Part I. The plague: Chapter 1. Plague and poetry: rethinking Jian'an -- Introduction: looking back -- "Dead poets society" -- Gathering at Ye -- The poems -- The Jian'an that is unlike "Jian'an" -- Conclusion -- Chapter 2. Circling the tree thrice: lord, vassal, community -- Introduction: Wang Can's jade pendant -- Food and feast: The ideal feast -- Perspectives on food -- A man of taste -- Gifts, letters, exchange: Give and take -- Ownership and competition -- A dark exchange -- Conclusion -- Part II. The bronze bird: Chapter 3. The southern perspective: "fan writing" -- Introduction: the southern perspective -- The fan -- An account of Luoyang -- Bronze bird -- "Fan writing" -- The poetics of unified empire -- Conclusion -- Chapter 4. Terrace and tile: imagining a lost city -- Introduction: views of Ye -- Ascending the terrace: early writings -- Changed view from the terrace -- Irony and criticism: later variations -- Fragmentation: the bronze bird inkstone -- Conclusion -- Part III. The Red Cliff: Chapter 5. Restoring the broken halberd -- Introduction: the broken halberd -- Going local, getting personal -- The southern turn in the ninth century -- Owning Red Cliff -- Dongpo's Chibi -- A storyteller's vision -- The reel Red Cliff -- Conclusion -- Epilogue. The return of the repressed -- Appendix A. Cao Coa's "short song" -- Appendix B. Red Cliff poems -- Appendix C. A duel of wits across the river between the two army counselors.