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Su Shih (1037–1101) wrote this poem in 1090 when he was out of favor and had been sent to Hangchou as the city’s prefect. Earlier, Su had become close friends with Liu (1033–1092) when Su was rusticated to the same area in 1080. Liu was from Kaifeng and was serving as commander-in-chief of military forces in the province of which Hangchou was the capital. The two men became such close friends that Su compared Liu to K’ung Jung (153–208), a Han-dynasty Confucian noted for his erudition and courage. Among the many poems the two men exchanged in later years was this one, in which Su reminds his friend of their time together in Hangchou and of the region’s citrus trees, which produced their fruit long after the flowers of summer and fall had faded and after all other fruits had been harvested. Such fruit is also a metaphor for the pleasures of old age.

For Liu Ching-wen

SU SHIH

Lotuses are gone and their rainproof umbrellas

chrysanthemums have faded but not their hardy leaves

the year’s best scene though surely you’ll recall

is when oranges are yellow and tangerines are green