廣弘明集 19.23

19.23

He also sent Liu Qiu's fellow countryman, Gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel Yu Gaozhi, to convey a letter explaining his intentions, which said: 'The Minister over the Masses, the Prince of Jingling, exerts himself in the spiritual, which transcends words and forms; in dealing with affairs, he is looked up to by both far and near. Bells and stone chimes are not the root of ritual and music; caps and hemp robes, how could they denote court and wilderness? I imagine your feelings of unreserved trust will not be hindered by bodily forms. One day you registered at the Liang residence to attend personally upon his spoken words; my longing for your pure countenance has already accumulated for years. Considering that an elder is not glorified by gifts of lambs and wild geese, he dispensed with the formal rites of rush mats and silks; committing his hopes to mystical communion, he truly awaited a meeting of minds. The Prince has made his abode in the outskirts, girdled by streams and mounds; in prominence he does not pursue fame, in obscurity he does not flaunt his tracks. Strolling at ease between society and the wilderness, he fully exhausts the purports of both. Moreover, holding the mind of broad protection, he widely spreads the ultimate and conventional truths. Longing to hear what lies beyond the cords of words, he wishes to dissect all subtleties with you. Setting banquets at the mountain bend and opening empty lodges by the river bank, he truly hopes for your glorious arrival to slightly requite his sideways leaning wait. Formerly, the Prince of Dongping took delight in goodness, honoring Jun Da at the eastern pavilion; the wise king loved purity, inviting our master to the Western Hills. Was this not splendid? A hundred years pass like a fleeting gust, and entanglements arise from things themselves; a meeting once in a thousand years depends on oneself to practice humaneness. Moreover, braving the snow and preparing the way is not the effect of erasing tracks; when the great bell is sounded, how can it be a way to swallow sound? Having already shown the marks of an extraordinary man, you therefore have the labors of being one with all things. How could mountains and waters be without feeling, responding to you through opportune meetings? Loving leisure depends on oneself; wherever one touches, all is desolate. Why be closer to Mount Heng and more aloof to Mount Zhong? I trust your expansive thought will reside here, without waiting for many words.'