Song of Everlasting Regret is a long poem by Bai Juyi (772-846), depicting the romance between Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and his beloved concubine Yang Yuhuan.
On prosperous Tang dynasty, Yang Yuhuan first married the son of Emperor Xuanzong and somehow came into Xuanzong’s favor and the emperor finally took her as his consort. Emperor Xuanzhong was indulged in the beauty of Yang Guifei that he did not attend to his court duties and finally led to An’s rebellion in 755. Yang Guifei was blamed for the rebellion and forced to suicide herself. Tang Xuanzong was so upset that he later abdicated and was succeeded by his son.
Their love story is very famous around China and has been recomposed into a live dancing performance show in Xian City.
A long list of literary, political, visual, musical and film works have been based on or referenced the Changhen ge. Influence started almost immediately the poem had been written. Bai Juyi's friend Chen Hong (fl. 810s) created a dramatic version, Changhen zhuan, which later inspired Rain on the Paulownia Tree (Wutong yu) by Bai Pu (1226-after 1306) and The Palace of Eternal Youth (Changsheng dian) by Hong Sheng (洪升, 1645-1704).
Painter Li Yishi (李毅士, 1886-1942) illustrated the poem with a series of thirty paintings. In classical music the poem has been set as a cantata by Huang Zi (1933) and as an orchestral song by Mo Fan (1991).The poem is referenced in the writings of Mao Zedong. Wang Anyi's novel (1996) and Stanley Kwan's film Everlasting Regret take the title of the poem.
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