WRITTEN AT RANDOM

Cheng Hao

Northern Song Dynasty (1032-1085)

There's nothing I do but with ease when I'm at leisure;

Awake, I find east window reddened in sunlight.

Nature contemplated calmly has its own pleasure;

I enjoy four seasons with all men in delight.

Law is formless but reigns over heaven and earth;

Thoughts assume various shapes, 

And change like wind and cloud,

Wealth can't seduce me; poverty won't reduce mirth.

A man who attains this of his deeds may be proud.

偶成

[北宋]程颢

闲来无事不从容,睡觉东窗日已红。

万物静观皆自得,四时佳兴与人同。

道通天地有形外,思入风云变态中。

富贵不淫贫贱乐,男儿到此是豪雄。

About the poet 

Cheng Hao was a Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) poet who was also one of the most respected philosophers of his time. 

He was a pioneer of the Li (philosophy) School, the main core of which was moral theology.

About the translator 

Xu Yuanchong (1921-2021) was born in Nanchang in East China's Jiangxi Province. He was a professor of literary translation at Peking University.

About the book 

Golden Treasury of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Poetry Translated by Xu Yuanchong & Xu Ming Published by China Intercontinental Press