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This land of tattooed people
posted Friday, 17 December 2004
Here is a poem (translation below) by the Tang Dynasty poet, Liu Zongyuan (773 - 819). Back in those days, to be in the ruling elite, you had to be a dab hand at scribbling down a verse or two.Liu Zongyuan screwed up at some point by backing the wrong coup and was shipped off to Liuzhou in disgrace!
However, when he got here, politician that he was, he soon ended up running the place and was, by all accounts a fairly modern thinker for his times. He established regulations allowing for slaves to buy their freedom, encouraged the locals to improve their farming methods and even stumped up some of his own cash to help out the poorer families.
He also found time to continue his writing and among other philosophical stuff wrote that “the desire of the common people” is the impetus behind the development of history and denied the point of view that history is created by “Gods” and "sages". He was noted for writing in a colloquial style rather than the stiff court style of the times.
Anyway, I found this poem rather apt, as it deals with the feelings of being in exile in Liuzhou.
FROM THE CITY-TOWER OF LIUZHOU TO MY FOUR FELLOW-OFFICIALS AT ZHANG, DING, FENG, AND LIAN DISTRICTS
At this lofty tower where the town ends, wilderness begins;
And our longing has as far to go as the ocean or the sky....
Hibiscus-flowers by the moat heave in a sudden wind,
And vines along the wall are whipped with slanting rain.
Nothing to see for three hundred miles but a blur of woods and mountain --
And the river's nine loops, twisting in our bowels....
This is where they have sent us, this land of tattooed people --
And not even letters, to keep us in touch with home.
Know how you feel, mate!
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