the night of roaring wind and rain

is infused with my new worries.’

‘Wow, you’ve memorized it, Judge Dee. Little wonder, given your passion for poetry. Her poem is extraordinary. And it came as no surprise that the poem moved Wen so much that he gave a rave review in front of other poets there. Quite a lot of people gathered around on that occasion. That instantly established her status as one of the top poetesses of the Tang Empire. Indeed, the poem is a must for that collection of yours. An extraordinary poem by any standard. It was then Wen’s turn to be overwhelmed by her, as you may easily imagine. She was young, attractive, brilliant – and crazy about him, too.’

‘Now I have a question for you, Han Shan. There’s something between Wen and Xuanji. No one can miss it in those dewy-eyed poems she wrote for him. While he’s much older, by thirty years or so, an affair between the two still seemed to be romantically irresistible to her. Apparently, she’s more than ready to throw herself into his arms. Why did it not work out for the pair of them in the end?’

‘There are numerous interesting interpretations about the inscrutable relationship between the two. As some people speculated, Wen was not sure whether Xuanji was pursuing him as a way to climb up the social ladder herself. According to others, Wen simply suffered a sort of inferiority complex because he was a very plain-looking man, particularly so in the company of the young, beautiful Xuanji.

‘According to the most popular interpretation, however, Wen was too self-conscious of his social status because of his failure in the civil service examination. If he married a poor girl like Xuanji, his dream of moving up in society could come to an immediate end, so he balked in spite of all the poems she sent to him as well as those he sent to her. Family background can be of such great importance in our Tang Empire. Whatever the interpretation, though, they kept writing passionate poems for each other, which puzzles a lot of people.’

‘What a pity! I would really love to put those poems together for a special section – she for Wen, and Wen for her – which would probably cover the best pieces she has written.’

‘Alternatively, you may have a special collection of her love poems, including those written for others as well as for Wen, with a title such as “Love Poems between Xuanji and Her Men.”’

‘More than one man! Yes, that could be a truly tantalizing title for a best-selling poetry collection. Thanks for the suggestion, Han Shan.’

Such a suggestion from a poet monk was a surprise. In his younger days, Han Shan too might have had his share, however, of romantic illusions and disillusions in the world of red dust before he escaped into Buddhism.