欧阳詹《永安寺照上人房》“The Chamber of Supreme Teacher Zhao at Eternal-Peace Temple” by Ouyang Zhan (758–801)

Rachelle
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草席蒲團不掃塵，

松間石上似無人。

群陰欲午鐘聲動，

自煮溪蔬養幻身。

The straw mat and reedmace cushion [1] lie undusted—

Amidst the pines and upon the rocks, no apparent trace of man.

The assembly of shadows draws near to noon as the bell stirs:

[He must be] cooking greens from the brook to sustain his illusory body.

* From Ouyang Zhan, Ouyang Xingzhou wenji 歐陽行周文集, Yingyin Wenyuange Siku quanshu 景印文淵閣四庫全書 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1987) edition, vol. 1078, 3.4b.[2]

[1] Putuan 蒲團 (also known as zafu 座蒲 in Japanese) is a round meditation cushion stuffed with soft vegetal fibres like reedmace (Typha) seed heads, wheat hulls, etc.

[2] The poem can be found elsewhere with several textual variants, some of which point to quite different images. The second line, for example, reads “Amidst the pines, with whom is he sitting in meditation?” (松間冥坐共何人) in the Guji tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成 edition (scroll 1064). Nevertheless, all editions begin with a meditative mood and turn to a somewhat humorous tone indicating that the master whose spirit dwells in a realm of tranquillity still must attend to the basic needs of his worldly form.