Yuan Jie

Among his most famous poems is the "Zei Tui Shi Guanli", which describes the state of the countryside following the An Lushan Rebellion, 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 are devoted to his poetry.

• Piccap — Ode to the Restoration of the Great Tang dynasty. Yuan Jie's representative work, inscribed on a cliff at Wuxi Stele Forest of Qiyang. • T — 元結 • S — 元结 • L — (given name) • P — Yuán Jiē • W — Yüan 2 Chieh 1 • C2 — 次山 • L2 — (courtesy name) • P2 — Cìshān • W2 — Tz'u 4 shan 1 • C3 — 漫郎 • L3 — (art name) • P3 — Mànláng • W3 — Man 4 lang 2 • C4 — 聱叟 • L4 — (art name) • P4 — Áosǒu • W4 — Ao 2 sou 3 • C5 — 琦玕子 • L5 — (art name) • P5 — Qígānzǐ • W5 — Ch'ih 2 kan 1 tzu 3

Yuan Jie was born in either 719 or 723, in Wuchang (modern-day Wuhan, Hubei Province), Lu (modern Lushan County, Henan) or Henan (modern Luoyang, Henan Province). He attained a jinshi degree in the imperial examination in 754, and was involved in the putting down of the An Lushan Rebellion. In 763 he was appointed governor of Dao Prefecture, and in 768 he moved to Rong Prefecture, 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.

His courtesy name was Cishan, and his art names included Manlang, Aosou, and Qiganzi.

There is a ten-volume, Ming-era anthology of his poetry called the Yuan Cishan Ji. His wuyan gushi poem "Zei Tui Shi Guanli", which he wrote while stationed in Dao Prefecture and which describes the state of society immediately following An Lushan's rebellion, was highly praised by Du Fu, and is seen as a forerunner of the works of Bai Juyi. 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.

He is often listed alongside Xiao Yingshi and Li Hua as a forerunner of the gu wen movement.

* * * * * • (Amazon Kindle edition.) *