Ancient poems capture the soul of Mid-Autumn Festival

On Mid-Autumn night in 767, four years after the rebellions were put down, Du wrote two poems, one of which includes these lines:

A full moon soars like a bright mirror

My longing for home is strong enough to bend an iron blade

Like floating reeds I have wandered nonstop

The vast distance renders any effort to reach the osmanthus tree (on the moon) futile

It was neither the first nor last time Du wrote about missing his family, including his brothers, wife and children.

Those reading between the lines of this work are acquainted with the legendary figure of Wu Gang, a woodcutter banished to the moon, where he was given the task of using an iron blade to fell an osmanthus tree that kept regenerating.

"Osmanthus", which has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for "high status", was traditionally viewed as auspicious, especially for young men hoping to attain fame by excelling at imperial examinations.

When he was a young adult, Du wrote that he wanted to "assist my lord until his reputation outshines that of the ancient sage-kings". By the time this work emerged three years before Du died, the poet was tired, disillusioned and even embittered.

In the last sentence of the same poem he wrote:

I gazed at the jade rabbit

Almost able to count its newly grown hairs

The sole company of Chang'e, the jade rabbit always appeared with a pestle and mortar, forever pounding an elixir of immortality, which ironically directly caused the tragedy of the fair lady.

While Wu Gang and the jade rabbit are condemned to hard labor — even though it transformed both to celestial beings — Du spent his life hoping, which had given his works an ageless poignancy.