Xue Tao
Translated by Jeanne Larsen

• Frontmatter,
• Contents,
• INTRODUCTION,
• Poem in Answer to Someone's "After the Rains, Taking Pleasure among the Bamboo",
• Cicadas,
• Wind,
• Moon,
• Peonies,
• Poem Rhyming with Liu Yuxi's "Jade Rose of Sharon",
• Seeing-Off a Friend,
• Seeing-Off Associate Secretary Yao,
• Seeing-Off Zheng, Prefect of Meizhou,
• Gazing at Spring, I,
• Gazing at Spring, II,
• Gazing at Spring, III,
• Gazing at Spring, IV,
• Homethoughts,
• Autumn, Hearing the Headwaters on a Moonlit Night,
• Riverbank,
• Willow Floss,
• Mountain Pear Blossoms: Poem Rhyming with One by Li, General of the Armies,
• Banquet Poem for Minister Wu Yuanheng, Governor of the Western Rivers District,
• Another Banquet Poem for Minister Wu,
• Rained-Out on the Mid-Autumn Festival, I,
• Rained-Out on the Mid-Autumn Festival, II,
• A Wandering Tour of the Countryside in Spring: Sent to Master Sun,
• Another Poem for Master Sun,
• Sent upon Being Ill and Unable to Accompany Minister Duan on an Excursion to Wudan Temple,
• Written to Thank Licentiate Yong for Painting of the Yangzi Gorges,
• Written to Thank Auxiliary Xin for a Spray of Flowers,
• Trying on New-Made Clothes, I,
• Trying on New-Made Clothes, II,
• Trying on New-Made Clothes, III,
• For Someone Far Away, I,
• For Someone Far Away, II,
• On Being Banished to the Borderlands: Submitted to Commander Wei,
• Another Poem for Commander Wei S I on Being Banished,
• On Arriving at the Borderlands: Submitted to Minister Wu,
• Another Poem for Minister Wu on Arriving at the Borderlands,
• Dog Parted from Her Master,
• Writing Brush Parted from the Hand,
• Horse Parted from Her Stable,
• Parrot Parted from Her Cage,
• Swallow Parted from Her Nest,
• Pearl Parted from the Palm,
• Fish Parted from the Pond,
• Falcon Parted from the Gauntlet,
• Bamboo Parted from the Pavillion,
• Mirror Parted from Its Stand,
• On Beyond-the-Clouds Temple, I,
• On Beyond-the-Clouds Temple, II,
• Written on Lord-Bamboo Shrine,
• On Visiting the Shrine at Shamanka Mountain,
• Lyric Sent to a Taoist Recluse,
• Poem in Response to the Taoist Teacher Yang's "On Being Summoned to Court",
• On Being Presented to Monk Xuan: A Poem to Rhyme with Those by the Gathered Nobles,
• Listening to a Monk Play the Reed Pipes,
• Water Chestnut and Salad-Rush Pond,
• Lotus-Gathering Boat,
• Crabapple Brook,
• Gazing at Stonebarrel Mountain in Early Morning: Sent to Imperial Censor Lu,
• Sketch of Stonebarrel Mountain,
• For Vice-President Xiao of the Tribunal of Censors: On the Pond His Ancestor Made,
• River-Moon Tower: Thinking of the Southland,
• For the Opening of Border Strategy Tower,
• Westcliff,
• Spring View of Chengdu, the Brocade City,
• In Response to Lord Commissioner Wen,
• In Response to Licentiate Zhu, Thirteenth of His Generation,
• In Response to Grand Secretary Du of the Imperial Cabinet,
• Sending Old Poems to Yuan Zhen,
• NOTES TO THE POEMS,
• Backmatter,

Xue Tao (A.D. 768-831) was well known as a poet in an age when all men of learning were poets--and almost all women were illiterate. As an entertainer and official government hostess, she met, and impressed, many of the most talented and powerful figures of her day. As a maker of beautiful paper and a Taoist churchwoman, she maintained a life of independence and aesthetic sensibility. As a writer, she crrated a body of work that is by turns deeply moving, amusing, and thought-provoking. Drawing knowledgeably on a rich literary tradition, she created images that here live again for the contemporary reader of English. This bilingual edition contains about two-thirds of Xue Tao's extant poems. The translations are based on accurate readings of the originals and extensive research in both Chinese and Japanese materials. The notes at the end of the book explain allusions and place the poems in the context of medieval Chinese culture and its great literary heritage, while the opening essay introduces Xue Tao's work and describes her unusual life history.