Writers › Writer / Poet
He Zhu
Northern Song ci poet, courtesy name Fanghui, nicknamed 'Plum He' for a line in Qing yu an, author of the Dongshan ci.
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 Fanghui · Old Man of Qinghu · Plum Fruit He
He Zhu, courtesy name Fanghui and styled Old Man of Qinghu, was a native of Shanyin in Yuezhou who was born in Weizhou; he lived from 1052 to 1125. He entered office at seventeen by hereditary privilege, served as military-depot gate supervisor and as vice prefect of Sizhou and Taipingzhou, and retired in 1109 to live out his years at Suzhou. His ci show great range and a craftsman's polish, often reworking old yuefu and Tang lines; Qing yu an and Liuzhou getou are his best known, and over two hundred of his lyrics survive in the Dongshan ci.
Life and times
- 1052 CEBorn
Song - 1125 CEDied
Works
Literature · Lyrics11- Green Jade Cup · She Never Came Past Hengtang RoadSongHe Zhu's mid-length ci of a glimpsed beauty who never returns and a sorrow beyond measure
- Someone Crosses South · Orchids and Angelica Fill the IsletsSongHe Zhu's mid-length ci of a meeting by the water and a beauty watched as she crosses south
- The Heartless One · Light Make-up and Many CharmsSongHe Zhu's long ci of a love affair in a painted hall and the idle longing after it ends
- Silk-Washing Stream · Spring Does Not Tire of the OldSongHe Zhu's short ci of an old man who still loves spring and finds truth only in wine
- Silk-Washing Stream · A Wisp of Rosy Cloud Fades from the TowerSongHe Zhu's short ci of an early spring evening and a lady picking plum blossom by moonlight
+6 more
- Song of Shizhou, Slow · A Light Rain Takes the Chill AwaySongHe Zhu's long ci of early spring, a remembered parting and two lovers wasting apart
- Butterflies Love Flowers · Spring Grieved Over and Ending AgainSongHe Zhu's mid-length ci of late spring, an old riverside meeting place and songs by lamplight
- Heavenly Fragrance · Mist Threads through the WoodsSongHe Zhu's long ci of an autumn dusk on the road, a weary official mourning his reckless youth
- Gazing Toward the Xiang · Weary of Orioles at My PillowSongHe Zhu's long ci of late spring under the Xiang sky, old trysts remembered and no word from her
- Green-Headed Duck · My Fair One's House by the FordSongHe Zhu's long ci of love in a riverside tower, a parting by boat and a vow for next year
- Song of Heaven's Gate · Perilous Niuzhu and Heaven's GateSongHe Zhu's short ci from Emei Pavilion at Caishi, over a river fortress fought for down the ages