Home > Author > Hanshan
1 " Children I implore youget out of the burning house nowthree carts wait outsideto save you from a homeless liferelax in the village squarebefore the sky everything's emptyno direction is better or worseeast is just as good as westthose who know the meaning of thisare free to go where they want "
― Hanshan
2 " I spur my horse past the ruined city;the ruined city, that wakes the traveler's thoughts:ancient battlements, high and low;old grave mounds, great and small.Where the shadow of a single tumbleweed tremblesand the voice of the great trees clings forever,I sigh over all these common bones --No roll of the immortals bears their names. "
3 " the ten thousand things are all reflectionsthe moon originally has no light "
4 " Spring water is pure in an emerald streammoonlight is white on Cold Mountainsilence thoughts and the spirit becomes clearfocus on emptiness and the world grows still "
― Hanshan , The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain
5 " Some seek pleasure in loveblind to the trials of a mortal bodyothers see a bubble or mirageand realize impermanence undoes us alla real man's will is straight like ironin an uncrooked heart the Way is truedense and tall bamboos in the snowshow you the mind not used in vain "
6 " I divined and chose a distant place to dwell T'ien-t'ai; what more is there to say? Monkeys cry where valley mists are cold, My grass gate blends with the color of the crags, I pick leaves to thatch a hut among the pines, Scoop out a pond and lead a runnel from the spring. By now I am used to doing without the world, Picking ferns, I pass the years that are left. The trail to Cold Mountain is faint the banks of Cold Stream are a jungle birds constantly chatter away I hear no sound of people gusts of wind lash my face flurries of snow bury my body day after day, no sun year after year no spring. "
7 " Above Cold Mountain the moon shines alonein a clear sky it illuminates nothing at allprecious heavenly priceless jewelburied in the skandhas submerged in the body "
8 " I labored in vain reciting the Three HistoriesI wasted my time reading the Five ClassicsI've grown old checking yellow scrollsrecording the usual everyday namesContinued Hardship was my fortuneEmptiness and Danger govern my lifeI can't match riverside treesevery year with a season of green "
9 " The hermit escapes the human worldand likes to sleep on mountainsamong green widely-spaced vineswhere clear torrents sing harmonies.He steams with joy,swinging at ease through freedom,not stained with worldly affairs,heart clean as a white lotus. "
10 " So many kinds of people existhundreds of plans for profit and famehearts intent on gloryalways trying to get richminds that never restrushing about like smokedependents gather aroundone yell and a hundred heads nodbut less than seventy years from nowice becomes water and roof tiles breakdead at last all cares ceasewho will be their heirdrop a ball of mud in waterand behold the thoughtless mind "
11 " For an image of life and deathconsider ice and waterwater freezes into iceice melts back into waterwhat dies must live againwhat lives is bound to dieice and water don't harm each otherboth life and death are fine.. "
12 " No need to attack the faults of othersno need to flaunt your own virtuesact when you're acknowledgedretire when you're ignoredrich rewards mean great trialsdeep words meet superficial mindsthink about what you hearchildren must see for themselves.. "
13 " I sit beneath the cliff, quiet and alone.Round moon in the middle of the sky’s a bird ablaze:all things seen are mere shadows in its brilliance,that single wheel of perfect light…Alone, its spirit naturally comes clear.Swallowed in emptiness in this cave of darkest mystery,because of the finger pointing, I saw the moon.That moon became the pivot of my heart. "
― Hanshan , Cold Mountain: One Hundred Poems by the t'Ang Poet Han-Shan
14 " I once saw a huge pack of dogs, scruffy, mangy, maybe so, but they slept where they pleased, and waking, ran romping. But throw them a bone? It was war in the street . . . Maybe it’s a good thing bones are rare: but until there’s enough, no creature will share. "
15 " The mountains are so coldnot just now but every yearcrowded ridges breathe in snowsunless forests breathe out mistnothing grows until Grain Earsleaves fall before Autumn Beginsa lost traveler herelooks in vain for the sky "
16 " The Yellow River is boundlessflowing east without ceaseon and on never clearingwhile everyone's lifespan endsand ifyou would ride the cloudshow will you grow wingsunless while your hair is blackyou make an effort moving or still "
17 " As long as we are bound by the Six Extremesdiscussing the Nine Knots is futiletalented men remain in the wildsthe unskilled close rough doorsthe cliffs are still dark at noonthe valleys stay dim on cloudless dayshere you'll find the sons of eldersand none of them have any pants "
18 " I live in a village in the countryside, without a father or a mother. With no name, no rank in my clan. Some people will call me any old name. Some people call me another. No one is my teacher: I’m just a poor low creature like many another. But I know myself. I’m real, and my heart is the Diamond. "
19 " De weg naar de witte wolken is in leegte. "
20 " Give me a hidden eddya residence free from dust and noisepaths of newly trampled grassclouds above for neighborsbirds to help me singno one asking for sermonsspringtime for this Saha treenowadays lasts how many years "
