Wiping the Dust at the Five-Hundred-Stone Grotto Heaven, Vol. 5

"Debts for wine, like poverty, are by the side of the melon patch; this is my hut. The crane's cry at Huating is due to the chaos of war; thinking back, my whole life was spent in the wild catalpa." The entire poem is purely about the emotions of Lu Ji, the writing flowing in one breath. The deep sentiment is infinite; it is worth reciting. Only at the beginning of the piece, using the two characters "younger brother" (lingdi), the commentator Xu Gusu notes: "When Du Fu referred to his younger brother, he always said 'younger brother' (lingdi). The instances of 'younger brother' in this collection, which were previously used as messengers for Cangshui, are examples of this." I, the fool, suggest that calling others "ling" (honorable) and oneself "jia" (family) is common usage. The ancients were often not restricted by this. For instance, Xie Lingyun, in his poem "To My Younger Brother Huilian," at the end mentions "meeting my honorable brother, my face clears and my heart opens"—this was already before Du Fu. Xie Anshi said to Wang Xianzhi, "How is your calligraphy compared to that of your honorable father?" Referring to his father Yizhi, this is again using the word "family" as a term for addressing another's relative.

Wen Qianshan Ru Neng, a secretary from Shunde, once said that Yuan Yishan’s poetry is "Through the ages, the poet vomits his lungs and liver; it is difficult to obtain the clear energy of heaven and earth." The value of poetry is indeed in its clarity. However, being ornate, grand, and strange does not prevent it from being clear. For example, the palaces of gods and immortals: even if gold, silver, pearls, and shells are dazzling and strange, how could they ever be stained by a single speck of dust? Modern scholars do not understand this principle; they only praise the "coldness of the deep pool" and are sycophantic. This can be called superficial. He also said, "When current manuscripts are opened, you see 'The Heavenly Gate Opens' and 'Your Horse is Yellow'—hundreds of these Yuefu musical poems—magnificent and brilliant..."