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Zhang Xian

Northern Song lyric poet from Huzhou, nicknamed Zhang of the Three Shadows, who painted the Ten Songs scroll at eighty-two

Also known as Zi Ziye · Zhang of the Three Shadows

Zhang Xian, courtesy name Ziye, came from Wucheng in Huzhou and passed the jinshi examination in 1030. He served as magistrate of Wujiang and Anlu among other posts and retired as a director in the Ministry of Personnel, spending his old age between Hangzhou and Huzhou and exchanging verse with Su Shi and others. He wrote both short and long lyrics and was nicknamed Zhang of the Three Shadows for his fondness for the word 'shadow'. In 1072, at eighty-two, he painted the Ten Songs handscroll from poems by his late father Zhang Wei; it is now in the Palace Museum. He died in 1078 at eighty-nine.

Life and times

  1. 990 CEBornSong
  2. 1078 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Lyrics6
    1. A Thousand Autumns · A Few Calls of the ShrikeSongZhang Xian's mid-length ci of spring's end and a love that knots the heart like a net
    2. Deva-Like Barbarian · A Plaintive Zither Plays the Xiang River TuneSongZhang Xian's short ci of a zither player at a feast whose music carries her hidden grief
    3. Drunk with the Whip Hanging · Twin Butterflies on a Silk SkirtSongZhang Xian's short ci of first meeting a lightly made-up woman at a feast by the east pond
    4. A Cluster of Flowers · Grieving on the Heights for One Far AwaySongZhang Xian's mid-length ci of a waiting woman who envies the blossoms that wed the east wind
    5. Song of the Green Gate · Suddenly Warm, Then Chill AgainSongZhang Xian's short ci of a lonely, wine-sick spring night and a swing's shadow over the wall
    6. +1 more
      1. The Heavenly Immortal · Seeing Spring Off: Wine and the Water MelodySongZhang Xian's mid-length ci of spring's going, a mirror at dusk and flower shadows in the moon

Records

Zhang Xian, Jinshi with a Volume of Lyrics

From Tiansheng 8 (1030)

Zhang Xian, courtesy name Ziye, of Wucheng, became a jinshi in the eighth year of Tiansheng (1030), rose to Director in the Bureau of Capital Officials, and left the two-scroll Anlu Collection and a scroll of lyrics. The Wikisource author page lists pieces under tunes such as Pusa Man, Genglouzi and Tianxianzi.

References (1)