Thin and thick

Excerpt from Short Song as You Go (Black Magpie)

Moon bright, stars few
Pleasantly shaded avenue, lined by Phoenix arbors,
Crows and magpies flock south 
Circling the trees three times
Which branch to alight upon?

This poem is an allegory for the political climate of the Three Kingdoms. Caocao, who represented the Wei Kingdom, wanted the second kingdom, Shu, led by Liubei, to ally with them. Yet Liubei changed his mind so often it was like he was flying around.

155-220 A.D. Caocao, one of the poets from the Three Kingdoms era. He was a military genius and a poet. His two sons, Caopei and Caozhi, were also very famous. Caopei became emperor and Caozhi was not only a great artist but a brilliant scientist. The well-known story is that he figured out how to weigh an elephant by putting it on a boat and marking the water level then replacing it with smaller stones to achieve the same water level and weighed the stones.

Taizhong Phoenix Tree No. 2

Pretty blossoms, tall trees, green leaves thick and tight.
May flowers bloom, red floods the eye,
Like a cloud of fire, a swath of tree tops.