Verses in a Yangzhou Inn at Night, Duo Yu

Around 772, Advanced Scholar Duo Yu, who’d held office in many places, all lower rank, was appointed to Chengdu. When he arrived at an inn in Yangzhou, he died. A certain Shen, once of Huaiyin but now of Wuxing, was friendly with him. While moving to Jintang for his health, he arrived at the Yangzhou inn. At midnight, he saw a white-clothed man, walking toward him from the gate both moaning and sighing, seeming regretful and tense, who then recited a poem. Seeing this, Shen was very conscious (the man) resembled Duo Yu. He rose to speak, but before he could, (the man) disappeared. Then he sighed and said, “My friend Duo, we parted but a while ago—how are you a ghost?” The next morning, before he’d traveled several li, he met a funeral procession on the road before him, and he was told Advanced Scholar Duo Yu was being taken to his tomb. He quickly asked the functionary in charge, who said, “Yu was surely traveling from the capital to Sichuan upon his sudden death, so the provincial governor ordered us to take his coffin to a building two li or so on, on the left side of the road.” Shen paid his respects, wept, and then departed.

A gate leans on the Chu Lake bank—
I was sent to a Yangzhou inn.
I gaze at the moon and think of you,
Dusty lapel all stained with tears.

洋州馆夜吟
作者：窦裕
〈大历中，有进士窦裕，家寄进海，下第。将之成都，至洋州舍馆卒。尝与淮阴令吴兴沈某善，沈调补金堂，至洋州舍馆，中夜见一白衣丈夫，自门步来，且吟且嗟，似有恨而不舒者，久之，吟诗一首。沈见之，甚觉类窦裕，特起与语，未及，遂无见矣。乃叹曰：“吾与窦君别久矣，岂为鬼耶？”明日，行未数里，有殡其路前者，曰进士窦裕殡宫。驰还，问馆吏，曰：“裕自京游蜀，至此暴亡，太守命殡于馆南二里外道左。”沈致奠拜泣而去。〉
门依楚水岸，
身寄洋州馆。
望月独相思，
尘襟泪痕满。

Sometimes, silently converting regnal era dates to Common Era years isn’t easy, such as when the original vaguely says “the middle of” the Dali era, which was 766-779. Other “arounds” indicate similar problems of range. The only Yangzhou (洋州) I can find was in western Shaanxi, which is NOT on the route up the Yangzi from Wuxing, Zhejiang to the Chengdu suburb of Jintang, so I’m a little confused why a certain Shen is there. It is, at least, along one route to Chengdu from Chang’an, where Duo presumably received his appointment. There’s a Chu Lake in eastern Shaanxi, and I would normally assume the gate there is to Duo’s family home, but given this is a ghost poem, a gate to the afterworld is always possible. Lost in translation: he’s gazing “alone” at the moon.

—L.