陋室銘 Inscription on the Humble Home

***Inscription on the Humble Home*** (陋室銘 lòu shì míng) is a parallel-style prose-poem (駢文 pián wén) written by the Tang dynasty poet and philosopher Liu Yuxi (劉禹錫 liú yǔ xī; 772 – 842). The author praises his humble hut to express his noble aspirations, contentment in poverty, and the joy of living a simple life, away from civil service and the imperial bureaucracy. Here I present a prosaic English translation with annotations, as well as a poetic translation by James Black.

山不在高，有仙則名[1]；水不在深，有龍則靈[2]。斯[3]是陋室[4]，惟吾德馨。苔痕上階綠，草色入簾青。談笑有鴻儒[5]，往來無白丁[6]。可以調[7]素琴[8]，閱金經[9]。無絲竹[10]之亂耳[11]，無案牘[12]之勞形[13]。南陽[14]諸葛[15]廬，西蜀[16]子雲[17]亭。孔子云：何陋之有？\*

A mountain does not get its fame from its height, but from the Immortals living there; a lake gets its mystique not from its depth, but from the Dragon living there. This home may be plain and simple, but it is comfortable because I am a person of virtue. The stone steps are covered with dark green stains of moss; the bright green color of grass is reflected into the room by the curtains. Those who came to talk and laugh were erudite scholars, not shallow ignoramuses. I can play my unadorned zither and read the golden classics. There is no loud music to disturb the ears, and no official documents to tire the body. Like Zhuge's thatched cottage in Nanyang, and Ziyun's pavillion in Western Shu. As Confucius once said: "How can it be crude?"

\* Here the author quotes from Chapter 9 of the *Analects of Confucius*《論語·子罕》「子曰：君子居之，何陋之有？」(Confucius said: "When a gentleman is living there, how can it be crude?"). Here, the word crude refers to being barbaric and uncivilized.

[1] 名 míng：出名，著名。Fame; to be famous.

[2] 靈 líng：神奇；靈異。Mysterious in the supernatural sense.

[3] 斯 sī：指示代名詞 "這"。The demonstrative pronoun "this".

[4] 陋室 lòu shì：簡陋的房子。Simple and primitive house.

[5] 鴻儒 hóngrú：大儒，這裡指博學的人。 A learned Confucian scholar.

[6] 白丁 bái dīng：平民，這裡指沒有什麼學問的人。An ignorant and uneducated commoner.

[7] 調 tiáo：彈琴。To play a plucked instrument.

[8] 素琴 sù qín：不加裝飾的琴。Undecorated or unadorned zither.

[9] 金經 jīn jīng：珍貴的經文；可指，儒家、道家、佛教經典。 Valuable scriptures; could be referring to Confucian classics, the Daoist canon, or Buddhist sutras.

[10] 絲竹 sī zhú：絲指弦樂器；竹指管樂器。Plucked string instruments (絲; literally "silk"); woodwind instruments (竹; literally "bamboo").

[11] 亂耳 luàn ěr：擾亂雙耳。 To disturb the ears.

[12] 案牘 àn dú：官府的公文，文書。Official papers and documents

[13] 勞形 láo xíng：使身體勞累。 To tire the body.

[14] 南陽 nán yáng：南陽市（今河南省）。City of Nanyang in modern-day Henan province.

[15] 諸葛 zhū gé：諸葛亮（181 年 – 234 年），三國時蜀漢丞相，出仕前曾隱居南陽。Zhuge Liang (181 – 234), prime minister of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. He lived in seclusion in Nanyang before becoming an official.

[16] 西蜀 xī shǔ：今四川省。Modern-day Sichuan province.

[17] 子雲 zi yún：揚雄（前 53 年 – 18 年）之字，西漢時文學家。The courtesy name of Yang Xiong (53 BC - 18 AD), a literary scholar of the Western Han dynasty.

The translator James Black rendered the title of this prose-poem as *The Scholar's Humble Dwelling*.

山不在高，shān bù zài gāo
有仙則名；yǒu xiān zé míng
水不在深，shuǐ bù zài shēn
有龍則靈。yǒu lóng zé líng
斯是陋室，sī shì lòu shì
惟吾德馨。wéi wú dé xīn
苔痕上階綠，tái hén shàng jiē lǜ
草色入簾青。cǎo sè rù lián qīng
談笑有鴻儒，tán xiào yǒu hóng rú
往來無白丁。wǎng lái wú bái dīng
可以調素琴，kě yǐ diào sù qín
閱金經。yuè jīn jīng
無絲竹之亂耳，wú sī zhú zhī luàn ěr
無案牘之勞形。wú àn dú zhī láo xíng
南陽諸葛廬，nán yáng zhū gé lú
西蜀子雲亭。xī shǔ zi yún tíng
孔子云：何陋之有？ kǒng zǐ yún hé lòu zhī yǒu

Who heeds the hill's bare height until
Some legend grows around the hill?
Who cares how deep the stream before
Its fame is writ in country lore?
And so this humble hut of mine
May shelter virtues half divine.
The moss may climb its ruined stair,
And grassy stains the curtain wear,
But scholars at their ease within,
For all but Ignorance enters in,
With simple lute the time beguile,
Or "Golden Classic's" page a while.
No discords here their ears assail,
Nor cares of business to bewail.
This is the life the Sages led.

"How were they poor?" Confucius said.