No More Learning

When the age is corrupt, you’re a curly- eeced ram, When the times are fair, you’re a ne, swift horse. 3 Last time you were a wealthy young man;
8 Now you’ve become an impoverished scholar.
1 The text says “classic,” but that term can apply to scriptures of all the major faiths. Probably standard Confucian texts are meant.
2 An anecdote from the Zhuangzi tells of a magical sh who was trapped in a cart-rut lled with water. When he begs Zhuangzi for some water, Zhuangzi tells him he’ll get the king to divert a whole river for him. The sh replies that by then it will be too late.
3 Literally, “Green Ears,” a famous steed that exempli es a ne horse.
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124
寒山詩
HS 113
書判全非弱，
嫌身不得官。
銓曹被拗折，
4 洗垢覓瘡瘢。 必也關天命， 今冬更試看。 盲兒射雀目，
8 偶中亦非難。 HS 114
貧驢欠一尺，
富狗剩三寸。
若分貧不平，
4 中半富與困。 始取驢飽足， 却令狗飢頓。 為汝熟思量，
8 令我也愁悶。
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Hanshan’s Poems 125
HS 113
I wasn’t weak at all in Calligraphy or Judgments; But they disliked my stature, so I didn’t get a post. 1 The Examination Board really grilled me;
4 They washed away dirt to look for my scars. 2 But if this depends on Heaven’s will,
This winter I’ll try again and see.
When a blind man shoots for the sparrow’s eye,
8 It’s not impossible he’ll hit it sometimes.
HS 114
An impoverished ass is short by a foot,
A wealthy dog has three inches too much.
If you give to the poor to correct the injustice,
4 In the process the wealthy will su er. If you start by making the ass satis ed, It’ll end by starving the dog.
If I think long on this for your sake,
8 It really makes me depressed.
1 In the Tang examination system, examinees were evaluated not just for their compositional skills, but for factors like neatness of handwriting and physical stature.
2 Proverbial for being excessive in fault- nding.
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126
寒山詩
HS 115
柳郎八十二，
藍嫂一十八。
夫妻共百年，
4 相憐情狡猾。 弄璋字烏䖘， 擲瓦名婠妠。 屢見枯楊荑，
8 常遭青女殺。 HS 116
大有飢寒客，
生將獸魚殊。
長存磨石下，
4 時哭路邊隅。 累日空思飯， 經冬不識襦。 唯齎一束草，
8 并帶五升麩。
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Hanshan’s Poems 127
HS 115
“Young Master” Liu is eighty-two; “Matron” Lan is but eighteen.
Husband and wife share a hundred years;1
4 They cherish each other, but their love’s a deceit. Their son played with seals; he was styled Tiger; Their daughter toyed with tiles; she was named Sissy. 2 But I’ve often seen shoots grow on withered willows;
8 Always the frost goddess kills them. 3
HS 116
There are many cold and hungry men
Who by birth are di erent from beast and sh; Yet they always shelter under millstones,
4 And often weep by the side of the road.
For many days they’ve thought of food in vain; They pass the whole winter unaware of shirts. They have for bedding but a bundle of straw,
8 And carry with them ve pints of bran.
1 A sarcasm based on a popular blessing: “May husband and wife share a hundred years” (i. e. , live a hundred years together). Here, the combined ages of the couple equal one hundred.
2 This couplet alludes to a Shijing poem that stresses the di erence in the treatment of baby boys and baby girls; the boys are treated well and given ne seals to play with; the girls are treated poorly and can only play with earthen tiles. The names given the children are meant to be cute baby names with traditional gender associations.
3 In general, this poem is a satire on elderly men remarrying young women; the last couplet suggests that any o spring born of such a union will die young.
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128
寒山詩
HS 117
赫赫誰壚肆，
其酒甚濃厚。
可憐高幡幟，
4 極目平升斗。 何意訝不售， 其家多猛狗。 童子欲來沽，
8 狗齩便是走。 HS 118
吁嗟濁濫處，
羅剎共賢人。
謂是等流類，
4 焉知道不親。 狐假師子勢， 詐妄却稱珍。 鉛礦入鑪冶，
8 方知金不真。
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Hanshan’s Poems
129
HS 117
Who owns that glittering wine shop there? Its wine is dark and thick enough,
It has a lovely, lofty sign,
4 And the clerks are keen to measure fair. Surprisingly, their sales are poor!
They have too many vicious dogs. When serving lads stop in to buy,
8 The dogs will bite and the lads will ee.
HS 118
Alas, this place of pollution,
Where demons mingle with worthies. But everyone thinks they’re just the same,
4 So how could you know that their paths diverge? Foxes ape the manner of lions,
Deceptions are praised as precious.
But put the lead ore in the furnace,
8 Then you’ll know that their “gold” is fake.
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130
寒山詩
HS 119
田家避暑月，
斗酒共誰歡。
雜雜排山果，
4 踈踈圍酒樽。 蘆莦將代席， 蕉葉且充盤。 醉後搘頤坐，
8 須彌小彈丸。 HS 120
箇是何措大，
時來省南院。
年可三十餘，
4 曾經四五選。 囊裏無青蚨， 篋中有黃卷。 行到食店前，
8 不敢暫迴面。
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Hanshan’s Poems 131
HS 119
In a farmer’s house, avoiding the summer heat; With whom should I share my drinking bouts? Randomly I set out mountain fruit,
4 And scatter wine cups all about us.
Reeds are woven to serve as mats,
And plantain leaves replace our plates.
When we’re drunk we’ll sit, our chins on our hands,
8 And pretend that Sumeru’s a little ball! 1
HS 120
What poor bookworm is this?
Sometimes he comes to the South Court exams. 2 He’s probably over thirty years old,
4 And has taken the test four or ve times. His purse is empty of “blue beetles”;3
His satchel is lled with yellow scrolls. 4 When he walks in front of the food shops,
8 He doesn’t dare turn his head for a moment. 5
1 In Buddhist cosmology, Mt. Sumeru is the large mountain situated in the center of every individual cosmos.
2 A court established by the Board of Rites in Tang times where the examinations were announced.
3 “Blue beetle”: a slang term for copper cash.
4 Tang manuscripts were usually copied on paper with a yellow tint.
5 That is, to show that he is interested in food (and thus admit his own poverty).
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132
寒山詩
HS 121
為人常喫用，
愛意須慳惜。
老去不自由，
4 漸被他推斥。 送向荒山頭， 一生願虛擲。 亡羊罷補穿，
8 失意終無極。 HS 122
浪造凌霄閣，
虛登百尺樓。
養生仍夭命，
4 誘讀詎封侯。 不用從黃口， 何須猒白頭。 未能端似箭，
8 且莫曲如鈎。
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Hanshan’s Poems 133
HS 121
People always have their cost of living;
Their covetous minds must learn parsimony. Then they grow old, never at liberty,
4 Gradually pushed aside by others.
Sent o to a grave on an overgrown hill,
All the hopes of their lives are thrown away. When the sheep’s ed, give up blocking the holes;
8 There’s no end to the disappointment.
HS 122
Useless to reach a lodge that pierces the sky, Vain to climb a hundred-foot tower.
You’ll nourish your life and still die young;
4 Be lured to study, but never be enfeo ed. No good to imitate edglings;1
Why be bothered by growing old?
If you can’t be as straight as an arrow,
8 At least don’t be as bent as a hook.
1 An allusion to a story in which Confucius nds out from a bird-catcher that edglings are easier to catch than adult birds, because they are naïve and more greedy for food. Here, it suggests that a wise person should not imitate the petty or the immature.
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134
寒山詩
HS 123
雲山疊疊連天碧，
路僻林深無客遊。
遠望孤蟾明皎皎，
4 近聞群鳥語啾啾。 老夫獨坐棲青嶂， 少室閑居任白頭。 可歎往年與今日，
8 無心還似水東流。 HS 124
富貴踈親聚，
只為多錢米。
貧賤骨肉離，
4 非關少兄弟。 急須歸去來， 招賢閣未啟。 浪行朱雀街，
8 踏破皮鞋底。
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Hanshan’s Poems 135
HS 123
Cloudy mountains, range on range, stretch their emerald to the sky; Road remote, forest deep: no travelers wander here.
Afar I gaze at the solitary toad, bright and gleaming white;1
4 Nearby I hear the ocks of birds that twitter noisily. An old man sits all alone, nesting on green cli s; Living idly in a little room, giving in to his old age. 2 What’s amazing: from former years up until today,
8 I’ve kept myself free of intentions, like water owing east.
HS 124
Far relations ock to the wealthy and great; It’s only because of their money and grain. Close kin will shun the poor and base;
4 It’s not because they have few brothers.
You should go back home again,
For Summon-Worthy Lodge will never open. It’s vain to tread Vermillion Bird Street,
8 Wearing out the soles of your shoes. 3
1 In traditional Chinese lore, a toad is said to dwell on the moon; this led to using “toad” as an elegant substitution.
2 I take the text’s 少室 for 小室. Possibly the “small room ten foot square” of Vimalakirtī (and which later became a description of the abbot’s residence—see HS 83) is meant here.
3 This poem condemns the power structure, suggesting that it is rooted entirely in relationships and wealthy connections. It would be better to be content at home, rather than seek public o ce by haunting the streets of the city. The Summon- Worthy Lodge was constructed by a Han prince to encourage talented men to join his entourage. Vermilion Bird Street was a major street in the Tang capital of Chang’an.
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136
寒山詩
HS 125
我見一癡漢，
仍居三兩婦。
養得八九兒，
4 總是隨宜手。 丁防是新差， 資財非舊有。 黃蘗作驢鞦，
8 始知苦在後。 HS 126
新穀尚未熟，
舊穀今已無。
就貸一斗許，
4 門外立踟躕。 夫出教問婦， 婦出遣問夫。 慳惜不救乏，
8 財多為累愚。
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Hanshan’s Poems 137
HS 125
I have seen a foolish man
Who has two or three wives at home. And he’s raised eight or nine sons,
4 All of them obedient to his will.
But there’s been a new round of army conscriptions, And his wealth isn’t what it was. 1
Tie Amur cork bark to the crupper of your ass,
8 Then you’ll know that the bitter comes from behind. 2
HS 126
The new grain has yet to ripen, While the old grain’s already run out. So I go to borrow a measure or so,
4 Hesitating outside of their gate.
The husband comes out, tells me to ask the wife; The wife comes out, sends me to ask the husband. Being stingy won’t save those who lack;
8 When your wealth is great, you’re even more stupid.
1 The man will not be able to buy exemptions from conscription for his sons.
2 The wood of the Amur cork tree had a medicinal bark with a bitter taste. The proverbial image here is that nothing lasts forever, and that su ering will inevitably
follow “behind. ”
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138
寒山詩
HS 127
大有好笑事，
略陳三五箇。
張公富奢華，
4 孟子貧轗軻。 只取侏儒飽， 不憐方朔餓。 巴歌唱者多，
8 白雪無人和。 HS 128
老翁娶少婦，
髮白婦不耐。
老婆嫁少夫，
4 面黃夫不愛。 老翁娶老婆， 一一無棄背。 少婦嫁少夫，
8 兩兩相憐態。
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Hanshan’s Poems 139
HS 127
There are many amusing things;
Let me tell you a few in brief.
Lord Zhang ourished in wealth and luxury,
4 While Master Meng su ered in his poverty. 1 They only made sure that the dwarfs were fed, Indi erent to the hunger of Dongfang Shuo. 2 Many people will sing the Song of Ba,
8 While few harmonize with the White Snow tune. 3
HS 128
If an old man takes a young wife, His wife won’t stand his white hair. If an old lady marries a young man,
4 The man won’t love her sallow looks. If an old man takes an old lady, Neither will abandon the other.
If a young wife marries a young man,
8 The two of them will love each other.
1 Lord Zhang is probably Zhang Yi 張儀, a talented Warring-States era debater, who was criticized by Mencius (Master Meng).
2 Dongfang Shuo was a talented scholar, but also a sort of court entertainer to Emperor Wu of the Han. He complained that Emperor Wu fed his jester-dwarfs well, while he left talented scholars to starve.
3 This alludes to an anecdote from an essay attributed to Song Yu 宋玉 (3rd cent. BCE), in which he considers the best music as that which is appreciated by only a few connoisseurs.
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140
寒山詩
HS 129
雍容美少年，
博覽諸經史。
盡號曰先生，
4 皆稱為學士。 未能得官職， 不解秉耒耜。 冬披破布衫，
8 蓋是書誤己。 HS 130
鳥語情不堪，
其時臥草庵。
櫻桃紅爍爍，
4 楊柳正毿毿。 旭日銜青嶂， 晴雲洗淥潭。 誰知出塵俗，
8 馭上寒山南。
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Hanshan’s Poems 141
HS 129
Gentle and polite, that lovely youth;
He’s broadly examined the classics and histories. All refer to him as “Master,”
4 Everyone calls him “scholar. ”
But he never could get an o cial post, And he doesn’t know how to wield a plow. In winter he wears a tattered hempen shirt;
8 It seems that his books have deceived him.
HS 130
When I can’t stand the feelings the birdsongs evoke,
I lie down within my thatched hut.
Then cherry and peach blossoms gleam in their crimson,
4 And the willow branches y about in tangles.
The setting sun is swallowed by the green cli s,
And re ections of clouds are washed in the clear pond. Who knows how to escape this vulgar dust
8 And drive his carriage up the south side of Cold Mountain?
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142
寒山詩
HS 131
昨日何悠悠，
場中可憐許。
上為桃李徑，
4 下作蘭蓀渚。 復有綺羅人， 舍中翠毛羽。 相逢欲相喚，
8 脈脈不能語。 HS 132
丈夫莫守困，
無錢須經紀。
養得一牸牛，
4 生得五犢子。 犢子又生兒， 積數無窮已。 寄語陶朱公，
8 富與君相似。
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Hanshan’s Poems 143
HS 131
Yesterday—how serene it was!
And lovely it was in the clearing.
Above, paths through the peach and plum trees,
4 Below, an islet amid the thoroughwort and calamus. And there in the lodge was a girl in patterned silk, Adorned with king sher plumes in her hair.
I met her and wanted to call out to her,
8 But only gazed on her and could not speak.
HS 132
A real man should not bear his poverty;
If he has no cash, he must make his plans. Let him look after a single cow,
4 So it can give birth to ve calves.
If the calves then give birth in turn, There will be no end to what he accrues. Send word then to Master Tao Zhu:
8 “I’m as wealthy as you are! ”1
1 Tao Zhu was the name taken by the famous strategist Fan Li 范蠡 after he left his position as an advisor to the king of Yue. In one early text he advises a man to invest in cattle as a reliable road to wealth.
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144
寒山詩
HS 133
之子何惶惶，
卜居須自審。
南方瘴癘多，
4 北地風霜甚。 荒陬不可居， 毒川難可飲。 魂兮歸去來，
8 食我家園葚。 HS 134
昨夜夢還家，
見婦機中織。
駐梭如有思，
4 擎梭似無力。 呼之迴面視， 況復不相識。 應是別多年，
8 鬢毛非舊色。
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Hanshan’s Poems 145
HS 133
That guy is really frantic—
For he has to be careful in making his home. In the south, miasmal plagues are great,
4 And in the north, the wind and frost are bad. He can’t reside in a backwoods corner,
Nor drink from a poisoned stream.
Oh soul! Come back home again,
8 And eat the mulberries from my garden! 1
HS 134
Last night I returned home in a dream,
And saw my wife weaving at her loom.
She stopped the shuttle as if she brooded on something,
4 Held up the shuttle as if too weak to go on. I called to her, and she turned to look— But it seemed like she didn’t know me.
It must be I’ve been gone for so many years,
8 And the hair at my temples is not the color it was.
1 This last couplet alludes to “The Summons to the Soul,” a poem from the Chuci, in which the speaker attempts to recall a soul to its recently deceased body. Here, the soul stands in for the restless subject of the poem, who is discontentedly seeking the best place to live.
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146
寒山詩
HS 135
人生不滿百，
常懷千載憂。
自身病始可，
4 又為子孫愁。 下視禾根下， 上看桑樹頭。 秤鎚落東海，
8 到底始知休。 HS 136
世有一等流，
悠悠似木頭。
出語無知解，
4 云我百不憂。 問道道不會， 問佛佛不求。 子細推尋著，
8 茫然一場愁。
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Hanshan’s Poems 147
HS 135
A human life won’t last a hundred years, Yet it’s lled with a thousand of worry.
Just as soon as you’re over your own illness,
4 You stew over your sons and grandsons.
Below, you check the earth where the sprouts take root;1 Above, you look at the mulberry trees.
If you drop a steelyard weight in the eastern sea,
8 You know it’s over when it hits bottom. 2
HS 136
There’s a certain type in the world, Unconcerned and wooden-headed. When he opens his mouth, no wisdom;
4 He says, “Nothing ever worries me! ”
Ask him about the Way—he doesn’t understand; Ask him about the Buddha—he hasn’t sought him. If you carefully look into this matter:
8 It’s all muddled, a realm of grief.
1 Reading variant tu 土 (“earth”) for xia 下 (“below”).
2 A proverbial expression that refers to nality—when something heavy falls into
the water, it does not stop until it hits bottom. “Hit bottom” can also mean “in the end”—here referring that human toil only ends with death.
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148
寒山詩
HS 137
董郎年少時，
出入帝京裏。
衫作嫩鵝黃，
4 容儀畫相似。 常騎踏雪馬， 拂拂紅塵起。 觀者滿路傍，
8 箇是誰家子。 HS 138
箇是誰家子，
為人大被憎。
癡心常憤憤，
4 肉眼醉瞢瞢。 見佛不禮佛， 逢僧不施僧。 唯知打大臠，
8 除此百無能。
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Hanshan’s Poems 149
HS 137
When Master Dong was just a young man,1 He frequented the Imperial City,
With his shirt fashioned of goose-yellow silk,
4 And features worthy of a painting.
Always he rode a snow-stepping steed,2 Stirring clouds of red dust wherever he went. And gawkers lled the road to watch:
8 “Just who is that guy anyway? ”
HS 138
Just who is that guy anyway? His character hated by everyone. A foolish mind, always excitable,
4 And carnal sight blind in drunkenness.
He sees Buddha but won’t pay him courtesy, He sees a monk but won’t give him charity. He only knows how to bolt down his meat,
8 And he’s useless for everything else.
1 This is Dong Xian 董賢, a sexual favorite of the doomed last ruler of the Eastern Han dynasty, Aidi 哀帝 (r. 7–1 BCE). He was treated with excessive favor due to his handsome looks, until a palace coup forced him to commit suicide after the death of his master.
2 “Snow-stepping steed” was a steed with four white hooves.
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150
寒山詩
HS 139
人以身為本，
本以心為柄。
本在心莫邪，
4 心邪喪本命。 未能免此殃， 何言懶照鏡。 不念金剛經，
8 却令菩薩病。 HS 140
城北仲家翁，
渠家多酒肉。
仲家婦死時，
4 吊客滿堂屋。 仲翁自身亡， 能無一人哭。 喫他盃臠者，
8 何太冷心腹。
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Hanshan’s Poems
151
HS 139
People should take their Selves as their root, And this root has its application in the mind. Don’t let that root in the mind go bad;
4 For if the mind goes bad, you lose your life’s root. People can never avoid this misfortune!
Why say you’re too lazy to look in the mirror?
If you don’t chant the Diamond Sutra,
8 It makes the bodhisattvas sick.
HS 140
Old Man Zhong from north of town:
His house has so much meat and wine.
So when the lady of the Zhong family died,
4 The mourners lled his halls and rooms.
But when Old Man Zhong himself passed away, Not a single person wept.
Those who drank his wine and ate his meat—
8 How cold-hearted they were!
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152
寒山詩
HS 141
下愚讀我詩，
不解却嗤誚。
中庸讀我詩，
4 思量云甚要。 上賢讀我詩， 把著滿面笑。 楊脩見幼婦，
8 一覽便知妙。 HS 142
自有慳惜人，
我非慳惜輩。
衣單為舞穿，
4 酒盡緣歌啐。 當取一腹飽， 莫令兩脚儽。 蓬蒿鑽髑髏，
8 此日君應悔。
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Hanshan’s Poems 153
HS 141
When a fool reads my verse,
He doesn’t understand, but sco s at it anyway. When a middling type reads my verse,
4 He ponders, then says, “That’s important! ” When a wise one reads my verse,
His whole face breaks out in a smile. When Yang Xiu saw “young bride,”
8 With one glance, he knew it was “marvelous. ”1
HS 142
Naturally there are stingy people in the world, But I am not the stingy type.
My clothes are thin, they wear out as I dance;
4 All the wine is gone, because my song urged the drinking. One ought to eat until you’re full, though,
So that you’re legs don’t tire out.
When brambles grow through your skull:
8 You’ll regret it on that day. 2
1 An anecdote from the Shishuo xin yu describes how Yang Xiu, an advisor to the warlord Cao Cao 曹操, competed with his master to solve a rebus inscribed on a stele in honor of a Lady Cao. Part of the rebus involved interpreting the phrase “young bride” to mean “youthful woman” 少女—the component parts of the character miao 妙, or “marvelous. ”
2 Regret that you did not take your pleasure while alive.
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154
寒山詩
HS 143
我行經古墳，
淚盡嗟存沒。
塚破壓黃腸，
4 棺穿露白骨。 敧斜有瓮缾， 掁撥無簪笏。 風至攬其中，
8 灰塵亂 。 HS 144
夕陽赫西山，
草木光曄曄。
復有朦朧處，
4 松蘿相連接。 此中多伏虎， 見我奮迅鬣。 手中無寸刃，
8 爭不懼懾懾。
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Hanshan’s Poems 155
HS 143
In my travels I passed ancient mounds;
My tears ran out as I lamented life and death.
The tombs had collapsed, weighing down on the yellow wood;1
4 And the co ns were pierced, exposing white bones within. All askew, the urns and the vases;
I barged about, found no hairpins or tallies. 2
A wind came up, stirring everything up;
8 Ashes and dust ew everywhere.
HS 144
The evening sun shines on the western hills; Plants and trees give o a sparkling light. But there are also places of gloom therein,
4 Where pines and vines all intertwine.
And there are many tigers crouching there; When they see me, they rage and bristle. I’ve not the smallest blade at hand,
8 So shouldn’t I tremble in fright?
1 Literally, “yellow innards,” the cypress wood from which co ns were made.
2 Members of the o cial class would have been buried with these ornaments as a sign of the o ces they held while alive. The poet is gesturing to the futility of such
demonstrations when one is dead.
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156
寒山詩
HS 145
出身既擾擾，
世事非一狀。
未能捨流俗，
4 所以相追訪。 昨吊徐五死， 今送劉三葬。 終日不得閑，
8 為此心悽愴。 HS 146
有樂且須樂，
時哉不可失。
雖云一百年，
4 豈滿三萬日。 寄世是須臾， 論錢莫啾唧。 孝經末後章，
8 委曲陳情畢。
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Hanshan’s Poems 157
HS 145
Since I’ve been in this world, it’s a muddle— And there are so many di erent jobs to do.
I could never abandon everyday things,
4 And so I still bustle o to manage them. Yesterday I mourned the death of Xu Five; Today, I take Liu Three to his grave.
All day long, not a moment of rest;
8 Because of this, I’m always tormented.
HS 146
When you have music, take your joy for now; You mustn’t lose this chance!
Though people speak of “a hundred years,”
4 We don’t even last thirty thousand days. Our time in this world is but a moment, So don’t bicker over the cost of things!
The last chapter of the Classic of Filial Piety
8 With some subtlety tells of this matter. 1
1 The reference to the Classic of Filial Piety is satiric. The nal chapter of this work describes the proper demeanor for someone mourning the death of a parent; one phrase says, “He is not happy when he hears music. ”
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158
寒山詩
HS 147
獨坐常忽忽，
情懷何悠悠。
山腰雲縵縵，
4 谷口風颼颼。 猿來樹嫋嫋， 鳥入林啾啾。 時催鬢颯颯，
8 歲盡老惆惆。 HS 148
一人好頭肚，
六藝盡皆通。
南見驅歸北，
4 西逢趂向東。 長漂如汎萍， 不息似飛蓬。 問是何等色，
8 姓貧名曰窮。
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Hanshan’s Poems 159
HS 147
I sit alone, ever lost in thought,
While my feelings within drift away.
Clouds trail and turn on the mountainside,
4 And the wind whistles at the mouth of the valley. Gibbons come—the trees sway back and forth; Birds enter in—the forest echoes their song. Time hastens my gray hairs: they wither.
8 The year ends: I am old and grieving.
HS 148
Here’s a ne gure of a man,
Conversant with all the Six Arts.
When you see him in the south, he’s hurrying home north;
4 When you meet him in the west, he’s rushing to the east. Ever drifting like oating duckweed;
Never at rest, like drifting brambles.
If you ask him just what type he is:
8 His name is “Impoverished Desperation. ”
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160
寒山詩
HS 149
他賢君即受，
不賢君莫與。
君賢他見容，
4 不賢他亦拒。 嘉善矜不能， 仁徒方得所。 勸逐子張言，
8 拋却卜商語。 HS 150
俗薄真成薄，
人心箇不同。
殷翁笑柳老，
4 柳老笑殷翁。 何故兩相笑， 俱行譣詖中。 裝車競嵽嵲，
8 翻載各瀧涷。
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Hanshan’s Poems 161
HS 149
“If others are worthy, then you accept them;
If they’re not worthy, you shouldn’t be with them. ” “If you are worthy, they will accept you;
4 And if you’re not worthy, they’ll reject you. Praise talent, and comfort inability;
Only then will the benevolent nd their place. ” I urge you to follow Zizhang’s words,
8 And reject the speech of Bu Shang. 1
HS 150
The shallowness of laypeople is truly shallow; Every human mind is di erent.
Grandpa Yin laughs at Ga er Liu,
4 And Ga er Liu laughs at Grandpa Yin.
And why should they laugh at teach other, Since both are adept at craftiness?
Vie in loading your carts high as a mountain:
8 They’ll tip over, and all you’ll have is a mess.
1 The whole poem adapts Analects 19. 3. In it, the advice of Confucius’ disciple Bu Shang is contrasted unfavorably with the more compassionate and self-critical views of another disciple, Zizhang.
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162
寒山詩
HS 151
是我有錢日，
恆為汝貸將。
汝今既飽暖，
4 見我不分張。 須憶汝欲得， 似我今承望。 有無更代事，
8 勸汝熟思量。 HS 152
人生一百年，
佛說十二部。
慈悲如野鹿，
4 瞋忿似家狗。 家狗趂不去， 野鹿常好走。 欲伏獼猴心，
8 須聽師子吼。
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Hanshan’s Poems 163
HS 151
In the days when I had money,
I would always lend some to you.
Now that you are already well-fed and warm,
4 When you see me you won’t share.
You should remember that when you were in want, That’s like me now hoping for something.
Having and not having will come in their turn—
8 I urge you to think long on that.
HS 152
Human life, a hundred years;
The Buddha’s words in twelve sections. 1 Compassion is like a wild deer,
4 While wrath is like the household dog.
Drive away the dog, but he always comes back, While the deer is always eager to ee.
If you wish to subdue your monkey-mind,
8 Then you must heed the lion’s roar. 2
1 A reference to a traditional way of organizing scriptures in the Buddhist tradition; the categories include types of preaching—gāthas, avadānas, conventional sermons, etc.
2 A common metaphor for the Buddha’s preaching.
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164
寒山詩
HS 153
教汝數般事，
思量知我賢。
極貧忍賣屋，
4 纔富須買田。 空腹不得走， 枕頭須莫眠。 此言期眾見，
8 挂在日東邊。 HS 154
寒山多幽奇，
登者皆恆懾。
月照水澄澄，
4 風吹草獵獵。 凋梅雪作花， 杌木雲充葉。 觸雨轉鮮靈，
8 非晴不可涉。
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Hanshan’s Poems 165
HS 153
Let me teach you a few things—
If you think about it, you’ll know I’m wise.
If you’re very poor, refrain from selling the house;
4 When wealthy again, you must buy elds. Don’t run on an empty stomach,
Don’t sleep with a comfortable pillow. 1 These words I hope everyone will see—
8 Let them be hung high with the rising sun.
HS 154
There are many hidden marvels at Cold Mountain; Climbers there are constantly in awe.
Moon shines on the water, clear and still;
4 Wind blows, rustling through the grass.
Snow puts owers on withered plum branches, And clouds serve as leaves for branchless trees. Things are even more fresh and lively when it rains,
8 But you can only get there when it’s clear.
1 I. e. , do not make yourself at ease when you go to sleep, or you will lose alertness.
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166
寒山詩
HS 155
有樹先林生，
計年逾一倍。
根遭陵谷變，
4 葉被風霜改。 咸笑外凋零， 不憐內紋綵。 皮膚脫落盡，
8 唯有貞實在。 HS 156
寒山有躶蟲，
身白而頭黑。
手把兩卷書，
4 一道將一德。 住不安釜竈， 行不齎衣祴。 常持智慧劍，
8 擬破煩惱賊。
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Hanshan’s Poems 167
HS 155
There’s a tree that predates the forest;
More than twice as old, if you count up the years. Its roots have met the change of valley and slope,1
4 And its leaves have been altered by wind and frost. Everyone laughs at its withered exterior,
No one cherishes its ne patterns within;
And when its bark is stripped away,
8 Only then will its pure essence remain.
HS 156
There’s a naked beast on Cold Mountain, With a white body and black hair.
In his hand he holds a two-chapter book,
4 One called “Way,” the other “Power. ”2
At home he has not set up his pan and stove, And when he goes out he wears no cassock. He always grasps a sword of wisdom,
8 Planning to smash the kleśa bandits.
1 A recurring Chinese image describes the immense passage of time as the period it takes for a valley to become a hill, and vice versa.
2 The Laozi (which is also called The Classic of the Way and Its Power).
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168
寒山詩
HS 157
有人畏白首，
不肯舍朱紱。
采藥空求仙，
4 根苗亂挑掘。 數年無效驗， 癡意瞋怫鬱。 獵師披袈裟，
8 元非汝使物。 HS 158
昔時可可貧，
今朝最貧凍。
作事不諧和，
4 觸途成倥傯。 行泥屢腳屈， 坐社頻腹痛。 失却斑猫兒，
8 老鼠圍飯瓮。
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Hanshan’s Poems 169
HS 157
There are people who fear their white hair,
Yet they’re unwilling to resign their vermilion sash. 1 They pick herbs, vainly seeking Transcendence,
4 Wildly digging up roots and sprouts.
For several years now they’ve had no success, Their foolish thoughts turn angry and uneasy. They’re hunters who don the cassocks of monks—
8 They shouldn’t use those from the start.
HS 158
I was rather poor in past days,
But this morning I’m most poor and cold! Nothing I do works out the way it should,
4 And everything turns to grief and hardship.
When walking through mud I always slip;
When I attend the season festivals I get indigestion. And now when I’ve lost my tortoiseshell cat,
8 The rats are circling the rice jar.
1 A sign of o cial o ce.
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170
寒山詩
HS 159a
我見世間人，
堂堂好儀相。
不報父母恩，
4 方寸底模樣。 欠負他人錢， 蹄穿始惆悵。 箇箇惜妻兒，
8 爺孃不供養。 兄弟似冤家， 心中長悵怏。 憶昔少年時，
12 求神願成長。 今為不孝子， 世間多此樣。 買肉自家噇，
16 抹觜道我暢。 自逞說嘍囉， 聰明無益當。 牛頭努目瞋，
20 出去始時曏。
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Hanshan’s Poems 171
HS 159a1
I see the people in this world:
Loftily they put on a distinguished air. But they don’t repay their parents’ grace;
4 Just what is their inch of heart like?
When they owe others money,
They’ll only grieve when their hoofs are worn away. 2 Each only cherishes wife and child,
8 And does not provide for Mom and Dad. Brothers treat each other as enemies, Their minds ever moody and annoyed.
I remember when they were still young,
12 Their parents prayed that they’d grow up well. And now they’ve become un lial sons— Most people in the world are like this.
They buy meat and eat it for themselves,
16 Wipe their beaks and say “I feel great! ”
They boast of themselves and their witty speech,
Their unsurpassable cleverness.
But when the bull-headed demons glare at them in rage,3
20 Only then will they want to escape.
1 I am certain that 159 consists of two poems, for the following reasons: 1) ll 21–36 have no thematic connection to ll. 1–20; 2) ending a poem with a threat of Hell (ll. 19–20) is common elsewhere in the corpus (see HS 56, SD 5, SD 12); 3) ll. 21–22 rhyme—a frequent technique employed in the opening couplet of a Hanshan poem.
2 This refers to a popular Buddhist belief that those who die owing money will be reborn as a beast of burden that will repay the debt with its labor.
3 Bull-headed demons serve as guards in Hell.
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172
寒山詩
HS 159b
擇佛燒好香，
揀僧歸供養。
羅漢門前乞，
4 趂却閒和尚。 不悟無為人， 從來無相狀。 封疏請名僧，
8 䞋錢兩三樣。 雲光好法師， 安角在頭上。 汝無平等心，
12 聖賢俱不降。 凡聖皆混然， 勸君休取相。 我法妙難思，
16 天龍盡迴向。
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Hanshan’s Poems 173
HS 159b
They select a Buddha, burn ne incense,
Pick a monk, do him homage, make o erings. But as for the Arhat begging before their gates—
4 They drive him away as an idle cleric. 1
They are not aware that the man without activity Never displays exterior signs. 2
They compose letters to invite eminent monks,
8 O ering money two or three times.
Yunguang was a ne dharma master,
But now he wears horns on his head. 3
If you don’t have a mind that holds all things as equal,
12 Then sages and worthies will not descend to you. 4 The common and the sagely are intermingled;
I urge you to cease making distinctions.
My dharma is marvelous, hard to think about;
16 But all magic beings will pledge their deeds to it.
1 This poem draws on legends concerning Pin. d. ola (Bintoulu 賓頭盧), one of the Arhats who the Buddha requested should remain behind in samsara to aid practitioners. He was famous for his gluttony (in reality, “greedy” for the charity of pious laypeople), and as a result he became in East Asia a sort of patron of monastery refectories. He is said to wander the world in disguise, visiting monasteries and maigre feasts prepared by lay believers. An early tale describes how he was driven away by a servant from a maigre feast because he was dressed in rags.
2 “Without activity” (wu wei) generally has Daoist associations; but in Buddhism it can describe the conduct of enlightened beings, who do not generate karma in whatever they do.
3 Yunguang was an antinomian monk he boasted that he was above the monastic precepts. He was reborn as a cow.
4 The typically Confucian terms “sages and worthies” here probably stand in for Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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174
寒山詩
HS 160
我今稽首禮，
無上法中王。
慈悲大喜捨，
4 名稱滿十方。 眾生作依怙， 智慧身金剛。 頂禮無所著，
8 我師大法王。 HS 161
可貴天然物，
獨一無伴侶。
覓他不可見，
4 出入無門戶。 促之在方寸， 延之一切處。 你若不信受，
8 相逢不相遇。
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Hanshan’s Poems 175
HS 160
I now bow low in reverence
To the unsurpassed Prince of the Dharma. Compassionate, delighted in surrendering all;
4 Praise of his name lls the ten directions.
All living things depend on him;
All-wise, with a body of diamond.
I prostrate myself before the one without attachments;
8 I take the Great Dharma Prince as my teacher.
HS 161
Precious, this natural thing! Alone it stands, without a match. Look for it—it’s invisible,
4 Goes in and out, no gate or door. Contract it all within the inch of mind, Or stretch it out to everywhere.
But if you don’t have faith in it,
8 You’ll meet it and not notice it.
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176
寒山詩
HS 162
余家有一窟，
窟中無一物。
淨潔空堂堂，
4 光華明日日。 蔬食養微軀， 布裘遮幻質。 任你千聖現，
8 我有天真佛。 HS 163
男兒大丈夫，
作事莫莽鹵。
勁挺鐵石心，
4 直取菩提路。 邪路不用行， 行之枉辛苦。 不要求佛果，
8 識取心王主。
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Hanshan’s Poems 177
HS 162
There is a cavern at my house,
And in that cavern—not a single thing. It is clean and pure, empty and lofty,
4 And light shines in it, bright as the sun.
Plain fare nourishes my trivial form,
And a hempen robe covers my illusory substance. You can have the manifestation of a thousand sages;
8 I have the truly existing Buddha.
HS 163
Gentlemen, you stalwart fellows,
Don’t be careless in what you do.
Firmly hold on to your mind of iron and stone,
4 Follow directly the path to enlightenment.
Useless to go down heterodox paths;
If you do, you’ll just bring yourself pointless hardship. Don’t seek out the fruits of Buddhahood;
8 Rather, recognize the Prince and Master of your mind.
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178
寒山詩
HS 164
粵自居寒山，
曾經幾萬載。
任運遯林泉，
4 棲遲觀自在。 寒巖人不到， 白雲常靉靆。 細草作臥褥，
8 青天為被蓋。 快活枕石頭， 天地任變改。
HS 165
可重是寒山，
白雲常自閑。
猿啼暢道內，
4 虎嘯出人間。 獨步石可履， 孤吟藤好攀。 松風清颯颯，
8 鳥語聲 。
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Hanshan’s Poems 179
HS 164
Since I’ve been living at Cold Mountain, Thousands and thousands of years have passed. I surrender to fate, hide in forests and streams;
4 Whether at rest or wandering I observe the spontaneous. People don’t come to Cold Cli ,
And the white clouds are lowering around me.
Slender grass serves as my mattress,
8 And the blue sky is my canopy overhead. Delighted, I pillow my head on a stone, As Heaven and Earth surrender to change.
HS 165
Cold Mountain, something to be valued; White clouds always drifting calmly. Gibbons chatter, singing a song of the Way;1
4 Tigers roar as they come out among men.
I can navigate the rocks in my solitary walk, Climbing the vines as I chant poems alone. The clear pine-wind whistles and roars,
8 And the speech of birds twitters around me.
1 Line three is open to interpretation and revision. I agree with Xiang Chu and assume that the line is textually corrupted and should read 猿啼唱道曲. This is based on a similar line in Shide SD 54, and on a number of Chan texts that speak of people “singing a song of the Way” (chang dao qu 唱道曲). This might also clarify the fourth line, in which the tigers “roar”; the verb used here is also the noise produced by a form of Daoist hygienic breath control. In that case, both gibbons and tigers are civilized religious cultivators, and both the poet and nature are making appropriate noises (this sound production continues in lines 6–8).
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180
寒山詩
HS 166
閑自訪高僧，
煙山萬萬層。
師親指歸路，
月挂一輪燈。
HS 167
閒遊華頂上，
日朗晝光輝。
四顧晴空裏，
白雲同鶴飛。
HS 168
世有多事人，
廣學諸知見。
不識本真性，
4 與道轉懸遠。 若能明實相， 豈用陳虛願。 一念了自心，
8 開佛之知見。
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Hanshan’s Poems 181
HS 166
In leisure I visit a lofty monk,
Through myriad on myriad of misty hills.
The master himself points the road back home: Where the moon hangs its single-wheeled lamp.
HS 167
At leisure I wander on Huading Peak;1 Sunlight reveals all in its daytime glow.
I look all around me within this clear void; The white clouds are ying with the cranes.
HS 168
In the world there are men of many a airs,
Broad in learning, with many elds of knowledge. But they don’t recognize their original true nature,
4 And drift further and further apart from the Way. If you can illumine your actual attributes,2
There is no point in making empty vows.
With one thought you comprehend the Self-Mind,
8 And you reveal the Buddha’s “ eld of knowledge”!
1 Huading is the highest peak of the Tiantai range.
2 “Attributes” here (xiang) is meant to translate lak. san. a, a term broadly meant to refer
to de ning characteristics. Often enlightened beings are said to transcend them or to not manifest them (as in l. 6 of 159b, “exterior signs”). However, here shi xiang is meant to indicate “true” identity or attributes, independent of the attributes manifested in samsara.
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182
寒山詩
HS 169
寒山有一宅，
宅中無闌隔。
六門左右通，
4 堂中見天碧。 房房虛索索， 東壁打西壁。 其中一物無，
8 免被人來惜。 寒到燒輭火， 飢來煑菜喫。 不學田舍翁，
12 廣置牛莊宅。 盡作地獄業， 一入何曾極。 好好善思量，
16 思量知軌則。
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Hanshan’s Poems
183
HS 169
On Cold Mountain there’s a dwelling; And the dwelling has no fence or bars. Its six gates are open to left and right,
4 The blue sky can be seen from the hall. Room after room—all are empty,
The east walls knock into the west walls. I don’t keep anything inside
8 So people won’t come and gawk at it. When it’s cold I’ll light a modest re, When hungry I’ll boil some greens to eat. I’m not like those old geezer farmers,
12 Who keep lots of oxen on their ranch. All of them build up Hell-bound karma. When will it end once they enter there? Think about this now good and hard,
16 Then you’ll see the principle behind it.
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184
寒山詩
HS 170
儂家暫下山，
入到城隍裏。
逢見一群女，
4 端正容貌美。 頭戴蜀樣花， 燕脂塗粉膩。 金釧鏤銀朵，
8 羅衣緋紅紫。 朱顏類神仙， 香帶氛氳氣。 時人皆顧眄，
12 癡愛染心意。 謂言世無雙， 魂影隨他去。 狗齩枯骨頭，
16 虛自舐脣齒。 不解返思量， 與畜何曾異。 今成白髮婆，
20 老陋若精魅。 無始由狗心， 不超解脫地。
Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/18/17 8:42 AM
Hanshan’s Poems 185
HS 170
For a time I descended from the mountain, Coming at last to the city moat.
And there I met a ock of girls,
4 Poised they were, with lovely features. Shu-blossom ornaments on their heads,1 Rouge on cheeks, their painted powder sleek. Gold bracelets ligreed with silver blooms,
8 Silken robes, all red, crimson, and purple. Ruddy faces, like those of a goddess, Fragrant sashes in a billowing haze.
Men nowadays all give them the eye,
12 With foolish lust that would stain their minds. They think those girls have no peer in the world, And their soul-shadows chase after them.
Now if a dog chews on a dried-up bone,
16 In vain he licks his chops and teeth.
They don’t know how to ponder this truth: That they’re no di erent from the beasts. Now girls all turn to white-haired grannies,
20 Old and mean, like mountain ghouls.
If you act with a dog’s mind from the start, You won’t reach the place of liberation.
1 The region of Shu (modern Sichuan) was famous in Tang times for the arti cial ower-ornaments it produced.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/18/17 8:42 AM
186
寒山詩
HS 171
一自遯寒山，
養命餐山果。
平生何所憂，
4 此世隨緣過。 日月如逝川， 光陰石中火。 任你天地移，
8 我暢巖中坐。 HS 172
我見世間人，
茫茫走路塵。
不知此中事，
4 將何為去津。 榮華能幾日， 眷屬片時親。 縱有千斤金，
8 不如林下貧。
Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/18/17 8:42 AM
Hanshan’s Poems 187
HS 171
Since I’ve hidden away at Cold Mountain,
I’ve been eating mountain fruit, nourishing my life. What do I have to worry about in this existence?
4 I pass through this world following my karma. Days and months pass like a departing stream, Time is just a ash from a int stone.
You may change along with Heaven and Earth;
8 But I’ll delight in sitting here on my cli .
HS 172
I see the people of this world:
At a loss, they hurry through the dust on the road. They don’t know the Central Matter,1
4 So how can they make a future path?
How many days can glory last?
Dear ones are close to you but a short time. Even if you had a thousand pounds of gold,
8 It’s better to live impoverished in the woods.
1 The Buddhist Dharma—here, the phrase is synonymous with 箇中意 in HS 105.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/18/17 8:42 AM
188
寒山詩
HS 173
自聞梁朝日，
四依諸賢士。
寶志萬迴師，
4 四仙傅大士。 顯揚一代教， 任持如來使。 造建僧伽藍，
8 信心歸佛理。 雖乃得如斯， 有為多患累。 與道殊懸遠，
12 折東補西爾。 不達無為功， 損多益少利。 有聲而無形，
16 至今何處去。
Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/18/17 8:42 AM
Hanshan’s Poems 189
HS 173
I myself have heard of the days of the Liang, The Four Steadfasts, all worthy gentlemen;1 Baozhi, teacher Wanhui,2
4 The Four Transcendents, Great Layman Fu. 3
They made manifest the Faith for an entire age; They took up the task as the Tathāgata’s emissaries, Establishing and constructing monasteries.
8 Their minds of faith submitted to the Buddha’s laws. But even though they accomplished such things, Actions of merit bring many worrisome burdens. They drifted further apart from the Way,
12 Merely took from the east to ll in for the west. 4
They didn’t comprehend the merit of non-action,
The bene t of losing much and gaining little. 5
Though they made their names, they themselves have vanished,
16 And where have they all gone now?
1 Commentators are not agreed on the meaning of si yi here, which could either mean “four groups that may be relied on” or “four kinds of reliance. ”
2 Baozhi (418–514) was a famous wonder-working monk. Wanhui was an early Tang monk; the poem seems to have confused his era here.
3 The text’s si xian 四仙 (Four Transcendents) is a puzzle. Usually “transcendents” is a Daoist term, so it is unclear whether the poet is con ating Daoist and Buddhist teachings here (not impossible in the Tang era), or whether this is an error for something else. Various lists of Daoist adepts have been suggested. Xiang Chu makes a reasonable if unprovable speculation that the text has miscopied Sizhou 泗州, another name for the eminent Liang-era mong Sengqie 僧伽. I have chosen to leave the text as is. Great Layman Fu (497–569) became a prominent teacher and propagator of the faith during the Liang era.
4 A proverb meaning that one makes no forward gains, but merely distributes what is already there for appearance’s sake.
5 Or, “so their loss was great, with increasingly little pro t. ” How one reads the line depends on whether the poet is emphasizing the seeming paradox of non-action.
Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/18/17 8:42 AM
190
寒山詩
HS 174
吁嗟貧復病，
為人絕友親。
甕裏長無飯，
4 甑中屢生塵。 蓬庵不免雨， 漏榻劣容身。 莫怪今憔悴，
8 多愁定損人。 HS 175
養女畏太多，
已生須訓誘。
捺頭遣小心，
4 鞭背令緘口。 未解秉機杼， 那堪事箕箒。 張婆語驢駒，
8 汝大不如母。
Unauthenticated Download Date | 11/18/17 8:42 AM
Hanshan’s Poems 191
HS 174
Alas! To be poor and sick as well,
And cut o from contact with friend or kin. A storage jar often empty of rice
4 And a steamer that tends to collect dust.
An overgrown hut that doesn’t keep out the rain, A broken-down couch with no room for one. Don’t wonder that I’ve grown haggard now:
8 Too many worries will wear you down.
HS 175
We fear having too many daughters;
But once one is born, we must train her carefully. Force her head down and compel her to be careful,
4 Beat her on the back to make her shut her mouth.
If she never understands how to use loom and shuttle, How can she serve with dustpan and broom? 1
As Granny Zhang said to her donkey’s foals,
8 “You’re not as big as your mother! ”2
1 “Serve with dustpan and broom” is a standard locution for getting married. 2 I. e.