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Cheng Hui (fl. 1210) was a minor poet of the Sung about whom we know next to nothing. He wrote this poem in his wife’s voice while traveling from Hangchou to Kiangsi province, probably at an inn in Changshan. Changshan was a major stop on the post road that led southwest from the Southern Sung capital. Cheng’s home was in Kueihsi, still another 150 kilometers away. The variety of climbing raspberry he imagines in his wife’s dream, Rubus rosifolius var. commersonii, blooms in this region at the end of spring. Swallows represent conjugal bliss but they, too, are waiting for warmer weather. The green is that of early spring foliage. Red candles are used for weddings, New Year’s, and any other happy occasion. Women often used their hairpins as scissors to trim candle wicks, but here they lie broken from overuse. In some editions this poem is attributed to Cheng Ku (fl. 890–930), a prominent poet of the independent state of Nanping. Nanping controlled the area of the Yangtze east of the Three Gorges during the Five Dynasties Period (907–960) between the T’ang and Sung.

Written on the Wall of an Inn

CHENG HUI

A raspberry-scented dream dispels the chill of spring

the swallows are resting behind doors shrouded green

my jade hairpins lie broken the red candles are cold

according to my count he should be in Changshan