![Luo Binwang](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Luo_Binwang.jpg)
Luo Binwang (, ca. 619–684?),
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 ...
Guanguang (觀光/观光), was a
Chinese poet
The following is a list of Poets who wrote or write much of their poetry in the languages of China.
__NOTOC__
A
*Ai Qing
B
*Bai Juyi or Bo Juyi
*Consort Ban
*Ban Gu (32–92 A.D.)Minford, John, and Joseph S. M. Lau, ''Classical Chinese Lite ...
of the
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 ...
. His family was from Wuzhou, modern
Yiwu
Yiwu () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua in Central Zhejiang Province, East China. As of the 2020 census, the city had 1,859,390 inhabitants and its built-up (or metro) area, joined with that of the neighboring Dongy ...
,
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
, but he was raised in
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
. Luo is grouped with
Lu Zhaolin
Lu Zhaolin (; ca. 634 – ca. 684 or 686), courtesy name Shengzhi, was a Tang dynasty Chinese poet, traditionally grouped together with Luo Binwang, Wang Bo, and Yang Jiong as the Four Paragons of the Early Tang.
Biography
Lu Zhaolin was born ...
,
Wang Bo, and
Yang Jiong
Yang Jiong (; 650–695?) was a Tang dynasty Chinese poet, traditionally grouped together with Luo Binwang, Lu Zhaolin, and Wang Bo as the Four Paragons of the Early Tang. Known for his eight extant ''fu'' (rhapsody) poems, he also wrote an in ...
as the
Four Paragons of the Early Tang The Four Paragons of the Early Tang () is a group name for four Chinese poets of the early Tang dynasty: Luo Binwang, Lu Zhaolin, Wang Bo, and Yang Jiong.
{{multiple image
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, the most outstanding poets of their time.
Early career
It was said that Luo Binwang could recite poetry when he was six years old. In adulthood, after a period serving on the staff of Li Yuanqing (李元慶) Prince of Dao, an uncle of then-ruling
Emperor Gaozong, Luo worked in the central government in
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...
from 665. In 670, he was exiled to
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
, after which he travelled to
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
with the army. He later served on staff of the prominent general Pei Xingjian (裴行儉) while Pei was serving as the commandant at Tao Prefecture (洮州, roughly modern
Haidong Prefecture
Haidong (; Wylie: Haitung) is a prefecture-level city of Qinghai province in Western China. Its name literally means "east of the (Qinghai) Lake." On 8 February 2013 Haidong was upgraded from a prefecture () into a prefecture-level city. Haido ...
,
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
), and was in charge of the military correspondences, but he did not have a good relationship with Pei, who also disapproved of the other three greater writers grouped with Luo — Wang, Yang, and Lu, instead favoring the talents of Wang Bo's brother Wang Ju (王勮) and
Su Weidao
Su Weidao (; 648?–705?Su Weidao's biographies in the ''Old Book of Tang'' and the ''New Book of Tang'' both stated that he died at the age of 57, shortly after he was made the secretary general at Yi Prefecture for the second time. The ''Old Bo ...
. Eventually, Luo became a secretary at the county government of Chang'an County — one of the two counties making up the capital
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...
— a low position that was however considered fairly prestigious due to its location at the capital.
Participation in Li Jingye's rebellion
In 678, Luo Binwang was dismissed and imprisoned for criticising
Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...
, but was released the following year. After Emperor Gaozong's death and the subsequent takeover of Emperor Gaozong's wife
Empress Dowager Wu (later known as Wu Zetian) as
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
over initially their son
Emperor Zhongzong, whom she quickly deposed, and then
Emperor Ruizong, Luo made a number of suggestions to her, which she did not accept, and he was in turn demoted to the post of secretary general of
Linhai
Linhai (; Tai-chow dialect: Lin-he) is a county-level city in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province situated on the banks of the Lin River in Eastern China.
As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,114,146 inhabitants even though its built-up (''or met ...
County in 684. He and a number of similarly demoted officials met at Yang Prefecture (揚州, roughly modern
Yangzhou
Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yan ...
,
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...
), and they, supporting
Li Jingye
Li Jingye (李敬業) (died December 29, 684), also known as Xu Jingye (徐敬業), was a Chinese military general and politician who was a grandson of the Tang Dynasty general Li Shiji who, after Emperor Gaozong's powerful wife Empress Wu (late ...
the Duke of Ying as their leader, rose against Empress Dowager Wu at Yang Prefecture, claiming as their goal Emperor Zhongzong's restoration. Luo was in charge of the resistance forces' correspondences, and he wrote a particularly sharp-worded declaration against Empress Dowager Wu:
It was said that when Empress Dowager Wu read the declaration, she smiled and laughed at what he wrote. However, when she reached the portion that read, "The soil on the new imperial tomb is not yet dry, and to whom can the two-meter-tall orphan be entrusted?" she turned solemn, and she commented, "It is the fault of the
chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
s that we lost this man's service." After Li Jingye's defeat later that year, Luo was also killed, and Empress Dowager Wu, impressed with his writing, sent people to gather them and publish them.
[The '']Old Book of Tang
The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
'' and the ''New Book of Tang
The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...
'' had conflicting records on Luo's fate and the sovereign who collected and published his writings. The ''Old Book of Tang'' indicated that Luo was killed (an assertion later adopted by the ''Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...
'') and that after his death, Empress Dowager Wu collected and published his writings. The ''New Book of Tang'' indicated that Luo disappeared after the rebellion and that his fate was unknown, and that it was Emperor Zhongzong, after his later restoration to the throne in 705, who collected and published his writings. Compar
''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 190, part 2
and ''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 203 wit
''New Book of Tang'', vol. 201
.
Style
![Luo Binwang ZH-PY Ode to the goose](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Luo_Binwang_ZH-PY_Ode_to_the_goose.jpg)
In prose, he was a master of the ornate ''
pianwen
Pianwen ( zh, s=骈文, t=駢文, p=piánwén, l=parallel writing, c=, first=t) is a highly stylised prose style, prevalent throughout the history of Chinese literature. Its prominent features lie in its regular lines arranged in couplets; in ...
'' 駢文 "parallel prose" style. His poetry (mostly ''
gushi'') is often similarly complex. Among his works is a long,
autobiographical
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life.
It is a form of biography.
Definition
The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...
verse
Verse may refer to:
Poetry
* Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry
* Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza
* Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme
* Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...
narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...
, but he is best known for his poem "Ode to the Goose", said to have been written when he was seven years old. His "Ode to the Cicada" is also of great renown and influence.
References
* Ma, Maoyuan
"Luo Binwang" ''
Encyclopedia of China
The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, begin ...
'' (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.
* ''
Old Book of Tang
The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
''
vol. 190, part 2
* ''
New Book of Tang
The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...
''
vol. 201
* ''
Zizhi Tongjian
''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...
'',
vol. 203.
External links
*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 Luo Binwang 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 77Book 78Book 79A Political Prisoner Listening to a Cicada in Chinese with
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 ...
's translation.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luo, Binyang
Three Hundred Tang Poems poets
Tang dynasty politicians from Zhejiang
619 births
684 deaths
Writers from Jinhua
Politicians from Jinhua
7th-century Chinese poets
Poets from Zhejiang
Deified Chinese people
People from Yiwu