[Song] Li Qingzhao
Born? /? To be an outstanding person,
Dead? /? For ghost men.
Until today? /? Thinking about Xiang Yu,
No? /? Cross the river eastward.
You should be born a hero and die a ghost. People still miss Xiang Yu today, because he didn't drag out an ignoble existence and returned to Jiangdong.
Appreciation: This poem was written in the second year of Jingkang. Nomads from the Golden Army invaded the Central Plains, smashed the Qionglou Jade Garden in the Song Dynasty, and took away Huidi and Qindi. Later, Zhao Mingcheng, Li Qingzhao's husband, became a health magistrate, and rebellion broke out in the city at night. Zhao Mingcheng did not rehabilitate, but fled. Li Qingzhao is ashamed. When passing the Wujiang River, she felt the tragic of Xiang Yu and wrote this poem to allude to the Southern Song Dynasty and her husband.