A Cold Mountain Spirit

Kendra Cowart

 Hinton, Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China (Cold Mountain, or Han Shan, 128 – 141)

 Cold Mountain, or Han Shan, utilizes poetry to represent nature as an almost omnipotent and spiritual force. Nature in his poems is described as both a benign and destructive force as he describes in two different poems. He demonstrates the Cold Mountain as comforting when he says, “Who can leave the world’s tangles behind/ and sit with me among these white clouds” (130)? Here the poet recalls the serene quality of nature while also distinguishing the difference between the world and the earth. He also shows a contrasting harsh aspect about nature when he writes, “The cold in these mountains is ferocious” (131). This statement perceives nature as beastly, implying that nature is alive and can be untamed at times. The poet also views nature in a religious sense in that he often uses words in his poem like “spirit” and “heaven” (132, 135). At this point, he sees the Cold Mountain as more of a spiritual being instead of a mere landform. With his supernatural depictions of nature, the poet views the Cold Mountain as his god and his heaven, and further symbolizes his love and devotion with his references of connecting with nature, like disappearing into it.

 The Cold Mountain poet not only sees nature as a spiritual being, but also identifies it as his home. He places himself inside the mountain when he writes, “but these Heaven-Terrace Mountains have always been my home: / a place to vanish among five-thousand-foot cliffs and pinnacles” (135) When the poet sees this heavenly place as his home and vanishes among the huge mass of land, he demonstrates that he finds himself as a part of this spiritual entity that nature is to him. By connecting with nature in this way, he also feels that he is a piece of nature as well. He even disconnects himself from the human race at one point when he speaks of humanity’s reaction to his home. He speaks of humans complaining, “about a look human eyes can’t endure/ and a shape nothing but tattered robes” (136). In distancing himself from humans and observing from them that his home is viewed as unbearable, the poet himself becomes immortalized. However, he does not by any means consider himself as a god since he cannot fully grasp the complexity of the Cold Mountain. The poet describes how beautiful the mountain is and then observantly questions, “Look, look all around/ here: any sign of me” (139)? In describing the mechanisms that make up his home, he finds that cannot keep composure and loses himself in the midst of it all, displaying weakness. Thus, his loss of self symbolizes the fact that he cannot grasp the entire complexity of his home. He also presents this theme when he describes the intensity of the fall season and writes, “This confusion includes a lost guest now/ searching, searching – no sky to be seen” (131). The poet demonstrates here as well that he is searching for and understanding of the change of events or seasons to his home, except in a more negative connotation. Here he appears as lost as opposed to his more careless attitude in the first example. 

 The poet also encourages others to ‘lose themselves’ in the intricacy of nature. He says, “Leave wisdom dark: spirit’s enlightened of itself. / Empty your gaze and this world’s beyond silence” (132). He wants the reader to stop searching for knowledge, but instead participate in the spiritual side of nature. He also suggests that by clearing the mind of all thoughts an individual can calm the universe. Here again, the Cold Mountain poet creates an interpersonal connection between man and nature. With this and his many other references to the intimate relationship between humanity and nature, the poet suggests the impact that they have on each other. With this central theme he indirectly demonstrates how important nature is and how humankind should treat it with care and appreciation.