I Meet Liu Yuxi, and My Transmigrated Daily Life Is Nothing but Verbal Sparring

Among the brilliant literary stars of the Tang dynasty, Liu Yuxi was a remarkably distinctive figure. He was neither Li Bai, with his ethereal elegance, nor Du Fu, with his grave and powerful style. Instead, with his defiant spirit of “challenging heaven and earth and never admitting defeat,” he became known through the ages as the “king of verbal sparring.” Half his life was spent chasing his ambitions through a tumultuous career in government; the other half was a literary declaration of war from exile and disgrace. At every low point, he could set the world ablaze with his writing, and whenever he was thwarted, his pride helped him turn the tables. His life was an inspiring story of growing stronger with every setback. I transmigrated to the High Tang dynasty and, as soon as I arrived, accidentally ran into Liu Yuxi in the middle of his exile. From then on, everyone was at each other’s throats. I was quick to call him “a nonconformist,” and he snapped back that I was being insolent. I taught him to say “absolutely iconic,” and got punished by having to copy the Book of Songs. Even fighting over coarse rice or fixing the roof could turn into an eight-hundred-round argument. The clueless Yuanbao butted in the whole time, making us the most chaotic, mortifying trio imaginable.

In the capital, we teamed up with Bai Juyi, and the four of us verbally sparred with the entire literary world. During our exile, he wrote “Humble Hut Inscription,” and I made fun of him on the spot even as I was secretly moved. From trading barbs and pretending to dislike each other to being softhearted beneath our stubborn exteriors, from teaming up to put bullies in their place to weathering storms together, we argued countless times. Yet when Liu Zongyuan passed away, we shared the same sorrow, and tucked little moments of warmth away in the years that followed.

Modern jokes collide with classical elegance for plenty of laughs, while the tender bond between kindred spirits brings tears to readers’ eyes. In the end, this journey through time was all about bickering and laughing our way through a lifetime alongside the great poet, turning our quarrels into the longest-lasting kind of companionship.