How to Read Chinese Poetry A Guided Anthology

r e C e n t-s t y l e Sh i P oe t ry : quat ra i n s 209

Each particle of dust contains in itself all the Buddha-fields and the whole

extent of the Dharma-element; every single thought refers to all that was, is

and will be; and the eternal mysterious Dharma can be beheld everywhere, be-

cause it is equally reflected in all parts of this universe. Each particle of dust is

also capable of generating all possible kinds of virtue, and therefore one single

object may lead to the unfolding of all the secrets of the entire universe.20

Although moss is perhaps the most insignificant thing in the forest, Wang Wei
presents it as a symbol of absolute truth.
With the previous poem in mind, even a glance at the following wujue, “Calling-
Bird Brook,” suggests its Buddhist overtones:

C 1 0. 7

Calling-Bird Brook

Man quiet: sweet osmanthus falls

Night tranquil: the spring mountain empties

The rising moon startles mountain birds

Which call awhile in the spring stream

[QTS 4:128.1302; QSTRJJ, 119–120]

鳥鳴澗 (niăo míng jiàn)

person quiet osmanthus flower fall 人閒桂花落^ (rén xián guì huā luò)
night tranquil spring mountain empty 夜靜春山空^ (yè jìng chūn shān kōng)
moon appear startle mountain bird 月出驚山鳥^ (yuè chū jīng shān niăo)
often call spring brook within 時鳴春澗中^ (shí míng chūn jiàn zhōng)
[Tonal pattern II (imperfect), see p. 170]

Both the emptiness of the mountain in spring and moonlight so powerful that it
startles birds in the spring stream can be readily interpreted as Buddhist meta-
phors. Let us look closely at only the first couplet, as it introduces an aspect of Bud-
dhist thought and practice not yet mentioned. The couplet is strictly parallel and
made up of only content words (shizi). Thus the relationships between the images
are suggested through juxtaposition and not grammatically marked. Although we
could read each of the two lines as simply additive, I prefer to read each as a cause-
effect proposition (because the man is quiet, therefore the sweet osmanthus falls;
because the night is tranquil, therefore the spring mountain is empty). Such an in-
terpretation is in keeping with ideas about meditation practice contemporary to
Wang Wei. The major influence on Early and Middle Tang Buddhism in this regard
came from the Tiantai school, whose founder, Zhiyi (538–597), had reformulated
and systematized earlier Hinayana meditation techniques and set them firmly in
a Mahayana context. Practice revolved around the dynamic relationship between
zhi (śamatha [cessation, calming]) and guan (vipaśyanā [insight, contemplation]).
The two always go together. In Zhiyi’s words, “śamatha (or zhi) is the hand that