prose

  • Biography of Master Five Willows

    by Tao Yuanming (Eastern Jin Dynasty) The gentleman’s origins are unknown, and his name and surname are unrecorded. Since five willow trees grew beside his home, he took “Master Five Willows” as his sobriquet.

  • The Foolish Old Man Who Moved the Mountains

    – by Lie Yukou (Liezi) Mount Taihang and Mount Wangwu spanned seven hundred li in area and rose ten thousand ‘ren’ high. Originally, they stood south of Jizhou and north of Heyang. To the north of these mountains lived an old man known as “Foolish Old Man of the North Mountain.” He was nearly…

  • Record of a Walnut Boat

    -by Wei Xueyi (Ming Dynasty) In the Ming dynasty, there was a remarkably skilled craftsman named Wang Shuyuan, who could carve palaces, vessels, human figures, birds, beasts, trees, and rocks – all from a piece of wood no larger than an inch in diameter. He shaped each object according to the natural form of…

  • The Art of Oral Imitation

    -by Lin Sihuan (Qing Dynasty) In the capital, there was a master of kouji – the art of vocal mimicry (also translate to oral imitation).

  • Record of a Night Walk at Chengtian Temple

    – by Su Shi (Song Dynasty) On the night of the twelfth day of the tenth month in the sixth year of Yuanfeng, I had just taken off my clothes and was about to sleep when the moonlight shone through my door. Delighted, I got up and went for a walk. Thinking there was…

  • On the Lotus

    -by Zhou Dunyi (Song Dynasty) Among the flowers of land and water, many are lovely. During the Jin Dynasty, Tao Yuanming alone loved the chrysanthemum. Since the Tang Dynasty, people have greatly favored the peony.

  • On the Snake Catcher

    – by Liu Zongyuan (Tang Dynasty) In the wilds of Yongzhou, there lives a strange snake: black-bodied with white markings. Any grass or tree it touches withers and dies; if it bites a person, nothing can save them. Yet, once captured and dried, it becomes a potent medicine – capable of curing leprosy, paralysis,…

  • On Horses

    by Han Yu (Tang Dynasty) In the world, only after there is a Bo Le can there be a “thousand-li horse” (a steed capable of running a thousand li in a day, see the story to pay thousand gold for a deed horse). Such exceptional horses are always present – but true judges like…

  • The Three Gorges

    — by Li Daoyuan (Northern and Southern Dynasties) For seven hundred li through the Three Gorges, towering mountains line both banks without a single gap. Layer upon layer of cliffs and peaks shut out the sky and hide the sun. Only at high noon or midnight can one glimpse the sun or moon.