The Old Man Who Does As He Pleases

Lu You adopted the name The Old Man Who Does as He Pleases in response to politically-inspired criticisms of his behaviour, principally that he drank too much and behaved unbecomingly for a government official. Given the number of poems he wrote about being drunk, the criticism may have had some justification, even if the motivation was partisan.

I expected to enjoy the poems in the first half of the book, and I did. Unexpectedly, I enjoyed Lu's travelogue of his river-journey to a new appointment even more. Vignettes of town and rural life, descriptions of tourist sites and natural wonders, customs, history and folklore, the quality of local cuisine and wine, meetings with officials, inn-keepers and priests, and little glimpses of his show more children. Even his cat gets a mention, as it's brought along on the boat trip. Amazing that 800 years and 9,000 miles of distance doesn't really separate people. show less