吴曾《三清山》“Mount Sanqing” by Wu Ceng (fl. 12th century)

選勝園林興未闌，

拿舟飛出小溪灣。

光搖一碧回環水，

翠挹三清遠近山。

似惜雨晴天恰好，

眞忘名利日長閒。

松筠不鎖神仙境，

攜得烟霞滿袖還。

Leaving a splendid garden, still yearning for more,

[I] take a boat and fly out of the small cove.

Light flutters on an expanse of emerald water waving to and fro;

Verdant hues fill the Three-Pure peaks far and near [1] -

As if in appreciation of this fair weather after the rain,

Truly forgetting about fame and fortune on this long day of leisure.

Pines and bamboo cannot bar the way to the realm of immortals,

[I shall] return with my sleeves full of mist and rosy clouds.

＊From Xu Yingrong 許應鑅 (1820-1891) and Xie Huang 謝煌 (fl. 19th century) ed., Fuzhou fuzhi 撫州府志 (1876 edition; s.l.: Chengwen chubanshe, n.d. [reprint]), 4.27a.

[1] The Chinese name of the mountain, Sanqing, reads “the Three Pure Ones” (the three highest Daoist gods). As its name suggests, the mountain has three main summits that represent the three gods.   

Mount Sanqing on a fine day; taken on 20 November, 2025