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Wei Zhuang

Late Tang poet whose long narrative Lament of the Lady of Qin recorded the sack of Chang'an, and who became a chief minister of the Former Shu state

Also known as Zi Duanji · Huanhua Daoren · Qin Fu Yin Xiu Cai

Wei Zhuang, courtesy name Duanji, came from Duling near Chang'an. He was in the capital for the examinations when Huang Chao's army took it in 880, and in 883 at Luoyang he wrote the long narrative poem Lament of the Lady of Qin (Qinfu yin), in which a woman describes the city's ruin; contemporaries nicknamed him the Lament of the Lady of Qin graduate. He passed the jinshi examination in 894 and in 901 went to Sichuan as secretary to the military governor Wang Jian. When the Tang fell in 907, he urged Wang Jian to take the imperial title, and many of the new Former Shu state's institutions were his design; he rose to chief minister. He died at Chengdu in 910 and was named Wenjing. His brother Wei Ai compiled his poems as the Washing Flowers Collection (Huanhua ji), and the anthology Among the Flowers (Huajian ji) has forty-eight of his ci; the Lament itself was lost for centuries until Dunhuang manuscripts surfaced in the early twentieth century.

Life and times

  1. c. 836 CEBornTangFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
  2. 910 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Lyrics43
    1. Deva-Like Barbarian: Everyone Speaks of the Splendor of JiangnanTangWei Zhuang's lyric of exile in the south: its beauty only sharpens the pain of a ruined home
    2. Deva-Like Barbarian: Now I Recall the Joys of JiangnanTangWei Zhuang's late lyric from Shu, recalling a dashing youth in the pleasure quarters
    3. Deva-Like Barbarian: Melancholy Farewell Night at Red ChamberTangWei Zhuang's lyric of a farewell night and a lover's plea, sung to the pipa, to come back soon
    4. Lotus Leaf Cup: Remembering That Year Beneath the FlowersTangWei Zhuang's plain-spoken love lyric of a first meeting under flowers and a parting forever
    5. The Daoist Priestess: The Seventeenth of the Fourth MonthTangWei Zhuang's lyric marking a year since a parting, recalled down to a lover's lowered eyes
    6. +25 more
      1. The Heavenly Immortal · Gazing Sadly Back at the Tryst of an Earlier DreamFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a dream beauty whose charms only a lover like Song Yu could know
      2. The Heavenly Immortal · Coming Home Late at Night, Dead DrunkFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's comic short ci of a drunkard helped to bed, who wakes laughing that life is short
      3. The Heavenly Immortal · Moonlight and Frost, One in the NightFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of an autumn night alone, a cold quilt and falling leaves, until a dream
      4. The Heavenly Immortal · Waking from a Dream, the Cloud Screen Still EmptyFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a woman who wakes alone to cuckoo calls, tears streaking her rouge
      5. The Heavenly Immortal · Robes like Gold, Bodies like JadeFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of immortal maidens at the cave mouth, waiting for Liu and Ruan in vain
      6. Longing for the Capital · Her Cloud Chignon SlipsFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of lovers at moonset who have pledged everything, heart to heart
      7. Longing for the Capital · A Spring Day's OutingFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a girl on a spring outing who resolves to give her life to a stranger
      8. Telling My Heart · Candle Burnt Down, Incense Spent, Curtain Half DrawnFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a woman woken at night by far-off singing, her dance dress dusty
      9. Telling My Heart · Green Pool, Red Blossoms, Still Misty RainFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a woman boating on a misty lotus pool, her love far beyond reach
      10. River Town · Deep Love, Much Tenderness, Feelings Easily HurtFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's sensuous short ci of a night of love, told through scent and gesture
      11. River Town · Hair Awry, Long Dark BrowsFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short lyric of a woman parting from her lover at dawn, unable to make him stay
      12. Silk-Washing Stream · Made Up at Clear Dawn on Cold Food DayFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a woman dressed for Cold Food Day, grieving for spring among peonies
      13. Silk-Washing Stream · About to Mount the Swing, Her Limbs Are LanguidFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a languid girl on a spring night, pear blossom white beyond the wall
      14. Silk-Washing Stream · Wistful After the Dream, the Mountain Moon SlantsFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang wakes from a dream of his beloved and likens her to plum blossom in spring snow
      15. Silk-Washing Stream · Green Trees Hide the Orioles, the Orioles Are SingingFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a young reveller riding home drunk on a spring evening
      16. Silk-Washing Stream · Night After Night of Longing, the Water Clock Runs DownFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of nightly longing: a hall a step away yet deep as the sea
      17. Cup for the Road · Fragrant Grass on the Spring Banks at BalingFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a spring farewell at Baling, pressing a brimming cup on the traveller
      18. Cup for the Road · White Horse, Jade Whip, Golden BridleFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a tearful toast to a young rider leaving for a far country
      19. Returning Home from Afar · Spring Is Nearly OverFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of late spring, a caged parrot alone and a heart that longs to fly home
      20. Returning Home from Afar · Golden KingfisherFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci asking a golden kingfisher to carry his love south; old joys are a dream
      21. Returning Home from Afar · Spring Is Almost GoneFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of late spring, a woman waking alone after love and sighing by the censer
      22. Paying Homage at the Golden Gate · The Spring Water Clock HurriesFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a spring night of broken dreams and a beauty who sleeps alone
      23. Paying Homage at the Golden Gate · Longing in VainFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of longing with no way to send word, and old letters too painful to read
      24. Peace and Happiness · Spring Sorrow on the Southern LanesFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a homesick traveller who halts his horse in spring rain to gaze west
      25. Peace and Happiness · Wild Flowers, Fragrant GrassFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's short ci of a woman ageing alone in spring, regretting the love knot she tied
    7. Open all works→
  2. Literature · Sayings9
    1. The Seventeenth of the Fourth Month: Wei Zhuang's Day of PartingTangFamous line from Wei Zhuang's Nüguanzi: a year to the day since the lovers parted
    2. Parting Night at the Red Chamber in Wei Zhuang's SongTangAphorism from Wei Zhuang's Pusa Man: a tearful night of parting in the red chamber
    3. Spring Waters Bluer Than the SkyTangLine from Wei Zhuang's lyric: Jiangnan's spring waters bluer than the sky
    4. Thin Spring Robes of YouthTangLine from Wei Zhuang's lyric: recalling youth in Jiangnan, light spring clothes
    5. Recalling the Joys of Jiangnan in Youth: Wei Zhuang's MemoryTangLine from Wei Zhuang's Pu Sa Man: looking back on youthful joys in Jiangnan
    6. +4 more
      1. Sleeping to Rain in a Painted Boat: Wei Zhuang's JiangnanTangLine from Wei Zhuang's Pu Sa Man: dozing to rain in a painted boat in the south
      2. Wrists White as Frost by the Wine CounterTangLine from Wei Zhuang's Pu Sa Man: the wine girl's wrists white as frost and snow
      3. Red Sleeves Beckoning from Every BalconyTangLine from Wei Zhuang's Pu Sa Man: a dashing youth hailed by red sleeves
      4. No One Knows But the Moon: Wei Zhuang's Seventeenth of the Fourth MonthTangLine from Wei Zhuang's Nü Guan Zi: only the moon knows my longing
  3. Literature · Poetry2
    1. A Painting of JinlingFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang on a painted screen of old Jinling, answering those who say grief cannot be drawn
    2. Night Thoughts at ZhangtaiFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsWei Zhuang's autumn night of zither and horns: no friend comes and no letter can go home