1. K'uangs' Hermitage (K'uang-lu) is another name for Hermitage Mountain after the seven K'uang brothers who retired to this mountain to cultivate the Tao during the Chou dynasty and built thatched hermitages.

2. Censer Peak (Hsiang-lu-feng) is now considered as being located in the southern area of Hermitage Mountain, part of Flourishing Peak (Hsiu-feng).

3. See Shih ching 49:204:1, "The Fourth Month" ( Szu-yüeh ): "In the fourth month, the impending summer; in the sixth month, the advancing summer heat."

4. See Tso Szu, "Rhapsody on the Capital of Shu" ( Shu-tu fu; Wen-hsüan 4:10a): "Verdant leaves are spread out profusely, and mix with vermilion fruit abundant." The fruit refers to longan and lychee trees.

5. Tapestry Valley (Chin-hsiu-ku) is located in the southern part of Hermitage Mountain.

6. Stone Gate Ravine (Shih-men-chien) is located in the northern part of Hermitage Mountain (see 3. Lay Scholars of Hermitage Mountain, Preface and Poem on a Journey to Stone Gate ).

7. Tiger Stream (Hu-hsi) is located in front of the Eastern Forest Temple (Tung-lin-szu) and is known in legend as the border beyond which the eminent monk Hui-yüan would not cross, except on one occasion, when he was seeing off the poet T'ao Ch'ien and the Taoist Lu Ching-hsiu. Absorbed in conversation, Hui-yüan forgot his usual rule; he was reminded of it only when he heard the roar of a tiger, whereupon the three friends broke into laughter. This story is without historical foundation, for Lu Ching-hsiu did not travel to the mountain until more than twenty years after T'ao Ch'ien's death. See Li Chi, trans., Travel Diaries , p. 104.

8. The character chih (to know) has been corrected to chih (to expand); see Ni, Yu-chi 1:115.

9. Hui-yung was abbot of the Western Forest Monastery (Hsi-lin-szu). Hui-yüan was abbot of the Eastern Forest Monastery. Tsung Ping, a lay Buddhist and art critic, spent a period of retreat on Hermitage Mountain. Lei Tz'u-tsung (386-448), a lay Buddhist, also dwelled in retirement on Hermitage Mountain. These figures were among the "Eighteen Worthies of the White Lotus Society" ( Pai-she shih-pa-hsien ), the most outstanding members of a prominent lay Buddhist association. In 402, Hui-yüan assembled 123 members who vowed to achieve rebirth in Amitabha Buddha's Western Paradise. The legend of the "Eighteen Worthies," however, was a later creation not based on historical fact, and it became a popular theme in figure painting after the Northern Sung.

10. Actually, only the monks Hui-yung and Hui-yüan remained on the mountain. Of the four mentioned, Tsung Ping fell ill and left, and Lei Tz'utsung accepted an official appointment.

11. A reference to Po's demotion to vice-prefect of Chiang-chou.

12. Yüan Chi-hsü of Ho-nan (from modern Lo-yang, Ho-nan) had served as chief musician and later retired to Hermitage Mountain. Chang Yün-chung of Fan-yang (modern Peking) and Chang Shen-chih of Nan-yang (modern Nanyang, Ho-nan) remain unidentified. "Ts'ou" is the monk Shen-ts'ou; "Man" is the monk Chih-man; "Chien" is the monk "Shih-chien,'' all from the Eastern Forest Temple. "Lang" was referred to elsewhere by Po as "the Venerable Lang." "Hui" remains unidentified.

13. Translated from Po Chü-i, Po [Pai]-shih ch'ang-ch'ing chi 26:3a-6a ( SPTK ed.).

1. In 814, during the reign of the T'ang emperor Hsien-tsung, the military commissioner of Huai-hsi, Wu Yüan-chi (783-817), rebelled. He was finally captured and executed in 817. The character chiu (long) has been corrected to tung (winter); see Ni, Yu-chi 1:124.

2. Chung Prefecture is modern Chung District, Szu-chuan.

3. Yüan Chen, courtesy name Wei-chih. In addition to achieving fame as a poet, Yüan was the author of "The Story of Ying-ying" ( Ying-ying chuan ), a disguised autobiographical talc of a failed love affair. Later storytellers and dramatists expanded it, adding a happy ending, and it became China's most popular romance. T'ung Prefecture is modern Ta District, Szu-ch'uan, and Kuo Prefecture is modern Ling-pao, Ho-nan.

4. Po Hsing-chien, courtesy name Chih-t'ui, was a younger brother of Po Chü-i. He served in various provincial offices, rising to director of the Bureau of Receptions, and was also known as a poet, particularly as a writer of fu rhapsodies. Today he is primarily remembered as the author of "The Tale of Li Wa" ( Li Wa chuan ) about an unusually faithful courtesan whose devotion to a wayward scholar was rewarded with marriage and high social position.

5. I-ling is modern I-ch'ang, Hu-pei.

6. Hsia-lao Garrison (Hsia-lao-shu), better known as Hsia-lao Pass (Hsia-laokuan), lies west of I-ch'ang on the Long River leading into Szu-ch'uan.

7. Hsia Prefecture was located northwest of modern I-ch'ang.

8. Translated from Po, Po [Pai/-shih ch'ang-ch'ing chi 26:12b-14a.