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

Standing in the center, the high peaks arch toward each other, truly serving as the gateway for the twelve districts of Zhang[zhou] and Quan[zhou] prefectures. When I passed through here, I once composed a quatrain: "Zhang and Quan are severed here, this mountain stands supreme. The tide comes in from the sea, the energy swallows and spits. Twelve rock cities return to control, a single door acts as a natural barrier for the southeast." Even though these are just the self-aggrandizing labels of friends, they are indeed exaggerations. Yet, at that time, when I was in such a lowly and aimless state, for him to hold me as someone he cherished and admired, and even to hope that his friend might follow in my footsteps one day—this cannot be described as anything other than high expectations for me.

Jiang Taoshu said: "The way of literature is renewed alongside the energy and fortunes of heaven and earth. Poetry is a text with rhyme, based on the movement of the human heart, and it trends toward renewal with great speed. From the Han and Wei dynasties, one could no longer compose the Classic of Poetry; just as the Six Dynasties could not replicate the Han and Wei, and the men of Tang could not replicate the Six Dynasties. By the time of the Tang, poetic forms were fully perfected, and the essence had already been completely exhausted; later generations have nothing left to surpass. However, Su and Huang of the Song dynasty did not attempt to be Tang poets. After the Tang, there were Su and Huang; it became even harder for later generations to move beyond them. Yet, Yang Chengzhai and Lu Fangweng of the Southern Song, and later Yuan Yishan of the Jin and Yu Daoyuan of the Yuan, ultimately did not attempt to be Su or Huang. Why is this? These few gentlemen, with their high natural talent, observed the continuity of literature throughout history and grasped the source of learning. They sought widely but took selectively, pondered deeply but gained quickly. The contents of their hearts flowed forth, never..."