Li Bai has been wandering around the world since he resigned from Beijing in the third year of Tianbao and lived a wandering life of visiting mountains and rivers, visiting monks and asking questions, and indulging in poetry and wine. In the last years of Tianbao, he lived in Xuanzhou, southern Anhui He stayed in the area (now Xuancheng, Anzheng) for the longest time. He was fascinated by the scenery and customs here. In addition to interacting with mountain woodcutter, fishermen and hermits, he also often visited temples and made friends with monks and Taoists. The monks and Taoist priests who interacted with Li Bai were generally poetic monks, scholarly monks or Taoist priests who were proficient in Buddhism and mysticism and were good at poetry and prose. The "Mountain Monk" mentioned in this poem is such a famous monk with many talents and profound teachings.
Shuixi Temple was a famous temple in the Tang Dynasty. This temple is located in the west of Jing County, Anhui Province. According to "Jiangnan Tongzhi", Shuixi Temple was built on Shuixi Mountain, Wuli west of Jingxian County. Here, "the forest ravine is dense, and it is adjacent to the deep stream. The three old temples of Baosheng, Chongqing, and Baiyun are built there. The pagodas are facing each other, the pavilions are staggered, and the blue water is floating, and everything is close at hand." Shuixi Temple is a general reference to the three temples in Shuixi Mountain. Baosheng Temple is also called Shuixiqi, Baiyun Temple is also called Shuixishou Temple, and Chongqing Temple is also called Tiangong Shuixi Temple. Many celebrities from past dynasties visited here, and some traveling monks often sealed it here to visit and study. The mountain monk Li Bai met was a wandering monk from other places. Like Li Bai, he also visited Shuixi Temple, so the two met and got to know each other. Therefore, the poem begins with:
"Where did the famous monk come to the west of the water?" Where does not mean that the poet does not know where the monk came from, but that the famous monk is not here They are not monks from the temple, but visiting monks from other places. The second sentence explains where the monk comes from and the purpose of his visit: "Take a boat and spend the night in Jingxi River." "Riding a boat" is translated as "Riding a cup". "Riding a boat" is more common, "riding a cup" is more magical, and "riding a cup" is considered good. Since the poem is talking about a famous monk, he should have some legendary skills. Legend has it that during the Liu and Song Dynasties, there was a Beidu monk who could cross water in a wooden cup with no false wind and as light as flying. It is said here that this monk, like the Beidu monk, has a supernatural spirit and came to the west of the water by taking a cup. It seems that he came here not to study Buddhism and practice Zen, but to "play with the moon". That is to say, he came to Jingxi to appreciate the beautiful scenery here. Of course, eminent monks do not necessarily sit in meditation, chant sutras, and practice hard like ordinary monks. The clear breeze and bright moon are nothing more than Zen mind. As long as they have wonderful enlightenment, they can also achieve the goal of enlightening the mind and seeing nature. This may be the reason why eminent monks are so clever. "Su Jingxi", Jingxi is next to Shuixi Temple. Not staying in a temple but staying in Jingxi River shows how extraordinary this monk is.
"Go up the mountain without me at ordinary times, and walk on the ladder with gold in hand." Early the next morning, the monk said goodbye to Li Bai and went up the mountain with a tin staff in hand. When this monk came, he came by boat (or cup) along the waterway, but when he parted, he took the mountain road. "Jin Ce" refers to the tin stick, and "Yun Ladder" refers to the stairway on the mountain. Because when viewed from a distance, climbing a mountain looks like climbing up a ladder, high into the clouds, so it is said to be "stepping on a cloud ladder." The poem does not say that the monk was carrying a tin staff and climbing up the mountain along the mountain path. It is too ordinary to write like this. Instead, it is said that he "stepped on the ladder with gold in hand", which makes the monk's floating appearance and mysterious appearance. The color popped out.
"Three days have passed since I turned around, and I looked back at the mountains." This is written from the perspective of the mountain monk standing on the top of the mountain. It was as if he was soaring in the clouds, very close to the Heavenly Palace, but looking back at the thousands of mountains and ridges, they were all under his feet. And a further meaning is to use this to imply the high level of Buddhist cultivation of this monk, saying that he is close to the highest heaven among the three days of the Buddhist world (Buddhism calls the desire world, color world, and colorless world three days), and Look down at the world, far below your feet. This is used to highlight the profoundness of this monk’s path. Immediately after that, two eminent monks in history were brought in to compare with this monk: they were eminent monks from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He was proficient in "Zhuangzi" and "Vimalakirti Sutra", and often interacted with Yin Hao and Xi Chao, famous figures at that time. He is bohemian and good at eloquence.
"Shishuo Xinyu" records: "Zhi Daolin often raises several horses, or he says that people, animals and horses are not in tune. Zhi said: 'The poor Taoist attaches great importance to his sacred horse.'" Yuan Gong refers to the eminent monk of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Huiyuan, he was well versed in various arts and was particularly good at Lao Zhuang. He had formed a lotus society with more than 30 famous people such as Tao Yuanming, discussed mysteries and Taoism, recited poems and composed poems, and had the demeanor of a famous person. It was appreciated by later generations of literati.
The meaning of this couplet is: This monk is dissolute, playful and eloquent, and his style of a romantic celebrity can be compared with Huiyuan! Li Bai compared him with famous monks in history to highlight the monk's demeanor and talents. It can be seen from this that this monk was also a bohemian who was good at discussing mysteries, poetry and wine, so much so that Li Bai, who met him by chance, also praised him highly. Here, the image of an eminent monk with profound Buddhist knowledge, arrogant poetry and wine, strange deeds, and extraordinary behavior has been evoked from the poem. Liao Liao depicts an eminent monk with an elegant demeanor in just a few sentences. This shows the poet's superb skills.
The last couplet of the poem expresses the poet's deep memory for this eminent monk. "It's so ugly to be parted this time. I miss you all night long and the ape cries in silence." As soon as we parted, we were thinking about when we could see each other again. Li Zi did not have many such friends, especially those among monks. "Lovesickness all night" implies that Li Bai didn't sleep a wink all night because he missed his friend. It was precisely because he couldn't sleep with lovesickness all night that Li Bai felt that the mourning ape had been crying in the mountains at night. And the mournful cry of the mourning ape adds to the pain of separation between the poet and his friends. Although the poem ends with the melancholy sound of apes in the night, the poet's deep friendship for his friends is deeply imprinted on the readers' hearts.
This poem is a seven-character rhymed poem. This is really unexpected. Li Bai, a free and romantic poet who has always been unwilling to be bound by meter, wrote poems in seven-character rhyme. Li Bai's seven-character rhymed poem, like Li Bai's other rhymed poems, has the characteristic of "incorporating the ancient into the rhyme".