The Tang Dynasty was considered a cultural golden age in China. The arts were highly developed and poetry was particularly esteemed. No home coming or leave taking was too common, no occasion to small to be commemorated with a poem.
The finest poems of the age were collected into the classic known as The 300 Tang Dynasty Poems. If you click here, you'll be directed to an online version of the text.
Below is #33: To My Daughter On Her Marriage Into The Yang Family
My heart has been heavy all day long
Because you have so far to go.
The marriage of a girl, away from her parents,
Is the launching of a little boat on a great river.
...You were very young when your mother died,
Which made me the more tender of you.
Your elder sister has looked out for you,
And now you are both crying and cannot part.
This makes my grief the harder to bear;
Yet it is right that you should go.
...Having had from childhood no mother to guide you,
How will you honour your mother-in-law?
It's an excellent family; they will be kind to you,
They will forgive you your mistakes --
Although ours has been so pure and poor
That you can take them no great dowry.
Be gentle and respectful, as a woman should be,
Careful of word and look, observant of good example.
...After this morning we separate,
There's no knowing for how long....
I always try to hide my feelings --
They are suddenly too much for me,
When I turn and see my younger daughter
With the tears running down her cheek.
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