English Rendering
When I questioned your pupil, under a pine-tree,
"My teacher," he answered, " went for herbs,
But toward which corner of the mountain,
How can I tell, through all these clouds ?"
Poem translator: Kiang Kanghu
A Note Left for an Absent Ecluse
- Poetry of Jia Dao
《寻隐者不遇》#Life #Frustration
Original Text (中文原文)
松下问童子，言师采药去。
只在此山中，云深不知处。
Analysis & Context
Five-character-quatrain
This poem was composed by Jia Dao during the Tang Dynasty, a time of heightened social tensions, political corruption, regional warlordism, and frequent wars. Talented individuals found it difficult to realize their ambitions, and many chose to retreat from the world. Jia Dao often expressed his emotions through landscapes in his poetry and frequently interacted with hermits, Taoists, and monks. This poem was written when the poet visited a hermit but failed to meet him, capturing the scene and revealing his longing for a reclusive life and his frustration with reality.
Reader's Companion
The Essence of the Verse
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Reading Between the Lines
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
- Evening View of a Snow Scene
- On the Gardens at Xinghua Temple
- At Li Ning’s Quiet Dwelling
- A Letter Sent
- After Finishing a Poem
- The Swordsman
- The Summit Temple
- <Prelude to Water Melody> Sent to Ziyou on Mid-autumn Festival
- Invitation to Wine
- Question and Answer in the Mountains
- Cold sheet
- Coming Home ( Returning Home )
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