Tao Yuanming: Praise For Shang and Qin

Praise For Shang and Qing

尚 长 禽 庆 赞
尚 子 昔 薄 宦
妻 孥 共 早 晚。
贫 贱 与 富 贵
读 “易” 悟 益 损。
禽 生 善 周 游
周 游 日 已 远。
去 矣 寻 名 山
上 山 岂 知 反。
Shang Chang Qin Qing Zan

Shang zi xi bao huan
Qi nu gong zao wan.
Pin jian yu fu gui
Du “Yi” wu yi sun.

Qin sheng shan zhou you
Zhou you ri yi yuan.
Qu yi xun ming shan
Shang shan qi zhi fan.

 

Praise For Shang and Qing

Mr. Shang, a learned man held contempt for government work
Stayed with wife and children morning and night.
Being poor better than being wealthy
Reading the Yijing, realized the difference between benefit and damage.

Mr. Qin’s life over flowed with wisdom and travel
Traveling daily further and further away.
After marrying off the children he sought, and then departed, to famous mountains
In the high mountains he came to know, never to return.

 

Notes:

Mr. Shang: Lived during the late Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) in the province of Henan. An accomplished scholar of both the Yi Jing and Dao De Jing.

Yijing: Known as the “Classic Book of Changes”, it is the oldest of the Chinese classics, written around 1,000-750 BC. In the Wade-Giles format spelled as the I Ching.

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