Qiantang’s river tides and Lushan’s misty rain
Chinese original: Su Shi (11th AC, social name 'Zizhan', art name 'Dongpo')
English translation & annotation: Julia Min (Dec. 2024)
Qiantang’s river tides and Lushan’s misty rain,
A hunt of desire and distance drains the mind.
Once there, your curious eyes will only find
Qiantang’s river tides and Lushan’s misty rain.
Analysis:
The Zen humour under the line associates with life’s three stages in spiritual transcendence. It resonates with the famous lines from Wei Xing, a Zen master, who said: “Before studying Buddism, I saw the mountain and the river just as they appeared to me. After studying Buddism, the mountain was not just a mountain, the river was not just a river. Now, the mountain and the river are still the mountain and the river. The third stage seems to have no difference from the first, as in this poem where the last line is a simple repetition of the first.” Yes, the external world remains the same, but the monk is not the same monk anymore. With a profound understanding of Buddism, his inner world is transformed to a whole new level. He was enlightened and gained peace in mind. Simple words for profound philosophy -- typical Zen’s way of presenting life.
Legend has it that this is his last poem and was written for his son Su Guo who was about to start his young career in the government. It’s still under debate whether this was written by Su Shi, but the tone, the theme and the popular story behind do make you feel it could well be his work.
庐山烟雨浙江潮
原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）
庐山烟雨浙江潮，
未至千般恨不消。
到得还来别无事，
庐山烟雨浙江潮。
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