Chinese Zen poetry by Hanshan
Musical Reflections inspired by the following 6 poems...
1. Road to Cold Mountain I climb the road to Cold Mountain,
The road to Cold Mountain that never ends. The Valleys are long and strewn with stones; The streams broad and banked with thick grass. Moss is slippery, though no rain has fallen; Pines sigh, but it isn't the wind. Who can break from the snares of the world And sit with me among the white clouds? Above the blossoms sing the orioles;
Kuan kuan, their clear notes. The girl with a face like jade Strums to them on her lute. Never does she tire of playing - Youth is the time for tender thoughts. When the flowers scatter and the birds fly off Her tears will fall in the spring wind. Cold Mountain is full of weird sights; 4. A Thousand Clouds Among a thousand clouds and 10,000 streams, 5. In a Dream Last night in a dream I returned to my old home 6. Cold Cliffs Cold cliffs, more beautiful the deeper you enter ...
Yet no one travels this road. White clouds idle about the tall crags; On the green peak a single monkey wails. What other companions do I need? I grow old doing as I please. Though face and form alter with the years, I hold fast to the pearl of the mind.
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Near Pine Mountain - Gorman, CA
Ghostly Trees, Grapevine, CA
Pyramid Lake - Gorman, CA
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I recommend the following translation:
Hanshan: 100 Poems by the Tang Poet Hanshan
English Translation by Burton Watson,
Columbia University Press, 1970.