A mountain once flew here, who can fathom such divine might?
Ten thousand valleys drum with wind and thunder in their plight.
A thousand cliffs serve as its wings, a formidable sight.
Why did it suddenly shift, to this place, steady and upright?
Lingyue gained this wondrous peak, a marvel in the light.
Langya lost its ancient trace, vanished from mortal sight.
Mists and clouds followed in its wake, a veil both soft and white.
Firs and bamboos, planted long ago, stand in the fading light.
How, in its raw beginnings, was it made the Buddha's site?
I heard of monks who, year by year, with carving tools did fight.
The chisel's sound echoed through deep cliffs, both day and night.
The forge's embers tempered layered walls, burning bright.
Leveled to form a base for wood and earth, a common blight.
Gone was the lush green hue, the natural verdant height.
A billion golden grains of Buddha, statues shining bright.
Stupas rising a hundred feet, piercing the sky with might.
Winding corridors fold upon themselves, a labyrinthine flight.
Not an inch of ground lies idle, in this constructed rite.
A gathering of red dust, the worldly, bustling site.
Ten thousand tiles beneath blue smoke, shrouded from clear light.
To build such active merit, some may think the deed is right.
Yet I can only heave a sigh, prolonged and deep, at this sight.
I came to seek the mountain, its form now altered quite.
Its shape has wholly changed, no longer pure and bright.
Just as I mourn this sheer and severed, solitary height,
How could it be as in the past, in its primordial might?
Little did I know the mountain's foot, descending in its flight,
Came to rest where Yan Yan's chamber stood, in scholarly delight.
I know when it soared and hovered, in its majestic flight,
It was here it shed these very rocks, in its celestial plight.
Towering, it marks a boundary, a formidable line in sight.
Who would dare encroach upon this steadfast, guarded site?
It finds a fitting, splendid form, a victory in the fight.
Wherever the eye can see, rise peaks of rugged height.
Small cassias weave a deep, cool shade, a refuge from the light.
Clear dew forms in sparse, slow drops, a pure and gentle rite.
Cap and sandal are fit for daily strolls, a simple pleasure right.
Lute and winecup grace with elegance, a cultured appetite.
I give great thanks to this secluded cliff, for easing my mind's blight.
It is enough to open my vexed heart, to let in tranquil light.
If it were within the Jetavana grove, so holy and so bright,
Would any remnant jade-green hue remain within our sight?