I Can Live Without Meat in Food
(for Monk Huijue at his Green Bamboo Veranda)
Chinese original: Su Shi (11th AC, social name 'Zizhan', art name 'Dongpo')
English translation & annotation: Julia Min (Jan. 2025)
I can live without meat in food,
But can’t without bamboo in view.
Without meat body will lose weight,
Without bamboo life will lose taste.
It’s easy to gain a good weight,
And not so to gain a good taste.
It seems a stubborn lofty pretend,
And you may laugh at what I say.
If you munch in his noble presence,
You can’t ascend the Yangzhou Crane.
Notes:
Yangzhou Crane: borrowed from a story in The fables of Ying Yun（《殷云小说》）, where a bunch of ambitious young gentlemen boasted about their future in Yangzhou. One wished to become in a high post at the government office, another said he would become a very wealthy man, but the third one wanted to fill his pockets with silver and gold and fly a crane bird to the immortal world. Well, you know the result -- the crane wouldn't be able to fly with a heavy weight. You can't have everything in life.
Analysis:
This little poem can serve as another example of the Song’s way of presenting deep philosophical theory in the disguise of simple everyday language. As a result, the first four lines have become idiomatic expressions in Chinese. The poem reads like a prose in the tone on the theme of virtuous pursuit against vulgar taste in human life, or you may say, an insight to the awareness of the ultimate purpose in this lifetime. Bamboo tree has been recognized as one of the Four Gentlemen ( together with plum blossom, chrysanthemum, and orchid) in China. It’s an emblem of noble elegance, upright honesty and adamant loyalty.
Yu Qian was a county in the territory of Lin'an City (in Hangzhou City). There was a temple where Su Shi favored as he used to have some quality time with his Monk Huijue. The two friends would often enjoy tea in the bamboo yard and explore together the value and virtues of social and natural worlds to better their understanding of Zen ideas. This poem was written when Su Shi visited there during his inspection on the county’s governance as the magistrate of Hangzhou.
Of the Four, he favors bamboo the most as we can trace from his paintings as well. He even started the use of red paint for his bamboo paintings, which became a unique style since then. I assume it is another example of his artistic style in the pursuit of the theme rather than the form.
於潜僧绿筠轩
原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）
宁可食无肉，不可居无竹。
无肉令人瘦，无竹令人俗。
人瘦尚可肥，士俗不可医。
旁人笑此言，似高还似痴。
若对此君仍大嚼，世间那有扬州鹤?
Reference:
picture from google
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