Writers › Writer / Poet
Huangfu Ran
Mid-Tang poet, courtesy name Maozheng, who took the jinshi in 756 and rose to Right Reminder; his refined verse includes Wu Shan Xia, praised as one of the best poems on the Wu Gorge.
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 Courtesy name Maozheng
Huangfu Ran, courtesy name Maozheng, was from Danyang in Runzhou (modern Danyang, Jiangsu), with ancestral roots at Chaona in Anding. He took the jinshi in 756, served as magistrate's aide at Wuxi and as military registrar of the Left Golden Guard, joined Wang Jin's staff as secretary in the early Dali years, and rose to Left Remonstrator and Right Reminder. He died at home in Danyang around 770. Gao Zhongwu praised his skill with words and fresh tone, and Liu Yuxi ranked his Wu Shan Xia among the notable poems on the Wu Gorge.
Life and times
Dates c. 716–c. 770 CE (dates disputed)