The Han dynasty is divided into two periods: West Han (206—25 B.C.) with its capital at Ch'ang An in Shensi province and East Han (25 B.C.—219 A.D.) with its capital at Loyang in Honan province.
The sixth sovereign of West Han was the ambitious and successful Emperor Wu. He suppressed the Huns in Central Asia, established diplomatic relations with such countries of the Western Regions as Tibet and Turkestan, and extended the frontiers to Indonesia. Peace reigned in the Empire and the period was favorable to art and literature.
The great Emperor Wu was the founder of the Yueh Fu or Bureau of Music. As early as the Chou and Ch'in dynasties, there already existed the so-called Ts'ai Shih Kuan or functionary in charge of collecting folk songs as well as a bureau for preserving them. But it was under Emperor Wu that the music bureau was officially established. Besides preserving what was already in the archives, the bureau began a wide search for new songs and showed concern for the preservation of the music. The folk songs collected included those of frontier areas, especially those of the Western Regions inhabited by non-Chinese peoples. Many of these songs deal with the horrors of war and express the feelings of the common people.
Later, the term Yueh Fu came to mean not only the songs collected by the bureau but also poems written in the style of Yueh Fu songs. The rules governing the composition of Yueh Fu songs are simple. The meter is irregular; there is neither fixed tone-pattern nor rhyme-scheme.
There are three kinds of Yueh Fu: sacrificial songs written by men of letters in celebration of important events or military victories of the imperial state; songs of foreign origin subdivided into three categories in accordance with the accompanying instruments; love songs and those dealing with warfare, social injustice or lamenting the transient character of existence.
Five Syllable Verses
Controversy surrounds the origin of five-syllable verses. According to Hsu Lin, the author of Yu T'ai Hsin Yung, Mei Ch'en was the first to create five-syllable poems. But Han dynastic history does not mention this in the chapter on art and literature.
According to Chung Jung, the author of Shih P'in, the five-syllable verse originated with Li Lin, a contemporary of Mei Ch'en, in the period of West Han. This is another assertion not supported in historical writings. Li Lin's "Farewell" is written in the style of Ch'u elegies. His "Three Poems to Su Wu" are probably forgeries of a later time. They seem to be products of a period when the five-syllable verse had attained maturity.
As we have good reasons to doubt the authenticity of the five-syllable verses of both Mei Ch'en and Li Lin, it would seem that five-syllable verses came into being during the period of West Han. However, such perfect five-syllable verses as "The Nineteen Ancient Poems" did not come from the period of West Han. Some may be from the East Han period.
Toward the end of East Han, the Yellow Turban Rebellion plunged the Empire into war and disorder. Hunger, pestilence, and massacre stalked the land. The Nineteen Ancient Poems are a product of that troubled age. Many deal with nostalgia, warfare, and the sorrows of separation. A large number of Yueh Fu songs of the Han dynasty are similarly inspired. These are the author's translations of two of the Nineteen Ancient Poems and seven of the Yueh Fu songs:
In a pond covered with fragrant grass,
I plucked some lotus flowers.
I plucked them but who shall I send them to?
The one I love is afar.
Turning backward, I look toward my native land,
Long, long is the road before me.
With hearts united but lodgings separated,
We are aging in sadness.
(Poem in ancient style)
In the courtyard is a strange tree.
With leaves green and flowers abundant.
From a branch I pluck a flower
To be sent to the one I love.
My beloved being too far to be reached,
Only my sleeves are impregnated with perfume.
Not that the flower is precious
But I am grieved by the lapse of time during his absence.
(Poem in ancient style)
Off to the War at Fifteen
Off to the war at fifteen,
I am back only at eighty.
On the road I met a fellow-villager,
"Who is there still in my home?"
"There lies your house
Near the tombs and pines.
Rabbits enter it by the dog hole.
Pheasants fly from the beams.
Rice grows in the courtyard,
Mallows flourish by the well."
I cook some rice to prepare a meal
And pluck some mallows to make a soup.
Rice and soup are ready
But with whom to share?
I step outdoors and look at the east
While tears soak my robe.
The Song of Wheat
Wheat remains green, barley has become dry.
Who are the reapers?
Mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.
Where are the men?
In the west, fighting the barbarians.
The officials buy horses,
The nobles own chariots.
Yet, I pray you, say not a word about it.
Dewdrops on the Shallot
Oh! dewdrops on the shallot,
How quickly you melt.
Dewdrops, you will reappear tomorrow.
But when will the dead return?
Shang Ya
Shang Ya! I shall love you
All life long, endlessly.
Only when the mountains become flat,
When the rivers dry up,
When it thunders in the winter,
When it snows in the summer,
When heaven and earth are united
Shall I part from you.
The Poem of Five Alases
I ascend the North Mountain, alas!
I behold the imperial capital, alas!
How elevated are the palaces, alas!
How laboring are the people, alas!
And there is no end to it, alas!
Narrative Poems
The narrative poem, a genre which originated from certain poems in the Shih Ching (Book of Songs), flourished only during the period of East Han.
The two famous narrative poems of Han are the "Song of Distress and Indignation" by Ts'ai Yen, a Han poetess, and "Southeastward Flies the Peacock" which is anonymous. The former relates how Ts'ai Yen was captured by the barbarians, married their chieftain, and bore him two sons. Finally she was redeemed and upon returning to China after 12 years exile, she told of the tragic life she lived at the barbarian court in two poems, one in the style of Ch'u elegies and one in five-syllable verses.
The latter gives an account of young wife's tragic experiences. She loved her husband dearly but was forced to separate from him by a jealous mother-in-law whom she failed to please in spite of great efforts. After separation, the couple commit suicide to show their undying love.
This is the translation of a shorter narrative poem, "The Song of Lo Fu".
The Song of Lo Fu
The sun rises from the east
And shines upon the high chambers of the Ch'in family.
In the Ch'in family is a pretty lass
Who calls herself Lo Fu.
Lo Fu excels in plucking mulberry leaves,
She plucks them at the south corner of the city wall.
With blue silk are the joints of her basket bound,
Of cassia boughs is the handle of her basket made.
Low she wears her chignon,
Like a moon shines the pearl of her earrings.
Of green silk is her skirt,
Of purple silk her upper garment.
The passersby who behold her
Lay down their luggage and twirl their beards and moustaches.
The young men who behold her
Take off their hats and tie their filets on their brows.
The plowmen forget their plows,
The hind forgets his hoe.
Returning home, they become irritable
And remain seated to look at Lo Fu.
From the south arrives the Lord Prefect in his coach,
He has his five horses slow down their pace.
He then sends a petty officer
To find out to which family belongs the fair lady.
"She comes from the Ch'in family," says the officer,
"And she calls herself Lo Fu."
"How old is she?" Asks the lord.
"Less than a score of years
But fifteen and more."
The Lord then asks Lo Fu:
"Would you ride with me?"
Coming towards the lord, says she:
"How unwise you are!
You have your wife,
I my husband.
In the east is my spouse
At the head of one thousand cavaliers.
By what can one recognize him?
By his white horse followed by black ones.
With blue silk is his horse's tail tied,
With gold threads is the horse's head bridled.
At his waist he wears a sword with a round pommel
Which is worthy of billions of coins.
At fifteen he was a petty officer,
At twenty he became minister at the court,
At thirty he was the emperor's counselor,
At forty he was given a city for his own.
He has a white complexion,
A beard that is thick and long.
Proudly he walks toward his official abode,
Stately he strides through his palace hall.
In the great hall sit thousands of his followers
Who declare my husband the most outstanding of all."