The Four Seasons as depicted in the Sino-Barbarian Hall

The poem on the spring scene read:
The vital forces of heaven turn creation around;
The world is happy and everything is renewed.
The peach and the plum blossoms vie in splendour;
Swallows fly to the painted rafters, shaking the incense dust.

The poem on the summer scene read:
In warm and sultry air all thoughts are slow
The palace mallow and pomegranate reflect the sun's brilliance.
The jade flute's music disturbs the noonday dream;
The scent of caltrops is wafted through the curtains.

The poem on the autumn scene read:
One leaf on the parasol tree by the well is yellow;
The pearl curtain is not rolled up on the night of frost.
After the autumn sacrifice the the swallows abandon their nest;
When the rush flowers snap, the wild geese leave for another land.

 The poem on the winter scene read:
The clouds fly over the rainy sky, all dark and cold;
The north wind blows the snow into thousands of bills.
Deep in the palace the stove glows warm;
They say the plum has blossomed by the jade balustrade.

The matching poem on the spring scene read:
The sun's warmth melts the ice the world around;
Within the palace garden, flowers are renewed.
Gentle winds and rain enrich the people;
Rivers and seas are calm; gone is all wordly dust.

The matching poem on the summer scene read:
The Dipper now points south; the day goes slow;
Locust and pomegranate trees contend in brilliance.
Golden oriole and purple swallow sing in the willows,
Their melodious voices drifting through red curtains.

The matching poem on the autumn scene read:
Fragrant the green mandarin; the orange turns to yellow.
Blue pine and cypress welcome frost's coming.
Half-open chrysanthemums make a tapestry on the trellis;
Pipes and songs waft through the watery, cloud-covered land.


The matching poem on the winter scene read:
As skies clear after welcome snow the air is cold;
Grotesque-shaped crags and boulders mark jade hills.
As charcoal burns in the stove to warm the yoghurt
Singing with hands in their sleeves they lean on jade balustrades.



* Information derived from Journey to the West written by Wu Cheng'En *

Obtaining the Scriptures and Achieving Nirvana

Nirvana sutra - 748 rolls

Bodhisattva sutra - 1,021 rolls

Akasagarbha sutra - 400 rolls

Surangama sutra - 110 rolls

Collection of sutras on the meaning of grace - 50 rolls

Determination sutra - 140 rolls

Ratnagarbha sutra - 45 rolls

Avatamsaka sutra - 500 rolls

Sutra on worshipping Bhutatathata - 90 rolls

Mahaprajnaparamita sutra - 916 rolls

Mahaprabhasa sutra - 300 rolls

Adbhuta-dharma sutras - 1,110 rolls

Vimalakirti sutra - 170 rolls

The Three Sastras - 270 rolls

Diamond sutra - 100 rolls

Saddharma sastra - 120 rolls

Buddhacaritakavya sutra - 800 rolls

Pancanaga sutra - 32 rolls

Bodhisattva-vinaya sutra - 116 rolls

Mahasamnipata sutras - 130 rolls

Makara sutra - 350 rolls

Saddharma-pundarika sutra - 100 rolls

Yoga sutra - 100 rolls

Precious Eternity sutra - 220 rolls

Sutra on the Western Heaven - 130 rolls

Samghika sutra - 157 rolls

Samyukta-Buddhadesa sutra - 1,950 rolls

Mahayana-sraddhotpadasa sutra - 1,000 rolls

Great Wisdom sutra - 1,080 rolls

Ratna-prabhava sutra - 1,280 rolls

Original Pavilion sutra - 850 rolls

Principal vinaya sutra - 200 rolls

Mahamayuri-vidyarajni sutra - 200 rolls

Vijnaptimatra-tasiddhi sastra - 100 rolls

Abhidharma-kosa sastra - 200 rolls

"Nature revealed and mind made clear, they visited the Buddha;

Actions complete and all achieved, they flew aloft".

Happy Land of the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, Cave Heaven of the Water Curtain

In spring they picked flowers for food and drink,

In summer they lived off fruit.

In autumn they gathered taro and chesnuts,

They got through the winter on Solomon's-seal.

~

A light glow suffused the boudless sky;

A few crows were late in finding their roosts.

Lights were lit throughout the city as all fell still;

It was just the hour for the monks to enter the trance.

~

Palace of immortals: yellow shoots and white snow.
Home of men who can fly: rare and wonderful flowers.

~

 The Tang Priest,

Shivering and shaking,

Weeping and lost for words.

Zhu Bajie,

Muttering and grumbling,

Full of complaints.

Friar Sand,

Talking away,

While secretly feeling uncertain.

Sun the Novice,

Chuckling merrily,

Ready to use his powers.

~


Precious flames and golden light dazzled the eye,
While the rare incense and delicacies were marvellously fine.
The thousand-storeyed golden pavilion was infinitely lovely,
And pure sounded immortals' music on the ear.
Meatless food and magic flowers of the sort that are rare on earth,
Fragrant teas and exotic dishes that give eternal life.
After a long period of enduring a thousand kinds of suffering,
Today comes the glorious happiness of the Way completed.


~


The holy monk long strove to fetch the scriptures;
For fourteen years across the West he strayed.
He journeyed hard and met with much disaster;
By mountain and by rivers long delayed.
Completing eight times nine and one nine more,
His deeds filled worlds in numbers beyond measure.
He went back to his country taking sutras
That people in the East will always treasure.

~

This post was inspired by the 1996 Journey to the West / 西遊記 TV series produced and broadcasted by TVB HK.