Alone on the cold wooden floor

With only shaojiu for companionship [1]

I sit, staring at the moon

Which seemed to have lost its brilliance

Away from my family

With no place to call home [2]

Surrounded by foreign cultures

The feelings of exile

Obtained this life by

Mastering Confucian classics [3]

But where is the morality

I see none in the corruption

Toasting nobody

I down my porcelain cup [4]

Continue gazing at the moon

In attempts to forget

Written by a Tang Dynasty county magistrate originally from the capital, now located in Yangzhou which was a major port of foreign trade and external exchange, drinking alcohol to soothe his heartache.

[1] Shaojiu, which is also known as baijiu, is a Chinese distilled alcoholic beverage. Its popularity was commonly noted by Tang Dynasty poets such as Li Bai.

[2] Magistrates were not allowed to serve in his home district and was allowed to serve in any one place for only three years.

[3] Recruitment of scholar-officials was through standardized examinations that were based on the mastery of the Confucian classics.

[4] Porcelain vessels for drinking were commonly used from the Tang Dynasty period.