Southeast the Peacock Flies is the first long narrative poem in Chinese literary history. It enjoys the fame of "Double Concertos" together with the Song of Mulan of the Northern Dynasty. This poem presents a tragic love story taking place in Lujiang Shire in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It was initially a verbal work created by common people and was probably embellished by later generations in the course of spreading. It is customarily taken its first sentence - "Southeast the Peacock Flies" - as its title.

It is narrated in the poem that during Jian'an Period in the Eastern Han Dynasty, a girl named Liu Lanzhi from a common family got married to Jiao Zhongqing, who grew up in a well-known official family which was in decline at that time. Though they loved each other, they were broken up by both families due to difference in family status. Liu Lanzhi was dispossessed by her mother-in-law from the family and then forced by her elder brother to remarry. Finally, the couple had no other choice but to commit suicide for their faithful love.

With over 350 sentences and more than 1700 words in total, this poem is featured by simple language, integral structure and touching plot. It depicts successively a wide range of figures including Liu Lanzhi, Jiao Zhongqing, Jiao Zhongqing's mother and Liu Lanzhi's elder brother. Due to the breakthrough of the form of former poems and the attainment of supreme level among ballads in the Han Dynasty, this poem served afterwards as a model for narrative poems.

Southeast the Peacock Flies presents people's desire for love and free marriage in ancient China. The heroine's faithful love and her courage in devotion to love have roused sympathetic response in many youth people. For this reason, this poem has been eulogized widely by later generations. Southeast the Peacock Flies is of high value in terms of historicity and artistry, for it reflects social conditions at that time and plays an exemplary role in later poem-composing work. During the period of "May 4th Movement", it was adapted to a variety of plays and performed on stage, which demonstrates its profound influence on the contemporary generation.

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