Rootless_Tree_100Verses#11・Enlarged image of the painting
Enlarged image of the poem below as Xieyi
Verse 11
▶Original Text
無根樹，花正香， 仙風道骨滿身芳。 夜半子時開一朵，不在人間在壺中。
▶Modern Translation
On a rootless tree a fragrant blossom glows;
Immersed in immortal grace, its whole body breathes perfume.
At deepest midnight a lone flower opens,
Not in the human realm, but in a hidden world within the gourd.
▶Interpretation
1.[無根樹，花正香] Fragrance rising from within – spirit rather than external support.
2.[仙風道骨滿身芳] “Immortal breeze, Daoist bones” – aroma of realized virtue.
3.[夜半子時開一朵] The purest bloom appears at midnight, when yin is fullest.
4.[不在人間在壺中] It flowers only in the hu-zhong paradise – a realm beyond the mundane.
▶Interpretation related to Tai Chi
•Inner virtue emits an invisible “scent.”
•True gongfu arises when body and spirit fuse.
•Stillness at midnight ↔ finding movement within utter quiet.
•Higher stages of practice feel as though one trains “outside the world.”
Copyright © MASAKI WAKABAYASHI. All rights reserved.
