How to Read Chinese Poetry A Guided Anthology

Sh i P oe t ry oF t He m i ng anD q i ng Dy na s t i e s 369

C 1 7. 7

On the Full Moon: Written at Age Six

Who sent Wu Gang’s axe

Clearly to chop it exactly round?

How come not long after it’s been full

Again a crescent forms where it has waned?

[YXLG 1.1a]

咏圓月七歲作 (yŏng yuán yuè qī suì zuò)

who send Wu Gang axe 誰使吳剛斧^ (shéi shĭ wú gāng fŭ)
divide bright cut just round 分明削正圓^ (fēn míng xiāo zhèng yuán)
do what full moon not yet long 如何望未久^ (rú hé wàng wèi jiŭ)
missing place again form line 缺處又成弦^ (quē chù yòu chéng xián)
[Tonal pattern I, see p. 170]

The moon, a ubiquitous trope in the poetic tradition, recurs throughout Gan
Lirou’s entire collection, varying in its many emotional and cultural valences in
the context of her life course. Here, in the first preserved effort by Gan Lirou, a
child’s curiosity about the waxing and waning of the moon is animated by refer-
ence to the legend of the mythical figure Wu Gang cutting away at the 5,000-foot
osmanthus tree on the moon.29
Gan Lirou’s happy childhood and adolescence were soon devastated by a series
of successive deaths in the family. First an elder brother died away from home,
then her only sister, followed by her mother when Gan Lirou was eighteen. She
wrote many poems mourning the loss of companionship and sisterly intimacy and
of maternal guidance and counsel in her journey through life. “Weeping for Elder
Sister” is inscribed with memories of embroidering and writing poetry together
with her sister—two activities young ladies of elite households often performed
together:

C 1 7. 8

Weeping for Elder Sister

In the clear night I still remember when we chatted quietly.
2 When you were alive, I feared we would part, with little chance to be
together.
In our inner chambers, how could we know we’d be separated by death?
4 In my heart, I could only pine for your visits home.
Sisters linking verses were like the best of friends,
6 I followed my companion, at dawn or dusk we embroidered together.
Now in front of the mirror I am startled to see myself standing alone,
8 Why must I see a pair of swallows fluttering by the curtains?
[YXLG 1.20a]