong one — a decoy. The attack failed, and the emperor launched a massive manhunt. Zhang Liang had to change his name and go into hiding.
4. 在漢蘇武節 — "and in Su Wu's staff in Han" (100–81 BCE)
Su Wu was sent as an ambassador to a rival people called the Xiongnu, carrying a special staff that showed he represented the Han empire. They captured him and tried again and again to get him to switch sides. He always refused. So they sent him to live alone by a lake and herd male sheep, telling him he could go home only when the sheep had babies — which meant never. Su Wu lived like that for nineteen years. The whole time, he kept holding that staff, even after all its decorations had worn away. Only when peace was finally made between the two sides was he allowed to go home.
5. 為嚴將軍頭 — "It was General Yan's head." (213 CE)
Yan Yan was a general guarding a city. When an enemy general named Zhang Fei captured him, Zhang Fei asked why he hadn't surrendered. Yan Yan said, "In our land, generals can be beheaded — they don't surrender." Angry, Zhang Fei ordered him executed. Yan Yan, completely calm, said, "Then cut off my head — why are you so angry about it?" Zhang Fei was so impressed that he untied Yan Yan himself and treated him as an honored guest from then on.
6. 為嵇侍中血 — "It was Ji Shao's blood." (304 CE)
Ji Shao worked as a close attendant to the emperor of Jin — an emperor famous for being clueless (when told peasants had no rice, he asked why they didn't just eat meat instead). During a civil war, the emperor's army was defeated in battle. Arrows and swords were everywhere, and everyone around the emperor ran to save themselves. Ji Shao alone stood between the emperor and the attackers and was killed protecting him — his blood splattered across the emperor's clothes. Later, when servants wanted to wash the robe, the emperor stopped them, saying, "That's Attendant Ji's blood. Don't wash it away."
7. 為張睢陽齒 — "It was Zhang Xun's teeth." (757 CE)
During a rebellion, a general named Zhang Xun defended a city for ten months. In every battle, he shouted so hard in anger that his eyes bled and his teeth cracked from clenching them. When the city finally fell, the enemy general asked him, "I heard your eyes split and your teeth broke in every fight — why push yourself that hard?" Zhang Xun answered, "I wanted to destroy them with my bare hands — I just wasn't strong enough." The enemy general pried open his mouth to look and found only two or three teeth left.
8. 為顏常山舌 — "It was Yan Gaoqing's tongue." (756 CE)
Yan Gaoqing led troops against the same rebellion. When his city fell, he was captured and brought before the rebel leader, who he cursed without stopping. The rebels tied him to a post and cut off pieces of his body, even forcing him to eat his own flesh — and he kept cursing the whole time. Finally they cut out his tongue and asked, "Can you still curse now?" He kept trying to curse anyway, in broken sounds, until he died.
9. 或為遼東帽 — "Or it was the hat in Liaodong," (191–241 CE)
When the Han empire fell into chaos, a scholar named Guan Ning fled to a faraway region called Liaodong. There he lived quietly, teaching students and staying out of politics completely. Years later he returned home, and the new government asked him again and again to take a government job. He always said no — for the rest of his life. He was known for always wearing a plain, simple black hat instead of an official's fancy cap, as a quiet way of showing he would never serve in office, no matter who asked.
10. 或為出師表 — "Or it was the Memorial before Battle," (227 CE)
Before leading his army into a huge battle to try to take back his country's lost land, a leader named Zhuge Liang wrote a letter to the young ruler he served. He reminded the ruler how his father had once visited Zhuge Liang three times just to convince him to help. He urged the young ruler to listen to good advice and trust the right people. And he promised to give everything he had to the cause — until the day he died.
11. 或為渡江楫 — "Or it was the oar striking the river," (313 CE)
After his country's capital fell to invaders, a general named Zu Ti led his people south across a river to safety. Later, he was sent back north to try to take back the lost land. Halfway across the river, he hit his oar against the side of the boat and shouted a promise: "If I can't clear out the invaders and come back across this river, then let this river be my witness that I failed." He then led his soldiers north and actually managed to take back a large piece of land — at least for a while.
12. 或為擊賊笏 — "Or it was the court tablet that struck the rebel," (783 CE)
Rebel soldiers took over the capital and put a general named Zhu Ci on the throne by force, driving out the real emperor. Zhu Ci tried to pressure the officials left in the city into supporting him. An official named Duan Xiushi pretended to go along with it — until, in the middle of the meeting, he grabbed a wooden tablet from the official next to him and hit Zhu Ci across the head with it, calling him a traitor to his face and drawing blood. Zhu Ci's guards killed Duan Xiushi on the spot. He was sixty-five years old.
The Poet's Own Allusion
楚囚纓其冠 — "Like the captive of Chu, I kept my hat tied properly in place" (story set around 582 BCE)
This refers to a musician named Zhong Yi, who was captured and held prisoner for two years. One day, the ruler holding him noticed a prisoner wearing a hat in a style from far away — not the local style — and asked who he was. Told it was the captive musician Zhong Yi, the ruler had him untied and brought in to talk. Asked if he could play music, Zhong Yi played the songs of his own homeland, in his homeland's style. A minister said this proved Zhong Yi was a good man — even as a prisoner, he hadn't given up his home style of dress or his home style of music. Wen Tianxiang compares himself to this story: after he was captured, he says he kept wearing his hat properly, in his own style, even as he was carried off far to the north as a prisoner.
