Huangfu Ran (dates are disputed: 715–768, 717–770, 716–769, or 714–767), a Tang-dynasty poet and one of the Ten Talents of the Dali era. His style name was Maozheng, also given in the form Huangfu Maozheng; his lineage was traced to Huangfu Mi, a noted man of the Jin period. He was associated with Anding and, after taking refuge, lived in Danyang; his native place is also given as Danyang in Runzhou (present-day Danyang, Jiangsu), while Anding was his commandery origin and Jingzhou his ancestral home. At the age of ten he could compose literary works, attracting Zhang Jiuling, who called him a “little friend”; Xiao Yingshi and Li Hua later encouraged him.
Life
In the fifteenth year of Tianbao, he passed the jinshi examination; the corresponding year is given as 755 or 756. He was appointed County Commandant of Wuxi. After leaving the post, he traveled through Yue and lived in seclusion at Yangxian; he later served as a Military Registrar in the Left Jinwu Guard. In the second year of Guangde (764), Wang Jin is described variously as Henan Military Governor and Henan Commander; he recommended Huangfu Ran for appointment as a military governor’s secretary. Huangfu Ran entered the court as a Shiyi and rose to Buque, with the highest post given variously as Right Buque and Left Buque. He was sent on a mission to Jiangnan, also described as Jiangbiao; one account says that he visited his family at Danyang and died there, while another places his death in the second year of Dali at the age of fifty-four.
Poetry and associations
He was renowned alongside his brother Huangfu Zeng, and contemporaries compared the two to Zhang Zai and Zhang Xie of Jin. He was close to Liu Changqing, Yan Wei, and Liu Fangping, with whom he exchanged verse; he also exchanged poems and prose with Wang Wei, Gao Shi, Han Huang, Wang Jin, Du Hongjian, Liu Changqing, and Lu Yu. His poetry joined the ancient technique of bixing to contemporary prosody, steeped itself in the traditions of the Feng and Sao, and modeled itself on Yan and Xie; in lyrical passages and flights of thought, it displayed an inspiration described as independent and spontaneous. Critics praised the verbal craft and novelty of his tonal modes, finding his five- and seven-character regulated verse clear and distinctive and highly esteemed in his time. His five-character poems were described as graceful and sonorous, while his song narratives were considered weaker; his regulated verse could stand beside Li Congyi’s, lacking some incisiveness but surpassing it in unforced naturalness.
Works
He had a three-volume *Huangfu Ran Poetry Collection*, compiled by his brother Zeng, with a preface by Dugu Ji stating that it contained 350 poems. The *Complete Tang Poems* preserves 230 poems in two volumes, though some are mixed with works by other authors; *Supplement to the Complete Tang Poems* and *Continuation of the Complete Tang Poems* add six more poems.
References
- CBDB Huangfu Ran (94109)
- 搜韵 皇甫冉 (18821)
- 法鼓佛教人名规范数据库 皇甫冉 (A018422)
- Wikidata Huangfu Ran (Q11581083)