Writers › Writer / Poet
Wu Maiyuan
Liu Song poet known for yuefu imitations such as Chang Xiangsi and Chang Bieli, executed in 474 after drafting a proclamation for the failed rebellion of Liu Xiufan.
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 Wu, Court Attendant
- Roles
- Writer / Poet
Wu Maiyuan, a poet of the Liu Song dynasty, served as an aide at Jiangzhou and as a court attendant; his birth year is unknown. He was best known for yuefu poems, including Chang Xiangsi, Chang Bieli and Feilai Shuang Baohu, preserved in later collections and in the Yuefu Shiji. Emperor Ming of Song reportedly judged him good only at writing, and he was famously vain. In 474 he drafted a proclamation for Liu Xiufan; when the revolt failed he and his clan were executed. A one-volume collection once circulated under his name.
Life and times
- UnknownBorn
Northern and Southern - 474 CEDied
Works
Literature · Poetry4- Two White Swans Come FlyingNorthern and SouthernWu Maiyuan's yuefu: a pair of white swans parted by nets, the one left behind still waiting
- Song of Sunny SpringNorthern and SouthernWu Maiyuan's spring song: a beauty near the capital, and Song Yu's tune too fine for the crowd
- Long PartingNorthern and SouthernWu Maiyuan's yuefu: a wife parted in her prime warns her man by the lost heroes of Chu and Han
- Endless LongingNorthern and SouthernWu Maiyuan's yuefu: a wife sends a silk letter by a passing traveller to her husband far away