Du Qiuniang or Du Qiu (AD 791–835) was a Tang dynasty Chinese Gējì (courtesan-entertainer) and poet. She holds a unique and prestigious place in literary history as the only female poet to be included in the definitive anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems.
Her surviving masterpiece carries a profound, universal message: a tender yet emotionally charged plea to cherish the fleeting moments of youth and seize the beauty of life before it fades.
Du Qiuniang’s Jin Lü Yi (金缕衣) initiates its economic regime with a double imperative that performs a radical value in…
Read Translation & Analysis →Covet not a gold-threaded robe,
Cherish only your young days!
If a bud open, gather it --
Lest you but wait for an empty bough.
If you were moved by Du Qiuniang's melancholic reflection on fleeting youth, explore these masterpieces featuring the female perspective and the transient beauty of life:
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