Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature
— Li Shangyin In the bamboo grove by the clean poolside I stay; Separated from you by towns, I miss you far away. The autumn gloom undispersed and late frost remain; Only the withered lotus listen to the rain.
In the volatile power struggles of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, political marriages were not unions of affection but strategic instruments of war and betrayal. One of the most revealing episodes of this era occurred in 196 AD, when Yuan Shu, having failed to conquer Xu Province (Xuzhou) by force, attempted to subvert Lü…