"Spring Revenge"

【Tang Liu Fangping】

The sun sets through the screened windows and becomes dusk, and no one in the golden house sees any traces of tears.
It's late in spring in the lonely empty garden, and the pear blossoms are all over the ground but the door is closed.


During the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, Liu Rong, Li Ji's son, was first made the crown prince. Emperor Jing Emperor's sister, Princess Guantao, wanted her daughter Chen Ajiao to become the future queen, so she discussed with Li Ji to betroth Gillian to the prince as his wife. But Li Ji didn't like the eldest princess, so she didn't agree.


Princess Guantao asked Liu She, King of Jiaodong, another son of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, if he would like to marry Gillian to him. Liu She, who was only four years old at the time, said happily, "If I have Gillian as my wife, I will definitely build a golden house for her to live in." "Princess Guantao was very happy, so she asked Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty to make a marriage contract.


With the support of Princess Guantao, Liu She was eventually made the prince and renamed Liu Che, who later became the famous Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Liu Che also followed his oath and married Chen Ajiao as his queen. This is the widely circulated allusion of "a beautiful woman is hidden in a golden house".


However, Chen Ajiao, who ascended to the throne with the help of her mother, was domineering and jealous, and became increasingly unpopular with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. She was eventually deposed and sequestered in Changmen Palace. The oath of hiding the beauty in the golden house has also become the "Nagato grudge" of living in seclusion in the palace.


This poem is an allusion to Gillian hiding in a golden house. The time when the screen window sets and dusk falls, the late spring when the flowers are over, the deserted courtyard, the deep palace behind the double door, the girl confined in the palace, the loneliness and sadness of being isolated from the world... just 28 short stories The words, however, describe the deep resentment in the palace in spring in a profound and euphemistic way, with an extravagant taste.



Collection of regular script calligraphy by Yan Zhenqing