Yellow Leaves Dance in the Autumn Wind, White Drifts West

During the Republican era, Mr. Yang Xingfo wrote a poem, Sentiment (Qian Xing): 'Yellow leaves dance in the autumn wind, white clouds drift west. Falling leaves return to the deep ravine; the tired cloud knows where to rest?'

Mr. Hu Shih felt this was the finest of all the poems Yang Xingfo wrote. But he thought the poem might be even better with two small changes, and so he revised it to: 'Yellow leaves dance in the autumn wind, white clouds drift west. Falling leaves sink into the deep ravine; the tired cloud returns to where?'

I very much agree with Hu Shih's change. With those two characters altered, the poem's mood and resonance are even better and more accessible.

Yang Xingfo's poem is a fine autumn piece, and now the season of 'yellow leaves dancing in the autumn wind, white clouds drifting west' has come again. In Beijing, where the four seasons are distinct, the feeling of autumn can still be sensed. Yu Dafu once said that autumn is the most beautiful season in Beijing; the autumn leaves along the streets are gorgeous and colorful, and when an autumn breeze blows, it stirs not only yellow leaves but red ones too. The sky is high and clear, the heavens pure; beneath the blue sky and white clouds, the distant mountains and near waters are laid out in full view.

Autumn in Beijing is colorful and luminous; when the whole city turns yellow and the forests are dyed in layers, that mature beauty is different from the lush green of summer.

Green is the color of life; yellow is a bright, vivid color. Living among these two colors, one's mood is joyful.

The lines 'Falling leaves sink into the deep ravine; the tired cloud returns to where?' use personification to make this natural autumn scene lively and vivid. On a sunlit autumn day, people enjoying life too may, like a weary cloud, feel a touch of listlessness, not knowing where to go. One cannot always be a passing traveler; one must have moments of idleness. Following nature, being moderately lazy, and relaxing oneself are what keep one from a shortened life.

Yang Xingfo's poem writes only of autumn's yellow leaves and white clouds; through these most ordinary sights he evokes the mood of a free, unfettered wanderer. White clouds drifting west also carries a hint of Zen delight. The single word 'self' (zi) highlights an ease, contentment, and unforced freedom.

Chinese literati have a very deep grasp of life's philosophy; on the whole, the state of life we Chinese love most is 'ease' (zizai) and 'unforced freedom' (suiyi).

We have had recluses like Tao Yuanming, who loved natural ease; playful spirits like Li Yu, who loved being carefree; free thinkers like Li Zhuowu; freewheeling eccentrics like Jin Shengtan; and even the uninhibited drunkard Liu Ling. And of course, a little person like myself who pursues a free and easy life. This is why the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, in his lifetime, envied the Chinese attitude toward life.

After studying psychology, Westerners found that people are happiest when their degree of autonomy is highest. We Chinese are not as precise and explicit as Westerners in how we put things into words. But from ancient times to today, our philosophy and literature have nurtured just this free spirit in people. Even Buddhism, which came from India, prizes most the state of 'great freedom.' It shows that human spiritual pursuits are much alike: all love ease, and the whole world shares this warmth.