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Lin Hung (fl. 1250) was a native of Fukien province, but little else is known about him. One source says he was a seventh-generation descendant of the Hangchou recluse Lin Pu (967–1028). This and the following poem are from a series of one hundred verses written by the poet on life in the palace in Hangchou. On New Year’s Day the Chinese pay respects to their ancestors. And since the emperor is the Son of Heaven he greets his progenitors in semimythical fashion, reminiscent of the ascent of his shaman predecessors during their annual communion with ancestral spirits. At the palace in Hangchou there were two pillars, on top of which stood two immortals offering up jade lotuses to the gods. The flowers also served the function of collecting dew unsullied by earthly dust. The dew was then used in elixirs. A number of commentators point to this and to the following poem as examples of the lower standards used by the compiler in including a handful of poems by friends, and they are deleted in some editions. Among those editions that include them, several incorrectly attribute them to Wang Chien (751–830), who also wrote a series of one hundred poems on palace life in the T’ang. In ancient times, horses over seven feet tall were called “dragon steeds.”

Palace Ode—I

LIN HUNG

Above the gilded hall’s purple-tiered pavilion

immortals offer up lotuses of jade

the Emperor of Peace greets the New Year dawn

his chariot of colored clouds drawn by dragon steeds