The blossoms have begun appearing on this part of the world. Sadly, we don't have cool temples to hear the sound of a bell like that. It's a cultural experience that is missing from us. Thanks for sharing.
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It is absolutely true that only people based on the Buddhism cultural background can understand this Haiku well. And we can even say that it should be a religious experience rather than a cultural experience for most of western readers from the Christian world. Yeah, it is said that such kind of temple bell sound can travel far away. The truth is there is a famous ancient Chinese poem which also describes the temple bell sound.
That's a beautiful poem with vivid imagery. It nicely captures the city at that moment in time. Christian churches have bells, but they sound different because we bang them multiple times. The sound has different meaning for us (such as a signal for danger, time, wedding ceremony, church attendance, and death). While some places still ring them, the practice is not allowed in most large cities of North America. Thank you for your thorough explanation of the context behind the poems. Fun to read.
Great poem there! Who wrote that?
Its author is Zhang Ji/张继, a poet from Tang Dynasty. The history record about his lifetime is not much and it is the only poem of his being famously known and spread in China until now.
You're welcome!