⬅️ 唐诗 Tang Poems
Liu Yuxi (刘禹锡 772-842 AD) was a poet and essayist of Tang Dynasty. His father moved from north of China to the south to avoid An-Shi rebellion. Liu Yuxi was born and raised in Jiaxing, modern day Zhejiang province. In 793 AD, he passed the Jinshi (进士) imperial examination. Another successful test taker that year was Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元) whom we previously introduced. Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan became life long friends and colleagues thereafter.
In 805 AD, after the Emperor Shunzong (顺宗) succeeded, a group of officials,led by Wang Shunwen (王叔文), initiated a reform to improve the governance. Both Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan were among the reformists. However Emperor Shunzong was forced to abdicate several months later. The reform only lasted 180 days and all of the reformists were banished to remote part of the empire. Liu Yuxi was first sent to Lianzhou, Guangdong (连州，广东) then in a further demotion to Langzhou, Hunan (朗州，湖南). After spent 10 years in exile, in 815 AD, the banished officials including Liu Yuxi and Liu Zongyuan were recalled by imperial court. Upon his arrival of the capital, Liu Yuxi composed a poem titled "Composed for Fun for The Blossoms Viewing Gentlemen (戏赠看花诸君子)." In the poem he said:"Thousands of Peach Trees in Xuandu Temple, All of them were planted after I left (玄都观里桃千树，尽是刘郎去后栽)." The poem was deemed as a satire on the upstarts in imperial court. The officials who were just recalled were banished once again immediately. Fourteen years later in 826 AD when Liu Yuxi was recalled back to Chang'an, he composed another poem titled "Visit Xuandu Temple Again" in which he said:"Where did those Taoist priests who planted the peach trees go? Here comes back again that once departed Mr.Liu (种花道士归何处？前度刘郎今又回)." Unfortunately by that time his close friend Liu Zongyuan already died during the second exile. 700 of Liu Yuxi's works still exist today. Four of his poems were selected in the anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems. His most famous work is this prose-poem "Inscriptions on The Shabby Dwelling (陋室铭)". It's included in the text book of Language Art for middle schools across China. Students are required to be able to recite it.
