Emperor Hsüan-tsung visited the moon in a dream and was taught there by Chang-o, the Goddess of the Moon, a dance-play called The Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat. When he awoke, he remembered it, and, summoning his musicians and actors, the Pear-Garden Players, instructed them in the music and the steps. His beloved Lady Yang performed in the dance. (See note 42.)
4c. There is in this collection one poem by the Emperor himself, I Pass through Lu Dukedom with a Sigh and a Sacrifice for Confucius, in which, remembering the dream that brought Confucius an omen of death, the Emperor wonders if he should feel a similar premonition as to his own fate.
4d. Tu Fu, in A Song of Sobbing by the River, laments the passing of the Emperor and of Lady Yang. The end of Hsüan-tsung's reign came about in the following manner: An Lu-shan, son of a defeated Hun chieftain, had been captured in his youth, favoured by Hsüan-tsung, and adopted by Lady Yang; but, exiled later because of sedition, he aroused his people and led his bandit troops to the capture of the capital, Ch'ang-an. This was what caused the Emperor's unhappy flight, during which Lady Yang was killed. After An Lu-shan had reigned for a few months, he was murdered by his own adopted son, a Chinese; whereupon Ch'ang-an was recaptured by Chinese troops, and Su-tsung, son of Hsüan-tsung, was made Emperor. That this prince too had his troubles is told in Tu Fu's A Song of a Prince Deposed. Tu Fu, although loyal to the dynasty, tells in his poems A Song of Sobbing and Taking Leave of Friends how, during the troubles, he had fled the capital
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