"Painting"
Wang Wei, a writer of the Tang Dynasty
Looking at the mountains from afar, they are colorful, but hearing the water up close is silent.
Spring has gone, the flowers are still there, and the birds are not surprised when people come.
Translation:
Looking at the mountains from a distance, the colors are bright, but when you get closer, you can’t hear the sound of water.
Spring has passed, but there are still many flowers and plants in full bloom. People approach, but the birds are still not disturbed.
Extended information:
Writing background:
This poem was written after the Anshi Rebellion, when Li Guinian ran south to Hunan and once dined at the residence of a certain official. This poem was sung on stage, which shows that this poem was sung by people during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty and was still popular in the war-torn years. This shows how deeply this poem affects people's hearts.
The painting in this poem seems to represent a kind of dream, a dream that is visible but not available, but that kind of dream can only be remembered when the human mind is in a quiet state. But it is a fact of necessity.
The poet can only look for the last thing in the world that can express his feelings with a touch of sadness. People have gone, leaving empty flowers. Birds are not frightened, and people come again. There is no eternal beauty, and all beauty will be hidden in illusion.
"Looking at the mountains from a distance, they are colorful." This is a "quiet state." The beauty of the quiet state is beyond the first sentence, and it lies in the ability of those with a meditative mind to appreciate it.
There is no contradiction between "listening to the sound of the water up close" and the first sentence. The poet can be said to be able to choose between movement and stillness with ease. What is so magical and so quiet that it is difficult to give up and find out? After all, in this way, we will be close to this poem and this painting, so that our mind and landscape will be closer.
"Spring has gone and the flowers are still there, and the birds are not surprised when people come." The flowers bloom to their heart's content in that most beautiful season, and eventually bloom to their most beautiful state like burning their own lives. After being extremely beautiful, it drifted away. But the flowers are not withered, just because they are in the painting.