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Song of the Fair Women

By Du Fu Tang Dynasty
English Poetic Translation
The third day of the third month brings a newly minted sky,
by Chang'an's winding waters, radiant ladies pass me by.
Their bearing rich, their spirit distant, flawless and sincere,
the texture of their skin is fine, their limbs in balance clear.
Their silken robes embroidered catch the fading light of spring,
with woven threads of beaten gold and silver qilin.
Upon their heads—what marvels do those flowing tresses hold?
Kingfisher leaves of emerald drop softly, manifold.
And down their backs—what vision meets the searching gazer's eye?
With heavy pearls their waistbands fit their slender forms thereby.
Among them move the favored kin from curtained pepper rooms,
bestowed with lofty titles where the imperial garden blooms:
The Ladies of Guo and Qin, of mighty states supreme.
A hump of purple camel steams within a turquoise bowl,
and crystal platters offer fish to satisfy the soul.
With heavy ivory chopsticks tired they leave the feast untasted,
while flashing knives of tempered steel on idle cuts are wasted.
Eunuch riders spur their mounts without a stir of dust,
while royal kitchens send forth feasts of rich and savory trust.
Flutes and drums lament a music that could melt a god to tears,
while throngs of glittering courtiers crowd the avenue of peers.
And who are these arriving late on prancing, hesitating steeds,
who vault the carriage step to press where velvet cushion leads?
As willow-catkins drift like snow upon the duckweed streams,
and phantom birds fly off to bear away their scarlet dreams—
Such burning power at a touch has peerless, scorching might:
Beware to step too close, lest the Prime Minister take fright.
Classical Chinese & Pinyin
三月三日天氣新，長安水邊多麗人。
態濃意遠淑且真，肌理細膩骨肉勻。
繡羅衣裳照暮春，蹙金孔雀銀麒麟。
頭上何所有？翠微㔩葉垂鬢脣。
背後何所見？珠壓腰衱穩稱身。
就中雲幕椒房親，賜名大國虢與秦。
紫駞之峯出翠釜，水晶之盤行素鱗。
犀筯厭飫久未下，鸞刀縷切空紛綸。
黃門飛鞚不動塵，御廚絲絡送八珍。
簫鼓哀吟感鬼神，賓從雜遝實要津。
後來鞍馬何逡巡，當軒下馬入錦茵。
楊花雪落覆白蘋，青鳥飛去銜紅巾。
炙手可熱勢絕倫，慎莫近前丞相嗔。
sān yuè sān rì tiān qì xīn,
cháng ān shuǐ biān duō lì rén.
tài nóng yì yuǎn shū qiě zhēn,
jī lǐ xì nì gǔ ròu yún.
xiù luó yī shang zhào mù chūn,
cù jīn kǒng què yín qí lín.
tóu shàng hé suǒ yǒu?
cuì wēi yè chuí bìn chún.
bèi hòu hé suǒ jiàn?
zhū yā yāo jiá wěn chèn shēn.
jiù zhōng yún mù jiāo fáng qīn,
cì míng dà guó guó yǔ qín.
zǐ tuó zhī fēng chū cuì fǔ,
shuǐ jīng zhī pán háng sù lín.
xī zhù yàn yù jiǔ wèi xià,
luán dāo lǚ qiē kōng fēn lún.
huáng mén fēi kòng bù dòng chén,
ù chú sī luò sòng bā zhēn.
xiao gǔ āi yín gǎn guǐ shén,
bīn cóng zá tà shí yào jīn.
hòu lái ān mǎ hé qūn xún,
dāng xuān xià mǎ rù jǐn yīn.
yáng huā xuě luò fù bái pín,
qīng niǎo fēi qù xián hóng jīn.
zhì shǒu kě rè shì jué lún,
shèn mò jìn qián chéng xiàng chēn.
Philological Direct Translation
Third month third day weather new,
Chang'an water side many fair women.
Manner rich spirit distant refined yet true,
skin texture delicate bones flesh even.
Embroidered gauze garments shine late spring,
woven gold peacocks silver qilin.
On head what is there?
Kingfisher feather leaves hang temple edge.
Behind what is seen?
Pearl pressed waist skirts steady fit body.
Among them cloud screen pepper room kin,
bestowed titles great states Guo and Qin.
Purple camel's hump emerges kingfisher cauldron,
crystal's platter traverses white scales.
Rhinoceros chopsticks sated weary long not lowered,
sima knives finely cutting emptily tangled.
Yellow gate flying reins not moving dust,
imperial kitchen silk bound delivers eight delicacies.
Flutes and drums mournful chanting move ghosts and gods,
guests and followers jostling truly key posts.
Later arriving saddles horses how hesitant,
before hall dismounting entering brocade mats.
Willow flowers snow fall cover white duckweed,
blue birds fly away holding red kerchiefs.
Touching hand can heat power peerless,
caution not go near prime minister's anger.
Scholarly Exegesis & Cultural Commentary

I. Formal Poetic Architecture & Meter

This masterpiece belongs to the ancient music-bureau genre known as Yuefu poetry, specifically composed in irregular heptasyllabic lines that shift dynamically in rhythm to mirror emotional swells. Written during Du Fu's early struggling years in Chang'an, the poem employs shifting rhyme schemes and enjambment rather than the rigid tonal counterpoint of later regulated verse. The structural tension relies on an escalating visual canvas that moves from external physical beauty to lavish aristocratic indulgence, culminating in a chilling political warning in the final couplet.

II. Historical Chronology & Existential Impulse

Composed circa 753 during the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty, the poem captures the decadent zenith of imperial power under Emperor Xuanzong and his favorite concubine Yang Guifei. The political landscape was dominated by corrupt aristocratic favorites, notably the Prime Minister Yang Guozhong and his sisters, who held immense, unchecked influence over the court. Du Fu, trapped in poverty and awaiting official patronage in the capital, observed this ostentatious display with acute moral outrage and foreboding, sensing the structural rot that would erupt three years later into the catastrophic An Lushan Rebellion.

III. Line-by-Line Exegesis & Allusion Decoding

The poem unfolds across a magnificent cinematic sweep, moving from public spring festivity to private court corruption, and finally to a sharp moral admonition.

  • Lines 1-2 (Opening Couplet): Line 1 sets an idyllic scene of the spring purification festival, while Line 2 immediately introduces the aristocratic women congregating by the water margins of the capital.
  • Lines 3-4 (First Antithetical Turn): Lines 3 and 4 establish physical perfection through exquisite parallelism, contrasting delicate skin texture with harmonious physical proportions.
  • Lines 5-6 (Second Antithetical Turn / Climax): Lines 5 and 6 zoom in on material opulence, describing embroidered robes glittering with gold and silver mythical beasts against the backdrop of late spring.
  • Closing Lines (Resolving Couplet): The final couplet delivers a devastating political indictment, warning ordinary citizens to keep their distance from the blinding, perilous power of the ruling clan.

IV. Cultural Symbolism & Key Metaphors

The poem relies on densely layered cultural tokens to convey moral critique without explicit modern didacticism.

  • Spring Festival: Traditionally a time of ritual cleansing and renewal, here perverted into a vulgar display of aristocratic arrogance and material greed.
  • Exquisite Delicacies: Rare culinary items such as camel hump and crystal-plated fish serve as objective correlatives for the extravagant squandering of state resources by the imperial relatives.

V. Philosophical Core & Global Resonance

Grounded in Confucian moral responsibility, the poem acts as an unyielding indictment of political corruption and social inequality. Du Fu fuses documentary realism with searing irony, warning that absolute political power detached from virtue breeds its own destruction. The universal resonance of the work lies in its unflinching courage to bear witness to injustice, immortalizing the eternal friction between arrogant worldly power and fragile human morality.

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