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Yang Chiung (650–694) was born east of Ch’ang-an at the foot of the sacred peak of Huashan. He was recognized as a prodigy as a youth and served in the staff of the heir apparent and later in several midlevel capacities. But in 685, when a distant relation staged a minor revolt, he was banished to Szechuan. A few years later he was recalled to Empress Wu’s court in Loyang. But in 693 he was banished again, this time to Chekiang, where he died the following year. This poem may have contributed to his final banishment, as it implies that the emperor (or empress, in this case) has broken his (or her) word. This connection comes from an account in Ssu-ma Ch’ien’s Shihchi (Records of the Historian): The King of Chao once possessed a rare jade disk for which the state of Ch’in offered to exchange fifteen cities along their common border. The King of Chao gave the disk to his chief minister to convey to the King of Ch’in. But after discovering that the King of Ch’in had no intention of honoring his pledge, the minister refused to give up the disk and returned it to his own king. Here, Yang compares his friend to the jade disk, while its celestial counterpart lights the scene of their parting on the banks of the Yellow River just north of Loyang. His friend is on his way home to Chaochou, the ancient capital of the state of Chao, whose name his friend shares. Yang was considered one of the greatest poets of the early T’ang, though only thirty or so poems survive.

Seeing Off Chao Tsung at Night

YANG CHIUNG

Scion of Chao jade disk worth cities

long has your name been known

seeing you off on your way home

moonlight fills the waiting river