Weaving

I climb the eastern hills
and sing my songs,
or walk by the limpid stream
and weave my verse.
-- T'ao Ch'ien
(from, Going Home;
in, A Garden of Peonies, edited by Henry H. Hart)

Poetry is a Möbius strip!  When it references the outer, it reflects the inner.  When it addresses the non-physical, it correlates to the physical.  This "in-becoming-out" and "out-becoming-in" is the power of poetry.  Yinyang are not two opposites in opposition; rather Möbius in nature, continuously becoming the other aspect of itself.

T'ao Ch'ien weaves his verse.....a Möbius tapestry.  The warp and woof of the stream reflects his poetic cloth.

Old Trees

I catch sight of the old trees
In the courtyard.
It is sheer joy just to look at them
Again!
-- T'ao Ch'ien
(from, Going Home; 
in, A Garden of Peonies, edited by Henry H. Hart)

Home Coming (1932) 
by Qi Kun (Ch'ien K'un) (1901-1944)
(from, www.artvalue.com)

Old trees are wonderful examples of Dao's manifested aspects.  They grow silently, converting time into Li (the grain pattern found in wood, stone, water, etc.).  They experience  the stillness and movement of Dao.  They all begin as a seed buried in the dark, moist earth....continuously becoming a unique expression of Dao.  They all have similar features, yet each is shaped by the flow of Dao.  Old trees can be old friends and companions.

A Subtle Meaning

The mountain air is lovely at sunset;

birds in flight two by two return.

In these things there lies a subtle meaning:

I would convey it, but I've lost the words.

-- T'ao Ch'ien

(from, Drinking Wine Poem 5; 

in, Old Taoist: The Life, Art, and Poetry of Kodojin by Stephen Addiss, p.83)

Portraits of Chinese poets, painted by Kano Tan'yu (1602-1674), commissioned by Ishikawa Jozan (1583-1672).  Jozan fought under Tokugawa Ieyasu and greatly admired T'ao Ch'ien.  He built his retreat, The Shisendo (Hall of the Poetry Immortals), in the mountains northeast of Kyoto in 1641.  The inscription above the portrait of T'ao Ch'ien is Poem 5 from the series, Drinking Wine.

Jozan was the inventor of the bamboo water feature found in many gardens.

(Both photos are from, www.travel-around-japan.com/k62-52-shishendo.html)

Clouds and Mountains

Clouds leaving mountain peaks drift without a thought...
-- T'ao Ch'ien
(from, Back Home Again Chant; translation by David Hinton)

Lushan Mountain in Jiujang, east China's Jiangxi Province - area of T'ao Ch'ien's birth.
(Photo by Xinhua, 22 February 2013; www.globaltimes.cn/content/763603.shtml)

The clouds encounter the seemingly still mountain peaks, yet are unencumbered and unaffected.  They simply drift without any sense of attachment or thought.  T'ao Ch'ien did much the same thing after encountering the political mountains of his day.  He simply walked away and returned home.

The Great Transformation

It's never-ending analysis that wounds us.
Why not circle away in the seasons, adrift 
on the great transformation, riding its vast 
swells without fear or delight?
-- T'ao Ch'ien
(from, Form, Shadow, Spirit; translation by David Hinton)

The impression one gets is that the great transformation is like an indescribably massive ocean!  We are adrift; i.e., we are going with the flow of Dao, thus our experience with this enormous energy is neither frightening nor thrilling. 

When we are not in the flow of this powerful energy then we face our terrors and our ecstasies!  This seems to be counter-intuitive!  However, after meditating on these lines, it is revealed that the fear and the delight are related to going against the cycles and patterns of Dao.

When we go against the grain or try to move in discord with the seasons, then do we encounter the polarities of our emotions.  To ride the waves of Dao with awareness and intention is to be in-synch, to be in harmony with Dao.  Our emotional states are indicators of our relational state with Dao.  Extreme states of emotion indicate when we are fighting against the great transformation.

The first line quoted above provides insight into this puzzle.....simply stop analyzing everything continuously!  Analysis sucks the life and the vitality out of things.  It reduces wonder, awe, and imagination to cold, dead laws.  It seems as though some people choose to analyze in order to create a visceral, emotional,sensational response.  They may feel more alive or energized or connected, but they are simultaneously resisting the great transformation.

Light and Shade

Our life's a play of light and shade
Returning at last to the void.
--T'ao Ch'ien
(from, Returning to Live in the Country)

T'ao Ch'ien (365-427 C.E.), also known as Tao Yuan-Ming, was a poet, father, farmer, and a recluse.  He adopted the name "Ch'ien" (meaning "in hiding") as a means of protest against Liu Yu (who declared himself emperor of his own Liu-Sung Dynasty in 420 C.E.).  Hence his name means, "T'ao the recluse."

Perhaps T'ao Ch'ien was also referring to "Tao Ch'ien".......the reclusive Tao!  The words in the poem above certainly imply the inter-play of yin and yang and the eventual return to the void of Tao.