You ask
why I perch
on a jade green mountain
I laugh
but say nothing
my heart
free
like a peach blossom
in the flowing stream
going by
in the depths
in another world
not among men.
- Li Po (Kenneth Rexroth translation, One Hundred Poems From The Chinese)
. . .
Li Po (701–762) is regarded as one of the greatest poets of Chinese history. He wrote about friendship, nature, solitude, and the joys of drinking. He is reported to have died by drowning — drunk and in his boat, he reached out to touch the reflection of the moon.
Li Po lived close to the Taoist current — the mountain, the flowing stream, the heart that laughs and says nothing. These questions were inspiration for the Tao Te Ching journal.
