Ts'ao Sung Quotes (830-910)

“Ts'ao is noted for finally passing his chin-shih examination when he was over seventy along with four other septuagenarians. In his poetry he took Chia Tao as his model.”

“The years of the Tang Dynasty were the golden age of Chinese poetry. Nearly fifty thousand poems written during these 300 years are still extant. ...Up to 755 A.D. the Tang Dynasty was in the heyday of its political and military power and its emperors waged a whole series of aggressive wars against China's neighbours. Many were the soldiers who died on the frontiers in these wars, and many were the widowed! Numerous poems were written about the frontier wars and about women lamenting their soldier husbands. Many of the verses composed in the Tang Dynasty and frequently on the lips of the people bitterly exposed the effects of unjust wars on different classes and types of men. For example: ......... For already I have learned, that a general's fame stands on a pile of dry bones Of what were once the people. —Tsao Sung: War The rulers gained riches and fame by war: in their eyes the bleached bones of the people were worthless means to an end. All they cared for was to indulge in a luxurious life and pursue their greedy desires. The poets bitingly pictured the contrast between the rulers and the ruled, the victor and his victims.”

“[A Protest in the Sixth Year of Ch'ien Fu is] perhaps the most widely-known short antiwar poem in Chinese literature.”