Rhythm Enlightenment Volume One · First Rhyme: "Dong"

Clouds to rain, snow to wind, evening glow to clear sky.
Incoming swan to departing swallow, roosting bird to chirping insect.
Three-foot sword, six-stone bow, north of the ridge to east of the river.

On earth, the Summer Palace; in heaven, the Moon Palace.
Green willows on both banks, veiled in morning mist; red apricot blossoms in a garden, bathed in spring rain.
A traveler with wind-blown, frost-touched temples, setting off early on the road;
An old man in a straw raincoat, fishing by the stream in the evening mist.

Continuity to change, difference to similarity, white-haired elder to yellow-haired child.
River breeze to sea fog, shepherd boy to fisherman.
Yan Hui’s humble lane, Ruan Ji’s desperate road, northern Hebei to eastern Liaoning.
Feet-washing water in the pond, head-on wind outside the gate.
Emperor Liang lecturing on scriptures at Tongtai Temple; Emperor Han hosting a banquet at Weiyang Palace.
Worldly worries weighing on the heart, too lazy to strum the seven-stringed lute;
Frost-like white hair covering the temples, too ashamed to look in the polished bronze mirror.

Poverty to wealth, blockage to openness, country elder to streamside child.
White temples to green brows, white teeth to red lips.
Vast sky, warm sun, wearing a sword to bending a bow.
Green water in half the stream, red fallen blossoms on a thousand trees.
Swallows darting through willow rain at a wild ferry; fish playing among lotus leaves in a fragrant pond.
A woman’s slender brows, like a crescent moon beneath her forehead;
A man’s heroic spirit, like a rainbow soaring from his chest.