Introduction: This article covers the civilian Righteous Armies that resisted the Jin invaders after the Jingkang Humiliation. Led by Wang Yan, Yue Fei and others, they waged guerrilla warfare to defend northern territories. Despite their bravery, the Southern Song court’s appeasement policy left them without support, yet their spirit of resistance endured.
Brief: This article profiles Li Bai and Du Fu, the two greatest poets of Tang Dynasty. It covers their contrasting styles – Li Bai as the free-spirited “Poet Immortal” and Du Fu as the compassionate “Poet Sage” – their lives through the An-Shi Rebellion, their brief friendship, and their tragic later years. Their works…
— Li Bai Before we part we’ve drunk for many days And visited all the scenic spots and ways. When at the Stone Gate shall we meet and drain Our brimming golden cups of wine again? The autumn waves of River Si still flow; The seaside mountains stand in morning glow. You’ll go away…
— Du Fu Another spring in boat I stay; Again swallows peck clods of clay. You know me in my native land; Now gazing from afar you stand. Ah, here and there you build your nest; Now and again I find no rest. You greet me and then leave the mast; My tears stream…
— Du Fu The lonely swan won’t drink nor eat, But longs to join its flock to fleet. Who will pity its shadow lonely, Astray in the clouds, it wails only. Out of sight, still it seems in view; Lost in grief, its song’s heard anew. What do insensible birds know? You hear only…
— Du Fu Two golden orioles sing amid the emerald willows; A line of white egrets fly into the blue sky. My window frames the thousand-year snow atop western ranges; My door frames mooring ships ready for their thousand-mile voyage to Eastern Wu.
— Du Fu A clear river wind by the village and flow! Through long summer days, all in the village grows serene and slow. Swallows on the beam come and go at will; Gulls on the water snuggle each other and still. The old wife draws a chessboard on paper plain; The young son…
— Du Fu Good rain knows its season well, It comes with the spring to dwell. With wind it steals into the night, Moistening all things soft and slight. Wild paths and clouds are lost in deep black, Only the boat’s lamp glows at the riverbank. At dawn, see where petals, damp and red,…