Member Poem

Farewell to Mystic Mountain

Huangfu Ran (~ 716-769)
 
 
All day the water flows until it fades, unseen,
At dusk, when grass grows deep in spring and earth recedes—
At times, it’s true, the dogs will bark and chickens squawk,
But who would pull an almond nut from berry seeds?
 
 

Chinese   送鄭二之茅山 皇甫冉   水流絕澗終日 草長深山暮春 犬吠雞鳴幾處 條桑種杏何人

Pronunciation   Sòng Zhèng Er Zhī Máo Shān Huángfǔ Rǎn   Shuǐ liú jué jiàn zhōng rì Cǎo cháng shēn shān mù chūn Quǎn fèi jī míng jī chǔ Tiáo sāng zhǒng xìng hé rén

 
 
Transliteration and Notes
 
Send-Off Zheng Two ’s Mao Mountain
 
Water flows vanishes stream all day
Grass long deep mountains evening spring
Dog barks chicken squawks how-many places?
One mulberry seeds almonds what man?
 
     “Mao Mountain” or Mount Mao is located in the modern Jiangsu province and is considered a holy Daoist site. According to legend, during the reign of Emperor Jing (188 B.C. – 141 B.C.) of the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 9 A.D.), the three brothers Mao Ying, Mao Gu, and Mao Zhong traveled to the mountain. There they cultivated themselves and treated people for their illnesses, thus obtaining immortality. During its peak, the mountain houses 257 temples with over 5,000 rooms, but later suffered from wars and nationwide turmoil.
    In addition to being an excellent nature poet, with twenty-six surviving poems, Huangfu was famous for his landscape painting. These explore the natural beauty of his environment when he lived as a hermit and nostalgia for his native village of Anding (modern Gansu province).