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Lin Chen (fl. 1180) was from Suchou in Kiangsu province but has left us no other information about himself than what can be gathered from this poem. Some commentators attribute this poem to another Lin Chen (fl. 1050) from Fukien province. The last couplet, however, suggests it was written after the Sung court moved to Hangchou, which would support the attribution to the later man. Still others assign the poem to a man named Lin Hung, about whom nothing else is known. In any case, Cold Spring Pavilion was at the foot of a rock formation in Hangchou known as Feilai Peak, opposite the front gate of Lingyen Temple. From here, the spring flows along a rocky bed for several kilometers and then empties into the northwest corner of West Lake. Following the relocation of the court to Hangchou in 1129, West Lake became the scene of constant parties by an expatriate government that lacked the will or the power to retake North China from the Khitans. Lin, like most Chinese, accepted Mencius’s view (Mencius: 6b.8) that our nature is originally pure but becomes impure as the result of improper involvement in our social and cultural environment, and also because of poor nourishment. When Zen masters try to explain enlightenment to their disciples, they often compare it to drinking water: “Whether it’s warm or cold is something you have taste for yourself.”

Cold Spring Pavilion

LIN CHEN

A stream of pure water can soothe a poet’s soul

it alone knows how warm or cold the years have been

flowing into West Lake it carries entertainers

looking back it’s changed since the mountains