After Visiting Zhuge Liang’s Shrine

Through the ages, in collections of literati works

Anyone who made a trip to Chengdu

Would leave a poem about Zhuge Liang's shrine.

The 2017 "Chengdu International Poetry Week"

Arranged a salon-style gathering for us there; 

Indeed the feel of the place is quiet and secluded.

I recall from Du Fu's poem that it had towering cypresses, 

But I was listening to the pretty guide and forgot to look.

The tour guide summed up Zhuge Liang's era: 

In a trifecta of kingdoms, many upstart heroes contended.

She worshipfully directed our gaze to Liu Bei's statue: 

Lordly and hugely tolerant, bent on restoring the Han.

A listener needled her: Was he a legitimate successor? 

She stressed Zhuge's loyalty, a wizard who crowned his age, 

Moved by Liu's selflessness, he left his mountain idyll.

A heckler quipped: in chaotic times people rally around figureheads.

At any rate, seeing a historical figure treated so devoutly

Helped to establish a solemn atmosphere for our salon, 

Because a man straddled the line between human and divine, 

But his apotheosis happened in the past, and now this place

Has been restored as a venue for humanistic gatherings.

From human to divine to human, it was all an aesthetic process.

This kind of conversion gives a taste of the literati ethos, 

Which is why joining in this salon felt like coming home.

by Denis Mair