Skip to content

Hanshan Quotes

730–850 China

Hanshan (c.730? – c.850?) was a legendary figure associated with a collection of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty in the Taoist and Chan tradition. No one knows who he was, or when he lived and died.

China
Poets

Also known as: HanShan, Hanshan (poet), Han Shan, Han-shan

Random Hanshan quote

4 quotes

Cold Mountain Son
Forever not change
I live alone
Beyond life death
Note: The following two playful five word per line poems are also literal translations.

I brewed potions in a vain search for life everlasting,
I read books, I sang songs of history,
And today I've come home to Cold Mountain
To pillow my head on the stream and wash my ears.

All the people in the Kuo-ch'ing monastery—
They say, "Han-shan is an idiot."
"Am I really an idiot:" I reflect.
But my reflections fail to solve the question:
for I myself do not know who the self is,
And how can others know who I am?

Worry for others— it does no good in the end.
The great Dao, all amid joy, is reborn.
In a joyous state, ruler and subject accord,
In a joyous home, father and son get along.
If brothers increase their joy, the world will flourish.
If husband and wife have joy, it's worthy of song.
What guest and host can bear a lack of joy?
Both high and low, in joy, lose their woe before long.
Ha ha ha.

Disputed

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Hanshan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.