The last thirteen poems by Chinese ghosts

Bruh. Finally. The last thirteen. Not the last of all ghost poets, mind, but the last in this collection within Complete Tang Poems. Fair warning, btw: this installment includes fragments included to be complete (Complete is right there on the tin, after all) which the editors dumped on pushed to the end to keep them out of the way of fuller episodes. IOW there’s some cryptic bits—or rather, even more cryptic than usual.

Highlights include another notorious imperial consort of history who meets a living guy and then sleeps with him in a way that’s totally not wish-fulfillment no-sirree nope nuh-uh, an imperial consort of history who meets a living guy and then doesn’t sleep with him but rather becomes a Daoist immortal with his aid, a couple different types of concubines, and a second singing courtesan. (I’m surprised there aren’t more courtesan ghosts, actually, given how many of the known female poets of history were in the trade.)

Also, this has my favorite poem-as-poetry of this collection. I was surprised by it, actually. And the faster I get to the poems, the faster you’ll get to it:

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Poems of an Afterlife Encounter, together with Yan Jun, Chen Palace Imperial Consorts

Advanced Scholar Yan Jun was demoted from Huichang and traveled to Guangling. A fellow passenger was a servant, aged about 20, whose surname was Zhao, given name Youfang. When it was time for them to part, it was the Zhongyuan Festival, and they wandered the Wa Palace pavilion, where they encountered an immortal’s go-between. Jun went to speak with him, and as a result left there and met a beauty along with a ‘young fragrance.’ The beauty said, “My house is at Qing Creek,” and invited Jun to go over there, for she was Chen Dynasty’s Principal Consort Zhang. A moment later, Consort Kong also arrived. He asked about the ‘young fragrance,’ and was told she was the Principal Consort’s maid-servant, who afterward served as a Sui Palace attendant and died in the Jiangdu Rebellion. They arranged for wine and composed poems. [TN: all four poems] Because he remained there, Jun lay down together with the Principal Consort, until daybreak arrived and she departed. He searched for her place in the lands around Qing Creek, but the Chen Palace people were all in their graves. Jun was wretched and sorrowful, and returned.

Composed by Principal Consort Zhang
Bleak terrace in the autumn grass, the sounds of crickets at night—
The poplar trees have fully withered, the mournful winds die off.
The many-colored note was torn, and it deceived Jiang Zong.
The fine pavilion vanished into dust—the jade trees empty.

( The red trees drunk on autumn colors, / The emerald stream plucks evening’s strings )

:dusts off hands:

:slumps down on a couch somewhere: :stares at a wall:

---L.

Index of Chinese translations