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This was one of three poems Su Shih (1037–1101) wrote at imperial request while attending a dawn banquet for court officials on the occasion of Shangyuan (the Great Beginning), which celebrates the first full moon of the year, when the moon sinks in the west at dawn prior to its return at sunset for Yuanhsiao (Lantern Festival). But the sinking moon and fading stars also represent Wang An-shih and his supporters at court, whose policies Su opposed and whose light pales in the glory of the imperial presence. Chienchang Court was built during the Han dynasty as part of the palace in Ch’ang-an, but here it refers to the assembled officials in the Sung capital of Kaifeng. Tungming Palace is where Yu Huang-ti (the Jade Emperor/Sage on High) resides in the highest of the Taoist heavens. But here the palace is in Kaifeng, rather than the heavens, and the sage is the Sung emperor. In honor of the occasion, officials wore red robes, the color of life. Standing in the courtyard perfectly still and en masse, they resembled the horizon at dawn.

Attending a Banquet on the Great Beginning

SU SHIH

Pale moon and scattered stars encircle Chienchang Court

celestial winds waft incense from the royal censer

inside Tungming Palace officials stand like storks

an offering of red clouds for the Sage on High