Inscribed in the Temple of Mulan, Du Mu

I bend my bow in battle, serving as a man—
Within my dreams, as formerly, I paint my brows.
I often long for home, yet raise my cup at banquets.
Upon Fuyundi’s shrine, I pray to Wang Zhaojun.

题木兰庙
弯弓征战作男儿，
梦里曾经与画眉。
几度思归还把酒，
拂云堆上祝明妃。

Further exploration of the Mulan legends. We’ve met Du Mu (803-852) before as a poet in 3TP. The temple takes a little unpacking. The literal meaning of Mulan’s name is “magnolia,” and there are multiple Mt. Mulans named after the flowering tree, especially in southern China. Many have temple complexes on them, and once the Mulan legend spread in the 7th century, it was natural (especially at Daoist temples) for some of them to dedicate a hall to her worship as a namesake goddess. (One such temple hall, attested around 700, still exists in the complex on the Mt. Mulan in Wuhan, Hubei.) This particular temple to Mulan is, according to biographies of Du Mu, on a Mt. Mulan 150mi/240km north of Huangzhou, Hubei, near the border with Henan.

Fuyundui is a pass near Baotou, Inner Mongolia, on the north bank of the Ordos Loop of the Yellow River, where Xiongnu and other steppe nomads would pray before raiding south into Han lands—an interesting appropriation to have Mulan pray to go south there. Wang Zhaojun (here called “Bright Consort”) has been the subject of a couple 3TP poems, especially Du Fu’s #192. In brief, she was sent by Han Emperor Yuan to make a diplomatic marriage to the Chanyu of the Xiongnu Empire, and after his death was denied (by Han Emperor Chen) a chance to return. So, another woman who went north in service of the empire and couldn’t go home.

Lots of resonances for such a small space.

—L.