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Ts’en Shen (715–770) wrote this poem in 758, one year after returning to Ch’ang-an in Emperor Su-tsung’s (r. 756–762) retinue, as the An Lu-shan Rebellion was winding down. He describes the morning assembly at court, where he and Tu Fu were serving at the time. Ts’en was rectifier-of-omissions in the Secretariat and was in charge of criticizing imperial documents and the emperor’s own conduct, while Tu Fu was a censor in the Chancellery and was in charge of criticizing officials. The Secretariat was located in the west wing of the courtyard just outside the imperial palace, and the Chancellery was in the east wing. Both were separated by rows of purple myrtle. Not long after he wrote this poem, Ts’en Shen (the rising official) and Tu Fu (the old man) were dismissed from their posts.

To Censor Tu at the Chancellery

TS’EN SHEN

We hurry in pairs up cinnabar steps

our ranks divided by purple myrtle

at dawn we follow the guards inside

at dusk we return trailing perfume

an old man grieves to see petals fall

a rising official envies wild birds

the court of a sage contains no omissions

the work of a censor I imagine is rare