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In this poem, Tu Shen-yen is attending the emperor’s birthday celebration at one of the three main halls of Taming Palace in Ch’ang-an. This hall was named for the island of immortals that still appears off the coast of Shantung from time to time and to which Taoist adepts hope to be transported after shedding this mortal form. The mountains to which Tu compares the emperor are the Chungnan Mountains, which rose thirty kilometers south of Ch’ang-an, and which were also called the Nanshan, or Southern Mountains. Their name was a metaphor for immortality, and Tu uses them here to transport the emperor’s earthly realm to the celestial plane. A poem in the Shihching (Book of Odes) goes: “The smile of the moon / the glory of the sun / the age of Nanshan / by change untouched.” The Northern Dipper is a symbol not only of old age but also of leadership, as all the stars revolve around it. And the golden gates and jade halls are characteristic of the celestial realm but are also used as euphemisms for the imperial residence. Yao was a legendary emperor who ruled China during the third millennium B.C. Confucius once sighed, “Great was Yao’s rule! How magnificent he was! It is only the Celestial Realm that is great, and only Yao who modeled himself on it” (Analects: 8:19). Yao’s ancestral fief was the kingdom of T’ang, and his reign was called the “Reign of T’ang.” Hence, this last reference suggests this poem was written following Tu’s return from exile in 706. In that year the capital also returned from Loyang to Ch’ang-an. But after the interregnum of Empress Wu, it was still uncertain if the re-establishment of the T’ang dynasty and re-enthronement of Emperor Chung-tsung (r. 705–710) would last. Thus, while offering birthday congratulations, Tu also reminds the emperor of his ancestral responsibility to uphold the Mandate of Heaven for the benefit of all those under his care.

At an Imperial Banquet in Penglai Hall Offering Praise for the Chungnan Mountains

TU SHEN-YEN

The Northern Dipper hangs beside the wall

the Southern Mountains lean before the palace

golden gates appear in distant clouds

jade halls float above the trees

a noble air spreads across the slopes

a propitious mist circles the central peak

your servant offers wishes for long life

long may you keep the ways of Yao alive