Chen Sanli (23 October 1853 – 14 September 1937) aka Boyan, Sanyuan Laoren, was a Chinese poet who wrote in the classical style in the early modern era. He was born in Xiushui,

Jiujiang Jiujiang (), formerly transliterated Kiukiang or Kew Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level city ...

owallis, p. 169 His father was

Chen Baozhen Chen Baozhen (; 1831–1900) was a Chinese statesman and reformer during the Qing dynasty. Chen was born in Tingzhou (Now Shanghang County). His family originated from Xiushui County in Jiujiang. He obtained the second highest degree in the impe ...

, Qing dynasty governor of

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...

. Along with

Zheng Xiaoxu Zheng Xiaoxu (Cheng Hsiao-hsu; ; Hepburn: ''Tei Kōsho'') (2 April 1860 – 28 March 1938) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat and calligrapher. He served as the first Prime Minister of Manchukuo. Early life and diplomatic career Although Zhe ...

and Shen Zengzhi, he became one of the leading figures of the Tongguang school, which was related to but not identical with the

Song poetry Song poetry refers to Classical Chinese poetry of or typical of the Song dynasty of China (960–1279). The dynasty was established by the Zhao family in China in 960 and lasted until 1279. Many of the best known Classical Chinese poems, popul ...

style owallis, pp. 168–208 From 1889 Chen Sanli served as a civil servant, and with his father

(1831-1900), the governor-general of Hunan and an associate of Tan Sitong and Kang Youwei, he led local reform in

, which became a model in the minds of reformists for the entire country. After the Empress Dowager suppressed the Hundred Days Reform of 1898, the Chens were forced to leave the government and go into internal exile near

. His father died shortly thereafter, which greatly saddened the son. He then moved to a villa he built outside Jinling (Nanjing) called Sanyuan Jingshe (The Sanyuan Retreat), from which Chen Sanli derived his pen-name. After the 1911

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a ...

, Chen Sanli declined to serve in government under the Republic, but he was not a Qing yilao oyalistin the classic sense. After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, he is said to have committed suicide by starvation in protest at the Japanese invasion. Chen Yan, the main theorist of the poetics of the Tongguang school, characterized Chen Sanli's poetry as "obscure and profound" (). Chen Sanli was said to have learned from the

Northern Song Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

poet

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 () ...

, but he did not imitate, he developed this style owallis, p. 194 Many of Chen's poems reflect the chaos and suffering of the Chinese people during the early 20th century. Chen Shizeng, One of Chen Sanli's sons became a famous painter. Another, the historian

Chen Yinke Chen Yinke, or Chen Yinque (3 July 18907 October 1969), was a Chinese historian, linguist, orientalist, politician, and writer. He was a fellow of Academia Sinica, considered one of the most original and creative historians in 20th century Chin ...

, was an eminent authority on Buddhism and the institutional history of Tang-era China o and Schultz, p. 351

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