Yun-kan Tzu: no tricks
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Photo: Chinese women playing a game together; 1900.
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no tricks
nothing doing.
the sun and moon endure their rush
and don't grow old.
sail backwards?
row against the flow?
to hell with that.
you'd better be known
for being
quiet.
(Yun-k'an Tzu)
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Source and Recommended Reading:
'Wine Of Endless Life: Taoist Drinking Songs from the Yuan Dynasty'
By Jerome P. Seaton (Editor)
Purchase Book:
Amazon.com
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Description:
"An anthology of nearly 100 Chinese lyrics (san-ch'u) by 23 poets, three of them anonymous, all from the Yuan period (1271-1368). Seaton's colloquial English renderings are a sheer pleasure to read, so much so that the reader is apt to forget he is enjoying translations, until the occasional proper noun appears. All the lyrics chosen deal in one way or another with the rejection of worldly pursuits, and the majority recommend wine as one way, if not the way, to find relief from the tensions of life, hence the subtitle."
(Choice)
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