Poem #13's title, 精神 jingshen, means spirit, consciousness, or thought in modern Chinese. Sikong Tu appears to be using it more along those lines as well, hence my translation. But in reading about Daoist practices like 內丹 neidan, or internal alchemy, you come across a lot of references to 精 jing and 神 shen, along with the associated concept of 氣 qi, which I talked a little bit about in my last post. Roughly speaking, jing is one's physical essence, qi the energy or life force, and shen the spirit or higher self. (The Wikipedia page on the Three Treasures gives you an idea of how these ideas are used in a Daoist context.) My favorite meaning of 精 jing, however, has to be "mythical goblin spirit."
Enjoy, folks.
微臣
史大偉
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精神
司空圖
欲返不盡
相期與來
明漪絕底
奇花初胎
青春鸚鵡
楊柳樓臺
碧山人來
碧山人來
清酒深杯
生氣遠出
不著死灰
妙造自然
伊誰與裁
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"Spiritual Essence"
Sikong Tu
Were the Endless to
join with us at some
point—
bright ripples, on and
on
rare flowers at first
bloom
Spring-green parrots
willows, pavilions,
terraces—
people come from the
blue-green hills
clear wine in
overflowing cups
The breath of life
reaches out further,
no sign of death's
ashen grey
the magnificent fabric
of the in-and-of-itself—
ah, who could make it
conform to a pattern?
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