Song of Lasting Regret lines 73-78, Bei Juyi (Tang Shi #71)

[lnhammer]

Living and dead were distant, parted by passing years,
And yet her soul had never come to him in dreams.
A Linqiong Daoist priest, a guest in the capital,
Could use his true sincerity to summon spirits.
He was moved that the monarch tossed and turned with yearning
And finally the shaman searched for her in earnest.

悠悠生死别经年，
魂魄不曾来入梦。
临邛道士鸿都客，
能以精诚致魂魄。
为感君王辗转思，
遂教方士殷勤觅。

I’m hesitant about using shaman in l.78: the original has 方士, which can currently mean necromancer as summoner of the dead, but the episode that follows is distinctly shamanistic. I also don’t know what the connotations are of being a Daoist from Sichuan (specifically, near Chengdu). I can’t help thinking it wasn’t so much sympathy as sycophanty that made him undertake the ritual.

—L.

Comments

[lnhammer]

Fair enough.