於潜僧绿筠轩 I Can Live Without Meat in Food

I Can Live Without Meat in Food

(for Monk Huijue at his Green Bamboo Veranda)

Chinese original: Su Shi (11th AC, social name 'Zizhan', art name 'Dongpo')

English translation & annotation: Julia Min (Jan. 2025)

I can live without meat in food,

But can’t without bamboo in view.

Without meat body will lose weight,

Without bamboo life will lose taste.

It’s easy to gain a good weight,

But not so to gain a good taste.

It seems a stubborn lofty pretence,

And you may laugh at what I say.

If you munch in his noble presence,

You won’t ascend the Yangzhou Crane.

Su Shi's painting on stone and bamboo

Notes:

Yangzhou Crane: borrowed from a story in The Fables of Ying Yun（《殷云小说》）, where a group of ambitious young gentlemen boasted about their future plans in Yangzhou. One wished to attain a high position in the government, another said he would become extremely wealthy, but the third wanted to fill his pockets with silver and gold and fly a crane to the immortal world. Well, you know the result -- the crane wouldn't be able to fly with a heavy load. You can't have everything in life.

Analysis: 

This little poem serves as another example of the Song’s way of presenting profound philosophical ideas through simple, everyday language. As a result, the first four lines have become idiomatic expressions in Chinese. The poem reads like prose, with a tone that contrasts the theme of virtuous pursuit with vulgar tastes in human life, or perhaps offers an insight into the awareness of the ultimate purpose in this lifetime. The bamboo tree has been recognised as one of the Four Gentlemen (along with plum blossom, chrysanthemum, and orchid) in China. It symbolises noble elegance, upright honesty, and steadfast loyalty.

Yu Qian was a county within the territory of Lin'an City (in Hangzhou). There was a temple where Su Shi often spent time with Monk Huijue. The two friends would often enjoy tea in the bamboo yard and explore the value and virtues of social and natural worlds to better understand Zen ideas. This poem was written when Su Shi visited during his inspection of the county’s governance as the magistrate of Hangzhou.

Of the Four, he favours bamboo the most, as seen in his paintings. He even began using red paint for his bamboo artworks, which then established a unique style. I believe this is another example of his artistic focus on the theme rather than the form.

於潜僧绿筠轩

原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）

宁可食无肉，不可居无竹。

无肉令人瘦，无竹令人俗。

人瘦尚可肥，士俗不可医。

旁人笑此言，似高还似痴。

若对此君仍大嚼，世间那有扬州鹤?

Reference:

1. gushiwen.cn

2. picture from google