The Confluence of Life and Literature

Nature Aesthetics in the Poetry of Yu Hsi

Xu Weiqiang*

Abstract

Adopting the perspective of nature aesthetics, in this paper I first examine the influence Yu Hsi’s life experience and relationship with nature has had on his poetry. I then interpret the nature aesthetics of Yu Hsi’s poetry by exploring the fusion of poet and nature in relation to five themes: deep contemplation by observing details; extending nature images; revealing the appearance of the world; poetic depictions of spiritual awakening; and returning to the natural simplicity of one’s true self. It is expected that this investigation will elucidate the connection between Yu Hsi’s worldview and poetic vision, thus providing an enhanced appreciation of his poetry.

Keywords: Yu Hsi; poetry; nature aesthetics
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* M.A., Chinese Department, National Kaohsiung Normal University; author of “Yu Hsi’s Collections of Short Poems” (master’s thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University, 2014).


I. Introduction
A prolific writer, Yu Hsi uses his thought-provoking poetry to present a wealth of philosophical insight and aesthetic refinement.
Amongst those who have previously conducted studies of Yu Hsi’s poetry, Luo Di is of the view that it covers both the mundane and the profound in its depictions of human nature and the celestial realms.[1]
For Lin Wenqin, Yu Hsi’s poetry emphasizes the themes of wandering and redemption.[2]
In a study of poetic depictions of such topics in philosophy as the nature of the world, the purpose of life, and apprehending the real, Ye Haiyan makes a detailed examination of Yu Hsi’s “long-scroll poetry.”[3]
In explaining his views on sincerity, the childlike mind, love, and life, Yu Hsi states, “You could say my style is to have no style; it’s doing by not doing; / It’s using pure feeling to convey the pure spirit of poetry; / It’s using the playful mind of childhood to exercise the creative imagination; / It’s using love and compassion to explore the grandeur of life.”[4]
In this paper I adopt the perspective of nature aesthetics to elucidate the relationship between poetry and nature in Yu Hsi’s shorter poems.

II. Nature aesthetics in Yu Hsi’s Poetry
Yu Hsi’s poetry is filled with distinctive descriptions of nature, from mountains to expansive seas, from gentle breezes to balmy sunshine. According to Luo Renling, nature aesthetics is a type of empiricism which involves aesthetic experience and appreciation of beauty.[5] While the natural world has an objective existence, nature aesthetics considers how it is perceived by the individual human being. Thus any discussion of nature aesthetics in modern poetry must give due importance to the intersection of subjective feeling and objective setting, since the primary objective of nature poetry is to “convey the philosophical and experiential world of the poet.”[6]
This is the perspective with which I will explore the nature aesthetics in Yu Hsi’s poetry, as well as the manner in which it is formed and expressed. After examining the relationship between his nature aesthetics and life experience, I discuss the fusion of poet and nature. I then discuss the artistic and literary techniques he uses to depict nature, including metaphors and symbols, as well as how he uses these to create a poetic space in which to convey his ideas.

A. Aesthetic forms in Yu Hsi’s poetry
Yu Hsi’s aesthetics originates from the intersection of nature and life. As he puts it:

I feel the need to search for a different kind of sea.[7]

For Yu Hsi, this confluence of life and nature goes back to his childhood at Fangyuan and Wanggong in Southern Taiwan’s Zhanghua County. Indeed, his poetry is replete with vivid memories of the beauty and grandeur of nature—blooming cotton fields, huge banyan trees, and the blue sea. When the poet Xin Yu asked him, “How did you first get interested in poetry?” Yu Hsi replied:

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved the mountains and the sea;
I’ve always adored a frozen landscape covered with snowflakes during Greater Cold;
I’ve always adored nature; every flower, tree, and blade of grass;
So I’m very careful not to bring any harm to living beings.
Throughout the year I live on the seacoast, at the foot of a mountain,
Where the wind is always infused with the smell of the mountains and the sea;
I enjoy the pace of life of the traditional farming village;
Its emotional tone;
Its daily rhythms.
I often think of how my mother used to work in the fields in the rain;
I like to reminisce about eating lunch out in the fields during the rice harvest;
I often remember those cotton fields back there in my hometown ……[8]

From the above passage we catch a glimpse of the tremendous influence growing up in an agricultural village surrounded by untrammeled nature has had on Yu Hsi’s thought and writing.
Yu Hsi’s deep connection with the sea dates back to when his family moved to the village of Erlin near the coast, where the difficult lives of those who make a living from the sea made a deep impression on him. It was also at this time that he became acquainted with the impetuous side of nature. It was at the Fuhao Temple in Wanggong that he came to appreciate the power of deep religious faith.
The year before performing his mandatory military service, Yu Hsi once went deep into the mountains. During this sojourn he formed a lifelong connection with the forested mountains and their inhabitants which has had a lasting impact on his writing.[9] For example, in his novel Prabhutaratna, the Fushan Youth is modeled on a forest ranger he met in the mountains. Also dating back to this time are Qilan Mountain, which figures prominently in his poems “Reminiscence on a Breeze” and “Swan Mist,” as well as Lintian Mountain, which is the setting of the poem “A Trace of Moss.”
Afterwards Yu Hsi took up residence at Vandana Monastery in Hualian County. Having soaked in the edifying beauty of Taiwan’s magnificent Pacific coast, he has made this a central theme of his poetry. His many years of Chan meditation practice has also had a formative influence on his worldview and nature aesthetics. Based on his detailed observations, Yu Hsi recreates nature in such a way that it reveals the mind and soul. In this connection he states:

I use emotion, imagery, and words
To weave a distinctive story of nature;
I use mind, intention, and thought to guide intention, ideas, and notions;
I use the established patterns of emotion and awareness to search for the way home.[10]

From this statement we gain some insight into how nature serves as the source material for much of Yu Hsi’s poetry.[11]
Yu Hsi’s creative perspective is also informed by his nature aesthetics, on which he states:

In writing I endeavor to imitate the natural development of an old sacred tree,
Such as an old cypress or the legendary wish-fulfilling tree;
The trunk is stable,
Its roots grow deep into the ground, while its branches blossom above;
Its branches extend horizontally to form a circle.
Wherever the tree’s foliage is at its thickest,
There also appear a few blank spaces amongst the leaves;
Leaves, blossoms, and fruit spontaneously expand;
Green buds vying to stretch out,
Branches intertwining,
Words have substance, form has style;
At other times, a swirling dream in the sea of the subconscious mind,
Instantly downloads a primordial memory of the native place.
Don’t be bossed around by material forms;
Open up the window of the spirit;
First lift the embargo on material forms, then let go of them.
Sometimes I humbly employ an approach called “bending like a tree”;
At other times I use a technique I call the “miraculous medicinal tree.”
Tuning into that numinous space, that mysterious tree latent in the mind,
In a dream all sorts of letters and symbols pour forth ……
A scroll is like a tree of life;
It’s a single leaf in the world sea of the ten directions;
Everything I write comes from that tree’s
Roots, trunk, branches, twigs, leaves, blossoms, fruits, and seeds;
It all appears and unfolds spontaneously.[12]

In this comparison of his writing to a tree, the trunk represents his central theme, the deepening and embellishing of which he indicates by stating, “Its roots grow deep into the ground, while its branches blossom above.” The leaves, blossoms, and fruit are his words, phrases, and sentences. The “blank spaces amongst the leaves” represent the breaks between lines and stanzas. “Bending like a tree” refers to adopting a humble attitude towards the depiction of nature. The technique he calls the “miraculous medicinal tree” refers to the addition of his subjective views. In this way, Yu Hsi grows his poems, like a tree, beginning as a sprout of inspiration, gradually expanding, and finally blooming forth with the vitality of life. Thus it can be seen that nature is at the very core of his creative inspiration.

B. The unique aesthetic characteristics of Yu Hsi’s poetry
1. Deep contemplation by observing details
In the previous section we saw that nature has played a key role in Yu Hsi’s life. As a result, his aesthetic sense is strongly informed by his detailed and in-depth observations of nature. In describing his poetry, he states:

A poet is someone who journeys into the deepest recesses of the mind and soul, someone who passionately plunges into nature, tuning into the subtle movements within time and space, spontaneously transforming them into an inspired symphonic rhythm revealing the real, gently turning, then leaping; as his poem takes form, it displays this minute and subtle tempo.[13]

In Yu Hsi’s poetry, plunging “into nature, tuning into the subtle movements within time and space” is an elaboration of the journey “into the deepest recesses of the mind and soul.” Deep observation is a manifestation of Yu Hsi’s fervent love of nature, which he uses to display his ideas and emotions. For example, take the poem “Dwelling on the Mountain”:

Midsummer budding branches on the Bodhi Tree reach out towards a cloud in the sky
A warm southerly breeze wafts out over the quiet billows on the sea
Under the sunlight each ray clear
My eyes follow its meanderings

In the dead of night the willow branch in the hand of Felicity Guanyin
Sprinkles ambrosia everywhere
Rousing the ten thousand rosy clouds of dawn rising up from the seabed
In the copse a few small birds alight on the lower hem to listen
On the slope a thousand blooming lilies display their affection
Now in front of me, what do you want?
What is it you seek?
Filling the gardens is the buzzing of cicadas, ebullient
Praising
Again praising
Whence your discontent?
Why so discontented? the insects shout.

Clouds in the sky freely coming and going
Butterfly in a dream freely whirling, like spiraling smoke
Circling the Wind Pavilion with its old wicker chair
A butterfly flies up and away
The old wicker chair rocks, how it rocks
Several decades now still hasn’t rocked away his smell
Who is that, now rousing that ancient factor in a deep slumber?[14]

This poem displays Yu Hsi’s keen observation of movement and stillness in nature.
In the first stanza he adopts a panoramic field of vision, and then proceeds to make a detailed inspection of its contents. He first notices the budding branches of the Bodhi Tree imperceptibly growing, and the warm southerly breeze wafting out over the quiet billows on the sea, allowing the reader to imagine how the poet’s line of sight follows the wavering beams of sunlight. By making such a detailed description of these subtle phenomena, he infuses a static scene with a sense of movement.
In the second stanza, the scene shifts to the soundless “dead of night,” wherein Felicity Guanyin continues to distribute the ambrosia that rouses the rosy clouds of dawn from their slumber. Thus for the poet the night is not without its own type of activity, for even at night, time continues to turn, culminating in the moment when darkness yields to the light of dawn. And with the advent of daylight, stillness finally gives way to movement, and an increasing number of sights and sounds enter the poet’s field of perception, here represented by the birds, lilies, and cicadas.
As for the tempo of this movement, in the first stanza it is leisurely, and in the second stanza it picks up speed, until it reaches the rushing momentum of the buzzing of cicadas filling the gardens. Finally, the tempo reaches a crescendo with the poet’s praise and query into discontent.
In the third stanza the rhythm echoes that of the first, while introducing the concept of time and space. In this stanza the clouds and butterfly freely roaming and the old rocking chair serve to replace the emotional intensity of the previous paragraph with a sense of leisure. Yet this leisure is not completely static, since the butterfly dances around the wicker rocking chair. Finally, the rousing of the slumbering ancient factor adds an exclamation point to the stanza’s leisurely rhythm and tempo.
By examining the rhythm and tempo of this poem, we gain insight into Yu Hsi’s method of observing nature.
Yu Hsi’s many years of meditation practice at Vandana Monastery has given him a deep understanding of the cyclic movement of the seasons. In this connection, in his poem “Song of the Sand—In Praise of Spring” he writes:

I lead the students on a walk thru the eight directions
the path is entered here—
Beating of drums on ten sides
invades the ears
Swallows flying everywhere, beaks laden with nesting grass
Oblique rain granting green like ambrosia dripping
……
Eleventh day of Waking of Insects, 3.15 in the morning
Following the teacher’s instructions, a child
Lies prone on the grass and presses his ear to the ground
Attentively listening for the heartbeat of the earth
Ten thousand seeds sing in the sand germinating
Noisily discussing how to appear in the world
……
Amongst the densely piled boulders a butterfly with color-dabbed wings
pieces together a huge image of exquisite beauty.[15]

In this poem on the vitality of spring, “I” refers to the role of guide, while the students and child both represent curiosity, the childlike mind, and the search for knowledge. The overall idea is that of the spiritual guide leading seekers searching for the path, while also raising the question of where the path is to be found.
The line “The path is entered here” is simple yet powerful. For “here” refers to the present moment, the only point of entry for the path of spiritual practice. Moreover, the various images of spring—swallows, rain, insects, etc.—indicate that intense personal attention to the transformations of nature can be made into a spiritual practice; the same goes for the contemplation of butterfly wings and listening to the sound of the seeds in the ground. With this poem, Yu Hsi encourages the reader to get in touch with the childlike mind, to uncover that wondrous mystery residing in nature, and to live a life of integrity.
In this connection, Lin Mingli states:

As an accomplished photographer, Yu Hsi makes use of every beautiful image that appears before his eyes. It’s the musical string of poetry slowly set in motion by the spiritual struggle within. Its tonal structure is complete; it has a graded and distinct sensitivity.[16]

Thus we can see how Yu Hsi applies the childlike mind and the astute eye of a photographer to his detailed observations of the natural world, recording its every movement.

2. Extending nature images
Poetry based on a nature aesthetics limited to visible natural phenomena would be stylistically limited. That’s why Yu Hsi frequently infuses his nature imagery with various concepts and doctrines, resulting in images that ride the fence between reality and fiction. For example, in his poem “The Watermelon People of the Sand Realm” he blends nature images with the concepts of predestined relationships and cause and effect:

Deep in the forest where the sunlight intermingles with the dappled shadows of dense foliage
Those who tread heedlessly soon trip on the kudzu vines
Ten toes bound into six knots
Some have nimble hands, but can’t unbind
Some quietly make the gesture of anjali and are instantly set free.

Thought inconceivably powerful
Like a shooting star flashing on the illusory horizon
Riding on the wings of distorted notions, the clambering mind takes off
Flickering thru the darkness, surpassing the speed of sound.

Bare feet leaving imprints on a sandy beach as the ocean watches me
Hands swatting at the south wind tide and waves stand firm therein
Embracing a mountain, detaining a cloud coursing thru the heavens
Using a strip of bamboo to drag in the fog and dew
To attract butterflies plant flowers
To attract insects plant vegetables.

In the east a mother and son, daily beneath a canopy of gourd leaves
count each gourd slimly hanging
In the west father and daughter, daily concerned
with each round watermelon reclining in the sandy field
Some long, some round; all with a sheen of emerald green
Inside, some white, some red; all equally delicious.

The Traveler selects a dinner table affording a view of the ocean sunset
The Vagrant chooses to exercise on a beach graced by the rising sun.[17]

In the first stanza of this poem, the entangling vines and the intermingling of light and shadow represent the complex interrelationships between all beings and things born of causes and conditions. Getting bound by the kudzu vines represents becoming entangled by these various causes and conditions. Some people, although clever, can’t extract themselves, while others undo the knots by relaxing and seeing what needs to be done, an approach reminiscent of the “marvelous awakening” of the Chan school.
In the second stanza, whether or not one breaks free is a matter of the quality of one’s mind, the nature of which is as inconceivable and fleeting as a shooting star. The clambering mind refers to the mind of the average person caught up in conditions. Such a person’s search for liberation is compared to “Riding on the wings of distorted notions,” i.e., flickering thru the darkness, heedlessly seeking throughout the vast and fickle universe.
In light of the inscrutability and evanescence of the mind and the complexity of causes and conditions, Yu Hsi resorts to the simplicity and immediacy of nature to approach the question of how to attain spiritual liberation. Thus in the third stanza he begins to use images which are simple yet profound to point out the futility of pursuing liberation through self-assertion and seeking outside of oneself. Similarly, we might leave our footprints on the beach or try to swat the wind, but neither of these actions has the slightest impact on the seashore or the wind. Also, sedulously pursuing liberation brings us no closer to it, since it is already inherent in everyone. Similarly, trying to detain the clouds and mist by latching onto the mountains and bamboos is as futile as trying to catch shadows. As for growing gourds as opposed to melons, this signifies that people seemingly have different aims. Yet, the difference is more apparent than real, since what they seek is really the same state of mind. Hence, despite boundless multiplicity, the essence is the same.
In the fourth stanza, the selection of a particular location by the Traveler and the Vagrant is used to indicate how, amongst the coming together of innumerable causes and conditions, the seeker of liberation may become attached to a certain goal or condition. Instead of insisting on a particular predetermined aim, one would do better to simply go with whatever is good enough, since doing so may well bring better results. In this poem we see that at times Yu Hsi adopts a simple and streamlined approach to depicting the beauty of nature, rather than one that highlights the unusual and spectacular.
Further examples can be found in Yu Hsi’s poem “The Secret of the Compass—The Beautiful Child of the Universe”:

In the native place the Child’s brisk strides imprinted on the moist path between the fields
Genial rice seedlings waving to strangers
Ancient village in the still of night, crying of a newborn baby
Morning on the Wind Pavilion a sentient being on a rocking chair woken by birdsong
Taaaaa—a blooming flower greets the sun.

The Youth ascends the mountain to learn the art of planting ancient trees hung with banners of countless leaves
Lunchbox in hand, passing round an old pine in search of the rising sun
On the way plucking five wild lilies to make an offering in the ancient temple.

Three rings of the chime pure and clear summon a white cloud
See that archway formed between two trees
A tangled vine perfect for swinging
Alas someone is on the path.

In the city the Scion Drifter, treasured sword in hand
Everywhere distinguishing black and white, true and false
right up to the moment the sun falls behind the mountain
Satchel filled with storybooks
Passing by the old pine and out the school gate
Several water buffalo smiling at him
Surprised by the stroke of the plum branches stretching over the wall.

Beneath the scorching sun the Youngsters set out to sea
Not in search of treasure, but to make a living
Late at night following the lighthouse back to shore, putting up in the moonlit monastery
Only to see with their very eyes a message on a sail
Coursing thru the Milky Way: Cross over all tribulation
Wondering who is at the helm
Raising a bow and shooting an arrow into space piercing thru the moon in the water
Startled—
At the sight of sailboats still at sea, filling the ten directions, causes and conditions concurrently intersecting.

The Wanderer hides a compass in a secret place
Sun rising in the east moon setting in the west
North wind blowing cold south wind pleasantly cool
The celestial drum rouses awake
That one who has been strolling on the beach from dawn to dusk
Quietly returning home under the glittering stars in the clear sky.

Only to be espied by the new moon hiding amongst the clouds
Oh! Between the vastness of heaven and earth
The lonely moon hovering in a boundless nebula.[18]

In the title, what does the compass represent? Since it points out the directions, we can say that the compass represents a particular direction. And for Yu Hsi it is the “Child of the Universe” who plays the role of the compass.
The characters we meet in this poem are the Child, the Youth, the Scion Drifter, and the Youngsters. According to Lin Wenqin, the characters who appear most frequently in Yu Hsi’s works are all itinerant seekers, such as the Traveler, the Visitor, the Wanderer, and the Scion Drifter. A contrasting set of characters are those that represent returning to the original mind, including the Youth, the Maiden, the Shepherd Boy, and the Baby.[19]
In the first paragraph, the Child represents the childlike mind, and we find in close succession a number of expressions indicative of spiritual rebirth, including the native place, the newborn baby, waking up, and blooming. We also find abundant nature imagery, such as the moist path, rice shoots, and the ancient village late at night, all of which tally with the simplicity and purity of the Child. The poem also indicates that returning to the original mind is a source of joy.
In the second stanza we meet the Youth, curious and hungry for knowledge, as indicated by his search for the rising sun. Yet his search is driven by more than simple desire, as shown in his offering of five lilies in the ancient temple. Moreover, the ringing of the chime to summon a cloud indicates the pure quality of the Youth’s curiosity, which enables him to closely inspect the trees and make out the natural swing hanging between two of them. And it’s this same curiosity by which he becomes aware of someone approaching on the path.
In the third stanza we meet the Scion Drifter, sword in hand, everywhere distinguishing opposites, thus representing an immature approach to pursuing spiritual growth. In comparing stanzas two and three, we see that although they both touch on curiosity as a motive force, the Youth is portrayed as being relatively pure and simple, while the Scion Drifter is portrayed as being more complex and interactive, as indicated by the smiling of the water buffalos and the stroking of the plum branches.
In the fourth stanza, the Youngsters could be said to represent awakening. While lost in the dusty world, struggling to make a living, at a quiet moment in the dead of night they stumble across the admonition “Cross over all tribulation,” indicating that stepping onto the spiritual path is for many a serendipitous experience. Shooting an arrow represents a kind of rebirth, an inner breakthrough which leads the seeker of truth to discover the vastness of what there is to learn and that he actually still has a long way to go. The last line of this stanza indicates the post-enlightenment discovery of countless sentient beings still trapped in samsara, and the arising of the intention to save them all.
Could it be that the “return to the original mind” spoken of by Lin Wenqin as represented by the childlike mind is in fact this “enlightenment,” “rebirth,” “curiosity,” and “seeking” represented here by these various itinerant seekers? Thus the fourth stanza provides a recapitulation: the secret place represents the mind, and the compass represents truth; the mystery of the universe is hidden away in the heart and mind, and discovered through curiosity and searching. Finally, the Wanderer returning home while being observed by the moon, and the moon hovering inside a nebula represent the interdependence and mutual manifestation of self and world.
In this poem Yu Hsi uses nature aesthetics as a mold or a pathway for elaborating and extending his ideas in a lushly imaginative way.

3. Revealing the appearance of the world
Of primary importance for nature aesthetics are the concepts involved, rather than the literary techniques with which they are presented. Yu Hsi’s nature aesthetics arises from his detailed observation of the natural world, based on which he develops magnificent images. Of greater importance, however, are the profound ideas found in his poetry, especially his understanding of the nature of reality.
In the Mahaparinirvana Sutra we read, “All conditioned phenomena are unreal; when they cease, this is called the real, this is called the distinctive mark of truth.” This “distinctive mark of truth” is what remains once false perceptions come to an end.[20] This is the central theme of Yu Hsi’s work, which he describes as follows:

When the sunlight lightly kisses the face of the river, stirred by a gentle breeze into a million different colors, who is it who can fathom its primordial meaning?

It sometimes happens that in the midst of a busy life, someone catches a glimpse of it, as clear as the autumn moon momentarily released by the clouds—the distinctive mark of truth.

The poet is one who directly apprehends the fountainhead of life, ensconced right here on the cusp of the millennium, amidst the boundless beauty of the material world.

Like a sculptor revealing a form hidden inside a block of granite, the poet uncovers the latent essence of life.[21]

Thus the poet’s task is to reveal life itself—its primordial meaning, its appearance, its source, and its essential nature. And for Yu Hsi the value of nature lies in its connection with this distinctive mark of truth. Thus his nature aesthetics is a way of reflecting reality itself, as seen in his poem “Song of Midsummer”:

A cup filled with water
For quenching a moment’s thirst
A flower disguised as night
Hoping to personally greet the sun and dance
A butterfly flying over a road of green
Mouth contacting stamens and pistils
Verdant green branches like a ladder
Conveying red pomegranates up to the sun for a chat
Blue sky revealing a secret
A vast white fog gently rolling
Spreading the news of the approaching south wind
A flash of lightning
Expels every cloud
Post-rain night sky
Stars come out in droves.[22]

In this poem the “distinctive mark of truth” is revealed in the scenes of summer.
In the first two lines, quenching thirst is the cause, and a glass full of water is the result. In the third and fourth lines, hoping to personally greet the sun and dance is the cause, and disguised as the night is the result. In the fifth and sixth lines, searching for stamens and pistils is the cause, and the butterfly flying is the effect. This is a way of stating that everything has its own cause and effect, and the same can be inferred about the red pomegranates on the verdant green branches.
To be sure, this universal law of cause and effect, in all its complexity, can only be fully penetrated by a fully enlightened buddha. And while it may not be possible to directly state the meaning of the red pomegranates, their significance can be inferred with reference to the blue sky. This significance is “secret” in the sense of being exclusive to the fully enlightened buddhas, and therefore inaccessible to the ordinary person, even when explained in detail. That’s why the buddhas often resort to “skillful means,” or “teaching expedients.” In this poem, the relationship between the pomegranates and the sky is this type of “secret,” an idea also found in the teachings on the provisional and ultimate truth found in the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom.
Next, the relationship between the vast white fog and the south wind is yet another secret of nature. Finally, in the last four lines, the stars appearing in the sky after the lightning storm dispels the clouds is another instance of cause and effect. By thus describing the causal relationship between various types of natural phenomena, this poem presents the key Buddhist principle of cause and effect.
Inasmuch as the law of cause and effect is universal, why does Yu Hsi invariably illustrate it with descriptions of nature, rather than descriptions of urban life or the manmade world? This is because for Yu Hsi nature is genuine and unembellished, in contrast to the manmade world characterized by artificiality, pretense, and falsity, as can be seen in his poem “Light Fog of the Maiden”:

Wind flute and drums foam appears on the vast sea
A small bubble ignoring its own nature strolls out of a dream
Leaving behind its mother’s embrace going ashore and traveling far
Vigorous and splendid, in search of a flower releasing its scent
lightly defiling dust how to search in a maze?
Taking a raft, an anchorite, entering the morning fog.

Fog
the breath of this imaginary rainforest dale
Every morning dancing with cloud-sleeves
brushing past a deep spot in the forest
The little bubble gets a chill
Turning into an ice crystal hanging on a branch
It’s said that the wish-fulfilling tree in heaven connects with the middle of the sea
Foam born of emptiness external appearance transmitting the real
Looking around for a confidant of mutual understanding
Golden foam drifting, originally countless thoughts and emotions on the sea of dreams
a game of accidentally disappearing.

Dew the lovely scion of the universe, adored by heaven
come down to Earth riding the wings of night
Dropping into misty space, onto a jade leaf, cool and fresh
Conveying the solicitude of heaven
Worthy of all offerings, perfected in virtue and wisdom
Foam is empty dew is the distinctive mark of truth
One’s inherent nature is nothing but genuine knowledge
The seal of lucidity, requiring nothing, and not requiring nothing
Wisdom is knowing how to open a door of convenience
According with conditions, some enter, others don’t.

Foam on the sea dew coursing in heaven
See that bud bursting open
On that dried out branch.[23]

Since fog and dew are both states of water, they can be said to be of the same essence. In this poem they are personified. In the first stanza, endowed with vigor, the little bubble buffeted by the wind leaves the bosom of the sea and enters into this world. In the fourth and fifth lines we see that due to the bubble’s attraction to the scent of the flowers, it gets tainted by the world, as a result of which it sets off on its journey.
In the second stanza the bubble follows the wafting fog, and is eager to gain the favor of heaven, i.e., to become acquainted with reality. As in Yu Hsi’s other works, here the confidant represents this reality, the distinctive mark of truth. In the last two lines of this stanza, the fog is described as dreamy, illusory, and evanescent; thus when the bubble is enveloped by the fog, it is like a game.
The third stanza describes the dew descending by night, filling the world with a heaven-sent refreshing coolness that permeates the heart of man, awakening his innate wisdom—the essential nature the little bubble is searching for.
In Yu Hsi’s poetry the qualities of dew are often combined with the “invigorating freshness of dawn” spoken of by Mencius. For example, in his novel Dew Coursing in Heaven, he describes the coursing dew as “a numinous brilliance born in the dead of night—that’s innate wisdom, the good heart. Deep in the heart of man there is a kind of inherent sapience that manifests in the quiet of the night. That innate wisdom, that good heart, is the vital energy of the night; it’s the coursing dew, the numinous brilliance at the center of the heart.”[24] Thus for Yu Hsi a drop of dew is a manifestation of the distinctive mark of truth.
The bubble in this poem can be said to represent all people. On the one hand, the frailty and evanescence of the bubble echoes the Buddhist doctrines of impermanence and not-self; on the other hand, its glittering translucence represents the purity and beauty of our inherent nature. The import of the last two lines is that despite living in this topsy-turvy world, our innate wisdom remains with us; thus our task in life is to get in touch with this innate wisdom, so that it can shine forth in all its beauty.
The highest principle in Buddhism is the nature of reality, variously expressed by such expressions as “the distinctive mark of truth,” “the true form of things as they are,” and “the true original nature.” Completely penetrating this principle results in final liberation. Yet this nature of reality is said to be found somewhere between existence and non-existence. How, then, can such an abstruse concept be expressed in poetry? From the passages cited above, we see how Yu Hsi often uses nature imagery to express such concepts as the original nature and the distinctive mark of truth by resorting to a wide range of poetic devices, especially the time-honored trio in Chinese poetry of straightforward narrative, explicit comparison, and implied comparison. In this way he seeks to establish a kind of sympathetic resonance with the reader, the purpose of which he explains as follows:

As I see it, creative writing
Should be readily intelligible to those of the same mindset;
It should serve as a kind of guiding light,
Waiting for that lovely butterfly to return from a dream.[25]

But just what is this reality perceived by the poet and revealed in his poems? Actually, due to the limitations of language, it’s not directly explained, and any attempt to do so runs the risk of becoming for the reader yet another object of attachment. Thus the poet uses the beauty of nature to point to the human heart and mind, resulting in a kind of tacit understanding akin to the Buddhist idea of the “mind-to-mind transmission” of spiritual insight.

4. Poetic depictions of spiritual awakening
Poetry serves as a bridge between Yu Hsi’s photography and spiritual practice. Thus throughout his poetry we find an artful fusion of nature imagery and spiritual practice. As such, his poetry can be seen as an open record of his experience on the spiritual path. In this connection he states:

I endeavor to take an awareness of the nature of the world and blend it with
The condition of sentient beings,
To formulate a new approach to “dedicating this body and mind to all the worlds”;
This is the way to practice sincere universal love for everything in the universe.[26]

In this blending of awareness and sentient beings can be seen both transcending the world and entering into it. This characteristic bivalency reflects certain aspects of the poet’s mental state, on which he says:

By perfectly blending the inner perceptions of the heart with imagery found in the external world, neither accepting them nor rejecting them, the poet uses symbols and metaphors to lead the reader on a journey of exploration into the mystery of life, thereby triggering insight into the nature of reality that serves as a bridge leading back to his true home.[27]

With respect to explaining such abstruse concepts as reality and enlightenment, even the Buddha had to resort to all sorts of metaphors and expedient means. Similarly, by virtue of his extensive knowledge of the natural world, Yu Hsi uses poetic descriptions of ordinary objects and events in nature to explicate the course of spiritual practice, thereby building a bridge between the external world of nature and the inner world of the spirit. In this connection Jian Zhengzhen states:

Yu Hsi knows that ultimate principles can’t be directly explained. Instead, it’s necessary to turn them into images which are not bound by scriptural definitions, and thereby have a kind of autonomy.

Buddhist principles presented in the form of images have a certain charm that facilitates their entry into the heart and mind.

Thus in his poetry leisurely characters and charming nature imagery are used to present abstract philosophical concepts.[28]

As for nature aesthetics, Yu Hsi uses streamlined imagery to express his philosophical and spiritual insights, as in the poem “Recollection of the Viburnum Tree”:

Water and man floating in a canoe
A single leaf stirs a refreshing breeze
Dropping oars riding billows and breakers to enter the endless flow
Dark blue sea, deep but for the lunar eclipse
Handsome solitary peak stacked clouds clustered round
Pine-born sound 100,000 melodies of ancient antiquity offered to those who have ears.

Sounding off
Night train rumbles past a small village
Childhood memory old-fashioned colors magically arrayed, fading in the four seasons
Water bottle emitting a hidden coolness
Babbling brook singing on a spring day
Returning home sunrise lotus, these days only blooming in a small depressed pond
Glossy leaves fully infused with sunset rays
South wind of summer, somehow forgetting to smile
Meandering moonlight sending off every worry
Curving red sun delivering a chatty flower blossom
Fleet-footed clouds driven by the wind
Rays of evening sunlight in a gorgeous dance of fire.

A solitary rainbow steals into the deepest ravine on a wondrous peak
Noisy fallen leaves
Cover an old dilapidated house
Thick green fog for years on end
A viburnum tree covered with green moss now grows
Slight breeze blowing what’s the use of breaking in?
Only in the shimmering light of the setting moon
Just before the rain falls
Can you catch a glimpse of it through a crevice.[29]

In this poem we find a description of the gradual arising of insight along the path of spiritual practice.
In the first stanza, the boat represents how the average person drifts through life, buffeted about by ever-changing causes and conditions; the arrival of the breeze represents the start of life; and the oars represent one’s motivation or direction in life. Inasmuch as it is ignorance that keeps us on the wheel of repeated birth and death, we are born into a state of ignorance, as indicated by the lowering of the oars. Being trapped in samsara is compared with drifting on the sea; yet, despite being bound in the stupor of ignorance, it’s still possible to discover elements of beauty and goodness, as indicated by the appearance of the handsome peak at the time of the lunar eclipse. The sound of the pine tree brings us to the crucial issue of whether or not we can fathom its mysterious meaning and perceive within nature that momentous sound seldom heard.
In the next stanza he unpacks the implications of this momentous sound with vivid descriptions of various scenes from his childhood—a train, a stream, the moonlight, flowers, clouds, the sunset—each one brimming with vitality and serving to reveal a central principle of Yu Hsi’s poetry: the insight into reality arising through the deep, childlike contemplation of phenomena, especially the beauty of nature.
The rainbow represents the light of wisdom, and its stealing into the crevice can be seen as indicating a thread of wisdom gradually entering the heart during the course of searching for the childlike mind. The moss-covered viburnum tree represents the long-ignored original nature, now detected by virtue of this thread of wisdom. Yet the path of awakening is a long and arduous one; thus in the final three lines, catching a glimpse of the shimmering light of the setting moon just before it rains indicates the necessity of fully appreciating this ray of wisdom and making it shine in order to use it to wash clean our original nature.
Let us now look at the poem “Ancient Harmony”:

Wind cave exhaling clouds teary stamens
Old score tickles red leaves singing on high
Dead trees ejected from cold waves
Yet eliciting an apricot forest about to bloom
bitterly cold icefall, frozen solid
yet ensconcing pockets of warm air
Green petals pressing high
Bright red peach blossoms
yet allowing the branch-gone spring to escape
Dew-fed noctilucent moss
Lotus blinks, pool disappears
Alas the fleeting spring
A flick of the sleeve
Departed Taipei come to Hualian
The stationary one
Staying put on the eastern coast
Releasing layered mountains
Taking in rafts floating on the vast sea
Walking and singing, taking in the whole world
footprints as always left in the native place
Ungraspable the sound of the bell kissing the tide
Matters not for me finger searching for the moonlight traversing a starry bridge.[30]

For Yu Hsi, spiritual practice is not limited to the monastery, but is rather part and parcel of life itself. The first two lines indicate the poet’s yearning search for the harmony of nature, since nature is what preserves man's natural simplicity of character. The next four lines indicate the ebb and flow of life and the interpenetrating nature of opposites, i.e., the young apricot trees amongst the dead trees, and the warm air trapped inside the seemingly solid ice.
Despite the immanence of life, it is in a constant state of flux, as indicated here by the fleeting nature of spring. The next two lines refer to Yu Hsi’s move to Hualian, the setting which has become for him a source of boundless inspiration. In the next line he uses yi, his favorite indefinite pronoun, which here probably refers to the ancient harmony, the apprehension and appreciation of which he gives so much importance to. In the next two lines he points out the ubiquity of this universal rhythm of life by referring to the mountains and sea.
In the third and fourth lines from the end, he extols the beauty of Taiwan’s east coast and points out that realization of the loftiness of life is the aim of spiritual practice; he also emphasizes the importance of keeping heart and mind firmly grounded in the native place, in one’s ultimate source. In the last two lines he again expresses the free and easy state of mind resulting from immersion in the nightscape and his letting go of attachment to the spring.
Thus this poem describes the transformation of mind which occurs in the process that begins with perceiving and contemplating nature, and proceeds to the letting go of discriminations between nature and truth.

5. Returning to the natural simplicity of one’s true self
Despite his emphasis on spiritual practice and not getting entangled in worldly affairs, Yu Hsi expresses a deep concern for society. For Luo Di, Yu Hsi’s poetry “exhibits a profound affection for the world.”[31] In his review of The Rabbit is Pregnant he writes:

In his poetry Yu Hsi exhibits a profound affection for the world. Great philosophers and writers, whatever writing style they adopt, invariably express a deep concern and genuine love for the world. This sentiment is found practically everywhere in Yu Hsi’s poetry.[32]

However, Yu Hsi’s way of expressing concern for the world is rather unique. While most social commentators directly describe and decry the various problems and inequities of society, Yu Hsi’s approach is to instead describe the human heart and mind, the perverted state of which are for him the underlying source of all the ills plaguing the modern world. Thus he frequently draws comparisons between nature and modern society as a way of highlighting the virtues of simplicity and guilelessness. Take, for example, his poem “Cloud Bowl”:

Recalling sketching an image in the mind sea
Street lights thickly arrayed, discovered on the seabed after millions of years
Dark green water flowing into the azure sea
Vestiges of an ancient city forever in the rainforest
Circumambulating a lake
Memory and feeling repeatedly returning
Organ and scent of grass hovering in the past
Soundwave of a conch rises up on the sea
Its power coming from inside the innermost inside.

Breakfast waiting at the MOS counter
I see two butterflies attracted by the smell, barging in
Momentarily consulting one another, seeming to have forgotten their purpose
Indulged, flying out
Light rain walking on the beach
On the head a wide-brimmed rain hat, one in hand
Wanting to buy yet one more
Waves advancing and retreating, guided by the schist
Striding over the gaps, past the dusk
Catching sight of a few heaps of rice burning near the fishing village
Accidentally encountering an orchid heart on the road
Carefully listening to the orchid
Sky perfectly clear
Earth perfectly silent
A sheet of fog
a gale of wind
a spate of rain
Why is this tiny orchid so lonely?[33]

In the first stanza, the first four lines are a description of the Pacific Ocean and the East Coast Mountain Range. The “streetlights” refer to the lights on the fishing boats, or perhaps to the streetlights on the old-fashioned street in the town of Fengbin; either way, they convey a sense transience. The ancient city in the fourth line is a metaphor representing the East Coast Mountain Range.
The fifth and sixth lines are about a search for the past. In the seventh line, Yu Hsi recalls the organ at the Fengbin Elementary School, and also reminisces about the happy simplicity of the past. In the last two lines of this stanza the conch indicates a transition to specifically Buddhist subject matter. The expression “inside the innermost inside” refers to the self-nature. Indeed, Yu Hsi sees his poetry as a kind of “inner exploration.”
The first four lines of the second stanza are set in the MOS Burger fast-food franchise, and reflect the psycho-spiritual state of modern society. The two butterflies represent two women, but can also be seen as an allusion to Zhuangzi’s famous dream of a butterfly, suggesting that it’s often difficult to differentiate between fantasy and reality. The chattering butterflies forgetting their purpose refers to the two women being so engrossed in gossiping that they forget to order some food, indicating how the rush and muddle of daily life in modern society causes most people to neglect the true purpose of life.
Thus the second stanza begins by highlighting the stark contrast between the frantic stress of modern city life and the peace and tranquility of the East Coast.
What Yu Hsi is exploring here is that which lies at the depth of the human heart, that which can only be found “inside the innermost inside.” Following the women’s departure in line four, the poem returns to the East Coast.
In the next three lines the rain refers to both actual rain and the inner storm of emotional afflictions. The hat on the head wards off the actual rain, the hat in hand wards off the inner storm, and wanting to buy another hat signifies the desire for additional protection.
In the next five lines, the waves, shale, and the coast at dusk serve to evoke a solitary state of mind. The burning of rice stalks represents eradicating the defilements. Thus the import of this passage is the elimination of defilements, both on the outer level by using the wide-brimmed hat, and on the inner level by fire, resulting in the appearance of the orchid heart representing purity and joy. Such references to spiritual practice occur throughout Yu Hsi’s work.
The last six lines of this poem convey the sense of solitude and isolation that results from finding this orchid of purity and joy. For the attainment of profound wisdom sets one apart from the ruck, and once it is attained, there is no going back to one’s previous muddle-headed condition. For Yu Hsi, this is a burden the spiritual aspirant must be willing to shoulder.[34] Indeed, the adage “it’s lonely at the top” also applies to the sage. The final poem I’d like to examine is “The Child of the Forest”:

On a cold night lighting a lamp
Writing a letter expressing genuine feeling, now a thing of the past
These days everyone uses e-mail
A street bustling by day
A million people all searching for a lover.

Child of the forest slingshot in hand
Crouching low, only to run into two white cranes dancing
The affection of dew dwells not inside a withered and curled yellow leaf
A butterfly of fine hue flies over
Oh Youth, how could you seek to catch it in a net?
Someone trades a maple leaf for a gold coin
In the sky flies a white crane dropping a red feather
—Whose is that arrow now released?

The Boy formerly in a cradle is now grown up
Absorbed in the sight of the Girl dancing
Jumping left, leaping right dancing out beauty and innocence
Reason and emotion subtly mingling
Interflow of song and play
The Youth in a spring dream rides a hobby-horse racing with a rabbit
A white crane soars into the clouded heavens
A white horse gallops into the reed catkins.[35]

In the first three lines of the first stanza Yu Hsi reveals his nostalgia for the simplicity of yesteryear by contrasting the former mode of correspondence with that of today. In the last two lines of this stanza he points out that despite the technological developments and high standard of living of modern society, people are basically unsatisfied, causing them to continually search for something that will bring a sense of fulfillment. Here this “something” is represented by the lover, but it’s left for the reader to decide if everyone is searching for their own lover, or if the lover they are seeking is one and the same.
In the second stanza the sense of conflict is heightened. The crane, dew, and butterfly all represent fortuitous beauty—a kind of natural and spontaneous beauty that can’t be found by sedulously looking for it. Caught in a net, the crane or butterfly loses its natural beauty. The beauty of the maple leaf is only complete when it exists within its natural context; trading the beauty of the glimmering dew on a yellowed leaf for a gold coin represents the philistine attitude of treating nature as just another commodity. For the luster of gold, though alluring, doesn’t compare to the beauty of nature. In the next two lines, the red feather dropped by the crane obliquely indicates that the crane was shot out of the sky by an arrow, resulting in the bird’s cruel demise, as well as a ghastly but colorful mix of red and white. Here Yu Hsi takes the contrast drawn in the first stanza and expands it into the contrast between the beauty of nature and the ugliness of greed. In this way he encourages the reader to consider the proper attitude to adopt towards the pursuit of beauty in nature.
The third stanza describes the guilelessness and innocence of childhood friendship. The Girl’s dance reveals a kind of well-rounded and harmonious innocence. Similarly, the Youth sporting in a dream represents the purity of the childlike mind. At the end of the poem, we find what the child of the forest, now grown up and living in the modern world, lacks the most. In the last two lines, the crane, clouds, horse, and catkins are all pure white, and white entering into white represents the state of perfect harmony and freedom. This description of the Youth is in fact a description of the human heart and mind returning to the purity and simplicity of its source. This is what contemporary people groping about in the glitzy and garish modern world are really looking for.

III. Conclusion
Yu Hsi’s nature aesthetics is deeply informed by his experience in childhood and youth, and his work is replete with a wide array of nature imagery expressing various philosophical and religious ideas. In this paper I have attempted to elucidate the connection between this imagery and the ideas they express, focusing on five themes: deep contemplation by observing details; extending nature images; revealing the appearance of the world; poetic depictions of spiritual awakening; and returning to the natural simplicity of one’s true self.
Yet it remains to be seen whether or not such an approach can adequately provide a complete interpretation of all the ideas Yu Hsi covers in his work. This is especially the case with such later works as Prasrabdhi and Poetry—A Novel, gaining an adequate interpretation of which may well require making use of additional perspectives and methods.

[1] Luo Di, “Depictions of the Human and Divine Realms in the Poetry of Yu Hsi,” New Source Person 48 (2004), p. 101.
[2] Lin Wenqin, “Approaching the Sublime: The Concept of Salvation in Yu Hsi’s Prasrabdhi,” New Source Person 80 (2012), pp. 94–102.
[3] Ye Haiyan, A Dialogue between Poetry and Philosophy, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2012).
[4] Interview with Yu Hsi conducted by Xin Yu, titled “Poetry—Connecting the Blue Sky and the Green Earth,” The Epoch Poetry Quarterly 139 (2004), p. 64.
[5] Luo Renling, Nature Aesthetics in Contemporary Taiwan: The Poetry of Yang Mu, Zheng Chouyu, and Zhou Mengdie, (Taipei: Elite Books, 2005), p. 15.
[6] Luo Renling, Nature Aesthetics in Contemporary Taiwan: The Poetry of Yang Mu, Zheng Chouyu, and Zhou Mengdie, (Taipei: Elite Books, 2005), p. 19.
[7] Interview with Yu Hsi conducted by the author on January 6, 2014.
[8] Interview with Yu Hsi conducted by Xin Yu, titled “Poetry—Connecting the Blue Sky and the Green Earth,” The Epoch Poetry Quarterly 139 (2004), p. 63.
[9] Interview with Yu Hsi conducted by the author on January 7, 2014.
[10] Interview with Yu Hsi conducted by Xin Yu, titled “Poetry—Connecting the Blue Sky and the Green Earth,” The Epoch Poetry Quarterly 139 (2004), p. 65.
[11] For more on Yu Hsi’s life and literary career, see Xu Weiqiang, “Yu Hsi’s Collections of Short Poems” (master’s thesis, National Kaohsiung Normal University, 2014), pp. 143–152.
[12] Interview with Yu Hsi conducted by Xin Yu, titled “Poetry—Connecting the Blue Sky and the Green Earth,” The Epoch Poetry Quarterly 139 (2004), p. 67.
[13] Yu Hsi, “Huayan Meng,” in Yu Hsi Poetry Anthology I, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2001), p. iii.
[14] Yu Hsi, Yu Hsi Poetry Anthology I, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2001), pp. 9–12.
[15] Yu Hsi, Pisces Playing with the Moon, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2002), pp. 126–128.
[16] Lin Mingli, “Give Your Poetry a Voice—A Review of Yu Hsi’s Poem ‘Native Place • Proclamation of the Spicebush─Yuanyang Lake Travelogue,’”Wenxun Magazine 297 (2010), pp. 18–19.
[17] Yu Hsi, The Silver Candle of the Fifth Watch, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2002), pp. 107–110.
[18] Yu Hsi, The Silver Candle of the Fifth Watch, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2002), pp. 20–23.
[19] Lin Wenqin, “Approaching the Sublime: The Concept of Salvation in Yu Hsi’s Prasrabdhi,” New Source Person 80 (2012), p. 97–101.
[20] Liu Guijie and Zheng Jiliang, eds., Buddhist Studies and Life, (New Taipei City: National Open University, 2011), p. 201.
[21] Yu Hsi, “Huayan Meng,” in Yu Hsi Poetry Anthology I, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2001), pp. i–vii.
[22] Yu Hsi, Yu Hsi Poetry Anthology I, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2001), pp. 14.
[23] Yu Hsi, Impish Stone Teases the Spring, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2001), pp. 33–36.
[24] Yu Hsi, Dew Coursing in Heaven, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2000), p. 148.
[25] Interview with Yu Hsi conducted by Xin Yu, titled “Poetry—Connecting the Blue Sky and the Green Earth,” The Epoch Poetry Quarterly 139 (2004), p. 65.
[26] Interview with Yu Hsi conducted by Xin Yu, titled “Poetry—Connecting the Blue Sky and the Green Earth,” The Epoch Poetry Quarterly 139 (2004), p. 63.
[27] Yu Hsi, “Seeing is Believing: Treading the Path, Knowing the Way—Imagery and Text as the Two Wings of Creativity,” Wenxun Magazine 173 (2000), pp. 54.
[28] Jian Zhengzhen, “Imagery and Buddhist Doctrine in the Poetry of Yu Hsi,” Wenxun Magazine 244 (2006), p. 105.
[29] Yu Hsi, Yu Hsi Poetry Anthology I, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2001), pp. 42–44.
[30] Yu Hsi, Yu Hsi Poetry Anthology I, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2001), pp. 143–146.
[31] Luo Di, “Chan Poetry, Pure and Clear: A Review of Yu Hsi’s The Rabbit is Pregnant,” Wenxun Magazine 209 (2003), p. 26.
[32] Luo Di, “Chan Poetry, Pure and Clear: A Review of Yu Hsi’s The Rabbit is Pregnant,” Wenxun Magazine 209 (2003), p. 26.
[33] Yu Hsi, Yu Hsi Poetry Anthology I, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2001), pp. 3–4.
[34] For more on “Cloud Bowl,” see my interview conducted on January 6, 2014.
[35] Yu Hsi, One Color Less, (Taipei: Poem Cultural Corporation, 2002), pp. 11–14.