Chapter III (1)

There reigns a heavy silence; gaunt weeds through windows pry, And down the streets of Liang old echoes, wailing, die.

-- * Strictly speaking, the pronunciation of all words such as Liang, Kiang, etc., is nearer one syllable than two. For purposes of euphony, however, without which the lines would be harsh and unpoetical, I have invariably made two syllables of them. --

Meng Hao-jan

A.D. 689-740

One of the few literary men of the day whose later life was devoted entirely to literature. He was the inseparable friend of the famous Buddhist poet and doctor, Wang Wei. He spent the first forty years of his life in acquiring knowledge, but having failed to obtain his doctor's degree, he returned to the quiet hills of his native province and dedicated his remaining years to composition. Most of his poems, other than certain political satire, which drew on him the Emperor's wrath, are full of subtle sadness and fragrant regret, reminding one of pot-pourri in some deep blue porcelain bowl.

The Lost One

The red gleam o'er the mountains Goes wavering from sight, And the quiet moon enhances The loveliness of night.

I open wide my casement To breathe the rain-cooled air. And mingle with the moonlight The dark waves of my hair.

The night wind tells me secrets Of lotus lilies blue; And hour by hour the willows Shake down the chiming dew.

I fain would take the zither, By some stray fancy led; But there are none to hear me, And who can charm the dead?

So all my day-dreams follow The bird that leaves the nest; And in the night I gather The lost one to my breast.

A Friend Expected

Over the chain of giant peaks The great red sun goes down, And in the stealthy floods of night The distant valleys drown.

Yon moon that cleaves the gloomy pines Has freshness in her train; Low wind, faint stream, and waterfall Haunt me with their refrain.

The tired woodman seeks his cot That twinkles up the hill; And sleep has touched the wanderers That sang the twilight still.

To-night -- ah! beauty of to-night I need my friend to praise, So take the lute to lure him on Through the fragrant, dew-lit ways.

Ch`ang Ch`ien

Circa A.D. 720

One of the great philosopher-poets of the Taoist school. His life was spent far from the court and away from the sounds of civil warfare, in the endeavour to set himself in harmony with the universe -- to become, in fact, like an Aeolian harp through which all the cords of nature might sweep at will. How far he attained the end desired may be seen in his work, which is penetrated by a sense of profound beauty, recalling the quiet twilight upon the mountain-side, which he so well describes.

A Night on the Mountain

I sat upon the mountain-side and watched A tiny barque that skimmed across the lake, Drifting, like human destiny upon A world of hidden peril; then she sailed From out my ken, and mingled with the blue Of skies unfathomed, while the great round sun Weakened towards the waves. The whole expanse Suddenly in the half-light of the dusk Glimmered and waned. The last rays of the sun Lit but the tops of trees and mountain-peaks With tarnished glory; and the water's sheen, Once blue and bright, grew lustreless, and soon A welter of red clouds alone betrayed The passing of the sun. The scattered isles Uprose, black-looming o'er the tranquil deeps, Where the reflected heavens wanly showed A lingering gleam. Already wood and hill Sank in obscurity. The river marge Seemed but a broken line to failing sight.

. . . . .

Night is at hand; the night winds fret afar, The North winds moan. The waterfowl are gone To cover o'er the sand-dunes; dawn alone Shall call them from the sedges. Some bright star

Mirrors her charms upon the silver shoal; And I have ta'en the lute, my only friend: The vibrant chords beneath my fingers blend; They sob awhile, then as they slip control

Immortal memories awake, and the dead years Through deathless voices answer to my strings, Till from the brink of Time's untarnished springs The melting night recalls me with her tears.

Ts`en-Ts`an

Circa A.D. 750

Of his life we know little, save that he was the intimate friend of the great poet Tu Fu, and came of a noble family. He was, moreover, Censor under the Emperor Su Tsung (A.D. 756-762), and rose to be Governor of Chia-chou. What remains of his verse mostly takes the form of quatrains, yet for originality of thought, wealth of imagery and style, they have seldom been excelled. He was a master of metre, and contributed certain modifications to the laws of Chinese prosody which exist to the present day.

A Dream of Spring

Last night within my chamber's gloom some vague light breath of Spring Came wandering and whispering, and bade my soul take wing.

A hundred moonlit miles away the Chiang crept to sea; O keeper of my heart, I came by Chiang's ford to thee.

It lingered but a moment's space, that dream of Spring, and died; Yet as my head the pillows pressed, my soul had found thy side.

Oh! Chiang Nan's a hundred miles, yet in a moment's space I've flown away to Chiang Nan and touched a dreaming face.

Tu Fu

A.D. 712-770

Tu Fu, whom his countrymen called the God of Verse, was born in the province of Hu-Kuang, and this was his portrait from contemporaries:

He was tall and slightly built, yet robust with finely chiselled features; his manners were exquisite, and his appearance distinguished. He came of a literary family, and, as he says of himself, from his seventh to his fortieth year study and letter occupied all his available time. At the age of twenty-seven he came to the capital with his fame in front of him, and there Li Po the poet and Ts`en-Ts`an became his friends, and Ming Huang his patron. He obtained a post at Court somewhat similar to that of Master of Ceremonies in our own Court. Yet the poet had few sympathies outside the artistic life. He was so unworldly and so little of a courtier that when the new Emperor Su Tsung returned in triumph to the capital and appointed him Imperial Censor, he fulfilled his new duties by telling his majesty the whole unpalatable truth in a manner strangely free from ornamental apology, and was promptly rewarded with the exile of a provincial governorship. But Tu Fu was no man of affairs, and knew it. On the day of his public installation he took off his insignia of office before the astonished notables, and, laying them one by one on the table, made them a profound reverence, and quietly withdrew.

Like his friend Li Po, he became a homeless wanderer, but, unlike him, he concealed his brilliant name, obtaining food and patronage for his delightful nameless self alone, and not for his reputation's sake. Finally, he was discovered by the military governor of the province of Ssuch`uan, who applied on his behalf for the post of Restorer of Ancient Monuments in the district, the one congenial appointment of his life. For six years he kept his post; then trouble in the shape of rebel hordes burst once more upon the province, and again he became an exile. The last act of this eventful life took place in his native district: some local mandarin gave a great banquet in honour of the distinguished poet, whom he had rescued, half drowned and famishing, from the ruined shrine by the shore where the waters had cast him up. The wine-cup brimmed again and again, food was piled up in front of the honoured guest, and the attendant who waited was Death. The end was swift, sudden, and pitiful. The guest died from the banquet of his rescuer.

Of all poets Tu Fu is the first in craftsmanship. It is interesting to add that he was a painter as well, and the friend of painters, notably the soldier-artist, Kiang-Tu, to whom he dedicates a poem. Possibly it is to this faculty that he owes his superb technique. He seeks after simplicity and its effects as a diver seeks for sunken gold. In his poem called "The Little Rain", which I have (perhaps somewhat rashly) attempted, there is all the graciousness of fine rain falling upon sullen furrows, which charms the world into spring. "The Recruiting Sergeant" has the touch of grim desolation, which belongs inevitably to a country plundered of its men and swept with the ruinous winds of rebellion.

Li Po gives us Watteau-like pictures of life in Ch`ang-an before the flight of the Emperor. The younger poet paints, with the brush of Verestchagin, the realism and horrors of civil war. In most of Tu Fu's work there is an underlying sadness which appears continually, sometimes in the vein that runs throughout the poem, sometimes at the conclusion, and often at the summing up of all things. Other poets have it, some more, some less, with the exception of those who belong to the purely Taoist school. The reason is that the Chinese poet is haunted. He is haunted by the vast shadow of a past without historians -- a past that is legendary, unmapped and unbounded, and yields, therefore, Golcondas and golden lands innumerable to its bold adventurers. He is haunted from out the crumbled palaces of vanished kings, where "in the form of blue flames one sees spirits moving through each dark recess." He is haunted by the traditional voices of the old masters of his craft, and lastly, more than all, by the dead women and men of his race, the ancestors that count in the making of his composite soul and have their silent say in every action, thought, and impulse of his life.

The Little Rain

Oh! she is good, the little rain! and well she knows our need Who cometh in the time of spring to aid the sun-drawn seed; She wanders with a friendly wind through silent nights unseen, The furrows feel her happy tears, and lo! the land is green.

Last night cloud-shadows gloomed the path that winds to my abode, And the torches of the river-boats like angry meteors glowed. To-day fresh colours break the soil, and butterflies take wing Down broidered lawns all bright with pearls in the garden of the King.

A Night of Song

The wind scarce flutters through the leaves, The young moon hath already gone, And kind and cool the dews descend: The lute-strings wake for night alone.

In shadow lapse the twinkling streams, The lilied marge their waves caress; And the sheer constellations sway O'er soundless gulfs of nothingness.

What cadence charms the poet's ear! What fire-fly fancies round him swarm! He dreads the lantern lights may fail Long ere his thoughts have taken form.

Now gallants tap their two-edged swords, And pride and passion swell amain; Like red stars flashing through the night The circling wine-cups brim again.

There steals the old sad air of Ou -- Each calls his latest song to mind; Then white sails taper down the stream, While lingering thoughts still look behind.

The Recruiting Sergeant

At sunset in the village of Che-Kao* I sought for shelter; on my heels there trod A grim recruiting sergeant, of the kind That seize their prey by night. A poor old man Saw -- scaled the wall, and vanished. Through the gate An old bent woman hobbled, and she marched A pace before him. Loudly in his wrath The grim recruiter stormed; and bitterly She answered: "Listen to the voice of her Who drags before you. Once I had three sons -- Three in the Emperor's camp. A letter came From one, and -- there was one; the others fell In the same battle -- he alone was left, Scarce able from the iron grasp of Death To tear his miserable life. Alas My two dead boys! for ever and for aye Death holds them. In our wretched hut remains The last of all the men -- a little child, Still at his mother's breast. She cannot flee, Since her few tatters scarce suffice to clothe Her shrunken limbs. My years are nearly done, My strength is well-nigh spent; yet I will go Readily to the camping-ground. Perchance I may be useful for some humble task, To cook the rice or stir the morning meal."

. . . . .

Night slipped away. The clamour and the cries Died down; but there was weeping and the sound Of stifled moans around me. At the break Of dawn I hurried on my road, and left None but an old and broken man behind.

-- * All words ending in `ao' are pronounced `ow', as in English `vow', `allow', etc. --

Chants of Autumn

Shorn by the frost with crystal blade,
The dry leaves, scattered, fall at last;
Among the valleys of Wu Chan
Cold winds of death go wailing past.
Tumultuous waves of the great river rise
And seem to storm the skies,
While snow-bright peak and prairie mist combine,
And greyness softens the harsh mountain line.

Chrysanthemums unfurl to-day,
To-morrow the last flowers are blown.
I am the barque that chains delay:
My homeward thoughts must sail alone.
From house to house warm winter robes are spread,
And through the pine-woods red
Floats up the sound of the washerman's bat who plies
His hurried task ere the brief noon wanes and dies.

Li Po

A.D. 702-762

The most famous name in Chinese literature. Born in the province of Ssuch`uan, Li Po obtained his doctor's degree at the age of twenty, and was already known as a brilliant, inspired poet before Ming Huang became his patron in the capital. A suite of rooms overlooking the beautiful gardens of T`eng-hsiang T`ing, where the Emperor retired after the routine of the day, was assigned to him. Here the poet improvised, whilst Ming Huang himself wrote down the verses that he afterwards set to music, and accompanied while the poet sang. But Li Po, with all his enthusiasm for his patron and the delights of the garden-life, was little of a courtier. When Ming Huang bade the masterful eunuch Kao Li-shih unlace the poet's boots, he gave him a relentless enemy whose malice pursued him, until at length he was glad to beg leave to retire from the court, where he was never at ease and to which he never returned. Troubadour-like, he wandered through the provinces, the guest of mandarin and local governor, the star of the drinking-taverns, the delight and embarrassment of all his hosts. At length a friend of former days, to whom he had attached himself, unhappily involved him in the famous rebellion of An Lu-shan. The poet was seized and thrown into prison. Yet prison doors were ill warders of his fame, and letters of recall followed closely upon pardon; but death overtook the exile before he could reach the capital, and at the age of sixty his wanderings came to an end.

Li Po was a poet with a sword by his side. He would have ruffled bravely with our Elizabethans, and for a Chinese is strangely warlike in sentiment. How he loves the bravo of Chao with his sabre from the Chinese Sheffield of Wu, "with the surface smooth as ice and dazzling as snow, with his saddle broidered with silver upon his white steed; who when he passes, swift as the wind, may be said to resemble a shooting star!" He compares the frontiersman, who has never so much as opened a book in all his life, yet knows how to follow in the chase, and is skilful, strong, and hardy, with the men of his own profession. "From these intrepid wanderers how different our literary men who grow grey over their books behind a curtained window."

It is harder to write of Li Po than of any other Chinese poet. Po Chu-i has his own distinctive feeling for romance, Tu Fu his minute literary craftsmanship, Ssu-K`ung T`u the delicate aroma of suggestive mysticism; but Li Po is many-sided, and has perhaps more of the world-spirit than all of them. We can imagine this bold, careless, impulsive artist, with his moments of great exaltation and alternate depression, a kind of Chinese Paul Verlaine, with his sensitive mind of a child, always recording impressions as they come. T`ai Chen the beautiful and the grim frontiersman are alike faithfully portrayed. He lives for the moment, and the moment is often wine-flushed like the rosy glow of dawn, or grey and wan as the twilight of a hopeless day.

To the City of Nan-king

Thou that hast seen six kingdoms pass away, Accept my song and these three cups I drain! There may be fairer gardens light the plain; Thine are the dim blue hills more fair than they.

Here Kings of Wu were crowned and overthrown, Where peaceful grass along the ruin wins; Here -- was it yesterday? -- the royal Tsins Called down the dreams of sunset into stone.

One end awaits for all that mortal be; Pride and despair shall find a common grave: The Yang-tse-kiang renders wave and wave To mingle with the abysms of the sea.

Memories with the Dusk Return

The yellow dusk winds round the city wall;
The crows are drawn to nest,
Silently down the west
They hasten home, and from the branches call.
A woman sits and weaves with fingers deft
Her story of the flower-lit stream,
Threading the jasper gauze in dream,
Till like faint smoke it dies; and she, bereft,
Recalls the parting words that died
Under the casement some far eventide,
And stays the disappointed loom,
While from the little lonely room
Into the lonely night she peers,
And, like the rain, unheeded fall her tears.

An Emperor's Love

In all the clouds he sees her light robes trail, And roses seem beholden to her face; O'er scented balustrade the scented gale Blows warm from Spring, and dew-drops form apace. Her outline on the mountain he can trace, Now leans she from the tower in moonlight pale.

A flower-girt branch grows sweeter from the dew. A spirit of snow and rain unheeded calls. Who wakes to memory in these palace walls? Fei-yen!* -- but in the robes an Empress knew.

The most renowned of blossoms, most divine Of those whose conquering glances overthrow Cities and kingdoms, for his sake combine And win the ready smiles that ever flow From royal lips. What matter if the snow Blot out the garden? She shall still recline Upon the scented balustrade and glow With spring that thrills her warm blood into wine.

-- * A delicate compliment to the beautiful T`ai Chen, of which the meaning is that, as the Emperor Yang-ti of the Sui dynasty elevated his mistress Fei-yen to share with him the throne, so shall T`ai Chen become the Empress of Ming Huang. --

On the Banks of Jo-yeh

They gather lilies down the stream, A net of willows drooping low Hides boat from boat; and to and fro Sweet whispered confidences seem 'Mid laughing trills to flow.

In the green deeps a shaft of gold Limns their elaborate attire; Through silken sleeves the winds aspire, Embalmed, to stray, and, growing bold, Swell them to their desire.

But who are these, the cavaliers That gleam along the river-side? By three, by five they prance with pride Beyond the willow-line that sheers Over the trellised tide.

A charger neighs; one turns to start, Crushing the kingcups as he flies, And one pale maiden vainly tries To hush the tumult in her heart And veil the secret of her eyes.

Thoughts in a Tranquil Night

Athwart the bed
I watch the moonbeams cast a trail
So bright, so cold, so frail,
That for a space it gleams
Like hoar-frost on the margin of my dreams.
I raise my head, --
The splendid moon I see:
Then droop my head,
And sink to dreams of thee --
My Fatherland, of thee!

The Guild of Good-fellowship

The universe is but a tenement Of all things visible. Darkness and day The passing guests of Time. Life slips away, A dream of little joy and mean content.

Ah! wise the old philosophers who sought To lengthen their long sunsets among flowers, By stealing the young night's unsullied hours And the dim moments with sweet burdens fraught.

And now Spring beckons me with verdant hand, And Nature's wealth of eloquence doth win Forth to the fragrant-bowered nectarine, Where my dear friends abide, a careless band.

There meet my gentle, matchless brothers, there I come, the obscure poet, all unfit To wear the radiant jewellery of wit, And in their golden presence cloud the air.

And while the thrill of meeting lingers, soon As the first courtly words, the feast is spread, While, couched on flowers 'mid wine-cups flashing red, We drink deep draughts unto The Lady Moon.

Then as without the touch of verse divine There is no outlet for the pent-up soul, 'Twas ruled that he who quaffed no fancy's bowl Should drain the "Golden Valley"* cups of wine.

-- * i.e. drink three cups of wine, the "Golden Valley" being the name of a garden, the owner of which enforced this penalty among his boon companions (`Gems of Chinese Literature', p. 113). --

Under the Moon

Under the crescent moon's faint glow The washerman's bat resounds afar, And the autumn breeze sighs tenderly. But my heart has gone to the Tartar war, To bleak Kansuh and the steppes of snow, Calling my husband back to me.

Drifting

We cannot keep the gold of yesterday;
To-day's dun clouds we cannot roll away.
Now the long, wailing flight of geese brings autumn in its train,
So to the view-tower cup in hand to fill and drink again,

And dream of the greatest singers of the past,
Their fadeless lines of fire and beauty cast.
I too have felt the wild-bird thrill of song behind the bars,
But these have brushed the world aside and walked amid the stars.

In vain we cleave the torrent's thread with steel,
In vain we drink to drown the grief we feel;
When man's desire with fate doth war this, this avails alone --
To hoist the sail and let the gale and the waters bear us on.

Wang Ch`ang-ling

Circa A.D. 750

This poet came from the district of Chiang-ning to the capital, where he obtained his doctor's degree and distinguished himself as a man of letters. For some time he filled a minor post, but was eventually disgraced and exiled to the province of Hunan. When the rebellion of An Lu-shan broke out, he returned to his native place, where he was cruelly murdered by the censor Lu Ch`in-hsiao. (See Hervey Saint-Denys, `Poe/sies des Thang', p. 224; Giles, `Biog. Dict.' p. 8087.)

The Song of the Nenuphars

Leaves of the Nenuphars and silken skirts the same pale green, On flower and laughing face alike the same rose-tints are seen; Like some blurred tapestry they blend within the lake displayed: You cannot part the leaves from silk, the lily from the maid. Only when sudden voices swell Do maidens of their presence tell.

Here long ago the girls of Sou, the darlings of the King, Dabbled their shining skirts with dew from the gracious blooms of Spring. When to the lake's sun-dimpled marge the bright procession wends, The languid lilies raise their heads as though to greet their friends; When down the river-banks they roam, The white moon-lady leads them home.

Tears in the Spring

Clad in blue silk and bright embroidery At the first call of Spring the fair young bride, On whom as yet Sorrow has laid no scar, Climbs the Kingfisher's Tower. Suddenly She sees the bloom of willows far and wide, And grieves for him she lent to fame and war.

Chang Chih-ho

Circa A.D. 750

A Taoist philosopher who lived in the time of the Emperor Su Tsung, and held office under him. For some offence he was exiled, and the royal pardon found him far too occupied to dream of return.

Like so many of the same philosophy, he became a lonely wanderer, calling himself the "Old Fisherman of the Mists and Waters". Professor Giles (`Chinese Literature', p. 191) adds the curious statement that "he spent his time in angling, but used no bait, his object not being to catch fish."

A World Apart

The Lady Moon is my lover, My friends are the oceans four, The heavens have roofed me over, And the dawn is my golden door I would liefer follow the condor Or the seagull, soaring from ken, Than bury my godhead yonder In the dust of the whirl of men.

Chang Jo-hu

Circa A.D. 800

When heaven reveals her primal stainless blue, Alone within the firmament there burns The tiny torch of dusk. What startled eyes Uplifted from the restless stream first met The full round glory of the moon! Yon orb That pales upon the flood of broad Kiang, When did she first through twilight mists unveil Her wonders to the world? Men come and go; New generations hunger at the heels Of those that yield possession. Still the moon Fulfils her phases. While the tides of time Eat out the rocks of empire, and the stars Of human destiny adown the void Go glittering to their doom, she changeless sweeps Through all her times and destinies. Alas! The little lives that swarmed beneath the moon, I cannot count them. This alone I know -- That, wave on wave, the Kiang seeks the sea, And not a wave returns. One small white cloud Threading the vasty vault of heaven recalls My heart unto her loneliness. I sail Between two banks, where heavy boughs enlace, Whose verdurous luxuriance wakes once more My many griefs. None know me as I am, Steering to strange adventure. None may tell If, steeped in the same moonlight, lies afar Some dim pavilion where my lady dreams Of me. Ah, happy moon! low lingering moon! That with soft touch now brightens into jade Lintel and door, and when she lifts the blind Floats through the darkened chamber of her sleep; While leagues away my love-winged messages Go flocking home; and though they mingle not, Our thoughts seek one another. In the lilt Of winds I hear her whisper: "Oh that I Might melt into the moonbeams, and with them Leap through the void, and shed myself with them Upon my lover." Slow the night creeps on. Sleep harbours in the little room. She dreams -- Dreams of a fall o' flowers. Alas! young Spring Lies on the threshold of maternity, And still he comes not. Still the flowing stream Sweeps on, but the swift torrents of green hours Are licked into the brazen skies between Their widening banks. The great deliberate moon Now leans toward the last resort of night, Gloom of the western waves. She dips her rim, She sinks, she founders in the mist; and still The stream flows on, and to the insatiate sea Hurries her white-wave flocks innumerable In never-ending tale. On such a night How many tireless travellers may attain The happy goal of their desire! So dreams My lady till the moon goes down, and lo! A rush of troubled waters floods her soul, While black forebodings rise from deeps unknown And the cold trail of fear creeps round her heart.

T`ung Han-ching

Circa A.D. 800

The Celestial Weaver

A thing of stone beside Lake Kouen-ming Has for a thousand autumns borne the name Of the Celestial Weaver. Like that star She shines above the waters, wondering At her pale loveliness. Unnumbered waves Have broidered with green moss the marble folds About her feet. Toiling eternally They knock the stone, like tireless shuttles plied Upon a sounding loom. Her pearly locks Resemble snow-coils on the mountain top; Her eyebrows arch -- the crescent moon. A smile Lies in the opened lily of her face; And, since she breathes not, being stone, the birds Light on her shoulders, flutter without fear At her still breast. Immovable she stands Before the shining mirror of her charms And, gazing on their beauty, lets the years Slip into centuries past her. . . .

Po Chu-i

A.D. 772-846

Seventeen years old and already a doctor of letters, a great future was before him. The life of such a man would seem to be one sure progress from honour to honour. Yet it is to some petty exile, some temporary withdrawal of imperial favour, that we owe "The Lute Girl", perhaps the most delicate piece of work that has survived the age of the golden T`angs. Certainly the music is the most haunting, suggestive of many-coloured moods, with an undertone of sadness, and that motive of sympathy between the artist-exiles of the universe which calls the song from the singer and tears from the heart of the man. So exile brought its consolations, the voice and presence of "The Lute Girl", and the eight nameless poets who became with Po Chu-i the literary communists of Hsiang-shan. In China it has always been possible for the artist to live away from the capital. Provincial governor and high official send for him; all compete for the honour of his presence. Respect, which is the first word of Chinese wisdom according to Confucius, is paid to him. In provincial Europe his very presence would be unknown unless he beat his wife on the high-road or stole a neighbour's pig. But his Celestial Majesty hears of the simple life at Hsiang-shan and becomes jealous for his servant. The burden of ruling must once more be laid on not too willing shoulders. Po Chu-i is recalled and promoted from province to province, till eventually, five years before his death, he is made President of the Board of War. Two short poems here rendered -- namely, "Peaceful Old Age" and "The Penalties of Rank" -- give us a glimpse of the poet in his old age, conscious of decaying powers, glad to be quit of office, and waiting with sublime faith in his Taoist principles to be "one with the pulsings of Eternity".

Po Chu-i is almost nearer to the Western idea of a poet than any other Chinese writer. He was fortunate enough to be born when the great love-tragedy of Ming Huang and T`ai Chen was still fresh in the minds of men. He had the right perspective, being not too near and yet able to see clearly. He had, moreover, the feeling for romance which is so ill-defined in other poets of his country, though strongly evident in Chinese legend and story. He is an example of that higher patriotism rarely met with in Chinese official life which recognises a duty to the Emperor as Father of the national family -- a duty too often forgotten in the obligation to the clan and the desire to use power for personal advantage. Passionately devoted to literature, he might, like Li Po and Tu Fu, have set down the seals of office and lived for art alone by the mountain-side of his beloved Hsiang-shan. But no one knew better than Po Chu-i that from him that hath much, much shall be expected. The poet ennobled political life, the broader outlook of affairs enriched his poetry and humanised it.

And when some short holiday brought him across the frontier, and the sunlight, breaking out after a noon of rain over the dappled valleys of China, called him home, who shall blame him for lingering awhile amid his forest dreams with his fishing and the chase.

Yet solitude and the picturesque cannot hold him for long, nor even the ardours of the chase. Po Chu-i is above all the poet of human love and sorrow, and beyond all the consoler. Those who profess to find pessimism in the Chinese character must leave him alone. At the end of the great tragedy of "The Never-ending Wrong" a whispered message of hope is borne to the lonely soul beating against the confines of the visible world: --

"Tell my lord," she murmured, "to be firm of heart as this gold and enamel; then in heaven or earth below we twain may meet once more."

It is the doctrine of eternal constancy, so dimly understood in the Western world, which bids the young wife immolate herself on her husband's tomb rather than marry again, and makes the whole world seem too small for the stricken Emperor with all the youth and beauty of China to command.

The Lute Girl

The following is Po Chu-i's own preface to his poem: --

When, after ten years of regular service, I was wrongfully dismissed
from the Prefecture of the Nine Rivers and the Mastership of the Horse,
in the bright autumn of the year I was sent away to Ko-pen Creek's mouth.
It was there that I heard, seated in my boat at midnight, the faint tones
of a lute. It seemed as though I was listening to the tones
of the gongs in the Palace of the Capital. On asking an old man,
I learnt that it was the performance of a woman who for many years
had cultivated the two talents of music and singing to good effect.
In the course of time her beauty faded, she humbled her pride,
and followed her fate by becoming a merchant's wife.

. . . . .

The wine ran out and the songs ceased. My grief was such
that I made a few short poems to set to music for singing.

. . . . .

But now perturbed, engulfed, distressed, worn out, I move about
the river and lake at my leisure. I have been out of office
for two years, but the effect of this man's words is such as to produce
a peaceful influence within me.

This evening I feel that I have dismissed all the reproachful thoughts
I harboured, and in consequence have made a long poem
which I intend to present to the court.

By night, beside the river, underneath The flower-like maple leaves that bloom alone In autumn's silent revels of decay, We said farewell. The host, dismounting, sped The parting guest whose boat rocked under him, And when the circling stirrup-cup went round, No light guitar, no lute, was heard again; But on the heart aglow with wine there fell Beneath the cold bright moon the cold adieu Of fading friends -- when suddenly beyond The cradled waters stole the lullaby Of some faint lute; then host forgot to go, Guest lingered on: all, wondering at the spell, Besought the dim enchantress to reveal Her presence; but the music died and gave No answer, dying. Then a boat shot forth To bring the shy musician to the shore. Cups were refilled and lanterns trimmed again, And so the festival went on. At last, Slow yielding to their prayers, the stranger came, Hiding her burning face behind her lute; And twice her hand essayed the strings, and twice She faltered in her task; then tenderly, As for an old sad tale of hopeless years, With drooping head and fingers deft she poured Her soul forth into melodies. Now slow The plectrum led to prayer the cloistered chords, Now loudly with the crash of falling rain, Now soft as the leaf whispering of words, Now loud and soft together as the long Patter of pearls and seed-pearls on a dish Of marble; liquid now as from the bush Warbles the mango bird; meandering Now as the streamlet seawards; voiceless now As the wild torrent in the strangling arms Of her ice-lover, lying motionless, Lulled in a passion far too deep for sound. Then as the water from the broken vase Gushes, or on the mailed horseman falls The anvil din of steel, as on the silk The slash of rending, so upon the strings Her plectrum fell. . . . Then silence over us. No sound broke the charmed air. The autumn moon Swam silver o'er the tide, as with a sigh The stranger stirred to go. "I passed," said she, "My childhood in the capital; my home Was near the hills. A girl of twelve, I learnt The magic of the lute, the passionate Blending of lute and voice that drew the souls Of the great masters to acknowledgment; And lovely women, envious of my face, Bowed at the shrine in secret. The young lords Vied for a look's approval. One brief song Brought many costly bales. Gold ornaments And silver pins were smashed and trodden down, And blood-red silken skirts were stained with wine In oft-times echoing applause. And so I laughed my life away from year to year While the spring breezes and the autumn moon Caressed my careless head. Then on a day My brother sought the battles in Kansuh; My mother died: nights passed and mornings came, And with them waned my beauty. Now no more My doors were thronged; few were the cavaliers That lingered by my side; so I became A trader's wife, the chattel of a slave Whose lord was gold, who, parting, little recked Of separation and the unhonoured bride. Since the tenth moon was full my husband went To where the tea-fields ripen. I remained, To wander in my little lonely boat Over the cold bright wave o' nights, and dream Of the dead days, the haze of happy days, And see them set again in dreams and tears."

. . . . .

Already the sweet sorrows of her lute Had moved my soul to pity; now these words Pierced me the heart. "O lady fair," I cried, "We are the vagrants of the world, and need No ceremony to be friends. Last year I left the Imperial City, banished far To this plague-stricken spot, where desolation Broods on from year to heavy year, nor lute Nor love's guitar is heard. By marshy bank Girt with tall yellow reeds and dwarf bamboos I dwell. Night long and day no stir, no sound, Only the lurking cuckoo's blood-stained note, The gibbon's mournful wail. Hill songs I have, And village pipes with their discordant twang. But now I listen to thy lute methinks The gods were parents to thy music. Sit And sing to us again, while I engrave Thy story on my tablets!" Gratefully (For long she had been standing) the lute girl Sat down and passed into another song, Sad and so soft, a dream, unlike the song Of now ago. Then all her hearers wept In sorrow unrestrained; and I the more, Weeping until the pale chrysanthemums Upon my darkened robe were starred with dew.

The Never-ending Wrong

I have already alluded to the story of the Emperor Ming Huang and the lady Yang Kwei-fei, or T`ai Chen, as she is called, in my introduction. In order that the events which led up to her tragic death may be understood, I have given in front of the poem a short extract from the old Chinese annals translated into French by the Jesuit Father Joseph de Mailla in 1778. The Emperor is fleeing with a small, ill-disciplined force before the rebellious general An Lu-shan into the province of Ssuch`uan. So the bald narrative resumes:

As the Emperor was followed by a numerous suite, and because
time was lacking, the arrangements for so long a journey
were found to be insufficient. On their arrival at Ma-wei
both officers and men murmured loudly against Yang Kuo-chung*,
accusing him of having brought all the present evils upon them.
The ambassador of the King of Tibet, followed by twenty retainers,
seeing the Prime Minister pass, stopped him, and asked for provisions.
Then the soldiers cried out that Yang was conspiring with the strangers,
and throwing themselves upon him, they cut off his head,
which they exposed on a stake to the public gaze. The Emperor,
becoming aware of this violence, did not, however, dare to exact punishment.
He sent an officer to the chief of those who had slain the Prime Minister,
to find out the reason for their deed; he replied that they had done so
because Yang was on the point of rebellion. The leader of the revolt
even demanded the instant execution of the lady T`ai Chen,
as she was the sister of the supposed rebel, Yang. The Emperor,
who loved her, desired to prove her innocence by showing that it was
impossible for her, living always as she did within the Palace precincts,
to be confederate to her brother's plot. His envoy, however,
urged him that it was politic, after the events he had witnessed,
to sacrifice her, innocent as she was, if he wished to escape
from the dangers of (another) revolution. The Emperor,
yielding to political necessity, gave her into the hands of the envoy
with the order that she should be strangled.

-- * Minister of State, brother to T`ai Chen. --

Ennui

Tired of pale languors and the painted smile, His Majesty the Son of Heaven, long time A slave of beauty, ardently desired The glance that brings an Empire's overthrow.

Beauty

From the Yang family a maiden came, Glowing to womanhood a rose aflame, Reared in the inner sanctuary apart, Lost to the world, resistless to the heart; For beauty such as hers was hard to hide, And so, when summoned to the monarch's side, Her flashing eye and merry laugh had power To charm into pure gold the leaden hour; And through the paint and powder of the court All gathered to the sunshine that she brought. In spring, by the Imperial command, The pool of Hua`ch`ing beheld her stand, Laving her body in the crystal wave Whose dimpled fount a warmth perennial gave. Then when, her girls attending, forth she came, A reed in motion and a rose in flame, An empire passed into a maid's control, And with her eyes she won a monarch's soul.

Revelry

Hair of cloud o'er face of flower, Nodding plumes where she alights, In the white hibiscus bower She lingers through the soft spring nights -- Nights too short, though wearing late Till the mimosa days are born. Never more affairs of State Wake them in the early morn. Wine-stained moments on the wing, Moonlit hours go luting by, She who leads the flight of Spring Leads the midnight revelry. Flawless beauties, thousands three, Deck the Imperial harem,* Yet the monarch's eyes may see Only one, and one supreme. Goddess in a golden hall, Fairest maids around her gleam, Wine-fumes of the festival Daily waft her into dream. Smiles she, and her sires are lords, Noble rank her brothers win: Ah, the ominous awards Showered upon her kith and kin! For throughout the land there runs Thought of peril, thought of fire; Men rejoice not in their sons -- Daughters are their sole desire. In the gorgeous palaces, Piercing the grey skies above, Music on the languid breeze Draws the dreaming world to love. Song and dance and hands that sway The passion of a thousand lyres Ever through the live-long day, And the monarch never tires. Sudden comes the answer curt, Loud the fish-skin war-drums roar; Cease the plaintive "rainbow skirt": Death is drumming at the door.

-- * Pronounced `hareem'. --

Flight

Clouds upon clouds of dust enveloping The lofty gates of the proud capital. On, on, to the south-west, a living wall, Ten thousand battle-chariots on the wing.

Feathers and jewels flashing through the cloud Onwards, and then an halt. The legions wait A hundred li beyond the western gate; The great walls loom behind them wrapt in cloud.

No further stirs the sullen soldiery, Naught but the last dread office can avail, Till she of the dark moth-eyebrows, lily pale, Shines through tall avenues of spears to die.

Upon the ground lie ornaments of gold, One with the dust, and none to gather them, Hair-pins of jade and many a costly gem, Kingfishers' wings and golden birds scarce cold.

The king has sought the darkness of his hands, Veiling the eyes that looked for help in vain, And as he turns to gaze upon the slain, His tears, her blood, are mingled on the sands.

Exile

Across great plains of yellow sand, Where the whistling winds are blown, Over the cloud-topped mountain peaks, They wend their way alone.

Few are the pilgrims that attain Mount Omi's heights afar; And the bright gleam of their standard grows Faint as the last pale star.

Dark the Ssuch`uan waters loom, Dark the Ssuch`uan hills, And day and night the monarch's life An endless sorrow fills.

The brightness of the foreign moon Saddens his lonely heart; And a sound of a bell in the evening rain Doth rend his soul apart.

Return

The days go by, and once again, Among the shadows of his pain, He lingers at the well-known place That holds the memory of her face.

But from the clouds of earth that lie Beneath the foot of tall Ma-wei No signs of her dim form appear, Only the place of death is here.

Statesman's and monarch's eyes have met, And royal robes with tears are wet; Then eastward flies the frantic steed As on to the Red Wall they speed.

Home

There is the pool, the flowers as of old, There the hibiscus at the gates of gold, And there the willows round the palace rise. In the hibiscus flower he sees her face, Her eyebrows in the willow he can trace, And silken pansies thrill him with her eyes.

How in this presence should his tears not come, In spring amid the bloom of peach and plum, In autumn rains when the wut`ung leaves must fall? South of the western palace many trees Shower their dead leaves upon the terraces, And not a hand to stir their crimson pall.

Ye minstrels of the Garden of the Pear,* Grief with the touch of age has blanched your hair. Ye guardians of the Pepper Chamber,** now No longer young to him, the firefly flits Through the black hall where, lost to love, he sits, Folding the veil of sorrows round his brow,

Alone, and one by one the lanterns die, Sleep with the lily hands has passed him by, Slowly the watches of the night are gone, For now, alas! the nights are all too long, And shine the stars, a silver, mocking throng, As though the dawn were dead or slumbered on.

Cold settles on the painted duck and drake, The frost a ghostly tapestry doth make, Chill the kingfisher's quilt with none to share. Parted by life and death; the ebb and flow Of night and day over his spirit go; He hunts her face in dreams, and finds despair.

-- * The Pear Garden was a college of music founded by Ming Huang for the purpose of training the youth of both sexes.

** The women's part of the palace. --

Spirit-Land

A priest of Tao, one of the Hung-tu school, Was able by his magic to compel The spirits of the dead. So to relieve The sorrows of his king, the man of Tao Receives an urgent summons. Borne aloft Upon the clouds, on ether charioted, He flies with speed of lightning. High to heaven, Low down to earth, he, seeking everywhere, Floats on the far empyrean, and below The yellow springs; but nowhere in great space Can he find aught of her. At length he hears An old-world tale: an Island of the Blest* -- So runs the legend -- in mid-ocean lies In realms of blue vacuity, too faint To be described; there gaily coloured towers Rise up like rainbow clouds, and many gentle And beautiful Immortals pass their days In peace. Among them there is one whose name Sounds upon lips as Eternal. By the bloom Of her white skin and flower-like face he knows That this is she. Knocking at the jade door At the western gate of the golden house, he bids A fair maid breathe his name to one more fair Than all. She, hearing of this embassy Sent by the Son of Heaven, starts from her dreams Among the tapestry curtains. Gathering Her robes around her, letting the pillow fall, She, risen in haste, begins to deck herself With pearls and gems. Her cloud-like hair, dishevelled, Betrays the nearness of her sleep. And with the droop Of her flowery plumes in disarray, she floats Light through the hall. The sleeves of her divine Raiment the breezes fill. As once again To the Rainbow Skirt and Feather Jacket air She seems to dance, her face is fixed and calm, Though many tear-drops on an almond bough Fall, and recall the rains of spring. Subdued Her wild emotions and restrained her grief, She tenders thanks unto his Majesty, Saying how since they parted she has missed His form and voice; how, though their love had reached Too soon its earthly limit, yet among The blest a multitude of mellow noons Remain ungathered. Turning now, she leans Toward the land of the living, and in vain Would find the Imperial city, lost in the dust And haze. Then raising from their lacquered gloom Old keepsakes, tokens of undying love, A golden hair-pin, an enamel brooch, She bids him bear them to her lord. One-half The hair-pin still she keeps, one-half the brooch, Breaking with her dim hands the yellow gold, Sundering the enamel. "Tell my lord," She murmured, "to be firm of heart as this Gold and enamel; then, in heaven or earth, Below, we twain may meet once more." At parting She gave a thousand messages of love, Among the rest recalled a mutual pledge, How on the seventh day of the seventh moon, Within the Hall of Immortality At midnight, whispering, when none were near, Low in her ear, he breathed, "I swear that we, Like to the one-winged birds, will ever fly, Or grow united as the tree whose boughs Are interwoven. Heaven and earth shall fall, Long lasting as they are. But this great wrong Shall stretch from end to end the universe, And shine beyond the ruin of the stars."

-- * The fabled Island of P`eng-lai. --

The River and the Leaf

Into the night the sounds of luting flow; The west wind stirs amid the root-crop blue; While envious fireflies spoil the twinkling dew, And early wild-geese stem the dark Kin-ho.

Now great trees tell their secrets to the sky, And hill on hill looms in the moon-clear night. I watch one leaf upon the river light, And in a dream go drifting down the Hwai.

Lake Shang

Oh! she is like a picture in the spring, This lake of Shang, with the wild hills gathering Into a winding garden at the base Of stormless waters; pines, deep blue, enlace The lessening slopes, and broken moonlight gleams Across the waves like pearls we thread in dreams. Like a woof of jasper strands the corn unfolds, Field upon field beyond the quiet wolds; The late-blown rush flaunts in the dusk serene Her netted sash and slender skirt of green. Sadly I turn my prow toward the shore, The dream behind me and the world before. O Lake of Shang, his feet may wander far Whose soul thou holdest mirrored as a star.

The Ruined Home

Who was the far-off founder of the house, With its red gates abutting to the road? -- A palace, though its outer wings are shorn, And domes of glittering tiles. The wall without Has tottered into ruin, yet remain The straggling fragments of some seven courts, The wreck of seven fortunes: roof and eaves Still hang together. From this chamber cool The dense blue smoke arose. Nor heat nor cold Now dwells therein. A tall pavilion stands Empty beside the empty rooms that face The pine-browed southern hills. Long purple vines Frame the verandahs. Mount the sunken step Of the red, joyous threshold, and shake down The peach and cherry branches. Yonder group Of scarlet peonies hath ringed about A lordly fellow with ten witnesses Of his official rank. The taint of meat Lingers around the kitchen, and a trace Of vanished hoards the treasury retains.

. . . . .

Who can lay hold upon my words? Give heed And commune with thyself! How poor and mean Is the last state of wretchedness, when cold And famine thunder at the gates, and none But pale endurance on the threshold stands With helpless hands and hollow eyes, the dumb Beholder of calamity. O thou That would protect the land a thousand years, Behold they are not that herein once bloomed And perished; but the garden breathes of them, And all the flowers are fragrant for their sakes. Salute the garden that salutes the dead!

A Palace Story

A network handkerchief contains no tear. 'Tis dawn at court ere wine and music sate. The rich red crops no aftermath await. Rest on a screen, and you will fall, I fear.

Peaceful Old Age

Chuang Tzu said: "Tao* gives me this toil in manhood,
this repose in old age, this rest in death."

Swiftly and soon the golden sun goes down, The blue sky wells afar into the night. Tao is the changeful world's environment; Happy are they that in its laws delight.

Tao gives me toil, youth's passion to achieve, And leisure in life's autumn and decay. I follow Tao -- the seasons are my friends; Opposing it misfortunes come my way.