Spirit

First rule: when that mountain ghost confronts you,

Allow yourself-and him-no sign of fear.

You have your wits; use them. Wrap yourself in calm,

Call him by his proper name, and send him packing.

To seek relief in incense, to call out Buddha's name,

To prostrate yourself before the village monks

Well-become a gnat, attack a metal ox,

And feel your starvation for want of blood.

HAN SHAN was a hermit and poet of the T'ang Dynasty (618-906). Most of Man Shan's poems were written when he lived in the rugged southern and far eastern mountains of China in what is currently Fukien Province. He lived alone in caves and primitive shelters in the mountains in an area referred to as the Heavenly Terrace (T'ien T'ai) Mountains. The name Han Shan means Cold Cliff, Cold Mountain, or Cold Peak. Han Shan is known in Japan as "Kanzan."

PETER STAMBLER'S Unsettled Accounts was a QRL selection in 1987. His collected poems, Coming Ashore Far From Home, was published by ASIA2OOO in Hong Kong. He directs the Liberal Arts program at the University of the Arts, in Philadelphia.

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