Introduction

He seems to have settled permanently at Ch’ang-an in 801. This town,lying near the north-west frontier, was the political capital of theEmpire. In its situation it somewhat resembled Madrid. Lo-yang, theEastern city, owing to its milder climate and more accessible position,became, like Seville in Spain, a kind of social capital.

Since I left my home to seek official stateSeven years I have lived in Ch’ang-an.What have I gained? Only you, Yüan;So hard it is to bind friendships fast.We have roamed on horseback under the flowering trees;We have walked in the snow and warmed our hearts with wine.We have met and parted at the Western GateAnd neither of us bothered to put on Cap or Belt.We did not go up together for Examination;We were not serving in the same Department of State.The bond that joined us lay deeper than outward things;The rivers of our souls spring from the same well!

The separation was a heavy blow to Po Chü-i. In a poem called “ClimbingAlone 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;Yüan Chēn is banished to Ching-mēn.Of all that walk on the North-South RoadThere is not one that I care for more than the rest!

He was banished to Kiukiang (then called Hsün-yang) with the rank ofSub-Prefect. After three years he was given the Governorship ofChung-chou, a remote place in Ssech’uan. On the way up the Yangtze hemet Yüan Chēn after three years of separation. They spent a few daystogether at I-ch’ang, exploring the rock-caves of the neighbourhood.

At the palace doors the smell of meat and wine;On the road the bones of one who was frozen to death.