Du Xunhe (; 846-?),

Courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...

Yanzhi (),

Art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ''ho'' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by East Asian artists, poets and writers. The ...

Jiuhua Shanren () was a Chinese poet 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 ...

, with one of his poems being included in the 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 ( ...

''. Along with Nie Yizhong,

Luo Yin Luo Yin ( 833 – 910, courtesy name Zhaojian), born Luo Heng, was a poet of the late Tang and early Wuyue dynasties. Luo's poetry was widely read and cherished, but he was unsuccessful in life; having failed the imperial examination 10 times, ...

, and

Pi Rixiu Pi Rixiu (; ca. 834 – 883) was a Tang dynasty poet. His courtesy names were Yishao () and Ximei (), and he wrote under the pen name Lumenzi (). Pi was a contemporary of poet Lu Guimeng; these two poets are often referred to as Pi-Lu. Pi was bor ...

, he was one of the key figures of the late Tang realist movement of Chinese poetry.

Poetry

Du's poems were known for their realistic description of the outer world as well as social-political criticism. He dedicated his poems to the life of commoners and the suffering ones. Du himself argued that the aim of poetry should be "the deliverance from suffering" (). Du Xunhe's literary style was influenced by

Du Fu Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Tang dynasty poet and politician. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai (Li Po), he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets.Ebrey, 103. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as ...

Yuan Zhen Yuan Zhen (; 779 – September 2, 831), courtesy name Weizhi (), was a Chinese novelist, poet, and politician of the middle Tang Dynasty. In prose literature, Yuan Zhen is particularly known for his work ''Yingying's Biography'', which has often ...

and

Bai Juyi Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as g ...

. Many of his poems were revelations and exposures of the life of the people in the lowest social stratum while others criticize social injustice imposed by the imperial court of Tang. This was consistent with his realist and humanist ideals. Xunhe tends to apply simple languages in his poems. As a result, his poems are more comprehensible. For example, the poem "Passing by Hucheng County again" () embodies Du Xunhe's social-political concerns in plain words: Last year I passed by this county seat,
when all its residents were moaning and grieving.
Now their magistrate is bestowed on a redder robe,
which can only be dyed by the people's blood. Du Xunhe had one poem collected in ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'', which poem was translated 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 ...

as "A Sigh in the Spring Palace".

Life

Du Xunhe was born in Shiqiu county of

Chizhou Chizhou () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Anhui province, China. It borders Anqing to the northwest, Tongling and Wuhu to the northeast, Xuancheng to the east, Huangshan to the southeast, and the province of Jiangxi to the southwest. ...

. In his early years, he completed his education on

Mount Jiuhua Mount Jiuhua () located in Chizhou, Anhui Province in China is an important Buddhist site and natural scenic spot. It is one of the four famous Buddhist mountains in China, one of the first batch of 5A level scenic spots in China, one of the fir ...

. He took multiple imperial exams in his 20s but failed to pass them. In 890, after 15 years of hermetic life, he eventually passed the exam and obtained the title of

Jinshi ''Jinshi'' () was the highest and final degree in the imperial examination in Imperial China. The examination was usually taken in the imperial capital in the palace, and was also called the Metropolitan Exam. Recipients are sometimes referre ...

. According to Song dynasty scholar Zhang Qixian ()'s "Luoyang Jinshen Jiuwenji (洛陽搢紳舊聞記)", Xunhe was valued as a literati by

Zhu Wen Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (), personal name Zhu Quanzhong () (December 5, 852 – July 18, 912), né Zhu Wen (), name later changed to Zhu Huang (), nickname Zhu San (朱三, literally, "the third Zhu"), was a Chinese military general, mona ...

who was then a

Jiedushi The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", "legate", ...

. Du Xunhe, with the support of Zhu Wen, was especially hostile to the aristocrats in the imperial court. On the other hand, nobles who were offended by his behaviors also plotted a failed assassination of him. Xunhe then schemed to kill every noble in the court but died before carrying out his plan. The disaster of Baima, however, soon fulfilled his goal of eliminating aristocrats.

He Guangyuan He Guangyuan (; born February 1930) is a Chinese politician who served as from 1989 to 1993 and from 1993 to 1996. He was an alternate member of the 12th and 13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and a member of the 14th Centra ...

, an official of

later Shu Shu (referred to as Later Shu () to differentiate it from Former Shu, other states named Shu in Chinese history), also known as Meng Shu (), was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China. It was located ...

during the

five dynasties and ten kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

had a different record of Xunhe in his work "Jianjielu" (), a book of anecdotes collected from previous dynasties. According to He Guangyuan, Xunhe was alive during the reign of Zhu Wen after the fall of Tang dynasty. He's record would make Du Xunhe's date of death debatable inasmuch as He's time was not far from Du and he might be historically credible. The official

Old History of the Five Dynasties The ''Old History of the Five Dynasties'' (''Jiù Wǔdài Shǐ'') was an official history mainly focus on Five Dynasties era (907–960), which controlled much of northern China. And it also includes some history of other south states during the ...

compiled by Song dynasty government, however, does not support He's note on Du. Du had several contemporary friends such as Gu Yun,

, Fang Gan and Zhang Qiao. Song dynasty intellectual

Ji Yougong Ji or JI may refer to: Names and titles * Ji (surname), the pinyin romanization of a number of distinct Chinese surnames * Ji (Korean name), a Korean surname and element in given names (including lists of people with the name) * -ji, an honorific ...

and

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

literari Xin Wenfang claimed that Xunhe was the son of

Du Mu Du Mu (; 803–852) was a Chinese calligrapher, poet, and politician who lived during the late Tang dynasty. His courtesy name was Muzhi (), and art name Fanchuan (). He is best known for his lyrical and romantic quatrains. Regarded as a majo ...

and that his mother was a concubine of Mu. Such a claim was also adopted by Qing dynasty editors of Siku Quanshu. However, this claim was not verifiable since extremely few historical records remained to provide a clear clue about Xunhe's parents. In 2005, one of his poems was cited by prime minister

Wen Jiabao Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...

of China during a press conference.

Notes

External links

Du Xunhe poems
* *Books of the ''

Quan Tangshi (''Complete Tang Poems'') is the largest collection of Tang poetry, containing some 49,000 lyric poems by more than twenty-two hundred poets. In 1705, it was commissioned at the direction of the Qing dynasty Kangxi Emperor and published under ...

'' that include collected poems of Du Xunhe at the

Chinese Text Project The Chinese Text Project (CTP; ) is a digital library project that assembles collections of early Chinese texts. The name of the project in Chinese literally means "The Chinese Philosophical Book Digitization Project", showing its focus on books ...

:
Book 691

Book 692

Book 693
{{DEFAULTSORT:Du, Xunhe Three Hundred Tang Poems poets 846 births 904 deaths People from Chizhou Poets from Anhui 9th-century Chinese poets 10th-century Chinese poets