In May of 2025 I posted 6 poems indicating how the Chinese had responded to the ever-present sense of "ruination shadowing their lives, their plans, their country, their civilization." The hope being that in our own time of tumult, might it not be of some relief for us?
My feedback indicated a surprising appreciation of these poems among readers. So I here post a further eight poems in this genre. As with the first group, half are from the poetry-rich T'ang dynasty (619-907). The others come from the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), when Kublai Khan's Mongol Empire ruled China. Enjoy!
Reminding Myself, by Jiao Jr, Yuan dynasty
sit in the clean breeze
sleep in the high white clouds
no one can spit in your face
when you're there
hum a tune and laugh
let the rest of them
yoke themselves to millstones
hide in a hole, with peace and joy
east? it's within me
and west? that too
clouds may be thick or thin
windows may be dark or bright
take it easy,
you can break the poor old dragon's jaw
by pulling teeth for "meaning".
stumble along, as upright as you can
and don't be avaricious.
who tries to hold what flashes
in the worldly storm, will drown.
flow and you'll fill the forms
stop, and you'll leave a hole
doing? within me.
and hiding? that too.
pretend to be stupid, act like a fool
pretend to be deaf, to be dumb
what can a man make that's lasting?
hum a few phrases, pour out more wine
dream white clouds coiling your green mountain pillow
see everywhere embroidered white with peonies.
flourishing? within me.
and fading? that too
In Banishment, by Ma Jr-yuan, Yuan dynasty
just got a jug
and bought a fish
eyes full of cloudy mountains
unrolling like a scroll
no way to make poems in this moment
fresh breeze, bright moon
I'm just a lazy rambler
Got nothing to sell
got to get back
far away, by greening cane
among blue pines
bamboo's shade, pine's whisper
there's my hut awaiting me
the empire at peace
within my idle body
I'll tend to the paths
I'll plant five willows like Tao Qian
got to get back
by green mountains there
two acres of good ground, a little house
this idle body leapt
from the earthy soil there
the purple crabs are growing fat
and yellow aster's opening
got to get back.
once lustrous hair falls out
fair features change
I'd be ashamed to show
this muddy face in public
but the garden scene endures
the same there
a field, a house
got to get back
dawn, the mountain bird outside the window
calls the old man up from sleep
again he thinks
got to get back
shadowed by old age
he freezes, realizing suddenly
there's no way there from here
no way back at all
better find a shady spot right here
sit down on this ground
be home
At Ease in the Mountains, by Feng Tzu-chen, Yuan dynasty
I moved to the very peak of T'on-ngo mountain
to become a sharp-witted woodsman
here the trees are rarely in flower
just leaves and branches tossing in the wind and rain
my friends all sing of "the return"
why depart in the first place, I ask
here, outside my door, loom mountains without end
this place you cannot buy with blood-smeared cash
A Crafty Rascal, by Yun-k'an Tzu, Yuan dynasty
my home's in the flowering mountain
my joy is purest idleness
in a rush hut by a blue grotto
at the end of a crazy winding path
at noon I take a simple meal
and when I'm full
I take up my staff
and wander to the mountain top
and gaze at the spectacle
Who envies you
oh high and mighty
all done up in purple
and dangling marks of rank
my heart's at peace
I'm satisfied with me
there aren't many in the world today
to match this
crafty rascal.
done with the human world
and pure
as darkness
nothing to hold me
nothing to restrain
the old guy here
within the grove
before blue cliffs the
moon's companion
mad and singing
drunk and dancing
smashed, filled by the wine
of endless life
in straw sandals
and a belt of hemp
in a rush raincoat
dangling an old gourd ladle
half like a fisherman
half like a woodcutter
my head like a raspberry patch
and my face like a dump
I'll bear
your laughter.
laugh at me
I understand
the moon and the wind are my friends
I sleep in the clouds
I play a jade flute
and a taste for these
may be difficult
for you to learn
laugh if you want
I understand
so I've used up a fortune…
I've thought it over carefully
and it just doesn't bother me.
Watch me straggle down this road
'til I've danced to some
paradise.
Looking for a Hermit, by Jia Dao, T'ang dynasty
When asked, the boy under the pine
Says simply, My master's gone to gather herbs
Somewhere high amidst these mountains,
So deep in the clouds I can't tell you where.
A Night Mooring, by Meng Hao-jan, T'ang dynasty
As my little boat sways on its mooring of mist,
And daylight wanes, old memories begin…
How wide the world was then, how close the trees to heaven,
And how clear the moon's reflection in the water.
Answering Vice-prefect Zhang, by Wang Wei, T'ang dynasty
As the years pass, give me but peace,
Freedom from ten thousand matters.
I ask myself and always acknowledge:
What can be better than returning to the old woods?
The wind in the pines blows my sash,
The mountain moon glitters on my lute.
You ask me about good and evil fortune?
Listen! On the lake there's a fisherman singing.
Green Gulley Stream, by Wang Wei, T'ang dynasty
To reach Yellow Flower river
Follow Green Gully stream.
Making ten thousand turns through mountains,
It barely covers a hundred li.
Rapids whish over heaped rocks;
But along thick pines, in dim light,
Nut-horns sway in a quiet inlet,
And weeds are lush along the banks.
In my deepest heart
I know the purity of this limpid water.
Oh let me sit on some broad, flat rock
And cast a fishing line forever!
Translations
Note that the Ma Jr-yuan poem here refers to Tao Qian, several of whose poems appeared in the first selection of Chinese poems.
All the Yuan dynasty poems were translated by Jerome P. Seaton in The Wine of Endless Life: Taoist drinking songs from the Yuan Dynasty. While I present those by Ma Jr-yuan and Yun-k'an Tzu as distinct poems, those are actually selection portions of much longer poems by those authors. Other than pulling out portions of the longer poems, though, I subjected them to no important editing. My acknowledgments and admiration to Dr. Seaton.
Translations of the T'ang dynasty poems are collaborations (over time and space!) of Witter Bynner/Kiang Kang-hu (The Jade Mountain, 1929), Innes Herdan (300 Tang Poems, 1973) and current author Barnett.