Chen Tao (, 824-882) was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

of the late

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, and one of whose poems was collected in the popular anthology ''

Three Hundred Tang Poems The ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'' () is an anthology of poems from the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907). It was first compiled around 1763 by Sun Zhu (1722–1778Yu, 64–65), who was a Qing Dynasty scholar and was also known as Hengtang Tuishi ( ...

''; also, other of his poems have been anthologized in the ''Quantangshi'' (also known as, the ''Collected Tang Poems''). The poem appearing in the ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'' is the well-known verse sometimes known as "Lung-hsi Song".

Biography

Biographical information about Chen Tao seems scarce; not only that, but,

A. R. Davis Professor Albert Richard ('Bertie') Davis (1924-1983) was born in Dorking and died in Sydney. The Chair of Oriental Studies at the University of Sydney for over a quarter-century, he was a major figure in the development of Asian Studies in Austra ...

mentions an "element of confusion", in this regard: and, ''if'' this is the same Chen Tao mentioned in connection with

Tian Lingzi Tian Lingzi (田令孜) (died 893), courtesy name Zhongze (仲則), formally the Duke of Jin (晉公), was a powerful eunuch during the reign of Emperor Xizong of Tang. During most of Emperor Xizong's reign, he had a stranglehold on power due to hi ...

in the year 888, then either this date or the date of his death is wrong. It is known that Chen Tao was learned in Buddhism and Taoism and that he pursued the study of astronomy and alchemy, and that he spent most of his life in retirement in what is now Nanchang, in the Chinese province of

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

.Davis, xvii

Poetry

Chen Tao is best known for his one poem which is included in the ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'' (" 隴西行", ''Longxi xing''), translated as "Turkestan" by

Witter Bynner Harold Witter Bynner (August 10, 1881 – June 1, 1968), also known by the pen name Emanuel Morgan, was an American poet and translator. He was known for his long residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and association with other literary figures ther ...

Notes

References

*Davis, A. R., ed., Robert Kotewall and Norman L. Smith, trans. ''The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse''. Baltimore: Penguin Books (1970). *Wu, John C. H. (1972). ''The Four Seasons of Tang Poetry''. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E.Tuttle.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Tao 824 births 882 deaths Three Hundred Tang Poems poets People from Nanping Poets from Fujian 9th-century Chinese poets