Project Tag: Curiosity

The spring not yet old, with gentle wind and dainty willows

On the Sublime Pavilion I gaze afar, beyond a moat half brimmed is a town in full bloom

Misty rain drapes over the hues, where every light dims

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After the Cold Food Fest in early April, I wake up feeling drunk

No sense indulging in nostalgia for old dreams

Let me ignite a new fire for fresh tea

You must try some new brew, while still young

~ Translated from Su Shi’s “Gazing South – On the Sublime Pavilion,” written in the Song dynasty

春未老，风细柳斜斜。试上超然台上看，半壕春水一城花，烟雨暗千家。
寒食后，酒醒却咨嗟。休对故人思故国，且将新火试新茶，诗酒趁年华。

~ 蘇軾 (宋代) <<望江南 超然台作>>

One night in autumn, right when I was about to go to bed, the moonlight sneaked into the room with an invite, which I accepted with delight.

To share the fun, I went to Cheng Tian Temple and knocked on my friend Zhang Huaimin’s door. He’s not yet asleep either, so we took a walk in the courtyard. The ground was a pool of moonbeams, crisscrossed with the shadows of bamboos and cypresses, swaying like freshwater algae.

Which night doesn’t come with a moon? What place doesn’t have bamboos? Only that nobody else is as leisurely as us.

~ Translated from Su Shi’s “A Nightout at Cheng Tian Temple,” written in the Song dynasty

元丰六年十月十二日夜，解衣欲睡，月色入户，欣然起行。念无与为乐者，遂至承天寺寻张怀民。怀民亦未寝，相与步于中庭。庭下如积水空明，水中藻、荇交横，盖竹柏影也。何夜无月？何处无竹柏？但少闲人如吾两人者耳。

~ 蘇軾 (宋代) <<記承天寺夜遊>>

Letting go of greed, anger, and ignorance

is identical with following a healthy diet;

while purifying the mind, body, and speech

is to be released from all worldly bias.

My pure nature is naturally in harmony

with your selfless state;

all things are of single essence

in the no-mind realm.

~ Translated from Shi De’s original verses written in the Tang dynasty

无瞋是持戒，心净即出家。我性与汝合，一切法无差。

~ 拾得 (唐代)

Shi De, aka Shih-Te or Pickup, was a monk on Mount Tiantai in the Tang dynasty. Allegedly, as a little boy he was abandoned by his parents and adopted by Feng Gan – a legendary Buddhist poet at the Guoqing Temple on Mt. Tiantai, and ever since he spent most of his life working and practicing at the temple, forming the famous “Tiantai Trio” (天台三聖) with Feng Gan and their mutual friend – Han Shan (Cold Mountain).