Writers › Writer / Poet
Yu Yan
Southern Qi poet from Kuaiji, valued with Shen Yue for his literary talent in the Yongming era and a favourite of Crown Prince Wenhui; he ended as Cavalry General of Valiant Cavalry.
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 Yu Yan of Kuaiji
Yu Yan, from Kuaiji, was a poet of Southern Qi. In 481 he went as acting Regular Attendant among twelve envoys sent to inspect local customs, and the twenty-three men they recommended were honoured. In the Yongming era he was valued with Shen Yue for his literary gifts and favoured by Crown Prince Xiao Changmao, serving the Eastern Palace with Fan Xiu, Zhou Yong and Yuan Kuo. In 495 he submitted a memorial on sacrificial rites. He ended as Cavalry General of Valiant Cavalry. His dates are unknown; the Yutai Xinyong preserves his poem Youshou Si.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in Southern Qi, 481–495 CE