A Letter Home
- Poetry of Meng Jiao

This poem was composed by the Mid-Tang poet Meng Jiao during his wanderings far from home. Meng Jiao’s life was marked by poverty and repeated failure in the imperial examinations; he did not attain the jinshi degree until the age of forty-six and later suffered the grievous loss of a son. His poetry often dwells on hardship, loneliness, and the fickleness of the world. Renowned for his "bitter chanting" (kuyin)—a style of intense, painstaking composition—he is often paired with Jia Dao under the critical label "Meng’s chill, Jia’s gauntness" (Jiao han Dao shou). Yet, beneath his austere and rugged poetic demeanor lay a wellspring of tender feeling, deeply concealed within his longing for family.