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Wang Wei (701–761) spent much of his time wandering in the mountains. Hsiangchi Temple was fifteen kilometers southwest of Ch’ang-an, on top of one of the plateaus formed by the loess that blew down from Mongolia in winter and settled at the foot of the Chungnan Mountains. The clouds on this occasion are below the plateau and envelop the capital. The temple was built around A.D. 700 at the confluence of the Hao and Chueh Rivers by the disciples of Shan-tao (d. 681), one of the patriarchs of Pure Land Buddhism. The serpent in the pool represents the delusions of the mind. For a comparison of Pure Land with Zen practice by the temple’s recently-deceased abbot, see Road to Heaven, pg. 95.

Passing Hsiangchi Temple

WANG WEI

Unaware of Hsiangchi Temple

I walked for miles past mountains of clouds

ancient trees an empty path

somewhere in the hills a bell

streamsound murmuring boulders

the sun through cold green pines

a silent pool in fading light

where Zen subdued the serpent