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Liu wrote this poem in April of 828 and included this preface: “In the year 805, when I was serving as vice-director of the State Farm Bureau, there were no flowers at this temple. That was the year I was demoted to serve as prefect of Lienchou [in Kuangtung province] and later as vice-prefect of Changte [in Hunan province]. After ten years I was called back to the capital, and everyone told me there was a Taoist priest who had planted heavenly peach trees that filled his temple with clouds of red blossoms. So I wrote the previous poem to record such an unusual sight. Again I was sent away, and now after fourteen years I have returned once more, this time to serve as director of the Bureau of Receptions. Once more I visited Hsuantu Temple, but not a single tree was standing—nothing but useless weeds swayed in the spring breeze. Therefore, I am writing four more lines in anticipation of my next outing.” The temple courtyard is a reference to that of the palace, and the Taoist priest to the former prime minister, Wang Shu-wen. Again Liu went too far in his sarcastic references. Not long after writing this poem he was sent off on another “outing.”

Visiting Hsuantu Temple Again

LIU YU-HSI

The temple’s vast courtyard is now home to moss

vegetables flower where peach trees once bloomed

where is the priest who planted the trees

Old Mister Liu is back here again