Yuan Dynasty
蟾宫曲 · 长沙怀古
卢挚
朝瀛洲暮舣湖滨，
向衡麓寻诗，
湘水寻春。
泽国纫兰，
汀洲搴若，
谁与招魂？
空目断苍梧暮云，
黯黄陵宝瑟凝尘。
世态纷纷，
千古长沙，
几度词臣？
Translation
In the morning I was in Yingzhou; by evening my boat was moored beside the lake. At the foot of Mount Heng I seek poetry; on the Xiang River I seek spring. In this watery land I string orchids; on the islets I gather fragrant ruo. But who will summon back the soul? In vain my gaze reaches toward Cangwu's evening clouds; at Huangling, the jeweled zither lies dim beneath dust. Worldly affairs are tangled and restless. Through a thousand years of Changsha, how many times have literary ministers come here?
Analysis
Moon Palace Tune · Meditating on the Past at Changsha is a dense historical and literary reflection. It is not merely a landscape song about Hunan. It joins Lu Zhi's own official displacement with the cultural memory of Chu, the spirit of Qu Yuan, ancient southern legends, and the long tradition of disappointed literary officials in Changsha. The opening line creates a sharp contrast. "Yingzhou" is one of the mythic isles of immortals, but here it suggests the prestigious literary institutions of the court. To move from "Yingzhou" in the morning to a lake mooring in the evening implies a rapid shift from central privilege to provincial wandering. "Seeking poetry at Mount Heng and spring on the Xiang River" describes travel through Hunan, but also an attempt to find consolation. Poetry and spring stand for the brightness the writer still tries to recover in a moment of disappointment. The orchid and ruo lines clearly invoke the world of the Chu Ci. In Qu Yuan's poetry, fragrant plants such as orchids and angelica-like herbs symbolize moral purity. By gathering them in Chu territory, Lu Zhi enters the symbolic world of loyal but exiled ministers. "Who will summon back the soul?" is the emotional center of the song. It recalls Qu Yuan's "Summoning the Soul," but it also asks who can recall or console the spirits of all the displaced and wronged men of letters across history. The references to Cangwu and Huangling bring in the legends of Emperor Shun and the Xiang River goddesses. The evening clouds are unreachable; the jeweled zither gathers dust. Ancient sanctity, music, and myth have all become distant and dim. The ending gathers everything into the image of Changsha. For centuries, Changsha has been associated with exiled or frustrated literary officials, most famously Jia Yi. Lu Zhi places himself within that long lineage of writers whose talent and integrity did not lead to secure fulfillment. The song's real subject is not a place alone. It is the fate of the literary official in Chinese history: honored, displaced, morally ambitious, and repeatedly drawn to landscapes heavy with the memories of earlier exile.
About the Author
Lu Zhi, courtesy name Chudao, also known as Xinlao, and literary name Shuzhai, was a Yuan dynasty writer and sanqu poet from Zhuojun. He served in high literary office, including as Hanlin Academician-in-Chief, and was one of the important literati of the early Yuan. He was associated with figures such as Bai Pu, Ma Zhiyuan, and Zhu Lianxiu. His sanqu are numerous and cover landscape, historical reflection, object poems, reclusion, lamentation, and farewell. His style is clear, elegant, and open, combining literati refinement with the natural movement of Yuan song.