Writers › Writer / Poet
Zhang Zi
Southern Song poet and lyricist, courtesy name Gongfu and style Yuezhai, from a military family, a friend of Lu You and Yang Wanli, and author of the Nanhu Ji.
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 Gongfu · Alternative courtesy name Shike · Style name Yuezhai
Zhang Zi, also written Zhang Zi with a variant character, courtesy name Gongfu and Shike, style Yuezhai, had ancestral roots at Chengji and was born in 1153, a year inferred from notes in his own Nanhu Ji. He held the rank of Gentleman for Discussion and a post in the Secret Pavilion, wrote poetry, painted, and kept company with Lu You and Yang Wanli. In 1211 he was convicted, stripped of office and assigned to Xiangzhou, where he died soon afterward. His Nanhu Ji runs to ten chapters, and his lyrics appear in the Three Hundred Song Lyrics.
Life and times
Dates Born 1153 CE; died after being exiled to Xiangzhou in 1211 CE