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He Ning

Five Dynasties scholar-official who served five regimes, became chief minister of the Later Jin in 940, and was nicknamed the Song-Lyric Minister

Also known as Zi Chengji

He Ning, courtesy name Chengji, came from Xuchang in Yunzhou and passed the jinshi examination in 916 at nineteen. He joined the staff of Tianping governor He Gui, and when He Gui's army was routed he covered his retreat with a bow, after which He Gui gave him a daughter in marriage. Under the Later Tang he served as censor, secretariat drafter and Hanlin academician and supervised the examinations, and in 940 the Later Jin made him chief minister; the Later Han named him grand tutor to the heir and Duke of Lu, and he died of a back abscess in 955 under the Later Zhou. According to the Northern Dreams notebook (Beimeng suoyan), his youthful song lyrics reached even the Khitan, who called him the Song-Lyric Minister, and in high office he had copies gathered up and burned. He wrote a hundred Palace Poems and, with his son He Meng, compiled the Collection of Doubtful Cases (Yiyu ji), a casebook of difficult trials.

Life and times

  1. 898 CEBornTangFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
  2. 955 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Lyrics15
    1. Willow Branches · Soft Green Swaying in MistFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's lyric of the willow as a romantic young lord awaiting the river goddess
    2. Willow Branches · A Blue-Green Gauze Skirt, a Gold-Threaded WaistFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's playful lyric of a tipsy woman in green gauze teasing her lover
    3. Willow Branches · The Magpie Bridge Newly BuiltFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's wedding-night lyric on the Herd Boy and Weaver Girl, naming tonight's groom as a He
    4. The Heavenly Immortal · A Willow-Green Robe with Gold-Thread PhoenixesFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of a girl toying with red love-beans, with no one to share her longing
    5. The Heavenly Immortal · At the Cave Mouth, Spring Reds Fall RustlingFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci on the Liu-Ruan legend: an immortal pining for a lover who never returns
    6. +10 more
      1. He Manzi · Letters Written without EndFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of hopeless longing that ends in envy of a duck censer behind the screens
      2. He Manzi · Just SixteenFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's playful lyric of a girl of sixteen, envying the skirt that holds her waist
      3. Spring Light Is Fair · Warm at the Gauze WindowFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of a girl idle in spring, cutting silk ornaments and moulding cream, in love
      4. Spring Light Is Fair · Duckweed Leaves SoftFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of a painted boat on calm spring water, rowing songs and girls at South Bank
      5. Mountain Flowers · The Silver-Marked Sheng Is Cold, Its Tune Drawn LongFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of a playful young woman who tests incense, sips wine and teases her love
      6. Mountain Flowers · Oriole Brocade, Cicada Gauze, Musk ScentFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of a richly dressed young woman, smiling, full of spring longing
      7. Immortal by the River · Crab-Apple Fragrance Fades on the Spring River at DuskFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of an adorned woman by a spring river at dusk
      8. Immortal by the River · Her Robe of Red Palace Brocade Sweeps the GroundFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of a richly dressed, shy young woman and two hearts in the lamplight
      9. Little Layered Hills · Spring Enters the Divine CapitalFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of spring in the capital, orioles in palace woods and pipes on every avenue
      10. Little Layered Hills · Xi Shen's Branch in the Capital's Full BloomFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsHe Ning's short ci of new graduates of the examinations riding through the capital in spring