Poetry · Stories Names Left by the Luo River CooLWJ Library
Stories in poetry
Names Left by the Luo River Ku Wuji · AI Writing · A Novel of Spirits and Rivers in a Historical Setting · Complete · 38 chapters · 1 read
At dusk, on the stone steps by the Luo River, Shen Mi sees the red shoe his younger sister lost seventeen years ago. Its sole is still warm, yet the woman who brought it stands on the mudflat without a drop of water touching her hem. She offers him one double-hour in which to see his sister, if he will return to the old sluice house and finish saying what he left unsaid that year. Across the river, windows light up one by one, and an old affair buried beneath the water begins to find human voices.
Written with AI assistance, this book expands on Cao Zhi’s “Rhapsody on the Goddess of the Luo River” and this site’s original short story “The Luo River Keeps No One.” The characters, chronology, and river reaches are fictional; this is neither a translation or adaptation of the original rhapsody nor a biography of the poet.
The story’s inspiration
Three Kingdoms · Cao Zhi
In the third year of Huangchu, I attended court in the capital and crossed the Luo on my return. The ancients said that the goddess of this river was named Fufei. Moved by Song Yu’s account to the King of Chu concerning a goddess, I composed this fu. Its words are these:
I left the capital to return to my eastern fief, leaving Yique behind, crossing Huanyuan, passing through Tonggu, and ascending Mount Jing. The sun was sinking westward; the carriage was worn and the horses weary. We unharnessed on banks fragrant with wild ginger and fed the four horses in fields of sacred herbs. I wandered through sunlit woods, casting my gaze over the Luo. Then my spirit stirred in wonder, and suddenly my thoughts scattered. Looking down, I had noticed nothing; raising my eyes, I beheld a strange sight: a beautiful woman beside the cliffs. Taking hold of my charioteer, I said: “Do you see that person over there? Who is she, so extraordinarily beautiful!” The charioteer replied: “I have heard that the goddess of the He and Luo rivers is named Fufei. Could she be the one Your Highness has seen? What does she look like? I should like to hear.”
I told him: Her form flutters like a startled wild goose, graceful as a roaming dragon, radiant as autumn chrysanthemums, luxuriant as spring pines. She shimmers like light clouds veiling the moon, drifts like snow whirled by the wind. Seen from afar, she shines like the sun rising through morning clouds; viewed close at hand, she glows like a lotus emerging from clear waves. Neither too full nor too slender, neither too tall nor too short, with shoulders as if sculpted and a waist like gathered white silk. Her graceful neck extends, revealing fair skin; she wears neither fragrant ointment nor powder. Her cloudlike coiffure rises high, her long brows curve delicately; red lips glow without, white teeth gleam within. Her bright eyes glance enchantingly, dimples nestle beneath her cheekbones. Her beauty is extraordinary, her bearing composed and refined; her feelings tender, her manner graceful, her speech charming. Her wondrous dress is unmatched in the world, her figure worthy of a painting. She wears brilliant gauze robes and ornaments of beautiful jade. Gold and kingfisher-green jewels adorn her head, and bright pearls illuminate her body. She wears patterned Yuanyou shoes and trails a light hem of mistlike silk. Faintly fragrant as secluded orchids, she wanders by the mountain. Suddenly she moves freely, roaming and playing. A colored-feather standard stands at her left, a cassia banner shades her right. She extends her white wrists on the sacred bank to gather dark sacred herbs beside the rapids.
I delighted in her gracious beauty, my heart stirred and ill at ease. With no good matchmaker to bring us together, I entrusted my words to the ripples. Hoping my sincere devotion might reach her first, I unfastened my jade pendant to invite her. Ah, the lady was truly lovely, versed in ritual and poetry. She raised fine jade in response and pointed to the deep waters to appoint our meeting. Holding to my devoted sincerity, I feared this spirit might deceive me. Recalling the broken promise to Jiaofu, I grew sorrowful, hesitant, and doubtful. I composed my expression and quieted my mind, holding myself within the bounds of propriety.
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