This was written 1,300 years ago. Nothing ever changes.
Du Fu (712–770 CE), one of China’s greatest poets of the Tang dynasty, wrote “Early Autumn, Miserable Heat, Papers Piling Up” while working as a minor official. The poem contains the magnificent and eternal line:
“I am about to scream madly in the office, / Especially when they bring more papers to pile higher on my desk.”
人社畜魂 transcends time and culture.
Gorgocutie’s Verdict:
Du Fu is often called China’s greatest poet — he wrote over 1,500 poems covering war, nature, exile, and the human condition. But this one might be his most relatable work for modern audiences. The poem was translated by William Hung in his 1952 biography “Tu Fu: China’s Greatest Poet.” The Chinese original uses the phrase 束帶發狂欲大叫 (shùdài fākuáng yù dàjiào) — “cinching my belt, I go mad and want to scream” — which captures the universal office workers’ experience of bureaucracy-induced rage. 1,300 years of civilization and we still can’t escape paperwork. Some truths are eternal.
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