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Divine Light
A spark of divine light remains, while the mortal world turns anew time and again. I wonder if the moon in heaven once shone upon the people of the world. Jade liquor flows in the golden cauldron; rosy clouds scatter through the emerald palace. Who can know my heart? Alone I walk, gazing at the empty sky.
Building a Dream
I have cleared the grass from the three paths before my hut; / yet in dreams I still recall the boat upon the five lakes. / Unable to let the world become a burden on my body, / I come to bind a mist-and-cloud affinity beyond all worldly things.
Meeting Again
Meeting again, I visit the old haunts, half hill and wood; / Long ago it was said the High Lord roamed the Nine Doubts. / The sun sets, the river empties, clouds gradually scatter; / Heaven grows wild, Earth grows old—only now the grass turns autumn.
Chu Yao
Thousandfold Chu peaks hide sails and masts; / Jade-grass and golden light stretch to the earth. / One night of west wind rustles falling leaves— / Yet one suspects flying rain has reached Xiao and Xiang.
Brushing Away Snow
Snow-laden skies, the wilds grow dim; / A deer's cry follows the ravine, winding to the village. / Alone I chase the tracks toward the azure void— / Brushing my sleeve, I first startle at the White Emperor's majesty.
Jinan (Record of the Journey)
Travel notes often left on the wall; with you they linger by the tail-river. North and south share the same boat and oars; far apart, yet gulls of the same waters together.
Cloud Spring
Mists hidden in the clouds, a spring bubbling like pearls. Among cloud and wood, the Way is grasped as one sits at the ancestral seat; by spring and stone, free and at ease, each in its own domain. On paper, mist and glow drift with the plain hermit; in the mountains, wind and moon lend their cool.
Qianlin
Lush and verdant, woods ahead and gardens behind. Water winds around an ancient, deserted shrine; the lush wild color stretches long. Forest wind stirs the trees a little; mountain rain never turns to frost.
He Jing (Harmonious Brilliance)
Harmonious air, pure and without dust; a secluded dwelling reaches the upper neighbor. Gleaming clouds hold the morning sun; green streams gather cold duckweed.
Xian An (Longing for Peace)
Hidden arts of the secret keys, diligently walking the Great Way. Xianmen left his old retreat; Anshi seeks the traces that remain. Cranes cry under the moon of a thousand peaks; roosters crow among the pines of ten thousand valleys.
Condensation and Transformation
Reaching the divine and ineffable; the myriad return to their root. Concentrating spirit into qi, the spirit is whole; in transformation and soaring flight, who counts the years? At one crack of thunder the heavens and earth close; with ease, cleave open the sky within the cave.
Yan Tian (Peaceful Tranquility)
Plumes of ceremony in the Great Harmony, at ease and self-sufficient. Sitting at leisure above the clear stream, outside the gate sparrows chatter. Tranquil, forgetting worldly cares; coming and going, companioned by the root of clouds.
First Contemplation
The blue sky a flying mirror inverted, through endless ages without residual feeling. The source of inquiry and learning is not easy to exhaust; first born here, one truly is like the dragon. Counting to five thousand at the place without sound—void and solid were ever of one and the same.
Poem One
The wind soughs and rustles; one leaf tells of autumn. When poetry reaches the soundless, it enters the divine with subtle skill; a single word already can cut off all dust. Why ask again the Zen-studying guest? Just recognize the free soul of mountain and forest.
Chu Heng (First Heart of Jade)
First heart unchanged; the voice of heng and huang jade. Congealed snow melting into mist, cold on every side; the morning sun still bears the breadth of sea and sky. Good historians praise the heng-huang of every house; in metal-and-stone writing, each character is joy.
Yu Lin (Bestowing Rain)
Taking and giving with measure; rain of blessing, sweet rain. My heart would pierce straight through the azure vault; gazing far along ten thousand li of cloud-road. At this hour wind and thunder first shake and stir; the steady rain naturally joins to moisten the withered seedlings.
Yu Zhong (Lingering Heart)
Evening clouds turn to patterned silk; pipe and song in peace. In early times the cutting and chiselling was hard—for whom, I ask, was Heaven? Vainly the Shu roads split open; my true heart gallops toward the treasure terrace.
Yun Qiao (Cloud and Tall Tree)
Clouds surge and dragons leap; lofty towers reach the sky. Seeking the Way and searching the mountains, I have already seen the mountain; myself I carry a spade and break through the moss-stains. Whistling companions in the cloud go on together; by the towering trees a single crane returns.
Yun Hong (Cloud and Wild Goose)
Clouds surge and qi wells up; the great roc rises, the dragon coils. I send greetings to Master Zhang—at Cloud Creek he is again wine-mad. The wild goose flies far into the edge of the sky; the dragon lies still, steady by the pond.
Luan Night
The master gathers the many talents; his grace extends to later generations. Seeking the Way, a hermit hidden on Luofu; over the ridge-hills, head bowed deep. The immortals and spirits have none to whom one may inquire; in the night, there is the harp of Heaven.
Du Yao (Both Yao-like)
At the center of the heart, joy and ease; Yao's heaven and Shun's bright days. May I ask you now, a little wandering immortal—all is in the void and misty realm. Yao and Shun are gone, and only ink-men remain; the canons and graves are hard to find among the cold mountains.
Southern Feather
Grace of the south, in feathered robes of rainbow silk. The southern stream's spring song returns to northern lands; within this, purity and ease surpass the mountains. Urgent dispatches never reach the road to Green City; cloud and moon, unthinking, keep the bright day idle.
Starry Day
Worldly affairs like dreams; sun and moon among the clouds. Stars grow sparse, the moon tilts cold, water-clock drips; dew gleams through, chanting the colors of autumn. From the city wall a crow cries, the water-clock drips long; spring departs, autumn comes—how many hurried years.
Thinking of One
I ask you where you are bound; I think of my dwelling among the Luo Mountains. White clouds fill the mountain's roots—since we parted, how many years have passed.
4107
Hunan's mountains fold and close in layered green; waves bend, peaks turn, and a path suddenly opens through. A sheet of lake light, clear as a mirror, sometimes threads through pine shadows, rippling the cold empty sky.
4104
I ask the master if he means to return today; you who revere the Way are still astray. In broad daylight, all possessions are emptied; idle clouds let themselves hang low.
4102
Clouds part above Taiyi in the blue firmament; dragons guard the true master among white stones. Letting all affairs go, heaven and earth grow old—why must the enlightened one, even in death, still return?
4096
Primordial qi first stirred in the primordial haze; all things form and fall of themselves. The Great Ultimate gives rise to emptiness—this is called the master of primordial unity. Between the closing and opening of the qi's pulse, ears and eyes are unharmed. Formed things each stand on their own—who lords over this single mass?
4093
The white-haired old man grows ever more alone; the wild garden's weeds are never cleared. Idly I seek the goji-berry path, overgrown with brush; lying down, I listen to the cat hunt among the bamboo.
4091
To spring I ask—who will report its fragrant blooms? White-haired we gaze, old friends grown rare. Flowers fall, flowers open; orioles speak alone. The sky is clear, clouds gone; cranes soar on high.
4086
The golden essence manifests in trigram Dui with the oddness of Ding—Nature's craft displays its subtle wonder. If wind and cloud transform at will, why not let thunder and rain be unbound by season? When the time comes and people seek the arcane truth, who says the master was slow to wake from his dream? Seek within this for the highest adept—where is there any place the heavenly secret cannot be found?
4084
Mount Jun for days on end raises mist and rosy clouds; within a screen of purple and green, a dwelling of its own. A wild crane cries out—no one is seen; through the quiet wood of grass, cold flowers stir.
4081
Knowing in heart no road leads to immortality, I take Hangzhou as an earthly immortal's realm. With mountains and streams to feast my drunken eyes, still fit for host and guest to sleep high and free.
4079
Beyond the mind, no stray thought remains; when gathered, they are burned in the fire. Suddenly sun and moon are born—the body light as mist and cloud.
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