When the poet Li Shen 李紳 (772-846) occupied Guangling, Zheng Can was his subordinate. In 844 Can gave a banquet for Li Shen at which the entertainment was a performance by an ageing dancer.
The jester Sunzi Duo 孫子多 (Many Grandsons) thought up a rhyming jingle about this, giving Li Shen a good laugh. He used a pun on the name of a previous empress, A Wu Po, which with a twist and a shake of characters became A Po Wu, referring to the relatively advanced age of the dancer:
His Lordship is versed in the arts and in war,
His faithful servant loves all things present and past,
They’ve heard that in former days there was A Wu Po
And now with their own eyes, they see Old Granny Prance.
相公經文復經武，
常侍好今又好古。
昔日曾聞啊武婆，
如今親眼啊婆舞！
Source: Jinhuazi zabian 金華子雜編, by Liu Chongyuan 劉崇遠 (fl.c. 940), fol. 1, Siku Quanshu 四庫全書 (Shanghai: Guji Chubanshe, 1987), vol. 1035, pp. 829b-30a. The empress was the wife of Emperor Gaozong (r. 650-83).
Image credit: Tang dynasty figurine of a female dancer, unknown provenance.
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