Rhythm Enlightenment Volume One · First Rhyme: "Dong"

Clouds to rain, snow to wind, evening glow to clear sky.
Arriving swans to departing swallows, roosting birds to chirping insects.
A three-foot sword, a six-jun bow, north of the mountains to east of the river.

On earth, the Cool Summer Palace; in heaven, the Vast Cold Palace.
Green willows line both banks in morning mist; red apricot blossoms fill a garden in spring rain.
A traveler with wind-frosted temples, setting off early on the road;
An old man in a straw cloak, fishing by the stream in evening mist.

Continuity to change, difference to similarity, white-haired elder to golden-haired child.
River breeze to sea fog, shepherd boy to fisherman.
Yan Hui’s humble lane, Ruan Ji’s desperate path, northern Hebei to eastern Liaoning.
Feet-washing water in the pond, head-on wind outside the door.
Emperor Liang lectured on scriptures at Tongtai Temple; Emperor Han hosted a feast at Weiyang Palace.
Worldly worries cloud the mind, too lazy to strum the seven-stringed lute;
Frost-like white hair covers the temples, too ashamed to look in the polished bronze mirror.

Poverty to wealth, blockage to passage, country elder to streamside child.
White temples to dark brows, gleaming teeth to rosy lips.
Vast heavens, warm sun, wearing a sword to bending a bow.
Green water flows halfway down the stream; red petals fall from a thousand trees.
Swallows dart through willow rain at a wild ferry; fish play among lotus leaves in a fragrant pond.
A woman’s delicate brows arch like a crescent moon beneath her forehead;
A man’s bold spirit surges like a rainbow ten thousand feet long from his chest.