Writers › Writer / Poet
Xie Yi
Northern Song poet and lyricist of the Jiangxi school, courtesy name Wuyi, from Linchuan, who failed the examinations, lived in retirement all his life, and won the nickname Xie the Butterfly for his butterfly poems; author of the Xitang 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 Wuyi · Style name Xitang · Xie the Butterfly
- Roles
- Writer / Poet
Xie Yi (1068–c. 1112), courtesy name Wuyi and style Xitang, was from Linchuan (modern Fuzhou, Jiangxi). Poor and fatherless early, he failed the civil-service examination repeatedly and chose a life of retirement, entertaining himself with verse and prose. With his cousin Xie Kuo he is called one of the Two Xies and is counted in the Jiangxi school; for his many poems on butterflies he was nicknamed Xie the Butterfly, and Huang Tingjian praised his talent. His Xitang Ji and Xitang Ci survive, with over sixty lyrics that combine the richness of the Huajian poets with the grace of Yan Shu and Ouyang Xiu; his Jiang Cheng Zi and Qian Qiu Sui are well known, the latter included in the Baixiang Cipu.
Life and times
Dates 1068–c. 1112 CE (death year given as 1112 or 1113)