Writers › Writer / Poet

Zhou Bangyan

Northern Song lyricist and music official who won notice with a rhapsody on the capital and later headed the Dasheng music bureau, setting ci to tunes of his own

Also known as Zi Meicheng · Hao Qing Zhen Ju Shi · Qing Zhen

Zhou Bangyan, courtesy name Meicheng, styled Qingzhen Jushi, came from Qiantang (Hangzhou). The History of Song (Songshi) describes him as a careless youth who nonetheless read widely. Early in the Yuanfeng reign he presented a rhapsody of more than ten thousand characters on the capital Bian; Emperor Shenzong had it read aloud in the Erying Hall and raised him at one stroke from student to instructor at the Imperial University. He later taught in Luzhou, governed Lishui county and rose to vice-director of the Court of the Imperial Clan. Under Emperor Huizong he became director of the Palace Library and head of the Dasheng bureau that set court music, then governed Shunchang and Chuzhou, and died in 1121 at sixty-six. Skilled in music, he composed melodies for his own lyrics, collected as Qingzhen ji, also called Pianyu ji. Wang Guowei called him the Du Fu of the ci lyric.

Life and times

  1. 1056 CEBornSong
  2. 1121 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Lyrics23
    1. Su Mu Zhe (Burning Aloeswood Incense)SongZhou Bangyan's ci on lotus lifting after rain, which turns to thoughts of his southern home
    2. Song of the Auspicious Dragon · Back on Zhangtai RoadSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of an old haunt revisited: the spring is back but the girl is gone
    3. The Romantic · A Small Pond in New GreenSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a lover outside her walls, begging heaven for a single meeting
    4. Prince of Lanling · The Willow Shade Runs StraightSongZhou Bangyan's long ci in which the Sui dyke willows stand for parting after parting
    5. Cold at the Lattice Window · Crows Cry in the Dark WillowsSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a rainy Cold Food night far from home, picturing the garden he left
    6. +18 more
      1. Magpies Flying by Night · Seeing Someone Off at the River BridgeSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a night farewell at a river bridge and a return to the overgrown spot
      2. Passing the Qin Tower · The Clear Moon Bathes in the WaterSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a summer night at the rail, missing a girl a thousand li away
      3. Flower Crossing · Plum Blossom by the Low White WallSongZhou Bangyan's long ci on plum blossom: last year's viewing, this year's haste, a journey ahead
      4. The Great Feast · As Last Night's Mist LiftsSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of spring rain at a lonely post station, keeping a traveller from sleep
      5. Butterflies Love Flowers · Crows Startled by the Bright MoonSongZhou Bangyan's mid-length ci of a parting before dawn, from waking in tears to cockcrow
      6. Undoing the Linked Rings · A Grievance with Nowhere to RestSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a love cut off and a vain resolve to burn her letters and forget
      7. Praying to the Moon and Stars, Slow · Night Hurries the WatchesSongZhou Bangyan's long ci recalling a meeting with a beauty, then a lonely night in a bleak inn
      8. Passes and Rivers · Autumn Gloom Turning to DuskSongZhou Bangyan's short ci of an autumn night alone, sober again beside a single lamp
      9. Lament at the Silk Window · Helped onto My Horse, Still DrunkSongZhou Bangyan's long ci on passing an old ferry pavilion and his faded verses on its wall
      10. Yuchi's Cup · The Road along the Sui DykeSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a night boat by the Sui dyke, recalling old joys in the capital
      11. Auspicious Crane Immortal · Quiet Fields Around the Town WallSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a farewell outside the town, a drunken return and fading spring
      12. Waves Washing the Sand, Slow · A Day of Heavy OvercastSongZhou Bangyan's three-part long ci of a farewell at the east gate and the silence that follows
      13. Everlasting as Heaven · The Spring Wind Spreads WarmthSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a lonely Cold Food night and a search for the place of an old meeting
      14. Night Roaming in the Palace · Falling Leaves and Sunset on the WaterSongZhou Bangyan's short ci of an autumn dusk on a bridge and a sleepless night spent on one letter
      15. Six Uglies · Trying the New Wine in Unlined RobesSongZhou Bangyan's long ci on fallen roses, mourned like a lost beauty by a weary traveller
      16. Fragrance Fills the Courtyard · Wind Matures the Young OriolesSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a summer at Lishui, a drifter's weariness and wine to ease it
      17. Flower That Understands Words · Wind Wears Down the Candle FlamesSongZhou Bangyan's long ci of a Lantern Festival night, recalling the capital's festivals of old
      18. West River · The Land of BeautySongZhou Bangyan's long ci on Jinling, where river, walls and swallows recall fallen dynasties
  2. Literature · Sayings3
    1. Lotus Leaves Clear and Round Upon the WaterSongLine from Zhou Bangyan's Su Mu Zhe: rain-washed lotus leaves lifting in the breeze
    2. Burning Aloeswood to Dispel the Summer HeatSongLine from Zhou Bangyan's Su Mu Zhe: incense burned against the summer heat
    3. Each Lotus Leaf Lifted by the Wind: Zhou Bangyan's Summer PondSongLine from Zhou Bangyan's Su Mu Zhe: lotus leaves rise one by one in the breeze