The ethereal spirit of Gaoxin flourished. He sent the Mystic Bird bearing gifts.
I wished to change my ways and follow the common custom, yet I was ashamed to abandon my resolve and bend my will.
Alone I passed the years in sorrow and hardship, yet my heart remained unchanged.
—Qu Yuan, "Longing for the Fair One"
Annotation: A gentleman does not change his ways to follow common custom. Even should he meet death and suffer slaughter, he will not alter his heart. When my master spoke these words, he fell into a long melancholy, standing in silence for a great while, until at last there came a sound of quiet weeping...
Gaoxin was a Sage of antiquity. The Mystic Bird bearing gifts refers to the wooing of Jian Di. Yet this is not truly speech of marriage. It is an allegory of longing for one's lord, spoken through the seeking of a woman. In common courtship, one must carry fragrant herbs at one's breast and go forth singing. To bear a pendant of fragrant herbs in seeking the beloved is in truth to speak of pursuing a wise and enlightened ruler through pure virtue and conduct, and to hold to that, unwavering, through years of hardship and humiliation alike.
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