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Meng Qi

Late Tang writer whose Benshi Shi recorded the stories behind poems, preserving idioms such as 'a broken mirror made whole'.

Also known as Zi Chuzhong · Meng Qi (variant graph)

Meng Qi, courtesy name Chuzhong (his name is also written with a variant character), was a late Tang scholar who passed the jinshi examination in the Qianfu era and rose to Director of Merit Assessments. In 886 he completed the Benshi Shi ('Original Incidents of Poems'), which arranges the stories behind Tang poems into seven categories. Idioms such as 'a broken mirror made whole' and 'the Minister of Works is used to it' survive through this book.

Life and times

  1. UnknownBornTangactive c. 836–886 CE (late Tang)
  2. UnknownDied

Works

  1. Literature · Criticism7
    1. The Original Incidents of PoemsTangMeng Qi's late Tang stories behind famous poems in seven sections, forerunner of shihua
    2. The Original Incidents of Poems: Responses to EventsTang
    3. The Original Incidents of Poems: The Lofty and UnrestrainedTang
    4. The Original Incidents of Poems: ResentmentTang
    5. The Original Incidents of Poems: Portents of the StrangeTang
    6. +2 more
      1. The Original Incidents of Poems: Portents of MisfortuneTang
      2. The Original Incidents of Poems: Jests and MockeryTang
  2. Literature · Sayings2
    1. The Broken Mirror Made WholeTangIdiom from the Benshi Shi tale of Princess Lechang: a separated couple reunited
    2. Common Sight to the MinisterTangIdiom from the Benshi Shi: so common no one takes notice
  3. Literature · Prose1
    1. The Original Incidents of Poems: EmotionsTang