Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan (c. 340 BC – 278 BC) was a Chinese poet and political figure of the State of Chu during the Warring States period.

The surviving evidence for his life is limited. The earliest known reference to Qu Yuan is Jia Yi's "Diao Qu Yuan Fu" ("Lament for Qu Yuan"), written in 174 BC. The first systematic biography appears in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, although it contains contradictory details.

Qu Yuan is the central figure associated with the Chu Ci anthology. "The Lament" is generally accepted as his work, while the attribution of many other poems has been disputed. Later tradition associates his death by drowning in the Miluo River with customs of the Dragon Boat Festival.