Zhang Heng (AD 78–139), formerly romanized as Chang Heng, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman from Nanyang who lived during the Han dynasty. Educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang’an, he achieved success as an astronomer, mathematician, seismologist, hydraulic engineer, inventor, geographer, cartographer, ethnographer, artist, poet, philosopher, politician, and literary scholar.
A GENTLE SPRING WIND
Zhang Heng
A gentle spring wind,
a full clear moonlight.
Secret love in the study,
the emotion is difficult to say.
Beauty adds more to the emotion,
as they make this scholarly endeavor.
A turn of the head to laugh brings spring,
even surpassing the softness of chests tightly pressed.
Like clouds laden with rain,
listening for delicate sweet sounds.
The shadows of the thin bamboo grove quivering,
Laurel fragrance caressing.
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T’UNG-SHEN-KO
Zhang Heng
I have swept clean the pillow and the bedmat,
And I have filled the burner with rare incense.
Let us now lock the double door with its golden lock,
And light the lamp to fill our room with its brilliance.
I will shed my robes and remove my paint and powder,
And roll out the picture scroll by the pillow’s side.
I shall take the Plain Girl as my instructor,
And we can practice all the pictured positions,
Those that an ordinary husband has but rarely seen,
Such as those taught by T’ien-lao to the Yellow Emperor.
No joy shall equal the delights of this first night.