Fu on the GODDESS OF THE LUO RIVER | Zhen Huan's Goose Dance - Empresses in the Palace OST

A precious friend partly inspired me after our exchange of newest tattoo photos. Hers is that of a phoenix - that fabulous bird of ancient legend w/c symbolises death and resurrection. The phoenix is also the symbol of the Empress of China who alone can wear it as an emblem in her raiment and accoutrements. But this upload was mainly inspired by a dear YT friend - Vignesh (SooperTraveler) who seems to be delightfully ensorcelled w/ ancient Chinese poetry. This is thus dedicated to him and his beloved Vathani who is celebrating her natal day soon (blessings of good health, joy, and love to both of them).

Zhen Huan (portrayed by the talented and lovely Sun Li) was still Wan ''Gui Ren'' (Noble Lady Wan) or not quite up the ranks yet in the imperial harem in this particular drama scene (eventually she will become Empress Niohuru/Empress Dowager Chongqing - the Qianlong Emperor's mother as seen in the sequel, Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace [ca. 2018]). Above, she is seen performing the Jinghong Wu or Jinghong Dance (Goose Dance [also called Fleeting Dance]) for Emperor Yongzheng of Qing during the birthday banquet of his young daughter, Princess Wenyi.

The Jinghong Dance is a palace dance set in the Tang Dynasty during w/c time dance (and drama) flourished. It is said to be created by Mei Fei or Consort Mei - who was one of the favourite concubines of Emperor Xuanzong during whose reign the Tang empire reached the pinnacle of prestige and power. The dance seeks to embrace the subtle yet expressive technique used in traditional Chinese painting in w/c the brush creates flexible lines to capture the motion of people, flora, or fauna and texture of the material making up an object. At the same time, it also seeks to depict the elegance, gracefulness, and mellowness of the wild flying goose and its ecstatic flight toward the poles of heaven.

It is now time to introduce Cao Zhi. Pls make a mental note of his love life in this brief entry from britannica.com: ''Cao Zhi, Wade-Giles romanization Ts’ao Chih, courtesy name (zi) Zijian, also called Cao Zijian or Chensiwang (Chinese: “Prince Si of Chen”), (born 192, China—died 232, Chenjun [now Huaiyang, Henan province]), one of China’s greatest lyric poets and the son of the famous general Cao Cao. Cao Zhi was born at the time his father was assuming command over the northern third of China, later known as the Wei kingdom. In a family of poets—the verses of Cao Cao and Cao Pi (Cao Zhi’s older brother and bitter rival) were also widely known—Cao Zhi’s talents quickly surpassed those of his father and brother. Indeed, Cao Cao was so impressed with the poetic skill that Cao Zhi displayed from his earliest years that he once considered making him crown prince instead of Cao Pi. Added to Cao Pi’s resentment of Cao Zhi was the fact that as an adolescent Cao Zhi had fallen in love with the Lady Zhen, the woman who later became the consort of his elder brother. Thus, when Cao Pi ascended the throne as Wendi of Wei in 220, he took pains to make his younger brother’s life as difficult as possible. Cao Zhi’s resulting frustration and misery is the subject of much of his poetry. Writing in the then-standard five-word line, Cao Zhi extended and strengthened its use to make it a flexible and yet precise vehicle for the expression of his wide-ranging emotions.''

The text used in the Jinghong dance vignette were fm lines 21-30 of the exquisitely beautiful ancient poetic essay i.e., Cao Zhi's ''Luo Shen Fu'' or fu on the ''Goddess of the Luo River'':

''She is lightsome as a startled swan-goose,
As graceful as a roaming dragon;
Her lovely complexion outshines the autumn chrysanthemum,
Her radiance surpasses the springtime pine.

She is as nebulous as the moon concealed in light clouds,
Gracefully gliding, as snow spun by a flowing wind.

Gazing at her from afar,
She shines like the sun rising above the rosy mists of dawn;
Observing her close by,
She is as luminous as a lotus emerging from clear ripplets.''.

Have you ever been stunned at the sight of a beautiful woman and fell in love with her then and there as a result? Basically, this is the fu's gist except that the subject woman is an immortal - the goddess of the river Luo named Fu Fei. Per the introductory words to the fu, Cao Zhi was inspired to write the fu after crossing the Luo River upon his return fm the capital while thinking of Song Yu's ''Fu on the Goddess''. Interestingly, there are those who are keen to associate the personal names Luo and Fu to Lady Zhen w/c consequently led them to fairly suppose that Fu Fei or the Luo River goddess is none other than his ethereal substitute for Lady Zhen.

Due to space constraints since the entire poem is quite long, a link to my defunct blogsite is attached where I've jotted it down: (https://salondesimonedb.blogspot.com/). The English translation and its corresponding footnotes were culled fm my copy of The Poetry of Cao Zhi (c. 2021) as translated by Robert Joe Cutter.