Deer Song

Poetry can kill; verse can defend a nation.

A poor scholar with no family, he earned top honors in all six imperial examinations and rose to the highest office at just twenty-five.

When asked why he did not marry a princess or court the powerful, he replied:

“I already have someone in my heart. I dare not let her down.”

This is the story of a poor scholar who entered the path through poetry and verse, rising all the way to the ranks of marquis and chancellor.

...Years later, the history books recorded: “Marquis Shen Zhizhou of Jing’an, a statesman in white, whose poetry subdued mountains and rivers.” In his lifetime, he turned the tide when all seemed lost and saved a lone fawn amid a world in turmoil.