In Makura no sōshi (The Pillow Book), Sei Shōnagon recalls a day of deep snow at court. Empress Teishi asks: Shōnagon yo, Kōrohō no yuki ika naramu. Shōnagon, how is the snow of Xianglu Peak? Sei Shōnagon has the lattice raised and lifts the blind high. The Empress smiles.
The question quotes a line by the Chinese poet Bai Juyi: the snow of Xianglu Peak, I lift the blind to see. The other ladies admit that they knew the line and had even used it in poems, but it had not occurred to them. The Empress had not asked for the blind to be raised.