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Chang Chi (fl. 760) was born in Hsiangfanyang in Hupei province. During the Tali Period (766–779), he served in Ch’ang-an as vice-director of the Bureau of Sacrifices and later in Nanchang as assistant commissioner of the Salt and Iron Monopoly Bureau, where he is said to have died. Here, he is traveling along the Grand Canal and has moored for the night in the western suburbs of Suchou. The bridge where he dropped anchor was named Feng Ch’iao (Enfeoffment Bridge), but Chang chose the more auspicious homophone feng (maple). As a result of the popularity of this poem—and it is perhaps the most famous poem in the Chinese language—the name of the bridge was changed. It’s still there, a few hundred meters north of Hanshan Temple. Although most accounts claim the temple was named for the reclusive poet Han-shan (Cold Mountain), Han-shan was Chang’s contemporary and his poetry did not become well known until the end of the next century. The temple was actually named for a nearby hill. Temple bells were seldom rung so late, but it was customary in Suchou and elsewhere during the T’ang to ring the “Bell of Impermanence” at midnight. The river maples recall the final lines of Ch’u Yuan’s (340–278 B.C.) “Calling Back the Soul”: “On and on the river flows / maple trees line the shore / I wish I could see for a thousand miles / but my spring heart breaks in sorrow / O soul come back / I grieve for the lands of the South.” Fishermen used lanterns and torches at night to attract fish, and cormorants to catch them.

Anchored Overnight at Maple Bridge

CHANG CHI

Crows caw the moon sets frost fills the sky

river maples fishing fires care-plagued sleep

coming from Cold Mountain Temple outside the Suchou wall

the sound of the midnight bell reaches a traveler’s boat