A poem that changed fate

A soldier at the frontier one day receives a cotton-padded clothing, part of care package sent from Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty in China, which was made by court maids. The soldier is stunned by a nameless poem he has found inside the clothes. Is it some kind of a special story, or has somebody jokingly bewailed his or her miserable life? Not knowing whether it is a poem or scribble, the soldier immediately reported to his superior.

Had the soldier understood the meaning of the poem, the soldier would have gotten through winter at more ease by brooding over the affection; yet the soldier must have been frightened by the unfamiliar lyrics. The soldier’s superior officer was ignorant of the poem, and he reported it to the emperor. The emperor summoned court maids and inquired who wrote the poem, assuring that she won’t be punished. The emperor must have felt sympathy toward a young court maid who padded the clothes with great care, sewing a stitch one at a time, and pitied her life destined to stay within the walls of the castle for the rest of her life, holding out hopes of living a different life in the next life. When the court maid stepped forward, the emperor arranged marriage of the court maid and the soldier.

The line of the poem changed the lives of the two people overnight. The court maid composed the poem out of despair and hopelessness, but thanks to the soldier’s indifference or ignorance, the poem became a messenger that brought good fortune. The piece of poem written with the maid’s all body and soul, and the clothes, were surely a “good fortune” that saw the light among numerous tragedies court maids had lived through that had gone unrecognized.