The Poets of the Tang Dynasty Are All My Old Friends

Li Fuzhen cultivates the Unorthodox Path. She neither ages nor dies, and can change her appearance at will.

The Tang dynasty's prosperity and decline, its rises and falls, all crumbled into the dust. Only poetry, like her, remained deathless and everlasting.

Li Fuzhen was devoted to collecting poetry and verse. Before she knew it, every poet of the Tang dynasty had become her old friend.

At Tengwang Pavilion, the gifted young Wang Bo was full of confidence:

"The rosy clouds and lone wild duck fly side by side; the autumn river and vast sky merge into one."

"Bo, of humble birth and frail years, a mere scholar..."

Li Fuzhen: "Zi'an, I'm a Tang princess. How about becoming my advisor?"

By the river, Zhang Ruoxu pondered life and wrote "A Moonlit Night on the Spring River":

"Generation after generation, life goes on without end; year after year, the river moon looks much the same."

Li Fuzhen: "Write more, write more! Don't give up your pen!"

In Chang'an, the young Wang Wei rode proudly in fine clothes, only to later be demoted.

Li Fuzhen: "When you return to Chang'an, I'll give you a plot of land in Wangchuan."

"I am a princess of the Tang. I keep my word."

Within and beyond the palace, Li Bai roamed the world with his sword.

"I leave the gate laughing skyward. How could I be one of those humble nobodies?"

Li Fuzhen: "Taibai, wait! I'll cover your travel expenses!"

In Chengdu, Du Fu lived in poverty: "If only I had ten thousand spacious rooms, to shelter all the poor scholars under heaven and make them smile with joy."

Li Fuzhen traveled a thousand miles to Shu. "Please use this thatched cottage as a place to rest for now, sir."

Later, Li Fuzhen made a point of visiting famous moments in history, changing her appearance time and again.

She saw Han Yu recite, "The finest days of spring are these; they surpass the willow-swirled capital in all its splendor."

She saw Bai Juyi write, "This sorrow stretches on without end."

She saw Liu Zongyuan in a world where "On a thousand mountains, no bird takes flight; on ten thousand paths, no human trace remains."

She heard Li He lament, "Why should a man not wear a Wu hook sword and reclaim the fifty provinces beyond the passes?"

She watched Du Mu weep with tears in his eyes: "The singing girls know nothing of a fallen nation's grief; across the river, they still sing 'Song of the Back Courtyard.'"

Li Fuzhen witnessed the Tang dynasty go from its golden age to its decline, from Chang'an to the eastern capital of Luoyang, from a sky glittering with stars to one dimmed and dark.

The Tang dynasty's fortunes rose and fell in countless ways, but poetry endured, and so did the souls behind it.

Reader's guide:

This is an inherently niche subject, written out of love.

Opening date to be determined.

Theme: Tang poetry, an undying soul.