​Snow-swathed Bamboo

Snow-swathed Bamboo

by Zhu Yuanzhang

Bent down by the snow, still not so low

To be muddied touching the ground.

The sun shall emerge at dawn the morrow

Unveiling a grove still level with cloud.

Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398), founder of the Ming Dynasty, was born into a destitute peasant family in what is now Fengyang, Anhui Province. He lived as a monk and a wanderer, eventually leading a rebellion that successfully topple the Yuan Dynasty in 1368. He went on to take the title of Emperor Hongwu.