Tag Archives: Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u

“Transcendent” [Poetry Style #21 (超诣)] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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With no god, but with spirit;
   With no mass of tiny things;
   Up on high, with the white clouds --
   Borne aloft on breezy wings.
 From afar all seems in place.
   When you arrive it's not there.
   Just like acting with the Way
   Leaves customs beyond repair.
 Chaotic mountain woodlands,
   Sweet green moss in the sunshine.
   Keep reciting your mantra,
   Till it's lost among the pines.

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry (二十四诗品.) It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the twenty-first of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 超诣 and it’s been translated as “The Transcendental” and “Super”

“Tortuous” [Poetry Style #17 (委曲)] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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Climbing Taihang Mountain,
  On the green winding way.
  The jade-lined trail in fog,
  Floral scents from the gray.
 Stuck in unflowing time,
  'Til a song sung bright and gay...
  I'm steered back to my past
  With the grace of ghosts at play.
 Skirting roiling waters,
  A Roc soars after prey.
 The Tao is unbounded --
  Round or square as it may.

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the seventeenth of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 委曲, and has been translated as: “Grievance” and “In Tortuous Ways.”

“Sparse” [Poetry Style #15 (疏野)] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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Ah, make nature your home;
  Be true and be unchained.
  Enrichment by control
  Can never be sustained.
 Build your hut in the pines:
  Toss your hat and read verse.
  Know the dawn from the dusk,
  But not time -- cradle to hearse.
 If your life suits you well
  Why must you strive and strain?
 If you're unbound as sky,
  This style you have attained.

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the fifteenth of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 疏野 and it has been translated as “Seclusion” [Giles,] “The Carefree and Wild Style” [Barnstone / Ping,] as well as, “Unrestricted,” “Seclusion,” and “Sparse Wilderness.”

“Spritual” [Poetry Style #13 (精神)] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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All wish to return,
   Hoping others will come:
 A clear water ride
 Where strange flowers bud,
   And lime-green parrots fly
   The willows, to and from --
 The mountain folk arrive
   Deep bowls fill with wine...
 To take a life beyond
   And not end in ash,
   But still be of nature;
 Who's up to that task?

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the thirteenth of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 精神, and it has been translated as: “Essential,” “Animal Spirits,” and “Spirit.”

“Beauty” [Poetry Style # 9] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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When one makes god of wealth,
 Light glows from yellow "gold,"
 But the lavish withers --
 Even as its deeps take hold.

Fog at the river's edge.
 Red apricots, woods enfold.
 Moon shine on bower's flowers.
 Painted bridge in green shadow.
 An old bowl full of wine,
 As a friend's lute song unfolds.
Make your bliss of such things,
 And they will be your true gold.

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the ninth of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 绮丽, and its translated titles include: “Beautiful,” “Intricate,” and “Embroideries.”

“Cleansed” [Poetry Style #7] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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It's as if ones gone mining --
   From lead, silver refining.
 That's how one cleanses a heart:
   With pure love, not pining.

Like a pond from Spring rainfall:
   Mirror to heavens and all,
 Without defect of image --
   True as the moon's bright, white ball.

Stargazing across night skies;
   Singing songs of hermits, wise;
 The water flowing today
   Will know that bright moonrise.

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the seventh of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 洗炼, and it has been variously entitled: “Clean,” “Refining,” and “Wash — Smelt.”

“Ancient” [Poetry Style #5] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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Immortals ride truth
   With lotus in hand,
 As chaos unfolds
   Unlogged above land.

Moonrise in the East
   As good winds are fanned.
 Hill shrine in blue night,
   Bell rings clear and grand.

The god is now gone
   Beyond border lands
 Huangdi* is not there 
   Great Age to wasteland.

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the fifth of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 高古 (Gāo Gǔ,) and it was translated as “Height – Antiquity” by Herbert Giles.

*Huangdi is a name for the Yellow Emperor that is more syllabically friendly than “Yellow Emperor.” In a great oversimplification for the sake of speed and alignment of context, the Yellow Emperor was China’s King Arthur — a mythical leader of great virtue and heroism. The Tang emperors tried to trace lineages back to the Yellow Emperor, but such imagined linkages to the perfect leader are hard to maintain when an Emperor like Xuanzong crashes the ship of state.

“Absolute” [Poetry Style #1] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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With wear you will decay outside,
   But inside resides the vital force.
 Approach the Absolute through the Void:
   One's strength will grow, and vim will course.
 You can know the world and its Way,
   Across space and time -- to the Source.
 To desolation range hang dark clouds,
   Air still as latitudes of the horse,
 Move beyond all one knows by sight,
   And gain the Center -- but not by force --
 Hold onto this strength by hook or crook,
   And flow the Endless by watercourse.

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a crude translation of the first of the twenty-four poems. This poem’s Chinese title is 雄浑, and its translated titles include: “Energy – Absolute” [Giles] and “Vigorous.”

“Fluid” [Poetry Style #24] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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Like water spilling over rocks?
   Like a bead's roll across the floor?
 Cliches, they fail to tell the story,
   As no doll shows life's splendor.
 But the Earth' unsupported spin through space,
   As the heaven's pivot and sprawl for more...
 If you could find how it all began,
   You'd see it'll be as it was before.
 The high and bright realm of the gods
   Returns to nothing and nevermore.
 And if you lived ten-thousand years,
   You might find yourself in days of yore.

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a translation of the twenty-fourth of the twenty-four poems. This poem has been alternately titled “The Flowing Style,” “Fluid,” “Motion,” etc. by varied translators from its Chinese title of 流动.

“Abstract” [Poetry Style #22] by Sikong Tu [w/ Audio]

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Lonely and longing to travel;
   All alone and lacking a tribe.
 Like the crane up on the mountain,
   Or the cloud that enshrouds its peak.
 Like the portraits painted by past
   Masters, of souls you couldn't have known.
 Like a leaf drifting on swift winds,
   Bounding through the boundless spaces.
 You'll never be able to hold it,
   But can hear the song it dances to,
 Those who accept this can tune in,
   And the signal will only get stronger.

NOTE: The late Tang Dynasty poet, Sikong Tu (a.k.a. Ssŭ-k‘ung T‘u,) wrote an ars poetica entitled Twenty-Four Styles of Poetry. It presents twenty-four poems that are each in a different tone, reflecting varied concepts from Taoist philosophy and aesthetics. Above is a translation of the twenty-second of the twenty-four poems. This poem has been alternately titled “Abstraction,” “Elegance,” and “Drifting Aloof” by varied translators, but its original title is 飘逸.