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Ch’eng Hao (1032–1085) was from Loyang and served in Kaifeng as a companion to the crown prince and as an investigating censor. However, due to his opposition to the policies of Wang An-shih, he was demoted and sent to the southernmost part of the empire. He was later recalled but died on his way back. He and his younger brother, Ch’eng Yi, were major spokesmen for the neo-Confucian revival that dominated intellectual life in the Sung. Ch’eng Hao thought that separating the world into internal and external realities was the root of all ill, and that cultivating impartiality and spontaneity was the path all men should follow. In a letter to his fellow neo-Confucian Chang Tsai, he once wrote, “Why should a man think it wrong to follow things that are external, and right to seek what is internal?” He was a man for all seasons, not only spring.

Strolling outside Town

CH’ENG HAO

In the sweet green countryside I walk where I want

spring is in the distant hills jade on all four sides

inspired I chase every red down every willow lane

tired I sit on mossy rocks beside a rushing stream

don’t refuse wine unless you’re already drunk

fear only that flowers will leave with the wind

especially on Chingming when the weather is fine

why not go wandering just remember to return