Yuan Jie (719/723–772) 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 ...

and

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

of the mid-Tang period. His

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 ...

was Cishan, and he had several

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 ...

s (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor *Bottom (disambiguation) Bottom may refer to: Anatomy and sex * Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...

). He attained a ''jinshi'' degree in the

imperial examination The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

in 754, and served in several regional government posts before resigning in 769. Among his most famous poems is the "Zei Tui Shi Guanli", which describes the state of the countryside following the

An Lushan Rebellion The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general office ...

, which he experienced first-hand. He also compiled a collection of poetry by his contemporaries, the '' Qie-zhong Ji'', and was noted for his prose compositions. Books 240 and 241 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 ...

'' are devoted to his poetry.

Biography

Yuan Jie was born in either 719 or 723, in

Wuchang Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the ri ...

(modern-day

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

), Lu (modern

Lushan County, Henan Lushan County () is a county in Pingdingshan, in southwest-central Henan Province, China, with a population of 830,000. This county is known for housing the Spring Temple Buddha, a giant statue of Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly ...

) or Henan (modern

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

Henan Province Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

). He attained a ''jinshi'' degree in the

in 754, and was involved in the putting down of the

. In 763 he was appointed

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Dao Prefecture Daozhou or Dao Prefecture () was a '' zhou'' (prefecture) in imperial China centering on modern Dao County, Hunan, China. In the Yuan dynasty it was known as Daozhou Route () and in the Ming dynasty (briefly) as Daozhou Prefecture (). It existed (in ...

, and in 768 he moved to , but during this time he came to resent the heavy taxes that his position forced him to levy on the peasants, and in 769, following the death of his mother, he resigned his post. He died in 772.

Names

His

was Cishan, and his

s included Manlang, Aosou, and Qiganzi.

Poetry

There is a ten-volume, Ming-era anthology of his poetry called the ''Yuan Cishan Ji'' (). His ' poem "Zei Tui Shi Guanli" (), which he wrote while stationed in Dao Prefecture and which describes the state of society immediately following

An Lushan An Lushan (; 20th day of the 1st month 19 February 703 – 29 January 757) was a general in the Tang dynasty and is primarily known for instigating the An Lushan Rebellion. An Lushan was of Sogdian and Göktürk origin,Yang, Zhijiu, "An Lushan ...

's rebellion, was highly praised 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 ...

, and is seen as a forerunner of the works of

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 ...

. He also compiled the '' Qie-zhong Ji'' (), a 760 collection of 24 poems by seven of his contemporaries, whose moral temper he admired but who did not hold official position.

Prose

He is often listed alongside Xiao Yingshi and

Li Hua Li Hua () March 6, 1907 − May 5, 1994), was a Chinese woodcut artist and communist known for his participation in left-wing activities, was born in Panyu, Guangdong. Career He graduated from the Municipal Guangzhou Art School in 1926 and rema ...

as a forerunner of the ''gu wen'' () movement.

References

Cited works

* * * * * * (

Amazon Kindle Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store. ...

edition.) *

External links

*Books of the ''

'' that include collected poems of Yuan Jie 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 240

Book 241
{{Authority control 719 births 723 births 772 deaths 8th-century Chinese poets Poets from Henan Three Hundred Tang Poems poets Tang dynasty politicians