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Banquet of snow white

Posted December. 29, 2023 08:06,   

Updated December. 29, 2023 08:06

한국어

Met with a snowy evening in a distant village, a poet is dazzled by the whole world covered with snowflakes fluttering amid a dreary, lonesome windstorm. He gives a sophisticated look at every single part of it. Snowfalls never end up in piles when coming down over the valley water that may be too deep. A collage of clouds lingers on the mountaintop as if the cold held it back. It is only hard to see things through the stormy snow flurries. Does a gull or an egret fly in the snowy skies? Is it passing over a sandy field or a riverside? It is not sure whether apricot blossoms or snowflakes are seated on the tree. The whole world, which is finally united by the white snow, comes across as a vast and pure universe as if the scent of apricots were spreading all over the place. If you notice how relaxed and comfy the poet feels in the snow, why don’t you look forward to a banquet being held under the fluffy snow this winter?

Old Chinese playwright and poet Hong Sheng was deprived of a decent lifestyle throughout his lifetime after failing the state examination multiple times for more than 20 years running. However, he came from a high-class family. Despite the large quantity of his poetry collections, the play “The Palace of Eternal Life” brought great fame to the writer. The performance focuses on the love story of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty and his favorite consort, Yang Guifei. Still, it also has a fantasy streak in a scene where the emperor dies and turns into a hermit to see his eternal love. Once harshly criticized by the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty for allegedly defaming the preceding emperor, it long enjoyed widespread popularity.


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