Waiting for the Moon

Bo Juyi’s poems are beautiful in their simplicity—the romance of everyday life, of friendship, of work, of nature.

Much of his poetry expresses great sympathy with people’s suffering and the question of justice in the world, and his work exerted a tremendous influence on later Chinese literature.

Summary

The Tang Dynasty was the golden age of Chinese poetry, and Bo Juyi is generally acclaimed as one of China’s greatest poets. He wrote over 2,800 poems, which he had copied and distributed to ensure their survival. For him, writing poetry was a way to expose the ills of society; his was the poetry of everyday human concerns, and along with wine and song, poetry was one of the chief joys of his existence. His poems have an appealing style, written with a deliberate simplicity: it is said that he would rewrite any part of a poem if one of his servants was unable to understand it. His poems were extremely popular in his lifetime, in both China and Japan, and they continue to be read in both countries today.

About the Author

Born to a poor but scholarly family, Bo Juyi (772–846) rose to high government office—until he disagreed with the Emperor over a matter of public policy. In later life he governed several small provinces, and most of his poems were written during this period.

Life of Bo Juyi