廬山記 4.85

4.85

Following the season, I inspect local customs / and extend favors to the elderly. / Raising the falcon banner, I departed Xunyang; / preparing my carriage, I roamed the mountains and streams. / White snow recedes from the sunlit ravines; / clustered peaks stand arrayed in the distant sky. / Rugged are the forms of Stone Gate; / misty and dim is the vapor of Incense Burner Peak. / Brambles and wilderness repeatedly caught my robes; / along distant ledges I was nearly overturned. / Only now do I reach the dwelling of the Śākyan sons, / where seasonal sights are repeatedly splendid and fair. / Master Tandi and Master Yuan originally founded it in the past; / herein was concealed the profound and mysterious. / At the East and West Bamboo Grove Temples, / the waters of cold mountain torrents pour forth. / Human affairs have already vanished into oblivion; / the months and years have stretched endlessly long. / The halls and chambers retain their vermilion and dark-blue paints; / the stone steps and galleried walkways all tilt and hang precariously. / Worthies of old also lodged and rested here, / preserving their persons and severing worldly ties. / Now, entrusted with the court's commission, / I extend moral transformation over towns and markets. / If the marvel of the Way is truly attained, / there is in principle no bias between worldly engagement and reclusion. / My mind has always shared what they esteemed; / how could my bodily traces shrink from worldly entanglements?