‘In fact, I first came to know Xuanji through Wen – through stories and gossip about the romance between the two,’ Han Shan went on after taking another deliberate sip of the tea. ‘It was paradoxical that a group of Wen’s poems were written with a female persona complaining about her unreciprocated love, as if echoing from the bottom of her heart. And with her perspective, too. According to several critics, those poems of Wen’s must have meant a great deal to her.’

‘Yes, that’s unusual, but not without precedent. In the classical Chu tradition, men of letters wrote love poems as a way of showing their loyalty to the supreme ruler – comparing themselves to neglected beauties pining away because of their cold-hearted lords.’

‘Have you read the one titled “The Islet Enclosed in White Duckweed”? A love poem with a female persona informed by such helpless pining.’ Han Shan breathed into the tea with a dramatic pause before he started to read:

‘After applying her make-up,

she stands leaning against the balcony,

looking out to the river, alone,

to thousands of sails passing along –

none is the one she waits for.

The sun setting slant,

the water running silent, long,

her heart is breaking

at the sight of the islet enclosed

in white duckweed.’

‘The speaker’s voice is surely Xuanji’s in that poem by Wen. You’re so right about that, Han Shan.’

‘They kept on writing for each other. She was the more explicit one, going so far as to call her poems, quite unashamedly, her love letters to Wen.

‘Then Wen did something unbelievable. He introduced her to Zi’an, the number-one successful candidate in the capital civil service examination—’

‘Wen actually put the two of them together as a matchmaker?’

‘And for that matter, a materialistic matchmaker to boot. Zi’an was a far more worthy match than Wen in the eyes of the mundane world: younger, more wealthy, more handsome, and with a much more promising future, and he was waiting alone in Chang’an to be assigned an official post.’

‘But why should a romantic poet like Wen have chosen to do that, Han Shan?’

‘It’s possible that Wen cared for her in his way, so he tried to secure for her a better future in the company of Zi’an instead. At least, so it might have appeared to Wen. As for her, whatever feelings she might have cherished for Wen, she knew better as a realistic girl. But there’s a catch …’

‘Alas, there’s always a catch.’

‘Zi’an was married to someone from the illustrious Pei family. Still, it was not uncommon for a well-to-do man to have a concubine or two. The first poem in the Book of Songs, for instance, describes the scene of a virtuous queen in ancient China picking up a young pretty girl and welcoming her home as a concubine for her lord.’