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Wang Changling

High Tang poet of frontier and parting quatrains, twice banished to the south, whose Beyond the Pass was ranked by Ming critics the finest Tang quatrain

Also known as Zishao Bo · Qijue Shengshou

Wang Changling, courtesy name Shaobo, is variously said to have come from Chang'an, Taiyuan or Jiangning. He passed the jinshi examination in 727 and after passing a further examination in erudite literary composition was made sheriff of Sishui. Banished once to the far south, he returned to serve as assistant magistrate of Jiangning and was later demoted again to sheriff of Longbiao, prompting Li Bai to send him a poem of consolation. During the An Lushan rebellion he left his post for home and was killed by Luqiu Xiao, prefect of Bozhou; when Zhang Gao later condemned Luqiu and he begged mercy for his parent's sake, Zhang asked who would now care for Wang Changling's parent. Wang excelled in the seven-character quatrain, from the frontier poems Beyond the Pass and Joining the Army to the farewell At Hibiscus Tower. Yin Fan's anthology Heyue yingling ji included sixteen of his poems, and the Ming critic Li Panlong named Beyond the Pass the finest of all Tang quatrains.

Life and times

  1. c. 698 CEBornTang
  2. c. 757 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Poetry10
    1. Going Beyond the Frontier (I)TangWang Changling's frontier quatrain spanning Qin and Han, Li Panlong's pick of Tang jueju
    2. Army Life: Part IVTangWang Changling's frontier quatrain from Qinghai to Jade Gate: soldiers sworn to win or stay
    3. Reply to the Prefect of WulingTangWang Changling thanks a prefect in the voice of a loyal retainer of the Lord of Xinling
    4. Seeing Off Granary Officer GuoTangWang Changling's farewell to a colleague, friendship measured by the spring tide of the Huai
    5. Song of the Spring PalaceTangWang Changling's palace lament, told through Emperor Wu of Han's new favourite from Pingyang
    6. +5 more
      1. A Young Wife's LamentTangWang Changling's quatrain of a carefree young wife made regretful by green spring willows
      2. Lament of the Changxin PalaceTangWang Changling's palace lament through Lady Ban, retired to Changxin Palace out of favour
      3. Seeing Off Xin Jian at Hibiscus TowerTangWang Changling's farewell at Hibiscus Tower, sending a friend north with word of his pure heart
      4. Song Beyond the FrontierTangWang Changling's old-style poem of autumn at Xiao Pass, warning the young off war's glamour
      5. Enjoying the Moon in the South Study with My Cousin, Remembering Sheriff Cui of ShanyinTangWang Changling watches the moon with his cousin and thinks of a friend far away in Shanyin
  2. Literature · Sayings2
    1. No Northern Horsemen Shall Cross the Yin MountainsTangFamous line from Wang Changling's Beyond the Frontier: resolve to hold the border
    2. The Moon of Qin Above the Frontier Passes of HanTangFamous line from Wang Changling's Beyond the Frontier: a moon and passes centuries old