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Tu Fu wrote this poem in 764 in Chengtu for his friend Li Ku. It was one of three he wrote on this landscape painted by his cousin, who also contributed the funds for Tu Fu’s cottage in Chengtu. Fangchang was one of the islands where immortals lived, and the Tientai Mountains were near the Chekiang coast. The Taoist alchemist, Ko Hung (283–343), said that they were the perfect place to cultivate the Tao. Fan Li was a minister of the Warring States Period (433–221 B.C.) who escaped power and fame to spend his days as a recluse near Lake Taihu. And Wang Tzu-ch’iao (aka Wang Ch’iao), son of the Chou dynasty’s King Ling (r. 571–545 B.C.), became an immortal and flew off on a crane. Tu Fu wishes Fan’s boat could hold another, or that Wang had a second crane. The dust is that of his fellow officials, who crowd the road ahead, but also refers to what Buddhists call “the ‘red dust’ of sensation.”

On Seeing a Landscape Painted by My Commissioner Cousin for Li Ku

TU FU

Fangchang surrounded by water

Tientai all dazzling clouds

I often see their pictures on walls

but I hate such tales in old age

Fan Li’s boat is too small

and Wang Ch’iao’s crane flies alone

I followed everyone else this life

where can I go to escape the dust