Tag: literature

The everyday mind: that is the way.
Buried in vines and rock-bound caves,
Here it’s wild, here I am free,
Idling with the white clouds, my friends.
Tracks here never reach the world;
No-mind, so what can shift my thought?
I sit the night through on a bed of stone,
While the moon climbs Cold Mountain.
-Verse 23, Words from Cold Mountain, Han-Shan, 9th century

(This isn’t necessarily the verse in the painting – it’s just a verse I like.)

From Wikipedia: 

Hanshan (Chinese: 寒山; pinyin: Hánshān; literally: “Cold Mountain”, fl. 9th century) was a legendary figure associated with a collection of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the Taoist and Chan tradition. No one knows who he was, or when he lived and died.

You can read Words from Cold Mountain translated into English here: [Poetry in Translation]

There is also a graphic novel. 😀 [Find it in a library near you!] [Painting: Hanshan and Shide (寒山拾得圖) Yintuoluo (因陀羅, late Yuan dynasty), Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)]

The everyday mind: that is the way.
Buried in vines and rock-bound caves,
Here it’s wild, here I am free,
Idling with the white clouds, my friends.
Tracks here never reach the world;
No-mind, so what can shift my thought?
I sit the night through on a bed of stone,
While the moon climbs Cold Mountain.
-Verse 23, Words from Cold Mountain, Han-Shan, 9th century

(This isn’t necessarily the verse in the painting – it’s just a verse I like.)

From Wikipedia: 

Hanshan (Chinese: 寒山; pinyin: Hánshān; literally: “Cold Mountain”, fl. 9th century) was a legendary figure associated with a collection of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the Taoist and Chan tradition. No one knows who he was, or when he lived and died.

You can read Words from Cold Mountain translated into English here: [Poetry in Translation]

There is also a graphic novel. 😀 [Find it in a library near you!] [Painting: Hanshan and Shide (寒山拾得圖) Yintuoluo (因陀羅, late Yuan dynasty), Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)]

historical-nonfiction:

During the Chinese Tang dynasty, anyone with an education was expected to greet as well as say goodbye in poetic verse composed on the spot. This particular example is one of Li Bai’s (701-762), the most celebrated Tang Dynasty poet. It is a farewell poem written for the poet’s friend, the imperial librarian/proofreader, who climbed the Xie Tiaos Pavilion with Li Bai. In the verse, there is the feeling of being underappreciated by the official circle. He expresses his resentment for the darkness of society and longing for a brighter, more enlightened world (where he would be better appreciated, one assumes).

Random things I find when doing casual research.

The Nibelungenlied, translated by Margaret Armour

The Nibelungenlied, translated by Margaret Armour

An epic poem, originally written in Middle High German (1050-1350). It is the story of Siegfried, a dragon-slayer, at the Burgundian court, his death, and his wife Kriemhild’s revenge.