This poem was written when the Emperor of Tang could have had 3000 concubines, and many of them never had a chance to meet the Son of Heaven,

not to mention to have intercourse with him to produce more bastards of the Dragon Family.

In this little poem, written by one of the most beloved poets of China, even an illiterate person can see how little a woman’s life used to mean. A woman’s life had no worth of anything without being attached to a man.

When the husband died, she was supposed to, according the Confucius doctrine, die with him. She had no need to live any longer, that is. She should not have strong emotions like the ocean’s wave. Her feelings are so peaceful, unworthy and unnoticeable that it was like the water in a well. What a metaphor!

The woman was less human, in other words. She, after marriage, became merely part of her husband or children’s lives. She didn’t need a name; She didn’t need to speak her mind; She didn’t need to have a voice; No one expected her to have her own feelings except live and serve and die with her man. A free slave, so to speak.

Not a word of love is mentioned in poems of this sort. Love was too much for her. Love had nothing to do with her. “Happiness” of Chinese style could exist without love. How about exchanging Fear with Love?

There is so much crap in the immortal texts that make me want to kick their ancient ass!! Any one, I don’t care how fucking great he or she is revered, who writes such words or harbors such backward thoughts does not deserve the name, Poet. He or she is no better than a bathroom scribbler.    

This little, seemingly perfect poem of laud stinks with heartless dogmatism and uncivilized mind! It shows us where some of the cruelty and stupidity came from.

Of course, this type of texts exists in every culture.

Beware!

Beware!

Beware of all the unchecked old, crappy, stinky stuff they call “culture” or “art”!!!!

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z.z. 2006