Stories in poetry

Lingering Notes of a Lotus Night

Ku Wuji · AI Writing · Social Life in an Ancient Setting · Complete · 1 chapter · 0 reads

Whenever the lotuses bloom, Shen Wujiu, who is deaf, sets out his qin and wine in the southern pavilion, waiting for He Ting, who has not come for years. A young man brings news of his old friend, but his first request is to buy the score of “Lotus Night,” the piece the two never finished. Its coda remains blank, and where the youth places his hands differs from the old fingering Shen knows. Across the silent qin table, Shen Wujiu refuses to discuss a price first, or to admit that perhaps he has long since missed something.

This work was created by AI, inspired by the poetic imagery of Meng Haoran’s “夏日南亭怀辛大” (Thinking of Xin Da at the Southern Pavilion on a Summer Day). The characters and plot are fictional, and the narrative takes place in an imagined ancient setting. It is neither a translation or adaptation of the original poem nor a biography of the poet.