A WINTER'S NIGHT IN CHANG'AN

It is suggested that sometimes, in contrast to prevailing critical imperatives, we not only can but even should be satisfied with the pleasure that a text, considered for its literary merit and emotional effect, can provide. Here the focus is on a brief prose text from the early ninth century, whose author is temporarily concealed as inessential for the immediate reading experience. He is later identified, with comments about his life and other works.