Kuroyagi
01-22-2008, 01:43 PM
I like this poet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Bai) and thought to shortly introduce him to you in this thread. Are there any others who know him? Much of his work can be called very "Zen" in the modern meaning of the word, very focused on the moment or seeing universe "in a grain of sand", respectively conjuring up old memories by simple words. Even in translation he's quite readable, so check 'im, if you like.
He also wrote some poems for a befriended alchemist, see the article. This quote was interesting in context of this forum:
In view of the repeated failure of Chinese alchemists since the first century B.C. to make an effective elixir out of tangible substances, it may seem to us that Sun was imprudent in putting an additional strain on the credulity of the public by announcing that his elixir ``made itself,'' with the aid of the Taoist divinity T'ai-i (The Supreme Unity)
http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Poetry/Li_Po/Alchemy/
Thats one of my favs by him that I quote often:
Facing my wine, I did not see the dusk,
Falling blossoms have filled the folds of my clothes.
Drunk, I rise and approach the moon in the stream,
Birds are far off, people too are few.
http://www.chinese-poems.com/lb14.html
He also wrote some poems for a befriended alchemist, see the article. This quote was interesting in context of this forum:
In view of the repeated failure of Chinese alchemists since the first century B.C. to make an effective elixir out of tangible substances, it may seem to us that Sun was imprudent in putting an additional strain on the credulity of the public by announcing that his elixir ``made itself,'' with the aid of the Taoist divinity T'ai-i (The Supreme Unity)
http://www.cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/Poetry/Li_Po/Alchemy/
Thats one of my favs by him that I quote often:
Facing my wine, I did not see the dusk,
Falling blossoms have filled the folds of my clothes.
Drunk, I rise and approach the moon in the stream,
Birds are far off, people too are few.
http://www.chinese-poems.com/lb14.html