The East Mountain Temple on Dongshan undergoing an expansion

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Spending the Night at Yunmen Temple Pavillion

Sun Ti fl.720 At Incense Pavillion below East Peak the flowers in the midst          were from another world I held up a lantern          on a deep mountain night and pulled back the curtain          on a lakeland fall the swans stayed behind on the walls the Dipper and the Ox          spent the night at the window the road to heaven          seemed so close again I dreamed I was traveling with clouds

Sù Yúnménsì Gé

Sūn Tì fl. 720 Xiānggé Dōngshān xià Yān huā xiàng wài yōu. Xuán dēng qiān zhàng xī, Juǎn màn wǔ hú qiū. Huàbì yú hóngyàn, Shāchuāng sù dòuniú. Gèng yí tiān lù jìn, Mèng xìng bái yún yóu.

Translator:

Red Pine-Bill Porter 赤松

Notes: Dongshan, East Peak is in the outskirts of Shangyu in Zhejiang Province. There is no longer a Yunmen (Cloud Gate) Temple on its peak. The present temple is the Dongshansi undegoing a major rebuilding in 2004. The only Yunmensi we know of is in Shaoguan/Caoxi in northern Guangdong Province. Variations on a theme. Here is an alternate translation by Dongbo: Staying Over At Yunmensi Pavillion Sun Ti fl. 720 Perfume Pavillion below East Mountain, Misty flowers appear from the gloom. I hang a lantern in mountain evening, Roll up the curtain on Five Lake autumn scene. Mural of wild swan on temple wall, By lattice window Big Dipper and Bull. It seems path to heaven is near, Happy dreams of treking in the clouds. From the book Poems of the Masters, China's Classic Anthology of Tang and Song Dynasty verse. One of the best, if not "the best", books of general translations of Chinese poetry. Wonderfully detailed notes on each poem and all poems are displayed in the original Chinese. Translated by Red Pine, published by Copper Canyon Press.

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