Send Off Esteemed Buddhist Master Fang On His Return to the Song Mountains
送 方 尊 师 归 嵩 山
仙 官 欲 住 九 龙 潭
旄 节 朱 幡 倚 石 龛。
山 压 天 中 半 天 上
洞 穿 江 底 出 江 南。
瀑 布 杉 松 常 带 雨
夕 阳 采 翠 忽 成 岚。
借 问 迎 来 双 白 鹤
已 曾 衡 岳 送 苏 耽？
Song Fang Zun Shi Gui Song Shan
Xian guan yu zhu jiu long tan
Mao jie zhu fan yi shi kan.
Shan ya tian zhong pin tian shang
Dong chuan jiang de chu jiang na.
Pu bu sha song chang dai yu
Xi yang cai cui hu cheng lan.
Jie wen ying lai shuang bai he
Yi ceng heng yue song su dan ?
Send Off the Esteemed Buddhist Master Fang On His Return to the Song Mountains
Celestial workers want to live at Nine Dragon ponds
Ancient festival flags and vermilion streamers over the rocky Buddhist shrine.
Half-way up, the mountains disappear into the clouds, with a clear sky above
Pond waters penetrate hole after hole to emerge into the south Changjiang.
Large waterfalls with fir and pine trees often promote rainfall
At sunset the worldly color is emerald green, then suddenly disappears into the mountain mists.
May I ask face-to-face the two arriving white cranes
Who has once already taken Su Dan from the Heng and Yue Mountains?
Notes:
Nine Dragon Ponds: In the Song mountains, these nine ponds flow one into another.
Changjiang: Many people know it also as the Yangzi River.
White cranes: Within the Daoist mythology, white cranes take immortals up to Heaven.
Su Dan: Living in Hunan, as a child he lived alone with his mother. One day he began to clean the yard. His mother asked him why. He replied to her because the immortals were coming. Clouds began forming full of fifty to sixty white cranes. Landing, the cranes turn into young gods. He apologized to his mother, as he left with them because he too is an immortal. He then flew away within the clouds.
Song mountains: One of the Five Great Mountains of China located in central Henan Province.
Heng mountains: Also one of the Five Great Mountains located in north central Shanxi Province.
