Verse, [Man] Dressed in White on Mt. Jiuhua

Before the High Tang, Sir Yan was in seclusion on Mt. Jiuhua. While he strolled at night through the forest, there was a grown man in white clothing and a muslin head-cloth, appearing especially good-looking, around 50 years old, who followed a brook as he came, reciting (a poem) as if to himself while he walked. Sir Yan wanted to speak with him, but couldn’t catch up. The next day, Sir Yan asked the villagers what they knew, and they said: “That is a son of the Wu family, who became an advanced scholar. He was good at making poems and died several years ago.”

Brook waters burble, burble, its sounds never ending—
The creek mound’s boundless, boundless, its wild flowers blooming.
I come and I depart, and people do not notice.
Returning, I face just the moon and empty mountain.

In Hedong, they record that an imp [lit: “little spirit”] presented Wei Qixiu with a poem that’s almost the same. It reads, “Brook waters splashing, splashing, its flow never ending— / Sweet grasses constant, constant, the wild flowers blooming. / I come and I depart, and people do not notice. / At yellow dusk I’ve only moonlight on green mountains.” This is also called “Poem of an Old Man on Mt. Hua,” which reads, “Brook waters murmur, murmur, its sounds are unending— / The creek flows boundless, boundless, the wild flowers blooming. / I come and I depart, and people do not notice. / Returning, I usually face the moon and empty mountain.”

吟
作者：九华山白衣
〈晋昌唐燕士隐九华山，夜步林中，有白衣丈夫，戴纱巾，貌孤俊，年近五十，循涧而来，吟步自若。将与之言，未及而没。明日，燕士问里人，有识者曰：“是吴氏子，举进士，善为诗，卒数年矣。”〉
涧水潺潺声不绝，
溪垄茫茫野花发。
自去自来人不知，
归时唯对空山月。
〈河东记无名小鬼赠韦齐休诗，与此正同。云：“涧水溅溅流不绝，芳草绵绵野花发。自去自来人不知，黄昏惟有青山月。”一作华山老人诗。云：“涧水泠泠声不绝，溪流茫茫野花发。自去自来人不知，归时常对空山月。”〉

Mt Jiuhua (“nine-flower”) in Anhui is a Buddhist retreat within nine peaks that form a basin vaguely resembling a lotus flower. In any context even remotely close to a ghost story, wearing white/undyed clothing indicates you’re dead. (In fully living contexts, it’s mostly worn by commoners.) The “High Tang” period is a vague term, but can be thought of as starting roughly around the restoration of Li family rule in 705, following the forced abdication of Empress Wu Zetian, and lasting till sometime during/after the An Lushan Rebellion, say 760 or so.

---L.