No. 1213-A瓊樓吟稿序
Preface to Qionglou’s Poems
庚子仲春月幾望。二林主人從役南還。見諸兄子。問瓊樓陶氏之疾。則已先二旬而逝矣。爰以白水一盂。梅花一瓣。為文而祭之。既而檢其遺帙。得往歲和予閉關詩十首。予讀而歎曰。異哉。此迦陵音也。西方佛土。七寶林中。和鳴哀雅。演出念佛念法念僧之聲。其在斯乎。其在斯乎。乃盡發其生平所為詩。凡數帙。刪而存之。得九十餘首。仍其舊題曰瓊樓吟稿。瓊樓始為詩。寓意風花。陶情山水。吐屬清遠。不染塵垢。稍長。讀聖賢佛祖書。漸知刊落詞華。鞭迫近裏。其有意於古之為己之學者與。至十首之作。通達法源。淨諸疑惑。多生根力。迸露毫端。非猶夫淺智小根。所能測識者矣。讀瓊樓詩。一以為才子。一以為高士。一以為道人。而瓊樓者。如空中花。如水中月。不一不異。非我非渠。作如是觀。謂瓊樓即今長住可也。
In the spring of the year Gengzi, a few days before the full moon of the second month, the master of the Two Forests returned south from official duty. He visited his nephews and inquired about the illness of Tao, who lived in the Jade Tower. They told him she had already passed away twenty days prior. So he prepared a bowl of clear water and a single plum blossom, and wrote a eulogy in her honor.
Afterward, he sorted through her surviving writings and found ten poems she had written the previous year in response to his own poems on "seclusion." He read them and sighed, saying: "Remarkable. These are the sounds of the Kalavinka bird. In the Western Pure Land, within the Seven Jewel Forests, the harmonious and sublime song chants the sound of 'Namo Buddha, Namo Dharma, Namo Sangha.' Is it not here? Is it not here?"
He then gathered all the poems she had written in her lifetime, amounting to several volumes. After editing and selecting from them, he kept over ninety pieces. He retained the original title: *Jade Tower Poetry Collection*.
In the beginning, Tao wrote poetry about wind and flowers, expressing her feelings through landscapes and natural scenes. Her words were pure and distant, untouched by worldly dust. As she grew older and studied the writings of sages, buddhas, and ancestors, she gradually learned to shed ornate language and turn her attention inward, striving for deeper understanding. Could it be that she intended to follow the ancient path of cultivating oneself for one's own sake?
As for these ten poems, they penetrate the very source of the Dharma, purify all doubts, and reveal deep-rooted spiritual faculties. Every stroke of her brush bursts forth with meaning—beyond what shallow wisdom or small faculties can measure.
One might read Tao's poetry and see her as a genius, a noble hermit, or a spiritual practitioner. But Tao herself was like a flower in the sky, like the moon reflected in water—neither one nor different, neither "me" nor "other." If you view her in this way, you may understand that Tao, being the Jade Tower, has always been right here, eternally present.
彭紹升序No. 1213
**Preface by Peng Shaosheng** Sutra No. 1213
瓊樓吟稿節鈔
長洲陶善慶餘著
海天精舍弟子節鈔