Writers › Writer / Poet
Zhang Ji
Mid-Tang poet whose single quatrain 'Night Mooring at Maple Bridge' made Hanshan Temple in Suzhou famous for ever.
Mural of Night Mooring at Maple Bridge, a work by this person.
At Maple Bridge, crows call beneath a setting moon as fishing lights glimmer by the river. The distant temple bell crosses the night to a boat at anchor.
Also known as Zi Yisun
- Roles
- Writer / Poet
Zhang Ji, courtesy name Yisun, came from Xiangzhou and passed the jinshi examination in 753. After the An Lushan Rebellion he lived in the Jiangnan region and later served as an acting vice-director in the Ministry of Rites overseeing revenue in Hongzhou, dying around 779. One fascicle of his poems survives in the Complete Tang Poems, and his 'Night Mooring at Maple Bridge' has made Hanshan Temple famous for over a millennium.
Life and times
- UnknownBorn
Tangjinshi 753 CE, died c. 779 CE - UnknownDied
Works
Literature · Sayings3- The Midnight Bell of Hanshan TempleTangAphorism from Mooring at Maple Bridge: a temple bell reaching a sleepless traveler's boat
- Moon Setting and Crows Cawing by Maple BridgeTangIdiom from Zhang Ji's Night Mooring at Maple Bridge: a lonely autumn night near dawn
- Riverside Maples and Fishermen's LanternsTangFamous line from Zhang Ji's Night Mooring at Maple Bridge: lights beside a sleepless traveler
- Literature · Poetry1
- Night Mooring at Maple BridgeTangZhang Ji's quatrain moored by Suzhou's Maple Bridge, kept awake by the Hanshan Temple bell