Lu Yu: With Chen Lushan, Wrote Ten Poems About the First Lunar Month, Grasses and Trees Around the House, Scattered Sweet Sounds

With Chen Lushan, Wrote Ten Poems About the First Lunar Month, Grasses and Trees Around the House, Scattered Sweet Sounds

和 陈 鲁 山 十 诗 以 孟 夏 草 木 长 绕 屋 树 扶 疏 为 韵

大 父 昔 在 朝
腾 上 未 恐 早。
淡 然 清 班 中
灰 寒 而 木 槁。

议 论 主 中 和
人 才 进 耆 老。
至 今 下 马 坟
不 生 剌 人 草。

He Chen Lu Shan Shi Shi Yi Meng Xia Cao Mu Chang Rao Wu Shu Fu Shu Wei Yun

Da fu xi zai zhao
Teng shang wei kong zao.
Dan ran qing ban zhong
Hui han er mu gao.

Yi lun zhu zhong he
Ren cai jin qi lao.
Zhi jin xia ma fen
Bu sheng la ren cao.

With Chen Lushan, Wrote Ten Poems About First Lunar Month Grasses and Trees Around the House, Scattered Sweet Sounds

My aged grandfather attended the dawn imperial audiences
At an early age he passed the imperial exams.
He was among the elites that were casual and unconcerned
Withered cold wood ashes remain whole and together, with fires outside raging out of control.

During discussions and opinions, he held to the middle way
He believed human abilities move towards advanced and respectable old people.
Horse riders still dismount to walk past his gravesite
Cemetery grasses unable to grow sharp thorns.

Notes:

Chen Lushan was visiting Lu Yu. Together they wrote this poem about Lu’s family house of many generations.

Grandfather (1042-1102 AD): Passed the imperial exams in 1070.

Cold ashes: An allusion to lines from Zhuangzi’s Inner Chapters.

Cemetery grasses unable to grow thorns: An allusion to the philosophy of Kongzi (Confucius). There are so many people who still honor and respect the ancestors, like Lu’s grandfather, that the thorn-bearing grasses cannot take hold around his grave.