Yuan Dynasty
醉中天·佳人脸上黑痣
### 标题
曾与明皇捧砚来，美脸风流杀。
Translation
I almost suspect that Yang Guifei still lives — yet how could she have escaped the disaster at Mawei? She once came to hold the inkstone for Emperor Minghuang; her beautiful face was dazzlingly alluring. But as Li Bai waved his brush, he glanced at her charming pose, and the pine-soot ink splashed down, marking her peachlike cheek.
Analysis
This lyric turns a small facial mole into a source of charm. Instead of treating the mark as a flaw, Bai Pu invents a playful legend: the beauty resembles Yang Guifei, and the dark spot on her cheek is imagined as ink accidentally splashed by Li Bai while he gazed at her. The humor lies in the contrast between legendary grandeur and a tiny detail of appearance. “Pine-soot ink” against a “peachlike cheek” creates both color and wit. The poem celebrates beauty not as flawless perfection, but as something made more memorable by a distinctive mark and a clever story.
About the Author
Bai Pu was a major Yuan dramatist and sanqu writer, one of the Four Great Masters of Yuan drama. His best-known plays include Rain on the Parasol Tree and Over the Wall and on Horseback. His songs often combine elegance with theatrical vitality, treating love, parting, leisure, and worldly feeling with refined yet lively language.