From Gold Mountain (Jin Shan) a vein in the earth broke through, and from the hot water was formed a spring [Rehe river spring]. The clouds [of steam] forever filling the valley, the stones and pools turn green. Grass grows luxuriantly everywhere, and there is no fear that harm will come to one's fields or home. The wind is pure, and the summers are cool, easily suiting and nourishing people .... Then there is this place, Rehe (Chengde). The road is close to the capital (Beijing), and to go back and forth takes less than two days. The land is spread out, wild and untilled. If you fill your mind with it, a myriad cares cannot but be driven away. When from here (Bi Shu Shan Zhuang) you weigh the appearance of high and low, far and near, the views of the mountains and peaks open themselves up before you. If you make your abode by a pine tree, the colors of the uneven riverbank (Rehe river) appear strikingly. If you lead water dowu to tile pavilions, tile fragrance of tile hazelnut trees fills the valley. All this is not within tile power of man to make. He can [only] move to an attractive place and adapt to it. Nothing has been squandered on carving the poles of my tent; one is content in one's thoughts, having embraced tile simplicity of the spring and the forests. Looking peacefully at the myriad things, contemplating deeply their every type, one cannot escape enjoying the colorful birds and the green water.... Written in the last decade of the sixth month of the fiftieth year of Universal Peace.
展开▼
