"Farewell" Master Hongyi
Outside the pavilion, beside the ancient road, the green grass reaches the sky. The evening breeze carries the faint sound of willow flutes, and the sun sets outside the mountains.
At the end of the sky, in the corner of the earth, there are only a few close friends. A pot of turbid wine is all that's left to enjoy, don't sleep in the cold tonight.
Outside the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, the green grass reaches the sky. I asked you when you were going to come. Don't linger when you come.
At the end of the sky, in the corner of the earth, there are only a few close friends. Life is rarely filled with joyous gatherings, but with many separations.
Master Hongyi, whose common name is Li Shutong, was born on the 20th day of the lunar month in the sixth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1880) in the family of a wealthy official and merchant in Tianjin (his ancestral home is Pinghu, Zhejiang). He passed away in Quanzhou on the fourth day of September 1942. He is the pioneer of China's New Culture Movement, an outstanding artist, educator, thinker, and innovator. He is an outstanding representative of the combination of traditional Chinese culture and Buddhist culture. He is the most outstanding monk in the history of modern Chinese Buddhism and an international leader. A well-known person with a high reputation. Li Shutong is a master whose "twenty articles shocked the world". He integrated poetry, lyrics, calligraphy, painting, seal cutting, music, drama, and literature into one. In many fields, he pioneered the splendid culture and art of China. At the same time, he has made creative developments in education, philosophy, law, Chinese characters, sociology, advertising, publishing, environment, animal and plant protection, and human fasting experiments. He pushed the ancient Chinese calligraphy art to its extreme. As an eminent calligrapher, Hongyi is different from some monks and artists in history, such as Zhiyong and Huaisu. Although they wear cassocks, it seems that their lives are not aimed at firm Buddhist faith and sincere and practical Buddhist practice. They are just He is an artist living in a Zen monastery. He "comes madly to light up the world, and gains true knowledge while drunk." This is entirely the temperament and romance of an artist.
"Farewell" gathers all these images in a short sentence. With a "gathered" impact, it strongly shocks the Chinese people's "collective unconsciousness" of farewell and becomes the Chinese people's "farewell". A cultural and psychological symbol for seeing off friends.
"Farewell" is divided into three sections. The first section is a "descriptive scene", describing the scene of farewell outside the pavilion and on the side of the ancient road; the second section is lyrical, expressing the sadness of the soul of a close friend who is far away; Judging from the text, the third paragraph is a repetition of the first paragraph. In fact, it is not the case. The meaning is sublimated by the repetition of words: after experiencing "sending off friends and leaving", I realized that life is short, like the sunset, full of bone-chilling chills. The whole lyrics are filled with a strong sense of emptiness of life, and there is a deep hint of enlightenment and birth. "Farewell" is actually Li Shutong's purpose of saying goodbye to his friends, using unspecified symbols to convey his awareness of life and seeing through the world of mortals. Therefore, "Farewell" is not just a song of farewell between friends; it is a "prelude" for Li Shutong who is about to bid farewell to the world and become a monk.