白居易《銷暑》 “Dispelling heat” by Bai Juyi (772-846)

何以銷煩暑？

端居一院中。

眼前無長物，

窗下有清風。

熱散由心靜，

涼生為室空。

此時身自得，

難更與人同。

How to dispel the sweltering heat?

By sitting upright in the courtyard’s heart.

Without superfluous things before [my] eyes,[1]

And with fresh breezes through the window.

Heat fades when [my] heart finds peace,

Coolness arises as [my] chamber is empty.

This hour, this sense of contentment

Is hard to share with anyone else.

* From Bai Juyi, Bai Juyi ji 白居易集 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1979), 28.635-6.

[1] The phrase wu zhangwu (without superfluous things) is usually a euphemism for poverty.  

Fan-shaped album leaf depicting Zhou Dunyi 周敦颐 (1017–1073) admiring lotus flowers, by Shu Hao 舒浩 (fl. 19th century)

Image credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36172