⬅️ 唐诗 Tang Poems
Yuan Zhen (元稹,779-831 AD) was a poet and government official of middle Tang Dynasty. He was a descendant of North Wei's imperial family. At age 7, Yuan Zhen's father passed away. His mother Lady Zheng (郑氏) raised him and home-schooled him by herself. Yuan Zhen took the Jinshi imperial examination in 806 AD and passed. Test takers who also passed the examination in the same year included Bai Juyi (白居易, 772-846 AD), another great poet of Tang Dynasty. Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi became lifelong friends since then. Both of them were the leading figures of the New Yuefu movement (新乐府运动) which advocated poetry to be as the scrutiny of current affairs and the guidance of people's sympathy (补察时政，泄导人情).
Yuan Zhen was best known for two types of his poems, namely love poem and mourning poem. After he passed the Jinshi examination, Wei Xiaqing, (韦夏卿) the mayor of capital city of Chang'an, married his daughter to Yuan Zhen. But the marriage lasted only seven years. Yuan Zhen's wife Wei Cong (韦丛) died at age of 27. Yuan Zhen composed a series of poems that lamented for his wife. The most famous were Dispelling Sorrow I,II,III (遣悲怀三首) and Parting Sorrow I-V (离思五首). Some of the poems reflected the poet's thinking of his wife, some of them recollected the unselfish love that lady Wei gave to the poet, and some regretted the poverty and hardships that lady Wei had endured after she married to the young poet. These poems were touching and emotional. Even Yuan Zhen's critics admitted his unraveled literary talent and the influence of his writings on the poets of later generations.
Poetry was not Yuan Zhen's only literary legacy. His Biography of Ying Ying (莺莺传, also translated as The Story of Ying Ying) was the most well-known Chuanqi (传奇, short stories in classical language) of Tang dynasty. It tells a story of an affair between a 16 years girl named Ying Ying and a student named Zhang who at the time of their meeting was preparing for the imperial examination. The relationship between them on and off. But after Zhang passed the examination, he eventually abandoned Ying Ying. As time flied both Zhang and Ying Ying got married. When Zhang was on a duty trip to somewhere near Ying Ying's home, he requested to meet with Ying Ying. But Ying Ying refused to see him, and sent him a poem saying that one should treasure what he or she had at present. This story inspired many literary works, including the Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记), one of the most well-known dramatic works in China. It is still actively played on the stage.
