白玉蟾《慵菴铭》
“Inscription on the Cottage of Idleness” by Bai Yuchan
丹經慵讀， [I’m] too lazy to read the elixir classics:[1]
道不在書。 The Way resides not in books.
藏教慵覽， Too lazy to browse through canonical teachings:
道之皮膚。 [They scratch but] the surface of the Way.
至道之要， The essence of the ultimate Way
在乎清虛。 Is above all Pure Emptiness.
何謂清虛， What is Pure Emptiness?
終日如愚。 Spending the whole day like a fool.
有詩慵吟， Too lazy to chant my poems:
句外腸枯。 Brain racking[2] [lies] behind the lines.
有琴慵彈， Too lazy to play my zither:
弦外韻孤。 The resonance of solitude [dwells] beyond strings.
有酒慵飲， Too lazy to drink my wine:
醉外江湖。 Legends and heroes [live] beyond drunkenness.[3]
有碁慵奕， Too lazy to play chess:
意外干戈。 Battles [take place] outside the mind.[4]
慵觀溪山， Too lazy to view brooks and hills:
內有畫圖。 Within [myself] are paintings.
慵對風月， Too lazy to enjoy the wind and the moon:
內有蓬壺。 Within [myself] is a Penghu.[5]
慵陪世事， Too lazy to attend to worldly matters:
內有田廬。 Within [myself] is a thatched hut.
慵問寒暑， Too lazy to care about winter or summer:
內有神都。 Within [myself] is the spirit capital.[6]
松枯石爛， [Even if] pines wither and rocks rot:
我常如如。 I always remain who I am.
謂之慵菴， To call this place “Cottage of Idleness”:
*From Bai Yuchan 白玉蟾 (1134-1229),[9] Haiqiong Yuchan xiansheng wenji 海瓊玉蟾先生文集(preface dated 1442) 6.12a: .https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=148171&page=867#%E5%B9%B2%E6%88%88.
[1] Danjing 丹經 (literary “cinnabar classic”) refers to Daoist classics. Cinnabar is one the main ingredients in Daoist concoctions of the elixir of immortality. [2] The expression changku 腸枯 (guts drained) reverses, for the sake of rhyme, the more usual expression guchang 枯腸 (draining guts) for racking one’s brains for writing. [3] Jianghu 江湖 (literary “rivers and lakes”, here rendered as “legends and heroes”) is a common metaphor for a romanticised world full of excitement and dangers, love and sorrows. [4] Gange 干戈 (shields and glaives) a metonym for war or conflicts. This line can also be read as “There are unexpected fights”. [5] Penghu 蓬壺, or Penglai 蓬萊 is one of the three mountains/islands of immortality in the sea. [6] Shendu 神都 (spirit capital) may be a synonym of Shenzhou 神州 and refers to “the entire world” here. [7] Red characters rhyme. [8] For a somewhat different interpretation, see Lin Yutang’s 林語堂 (1895-1976) translation in the collection Buyi kuai zai 不亦快哉 (Taipei: Zhengzhong shuju, 1993), 33-35. [9] Bai Yuchan (literally “White Jade-toad”) is the Daoist name of Ge Changgeng 葛長庚 (1134-1229), who (despite declared idleness) was a prolific writer, a prominent Daoist figure in Southern China, and a theorist in neidan 內丹 (internal alchemy).
Detail of "Huaiyin xiaoxia tu" 槐蔭消夏圖, attributed to Wang Qihan 王齊翰 (fl. 10th century)
Image credit: Palace Museum, Beijing
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