Writers › Writer / Poet

Qin Guan

Northern Song lyricist from Gaoyou, one of the four scholars of Su Shi's circle, who was exiled as far as Leizhou and died on the road home

Also known as Zi Shaoyou · Zi Taixu · Hao Huai Hai Ju Shi · Huai Hai

Qin Guan, courtesy names Shaoyou and Taixu, called himself the Recluse of Huaihai and came from Gaoyou near Yangzhou. He failed the examinations at first, then visited Su Shi at Xuzhou and wrote a rhapsody on his Yellow Tower; Su compared him to Qu Yuan and Song Yu and sent his poems to Wang Anshi, who found them fresh in the manner of Bao Zhao and Xie Tiao. He passed the jinshi examination in 1085 and, on Su Shi's recommendation, served in the Yuanyou years as editor in the imperial library and the historiography office. Blacklisted with Su's faction in 1094, he was charged with tampering with the Veritable Records and sent to Hangzhou, Chuzhou, Chenzhou, Hengzhou and finally Leizhou. Pardoned by Huizong, he reached Tengzhou in 1100, where, while reciting a song lyric he had composed in a dream, he asked for water and died smiling at the cup. The History of Song records Su Shi's lament that the world would never see such a man again.

Life and times

  1. 1049 CEBornSong
  2. 1100 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Lyrics12
    1. Immortal at the Magpie Bridge (Slender Clouds Weave Wonders)SongQin Guan's Qixi lyric that turns the star-lovers' brief meeting into a creed of lasting love
    2. Treading on Grass (Hostel in Chenzhou)SongQin Guan's ci from exile in Chenzhou: a lone inn, spring chill and a lost road to paradise
    3. Watching the Tide · Pale Sparse Plum BlossomSongQin Guan's long ci revisiting the scenes of old outings and feasts, ageing and longing for home
    4. Eight-Six Song · Leaning on a High PavilionSongQin Guan's mid-length ci of a sorrow that grows back like spring grass, remembering a lost love
    5. Fragrance Fills the Courtyard · Hills Brushed with Thin CloudSongQin Guan's long ci of a farewell feast at dusk and a parting from the woman he loves
    6. +7 more
      1. Fragrance Fills the Courtyard · Clouds Part at DawnSongQin Guan's long ci of a spring revisit, where a bright scene recalls a ten-year dream of love
      2. Magnolia Blossom, Shortened · An Old Sorrow at the World's EdgeSongQin Guan's short ci of a woman alone at the world's edge, her heart burning down like incense
      3. Silk-Washing Stream · A Light Chill Climbs the Small TowerSongQin Guan's short ci of a chilly spring morning in a small tower and a faint, idle sadness
      4. Master Ruan Returns · Wind and Rain under the Xiang SkySongQin Guan's short ci of a lonely year's end in the Xiang country, where not even geese come
      5. Ru Meng Ling · Spring Scene: Orioles Peck the BlossomsSongQin Guan's short ci of busy spring birds, a cold jade pipe and a player grown thin
      6. Remembering an Old Friend at Peach Spring · Winter Scene: A Locked Jade TowerSongQin Guan's short ci of a lonely winter night in a locked tower and a dream broken by the horn
      7. River Tale · For a Singing Girl: Sorrowful Brows, Tipsy EyesSongQin Guan's mid-length ci recalling a tender meeting with a singing girl, cut short by the wind
  2. Literature · Sayings6
    1. The Ferry Crossing Lost in Moonlit MistSongLine from Qin Guan's lyric at a Chenzhou inn: an exile who cannot find the ferry home
    2. Slender Clouds Weave Their Artful Patterns on QixiSongAphorism from Qin Guan's Que Qiao Xian: wisps of cloud weave patterns on the Qixi night
    3. Golden Wind and Jade Dew of the Double SeventhSongIdiom in Qin Guan's Magpie Bridge lyric: one autumn meeting outweighs countless others
    4. Towers Lost in the Mist at ChenzhouSongFamous line from Qin Guan's lyric at a Chenzhou inn: towers lost, ferries hidden
    5. Plum Blossoms Sent by Post RiderSongIdiom in Qin Guan's Chenzhou lyric: a sprig of spring sent to a friend far away
    6. +1 more
      1. A Silk Letter Carried in a FishSongIdiom in Qin Guan's Chenzhou lyric, from a Han ballad: a letter in the belly of a carp