Beneath the light, the river and hills are beautiful, The spring breeze bears the fragrance of flowers and grass. The mud has thawed, and swallows fly around. On the warm sand, mandarin ducks are sleeping.
Du FuRead
My heart is in a world of water and crystal, My clothes are damp in this time of spring rains.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a connection to nature, illustrating the beauty and challenges of spring weather.
Du Fu's quote reflects the beauty of nature in spring, with its rains stimulating growth and life. It conveys a sense of being immersed in the environment, where the dampness of the season brings both discomfort and a sense of rejuvenation, highlighting the duality of experiencing nature's beauty alongside its challenges.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a nature walk to reflect on the beauty of spring.
Beneath the light, the river and hills are beautiful, The spring breeze bears the fragrance of flowers and grass. The mud has thawed, and swallows fly around. On the warm sand, mandarin ducks are sleeping.
The weeping voices rise straight up and strike the clouds. A passer-by at the roadside asks a conscript why, The conscript answers only that drafting happens often.
Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles, I'd house all the poor scholars and make them beam with smiles
I see shining fish struggling within tight nets, while I hear orioles singing carefree tunes. Even trivial creatures know the difference between freedom and bondage. Sympathy and compassion should be but natural to the human heart.
The dance of the flower in the wind, in the sun, in the rain, cannot be understood by the head; the heart has to be open for it.
The ocean is a mighty harmonist.
The moth settled onto the curtain and sat still. It was an astonishing creature, with black and white wings patterned in geometric shapes, scarlet underwings, and a fat white body with black spots running down it like a snowman's coal buttons. No human eye had looked at this moth before; no one would see its friends. So much detail goes unnoticed in the world.
We are extremely uncomfortable with the spiritual aspects of gardening, and yet most people feel it in some form or other, even if it's a sense of connection to the greater world on a beautiful day.
The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.
All we can hope for is that the thing is going to slowly and imperceptibly shift. All I can say is that 50 years ago there were no such thing as environmental policies.
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