ngl i think 'Ozymandias' is such a fitting yao and arthur poem for the 19th century.

there's yao, the worn out old nation and empire who has tasted defeat more than once (the qing dynasty itself was him being defeated by another!), facing arthur at the height of his arrogance, cruelty and flooded with the triumphant industrial power turning the wheel of british imperialism. to arthur, yao is that colossal wreck. but ah. yao has seen so many nations burn bright but short, and who is to say that destiny isn't written in arthur's future?