Quote #3

I brewed potions in a vain search for life everlasting, I read books, I sang songs of history, And today I've come home to Cold Mountain To pillow my head on the stream and wash my ears.

Attribution disputed; shown as originally published.

More from Han Shan

  1. People ask the way to Cold Mountain. Cold Mountain? There is no road that goes through. Even in summer the ice doesn't melt; Though the sun…
  2. All the people in the Kuo-ch'ing monastery- They say, 'Han-shan is an idiot.' 'Am I really an idiot:' I reflect. But my reflections fail to…
  3. Once, my back wedded to the solid cliff, I sat silently, bathed in the full moon's light. I counted there ten thousand shapes, None with su…
  4. Worry for others- it does no good in the end. The great Dao, all amid joy, is reborn. In a joyous state, ruler and subject accord, In a joy…
  5. Under a tree I'm reading Lao-tzu, quietly perusing. Ten years not returning, I forgot the way I had come.

All Han Shan quotes