Janus Estuaries Vol. 3, 1.16.24
“Beat Upon My Breast"
Devour me oh, love of life pursued
When longing life to have and use
When sword is sold for metal made to wed
Like shackles that will bind me to my bed
Should such a maw as love consume
Let it be -ated and the life resume
What sweet succored, suckered pain
Do we depose to seek love plain
Blind fools we are, oh lovers, we
With visions true, eyes do oft flee
With lovers hand and killers word
No pleading bargains shall be heard
Oh, night, beneath thy chaliced moon
Grant gentle love so great to bring to ruin
With tooth and nail and bone and blood and life
From lovers anguish cease such aching strife
@env0writes C.Buck
Ko-Fi & Venmo: @Zenv0
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I don't wanna jinx myself, but I may have just transitioned to being a morning workout girl. This entire month I tested my energy level during morning workouts, and then in afternoon workouts. (Ok, not crazy morning times like Kim, but she's amazing 😘) I seem to be able to push out the most effort right after having breakfast. As long as my schedule still allows this moving forward I'm gonna try to stick to it. 🤞
I love this couplet workout so much. However, the 5 rounds of each is just nuts 😂 Where's my hot bod, please? I'd like it now!
是非审之于己,毁誉听之于人,得失安之于数,陟岳麓峰头,朗月清风,太极悠然可会;
Right or wrong, examine it yourself. Ruin or acclaim comes from the decisions of others. Gains and losses are predestined - accept them with equanimity. Ascend to the peak of Yuelu. The moon is bright, the breeze refreshing. The Zenith may be met with, leisurely.
君亲恩何以酬,民物命何以立,圣贤道何以传,登赫曦台上,衡云湘水,斯文定有攸归。
How can we repay the kindness of our leaders and parents? How can the life of the people be firmly established? How can the way of the sages be transmitted? Climb atop Hexi Terrace. The clouds of Mt. Heng, the waters of River Xiang; for sure, the educated have responsibility.
This post is dedicated to @liberty-or-death who dug a hole for me on the last day of 2022. Thanks friend xD
(The reason I was excited to see this place mentioned in that article was because it’s on my travel wishlist.)
Background
Yuelu Mountain (岳麓山) is located on the west bank of the Xiang River at a tributary of the Wu River in Changsha, Hunan, and is noted for its many scenic spots. Located at its foot is the Yuelu Academy (岳麓书院), officially established in 796 CE during the rule of Emperor Taizu of Song. It is one of the four famous academies in ancient China - the others are the Bailudong, Songyang and Suiyang Academies. But among these academies of classical learning, Yuelu is the only one to have evolved into a modern institution. Today it is known as Hunan University.
The Hunan University campus, in their own words, combines ancient architectural complexes and modern facilities. Many of the original structures of Yuelu Academy were preserved, and now open to the public. Here’s a video of a walk through the school! (x)
If you don’t need english subs, there is a wonderful MangoTV documentary on Yuelu Academy available on youtube.
The academy was frequently renovated throughout its >1000 years of existence, and many of the current buildings were constructed during the Qing Dynasty. The main Lecture Hall, also called the ‘Hall of Loyalty, Filial Piety, Integrity and Chastity’, is a core building of the Academy. It is located at its heart, and was the most important place for teaching and momentous ceremonies.
A horizontal plaque with imperial inscriptions from the Kangxi Emperor hangs in the front of the hall. On the inner walls of the hall, there are four big Chinese Characters - I can’t really tell if they were engraved or painted - loyalty, piety, honesty and integrity (Simplified: 忠孝廉节 | Traditional: 忠孝廉節). They come from the hand of the great scholar Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty. Zhu Xi along with Zhang Shi gave the first ever joint lecture in the history of Confucian academies in this place.
And it is within this Lecture Hall, placed on either side, between the words piety & integrity, and loyalty & honesty that these this yinglian (楹联), a type of couplet, is pasted on the walls on either side. It was written by Kuang Minben, who passed the entry level examination at the age of 24 and was recommended into the Imperial Academy the following year. During this time, his studies were interrupted by the death of his father and requisite period of mourning. He later passed the imperial exams at the age of 37 and joined the Hanlin academy as an apprentice writer, though had to retire for health reasons. 18 years later, at the age of 55, he was engaged as principal (山长) at Yuelu Academy in the year 1754. He went on to lecture there for three years before the death of his mother. It was during this period of his life that he wrote the couplet that now still hangs in the Lecture Hall.
Actually, the couplets that are there now are a copy carved in 1983 as the original was destroyed in the Sino-Japanese War.
Here’s a photo of the Lecture Hall from the academy’s Chinese wikipedia page.
From twitter user 徐昕 @xuxin1970
① 是非审之于己,毁誉听之于人,得失安之于数,陟岳麓峰头,朗月清风,太极悠然可会;
② 君亲恩何以酬,民物命何以立,圣贤道何以传,登赫曦台上,衡云湘水,斯文定有攸归
If for some reason, you’re wondering about the placement of the letters and the couplets…
Exit for the hall
廉 節
① ②
忠 孝
Head of the hall
This seems to follow the principle of seating on the North (head of the hall), facing the South (exit), and then the left (East) as superior to the right (West).
Brief Translation Notes
This was a rough translation as working on this couplet was a very spur of the moment. Here is how I understand it and maybe other interesting things.
For ①
On the rights and wrongs of a matter, one should examine (审) it inwardly with one’s own judgment [internal]. Whether one ends up ruined for it or acclaimed, that outcome lies with others [external]. And whatever one will gain or lose in this is up to the Heavens (数), and ought to be accepted with equanimity (not in our hands anymore, so be chill about it). Having done this, one steps out and up the mountain, finding that they have reached the utmost goal in becoming one with nature (太极).
You might have noticed the plaque with the inscription of 学达性天 above the hall in blue? That was mentioned before as being bestowed by a Qing Dynasty emperor. But this has also been the ultimate goal of Confucian and Chinese education for thousands of years. It’s a reference to both the Analects and Doctrine of the Mean; through learning to live properly as humans, we may reach our original heaven endowed nature and become one with nature, which is also being attuned to the Way of heaven. So, a maxim for educational goals in a lecture hall supported by the couplets also hanging in the same room. That’s the intention, and how do we reach it? By keeping at This.
When a person has reached that state of mind and state of being, even in the face of difficulty or problems regarding ethics, reputation, temptation and so on, they can face it unaffected and calm.
For ②
The earlier part was on an individual level. What someone can do for themselves. But in order for one to exist and be in such a position, they owe it to their ruler / their lord and then their parents for giving body and life. This half of the couplet pair is about responsibility. That a person who cares for the world around them will wonder how to make it a better place to live in, ensuring stability and that the good way of living is widely practiced and passed on. Go out to Hexi Terrace and look: the mountain is still beautiful, the river still flows. Certainly, the educated have a responsibility and their rightful place*.
*The word 攸归 comes from the idiom 责有攸归 (zé yǒu yōu guī) literally, responsibility has its rightful place ie. with the correct person.
Now’s the time to mention: It’s the furthest thing from easy that Yuelu Academy still stands today. You can read about its history in this article. The original Hexi Terrace too. The structure that exists today is, in fact, Hexi Terrace 3.0 and is not even in the original location anymore. It was originally at the peak of Mt. Yuelu, where Zhu Xi liked to climb to watch the sunrise (hence its name of sunrise splendor). Then war came, there was restoration work, a tower was built in its place (though the function of this location remained the same), and the terrace was rebuilt at the foot of the mountain in the form of a pavilion. Hexi 2.0 was destroyed in the Sino-Japanese War, and Hexi 3.0 is actually an existing stage that was renamed in memory of 1.0 and 2.0.
I am reminded actually of a song that goes ~ be your own light ~. That light should shine from within. Observe and contemplate, and at the same time cultivate yourself both in education (knowledge) and character. Be your own light, and next step… the world!
I wrote a poem for you all!! I haven't written in a while, motivation, and fanfic writing has been kicking my ass. I felt this poem deeply as I was writing it. It was like a beas that was infecting my brain and needed to come out through several couplets, a quatrains, and some type of ending stanza. Enjoy! <3<3<3<3
I haven't been able to write
1.
I haven't been able to write at all
It is a shame how something so very small
2.
As a bad grade on a test or an unclean room
Strengthen the impending sense of doom
3.
Is doom, for a poet, having nothing left to say
Having words that impact in no kind of way
4.
Following a pattern, couplets I suppose
Trying to change the world through meaningless prose
5.
Is writing a poem, the way I am now
Part of the problem and if so, how?
6.
"This is not a real poem", one could say
And I would agree in many a way
7.
Am I rhyming to rhyme or do I mean something deep
Where are the answers I desperately seek
8.
I feel lost, as a poet, as if I'm no one at all
Drowning in my thoughts and feeling so small
9.
Perhaps that is why I'm not able to write
Perhaps I have given up all of my fight
10.
Perhaps I shouldn't post my words to the world
And read any comments painstakingly curled
11.
Up into a ball, do they like what I say
Do I matter at all at the end of the day?
12.
Maybe I'll break the rules like the best poets do
But then how will my message shine faithfully true
13.
There's so much confusion and way too much sound
In the conventions and rules all bouncing around
14.
Let me write, god damnit, let me right as I please
In a world with no pushback let me write with ease
No Longer Remembered 11.26.23
“What Do You Say After 'Thanks?'”
Heart rush
Face flush
Am I sick or in love?
Donning a hat and a glove
Head spins
Day thins
Oh the words flea like a flock
‘Round and round handed clock
Heated sheeting
Feeling fleeting
Leaps like childhood from the roof
Fearful of chimney, crawlspace, and proof–
Of what isn’t real
This too will feel
A weight lifted, or just as sunk
No liquor, substance; drunk
Like flickering Christmas lights
After the thankful nights
But where can these feelings go
Blue skies, there is no snow
@env0writes C.Buck
Ko-Fi & Venmo: @Zenv0
Support Your Local Artist!
Photo by @env0
"Fresh Meat (I fell in love with everyone I saw)" - a poem written 1/23/2024, partly in reference to (or rather, I was thinking about) this poem I wrote about six years ago