Yang Wanli (or Yang Wan-Li) (楊萬里) (1127–1206),
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 Theo ...
Yanxiu (延秀), was a Chinese
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 w ...
and politician, born in Jishui, Jizhou (today
Jishui County,
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 ...
). He was one of the "four masters" of Southern
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...
poetry.
Written during the final exile of the Song to
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...
, the poems celebrate the beauties and mysteries of nature, flora and fauna, much as the famed Song painters did. But they also querulously and wittily illuminate the annoyances and pleasures of everyday life.
He passed his
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 refer ...
exams in 1154 (24th year of
Shaoxing era) and served a number of minor official posts in the Song Dynasty.
See also
*''
Huang Tingjian
Huang Tingjian (; 1045–1105) was a Chinese calligrapher, painter, and poet of the Song dynasty. He is predominantly known as a calligrapher, and is also admired for his painting and poetry. He was one of the Four Masters of the Song Dynasty () ...
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Sources
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Yang Wanli
1127 births
1206 deaths
12th-century Chinese poets
13th-century Chinese poets
Poets from Jiangxi
Politicians from Ji'an
Song dynasty poets
Song dynasty politicians from Jiangxi
{{China-poet-stub