In all affairs, we lag behind the ancients' art,
The founding deeds are countless, hard to tell apart.
One day's neglect breeds ills for a thousand years,
One man's indulgence spreads o'er the nine spheres.
Immortal beings, deathless—can such exist?
The quest began with Qin's First Emperor and Han Wudi's tryst.
Shu tombs, Ji horns—the people's drums of unrest beat,
Palaces, towers still stretch to seas, a vast seat.
From Ming's lost records, mind and spirit take flight,
Rootless golden statues loom in sudden sight.
The sickness deepens past all cure's command,
Five teachings blocked, the common folk suffer on the land.
The capital's night feast moves three hills in play,
The Milky Way's bridge weaves on Seventh Night, they say.
Actors and dwarfs perform for mere delight,
Lewd songs and hollow texts become the scholar's right.
Salt sold, wine bought to fill the tax's demand,
Flutes and pipes played to see the dead offhand.
Worse still, some men in chaos find their birth,
Spurning their toils, they chase but song and mirth.
The root of this lay in Wei and Sui's reign,
Till Kaiyuan era worsened the strain.
All under heaven seemed in madness lost,
Flattering tongues the enlightened ruler crossed.
Before Five‑Phoenix Tower, a dance of a thousand years,
From Yuyang came the earth‑shaking drum of fears.
Six steeds in haste through smoke and dust did flee,
Two capitals bled, till pestles floated on the sea.
This disaster sprang from wanton desire,
No loyal ministers to check the mire.
To serve one's lord and kin is not in this,
Blessings and long life have a thousand ways of bliss.
Three thousand rites of Qu Li lack a single line,
Six Classics and a hundred schools give no design.
Blindly we follow vulgar custom, dull and base,
And lead the world's people into disgrace.
Earlier scholars never touched this theme,
Perhaps to praise the double gates they deem.
Unaware that mere tradition brings but pain,
Knowing yet acting—not for mutual gain.
Good counsel, kindly guidance, none will heed,
What you dislike yourself, let that be your creed.
How could they offer incense, wrong and vain,
Facing the faction, deaf and blind remain?