Chen Zi'ang (, 661 (or 656)–702),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Boyu (), was a Chinese poet of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. He was important in helping to bring into being the type of poetry which is considered to be characteristically "Tang". Dissatisfied with the current state of poetry at the time, he helped, almost paradoxically, to usher in a new age of Chinese poetry by keeping his eye on remote antiquity. He would soon be followed by such poets of the golden age of Tang poetry as Wang Wei,

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...

, and

Du Fu Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. Together with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, Du is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets of his time. His greatest ambition was to serve ...

Biography

A native of Shehong County in modern

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

province, Chen Zi'ang was the son of a rich man, and did not travel to the imperial capital to take his exams until he was in his twenties. He completed the Jinshi level of the

Imperial Examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

at age twenty-four. Having arrived in the city of Chang'an, Chen succeeded in calling attention to his poetry by expensive and elaborate means. With a flourish that startled onlookers in the city marketplace, he began by paying the asking price of a million kaiyuan tongbao for a Tartar musical instrument. Then, responding to intense curiosity among the crowd, he claimed to be an expert at playing that instrument and invited everyone to see him perform the next day. The next day he arranged a lavish feast in preparation. Rather than performing any music, however, he got up and, introducing himself as a poet and essayist, proceeded to smash to bits the musical instrument for which he had paid so much. He then handed out copies of his works, including his Thirty-Eight Lyrics. As an important advisor to the

Empress Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and later in her own right. She ruled as empress consort through her husband Emperor Gaozong and later as empr ...

, Chen was a firm advocate of poetry reflecting real life, and with his active interest in

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, much of his work includes suggestions of social commentary. Some have suggested that it was because of his work that he suffered persecution at the hands of

Wu Sansi Wu Sansi (died August 7, 707), known posthumously as Prince Xuan of Liang (), was a Chinese prince and politician of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties. Wu Sansi served as a chancellor and imperial prince during the reign of his aunt, Empress Wu Zetia ...

; he died in 702, having been in and out of prison for a number of years.

Poetry and Works

A letter from Chen to a friend shows his attitude as a formative poet of the Early Period of

Tang poetry Tang poetry () refers to poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China's Tang dynasty, (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907, including the 690–705 reign of Wu Zetian) and/or follows a certain style, often considered a ...

The art of letters has been declining for five hundred years ... In my leisure hours, I have looked into the poems of the Ch'i and Liang Dynasties, and I could not help sighing when I found all genuine feeling and insight were smothered by meaningless figures of speech and a squeamish refinement of words. So much rhetoric and so little sentiment! When will the grand tradition of Shih Ching revive?

Chen Zi'ang is especially well known for "Ganyu" (, his collection of thirty-eight poems, heavily influenced by

Daoism Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

and written in a simpler vocabulary than was typical of poetry of that time. He has one poem in the Three Hundred Tang Poems,Tangshi III. 1. (46) translated by Witter Bynner as "On a Gate-tower at Yuzhou."

Notes

References

* Wu, John C. H. (1972). ''The Four Seasons of Tang Poetry''. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle. * Zhu Xiaoyin, ''The Reason for Chen Zi'ang's Death'' (关于陈子昂的死因) 1983. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen Ziang Three Hundred Tang Poems poets Tang dynasty government officials 660s births 702 deaths Politicians from Suining Poets from Sichuan 7th-century Chinese poets 8th-century Chinese poets Writers from Suining