東平淳於棼，吳楚遊之士。 嗜酒使氣，不守細行。 累巨產，養豪客。 曾以武藝補淮南軍裨將，因使酒忤帥，斥逐落魄，縱誕飲酒為事。 家住廣陵東十裏。 所居宅南有大古槐一株，枝幹修密，清陰數畝。 淳於生日與群豪大飲其下。

貞元七年九月，因沈醉致疾。 時二友人於坐扶生歸家，臥於堂東廡之下。 二友謂生曰：“子其寢矣。餘將抹馬濯足，俟子小愈而去。”生解巾就枕，昏然忽忽，仿佛若夢。 見二紫衣隨二使至門。見青油小車，駕以四牡，左右從者七八，扶生上車，出大戶，指古槐穴而去。生入槐安居二十余年，夢中倏忽若度一世。生尋夢源，懷知入夢。山藏木知所變化乎？

夢如香氣，深迷其中，山中何日，洞中何年，一枕清風，源夢人間，是南柯也。

知睡足當歸去，不奈溪山留客，余嘗言，夢為何物？诗為無形畫，画為有形詩。詩文書畫，皆為無形，南柯動人之所觀，畫如夢遊仙境。靜居燕坐，感南柯之浮夢，悟萬物之無蹤，查人世之倏忽，而蒼茫世界，大夢已矣！

冰逸書於蓮朝元年如逸之府

Native of Dongping, Chun Yufen used to be rich and successful. He once served in the Huainan army but had been dismissed because he offended his general. Disgruntled, he became an alcoholic. There was a big pagoda tree to the south of Chun’s house where he often drank with his friends.

One day he was drinking again under the pagoda tree and became heavily drunk. Two of his friends carried him inside to sleep. In a half-asleep state, Chun Yufen saw two messengers dressed in purple garments came to his house and took him on a small carriage heading to the hollow under the pagoda tree. He then lived in the kingdom under the tree for more than twenty years, almost feeling like an entire life, until he realized that all these were just a dream he had while sleeping.

A dream is like fragrance that draws people into it. You lost the sense of time while in the mountain or a cave. When you wake up and search for the source of the dream in reality, you will find that it was just a south branch.

I often ask, what is a dream? Poetry is formless painting, while painting is poetry with visible forms. Poetry, writings and paintings, they are all formless. What makes the south branch touching is that the painting makes you feel like traveling in a fairyland. Sitting quietly, you feel the dream of the south branch, realizing the formlessness of all beings, and the transience of time and the human world. The vastness of the universe is all but a dream.

Written in the first year of the Lotus dynasty by Bingyi at the mansion of Ruyi.