Mountain Songs 山之歌

The sound of heavy rain and wind under the protection of an overhang may keep conversation low, but as soon as the sun burnishes the glossy rocks and shines the dampened tree bark, the need to capture the beauty and share it with others becomes strong.

The Chinese garden is a perfect place for contemplation during stormy weather – the proper arrangement of various elements placed in juxtaposition to each other (the yin and the yang) is a measure of how well these multiple layers of opposites create balance – how well-paired are these contrasts and do they create harmony?  Does the garden reflect a painting or a poem, do you find balance in the midst of a storm or when the sun breaks through?

Chinese gardens are built – not planted – and building a rock mountain is considered one of the highly valued aspects of the garden.  Rocks are valued in Chinese culture for their concentration of Qi energy (perhaps because most of China is mountainous). Stones in a Chinese garden symbolize the body of the earth, representing wisdom and immortality (see more about building the garden, How High is a Mountain 山有多高？ and Moving Stones  移动的石头).  

The elaborate placement of rocks and small pieces of mountain in a top-heavy manner seems to defy gravity, but the strange and contorted forms invite all sorts of life-like imagery. Nature makes the shapes, but it's the placement of the rocks that becomes lyrical.  Human work framed by nature, and a work of nature touched by humanity (Listening to Stone by Dan Snow). The energy gives one an appreciation for the poetry of rocks and for the balance of opposites.
          

Settled At Cold Mountain

by Han-shan (Tang)

I settled at Cold Mountain long ago, Already it seems like years and years. Freely drifting         I prowl the woods and streams, And linger         watching things themselves. Men don't get this far into the mountains, White clouds gather and billow. This grass does for a mattress, The blue sky makes a good quilt. Happy with a stone under head, Let heaven and earth go about their changes.

寒山

Translator: Gary Snyder