Zhang Yuangan (張元幹; 1091–1161), courtesy name Zhongzong (仲宗), was a ci poet of the Song dynasty, also known by the sobriquets Luchuan Laoyin (蘆川老隱), Zhenyin Shanren (真隱山人) and Luchuan Jushi (蘆川居士). He was a native of Yongfu in Fuzhou (modern Yongtai, Fujian), sometimes given as a man of Changle. His dates are given variously: his birth year is sometimes put at 1092, and his death at 1170 or about 1175.
Life
He travelled with his father's postings in his youth and learned poetry from Xu Fu (徐俯). In the Zhenghe era of Emperor Huizong he entered office after graduating from the Upper Hall of the Imperial College, and in 1125, the seventh year of Xuanhe, he became assistant magistrate of Chenliu County. During the Zhenghe and Xuanhe years he was known for his ci.
In 1126, the first year of Jingkang, he entered the staff of Li Gang (李綱), defender of the eastern capital and commissioner of the imperial expedition, and fought against the Jin; he was demoted on the same day as Li Gang. After the Jin took Bianjing he took refuge in the Wu and Yue regions. Under Emperor Gaozong he was appointed during the Jianyuan era to the Directorate of Public Works and as a pacification commissioner, and accompanied the emperor to Mingzhou; having given offence, he retired in 1131, the first year of Shaoxing, as a Right Gentleman for Court Service, at the age of forty-one. Unwilling to serve at the same court as Qin Hui, he gave up his post and went home.
In 1142, the twelfth year of Shaoxing, Hu Quan (胡銓) petitioned for the execution of Qin Hui and was exiled to Xinzhou; Zhang Yuangan, then in Fuzhou, wrote the ci poem He Xinlang (賀新郎) to encourage him. In 1151, the twenty-first year of Shaoxing, he was summoned to the Grand Court of Judicature in Lin'an over the poem and struck from the registers. He died in 1161, aged seventy-one, having risen to vice director of the Directorate of Public Works. Modern chronologies of his life were made by Cao Jiping (曹濟平) and Wang Zhaopeng (王兆鵬).
Poetry and works
Zhang Yuangan was a noted patriotic ci poet of the Song; his style was bold and heroic, and he was a forerunner of the Xin Qiji school. He was skilled in both shi and ci poetry. His Luchuan Guilai Ji (蘆川歸來集) ran to fifteen juan with an appendix and survives only in part; the Qing editors of the Siku Quanshu reconstructed ten juan of it from the Yongle Dadian. His son had his ci printed as Luchuan Jushi Ci (蘆川居士詞) in two juan, and a further collection, Luchuan Ci (蘆川詞), in one juan, is extant.
Associations and colophons
He was implicated through his association with Li Gang and Hu Quan. The Luchuan Guilai Ji contains prefaces by Cai Kan and Zeng E and colophons by Li Mixun, Yang Shi, Ye Mengde, Wang Zao, Zhou Bida and others. He himself wrote prefaces for works by Wang Fu and Chen Guan, colophons on works and paintings by Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, Zhang Xiaoxiang and Wu Zhen, and sacrificial addresses for Li Gang and Deng Su. He also wrote parting words for Li Jing, portrait inscriptions for Xiang Ziyin and Qingyu (釋慶預), and poems and records for the buildings of Cheng Mai and Ruan Gui. Colophons of his preserved in the Luchuan Guilai Ji include pieces on Mi Fu's Xia Shu Jiang Shan Tu (下蜀江山圖) and Shan Shui (山水) and on Wu Zhen's Tang Shu Jiu Miu (唐書糾謬) and Wu Dai Shi Zuan Wu (五代史纂誤).
References
- 搜韵 張元幹 (25448)
- CBDB Zhang Yuangan (19699)
- Wikidata Zhang Yuangan (Q11068117)