POETREE

Xue Tao was a Tang Dynasty courtesan and poet. She was a prodigy and could write good poem as early as an age of eight. When her father died, Xue Tao picked up the trade of courtesan and befriended a lot of popular poets.
In later years, Xue was able to live independently. A contemporary wrote that she took on the garments of a Daoist adept, signaling a relatively autonomous status within Tang society.
Some 450 poems by Xue were gathered in The Brocade River Collection that survived until the 14th century. About 100 poems of her are known nowadays, which is more than of any other Tang dynasty woman. They range widely in tone and topic, giving evidence of a lively intelligence and more than passing acquaintance with the great tradition of earlier Chinese poetry.
( Autumn, Hearing the Headwaters on a Moonlit Night )

Li Shang Yin (813-858) 's advance in career was cut short because he was too honest and independent-minded to survive in the political struggle at the time. His poems were sensuous, dense and allusive, full of imaginative imagery. He was especially famous for his series of Untitled poems. Here's one of them:

昨夜星辰昨夜风；画楼西畔桂堂东。 身无彩凤双飞翼，心有灵犀一点通。 隔座送钩春酒暖，分曹射覆蜡灯红。 嗟余听鼓应官去，走马兰台类转蓬。

Last night's bright stars; last night's breeze; West of the painted tower, east of bay tree hall; No phoenix wings on my body, to fly away with you; But our thoughts link by the rhinestone's magic. Across tables we "passed the hook" with spring wines warm; Our teams played "guess what" under candle lamps bright. Pity I have to hear the dawn drum calling me to duty; And ride between lofty offices like a detached reed

Han Yu (768–824) was more known for being a profound prose writer than a poet. He had a difficult childhood as he was orphaned in an early age, frequent demotion at an adult age and when he finally seemingly found a stable life, he was exiled to the hostile Chao Zhou because he protested against the extravagant and self-destructive behaviour In worshipping the Buddha's bone. His poetry was known to be frank and open in content, playing with different stanza form and structure, which made him influential to later poets in the coming Sung Dynasty.

Here's one of his poem reflecting his style of using daily prose language in poems: 山石 Mountain Stone translated by Betty Tsang
( MOUNTAIN-STONES )

Hi! I'm snowynight and I'll be your host for this week. Since the last time I was a host I've been an more avid reader of poetry and start to try my hand in writing poetry. It's a lot of fun. For more about me, please see my first introduction post here at the comm or visit my personal journal

This week I'll talk about Tang Dynasty poets in China (618-907). Tang Dynasty was an important period for the history of Chinese poetry, because during this period the quantity, quality and variety of poetry had climbed to a new high, which was very influential to later time. I would like to introduce some popular and overlooked poets in Tang Dynasty China.

Li Bai 李白 (701-762) was a profound and popular poet in China. He was nicknamed " Banished Immortal" because his poems were famous for his imagination, his willingness to break the formal poetic rules and his seemingly easiness to bound all these into great poetry. However, his life was tragic. He was unable to use his talent to serve the country as he wished and later died in exile. The conflict of Taoist belief of transcending the worldly affair and the Confucius ideal of building a name by serving the country built up the tension in his life. There's a more comprehensive account of his life on wikipedia.

I would like to share one of his popular poems Drinking Alone Under the Moon here, which I think gives a glimpse of why he was nicknamed "Banished Immortal." It 's a five-word poem in old poetry style.
( In amongst flowers with a bottle of wine / I drink alone for there is no one close by. )

Question: How do you enjoy the poem? Does the description of the poet remind you of anything? Are there any aspects of Tang Dynasty poetry and poets you're interested in?

天净沙·秋思
马致远

枯藤老树昏鸦，
小桥流水人家，
古道西风瘦马，
夕阳西下，
断肠人在天涯

Translation by Shi Wen-lin:

Tune to “Sand and Sky”
——Autumn Thoughts
By Ma Zhiyuan

Dry vine, old tree, crows at dusk,
Low bridge, stream running, cottages,
Ancient road, west wind, lean nag,
The sun westering,
And one with breaking heart at the sky’s edge

In Tang Dynasty (618-907), a famous Chinese writer Han Yu wrote an article when saying goodbye to his friend, Mang Jao to express his sympathy of his friend's fate and his thought about literature. According to the article, one voices when agitated. When someone feels injustice in life, they sing with their words. Different famous people expressed themselves under different situation but their words were all relevant to their time. And Han Yu did live out his theory by writing frankly about his career, his life, his feelings and his friends. His theory has impact in the later Chinese literary criticism.

Question: Have you ever been inspired to write poetry by current events? What do you think about these poems?

( cut for the poetry )