孟郊诗
Poems of Meng Jiao
Index
劝友
Encouraging Friendship
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至白涅不缁 至交淡不疑 人生静躁殊 莫厌相箴规 |
Perfect white won't make black darker. Perfect friendship knows when it is weak. In human life, calm and rash are different. Don't despise each other's guidance. |
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胶漆武可接 金兰文可思 堪嗟无心人 不如松柏枝 |
Glue and laquer last through wars. True friendship cultivates our thought. The admiration of heartless men Is not worth honesty and virtue entwined. |
-- 孟郊
废话
If all Tang poets have their Chu Kingdom poems, they also have their moral homilies. Like this one. I'm guessing, from the second and third meanings of some of these characters, that this is something of an apology poem, or a making-up poem, from Meng Jiao to Han Yu. From the supposed time-period within the scrolls, Meng Jiao and Han Yu are just now passing their exams and are still very different men for such close friendship. There's a kind of Confucian vagueness (the vagueness of dogmatic adherents, not of Kongzi) to this poem that allows its intended recipient to nod sagely and accept an apology, without anything actually being said or apologised for. Just what two stubborn and opinionated close friends need. The requirement of a specific apology with admission of error might have been the end of it all.