Without Moving - a poem about the Middle Way by Wang Anshi

This morning I decided to mix things up a little bit by translating a poem by a Song poet instead of my usual Tang poetic fare.  It's too early in the morning for me to do a good job of explaining to you the difference between Song and Tang poetry.  The Tang Dynasty (618 - 908) precedes the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) by several hundred years.  It's a bit like the difference between Elizabethan and Restoration drama - Tang poetry is a more naturalistic in temperament, less self-conscious and literary in its ambition.  Tang poetry is birdsong.  Song poetry is more like courtiers trying to sing like birds.

Still there were many great Song poets, just as there are many wonderful Restoration playwrights.  Here's my translation of a poem by Wang Anshi, who was a high minister in the Song Dynasty (noted as a political reformer) but in many ways, at least as a poet, remained a true spokesman for the Tang spirit.  Wang Anshi was also a Chan Buddhist and this is one of his many poems that directly addresses a spiritual theme.

Without Moving

Without moving

Doing good works

En route

Delusion

Keeps flowing

And flowing

Things of all kind

Born

Live

Die

Study hard

Listen

Consider

Embellish

In the end

There's no law

That binds

Nor is it required

To be a monk

Or have a fur coat

无动

王安石

无动行善行

无明流有流

种种生住灭

念念闻思修

终不与法缚

亦不著僧裘