191

Kao Chu (fl. 1200) was from Chekiang province and chose a life in the countryside outside his hometown of Yuyao over a career in Hangchou. A follower of the Rivers and Lakes school of poetry, he was called the Poetry King of Yuyao and his verses were often quoted in the capital. Here, he describes the scene when weeds are cleared from graves and paper money is burned to provide funds for departed spirits in the underworld. Because azaleas bloom during Chingming, they are planted around graves. Foxes often make their homes in coffins and are thought to be the transformed spirits of the dead. Just as the heavens were thought to have nine levels, the underworld inhabited by the dead also had nine levels, the first of which was marked by sulfur springs at the earth’s surface.

Drinking Wine on Grave Sweeping Day

KAO CHU

Hillsides north and south are overrun with graves

sweeping rites on Chingming are nothing but a mess

paper ashes fly like snow-white butterflies

tears from broken hearts stain azaleas red

foxes sleep in tombs once the sun goes down

children play in lamplight on the way back home

who has wine this life should drink until they’re drunk

no drop has ever reached the ninefold springs below