Look for a refuge
Cold Mounatin will keep you safe
a faint wind stirs dark pines
come closer the sound gets better
below them sits a gray-haired man
chanting Taoist tests
ten years unable to return
he forgot the way he came
Read the full triptych of poems by Cold Mountain and Stonehouse translated by Red Pine at Emergence Magazine
Translation: Bill Porter
Bill Porter / Red Pine is a translator of Chinese texts and author. His translated works include The Lankavatara Sutra, The Platform Sutra, The Diamond Sutra, and The Heart Sutra. He is the author of Zen Baggage: A Pilgrimage to China and Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits. He has lived in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and has traveled extensively in China.
Poet: Cold Mountain
One of the most revered poets in China, Cold Mountain, also known as Han Shan, was a mountain hermit and one of the earliest Taoist poets.
Cover Image: Old Plum, Kano Sansetsu, 1646, Met Museum
