Writers › Writer / Poet
Xue Zhaoyun
Lyricist of the Former Shu in the Five Dynasties who rose to vice minister; his lyrics, such as Xiao Chongshan and Huan Xi Sha, appear in the Huajian Collection and are known for their delicacy.
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Vice Minister Xue · Xue Shaoyun (variant spelling)
Xue Zhaoyun, also written Xue Shaoyun, was a lyricist of the Former Shu in the Five Dynasties; his dates and birthplace are not recorded. The Huajian Collection lists him as Vice Minister Xue, which shows he rose to that rank in the western Shu state. Nearly twenty of his lyrics survive, mostly to the tunes Huan Xi Sha, Xiao Chongshan and Xi Qian Ying, in a delicate manner close to Wen Tingyun and Wei Zhuang. He is a different man from the late Tang figure Xue Zhaowei.
Life and times
- UnknownBorn
Tang
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdomsactive under the Former Shu (907–925 CE) - UnknownDied
Works
Literature · Lyrics15- Silk-Washing Stream · Autumn Rain at the Red Smartweed FerryFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a silent woman at a rainy autumn ferry, gull tracks in the sand
- Silk-Washing Stream · A Mirror on Its Brocade RibbonFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a woman letting down her hair and counting the days to his return
- Silk-Washing Stream · Faint Tear Traces on Her PowderFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of tear traces at dusk and a memory of last year's Cold Food Day
- Silk-Washing Stream · Clasping Hands on the River BridgeFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a parting on a river bridge, measuring love by spring waters and wine
- Silk-Washing Stream · Three Bays Above the Temple WallFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a glimpse by a temple wall that only later turns into longing
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- Silk-Washing Stream · Mooring at a Riverside Inn in Clear AutumnFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a night farewell feast at a riverside inn in clear autumn
- Silk-Washing Stream · A Beauty to Topple StatesFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci on a beauty who toppled a state, set among the ruins of Wu and Yue
- Silk-Washing Stream · A Girl of Yue Panning for GoldFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a girl of Yue panning for gold, her grief turned to the setting sun
- The Oriole's Joyful Move · The Waning Moon SetsFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a dawn in the Apricot Garden, light as one who has grown wings
- The Oriole's Joyful Move · Dawn at the Golden GateFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of new men in white robes riding to a feast in the Apricot Garden
- The Oriole's Joyful Move · The Qingming FestivalFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of triumphant young riders out among the flowers on a clear Qingming day
- Little Layered Hills · Spring Comes to Changmen PalaceFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a neglected lady in Changmen Palace, sleepless on a spring night
- Little Layered Hills · Autumn Comes to Changmen PalaceFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a palace lady in autumn recalling her days of favour at Zhaoyang
- The Daoist Priestess · Off to Seek ImmortalityFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a woman who gives up her jewels to seek immortality in the mountains
- The Daoist Priestess · Cloud Gauze and Mist CrepeFive Dynasties and Ten KingdomsXue Zhaoyun's short ci of a newly ordained Daoist priestess who gets a letter from her lover