Du Fu and the Tragic Prince

A strange encounter in a city under occupation

Screengrab from a TV show: The Longest Day In Chang'an (长安十二时辰)

O Tragic Prince
Du Fu

Above the walls of Chang’an flew
A crow whose head was deathly white.
On Autumn Gate it crowed all night,
Where a great man once passed through.

It pecked at lofty rafters, too,
Although the man below had gone
In the dead of night, retreating from
The horde that thundered into view.

He snapped his golden whip in two,
Left shattered horses in the mud.
He didn’t wait for his flesh and blood
To follow him as he flew.

A sumptuous coral ring of blue
Was hanging from a young man’s belt:
A prince, I saw, who weeping knelt
Beside the busy avenue.

When asked, he wouldn’t give his true
Identity or royal name,
But plead exhaustion and pain,
And begged to serve in my retinue.

But they are not like me and you,
The men of the Tang Founder’s line:
A prince’s nose is aquiline,
The dragon’s heirs all bear this clue.

Hiding where sharp thickets grew,
He’d eked out a hundred days.
On his whole body not one place
Was clear of blood the thorntrees drew.

Now the utmost care is due,
Young man, protect your precious flesh.
The dragon is in the wilderness,
In this city, a jackal crew.

Who dares to stay out in plain view
Discussing by the thoroughfare?
Yet with the prince I stood out there
To talk a long minute or two.

The night before, an east wind blew
The stench of blood into our streets.
Today the camels from the east
Have swarmed the ancient city through.

The northern force they overthrew
Were tough and trained to hold the line.
How did they turn so asinine,
Who once had been so bold and true?

But rumour has it He withdrew:
The Son of Heaven passed on the crown.
The northern Horse Khan has bowed down,
Our southern majesty’s like new.

Horsemen from their own faces drew
A blood-oath to avenge our shame,
But keep it quiet! This must remain
Taboo一disastrous if they knew.

Take care, poor prince, but take heart, too:
The royal Wuling tombs imbue
The air with sweetness and sinew
That nothing can subdue!

杜甫  哀王孙
长安城头头白乌，夜飞延秋门上呼。
又向人家啄大屋，屋底达官走避胡。
金鞭断折九马死，骨肉不待同驰驱。
腰下宝玦青珊瑚，可怜王孙泣路隅。
问之不肯道姓名，但道困苦乞为奴。
已经百日窜荆棘，身上无有完肌肤。
高帝子孙尽隆准，龙种自与常人殊。
豺狼在邑龙在野，王孙善保千金躯。
不敢长语临交衢，且为王孙立斯须。
昨夜东风吹血腥，东来橐驼满旧都。
朔方健儿好身手，昔何勇锐今何愚。
窃闻天子已传位，圣德北服南单于。
花门剺面请雪耻，慎勿出口他人狙。
哀哉王孙慎勿疏，五陵佳气无时无。

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It’s 756, and Chang’an has fallen. The emperor has fled. Du Fu, wandering the streets, recognises a member of the royal house who wasn’t taken along.

O Tragic Prince: The title of Du’s poem comes from a story in the Book of History, which also involves a passer-by lending assistance to a poor young noble. Du uses the phrase to give a heightened, classical dimension to the horror he saw in Chang’an as the rebel army took over.

Autumn Gate: One of the gates in the walls of Chang’an city.

Great man: When the emperor left the city to escape the rebel army that was about to arrive, he left through the Autumn Gate.

Coral ring: Coral was a treasure, so this was a symbol of wealth and luxury, mentioned for the stark contrast with the prince’s fallen state.

True identity: Admitting to being part of the royal family could lead to execution by the rebels.

Northern force: The northern army that should have stopped the rebels as they swept down from the northwest (modern Xinjiang).

Northern Horse Khan: This refers to the Uighurs of Xinjiang, who had agreed to support the new emperor in the civil war. The source text actually uses the phrase “southern Chanyu,” which is a classical reference: Chanyu was the title of the leader of the Xiongnu, a Mongolian group who were the major antagonists of the Han Dynasty, but by this time had long disappeared.

Blood-oath: A ritual in which soldiers cut their own faces to show their commitment to the war.

Wuling tombs: The imperial burial grounds, just outside Chang’an.

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As ever, there is much to puzzle at in this work. It opens with some curiously child-like phrasing and apparently disguised digs at the emperor, which lead me initially to read the whole thing as sarcastic. But listening to the reconstructed reading gave quite a different perspective: the -oh rhyme, maintained throughout, makes the poem mournful and severe. I still don’t understand how Du thought it was OK to write that snarky image of the emperor whipping his horses to death and snapping his golden whip to get away from the invaders… Anyway, here is the reading that changed my mind, and forced me to redo the entire translation.