For a thousand years, the sacred texts have been borne,
The Four Books and the Five Classics, wisdom's core.
The sage-kings nurtured all the people, and were sworn,
Confucius and Yan Hui, models to adore.
Their source lies deep in the vast and silent void,
Yet daily use shines like the sun and stars deployed.
Swift as the leopard's change, they seize the chance,
Striving with force to reach the phoenix hall's expanse.
Through feeling and connection, vital breath runs free,
Their moistening influence flows through all forms we see.
To deliberate is to hit the mark outright,
To govern is to whet the blade, sharp and bright.
When realized, they rain blessings under heaven's dome;
When thwarted, they bring spring to woods, a quiet home.
Since Mencius passed away, this truth has lain concealed,
In darkness long, its radiance no more revealed.
From Liu Xin, Yang Xiong to Ma, Zheng, scholars' line,
They gleam like fireflies in the dark, a feeble shine.
From Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan to Ou, Su, the great,
They seem as if in drunken stupor, lost to fate.
In broad daylight, they stare with unperceiving eyes,
And fail to see Mount Tai's green peaks against the skies.
Though orchids spread across nine fields, their scent so sweet,
With stuffed-up noses, none the fragrance can entreat.
Vast is the city, its mansions grand and wide,
Yet no one comes to draw the bolts and step inside.
The ancestral temple loses splendor bold,
Towers and pavilions in the mist unfold.
Deep are the seven lakes of Chu, a watery maze,
Vast the eastern seas, lost in a distant haze.
They know not the Sea God's face, yet boast and prate,
With lofty talk, as on proud ships they navigate.
They call it the South-Pointing Chariot, a guide,
But mistake Ding for Bing, with error as their pride.
They boast of building rooms with skill and art,
Yet make the steps as halls, missing the central part.
Heterodoxies fill the cosmos, dense and deep,
They cannot tell the Wei from Jing, in thought asleep.
Night-shining gems lie hidden in the sand,
They pass them by, with never a staying hand.
In writing, Wang Anshi filled the court with thorns,
His doctrines sharp, inviting strife and scorns.
A common man with false debate held sway,
And turned the world to bloodshed, night and day.
To read the books without grasping essence true,
Is but to shake an empty stalk, with nothing to construe.