In 804 on the death of his father, and again in 811 on the death of his
mother, he spent periods of retirement on the Wei river near Ch'ang-an.
mother, he spent periods of retirement on the Wei river near Ch'ang-an.
Waley - 170 Chinese Poems
The T'ang History relates the episode as follows: "Yuan was
staying the night at the Fu-shui Inn; just as he was preparing to go to
sleep in the Main Hall, the court-official Li Shih-yuan also arrived.
Yuan Ch? n should have offered to withdraw from the Hall. He did not do
so and a scuffle ensued. Yuan, locked out of the building, took off his
shoes and stole round to the back, hoping to find another way in. Liu
followed with a whip and struck him across the face. "
[45] Yuan has told the story of this intrigue in an autobiographical
fragment, of which I hope to publish a translation. Upon this fragment
is founded the famous fourteenth-century drama, "The Western Pavilion. "
The separation was a heavy blow to Po Chu-i. In a poem called "Climbing
Alone to the Lo-yu Gardens" he says:
I look down on the Twelve City Streets:--
Red dust flanked by green trees!
Coaches and horsemen alone fill my eyes;
I do not see whom my heart longs to see.
K'ung T'an has died at Lo-yang;
Yuan Ch? n is banished to Ching-m? n.
Of all that walk on the North-South Road
There is not one that I care for more than the rest!
In 804 on the death of his father, and again in 811 on the death of his
mother, he spent periods of retirement on the Wei river near Ch'ang-an.
It was during the second of these periods that he wrote the long poem
(260 lines) called "Visiting the Wu-ch? n Temple. " Soon after his return
to Ch'ang-an, which took place in the winter of 814, he fell into
official disfavour. In two long memorials entitled "On Stopping the
War," he had criticized the handling of a campaign against an
unimportant tribe of Tartars, which he considered had been unduly
prolonged. In a series of poems he had satirized the rapacity of minor
officials and called attention to the intolerable sufferings of the
masses.
His enemies soon found an opportunity of silencing him. In 814 the Prime
Minister, Wu Yuan-h? ng, was assassinated in broad daylight by an agent
of the revolutionary leader Wu Yuan-chi. Po, in a memorial to the
Throne, pointed out the urgency of remedying the prevailing discontent.
He held at this time the post of assistant secretary to the Princes'
tutor. He should not have criticized the Prime Minister (for being
murdered! ) until the official Censors had spoken, for he held a Palace
appointment which did not carry with it the right of censorship.
His opponents also raked up another charge. His mother had met her death
by falling into a well while looking at flowers. Chu-i had written two
poems entitled "In Praise of Flowers" and "The New Well.
staying the night at the Fu-shui Inn; just as he was preparing to go to
sleep in the Main Hall, the court-official Li Shih-yuan also arrived.
Yuan Ch? n should have offered to withdraw from the Hall. He did not do
so and a scuffle ensued. Yuan, locked out of the building, took off his
shoes and stole round to the back, hoping to find another way in. Liu
followed with a whip and struck him across the face. "
[45] Yuan has told the story of this intrigue in an autobiographical
fragment, of which I hope to publish a translation. Upon this fragment
is founded the famous fourteenth-century drama, "The Western Pavilion. "
The separation was a heavy blow to Po Chu-i. In a poem called "Climbing
Alone to the Lo-yu Gardens" he says:
I look down on the Twelve City Streets:--
Red dust flanked by green trees!
Coaches and horsemen alone fill my eyes;
I do not see whom my heart longs to see.
K'ung T'an has died at Lo-yang;
Yuan Ch? n is banished to Ching-m? n.
Of all that walk on the North-South Road
There is not one that I care for more than the rest!
In 804 on the death of his father, and again in 811 on the death of his
mother, he spent periods of retirement on the Wei river near Ch'ang-an.
It was during the second of these periods that he wrote the long poem
(260 lines) called "Visiting the Wu-ch? n Temple. " Soon after his return
to Ch'ang-an, which took place in the winter of 814, he fell into
official disfavour. In two long memorials entitled "On Stopping the
War," he had criticized the handling of a campaign against an
unimportant tribe of Tartars, which he considered had been unduly
prolonged. In a series of poems he had satirized the rapacity of minor
officials and called attention to the intolerable sufferings of the
masses.
His enemies soon found an opportunity of silencing him. In 814 the Prime
Minister, Wu Yuan-h? ng, was assassinated in broad daylight by an agent
of the revolutionary leader Wu Yuan-chi. Po, in a memorial to the
Throne, pointed out the urgency of remedying the prevailing discontent.
He held at this time the post of assistant secretary to the Princes'
tutor. He should not have criticized the Prime Minister (for being
murdered! ) until the official Censors had spoken, for he held a Palace
appointment which did not carry with it the right of censorship.
His opponents also raked up another charge. His mother had met her death
by falling into a well while looking at flowers. Chu-i had written two
poems entitled "In Praise of Flowers" and "The New Well.
