風月無聲[The Silent Breath of Wind and Moon]

山川如夢水流長，

雲卷風拂天地藏。

小草無聲隨時動，

大樹穩立應四方。

明月高懸映江水，

萬物自歸道中常。

不爭不奪心自在，

看花落處是家鄉。

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Mountains dream as rivers flow far,

Clouds unfurl, winds whisper where secrets are.

Silent grass sways with fleeting time,

The steadfast tree stands firm, sublime.

The bright moon hangs, reflecting the stream,

All things return to Dao’s serene dream.

No striving, no taking—peace will stay,

Where flowers fall, home finds its way.

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To better help you understand this poem that I have created as an English reader I will try to explain some of the concepts referenced in the poem.

1. Dao de Jing Influence:  

   - The poem reflects key principles of Wu Wei (non-striving), harmony with nature, and the cyclical return to the Dao. Which is a concept of one of the philosophies that come from china. The book where all the texts about the Dao are collected in is Dao De Jing. My favorite concept is Wu Wei, it refers to non-strinvig and action without taking action, learning without studying and so on.

   - "No striving, no taking—peace will stay" embodies Laozi’s teachings of balance and acceptance. Just as I mentioned above his teaching is that only by not striving and not taking will we achieve proper peace.

2. Beijing Motives:  

   - Mountains and rivers are the way I referenced the landscape surrounding Beijing, my hometown, while it holds significance to me it can also be generally applied to any place with similar sceneries making this very easy to relate to!

  - The moon and flowers symbolize traditional Chinese aesthetics often associated with Beijing’s classical gardens and cultural heritage which was another way of me connecting my writing with something dear to me.

3. Life Lesson:  

  - Following the theme of philosophy I wanted to incorporate some kind of a life lesson that I was taught while growing up and that I like to stand by to this day.

- Nature teaches resilience (like the steadfast tree) and adaptability (like the grass swaying).  

   - Embracing the natural flow without contention leads to inner peace, revealing a path to contentment in life.

I created this mix of imagery in an attempt to get people here closer to a small part of Chinese culture that I'm specifically close to as well as to show some parts of the wisdom of nature in its own way.

I know this is not a very related post to the overall community theme but it is something I really enjoy so I hope there will be more people who are able to enjoy this just like how I do :)

I also decided to add the pinyin version here at the end in case someone wanted to try and read it out for themselves!

山川如夢水流長，

Shān chuān rú mèng shuǐ liú cháng,

雲卷風拂天地藏。

Yún juǎn fēng fú tiān dì cáng.

小草無聲隨時動，

Xiǎo cǎo wú shēng suí shí dòng,

大樹穩立應四方。

Dà shù wěn lì yìng sì fāng.

明月高懸映江水，

Míng yuè gāo xuán yìng jiāng shuǐ,

萬物自歸道中常。

Wàn wù zì guī dào zhōng cháng.

不爭不奪心自在，

Bù zhēng bù duó xīn zì zài,

看花落處是家鄉。

Kàn huā luò chù shì jiā xiāng.