Symbols of love become symbols of pain

Embroidered ducks. The male and female mandarin duck were a symbol of marital love, and would be stitched into house robes and bedclothes.

Jade Pavilion Songs (6)
Quan Deyu

An inlaid pillow,
    Wet with tears,
        Turtleshell bed,
            I numbly stare.
My robes of silk
    I can’t endure,
        Embroidered ducks,
            Devoted pair.

权德舆  玉台体十二首·其六
泪尽珊瑚枕，魂销玳瑁床。
罗衣不忍著，羞见绣鸳鸯。

This long series of poems is in a style called court poetry, which essentially means that it was not meant to be morally improving, but offered upper-class sensual pleasures. The name of the series, Jade Pavilion Songs, comes from an anthology of poetry in this style which was released during the period of disunity before the Tang. Conventionally, that period has been remembered as a time of general immorality, when the upper classes indulged themselves rather than running the world properly - hence the failure of the empire to hold together.

This poem luxuriates in the classic trappings of a luxurious boudoir - but subverts their meaning, turning the classic images of love into reminders of loss.

Inlaid pillow: Tang pillows had a wooden frame and flexible bamboo cushion. The wood here was inlaid with precious coral. It is a reminder of the marital bed, now empty.

Turtleshell bed: The shells of softshell turtles, with their rippled patterns, were one of the great symbols of wealth and high-class decor. The bed is a symbol of the luxury and power that her husband gave her, except now, he is away.

Embroidered ducks: The male and female mandarin ducks, stitched on everything in sight in a lady’s bedchamber. Representing lifelong fidelity, now they only remind this wife of how trapped and alone she is.