Remember, my friend

People try to comfort themselves with divination signs when sincerity does not get delivered or life gives challenges. My friend, remember that truths may be temporarily hidden but not forever buried. It is the same way how jade and trees reveal their true values through the test of fire and time.

Let us take a look at the case of the Duke of Zhou and Wang Mang. The Duke of Zhou who was an aide to the king was afraid of rumors that he was aiming for the throne, but he was able to clear out the rumors in the end. Meanwhile, Wang Mang remained courteous and loyal but revealed his hypocrisy by taking over the throne. The loyal that hold truths win out in the long run against the hypocritical disloyal.

The above is one of the five poems written by Bai Juyi on his way to a remote place after demotion as a result of conflicts with those in power. His friend, Yuan Zhen, also wrote serial poems with the same title during his years of relegation.

Yuan Zhen lamented the world where the right and the wrong are mixed up and expressed his anguish over whether he should comply with the world or waiting with prudence in the poem. Bai Juyi who understood the friend talked about the healing of history and time. They are his sympathetic words of consolation.