Page 80 - The Arts of China, By Michael Sullivan Good Book

unknown Han author to the soul of a king which, in his illness, has
left his body and gone wandering to the edge of the world. To lure
it back, the poet describes the delights that await it in the palace:
"O soul, come back! Return to your old abode.
All the quarters of the world are full of harm and evil.
Hear while I describe for you your quiet and reposeful home.
High halls and deep chambers, with railings and tiered balconies;
Stepped terraces, storcyed pavilions, whose tops look on the high
mountains;
Lattice doors with scarlet interstices, and carving on the square lintels;
Draughtless rooms for winter; galleries cool in summer;
Streams and gullies wind in and out, purling prettily;
A warm breeze bends the melilotus and sets the tall orchids swaying.
Crossing the hall into the apartments, the ceilings and floors are ver-
milion.
The chambers of polished stone, with kingfisher hangings on jasper
hooks;
Bedspreads of kingfisher seeded with pearls, all dazzling in brightness;
Arras of fine silk covers the walls; damask canopies stretch overhead,
Braids and ribbons, brocades and satins, fastened with rings of pre-
cious stone.
Many a rare and precious thing is to be seen in the furnishings of the
chamber.
Bright candles of orchid-perfumed fat light up flower-like faces that
await you;
Twice eight handmaids to serve your bed, each night alternating in
duty.
The lovely daughters of noble families, far excelling common maid-
ens . . .
80 Horse and cavalryman. Life-size
pottery figures from tomb-pit of Ch'in Osoul. come back!" 1
Shih-huang-ti, Lin-t'ung, Shensi. Ch'in
Dynasty.