Chuang-tzu dreams he’s a butterfly,
And a butterfly becomes Chuang-tzu.
All transformation this one body,
Boundless occurrence goes on and on:
It’s no surprise eastern seas become
Western streams shallow and clear,
Or the melon-grower at Ch’ing Gate
Once reigned as Duke of Tung-ling.
Are hopes and dreams any different?
We bustle around, looking for what?
— Trans. David Hinton
David Hinton: Li Po … the Taoist (intuitive, amoral, detached), and Tu Fu the Confucian (cerebral, moral, socially-engaged). Informative though it may be, this contrast is a simplification. To be a complete human being, a Chinese intellectual must be both Taoist and Confucian, and this was true of both Li Po and Tu Fu.
