A letter in answer to General Su
Yesterday at the provincial capital you honoured me with your elder presence and did not disdain the wilds of the mountains for our talk, and the [Daoist] mnemonic rhymes you passed on I have found very beneficial.
It is true when they say “when old friends meet, the warmth exceeds all class distinctions.”
When this patch-robed monk was young, I had no discernment of what was deviant or correct. I would ask anyone and study anything, one day with Wang, another day with Li, a little bit of one thing then a little bit of something else.
Nothing came of this.
Then I met a Daoist who taught stillness techniques and …
(translated by Xiaoyao, these letters have, as far as we know, not been previously translated into English)
The Fat Monk 