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Wang Ch’ang-ling (698–756) was from the Ch’ang-an area but spent most of his career in low-level posts in outlying provinces. Not long after the An Lu-shan Rebellion broke out in 755, he resigned his post in Hunan but was murdered on his way back north. He wrote this poem c. 739 while serving in Nanching after a brief banishment to Kuangtung province. The Huai is one of China’s major rivers and flows parallel to the Yangtze one hundred kilometers north of Nanching. But Wang is referring to a much smaller river of the same name (usually called the Chinhuai) that emptied into the Yangtze from the south at Nanching. Although Wang did not enjoy success as an official, he was well known for his short poems, especially those on the subject of farewell. Here, he tries to detain a friend whose official duties included supervision of government granaries that supplied farmers with seed and grain at a set price. With the advent of spring planting, his friend heads west up the Yangtze, followed by the moon, while Wang takes solace in the thought that the Yangtze will not only continue to link their hearts together but also will deepen with spring rains.

Seeing Off Supply Director Kuo

WANG CH’ANG-LING

Huai River green brightens my door

this host would keep a traveler longer

the moon leaves too with an honest official

but every night spring waters grow deeper